44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 9, 2022 11:00AM
- May/9/22 2:13:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, back when I was studying communications, I had the privilege of interviewing the king of radio, André Arthur, for a school assignment. He was very generous in answering my questions.
His popularity was impressive, and people had strong feelings about him. He portrayed himself as a defender of widows and orphans. Steeped in culture, he was a master of the French language and excelled at wordplay.
After criticizing politicians, he decided to try his own hand at the job and was elected as the member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier. For almost six years, he represented the people of the wonderful riding I currently represent. He left his mark on the world of communications with his outspokenness. One expression he enjoyed using and that I quite like as well was, “If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”.
I would like to extend my condolences to his children, René and Pascale; his three grandchildren; his partner, Lucy; his brother, Louis; and all his loved ones.
I thank André Arthur for serving, and may he rest in peace.
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- May/9/22 2:14:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us turn May grey.
May is Brain Tumour Awareness Month. Every day, 27 Canadians hear the words “you have a brain tumour”. These tumours are unpredictable and complex, and can affect anyone at any time.
Malignant or benign, they leave a physical, psychological and financial mark on the lives of patients and their loved ones, who will be left shaken by waves of emotion and a desire to do something, anything, to help.
This year, the Brain Tumour Walk is celebrating 40 years of hope. I invite everyone to sign up for the weekend of the walk, June 17 to 19, to say goodbye to brain tumours, to support patients and their families and to give hope.
I will be walking in memory of my mother. To those participating, for whom will you walk?
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- May/9/22 2:15:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize National Nursing Week. This is our opportunity to thank Canada's nurses for their outstanding leadership delivering health care to all Canadians. During this pandemic, nurses made tremendous sacrifices to answer the call when we needed them most. They provided care with skill, compassion and courage in the face of unrelenting waves of COVID-19.
We know Canada's nurses provide critical services to patients at all times in all health care environments. Nurses take care of us at our most vulnerable, and we must take care of them in return. This National Nursing Week, let us turn our words of gratitude into action by addressing important issues such as staffing shortages, workplace violence and unacceptable working conditions.
Canadian nurses are the backbone of our health care system. This week, take a moment to thank them for their professionalism, skill and dedication. I will be doing exactly that for my sister, Cheryl Davies, and her partner, Bob Jasperson, who have been superb nurses for over 30 years.
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- May/9/22 2:16:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many Bloc Québécois supporters contributed to our party's fundraiser in support of Ukraine.
On behalf of all our members, I warmly thank everyone who made a donation. We collected $35,000, which was donated to the Red Cross. This amount will be boosted to $70,000 because the federal government is matching donations. It will obviously take more to overcome the horror we are seeing and are powerless to address in Ukraine, but I salute the people who chose to donate despite the discouraging situation.
I invite the other parties to do their part. The Bloc Québécois is only active in Quebec, but the other parties have networks across the country: in the Maritimes, Ontario, the Prairies and the west. They could easily raise more than the Bloc Québécois. I hope they will do so. After 75 days of war, all efforts are needed.
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- May/9/22 2:18:00 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, recently the justice committee heard the testimony from Robert Davis, Chief of the Brantford Police Service. During his testimony, and I am quoting from the blues, Chief Davis said, “With Bill C-5 and the proposed changes now we are going to see sentencing become a joke”. He then continued, “with...turning sentences into conditional sentences...the justice system...is being brought into disrepute. People will operate with impunity, the victims' rights are going to be given away for the rights of the criminal.” He also said, “Victims of communities will live in fear of gun violence, fearful of retaliation by armed criminals and people will continue to overdose”.
Chief Davis is a proud Mohawk from the Six Nations of the Grand River territory in my riding of Brantford—Brant. He has been policing since 1990 and is the only indigenous leader on a municipal police service in Ontario. His first-hand experience debunks the ideologically driven narrative the Liberal members are selling.
Despite this, sadly and dangerously, the NDP-Liberal government does not want to listen to the warnings of Chief Davis. My message is simple: The Minister of Justice must withdraw this soft-on-crime bill now.
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- May/9/22 2:19:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of National Mining Week. The focus of Mining Week is to highlight the innovations and accomplishments made by the mining industry and showcase the idea of advancing the industry to become more sustainable and environmentally sound. Canada's mining industry is essential to the products that we rely on as an economic driver and major employer in communities all across the country. In Northern Ontario alone, over 23,000 are employed, generating $5.5 billion in annual revenue.
I want to recognize and thank the mining industry in Canada, which continues to make large strides to ensure safety is at the forefront of its operations, while also working hard to enable a low-carbon future. Specifically, I would like to recognize the incredible efforts made by the Mining Association of Canada and its commitment to advocating for the mining and mining supply sectors across the country.
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- May/9/22 2:20:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, flooding has been affecting communities across Manitoba, particularly in my riding of Portage—Lisgar, and although there was warm weather and wind this past weekend, which helped, we are hearing that there is more heavy rain in the forecast today. Resources are quickly being used up, and people are exhausted. Communities are tired of being isolated and cut off from the rest of the province.
Can the Minister of Emergency Preparedness tell us what, if anything, the federal government is doing to help those affected by flooding in Manitoba?
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- May/9/22 2:21:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are very much engaged with the Province of Manitoba and the impacted communities. Flooding continues to affect multiple communities across the province due to high water levels on the Red River and its tributaries. We have been working very closely through our Government Operations Centre and Indigenous Services Canada with the Manitoba Emergency Coordination Centre.
I have reached out a number of times to my counterpart, Minister Piwniuk. We are in regular contact, and we have offered every assistance that Manitoba may require. At this point, Manitoba advises that the flood response remains within provincial capabilities, but we have also engaged with the Red Cross to assist with evacuations, and we are working with the municipalities, 26 of which have declared states of local emergency.
We will continue to be there for the people of Manitoba.
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- May/9/22 2:21:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals invoked the Emergencies Act without just cause, and they are now trying to cover it up. The government used extraordinary power on innocent Canadians, restricting their movement and freezing their bank accounts, and now they are trying to cover up the fact that they did not need to use the act.
As Perrin Beatty, the author of the Emergencies Act, said, “wherever you have extraordinary powers, there must be extraordinary accountability.” Where is the “extraordinary accountability” that Canadians deserve? What are the Liberals trying to hide when it comes to the Emergencies Act?
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- May/9/22 2:22:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the accountability comes in the professionalism and the way the police undertook their work to restore public safety. There is accountability is the ongoing way in which we are being fully transparent with the events that led to the invocation of the Emergencies Act, including testimony before the committee and our planned co-operation with Judge Rouleau.
We invoked the act because it was necessary. It worked, and we will continue to be transparent about this.
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- May/9/22 2:23:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' “just trust us” is not enough. This is the same Prime Minister who covered up his involvement in the SNC-Lavalin scandal. He covered up his involvement in the WE scandal, and he is hiding documents right now about the Winnipeg microbiology lab. He covers up every single scandal that he is a part of, and now he is trying to cover up the fact that he was abusing his power when he invoked the Emergencies Act.
Why do the Liberals think Canadians should just trust them on the Emergencies Act when they continually hide, cover up and deflect?
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- May/9/22 2:23:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, it continues to be astounding how the hon. leader for the opposition continues to deflect her responsibility for her conduct during the Emergencies Act and for the posture of the Conservative Party, which continued to encourage illegal blockaders to stay. If they do not want to take it from the government, they can listen to what the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, which said that the Emergencies Act “is critical to assisting law enforcement in addressing the mass national and international organization of the [so-called] Freedom Convoy”. These are the words of law enforcement, non-partisan, professional law enforcement.
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- May/9/22 2:24:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he must waive cabinet confidence.
Gas is at $2.04 a litre in Montreal, $2.04 in Newfoundland and $2.23 in British Columbia, and I am just talking about regular gas. It costs more than $100 for 50 litres of gas. Putting in $20 will not even get your gas gauge above empty. The Liberals are not even hiding the fact that they are happy the price of gas is so high.
When will the NDP‑Liberal government give Canadians some relief to help them make ends meet?
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- May/9/22 2:25:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at a time when all members of the House should stand united in response to Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Conservatives are just playing politics.
They know that the recent rise in gas prices is the result of this illegal war, but they continue to ignore these facts in an attempt to score political points. While the Conservatives remain focused on politics, we are focused on implementing real measures to improve the lives of Canadians.
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- May/9/22 2:25:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would be interested in knowing how much extra revenue the government is getting from the carbon tax. It would be nice if it provided those figures instead of all kinds of excuses.
The rising cost of living is expensive for everyone. It costs more to go to work. It costs more to grow our fruits and vegetables. It costs more to transport goods.
As the Prime Minister himself said in 2018, he likes to tax everyone to cover his endless spending. In 2018, on the subject of rising gas prices, he said that is exactly what he wants. Is that really what he wants, to impoverish all Canadian families?
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- May/9/22 2:26:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a serious issue and Canadians deserve a discussion rooted in facts, not partisan speaking points. The fact is that this is a global phenomenon caused, in large part, by Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
We continue to propose concrete measures to make life more affordable for Canadians. The Conservatives continue to vote against them.
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Mr. Speaker, in a democracy, one of the most fundamental principles is no taxation without representation. In other words, no elected officials, no taxes. This is at the heart of modern democracy.
The budget and the budget implementation bill are therefore essential moments in democratic life and in its exercise.
Does anyone in the government realize the damage that is being done to democracy by stifling the voices of the opposition on the budget implementation bill?
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Mr. Speaker, debate is essential, but the problem on the other side of the House is the Conservative Party's obstructionist tactics, which continue day after day. It took four months to pass Bill C-8, and that is completely unacceptable.
Unfortunately, we need to work as quickly as possible. There will be several opportunities for debate in committee and at third reading.
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Mr. Speaker, the bill that just went under time allocation is 500 pages long. It contains 60 measures and amends 37 acts. Just reading it takes longer than the time we have to debate it.
It covers issues such as COVID‑19 support measures, employment insurance, fighting anti-Semitism, the Social Security Tribunal, aerospace and more.
Every one of these topics deserves its own fulsome debate, but, no, they are using time allocation to shove it down our throats. Why deny democracy like this?
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Mr. Speaker, we have spent five days trying to get this bill passed, but the problem with the Conservative Party is that it gets in the way of our work at every turn. That is what happened for four months with Bill C‑8.
That is also what is happening here at a time when Canadians are in dire need of these supports. We know beyond a doubt that the bill needs to be passed, and the committee and the House will have plenty of opportunities to keep debating the legislation.
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