44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2021 10:00AM
- Dec/7/21 2:31:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the economic update is an opportunity for the Liberal government to address inflation, which is driving up the cost of living. It is becoming increasingly difficult for families to make ends meet.
The Liberals say they cannot do anything, but we disagree. The Liberal government can help families find affordable housing. It can also put a cap on cellphone and Internet plan fees.
Will the Prime Minister commit in the economic update to making life more affordable?
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- Dec/7/21 2:32:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the pandemic has caused inflation around the world, and Canadians are facing rising prices.
Just as we were during the pandemic, we will continue to be there for Canadians. The 2021 economic and fiscal update will give Canadians a transparent look at our public finances and our plan to finish the fight against COVID‑19, make life more affordable for Canadians and ensure our economic recovery leaves no one behind.
The best way to get our economy growing and to make life more affordable is by ending COVID‑19. That is exactly what we are doing.
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- Dec/7/21 2:33:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today we put forward a motion for a special all-party House of Commons committee to examine Canada's flawed evacuation in Afghanistan. Instead of saving lives, we had an election. Some 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members served in Afghanistan and worked closely with Afghan interpreters, whom we promised to protect and evacuate from the country. Now they are hiding in safe houses to avoid Taliban death squads.
Will the government support this motion to examine what went so wrong on its watch?
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- Dec/7/21 2:33:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course the question of Afghanistan is important. It is important to our government, and it is important to all Canadians.
I just came back from NATO and the OSCE, where I had the chance to meet with many of my counterparts to look at the lessons learned regarding what happened in Afghanistan. We can be extremely proud of being one of the countries that will be resettling the most Afghan refugees in the world, at 40,000. That is our commitment and we will get there.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Mélanie Joly: Of course, we can also be proud that we will be resettling many of the NATO-linked refugees. Flights are arriving as we speak.
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- Dec/7/21 2:34:26 p.m.
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I want to remind hon. members of the way things work in the chamber. They ask a question and they get a response. If they ask questions while a person is answering, it just messes things up and makes things difficult.
The hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock.
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- Dec/7/21 2:34:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would love it if we got a response. What I am hearing are delays, platitudes and excuses. That is just not good enough.
There are 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces members who put their lives in the hands of our allies and interpreters in Afghanistan. They served together bravely and selflessly so that we could try to build a new Afghanistan. We promised our allies and their families protection and a new life, and the government broke that solemn bond. Just talking about the 40,000 without doing anything means nothing. Canadians returned here to safety—
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- Dec/7/21 2:35:25 p.m.
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The hon. Minister of Immigration.
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- Dec/7/21 2:35:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think all members of the House will agree on the importance of Canada making good on its commitment to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees.
Members on the opposite side are asking when people are going to arrive. Two weeks ago, when I was asked this question, I said 3,800 were here. Earlier this week, when I was asked the question, we had more than 4,000. I am pleased to share that by the end of this week, 500 more Afghan refugees will be arriving, including, for the first time, privately sponsored refugees from Afghanistan in my home province of Nova Scotia.
Our commitment will not waver and we will make good on bringing 40,000 vulnerable Afghan refugees to Canada.
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- Dec/7/21 2:36:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this summer, Canada failed in its duty to help our Afghan allies.
Who among us could forget the sad memory and tragic sight of Afghans clinging to airplanes as they were taking off. What happened in Afghanistan is terrible.
Those people are our friends and allies. They helped Canadian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. They are interpreters, support staff and their families. Canadians need to know why we were unable to give them the help they needed.
If the Prime Minister did nothing wrong, then why is he not supporting our call for a parliamentary committee to study the matter?
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- Dec/7/21 2:36:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Afghanistan issue is indeed very important.
Of course, Canada served alongside many of our NATO allies in Afghanistan, and we were supported by many Afghans on the ground, which is why we decided to honour that Afghan commitment to Canada by bringing 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. We have now taken in almost 5,000, and we are one of the countries that has received the most Afghan refugees. Right now, the situation in Afghanistan is very difficult, and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure that those refugees get here safely.
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- Dec/7/21 2:37:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during this debate, let us always keep in mind that these Afghans, who are our friends and allies, put their lives on the line so that Canadians could benefit from the current situation. That is why we must not play partisan politics with this issue.
It is very sad to see the minister laugh, because as far back as 2016, the Leader of the Opposition warned the House that we needed a plan to bring these people home. This summer, when all of Canada's efforts were needed to get these people out, the Prime Minister called a partisan, self‑serving election.
If the government has nothing to be ashamed of, will it accept our proposal to create a committee—
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- Dec/7/21 2:38:12 p.m.
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The hon. minister has the floor.
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- Dec/7/21 2:38:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have no lessons to learn from my colleague when it comes to playing partisan politics, because that is exactly what the Conservatives are doing right now.
That being said, we definitely need to learn from what happened in Afghanistan. As a government, we must do that. We are prepared to work with the opposition, but other countries have to do this as well. We are also working within NATO.
The most important thing is to be there for the Afghans who helped Canadians and want to come to Canada. We must do this while safeguarding Canada's national security and that is what we will do.
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- Dec/7/21 2:38:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, those who served alongside Canadians in Afghanistan deserve better than being “left on read” by the government. The Prime Minister avoided accountability and abandoned those who served Canada by calling a selfish election. Veterans, Canadians and Afghan interpreters want to know why the Liberal government failed them so badly.
Will the minister commit to voting in favour of today's opposition motion so Afghan interpreters and support staff know why they were abandoned, and to make sure this failure never happens again?
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- Dec/7/21 2:39:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course we want to learn what happened in Afghanistan. We also want to make sure the future Afghanistan is better than it is right now, and that is why we are continuing to follow the situation in Afghanistan very closely.
We are very preoccupied with the situation of Afghans, particularly women and girls who are right now in Afghanistan. It is why I have raised the issue with all my counterparts, it is why this is an absolute priority and it is why we will play our part as a country to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to our country.
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- Dec/7/21 2:40:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is such a priority that an election needed to be called.
The minister loves to say that 4,000 Afghan refugees have come to Canada. Only a Liberal would pat themselves on the back for meeting only 10% of their promises without any timeline or plan to complete the rest. It seems like only privately sponsored Afghan refugees have been arriving recently. Veterans, charities and NGOs have been picking up the massive slack left by the government.
On what date will the remaining 90% of Afghan refugees be brought to Canada?
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- Dec/7/21 2:40:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants to frame this in terms of the recent election campaign, I would point out that on this side of the House we campaigned on a commitment to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees here. On the opposition side, members campaigned on a commitment to end the government-assisted refugee stream. He criticizes our—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Dec/7/21 2:41:05 p.m.
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Order, please.
I missed the hon. Minister of Immigration's answer. Could he start from the top, please?
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- Dec/7/21 2:41:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the truth hurts sometimes, but the reality is that if the members of the opposition would like to frame this in the context of the recent federal election campaign, I would point out that the government campaigned on a commitment to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.
The Conservative Party of Canada campaigned on a commitment to end the government-assisted refugee stream altogether. If the member is concerned about the timeline for new arrivals, we anticipate that on two charter flights tomorrow an additional 520 Afghan refugees will land in Canada. That is something we should all be proud of.
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- Dec/7/21 2:42:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there was another shooting yesterday. This time, an 18-year-old was shot at a library in Laval. Now we are at a point where even our libraries are not safe. No good can come from normalizing the use of firearms to the extent that people feel free to fire guns in public places.
What will the minister do right now to reassure worried families?
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