44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 30, 2024 10:00AM
- Apr/30/24 3:02:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government has announced its decision to once again postpone the mandatory buy-back program for assault weapons. Since Canada Post refuses to accept the prohibited weapons, and since Ottawa has once again failed to plan this program properly, the Liberals have decided to postpone the whole thing until 2025. This means that it will likely be the Conservatives who decide the future of this program.
Why do the Liberals not take their responsibilities seriously instead of putting this in the hands of the Conservatives?
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- Apr/30/24 3:02:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for the question. As she is well aware, the government fully supports a buy-back program for military-style firearms. However, I do not share her pessimism about the next federal election.
The good news is that we are already working to develop a buy-back program that will be in place this year and next. We made a commitment to buy back those firearms, and that is exactly what we are going to do.
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- Apr/30/24 3:03:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if no assault weapon buy-back program is instituted within the next year, we will have lost a decade of work, and public safety will continue to be jeopardized for another decade. The Liberals have no right to betray their commitment at this point. They have no right to let their courage fail them. They have no right to offload the responsibility for assault weapons onto irresponsible people who want to keep them in circulation.
I am appealing to the Minister of Public Safety as a statesman: Will he take action before it is too late?
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- Apr/30/24 3:04:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will repeat once again that we absolutely intend to keep the commitment we made to Canadians to buy back these weapons that we banned.
We will continue to work in a very specific way to ensure that the commitment we made a number of years ago to implement an effective buy-back program is kept. We are not going to stop until we finish this work.
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- Apr/30/24 3:04:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the pension advisory board for our CBSA officers has approved retirement after 25 years of service. Our men and women on the front lines of our country have been defending and enforcing the law, and ensuring trade and travel is safe and secure in our country. They have not been treated equally as other officers. Why has the President of the Treasury Board ignored this case for equality?
Will the President of the Treasury Board now act and make sure there is equality for our men and women of service protecting our front lines?
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- Apr/30/24 3:05:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, actually as a part of the conciliation process, the Government of Canada and PSAC entered into PIC hearings with the Border Services group. We are waiting for the decision of that body. We believe that all deals are best made at the table.
We look forward to reading that report and working very closely with our counterparts. We are optimistic that the PIC recommendations will provide both parties with a plan to go forward, just as past PIC processes have been able to do.
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- Apr/30/24 3:05:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people with disabilities across the country disproportionately live in poverty. As a result of their advocacy, the government committed to a Canada disability benefit back in 2021.
After years of advocacy, what has been proposed in budget 2024 is nothing that the disability community has called for. No one called for 200 bucks a month. Using the disability tax credit, no one called for that. Waiting until July 2025, no one called for that.
Could the minister share who actually asked for what is in the proposed Canada disability benefit?
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- Apr/30/24 3:06:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Canada disability benefit is a major milestone in our unwavering commitment to creating a more inclusive and fairer Canada. Through budget 2024, we have committed over $6 billion as an initial investment for the Canada disability benefit. This is the first-ever federal benefit designed for persons with disabilities.
We recognize that there is more to do and we will be working alongside provinces and territories to first make sure that there are no clawbacks for persons with disabilities.
This is the next step in the journey for the Canada disability benefit, not the destination.
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- Apr/30/24 3:07:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to ask for unanimous consent from the House for a take-note debate on the drug decriminalization policy and toxic drug overdoses to be held later today.
Some hon. members: No.
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- Apr/30/24 3:08:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was a remarkable question period. I am sure I can speak for many of us with respect to your effort to maintain decorum under difficult circumstances.
What I want to speak to, with all due respect, is misidentifying members of Parliament who sit here as members of the Green Party as independents. I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker, that in future perhaps your office could reflect on our role and consider that the practice of accepting a list of speakers from the party whips on the opposition benches is not a rule or regulation of the House, but a common habit and practice. The rule is that only you can recognize who speaks in this place and only you can decide who catches your eye.
I would commend to you, Mr. Speaker, if you are willing to look at it, the practice of the Palace of Westminster in looking at written requests from members of the place that the Speaker decides the day before so that there is order in the House and it is no longer controlled by party whips who have an agenda other than decorum.
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- Apr/30/24 3:09:16 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her intervention, which was informative as always. The Speaker will take that into account.
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- Apr/30/24 3:09:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour and a privilege to rise in this House. I would usually call it the most honourable House, but after today's events, I am not exactly sure.
When we speak about budget 2024 and what is involved in budget 2024, it continues to build a strong economy, an inclusive economy.
One of the sectors that I would like to touch upon is here in Ontario specifically, the auto sector. It is a sector that I covered in the private sector for 15 years before coming into public service.
What we announced last week and what we did in collaboration with Honda is a game-changer for the auto sector here in Canada. It is a game-changer for Honda. It is Honda's largest-ever investment in North America, $15 billion to build an electric vehicle assembly plant, a stand-alone manufacturing plant, a cathode active material and precursor-processing plant, a separator plant and a new assembly plant operation, which in 2028 is projected to build over 240,000 electric vehicles per year.
That is a strong vote of confidence in the Canadian economy. That is a strong vote of confidence in Canadian workers. It is the right thing to do to build a competitive economy and an economy that works for all Canadians.
It did not just happen by chance. It happened because our government was laser-focused on attracting business investments here in Canada. With regard to the auto sector, almost $46 billion has been attracted across Canada, not just in the province of Ontario and British Columbia, or in the province of Quebec. The spillover in the whole EV supply chain is across Canada. Again, it is our government being laser-focused in budget 2024. An electric vehicles supply chain credit was introduced, 10% on EV assets, battery and cathode active materials.
This follows Volkswagen's $7-billion investment in St. Thomas, Northvolt's $7-billion investment in Quebec, the $5-billion investment by Stellantis and LG Energy Solutions in the beautiful city of Windsor, Ford's $1.8-billion commitment to repurpose its facility, and the list goes on. The Canadian automotive sector builds 1.5 million vehicles per year. It supports 550,000 direct and indirect jobs here in this country and contributes about $18 billion. Canada is home to Stellantis, Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Honda. We have been able to secure a commitment from Honda for generations now, and for generations to come, with over 4,000 jobs, over 1,000 new full-time jobs, and we can multiply that by five to seven, in terms of the multiplier, for literally decades, plus all the construction jobs that will come.
I will now turn to something that is near and dear to my heart. I read the IMF projections for economies around the world. The “Fiscal Monitor” came out. The world economic outlook came out. For 2025, Canada is forecast to lead economic growth in the G7 at almost 2.5%, something that we should be very proud of. We are leading the pack because we are making strategic investments in Canada. We are making strategic investments in Canadians. A confident country invests in its citizens. A confident country will always do so. That is what we will continue to do.
With regard to matters that I hear quite a bit about, I would like to reference a Financial Times article that came out about a week ago, entitled “US deficit poses ‘significant risks’ to global economy, warns IMF”. One looks at Canada's fiscal framework, its fiscal management and our AAA credit rating from all the credit rating agencies: Moody's, S&P, Morningstar DBRS.
I can hear some chirping from the other side. I understand that when it comes to being polite and when it comes to decorum, sometimes people need to take further lessons. It is unfortunate that they need to.
When we look at overall government fiscal balances, the net lending/borrowing for Canada is -1.1% of GDP; the United States, -7.1%; the U.K., -3.7%; Italy, -3.2%; Germany, -1.3%. Canada's fiscal framework is the strongest in the G7. It is the strongest in the G20. There is a reason why we have AAA rating. There is a reason why, when we look at our fiscal framework in this country, we have a solid, strong, robust balance sheet.
Those are the facts. Members on the other side can quibble as much as they want. They may not like science, and they may not like data. They may not like looking at the financial numbers, but I do. We will continue to do so. It is very important.
There is another item that I would like to raise, something that may surprise some folks on the other side and may surprise some folks on my side. I am actually very happy that the Trans Mountain pipeline is now in operation. The twinning of those two pipelines is going to boost economic growth here in Canada: this year, by about 0.5%. For a $3-trillion economy, 0.5% is actually quite important. The economic benefits of that pipeline are going to outweigh significantly the cost of building that pipeline and the debt that is carried on it currently, absolutely. It is going to lower the spread between WTI and WCS in terms of the price differential. For the time being and for many years to come, the oil that is sent from Alberta through the province of British Columbia is going to receive a higher price. Some estimates show a $9 benefit. We will earn billions of dollars in tax revenue to support hard-working Canadians across this country.
We made that investment, and I am very proud of that investment. It replaces almost 1,500 railcars that were carrying crude oil. It provides lower-cost access to markets abroad, and it raises producer prices here. It is something we need to be proud of. Again, it lowers the differential in the price we were getting for our product, so that now we are earning more on that front. Just in the second quarter of this year, the Bank of Canada estimates that it is going to boost economic growth by 0.25%. It is going to provide over $70 billion in revenues for the entities involved and tens of billions of dollars in tax revenues to pay for the services that we need.
Trevor Tombe, one of the economists I talk with quite a bit these days, put out an excellent piece today on why it is so important that we have an additional outlet for Canada's resources. As we decarbonize our economy, we need to do it in such a manner that the transition ensures good future for Canadians. The funds received will allow us to reinvest in our economy to green it and to make sure our electrical grid is fully decarbonized by 2035.
Finally, on the housing front, we are going to build in the years to come and we are building currently. Housing is very important for the residents of the 905 region, where I live. We see the activity at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. We see the activity across our region in terms of the housing builders getting to work. To the wonderful construction workers who are trained at the LiUNA 183 training centre or the Carpenters' Regional Council and the local 27 training centre, I visit with them and I want to give them a big shout-out because they are doing the heavy lifting to build our communities and the infrastructure in our communities.
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- Apr/30/24 3:17:56 p.m.
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The Chair would like to make a statement concerning the question of privilege raised on April 10, 2024 by the member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, about the government response to Order Paper Question No. 2340.
That day, the member contended that the response to Question No. 2340, answered on Monday, April 8, 2024, was inconsistent with previous announcements made by the government.
On April 11, 2024, the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, who had originally submitted the written question, intervened on this matter. He further noted that a similar inconsistency appeared in the government's response to another of his questions, Q‑2142, answered on January 29, 2024.
The parliamentary secretary to the government House leader acknowledged that, in both instances, there were administrative errors that led to inaccurate information being provided in the responses. He committed that the government would be tabling revised responses to both questions in short order to address the matter. Those responses were tabled yesterday. Considering the explanations, apologies and revised responses provided by the parliamentary secretary, I consider the matter closed.
The Chair does note, however, that this is the second instance in the last sitting weeks where the government has had to table revised responses after members complained about receiving inaccurate information. I trust that these are isolated mistakes. I nonetheless invite the government to take swift action to develop stronger internal checks and ensure that it does not happen again. The Chair is keenly aware of this problem and expects that members’ rights and privileges are to be respected.
I thank all members for their attention.
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- Apr/30/24 3:20:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, parts of my colleague's speech were spot-on. The amount of economic activity that is going to be engendered by the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline is very significant for this country. It has been held up by this government's process for far too long, and we need to get past it. I thank the member for that acknowledgement here on the floor of the House of Commons. The member has always been a supporter of Canada's oil and gas industry, and I really appreciate what he brings to that bench in that respect. However, he was a data analyst in finance before he came to the House, and I will question his numbers as far as Canada's economic performance goes.
Canada's finance minister manages to come up with a number where she plays games by including a whole bunch of assets on Canada's balance sheet that are not assets of the Government of Canada, such as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board money, which belongs to Canadians and is not going to be retracted from, and the Quebec pension plan, where the money belongs to Quebeckers and will not be pulled back from them. To actually include that is—
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- Apr/30/24 3:21:11 p.m.
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For this five-minute question and answer period, so that all members have an opportunity, I would ask the member to just put the question, please.
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- Apr/30/24 3:21:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, how does the member justify the use of manipulated statistics in order to get the numbers so he actually looks like he is performing?
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- Apr/30/24 3:21:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do count the hon. member as a friend and colleague, and I always enjoy chatting with him.
I will say that the IMF statistics are there, and the member can look at gross governmental debt and the net debt bases. The standards are developed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. They are commonly accepted standards. They are principles.
Canada's fiscal situation is measured by the rating agencies. I worked for a rating agency for a number of years before I went into the bond side of the business. I understand it quite well. Our AAA credit rating, which has been there since finance minister Martin's years, is there for a reason. We have a solid balance sheet, which is something we should all be proud of and something that I know Canadians hold near and dear to their hearts.
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- Apr/30/24 3:22:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member has heard from constituents who are upset about the paltry Canada disability benefit included in this budget. It is not just the amount; it is the process by which the government arrived at that amount. I will read what the National Disability Network noted: “These specific programmatic details were announced without consultation of the disability community and do not align with the principle of 'nothing about us, without us.'”
Does my colleague not agree that the Canada disability benefit should have been a higher amount to actually lift people out of poverty and, more importantly, that the amount should have been arrived at in consultation with the people who are most affected?
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- Apr/30/24 3:23:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to my colleague and friend from my old hometown of Prince Rupert in Skeena—Bulkley Valley, I will be very personal on this front. We have a little nephew, Ethan, who has a rare genetic condition. Probably one out of five or six individuals in Canada has this condition. I know full well the amount of expenses that my brother and sister-in-law incur for their son. It is not just in the thousands of dollars; it is literally, in the last couple of years, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I know what they face, so I do appreciate the sentiment coming from my colleague.
I will say that the Canada disability benefit does move the needle, and we will continue to work, also in conjunction with the disability tax credit, which is in place ensuring that disabled Canadians have the support they need to live a dignified life and to lead a life where they can fulfill their capacity in terms of what God has given them.
I want to give a shout-out, a prayer and a big hug to my little nephew.
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- Apr/30/24 3:24:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, to my hon. friend from Vaughan—Woodbridge, this is very disturbing from a member in this place who has participated more than anyone else in terms of understanding the Kinder Morgan pipeline, being an intervenor in the NEB process, having read all the material put forward by that particular private sector promoter, and knowing full well that the pipeline is not complete. It does not have permissions from the regulator, will not have a leak detection system in place for a full year and has several kilometres yet to be built. However, we have members in this place, the budget itself and the finance minister herself proclaiming that the pipeline is finished, that it is good news, and a further fanciful offering that we will get more money per barrel once the diluted bitumen is offloaded in Aframax tankers.
I would like to ask the hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge if he would be prepared to press the government to provide to each member of Parliament a cost-benefit analysis, which I do not believe was ever presented, for buying the TMX pipeline.
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