44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 29, 2022 10:00AM
- Nov/29/22 2:55:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course the hon. member is entitled to his opinions, but he is not entitled to the facts.
The fact is that the Conservatives cut $390 million from CBSA, further weakening our borders. In addition, the Conservatives are comfortable with attacking Bill C-5, which comes from the first government to tackle the issue of the massive overrepresentation of indigenous and Black Canadian people in our prison system. That is a scandal and the Conservatives should not fight that.
We are trying to fix the systemic discriminatory effects of mandatory minimum sentences that have not improved community safety but have led to a massive increase in overrepresentation of disadvantaged groups.
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- Nov/29/22 2:56:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, violent crime has risen 32% since the Liberals formed government in 2015.
This is a fact across all of Canada, including in my riding where I am reading local headlines, titled “Arrested again” for “participation in a criminal organization”, “Failure to comply with a probation order”, “Eleven counts of knowledge of possession of a firearm while prohibited”, “Two counts of disobeying a court order” and “Two counts of breach of a weapons prohibition”.
Why are the Liberals removing mandatory minimums on repeat offenders? When will they repeal their soft-on-crime policies?
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- Nov/29/22 2:56:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, serious crimes will always have serious consequences.
Bill C-5 is about moving past the failed policies of the Conservatives that clogged our system and filled our prisons with low-risk first-time offenders, time and resources that should have been devoted to fighting serious crimes.
In fact, former Supreme Court Justice Moldaver, whom no one could accuse of being soft on crime, recently stressed the need for a different approach to less serious offences. In the past decade we saw the impact of harsh, ineffective policies on indigenous and racialized people, and on those who suffer from addiction.
These are smart criminal justice policies.
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- Nov/29/22 2:57:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us make sure talking points do not get in the way of the facts.
Ten of the 12 mandatory minimums the Liberals are removing were introduced by previous Liberal governments, i.e., the senior Trudeau and Chrétien governments. What did the previous Liberal governments get so wrong?
As violent crime continued to increase in the last seven years under the Liberal government, why is it so focused on helping criminals and repeat offenders instead of standing up for the victims?
When will the Liberals repeal their soft-on-crime agenda?
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- Nov/29/22 2:58:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the opposition is defending those failed policies because it is defending itself.
The member and his party opposite have been in the forefront of the Harper era implementing policies targeting indigenous, Black and marginalized people. Those policies did not protect our communities. In fact, even Conservatives in the U.S. are abandoning mandatory minimum penalties and recognizing that they do not work.
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- Nov/29/22 2:58:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in a Radio-Canada interview on Sunday about the invocation of the Emergencies Act, the Minister of Public Safety defended himself, stating that the act has some shortcomings and needs to be updated.
That was a candid admission that his government knew it had not met the threshold for invoking the act, but did so anyway. In a country governed by the rule of law, the end does not justify the means.
Do the Liberals acknowledge and take responsibility for the fact that the precedent they set now authorizes any future government to suspend individual freedoms as it sees fit?
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- Nov/29/22 2:59:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I respect my colleague opposite, but no matter how many times he says something that is not true, he cannot make it true.
Nothing our government did suspended Canadians' rights. We made an important decision in order to protect Canada's economy and keep Canadians safe. We were transparent at every stage of the decision-making process, including before the commission last week, and we look forward to Justice Rouleau's report, which will provide answers to all these questions.
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- Nov/29/22 3:00:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that all the criteria were properly met. We respected the rights of all Canadians in an important process. We also thought it was a good idea, when we established the criteria with the Rouleau commission, to ask the commission for suggestions and opinions on the possibility of modernizing the Emergencies Act, to listen to the experts. That is why we are looking forward to Justice Rouleau's recommendations.
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- Nov/29/22 3:01:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first the Liberals promised not to raise the carbon tax, and then they tripled the tax. Then they said Canadians would get more money back when they paid the carbon tax. That was proven false. Then the Liberals promised the carbon tax would lower emissions, but emissions went up.
When will the Liberal government stop misleading Canadians and cancel the failed carbon tax?
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- Nov/29/22 3:01:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said in the House a number of times, affordability is extremely important to all members of the House. This government has taken very significant actions to address that, but I would also say that eight out of 10 Canadian families actually get more money back from the carbon tax, from the price on pollution, than they actually pay.
In terms of misleading the House, I would ask the hon. member who asked the question about what he campaigned on in the last campaign, which included putting a price on pollution. I am not sure exactly how he explains that to his constituents. Misleading? Yes, that is very much misleading.
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- Nov/29/22 3:02:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have no compassion for workers struggling to make ends meet. They are going to make things even harder for small and medium-sized businesses in January when they raise taxes. Worse still, Liberal policies are hurting businesses in Beauce that hire foreign workers and spend thousands of dollars recruiting them with no certainty that they will be able to keep them on for the duration of their contract.
When will the government realize it has to help our small and medium-sized businesses by fixing this problem and by cancelling the tax hikes?
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- Nov/29/22 3:03:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would say on this side of the House that every day we think about what we can do to help Canadians and to help those small businesses. We have cut taxes for small businesses throughout the pandemic. We have helped them keep their staff on staff. We saw many businesses pivot to being e-commerce friendly so that they can help their customers.
On this side of the House, every day is about helping small businesses. We will keep doing that.
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- Nov/29/22 3:03:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in only one month, 1.5 million individuals used the food bank. The fact is that a lot of seniors now depend on the food bank for survival. Unfortunately, due to the Liberal government's careless spending practices, life for people who founded this country is no longer affordable.
For our seniors, who raised us, fed us and cared for us, will the Liberal government show compassion and stop the tripling of the carbon tax on food, gas and home heating, yes or no?
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- Nov/29/22 3:04:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned the word “fact”, so let us look at some facts.
The fact is that when the Conservative Party was in power, its plan for seniors was to raise the age of retirement to 67.
The fact is that the first thing we did on this side was to reverse that back to 65.
The fact is that the party opposite has opposed every single measure our government has put forward to support seniors, including the increase to the guaranteed income supplement, including the 10% increase to the old age security, and including our enhancements to the CPP.
We will not take any lessons from the party opposite on seniors. We are going to continue to deliver for them.
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- Nov/29/22 3:05:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, November 25 marked the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. This year's theme, “It's Not Just”, reminds us of both the injustice of gender-based violence and how often society dismisses or minimizes behaviours and beliefs that contribute to its pervasiveness.
Can the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth share what our government is doing to address the injustices and provide support to those experiencing gender-based violence?
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- Nov/29/22 3:05:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to anyone experiencing gender-based violence, we see them and we hear them. We know crisis lines are being used more than ever across the country, and we have responded. We have entered into agreements to fund crisis lines with Nova Scotia, Yukon, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We are committed to expanding those services in the coming days.
I have to tell members, I am honoured to continue to do this work in every province and in every territory, and to know that if a person needs help, there is someone to listen on the other end of a crisis line.
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- Nov/29/22 3:06:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, this Liberal government has shown us that it is always lagging behind and in reaction mode. It lacks vision. No other country has a shortage of children's Tylenol and Advil like Canada. What are parents doing to save their children? They are going to the hospital. CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal is 150% over capacity. We have known about this problem since April.
My question is simple: Why is the Liberal government always lagging behind?
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- Nov/29/22 3:06:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we all share the concerns of parents, grandparents, and teachers about our children's health across Canada.
With respect to lagging behind, perhaps my colleague did not carefully listen to the most recent news. Almost two weeks ago, we announced the emergency import of more than one million units of children's medication. Last week, we announced the shipment of 500,000 units in the next few weeks.
I would be pleased to keep my colleague up to date if he would like.
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- Nov/29/22 3:07:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the minister has not gone to the pharmacy in the past few days because the shelves are empty. His government has been aware of the problem since April.
Let us talk about the economy. We are entering into a recession and the Liberals are raising taxes. They do not have the heart to lend a hand to Canadians. What more will it take? Consumer insolvency has increased by 22%. One in six businesses are considering closing their doors. The average credit card balance is at a record high of over $2,000. Requests for help at food banks are skyrocketing.
Will the Liberals listen to reason and stop increasing taxes?
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- Nov/29/22 3:08:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague across the way that the best slogan for the Conservative Party has always been and will always be chop, chop, chop.
They are the ones who have not accepted any program we have presented. They do not agree with the Canada child benefit, the Canada workers benefit or the help for seniors.
We have no lessons to learn from the Conservatives.
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