44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2023 10:00AM
- 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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- Feb/16/23 3:08:13 p.m.
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Order. Are we ready now?
The hon. minister, please continue.
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- Feb/16/23 3:08:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the air sector, and our government has been there to support the workers and Canadians.
Yes, there have been several disruptions. The government is on top of this. I have been speaking to Transport Canada on hiring more resources. We are fixing this issue.
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Mr. Speaker, many of us have heard heartbreaking stories of people wrongfully convicted and who spent many years behind bars for crimes they did not commit. In my own province, one need only think of the Glen Assoun case. When this happens, it ruins the life of the convicted person, the lives of their family, and their community. It also erodes public trust in our justice system.
Can the Minister of Justice please provide the House with an overview of how the bill he tabled today would improve the system currently in place to review cases of wrongful conviction?
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank Susan Milgaard and James Lockyer, both of whom joined me in the press conference today.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
Hon. David Lametti: Mr. Speaker, Susan is the sister of David Milgaard, and the daughter of Joyce, after whom the bill is named.
Bill C-40 would create a miscarriage-of-justice review commission to examine wrongful convictions fairly and efficiently—
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- Feb/16/23 3:10:22 p.m.
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I am afraid we are out of time and I want to remind the hon. members that ministers and individual members cannot refer to people in the gallery.
The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.
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- Feb/16/23 3:10:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, we learned that the Liberals spent just 5% of the $724.1-million violence prevention strategy announced in fall 2020 to address violence against indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
Not one new shelter or transitional home has been built. It is unacceptable. This delay is costing lives. We should not have to beg for our safety. The public wants to know why so little of this money has been spent.
When will the government get this money out the door?
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- Feb/16/23 3:11:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I really agree with the hon. member on the importance of this $742-million fund to develop a comprehensive violence prevention strategy. This includes $420 million over five years to support the construction of a minimum 38 shelters and 50 transitional homes. We understand the urgency of this matter.
CMHC has already selected 22 projects to move forward, and we expect concrete announcements in the next few weeks.
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- Feb/16/23 3:11:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I held a town hall on community safety. I thank police officers of 14 Division for attending.
Hon. members may recall a man being swarmed and killed by eight female assailants. This happened across the street from my constituency office. Parents of children at Jean Lumb Public School were threatened for speaking out about their kids being targets of the legal cannabis shops. One even set up shop next to two schools.
Public transit is becoming a war zone. A woman was knifed on the Spadina streetcar. This is the new normal that my constituents must accept. The government legalized cannabis. It cannot just walk away. Urban centres require urban solutions.
Will the Minister of Public Safety commit to creating an urban public safety strategy?
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