44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 30, 2023 11:00AM
- Jan/30/23 2:56:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, yet again another Liberal patronage scandal. Not content with gifting lucrative government contracts to hateful anti-Semites, now the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion, the member for York South—Weston, handed $93,000 to a staffer's sister for public relations advice.
It is not difficult to realize that handing over taxpayer dollars to a staff's family is a bad idea, yet here we are again. Will the minister do the only responsible and dignified action and pay back the money?
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- Jan/30/23 2:57:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the most important duties of any member of Parliament is to communicate with their riding. That is why members of Parliament are permitted to use their operating budgets to hire service providers to help them communicate with their constituents. In this case, a small business in Toronto was hired by my constituency office to offer assistance in providing communication services to my constituents.
Let me be clear: The rules were followed. The contract with this organization was publicly disclosed and the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has advised that there is no conflict of interest.
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- Jan/30/23 2:58:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even after $50 million was spent on the ArriveCAN app, the Commissioner of Official Languages has reprimanded the government over the app's language issues.
A Canadian travelling in the United States was unable to get the French version of the app, even though it is one of this country's two official languages. The government spent a fortune on a service that violated the rights of francophones.
After eight years in power, will the government finally admit that it is incompetent, very incompetent?
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- Jan/30/23 2:58:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with my colleague. When we launch services, it is essential that they be available in both official languages. That is exactly what we did with ArriveCAN. When the public raised some concerns, the Canada Border Services Agency made improvements to the service. We will continue to invest in providing service in both official languages, everywhere.
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- Jan/30/23 2:59:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after years of pressure from Quebec, the provinces and the Bloc Québécois, the first ministers will finally meet on February 7 to talk health transfers. However, the federal government is trying to manage expectations by calling it a working meeting to discuss demands. We all know what those demands are. Ottawa needs to cover 35% of health care costs. That is what the premiers have been saying for the past 28 months, and they said it yet again in this morning's press release.
The federal government knows what they need. Is it going to bring its chequebook to the February 7 meeting?
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- Jan/30/23 2:59:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are very happy to be asked that question, because we are all looking forward to the next steps, which include the February 7 meeting. The first ministers will meet to build on the major progress that the health ministers have made in recent months, not only in the fight against COVID‑19, thereby saving tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions in economic costs, but also to ensure that people in Canada continue to receive the health care they need.
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- Jan/30/23 3:00:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, meanwhile, the crisis is worsening in our hospitals.
The situation is so untenable that exhausted nurses at Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital refused to go back to work two weeks ago. They even threatened to quit. At this point, working meetings are not enough; they need results.
Quebec and the provinces have been voicing their needs. They have been doing so for the past 28 months, and they did so again this morning.
On February 7, will Ottawa at least put some money on the table, to prove that it is negotiating in good faith?
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- Jan/30/23 3:00:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, putting money on the table is exactly what we have been doing for several years now, with an additional investment of $72 billion in the Canada health transfer and by covering 80% of the costs associated with fighting COVID‑19. Last March, we increased the Canada health transfer by 5%, and we will increase it by another 10% in the next few weeks, in March. We also invested $2 billion just a few weeks ago to combat emergencies and problems facing hospitals.
That is a lot of money, but more importantly, it is about outcomes that need to be achieved for patients and workers.
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- Jan/30/23 3:01:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Prime Minister's right-hand man in Quebec, had a strong reaction to the appointment of Amira Elghawaby, the federal representative to combat Islamophobia, who once made disparaging comments about the Quebec nation.
He said, “As a Quebecker, I am deeply hurt by these comments, I am deeply insulted”.
Given that he is hurt and insulted, will his words be backed up with action? Will the minister press for this irresponsible political appointment to be revoked?
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- Jan/30/23 3:02:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our position is clear. We know that Quebeckers oppose any form of racism and hate.
The special representative has already clarified her remarks, and I would refer the member to her statement on this matter.
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- Jan/30/23 3:02:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last month, the OPP's Constable Greg Pierzchala was murdered by a violent criminal out on bail. Chief Myron Demkiw of the Toronto police said that this murder was senseless and preventable and that Canada needs bail reform. Unfortunately, access to bail for violent criminals was made easier by the Liberal government's Bill C-75. Countless Canadians have been harmed by the Liberal bail system; it must be reformed.
Will the Liberal government make that commitment today?
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- Jan/30/23 3:03:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve to be and feel safe, and we all have a role in protecting our communities. The laws on bail are clear: Detaining an accused person is justified if it is necessary to protect the safety of the public. As my colleague knows, provinces and territories, as well as police forces, are responsible the enforcement of bail conditions. We all have a role to play. We at the federal level are providing resources to support them. We will continue to do so in order to ensure that laws are applied appropriately.
We remain open to good ideas and proposals from the opposition, and from provinces and territories, to reform our criminal justice system, including the bail system.
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- Jan/30/23 3:03:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have had eight years to make our streets safer, and they have only made things worse. Last year in Toronto, of the 44 homicides by shooting, 24 of the criminals responsible were out on bail when they committed the murders. All 13 premiers in Canada signed a historic letter to the Prime Minister demanding bail reform. The Toronto police are demanding bail reform.
What is it going to take for the Liberal government to reform the broken Liberal bail system?
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- Jan/30/23 3:04:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in a number of important cases, the bail reform that we undertook in Bill C-75 made it harder to get bail. As I have said, we are open to any good proposal from the opposition, as well as from provinces and territories.
At a conference of federal, provincial and territorial justice ministers in the fall, I committed to that long before this became a hot issue in the House of Commons. We are working with the provinces and territories to look at legitimate suggestions for bail reform.
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- Jan/30/23 3:04:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the rapid decline of biodiversity is threatening the foundation of our economy, our food security, our health and our quality of life and poses serious and irreversible risks to our communities.
Can the Minister of Environment and Climate Change tell the House about the agreement on an historic global framework that was signed after 13 days of negotiations at COP15 in Montreal?
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- Jan/30/23 3:05:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the question, his involvement and his advocacy on this important issue.
In December, countries from around the world met in Montreal to address biodiversity loss. More than one million species are at risk globally, including 640 species here in Canada. Representatives from more than 160 countries set their differences aside, and we committed to protecting 30% of our land and oceans by 2030.
It is a landmark agreement that Canadians should be proud of, since we were at the centre of this agreement.
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- Jan/30/23 3:06:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, under Bill C-21 on firearms, law-abiding citizens will no longer be able to hunt, but criminals will be able to continue terrorizing our streets.
Meanwhile, the provincial premiers are unanimously calling on this Liberal government to take immediate action to strengthen Canada's bail system.
In December, a police officer was killed by a criminal who had been granted bail even though he posed a real threat to society.
Will this Prime Minister stop playing politics with the safety of Canadians and do what needs to be done?
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- Jan/30/23 3:06:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I just said, the laws on bail are clear. We all have a role to play. Provinces, territories and police forces must enforce federal laws.
At a ministers' conference in November, my colleague, the Minister of Public Safety, and I committed to working with the provinces to look at suggestions for bail reform.
We are doing the work. We are open to legitimate suggestions for bail reform.
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- Jan/30/23 3:07:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, commuters in Toronto have been set on fire, stabbed and swarmed in a growing wave of violence. Our transit operators are scared to go to work. In the first three weeks of this year, Toronto police said that crimes were up more than 37%. We have repeat violent offenders out on our streets because of the government's weak bail system. The Minister of Public Safety says he is concerned, but he is not concerned enough to do anything about it.
Canadians are a little more than just concerned. When are we going to see the bail reform that every premier, police union and police chief has called for in this country?
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- Jan/30/23 3:08:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned with the recent spike of violence on the TTC. I have spoken directly with Mayor Tory to express our unwavering support for him and the city.
Our government, in fact, has doubled down on support for law enforcement, violence prevention, mental health supports, and supports to address homelessness and poverty. Most recently, along with the mayor, I announced $12 million in funding to address many of the social determinants that can lead to violence through the building safer communities fund, a fund that the Conservatives voted against.
We will continue to work with the City of Toronto and all communities to keep our public transit safe.
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