44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 30, 2023 10:00AM
- Mar/30/23 2:21:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, the government took unprecedented action by censoring debate on its bill to censor what Canadians can say or see on the Internet. It gives a woke agency here in Ottawa the power to to control Quebeckers.
It is hard to believe, but the Bloc Québécois is in favour of giving Ottawa and the federal government greater censorship power. Only the Conservative Party is opposed.
When will the government stop its attack on freedom of expression?
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Mr. Speaker, there is a consensus in Quebec that we need to make web giants pay their fair share. Everyone—actors, authors, composers, producers, directors, musicians, singers, technicians—is on the same side regarding Bill C‑11. Everyone but the Conservatives, that is.
I invite the Conservatives to get on the right side and support Quebec and Canadian culture.
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- Mar/30/23 2:22:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is no culture without freedom of expression, just to point out the disinformation from that member.
He says that all artists support this, even Margaret Atwood. No Conservative has said that this bill represents creeping totalitarianism. It gives the power to a woke agency, the CRTC, named by Liberals, to manipulate social media algorithms in order to shut down voices it does not want people to hear.
When will the government realize that Orwell's 1984 was not an instruction manual?
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- Mar/30/23 2:23:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, those are the same old talking points from the Conservative Party and they happen to be the same talking points of big tech.
Why do the Conservatives not finally stand up to the big guys and big tech in the country and try to do what we are doing, which is making sure that big tech is paying its fair share to Canadian artists and Canadian producers, to our local media? Instead of standing up for Canadians, those folks are standing up for the Googles, etc.
I ask them to come on to the right side, and please support Canadians and people who produce this content.
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- Mar/30/23 2:23:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, therein lies the problem. The government will get to decide what is the right side of the debate and shut down everyone it considers to be on the wrong side.
Let us be clear that this bill does not hurt big tech. It will still monopolize all of social media. Its platforms will still dominate. It is just that government bureaucrats will be able to manipulate the algorithms to shut down the voices of individual Canadians. Top experts on freedom of expression online say that and so does Margaret Atwood, who calls this “creeping totalitarianism”.
If the Prime Minister is not afraid of debate, why is he so determined to shut it down?
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Mr. Speaker, the reality is that right now the tech giants are not paying their fair share. Seventy-one per cent of Canadians agree that they should be doing so. This is the reason why. This is why we are making sure that we have Bill C-11 to deal with this job.
We know that the web giants must do more, more for our culture, more for our local media, more to protect our children. That is exactly what we are doing. Why are the Conservatives against that?
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- Mar/30/23 2:25:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are in favour of freedom of speech; it is very simple. Big tech has no problem with this bill. It will keep making money hand over fist because of its oligopoly. The government does not want to break up that oligopoly. It has been sucking up to big tech for the last eight years. What it wants to do is to shut down debate.
Canadians want the freedom to express themselves without government control—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/30/23 2:25:51 p.m.
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I ask the hon. member to put his prop down, please. I think he has been around long enough to know what a prop is. I do not have to explain it.
The hon. member has seven seconds left.
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- Mar/30/23 2:26:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a book and it is still legal, at least for now.
When will the government stop its attack on freedom of speech and freedom of expression?
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- Mar/30/23 2:26:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like the member opposite, the Leader of the Opposition, I have dedicated my life to ensuring that free speech occurs in our country. Holding up a book and pretending that this is about anything other than making sure that big tech pays its fair share to our artists and creators in our country, trying to pretend that there is anybody in the House who believes anything other than free speech, is the very reason that member can go all over the country and say all kinds of nonsense that I disagree with, because we have free speech in our country.
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- Mar/30/23 2:26:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we do for now. I want to assure the member that as long as we have free speech, I will keep beating that party in debate after debate.
Let us turn to another falsehood the government spread. It claims that its carbon tax would make everybody better off, but now the government's own Parliamentary Budget Officer has revealed that Nova Scotians and Newfoundlanders, just like people right across the country, pay about $1,500 more in carbon taxes than they get back in rebates. This directly contradicts the government.
Why has the government misled the people of Atlantic Canada with this sneaky tax?
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- Mar/30/23 2:27:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, good news is coming to Atlantic Canada on July 1. The climate rebate will be coming to Atlantic Canada.
That would mean up to $1,000 for a family of four in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, and $1,300 in Newfoundland and Labrador. Eight out of 10 families would be better off.
If the member does not believe me, perhaps he would believe Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs, who said, “We need to make a choice that is in the best interest of New Brunswickers, and what this does now is provide relief from inflation”.
I agree with the Premier of New Brunswick.
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- Mar/30/23 2:28:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about Chinese interference. In the budget, the government is creating a new scheme, the national counter-foreign interference office.
By doing so, the Prime Minister is confirming that all the committees, expert panels and robust measures he has been talking about for weeks do not work, and he knows it. He is proving that his government was duped by China in the last two elections, and he knows it.
Does this not prove that we need an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Mar/30/23 2:29:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will never tolerate any form of foreign interference into our democracy and internal affairs.
That is why, through budget 2023, we are providing $48.9 million to the RCMP to protect Canadians from harassment and intimidation, engage with communities at greater risk of being targeted and establish a national counter-foreign interference office. In a robust Indo-Pacific strategy, we have provided more capabilities to our security agencies to deal with any form of foreign interference by any country.
We will always defend our democracy.
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- Mar/30/23 2:29:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the independence of the special rapporteur. The Prime Minister does not need him in order to take action. The proof is that he did not wait for his recommendations to create his national office. He is dictating the findings of the rapporteur before the rapporteur even gets a chance to speak, and he is adding that to the budget. Hello independence.
The special rapporteur and this new national office are constructs invented by the Prime Minister and under the control of the Prime Minister, because the Prime Minister wants to use them to his benefit and the Prime Minister wants to control the information. Those are the facts.
Quebeckers are no fools. They want an independent public inquiry.
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- Mar/30/23 2:30:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to public safety, it is absolutely essential during debates to rely on facts. Certainly, Mr. Johnston's independence is unmistakable. He is a former governor general of Canada, someone appointed by Prime Minister Harper. He has clearly demonstrated throughout his career that he is here for Canada. No doubt, this will still hold true in this instance.
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- Mar/30/23 2:30:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today's report from the Mass Casualty Commission identified myriad failures. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. Nova Scotians paid for the many failures in policing.
For years, we have had recommendations to fix these problems, which have been ignored by the government. The report also clearly identifies the link between gender-based violence and this horrific mass killing.
Tonight, hundreds of women and children will be looking for shelter from violence, and they will not have anywhere to go. Will the government provide urgent funding to ensure that all those fleeing violence have a safe place to stay tonight?
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- Mar/30/23 2:31:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today is a difficult day for the families and communities in Nova Scotia. All MPs in this House are thinking about them and holding them in their hearts.
This morning was the release of the Mass Casualty Commission's report. We will be considering and carefully reviewing the recommendations in the report. We will also be working with the provinces, territories and civil organizations, including those that deal with gender-based violence, in order to respond to the recommendations in due course.
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- Mar/30/23 2:32:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in budget 2023, if the NDP had not pushed this government, there would not have been any funding to create good union jobs to help fight climate change. However, much more remains to be done.
For years now, the Liberals having been missing their target and giving billions of dollars to oil companies, and that is making the climate crisis worse. Joe Biden is investing in green industrial policy.
Will the Liberal government finally show leadership by investing in the infrastructure, renewable energies and the good jobs of today and tomorrow.
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- Mar/30/23 2:32:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in fact, all the infrastructure that he is talking about will be built by workers with union jobs or workers who are paid prevailing union wages. That is a game-changer in this country. That is something that union leadership, from the Canadian Labour Congress to Unifor, the Alberta Federation of Labour and Trades NL have all been asking for. They have all asked for a seat at the table. We have told them for years they will lead that table, and this budget proves it.
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