44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 11, 2024 10:00AM
- Apr/11/24 2:18:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim and Abou Fayssal, a Lebanese businessman who helms an association industrialists from Zahlé and the Beqaa, are leading humanitarians in their country. These men care about the environment. They have planted 128,000 trees for the sole purpose of protecting the environment, and they will continue to do so.
Philanthropists dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance, Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim and Mr. Fayssal offer support to widows and orphans. They pay hospital bills for the poor and offer medical equipment to their regional hospital that treats people in need free of charge. They are recognized for their creativity.
As I am a chair for the Canada-Lebanon Friendship Group, I thank both of them.
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- Apr/11/24 2:19:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we already know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, and after eight years, the Prime Minister is no longer even listening to Canadians. There is a 23% carbon tax hike when Canadians cannot afford to eat. Yesterday, the House passed a Conservative common-sense motion calling on the Prime Minister to convene an emergency televised carbon tax meeting with all 14 premiers. The Prime Minister is hiding, but maybe someone over there can tell us this: What day will the televised carbon tax meeting be?
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- Apr/11/24 2:19:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, we are debating Bill C-50, the sustainable jobs act. The Royal Bank of Canada says there are 400,000 jobs that would come to Canadians if we were just to unlock the kind of prosperity envisaged in this very progressive piece of legislation. Instead, the Conservatives put forward 20,000 amendments generated by artificial intelligence. The robo-caucus needs to stop its robo-work with its robo-amendments and stop gatekeeping the opportunities that are coming to Canadians.
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- Apr/11/24 2:20:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is false, and that was not an answer.
Canadians need relief, not more Liberal taxes. Seventy per cent of Canadians are now saying so. One in 10 people in Toronto is now relying on a food bank, and more than half of Canadians are $200 away from missing their bills. If the Liberals are not going to listen to Canadians and if they are not going to give us a date, can the member tell us what channel the carbon tax meeting will be on?
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- Apr/11/24 2:21:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the channel is that they should be plugged into, but it is the reality channel. Back here in the real world, there are real jobs at stake; there are real opportunities at stake, and there is affordability at stake. These members of the robo-caucus with its robo-amendments are in the way of opportunity and the way of progress and clean technology in this country. They need to get out of the way, stop the gatekeeping and let Canadians create the wealth that we need to succeed.
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- Apr/11/24 2:21:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the member did not answer the question. I am not really sure what that was. He will not listen to Canadians; the Liberals will not listen to their NDP caucus. The Prime Minister will not listen to his successor, Mark Carney, who also wants him to meet with premiers. They will not give us a date, they will not give us a time, and they will not tell us what channel to watch. The Prime Minister will not even show up here in answer to this motion. The Prime Minister is being defiant when Canadians are lining up at food banks in record numbers. What are they covering for?
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- Apr/11/24 2:22:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has repeatedly said he is all ears and, if there is a better plan, to put it on the table. Premier Moe himself said that this is the most cost-effective plan, and that is why our government will keep going with it while maintaining our AAA credit rating, while maintaining the lowest deb-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and while maintaining historically low unemployment. On this side of the House, we will always vote with Canadians and support them along the way.
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- Apr/11/24 2:23:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, we have a passport crisis on our hands, violent crime is on the rise, the cost of housing has doubled, millions of people are using food banks, and criminals are cozy at home. What a fabulous record. Quebeckers are suffering because of his mismanagement. What is more, he is interfering in provincial jurisdictions.
Will he listen to the Premier of Quebec, who is asking him to mind his own business?
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- Apr/11/24 2:23:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during his entire tenure, six affordable housing units were built for the entire country when the opposition leader was the minister responsible for housing.
With the collaboration of the Government of Quebec and the leadership of Quebec's municipalities, 8,000 affordable housing units will be built over the next few months. I would like to invite my colleague, the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, to join me for a visit to the Boisé des Fillion project being carried out by Lévis' municipal housing office. This project alone involves 23 affordable housing units, three times more than were built when her leader was the minister responsible for housing.
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- Apr/11/24 2:24:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to the already overly long list of this Liberal government's failures, we can add extravagant use of public funds and squandering of Quebeckers' dollars. This government spends Canadians' money like water. For the past eight years, it has had no budgetary discipline, causing the debt to double. It has not balanced a single budget, yet it wants to handle provincial issues. Quebec Premier François Legault has made it clear that this government needs to mind its own business.
Will it listen, yes or no?
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- Apr/11/24 2:24:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about a former premier of Quebec, Mr. Charest, with whom this member served and voted in favour of a price on pollution.
I think the hypocrisy coming from the other side of the House is quite striking, especially in a context where, today, we are talking about the 400,000 jobs that could be created in Canada thanks to green technologies and the new economy. This member is against these opportunities in battery plants in Quebec.
Be that as it may, on our side of the House, we support opportunities for Quebeckers.
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- Apr/11/24 2:25:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the housing issue proves that we must prevent the federal government from meddling in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction. When the federal level decides where the money goes, Quebeckers get ripped off, and the numbers from CMHC prove that without a doubt. Since the national housing strategy was created in 2019, what share of the funding has Quebec received when the federal government is choosing the projects? Do members know? The answer is 6.7%. That is not even a third of our fair share.
Will the government stop shortchanging Quebeckers and transfer housing money to Quebec, no strings attached?
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- Apr/11/24 2:26:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have already talked about the Conservative leader's six housing units. Now I want to talk about the 8,000 housing units that will be built with the leadership and partnership of the Quebec government and Quebec municipalities.
The member for Salaberry—Suroît is surely already familiar with the Maison Péladeau project in her riding, with 48 affordable, accessible housing units that are also adapted to climate change. Those units will greatly improve the lives of dozens of people in her riding.
I would love to go visit this housing project with her and highlight how important our collaboration with the Quebec government is for these people in her riding.
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- Apr/11/24 2:26:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, although Quebeckers make up 22% of the population, we received 6.7% of federal housing investments when the projects were chosen by Ottawa. It does not take a math genius to realize that we are getting ripped off.
Since 2019, the money has gone mostly to funding projects outside Quebec. We are in the midst of a full-on housing crisis and our tax dollars are being spent to house Ontarians, when we can no longer even pay rent here at home.
Is it clear now why we need to keep Ottawa as far away as possible from our exclusive jurisdiction over housing?
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- Apr/11/24 2:27:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Bloc Québécois may not like the idea of co-operating with the Quebec government. However, a scant few weeks ago we signed an agreement to build 8,000 affordable housing units, which represents the largest investment in affordable housing ever seen in the history of Quebec.
That is because the Quebec and federal governments are working together to invest two times $900 million to give Quebeckers and all other Canadians the affordable housing they need.
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- Apr/11/24 2:28:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Montreal has experienced its largest rent increase in 30 years. This is a true crisis, and it is making it difficult for Montrealers to put a roof over their heads. What is the Liberal government’s solution? It is to set aside a mere 35% of the Wellington Basin project’s units for affordable public housing, meaning that two-thirds of the housing units built will be unaffordable.
Here is a simple question: Why use public land to build housing units that Quebeckers cannot afford?
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- Apr/11/24 2:28:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear my colleague’s question, which once again shows the contrast between this government and the previous one.
In 2017, we put in place the first national housing strategy in this country’s history, which stands in stark contrast with what the Conservative leader did when he was housing minister. During his entire mandate, he built six affordable housing units for the entire country.
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- Apr/11/24 2:29:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces have faced a military housing shortage for decades. Under both the Liberals and Conservatives, military housing has not been built; existing units are falling into disrepair. Now the Liberals want our armed forces to wait another two years before they even start building homes. This delay is unacceptable.
Why is the minister delaying building urgently needed homes for the men and women who serve our country?
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- Apr/11/24 2:29:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, making sure that we provide adequate supports, particularly for housing and child care, is absolutely essential for us to support the men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
That is why, in our recently released defence policy, we have included a substantial investment of over $300 million to build housing. That work has begun and will continue apace.
I look forward to working with all members of the defence committee as we bring forward important new initiatives to support the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.
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- Apr/11/24 2:30:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. Now his carbon tax scheme is completely falling apart.
First, his own budget watchdog proved conclusively that most Canadians are worse off, even with the rebate. Then he was humiliated into granting a partial carve-out, because his Liberal MPs were sick of the backlash they were getting from their voters. Now a majority of premiers are demanding an emergency carbon tax conference to put forward better ideas than his punishing tax.
If the Prime Minister is so sure that his carbon tax is good, then why does he not just sit down and listen to the premiers?
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