44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2023 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, I am glad that my colleague did not yell too loudly or he might have woken up his gang that has been asleep for the past year.
We have been debating this bill for a year. The Conservatives in the House are asleep. The Conservatives in the Senate are asleep.
In the meantime, we are working for the music, movie and television industry. We are working for Quebec and for all Canadians.
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- Feb/16/23 2:56:51 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, the Quebec National Assembly is concerned about the possibility under Bill C‑5 of conditional sentences for some violent crimes, such as sexual assault. It is clear that Bill C‑5 opens the door to problems.
The Bloc Québécois reiterates the fair compromise it had proposed during consideration of Bill C‑5 that was rejected by the Conservative-Liberal federalist bloc: to restore minimum sentences for gun crimes and armed sexual assaults, while allowing judges to make exceptions. This remains the most balanced approach.
Does the minister understand Quebec's concerns and, if so, will he consider this compromise?
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- Feb/16/23 2:57:34 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, serious crimes always deserve serious consequences.
With Bill C‑5, we abandoned policies that clogged our justice system and our prisons, and we decided to fight systemic racism. The Bloc Québécois voted in favour of Bill C‑5 because it knew that minimum sentences do not work.
Our government is supporting victims of sexual assault. We are working on this. We introduced legislation and programs to reinforce support for victims, and we will continue that work.
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- Feb/16/23 2:58:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to the media, four victim advocacy groups backed Quebec's concerns. We cannot ignore them. The minister has the right to make a mistake, and it would be honourable to admit it. I would remind him that, at the time, everyone seemed open to the Bloc Québécois compromise, including the experts who appeared before the committee.
Therefore, we will be introducing a bill that would restore minimum sentencing for firearms offences and prohibit conditional sentencing for sexual assault while allowing the courts to make exceptions, with justification, in exceptional cases. Can we count on the Minister of Justice to be open-minded? I am not addressing the quarrelsome minister who is always bickering, but the Minister of Justice.
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- Feb/16/23 2:58:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the purpose of Bill C‑5, is to address systemic racism and the overrepresentation of indigenous and Black people in the justice system. Yesterday, we announced the creation of a steering group to develop a justice strategy for Canada's Black people. I heard the testimony of people who have experienced systemic racism. We will continue to combat racism and Bill C‑5 is part of our efforts.
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- Feb/16/23 2:59:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, high-priced consultants at McKinsey & Company have never had it so good. They are setting immigration policy. They are setting immigration targets. Public servants are admitting this and it is reported in the CBC. Even Bill Morneau, in his book, admitted that McKinsey is setting immigration policy. Do members know who is not admitting to that? The Minister of Immigration himself. Who is telling the truth?
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- Feb/16/23 3:00:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope that members actually listened to the Minister of Immigration's appearance at committee. I will repeat what he said. The minister was very clear that he has not met with McKinsey, nor been influenced.
However, if the Conservatives want to listen to someone, let us quote someone. I would invite them to listen to their former Conservative leader, John Reynolds. He said, “The attacks levied against [Dominic Barton] by the Conservative party I once led are baseless.” Let us make sure they start listening and acting.
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- Feb/16/23 3:01:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, it is hard for Canadians not to be disappointed when every day there is a news story about a Liberal breaking the law. While Canadians are struggling to feed their families and keep the heat on at home, the Liberals are lining the pockets of their friends, like the trade minister did, like the housing minister did, like the intergovernmental affairs minister did and like the Prime Minister did. It was tens of thousands of dollars sent to their well-connected friends.
Will the Liberal Prime Minister take responsibility for the law-breaking in his Liberal government benches, or will he get out of the way so we can fix what they have broken?
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- Feb/16/23 3:01:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the party opposite, the Conservatives, have on a number of occasions said to get out of the way so they can step in. I think they are missing our democratic process. They have to face an election. They have faced a number of elections where their policies were rejected. Maybe they should reflect on why their policies were rejected.
They undercut our efforts all over the world to deal with climate change, and they were seen as an agent to destroy action on climate change in the world. They have refused to take action to improve Canada's employment situation or child care, and now they are refusing to vote on dental care. They are good on rhetoric, not on action.
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- Feb/16/23 3:02:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about action. Some 1.5 million Canadians are using food banks in a single month. Mortgages are going up to more than $3,000 per month. Rent is doubling to more than $2,000 per month. Twenty per cent of Canadians are skipping meals every day because they cannot afford them. No government has ever spent so much to achieve so little, unless someone is a well-connected Liberal insider. Then it is tens of thousands of dollars from the Liberal lawbreakers.
Is today the day the Liberal Prime Minister will finally take responsibility for the law-breaking in his government?
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- Feb/16/23 3:03:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us dial the tape back. We had 10 years of economic stagnation under the Harper Conservatives, with not a year over 1% growth. Some 2.7 million people have been lifted out of poverty since we have been on this side. Two million more Canadians are working. What do the Conservatives have? They have nada, zip, zilch. They have no plan on climate change, no plan on affordability and no plan to grow the economy. We have a plan and we are delivering it. All they have are buzzwords and nonsense economics.
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- Feb/16/23 3:03:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, post-secondary education for official language minority communities across the country is very important to our government.
There is a huge need in francophone communities. This sector is being affected by the labour shortage. More francophone and bilingual teachers are needed.
I wonder if the Minister of Official Languages could explain to the House what she is doing to support French-language post-secondary institutions.
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- Feb/16/23 3:04:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pontiac for her question and for her hard work.
I was very pleased to be at the University of Ottawa yesterday with the President of the Treasury Board to announce a federal contribution of $20.4 million to support French-language programs at the University of Ottawa.
This funding will be used to develop new courses entirely in French and to hire faculty in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as to create a new centre of excellence for French-language education.
This is another example of how this government is supporting official language minority communities and post-secondary institutions in those communities.
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- Feb/16/23 3:04:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister's inflationary policies, seniors cannot afford food. Barry told me that 40 out of 120 attendees at the mission he works at were seniors. People who used to donate to food banks are having to go to one because they cannot afford groceries.
Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for seniors going without food, or will the Liberals get out of the way so the Conservatives can fix what they have broken and restore seniors' dignity?
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- Feb/16/23 3:05:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we recognize the challenge that seniors are facing, and our government has been there for them from day one. While the party opposite has had nothing for seniors in any of its campaign platforms, our government is helping seniors who are struggling by doubling the GST tax credit and providing dental and rental support. We are increasing the OAS for seniors over 75. We will take no lessons from that party on this side of the House.
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- Feb/16/23 3:06:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eights years of the Liberal Prime Minister, everything in the Liberal government is broken. The passport office cannot issue passports, the immigration office cannot approve permanent residencies and now Transport Canada is experiencing delays of up to eight months to approve applications for commercial pilot licences. This is after the pilots have completed all the training requirements.
What did the Liberals break this time to cause these delays at Transport Canada?
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- Feb/16/23 3:06:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our top priority is ensuring that air crew meet all necessary medical requirements so they can do their jobs safely. There have been delays beyond our service standard, due to the unprecedented circumstances of COVID-19, that have impacted the global air sector.
Transport Canada has put in place changes to the processing and assessment of files to improve the efficiency of the review process. Transport Canada is in the process of hiring additional staff to speed up the processing of medical certificates.
We are on the job. The Conservatives want to forget about COVID—
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- Feb/16/23 3:07:18 p.m.
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The hon. member for Regina—Wascana has the floor.
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- Feb/16/23 3:07:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians want to travel again, and airlines want to offer new routes and hire new pilots. Unfortunately, the problem seems to be the Liberal government and the eight-month backlog at Transport Canada in issuing commercial pilot licences. This is a process that took only two months until just recently.
Why do the Liberals not just move out of the way so the Conservatives can get air travel moving again?
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- Feb/16/23 3:07:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives first blamed the vaccine mandates. Second, they blamed ArriveCAN. Third, they blamed testing at airports. The Conservatives have no idea what they are talking about. They are ambulance chasers. However—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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