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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 19

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 16, 2021 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 19 - Dec/16/21
Hon. David Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:02:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I would ask the opposition to stop misleading Canadians. Serious drug traffickers— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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The Speaker
  • Dec/16/21 3:03:00 p.m.
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Order. The hon. Minister of Justice.
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Hon. David Lametti
  • Dec/16/21 3:03:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people charged with serious drug crimes, with trafficking and importing, will always face serious consequences in our criminal justice system. That is simply the case. All the mandatory minimum penalties do is clog up the system, and increase systemic racism and the impact of systemic racism within the system. The statistics show the opposition's policy of “tough on crime” is an abject failure and we are going to move beyond it and treat health problems as health problems and criminal justice problems as criminal justice problems.
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Hon. Rob Moore (Fundy Royal, CPC)
  • Dec/16/21 3:03:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Liberals are doing just the opposite; 4,000 opioid-related deaths by June is the projection just announced yesterday by the government's own agency. That is not just a number, that is 4,000 Canadians who have families, friends and plans for the future. The opioid crisis has affected communities of every single member of this House. Will the government finally consider the victims of this crisis over its efforts to eliminate jail time for the criminals importing, producing and trafficking these deadly drugs?
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Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos (Minister of Health, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:04:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is right; the opioid crisis is a terrible crisis. On average, about 20 people die of it every day. That is why we need to do things that take into account all sorts of measures that will be helpful to save lives. We are putting into place, in collaboration with provinces, territories and municipalities, measures to reduce harm, reduce risk, and provide safe provisions and access to safe drugs. We will also work with provinces and territories to make sure they have access to services—
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The Speaker
  • Dec/16/21 3:05:11 p.m.
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The hon. member for Vancouver Granville.
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Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:05:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the constituents of my riding of Vancouver Granville felt the effects of COVID-19 in all aspects of their lives. Thanks to this government's prudent financial management, however, we have seen a strong economic recovery. Could the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance tell the House about some of the measures included in the recent financial update that will continue to support this recovery?
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:05:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we learned over the past 21 months is that the most important economic policy is a strong health policy. In the economic and fiscal update, I announced $2 billion for therapeutics, $1.7 billion for rapid tests and $7.3 billion for vaccines and boosters. That is what we are doing.
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Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)
  • Dec/16/21 3:06:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Veterans Affairs Canada is cutting case workers in March, despite veterans and their families waiting up to two years for the benefits to which they are entitled. Last year alone, the department left over $635 million unspent. This is not helping veterans. When will the government take action and address the veterans' care crisis?
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Hon. Lawrence MacAulay (Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:07:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's question and concern. As he is well aware, we have made a number of investments in Veterans Affairs and we have hired over 400 case workers. As we indicated in our platform, we will make more—
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The Speaker
  • Dec/16/21 3:07:15 p.m.
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I am just going to ask the minister if he has a headset handy. It appears he does not have one. The government House leader.
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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:07:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we know how important it is to invest in veterans. That is why we reversed the cuts that we saw in veterans officers right across this country, as we watched the essential services that veterans were getting be cut—
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The Speaker
  • Dec/16/21 3:08:02 p.m.
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One moment, I believe the interpretation has stopped. I will ask the hon. government House leader to start from the beginning and answer that question, please.
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Hon. Mark Holland
  • Dec/16/21 3:08:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we understand the importance of our veterans, who need help. It is unfortunate that there were significant cuts to services. I will say that what was done to our veterans was absolutely unacceptable. We are going to be there for our veterans every step of the way, making sure that we restore those cuts and support them.
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Mr. Richard Lehoux (Beauce, CPC)
  • Dec/16/21 3:08:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture entered into an agreement with Quebec this past August to increase the percentage of temporary foreign workers in the agri-food industry from 10% to 20%. Unfortunately, nothing has been done since. Exceldor, Quebec's largest chicken slaughter plant, is still short more than 300 workers. These delays are forcing them to euthanize chickens. Animals are being sacrificed, and so is producers' revenue. I have a simple question for the minister: When will the 20% rate be applied in Quebec?
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Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:09:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to reassure my colleague. As a first step, we signed the agreement with Quebec over the summer. Quebec then went to work with the unions, as we had asked. They came back to the Minister of Employment, who accepted the request. The process is still ongoing, and I very much look forward to our agri-food businesses using this advantage to hire up to 20% foreign workers.
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Mr. Bernard Généreux (Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, CPC)
  • Dec/16/21 3:10:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, procedures, procedures, procedures. Sébastien Charrois is a constituent of mine whose family has been raising chickens for generations. He is at the end of his rope. He cannot find enough people to catch and transport the chickens in his barns. Transportation companies cannot do the work, and they cannot bring in temporary foreign workers. Tens of thousands of chickens are going to be euthanized if he does not find temporary workers. I have a simple question for the government: When will it do what needs to be done to bring in temporary foreign workers immediately?
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Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:10:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our temporary foreign worker programs are extremely important, especially to the agriculture and agri-food sector. The Minister of Employment, the Minister of Immigration and I can assure the House that we are making headway with this major reform. We want to acknowledge good employers. The vast majority of our employers and agricultural producers are good employers. We want to find a way to speed up the process and increase the ratio of foreign workers in plants, which has already been done with the Province of Quebec.
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Ms. Iqra Khalid (Mississauga—Erin Mills, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:11:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since my Motion No. 103 in 2017, we have changed the conversation so that no federal leader could ever pretend that Islamophobia is not a threat. We have made progress since then, including a national summit earlier this year, but as long as Muslim Canadians fear for their safety in the workplace or walking down the street, we have to do more. Could the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion please tell the House what the government is doing to continue combatting Islamophobia in Canada?
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Hon. Ahmed Hussen (Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Lib.)
  • Dec/16/21 3:12:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Islamophobia is real and a troubling fact. That is why earlier this past summer we held a national summit on Islamophobia to hear directly from community members about their lived experiences, but also taking concrete steps on how we can assist them further. I am pleased to inform the hon. member for Mississauga—Erin Mills that we will take further action, including dedicated resources to tackle Islamophobia and working with Muslim Canadians on the appointment of a special representative to tackle Islamophobia. On this side of the House, we will continue to fight hatred in Canada to keep communities safe.
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