44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 14, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/14/23 2:50:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my colleague from Kings—Hants for his continuous dedication to agriculture.
We recognize that the recent weather events impacted the grape growers of Nova Scotia and have caused them significant stress. I want to ensure them that we stand ready to assess the disaster as soon as the province submits a request for AgriRecovery. Until then, I invite them to check their eligibility for the AgriInsurance, AgriInvest and AgriStability programs.
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Mr. Speaker, interesting news this morning: the Quebec government is urging the Liberal government to include a mechanism for mandatory consultation in Bill C‑11 to ensure the protection of Quebec culture.
It is asking the Prime Minister, who still enjoys the Bloc's support, to ensure that, before Bill C‑11 passes, it includes an official consultation mechanism with the Quebec government.
Do the Prime Minister and the Bloc agree with Minister Lacombe when it comes to Quebec culture and the fact that the government needs to send the bill to committee?
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Mr. Speaker, we co-operate extremely well with the Government of Quebec on culture and on many other files too.
The Bloc Québécois, the NDP and the Liberal Party understand the importance of culture. They understand the importance of asking various streaming platforms, like Netflix and Disney, which are very popular, to contribute to Canadian culture.
There is a party that decided to abandon the cultural industry, as well as our actors, our creators, our producers and our directors. It decided to abandon all those who produce the very best in the world. That party is the Conservative Party.
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Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see the Minister of Canadian Heritage, who often says that the Bloc is picking fights, all of sudden say that the Bloc is his biggest ally. As was the case for several bills, bills C‑5, C‑75 and C‑11, the Bloc is a great ally to the Liberals.
Can the minister give us an answer? Will the government send Bill C‑11 to committee so it can study the request of the Government of Quebec?
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Mr. Speaker, it is true that the Bloc likes to pick fights a lot of the time, but sometimes it wants to collaborate, and that is the case for Bill C‑11.
I wonder how a member from Quebec and the other colleagues from Quebec can come here to debate and say that we do not need this bill when everyone in Quebec is calling for it. We need C‑11 for every industry, including the music, television and film sectors, so we can continue being the best in the world in what we do, despite the Conservatives.
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Mr. Speaker, how can a member from Quebec, a minister from Quebec, refuse to listen to the demands of the Government of Quebec?
I understand that the purpose of Bill C‑11 is to centralize power in Ottawa, with help from the Bloc Québécois, which I might have to start calling the “centralist bloc”.
Will the Liberal government and its Bloc Québécois buddies allow the parliamentary committee to study the Senate amendments and Quebec's legitimate request?
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Mr. Speaker, again, we have a good working relationship with Quebec and have had a number of collaborations in the cultural industry.
The Conservatives just want to filibuster. They have gone on at great length about everything under the sun—very eloquently, I will give them that—but at the end of the day, we need this bill.
We are competing with global giants. We need to keep putting our very best out there. We need Bill C‑11. We will keep working with Quebec regardless of what the Conservatives do.
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Mr. Speaker, I would urge the minister to be cautious. Listening to Quebec does not mean filibustering. It means being respectful of the will of the Government of Quebec and the Quebec National Assembly.
While the Liberal government may be very happy with its new friends from the Bloc Québécois, which has become the centralist Bloc, and may be refusing to abide by the unanimous position of the Quebec National Assembly and Quebec's request, we, the Conservatives, want to have those debates.
Will the government accept our proposal to send Bill C-11 to committee so that the committee can examine the Senate's definitive request and, more importantly, listen to the Government of Quebec?
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Mr. Speaker, once again, we have a very good working relationship with Quebec. We maintain an ongoing dialogue. In fact, I am meeting with my counterpart, Quebec's minister of culture, on the weekend, and I am very pleased to do so. The Conservatives are saying that culture is important? Come on.
As far as dog-and-pony shows go, this is the biggest one of the year. It is even bigger than the one put on by the Bloc Québécois. The Conservatives have been filibustering since the beginning of the year. They do not give a damn about supporting culture.
Despite all of that, we are going to move forward. We are going to help our creators, our producers and the cultural community.
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- Feb/14/23 2:55:55 p.m.
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Order. I know that emotions can sometimes run high in the House and that it is easy to get carried away and say things that we should not. I would like members to pay attention to what they are saying and make sure that they are using parliamentary language.
The hon. member for Lac-Saint‑Jean.
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- Feb/14/23 2:56:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, authorities are concerned about an 846% increase in irregular border crossings. Border services are worried, saying, “it is extremely dangerous, particularly in inclement weather, which our Swanton Sector has in incredible abundance”. It is not the federal government saying so, it is the Americans. The Americans are worried because it is dangerous to cross the border through the woods in the winter. However, in Ottawa, when we raise the same concerns about Roxham Road, the government calls us intolerant.
Should it not be concerned about people crossing through the woods in the winter?
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- Feb/14/23 2:57:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely unacceptable to say that asylum seekers are taking advantage of the system. The reality is that these people are fleeing violence and looking for a safe haven.
Our government will always work for vulnerable people and we are proud of the work we have accomplished. We hope that the Bloc Québécois is on board.
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- Feb/14/23 2:57:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, not only is that our view as well but we hold the same positions as migrants who are calling for the suspension of the safe third country agreement. That is the crux of the impasse at Roxham Road.
Migrants are being exploited. Children are crossing alone in winter. People are being detained indefinitely. The United States is on one side of the border. They know that it is dangerous, but will not lift a finger because it suits them. The federal government is on the other side, incapable of moving beyond rhetoric and of understanding that this is not how to welcome people with dignity.
What is being done? When will the minister realize that there is only one solution? Nothing will change until the safe third country agreement is suspended.
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- Feb/14/23 2:58:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, the Bloc Québécois has lost all credibility, because it believes that asylum seekers cross that border for an all-inclusive vacation package and that the situation asylum seekers must face is a joke.
This is no joke to us. It is serious. We are working on it. We are speaking with our American counterparts, and we will modernize this agreement.
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- Feb/14/23 2:59:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the government now believes that it no longer needs the Auditor General's advice.
The Auditor General identified $27 billion of COVID support payments that should be investigated, except that the CRA says that it is not worth the effort to review those payments. The Parliamentary Budget Officer is now ringing the alarm bells saying that he, too, is concerned that the CRA will not review these payments.
Will the government finally take the advice of the Auditor General, review these COVID payments and make sure that Canadians recover the improper payments paid by this government?
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- Feb/14/23 2:59:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a very good working relationship with the national revenue critic for the Conservatives, but he knows very well, with regard to the CRA, and this was verified at the public accounts committee some days ago, that this verification work is ongoing. I have said that many times in the House. I am glad to repeat it again.
The government instructed the CRA to carry out that work. Every member in the House voted in that direction, so let us let that work continue. Instead, the Conservatives are continuing to play political games to undermine a very important public institution in this country. It is not acceptable.
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- Feb/14/23 3:00:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, government services are broken. Liberals have significantly grown the size of the public service while still giving billions of dollars to outside consultants, yet nothing seems to work.
The Prime Minister has admitted that he personally recruited Dominic Barton and provided him with preferential access, access that his company, McKinsey, used to do over $100 million in business with the government.
How can the Liberals explain the fact that the public service is larger, and the services that Canadians receive are declining, yet Liberals are still able to find so much money for their well-connected friends?
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- Feb/14/23 3:00:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the use of contracts by the government, which is done independently, at arms length, by the public service, is something that is incredibly important in the provision of services.
I would say to the member opposite that right now there are almost two million more Canadians who have jobs who did not when the Conservatives were there. There are 2.7 million Canadians who are not in poverty now, who were when the Conservatives were in power. The idea that progress is not being made is not substantiated by fact.
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- Feb/14/23 3:01:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, hiring more people at McKinsey is not a jobs plan.
The House leader should listen to his Prime Minister because the Prime Minister said of Dominic Barton, “we recruited him”. Now, Dominic Barton admitted in testimony that Andrew Pickersgill, the head of McKinsey's Canadian operations, supplied analysts to the Prime Minister's growth council. McKinsey then used that access to set up sales meetings. The Prime Minister recruited McKinsey's leaders and gave them privileged access to government that allowed them to get over $100 million in contracts.
Will the House leader stop this charade and admit what the Prime Minister has already admitted, which is that it was these Liberal politicians who brought in McKinsey?
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- Feb/14/23 3:02:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on numerous occasions the member opposite has inferred that political interference would be something that they would engage in to tell the public service who they would engage in contracts.
Let me say that, on this side of the House, we will tolerate no such action. The independence of the public service in engaging contracts is absolutely important. The number of conspiracy theories the member has peddled have been disproven in front of committee. There are forums on Reddit where he can continue to pursue these, but I would suggest that the House of Commons is not the appropriate forum.
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