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Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Mar/31/22 10:04:58 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-265

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-265, An Act respecting the development of a national perinatal mental health strategy. He said: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce the national perinatal mental health strategy. I would like to thank the hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona for seconding this legislation and for her tireless advocacy in support of perinatal mental health. Perinatal mental illness is a critical issue affecting nearly one in four Canadian families. However, programs and policies across Canada have not kept up with best practices, research or the overarching science. The services currently available to people experiencing a perinatal mental illness are largely inadequate. This legislation would require the Minister of Health to address this by developing a national strategy to support perinatal mental health across Canada. The strategy includes measures to provide universal access to perinatal mental health screening and effective treatment services, combat stigma, promote awareness, improve training, support research and address the social determinants of perinatal mental health. I call on all parliamentarians to help women, parents and their families by supporting this vital and overdue initiative.

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Mr. Pat Kelly (Calgary Rocky Ridge, CPC)

Mar/31/22 10:06:44 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-266

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-266, an Act to amend the Excise Act and the Excise Act, 2001 (adjusted duties - beer, malt liquor, spirits and wine). He said: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce this bill in the House of Commons this morning. I thank the member for Kelowna—Lake Country for seconding my bill. Tomorrow, the tax on beer, wine and spirits will go up automatically. This bill would repeal the automatic annual tax increase. This ever-increasing tax makes enjoying a beer with friends, or a bottle of wine with dinner, increasingly unaffordable for working Canadians during an inflation crisis, and it makes Canadian producers less able to compete internationally. Perhaps worst of all is that the automatic escalator denies Parliament its most basic function. If the government wishes to raise taxes, it should be forced to ask Parliament, not just raise them automatically. Therefore, I hope members from all parties will support this bill and restore the power to raise taxes to Parliament, where it belongs.

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Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Mar/31/22 10:08:09 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-267

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-267, an act to amend the Excise Act (non-alcoholic beer). He said: Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise here today to introduce my private member's bill that would remove the excise tax on beer with less than 0.5% alcohol. I would like to thank the hon. member for Windsor West for seconding this bill. Since it is National Indigenous Languages Day, I will say lim'limpt to him in the language of the Syilx people of the Okanagan nation. This bill corrects a curious anomaly in the Excise Act where low-alcohol wine and spirits are not subject to the tax, but low-alcohol beer is. None of Canada's major trading partners have an excise tax on low-alcohol beer. Low-alcohol beer is a healthy and increasingly popular choice, and we should be encouraging rather than discouraging this, as the current tax does. My hometown of Penticton, British Columbia has been dubbed by Lonely Planet as the craft beer capital of Canada, and I hope that, by fixing this anomaly in the Excise Act, we will help expand the domestic production of low-alcohol beer and give Canadians more choice.

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Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC)

Mar/31/22 10:09:51 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the petitioners of the petition I am presenting today call on the government to end the mandates on our public service and the military, and to lift the restrictions on people who want to cross the border. The petition includes a signature from a soldier who has been in the military 24 years, has served in Kosovo and Bosnia, and completed three tours in Afghanistan, among others. In his 24th year of service, he was thrown out of the military because his cardiologist, after his first shot, recommended that he not take a second.

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Mrs. Tracy Gray (Kelowna—Lake Country, CPC)

Mar/31/22 10:10:30 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to table a petition on behalf of constituents in my riding of Kelowna—Lake Country and surrounding area in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to provide additional anti-aircraft, anti-rocket and naval weapons systems to Ukraine immediately; impose a full trade embargo on Russia; continue the removal of Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system; impose further economic sanctions, as deemed feasible and desirable; recall Canadian embassy staff from Russia and Belarus; expel Russian diplomats from Canada; freeze Canadian assets of Russian oligarchs; expedite a program of resettlement for Ukrainian refugees; and support Russians who openly oppose the ongoing conflict, up to and including potential refugee status.

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Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 10:11:29 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition, as my colleague did previously, on the issue of the terrible war that is happening in Ukraine. This petition was signed by thousands of Canadians and recognizes that the Russian Federation has launched an unprovoked war against the people of Ukraine and that the Russian Federation has committed multiple war crimes against the people of Ukraine. The Russian invasion has triggered a human rights, humanitarian and displacement crisis, the worst such catastrophe in recent European history. As of March 10, 2022, the World Health Organization estimates that at least 18 hospitals have been attacked by Russian forces since the beginning of the invasion. Given the fact that the Canada is home to 1.4 million citizens of Ukrainian descent and has a deep and unflinching commitment to the people of Ukraine, 80% of Canadians support or could accept the government's decision to allow Ukrainians to stay in Canada permanently.

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Mrs. Kelly Block (Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, CPC)

Mar/31/22 10:12:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, freedom of conscience is a fundamental right clearly articulated in section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I have the honour to table petitions signed by hundreds of citizens across Canada calling on Parliament to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals from coercion or intimidation to provide or refer patients for assisted suicide or euthanasia. I thank these Canadians for their engagement on this important issue.

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Mrs. Jenica Atwin (Fredericton, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 10:13:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table a petition on behalf of constituents in my riding of Fredericton. This petition calls on the government to enact just transition legislation. Among other things, the petition calls for Canada to reduce emissions and assist the global south in reducing emissions. It calls for the wind down of the fossil fuel industry and the creation of good green jobs and an inclusive work force. The petition also calls for the protection of indigenous rights, sovereignty and knowledge by including indigenous peoples in the creation and implementation of a just transition legislation. The petition calls for the transition to be paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthiest incorporations.

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Ms. Melissa Lantsman (Thornhill, CPC)

Mar/31/22 10:13:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition on behalf of over 13,500 Canadians. There was $342 million spent on testing at our borders, yet the Public Health Agency could not verify 30% of them. Canadians want an end to testing and travel restrictions. I agree with them. It is time to end the COVID theatre and let Canadians travel freely.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 10:14:24 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 324, 326 to 328 and 330.

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Mar/31/22 10:14:59 a.m.
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*Question No. 332—

Questioner: Dave Epp

With regard to the government’s broadband internet strategy: (a) what is the timeline for providing complete broadband internet availability to Pelee Island; (b) will the deadline be adjusted for lost time due to slow rollout after the announcement; (c) what is the total amount of funding to date to complete broadband internet availability on Pelee Island; and (d) what are the details of how the funding in (c) will be provided?

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Mar/31/22 10:14:59 a.m.
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Question No. 324—

Questioner: Tom Kmiec

With regard to the government's promise to plant two billion trees by 2030: (a) what is the breakdown of the number of trees planted to date, by riding and by province or territory; (b) what is the total number of trees planted to date; and (c) what is the breakdown of where the two billion trees will be planted by 2030, by riding and by province or territory?

Question No. 326—

Questioner: Arnold Viersen

With regard to Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Canadians detained or incarcerated abroad: (a) how many Canadians were arrested or detained in 2021, on charges GAC considered to be politically motivated, frivolous, or otherwise illegitimate; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by country of arrest or detainment; (c) how many Canadians are currently detained or incarcerated on charges GAC considers to be politically motivated, frivolous, or otherwise illegitimate, broken down by country of detainment or incarceration; and (d) what is GAC doing to free the Canadians in (c), including the specific actions that have been taken since January 1, 2021, broken down by the action taken related to each country listed in (c)?

Question No. 327—

Questioner: Michelle Ferreri

With regard to the government's requirement for vaccinated Canadians who travel to the United States to have a negative PCR or molecular COVID-19 test before returning to Canada: did the government do any analysis related to how the policy discriminates against low-income Canadians who have family members living in the United States, and, if so, what are the details, including results of the analysis?

Question No. 328—

Questioner: Fraser Tolmie

With regard to the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the 44th General Election of September 20, 2021, and voting by special ballots: (a) of the 90,274 ballots returned late and not counted, as mentioned in Table 3 - Categories of special ballot voters for the 44th general election, (i) what is the breakdown by electoral district, (ii) how many of the ballots were requested before the first day of advance polling; (b) of the 114,583 ballots not returned or cancelled, as mentioned in Table 3 - Categories of special ballot voters for the 44th general election, (i) what is the breakdown by electoral district, (ii) how many of the ballots were requested before the first day of advance polling, (iii) how many of these electors voted instead at their election day polling station; (c) in respect of the 1,589 special ballots in Mississauga—Streetsville which had accumulated in a commercial mail room and were not delivered to the returning officer until the day after the election, as mentioned on page 23 of the report, (i) who owned, occupied or controlled the commercial mail room, (ii) did the returning officer or the Chief Electoral Officer enter into a contract for the commercial mail room services, (iii) if the answer to (ii) is affirmative, how much was paid for these services and was a refund received, and, if so, what are the details of the refund, (iv) how long had the ballots been accumulating in the commercial mail room, (v) what arrangements were in place for the retrieval or delivery of the ballots from the commercial mail room, (vi) why were the ballots not retrieved or provided to the returning officer by election day; and (d) were there any instances, similar to the situation described in (c), in other electoral districts and, if so, how many ballots were involved and what are the answers in respect of the matters asked about in (c)(i) through (c)(vi)?

Question No. 330—

Questioner: Fraser Tolmie

With regard to the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the 44th General Election of September 20, 2021, and the reference on page 27 to incorrectly printed ballots in Vaughan—Woodbridge and Beausejour: (a) what was the nature of the errors on the "incorrect list of candidates"; (b) what are the details surrounding any contracts related to the incorrectly printed ballots including (i) which printing company or companies produced the incorrectly printed ballots, (ii) the value of the contract, (iii) whether a refund was requested, (iv) whether a refund was received, (v) the amount of the refund, if applicable; and (c) in respect of the incorrectly printed ballots which were used for voting and subsequently rejected during the count, were election officials at polling stations instructed to verify the correct list of candidates on each ballot before handing it to an elector?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 10:14:59 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in addition we ask that the government's response to starred Question No. 332 be printed in Hansard as if read. The Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 10:14:59 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, furthermore, if the government's responses to Question Nos. 323, 325, 329 and 331 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled immediately. The Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon members: Agreed.

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Mar/31/22 10:15:13 a.m.
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Question No. 323—

Questioner: Tom Kmiec

With regard to losses of public money and property as listed in Volume Ill of the 2021 Public Account of Canada: what are the details of each instance where the loss involved an item with a value in excess of $1,000, including for each (i) the item description, (ii) the item value, (iii) whether the item is considered lost, damaged, or stolen, (iv) the government department or agency which owned the item, (v) the incident description or summary?

Question No. 325—

Questioner: Laila Goodridge

With regard to the mandate letter of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the commitment in the letter to create 3,300 new child care spaces for Indigenous children: (a) how many new child care spaces have been created for Indigenous children since the letter was received by the minister on December 16, 2021, broken down by province or territory; and (b) how many new spaces for Indigenous children will be created by the end of (i) 2022, (ii) 2023?

Question No. 329—

Questioner: Fraser Tolmie

With regard to the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the 44th General Election of September 20, 2021, and the National Register of Electors: (a) in respect of the 92.3% accuracy of registered electors' addresses, as mentioned on page 41 of the report, (i) how many electors are represented by the remaining 7.7%, in total and broken down by electoral district, (ii) how many of the electors referred to in (i) were sent a voter information card; and (b) in respect of Elections Canada's registration letter campaign targeted to "select regions with lower youth coverage", which electoral districts were selected?

Question No. 331—

Questioner: Leslyn Lewis

With regard to all federal COVID-19 related mandates and restrictions, and broken down by each measure: (a) what was the scientific justification or study for each mandate or restriction; (b) what is the specific website address where the study's details, including the findings, can be found; (c) on what date will each restriction end; and (d) for each mandate or restriction that does not have a set end-date, what criteria or metric has to be achieved in order for it to be rescinded?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Mar/31/22 10:15:19 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand. The Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon members: Agreed.

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Hon. Ed Fast (Abbotsford, CPC)

Mar/31/22 10:16:26 a.m.
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moved: That, given that, (i) excessive government spending has increased the deficit, the national debt, and fuelled inflation to its highest level in 31 years, (ii) taxes on Canadians continue to increase, from the carbon tax to escalator taxes to Canada Pension Plan premiums, (iii) the government refuses to provide relief to Canadians by temporarily reducing the Goods and Services Tax on gasoline and diesel, the House call on the government to present a federal budget rooted in fiscal responsibility, with no new taxes, a path to balance, and a meaningful fiscal anchor. He said: Mr. Speaker, I want to let you know that I am splitting my time with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable. Excessive government spending; deficits as far as the eye can see; the largest national debt this country has ever seen, in fact doubled in a short six years; inflation running rampant; skyrocketing housing prices; seven years littered with broken promises: that is the record of the failed Liberal government. The motion before us today is hoping to right the ship somewhat. As members know, next week on April 7, the Minister of Finance is going to be tabling in the House a budget that is intended to chart the pathway forward for this country when it comes to our finances and how we spend taxpayers' money. Given the fact that the last six years of the Liberal government has been such an unmitigated financial disaster, we would like to make some suggestions for what it could do to actually restore some sanity and probity into our fiscal situation here in our country. Let me begin by talking about what Canadians have come to expect. Over the last two and a half years we have been fighting the COVID pandemic. Rightfully Canadians have been concerned about their health and the health of their neighbours, so we were asked to be vaccinated. Remember that? We were told if we were vaccinated we would not pick up the COVID virus. Of course, now we find out that is not true. I am triple vaccinated and I have not had the COVID virus. My wife is triple vaccinated. After she was triple vaccinated, she got the COVID virus and we live together, so the health authorities had that wrong. I support vaccination, but the Liberals told us if Canadians got vaccinated we will have life return to normal. Lockdowns will be gone, mandates will be lifted and life will be back to normal. What happened? It was quite the opposite. We are still under lockdowns. We are still under vaccine mandates at the federal level, which is the Prime Minister's responsibility. Now we are faced with an even greater challenge and that is inflation. Today, our inflation rate is somewhere in the order of 5.7%. House prices are up a whopping 30% in just this year alone, so how does the government expect young Canadian families who have this dream of home ownership to ever fulfill that dream? Millions of Canadians have lost that dream of home ownership. We have seen gas prices at the pump go up 32% since February of this past year, 2021. Of course, those gas prices continue to climb in my region of Abbotsford and the greater Vancouver area. Some gas stations were charging $2.09 per litre of gas and right now there is no prospect of that going down at all. In fact, the prospect is that those prices will keep going up. In order to address that issue, we as Conservatives, presented solutions. One of those solutions was tabled in the House a week ago, which was to, temporarily at least, lift the GST on gasoline purchases. Give Canadians a break. We had a debate in the House and guess what. Our NDP-Liberal friends voted against relief at the gas pumps. We brought forward another proposal, which was, why do we not lift the carbon tax? Let us get rid of the carbon tax and give motorists a break. We know the NDP-Liberal coalition is opposed to that. In fact, it is the government of high taxes. Inflation is being driven by a number of factors. I have already mentioned taxes. Every time the current government raises taxes, whether it is carbon taxes or the rising GST revenues that it gets because of the rising gas prices, every time it imposes an escalator tax like it did for alcohol and every time it raises CPP premiums, that is a burden on Canadians and it is driving inflationary pressures in Canada. However, it gets worse. Less than a year ago, the Minister of Finance was given a mandate letter from the Prime Minister in which she was instructed to engage in no more new permanent spending. Do members remember that? It was a directive to the finance minister for no new permanent spending. Guess what happened. Today, we are looking at pharmacare. That is new permanent spending. We are looking at dental care. That is new permanent spending. We are looking at transit. We are looking at numerous new spending programs, including child care for example. It goes on and on with broken promises. By the way, in the most recent mandate letter, less than a year after the original one that prohibited new permanent spending, suddenly the mandate letter had no reference at all to new permanent spending. It is a government that loves to virtue signal on finances, on deficits, on debt and on spending, but it never delivers. It gets worse. April 1, tomorrow, is April Fool's Day, and of course the Liberals are going to treat Canadians like fools. What are the Liberals going to do? They are going to increase the carbon tax by another $10 per tonne. Do members know what that means? For those provinces that have the carbon tax backstop it means another 11¢ at the pump. That is on the current Liberal government. They cannot blame that on anyone else. It gets worse. Do people remember the last budget, a year ago, when the Minister of Finance talked about the stimulus that she was going to pump into the economy to get the economy going? The economy was already starting to grow and bounce back, but she insisted that she needed over $100 billion of additional money to pump into the economy. Guess what happened. There was so much money pumped into the economy that it has caused inflation, especially in the housing market. As I already mentioned, in one year alone, there was a 30% increase in housing prices. How are Canadians supposed to cope with that? How are Canadians supposed to cope? We are facing an inflation crisis. We are facing a tax crisis crisis in this country. We are facing a spending crisis in this country. That is why today we are calling upon this finance minister, this Prime Minister and the NDP-Liberal government to do the right thing, which is to rein in spending. In this coming budget next week, we are calling on the government to make sure that there is a clear pathway toward balanced budgets, where we return to living within our means. That is what responsible governments do. We have not seen that for the last six years. We are solution-oriented. We are asking the government to come up with a defensible, firm fiscal anchor that has a clear pathway to a balanced budget in the medium term. In the motion before them, members see that we are asking the government to address inflationary pressures, to address taxation that is going through the roof and to address the needs of Canadians. Canadians are really struggling. They have lost their dream of home ownership. They cannot pay for gas for their cars to take their kids to hockey lessons, to school and to music lessons. They cannot afford life anymore. They cannot buy groceries. My goodness, we are living in one of the richest countries in the world and the current government has made it virtually impossible for many families to even afford groceries. I am asking the government to do the right thing in its upcoming budget. I am asking it to find a pathway to balance, restrain spending and control the urge to spend. I know Liberal tax-and-spend is the way of this country whenever we have a Liberal government. However, I ask the Liberals to listen to us. We are solution-oriented.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 10:26:36 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, how quickly my friend has forgotten. It was not that long ago when we had a national election and the leader of the Conservative Party was going to actually keep a carbon tax. He supported a carbon tax. What the Conservative Party of Canada supported was a price on pollution. Not only did the Conservatives promise that, but in part of their platform they were actually going to spend more money than what we were proposing to spend. Does my friend opposite not realize that, if we are saying one thing during a national campaign, there is a certain expectation that Canadians might believe what we are saying during the election? Now they are taking a flip-flop not on one or two issues but even on a basic understanding of COVID, as the member said regarding getting vaccinated once or twice and getting a booster. It does not mean that we cannot get infected, but what it does is it minimizes the effects. I am wondering if the member could maybe provide his thoughts on being consistent.

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Hon. Ed Fast

Mar/31/22 10:27:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are entirely consistent. The Parliamentary Budget Officer recently issued a report that showed that the carbon tax revenues the Liberal government raises far exceed the rebates it sends back. Virtually every Canadian in this country pays more in carbon tax than they get back. Our plan in the last election was a carbon savings account, not a carbon tax. The member obviously did not read the platform document. We, of course, did, and it was a carbon savings account in which every single dollar Canadians paid would come back to them by way of a formal investment in their carbon savings account. The least I would expect from our Liberal friends is the truth.

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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon (Mirabel, BQ)

Mar/31/22 10:28:56 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague began his speech by misinforming the public, when he implied that the vaccine is not effective because booster doses are required. I would suspect that my colleague has been vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, influenza, hepatitis B, pneumococcus, meningitis, measles, rubella and mumps. All of these vaccines require booster doses. Does my colleague understand what a booster dose is, and does he intend to stop pushing misinformation to Quebeckers and Canadians?

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