44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 17, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/17/23 11:53:02 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. friend from Manitoba for the question. He will know that there is actually good news for families in the Prairies. As of April 1, a family of four will receive up to $1,000 in Manitoba from the climate action rebate.
Referring to the Governor of the Bank of Canada, he estimated that perhaps 0.1% will be related to the price on pollution in terms of inflation. That is one cent for every $10.
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- Feb/17/23 11:53:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax is all pain and no gain. The Liberals have never met a single target that they set for themselves. It is a tax plan, not an environmental plan.
After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, everything feels broken. Yesterday, at committee, the bank governor confirmed that taxpayers will have to bail out the Bank of Canada. While Canadians are struggling to eat, heat and house themselves, with the Liberals, the Bank of Canada comes first.
When will the Prime Minister take responsibility for breaking the bank and get out of the way so Conservatives can fix the problem?
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- Feb/17/23 11:54:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as usual, the Conservatives are distorting the facts. Our emissions are going down. We are on track to meet our targets, which are in 2030.
What did the Conservatives do when they were in power? Absolutely nothing. For 10 long years, they did nothing on climate change, they abandoned the Kyoto accord, they cut $350 million from the environment and climate change budget and they gutted our environmental laws. They are now blaming us for their inaction.
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- Feb/17/23 11:54:49 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a report from The Globe and Mail laid bare the full extent of China's interference in the 2021 federal election. According to the article, secret services carried out a major operation involving illegal campaign contributions and media manipulation.
This is extremely worrisome, but it would be a mistake to challenge the legitimacy of the election and merely consider it a partisan issue. The real issue is how easy it was for these foreign actors to manipulate our elections. This needs to be addressed transparently, but the government has been denying there was any interference and hiding the truth for months.
Quebeckers want to know whether the government is ever going to take this threat seriously.
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- Feb/17/23 11:55:30 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I welcome the Bloc's intervention today and the willingness to work with us on this side of the House. The pervasiveness of foreign interference is serious. It is why we have taken action, but there is more work to be done. It should not be a partisan issue. Every single Canadian should want everyone in the House to take this issue seriously.
Some of the loopholes we have closed were things like foreign campaign funding and tighter rules on third party advertising. These are some of the loopholes used around the world. We are going to continue to work with all parliamentarians to address this.
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- Feb/17/23 11:56:10 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, China's election interference is a threat to democracy that neither partisanship nor denial will help vanquish. We must all work to make elections impervious to foreign manipulation. The problem is, the government is hiding the truth from people. Not only was it aware of what was going on, but it discussed the matter with allied countries. Not only did it know candidates had received illegal contributions, but it knew which candidates and even refunded the money.
When will the government understand that it cannot overcome Chinese interference by being as opaque as China?
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- Feb/17/23 11:56:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course we know that foreign interference exists. This is what we have been talking about since we have been in office. It is precisely why we have put forward several measures to strengthen our democracy and our democratic institutions, and ensure that our elections are free and fair.
Foreign interference happens to countries around the world. We work with our partners and allies on how to counter it. I encourage all members of the House to bring forward solutions instead of behaving recklessly like the Conservatives, who use national security as a partisan issue.
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Mr. Speaker, this week, Quebec expressed its concern about Bill C-11 by sending the government a letter and adopting a unanimous motion.
Quebec's request is simple. It wants a provision to be added to Bill C-11 that will require the government to consult Quebec on the CRTC's potential responsibilities. The response from the Bloc-Liberal alliance is a hard no.
We, the Conservatives, are bringing Quebec's legitimate request before the House.
The question is very simple. Will this government agree to convene the parliamentary committee to debate Quebec's proposal?
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Mr. Speaker, looking at my watch, I see it is 2023. Where has the hon. member been the last year when this was being debated before the House and the Senate?
Actors, authors, composers, producers, musicians and singers from Quebec are on side. They want to see the bill pass. By the way, even the Quebec National Assembly has unanimously requested twice, in May 2021 and June 2022, to expedite this bill. Where have the Conservatives been? They have been filibustering this legislation the entire way.
On this side of the House, we are here for artists.
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Mr. Speaker, the Quebec National Assembly has twice asked to be heard by this government on Bill C-11. However, with the Bloc Québécois's support, co-operation and complicity, the feds just do the work by themselves.
The government is maintaining its extremely centralizing, unilateral and heavy-handed position of giving the federal cabinet more powers to tell Quebeckers what the CRTC will let them watch.
Maybe the Bloc Québécois agrees with that, but we do not.
Will the Bloc-Liberal alliance finally let the Government of Quebec be heard?
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Mr. Speaker, today we learned that 240 jobs have been cut in the media sector in Quebec. That is 240 families that have lost revenue they were counting on. Our hearts are with them.
This is happening too often. It is time that tech giants pay their fair share toward our culture. It is time to level the playing field. Bill C-11 is about that.
What have the Conservatives been doing the last year? They have been filibustering. The hon. member's own seatmate acknowledged in the House of Commons that she has been filibustering this whole time.
Where has the hon. member been this last year to stand up for Quebeckers, Canadians and artists across the country? He has been absent.
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Mr. Speaker, I encourage the government to be a bit more consistent. First my colleague says that we are filibustering, and then he says that we have done nothing, that we are asleep. It cannot be both.
In any case, what we have done is neither one nor the other. We have done our parliamentary work.
As we speak, the National Assembly of Quebec is asking to be heard by this government on Bill C‑11, to ensure that Quebec has a voice.
If the Bloc Québécois is okay with giving the federal government all of the power, that is its choice. However, we want Quebec to be heard.
We have been asking for this for five days now. Will the government hold a parliamentary committee meeting to listen to Quebec and also to review the Senate amendments?
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Mr. Speaker, the Canadian heritage committee has been discussing this for a year, in both the House and the Senate. The hon. member has been absent and has just taken notice of it this week, after the past year of debating it.
In Quebec, artists have called upon the government, and the Quebec National Assembly has twice called upon Parliament, to expedite Bill C-11, but all we have seen from the other side is delay, blocking and filibustering. There have been no solutions from the other side.
It is amazing that the member has stepped up this week to say that he cares, when over the last year he has been silent.
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- Feb/17/23 12:01:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, immigration is an essential value in Canada, and it reflects the cultural mosaic that shapes our country's identity.
The impact of francophone immigration is undeniable, as it contributes to the linguistic, demographic and economic wealth of francophone communities.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship update us on the work being done to attract more new francophone immigrants to Canada?
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- Feb/17/23 12:01:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Sudbury for her question.
I am very proud today to announce to the House that our government met the target of 4.4% francophone immigration outside Quebec in 2022.
Indeed, 16,300 francophone newcomers have settled outside Quebec. This represents a 450% increase since our government was first elected.
This is just the beginning. There is still work to be done to continue to promote French in Canada, and that is what we continue to do.
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- Feb/17/23 12:02:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current Liberal Prime Minister, Gianne, a small business owner in Entwistle, is struggling under the oppressive carbon tax. With the cost of food, heating and fuel skyrocketing, it is becoming harder for Gianne and countless Canadians across the country to make ends meet. Conservatives will continue to keep the heat on and fight this tax to help all Canadians, like Gianne.
When will the government axe the carbon tax?
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- Feb/17/23 12:03:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the price on pollution our government introduced, or if the Conservatives prefer to call it a carbon tax, I am happy to do so, is actually a market-based mechanism. It is a capitalism-based mechanism that all experts agree is the most effective at fighting climate change. Even the Conservative Party temporarily campaigned on a price on pollution. I think we can all agree that this is the most effective way to fight climate change, and that Canadians are asking us to fight climate change in order to protect our planet for the future and for our children.
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- Feb/17/23 12:03:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the price on pollution our government introduced, or if the Conservatives prefer to call it a carbon tax, I am happy to do so, is actually a market-based mechanism. It is a capitalism-based mechanism that all experts agree is the most effective at fighting climate change. Even the Conservative Party temporarily campaigned on a price on pollution. I think we can all agree that this is the most effective way to fight climate change, and that Canadians are asking us to fight climate change in order to protect our planet for the future and for our children.
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- Feb/17/23 12:03:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current Prime Minister, Canadians can no longer afford to eat, heat or house themselves. The situation is about to get worse. With the tripling of the carbon tax, seniors must choose between eating and heating. Conservatives will fight to turn the tax off, so seniors can keep the heat on.
I ask the Prime Minister this: Will he show compassion and remove the carbon tax?
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- Feb/17/23 12:04:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after seven years and three months, we have been able to make significant progress for seniors. Members should not take my word for it. They should take that member's word for it. The Conservative member for King—Vaughan, just last week, highlighted at committee how poverty rates dramatically decreased since we formed government in 2015. When we came into government, we made a decision to invest in seniors. We immediately reinstated the age of retirement back to 65. That member would have had seniors work two full years to get the benefits they paid into for decades.
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