SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 171

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 22, 2023 01:00PM
  • Mar/22/23 2:57:22 p.m.
  • Watch
The Leader of the Opposition.
5 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 2:57:24 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, from corner stores to car mechanics, they have to pay this carbon tax. I asked the Prime Minister how much they get back. He would not answer because, of course, the answer is zero. It is a gigantic tax grab. It is also a tax on food. When one taxes the farmers who make the food and the truckers who transport it, one taxes the people who eat it at the end of the supply chain. Carleton Mushroom Farms, just half an hour south of here, employs 100 people. Their carbon tax bill for the month of July was $9,000. Does the government they expect them to put that on customer's food bills?
117 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 2:58:04 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I guess the Leader of the Opposition truly thinks that the third time is the charm. Twice already they have tried to campaign against putting a price on pollution. They have campaigned against having a plan to fight climate change and grow the economy. They have failed the first two times. Maybe this time they will get it right, and Canadians will realize that climate change is a scam, according to the Conservative members. The fact is Canadians know that fighting climate change and growing the economy, while supporting families and investing in small businesses, is the only path forward. The fact that they are continuing to stand against that is really a shame.
116 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 2:58:47 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is not a climate plan. It is a tax plan. He has not met a single emissions target since he became Prime Minister. All he has managed to do is suck more money out of the pockets of Canadians. It is enough to make a man drink, but he is taxing that too. I have in my hands a letter from Canadian breweries workers. These are union workers who say Canada is experiencing the highest cost-of-living increases in a generation. This is squeezing family budgets and making workers in the brewery sector nervous about their jobs. They are calling on the Prime Minister to cancel his planned tax increase on beer and spirits. Will he listen to these union workers and cancel the tax hike?
130 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 2:59:29 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, we have always recognized the important contributions that Canadian wine, beer and spirits producers make to the Canadian economy. It is why we cut taxes for small businesses and eliminated the excise duty on low-alcohol beer. We will continue to be there for small businesses right across the country, even as we promote extraordinary Canadian products like Canadian wine, beer and spirits.
65 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 2:59:54 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, he is raising taxes on gasoline, heating, electricity, food, family income, on all sorts of things, and now he is raising taxes again, this time on beer and alcohol. The unions that represent the workers who produce these alcoholic beverages in Canada say that this will impact their jobs, their wages and the cost of living of all Canadians. Will he finally listen to the unionized workers and announce that he will cancel this tax hike for Canadians?
80 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:00:35 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, we all recognize the important contribution that Canadian wine, beer and spirit producers make to the Canadian economy. That is why we lowered small business taxes and eliminated excise duty on low-alcohol beer. We will always be there for our small businesses, and we will always promote the excellent quality of Canadian wine, beer and spirits.
59 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:01:07 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, once again, we need to talk about Amira Elghawaby, whom the Prime Minister appointed despite opposition from Quebeckers and who began her first tour this week as special representative on combatting Islamophobia. Right away on her first stop in Ontario, she began attacking Quebec's Bill 21 on secularism. In her own words, her job is to attack legislation like that. This is how she chose to use her first official appearance. I would ask the Prime Minister to clarify Ms. Elghawaby's mandate. Is it to build bridges between communities or is it to tour Canada to fight Quebec legislation?
107 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:01:42 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we will always stand up for minority rights. As a Quebecker, I know how important it is to defend our beautiful French language, to defend our minority cultures, to defend our official languages and, yes, to defend religious freedom in this country. That is why we are always going to be there to defend individual rights. That is why we oppose pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause, which suspends the fundamental rights of Canadians before they can even go to court to defend those rights.
95 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:02:23 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what the National Assembly feared when it unanimously criticized Ms. Elghawaby's appointment. She is not using her position to build bridges, to foster understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim communities, or to fight racism. Ms. Elghawaby is using her position to rally Canada against Quebec's Bill 21 and to feed assumptions that a secular state is a discriminatory one. Is she straying from her mandate, or was this exactly what the Prime Minister intended when he created the position?
89 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:03:00 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, it always amazes me that the Bloc Québécois seems to be willing to pick and choose which minorities it would like to defend. The reality is that defending minority voices, defending official languages, defending culture, defending everything in a minority situation—including freedom of conscience—is important in a free society. I hope his party does not continue to attack this idea of defending minority rights across the country.
78 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:03:42 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, it took the Harper government only three months to get the Americans to back down and pay back and stop collecting illegal tariffs on softwood. When the Prime Minister took office, the Americans smelled weakness and they slapped those tariffs right back on, and then what happened? He backed down. The Harper government got an exemption to buy America laws. Within months of the Prime Minister taking office, the Americans slapped it right back on again, and he backed down again. He is now even saying that he cannot protect our borders against illegal border crossing without the permission of the United States president. Will he announce resolutions to these problems tomorrow, or will he just back down again?
121 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:04:24 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, when Canadians faced one of the most significant threats to our jobs, growth and prosperity in the threat of cancellation of NAFTA, the recommendation from Mr. Harper and the Conservatives was, “Oh, we need to capitulate”. That is not what Canadians or what this government did. We stood strongly. We got them to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum. We renegotiated NAFTA in our favour. We continue to stand up for Canadians and Canadian workers right across the country. We will take no lessons in capitulation to the Americans from the Conservatives.
96 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:05:02 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, we knew that the Prime Minister would back down, and that is exactly what he did. He signed an agreement that allowed the Americans to maintain illegal tariffs on our softwood lumber, hurting our forestry workers. He capitulated again on buy America, which gives an exemption to Mexico but not to Canada. He also said that we need the Americans' permission to protect our border. That is something that we never needed before. Will he finally stand up for Canada, yes or no?
85 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:05:43 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, we all remember when Canadians and Canadian workers faced the greatest threat to our economy that we had ever seen: President Trump was going to cancel NAFTA. We stood firm and pushed back against the Americans, even though Mr. Harper and the Conservatives were urging us to capitulate, to avoid upsetting Trump and to accept what he was offering. We stood up for Canadian workers, we revisited the tariffs on steel and aluminum, and we renegotiated NAFTA in our favour.
83 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:06:25 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, he is the one who accepted all of Mr. Trump's demands. Mr. Trump signed an agreement with the Mexicans. The Prime Minister accepted it as it was presented to him, without any changes, including tariffs on our forest products. When the Conservatives were in power, we were able to fix that problem in three months. He has had eight years to fix the problem, but so far, no luck. After eight years, will he finally be able to do what the Conservatives managed to do in three months?
93 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:07:03 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I understand how badly the Conservatives need to take partisan shots, but they do not have the right to rewrite history. When we renegotiated NAFTA, we stood up for the Canadian cultural industry, Canadian workers, our dairy industry and supply management. We were there for Canadian workers, and we will continue to be there. While the Conservatives urged us to capitulate, we stood up for Canadians. That is what we will continue to do, but we will do it in partnership with the Americans.
86 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:07:44 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-41 
Mr. Speaker, since 2021, the situation in Afghanistan has been very difficult, especially for women and girls, who face daily persecution. According to the United Nations, the number of Afghans who need humanitarian aid is unprecedented. Can the Prime Minister tell us about Canada's efforts to support the Afghan people?
51 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:08:11 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-41 
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for his excellent question and his hard work. We introduced Bill C‑41 to enable Canadian humanitarian organizations to provide vital aid to the Afghan people, while maintaining our strong anti-terrorism laws. This is in addition to the $156 million we have allocated to international organizations since August 2021. I hope that my colleagues across the way will support the quick passage of Bill C‑41 and support quick aid for the Afghan people.
86 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
  • Mar/22/23 3:08:51 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, a former Conservative government obtained an exemption to the buy America policy under the Obama administration. The Americans slapped it right back on again when this Prime Minister took over. He then signed a deal that allowed the expansion of buy America from being just projects at the state level to projects at the federal level. The Mexicans got an exemption. Will the Prime Minister finally do what the Mexicans and Prime Minister Harper did and try to get an exemption from buy America tomorrow?
88 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border