44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 30, 2024 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in relation to Bill C-316, an act to amend the Department of Canadian Heritage Act and the court challenges program.
The committee has studied the bill and, pursuant to Standing Order 97.1(1), requests a 30-day extension to consider it.
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- Apr/30/24 10:09:00 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I had risen earlier to table a document. The Chair may not have seen me.
I would like to seek consent to table the document.
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- Apr/30/24 10:09:25 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, Canada's official report as part of its fourth universal periodic review, as well as its official response to recommendations received from the United Nations member states.
The universal periodic review is a peer-reviewed process before the United Nations Human Rights Council. Through the universal periodic review, the human rights record of each country is reviewed by other United Nations member states. This provides an important opportunity for countries to discuss their domestic human rights frameworks, as well as measures taken to promote and protect human rights in their country.
Canada is strongly committed to the universal periodic review process and has engaged closely with provinces and territories, indigenous partners and civil society to prepare these documents, which I am pleased to refer to the House.
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- Apr/30/24 11:01:56 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise in the House at all times and particularly today to speak to budget 2024. As we are hearing and seeing from our fellow Canadians, budgets are not just numbers. They are commitments to the well-being and prosperity of every Canadian.
I want to begin by talking about the impact of this budget on my riding of Vancouver Granville. We all know that Vancouver stands as a beacon of diversity, innovation and opportunity, and it is heartening to see that reflected in this budget in the commitments that are being made for Vancouver Granville, for Vancouver and for British Columbia.
When I was first elected, I received a phone call from a board member of the Hellenic community centre in my riding. Vancouver has long been home to one of the largest Greek communities in Canada, and the Hellenic centre complex in my riding is an incredible place that has brought together Canadians, not just from the Greek community but from all different communities, as a place of gathering on the west side of the city. It is a community centre, and it is a place of worship. I have been advocating on the community's behalf to see what we can do to improve that centre because it is a place that allows Canadians from all different walks of life and backgrounds to gather.
The board members are interesting. They are not fierce partisans. There are some who are Liberals, and there are some who are Conservatives. Two of the leaders are Tony Papajohn, a Liberal, and Alex Tsakumis, a well-known Conservative. These two individuals care deeply about their community. They came to me, as their member of Parliament, and said they wanted to work together to find a way to work with the government to make sure that their community, and those who come to this place, have access to a fantastic facility.
In March, the Minister of Finance came to visit and she agreed that the community centre is a local institution that must continue to serve the community, and that is exactly what budget 2024 proposes to do. It proposes to give $5 million to ensure that the Hellenic community of Vancouver has the space and the resources it needs to keep thriving.
The two individuals, one Liberal and one Conservative, who are part of that leadership team have been very vocal in their need for this building. They have also been vocal and supportive of governments that stand up for their community. I am so proud to know that those two individuals, and the community they represent, stand behind this budget and these measures to help their community.
It is a shame that the members opposite are choosing to vote against an institution that is not just necessary but a critical part of the fabric of the community of Vancouver Granville. I hope that every single voter in Vancouver Granville remembers that. How we deal with people in their communities when the chips are down is what people will remember.
That is why I am so grateful that, as we think about ensuring that we are lifting up diverse voices, budget 2024 also proposes to be a funding partner for a museum in British Columbia. It will highlight the histories, cultures and contributions of Canadians of diverse South Asian backgrounds.
The South Asian community in British Columbia, and in my riding of Vancouver Granville, is an important part of the fabric of our community. Having those stories told, those voices heard and that history told as a part of the history of this country is critically important to the story our young people and generations thereafter will come to understand about the communities around them and with whom they live.
We are also committing, in this budget, to being a funding partner of the Filipino cultural centre. The Filipino community is a vibrant, thriving part of Vancouver's ecosystem, and for too long, its members have not had a voice at the table. I want to thank the member for Vancouver Kingsway for his advocacy as well, because he has been a big part of this conversation for many years. Our government is stepping up to make sure that the community has a place where it can gather and come together, so it can celebrate and tell its story to the rest of us in a way that lets the story be told in its members' voices as a part of the story of this country.
The arts are a big part of the story of Vancouver Granville and of Vancouver. The Vancouver Fringe Festival is a great part of the story of culture in our city. Earlier this year, I met with the executive director of the Vancouver Fringe Festival and he told me about the challenges that the festival is facing in trying to ensure that its operations can continue. I am so pleased that this budget is going to step up and help that organization and organizations like it to maintain, thrive and advance the critical work they do to bring incredible theatre to our citizens.
Vancouver is also an innovation hub. As somebody who grew up in the tech industry, it is important for me to know that our government continues to invest in that innovation, not just in Vancouver Granville but across the country. Our commitment of $2.4 billion toward research in AI includes building companies in AI, supporting start-ups that are going to be there for the future, maintaining and growing Canada's advantage in AI and ensuring that workers who are affected by AI have support. That is what budget 2024 is going to do.
It was important for me, and I think a lot of Canadians, to hear the former leader of the opposition, Erin O'Toole, stand up and talk about how this measure is a critically important part of maintaining and growing Canada's lead in the field of AI. These are the things that members opposite intend to vote against.
So far, members opposite are voting against communities, against diverse communities, against technology, against growth in leadership of Canadian technology sectors and against the interests of Canadians.
I say that because one of the most important issues facing Vancouver and many cities across this country is housing affordability. Housing affordability is not just a matter of shelter. It is a foundation for stability, well-being and dignity for individuals and families, and current and future generations need to have that stability. The government's work on housing has been working and it continues to work. Since I was elected, I have seen 5,500 units of housing funded in Vancouver Granville alone.
Let us think about that: It is 5,000-plus units of housing in Vancouver Granville alone. Let us contrast that to the six units of housing that the current Leader of the Opposition built when he was the minister of housing during his time. That is 5,000-plus versus six, and that is in just one riding.
We want all of our kids to have a level playing field. However, the investments we are making in housing, in working with non-profits and with other community organizations to ensure that affordable housing is built not just in Vancouver Granville but across this country, are what members opposite intend to vote against. I do not know how they look their constituents in the eye and say that they are going to vote against things that actually support the well-being and the health of their citizens and the security of their citizens to have a home. By investing in housing affordability, we are not just addressing immediate needs. We are setting a foundation for a more equitable and prosperous future for generations to come.
I want to talk about the issue of hate as well. Over the course of the last number of weeks and months, we have seen an alarming rise in hate in this country. We see leaders, like the Leader of the Opposition, cavorting with individuals who support Diagolon and who support white supremacist movements. Therefore, it is no wonder that the Conservatives want to stand against the funding that we are putting forward, such as $7.3 million for the special envoy in the fight against anti-Semitism and $7.3 million for the envoy in the fight against Islamophobia. The Conservatives want to vote against $5 million for a Holocaust museum in Montreal. They want to vote against $5 million for Holocaust remembrance. The Conservatives have already voted against funding for the Jewish community centre in my riding, and they have already voted against funding for the Holocaust education centre in my riding.
As for this idea that they care about communities, they care about themselves. If the Conservatives cared about fighting hate and if they cared about the rise in anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Asian hate in this country, they would not be voting against the almost quarter-billion dollars of provisions we have in this budget to fight hate. In this country, we need to stand up for each other. We need to stand up for those whose voices are being diminished. We need to work together to do that.
It makes me really nervous when the Leader of the Opposition talks about his laws, the laws he would pass, and that he would be the judge of what is constitutional and what is not. This is a country that depends on the rule of law, trusts in our Constitution and trusts in our institutions. Canadians from across this country, from coast to coast to coast, value and care about our institutions. They care about public safety. They care about making sure that communities feel safe.
We have budget provisions that are there to make this country safe around the fight against hate, around supporting our military and around funding to ensure that we are strong players within NATO in the fight against Russia and in support of Ukraine. When we are standing up for those types of measures at the same time as we are putting money in the pockets of average Canadians, funding school lunch programs and working on building more homes, I do not understand how Conservatives can stand up and vote against a budget that really is about fairness for all.
I would encourage all members of the House to really take a look at whether they are voting in the interests of Canadians or voting to support a leader who cares nothing about Canadians. Instead, I would encourage members across all parties to look at the budget we have put forward and vote for a budget that is about fairness for all Canadians.
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- Apr/30/24 11:11:52 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member that, when the Conservatives were in power, they chose to reduce the GST as a popular measure rather than think about the financial consequences. While the Conservatives will say that was many years ago, the thing that I would remind the hon. member across is that decisions that were made then to gut housing, to gut health care and to gut all of the things that Canadians care about, when Conservatives were in power, are what we have had to reverse over the course of the last number of years. Therefore, the investments that we make are in Canadians, not in preserving and lining the pockets of the richest 1%. That is what members across want to do. We are going to stand up for all Canadians.
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- Apr/30/24 11:13:41 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his tireless work as a member of Parliament for British Columbia and for his advocacy on many of the issues we have worked on together.
The budgets that this government has put forward over the last number of years, including this one, make tremendous provisions to take care of our oceans and to take care of our environment. I do not know about others, but I am perfectly fine using a paper straw or drinking without a straw, which seems to be the most important thing that members opposite are preoccupied with.
However, to my friend's question about the importance of protecting our oceans, absolutely we all need to be doing more. We would do that through provisions in this budget in a variety of different ways. We have put forward, through B.C. SRIF, provisions to help protect our waterways as well. That work is going to continue. I am looking forward to working with the member opposite and others to ensure that we keep working hard to protect our oceans, not just across the coast of British Columbia but from coast to coast to coast.
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- Apr/30/24 11:15:06 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are two things I want to touch on. The first is the important funding that we have put forward for research. Universities across this country need funding for research. They need to keep innovating, and the funding that we would be providing would ensure that our institutions of higher learning are able to do the advanced cutting-edge research that they need to do to make sure that young Canadians can look forward to a future where our institutions are providing the thought leadership in science, math, technology and social sciences that allows Canada to continue to be a thought leader.
When it comes to AI, as I mentioned, $2.4 billion is on the table for start-ups, for innovation, for retooling companies and for growth, as well as for workers who are going to be affected by the arrival of AI in this country and in the workplace. These investments are not trivial. These investments are serious. They are thoughtful. They work with the private sector to enhance Canada's current role as a leader in AI. This ensures that Canada will continue to be a global leader in AI and the positive use of AI, not just for economic growth but for social development as well.
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- Apr/30/24 11:25:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite talked a lot about the importance of making wise financial decisions, which I would agree with. As a former business person, I know that is something that we should all care about, so the question I would ask is the following.
In this budget we have set aside $2.4 billion for innovation around AI, something the Conservatives' former leader said was an important investment to make in ensuring Canada's leadership in AI.
This budget also sets in course a reversal of the damage they had done to our NATO commitment when it dropped to below 1% of GDP with the $73 billion that we are putting on the table to ensure our military has what it needs. Those are two critical components of this budget. Can the member simply tell me if he supports those provisions in this budget, yes or no?
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