SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 179 - Apr/18/23

Ms. Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha, CPC)

Apr/18/23 2:13:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “In Vancouver, some residents resort to dumpster diving to combat high food prices”. That is today's headline in The Globe and Mail. Here is another shocking statistic. Food banks and other programs serving vulnerable Canadians are expected to serve 60% more people per month in 2023. It is fair to say we have a cost of living crisis in this country. Where is the Prime Minister during this pain and suffering and increase in financial anxiety? Well, he is taking luxurious and extravagant vacations to Jamaica that cost taxpayers $162,000, he is staying in a $6,000-a-night hotel room and he is surfing in Tofino in an $18.5 million rental property. The Prime Minister has a permanent pass on “out-of-touch island”. It is gross, it is insulting and it is time for a new leader who respects Canadians and their money.

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Mr. Bryan May (Cambridge, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:14:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last Sunday marked the 106th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. On April 9, 1917, Canadians from coast to coast joined together on the beaches of Vimy Ridge to fight one of Canada's most decisive military victories. Thanks to the strong leadership of General Sir Arthur Currie and the use of innovative tactics, such as the creeping barrage and leaping frog, to advance across no man's land, Vimy Ridge was taken in a day, but the battle came at a great cost. Nearly 3,600 Canadians lost their lives and over 7,000 more were wounded. On the event of Vimy Ridge Day, I encourage all members and all Canadians to reflect on their sacrifices and honour their bravery. Let us never forget their stories, their character and their place in our great history.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Apr/18/23 2:15:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Yom HaShoah is a day to remember the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, including members of my own family. All of my relatives were killed by the Nazis, except for five: my grandparents, father and two uncles. My father, Albert Gazan, was two and a half years old when the Germans invaded Holland. He spent the entire war in hiding, being sheltered by Dutch families. His mother, my grandmother, Gina Gazan, spent time in a concentration camp. Miraculously, they survived, but three-quarters of Dutch Jews did not. It was over a year before my father was reunited with my grandfather and another several months with my maternal grandmother. He became an advocate for peace, justice and human rights. Their stories must be told and retold. We are seeing a rise of Holocaust denial and revisionism, and I fear this will get even worse after the last survivors pass away. We must not let their stories die and confront denial with truth. Today and every day, we remember and we must also say never again.

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Ms. Sylvie Bérubé (Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, BQ)

Apr/18/23 2:17:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is more noble than giving freely? What is more noble than a person with means being kind enough to use that strength to lift up their entire community? That is what more than two million Quebeckers do every day when they volunteer. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to use this 49th National Volunteer Week to thank them. Since this year's theme is “Let's volunteer in unison”, let us all stand up and applaud those who help our seniors and children every day. Let us applaud the volunteers working in our community organizations, our health care centres, our learning centres. These often modest but always generous people use their light to make others shine. This week, let us flip the script. Let us make our volunteers the stars and shine a spotlight on the essential role they play in Quebec society as a whole.

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Mr. Jeremy Patzer (Cypress Hills—Grasslands, CPC)

Apr/18/23 2:18:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has close ties to the Trudeau Foundation, but the Prime Minister does not seem to care about accountability or transparency. First he chose a special rapporteur who was previously a member of the same foundation to be investigated for foreign interference and now he is making a desperate attempt to attack Conservatives. He wants to make it sound like the Trudeau Foundation is similar to an ordinary charity that has been victimized by partisanship from the opposition, but that is quite a stretch. This is an organization that is listed under a government department's portfolio. The foundation's annual report also states that it reserves spots for the Minister of Innovation to appoint directors and members. Though the Prime Minister has officially divested his interests while holding public office, his name is still listed as a succession member. Sadly, the NDP has sold out its principles for a coalition with the Liberals and is not supporting our efforts for transparency. Even if the NDP-Liberal coalition votes against it, Conservatives will demand nothing less than a fully independent inquiry.

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Ms. Sonia Sidhu (Brampton South, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:19:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in April we celebrate Sikh Heritage Month, which is a time to recognize and appreciate the rich history and culture of Sikhs in Canada and across the globe. We celebrate our heritage as a time of joy to start off a vibrant harvest season and the founding of the Khalsa in 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh. Canada is home to one of the largest Sikh populations globally and there are many organizations working hard to help the community, like Seva Food Bank, Khalsa Aid Canada and many others. In fact, last week I saw a true example of selfless service as Avaal Technology founder Dara Nagra donated $1 million to the SickKids Foundation. These are true values of Sikhism, and are shared with Canadians as well. On behalf of the residents in Brampton South, I wish everyone in Brampton and around the world a happy Sikh Heritage Month and a very happy Vaisakhi. [Member spoke in Punjabi]

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Apr/18/23 2:20:46 p.m.
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According to a survey, two-thirds of Canadians have to scale back their summer vacation plans and one-quarter of Canadians will not be taking a vacation at all because of the inflation caused by this Prime Minister. Today, we learned that not only did he force these same taxpayers to pay $160,000 for his vacation, but that he also spent that vacation in a luxury villa owned by a Trudeau Foundation donor. Did the Prime Minister pay for his own stay in that villa?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:21:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition knows very well, we have been friends with the family in question for 50 years. We have always worked with the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that all the rules are followed. If the Leader of the Opposition were really concerned about the cost of living for Canadians, he would be supporting our budget, which is there to give Canadians more money in these difficult times. There is the grocery rebate that we are asking the House to fast-track. There is also direct support for dental care, but the Conservatives voted against that. We will continue to be there for Canadians.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Apr/18/23 2:22:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, because of the galloping inflation the Prime Minister has caused, two-thirds of Canadians say they are cutting back on summer vacations, and one-quarter say they have cancelled their vacations altogether. However, they will still have to pay for someone else's vacation, $160,000 of taxpayer expenses for the Prime Minister to go down to a private villa, the luxurious villa of a super-rich Trudeau Foundation donor for which the nightly cost is as much as $9,000. How much did the Prime Minister pay for his accommodations at this luxurious villa?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:22:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our family has been good friends with this family for about 50 years. As always, we work with the Ethics Commissioner to make sure that all rules are followed. If the Leader of the Opposition was truly concerned about affordability for Canadians, he would be voting to support our budget, which puts forward concrete measures to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast. He would be fast-tracking the grocery rebate through this House to make sure we could deliver, as quickly as possible, help to 11 million Canadians, and he would not have stood to vote against the dental care supports, which already help 250,000 young people right across this country.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Apr/18/23 2:23:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to be clear, this is a villa that rents out, commercially, for as much as $9,000 per night. If any other Canadian had stayed there, that is what they would have had to pay, and they would have had to pay for their own airfare, not having a private jet. The Prime Minister wants us to believe that these Trudeau Foundation donors offered him a $9,000-a-night vacation for nothing. We know nothing is free. This is about influence and power for the super-rich. Why will the Prime Minister not answer? How much did he pay in accommodation per night at this luxurious villa?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:24:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I guess the Leader of the Opposition struggles with the concept of friendship. My father was godfather to one of their kids. Their father was godfather to one of my brothers. This is 50 years of friendship. Of course, we worked with the Ethics Commissioner to make sure all the rules were followed. If the Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about friendships, let us talk about the fact that he is running to his American billionaire tech giant friends to attack the local news that Canadians are relying on. Shame on him for going after Canadian content, Canadian news and Canadian things that people care about.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Apr/18/23 2:24:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only thing Canadian about the Prime Minister's vacation is the tax dollars forced to pay for it. The Prime Minister refuses to answer the question. He knows that these powerful interests are buying influence while making the Prime Minister more out of touch with the people on whom he is imposing his inflationary taxes and deficits. This is consistent with having already been found guilty of taking a quarter-of-a-million-dollar vacation from a billionaire who was seeking a government grant from him. If the Prime Minister has nothing to hide, will he tell us, did he take these $9,000-a-night villas for free?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:25:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition knows well, there are certain security protocols that the RCMP needs to follow for all prime ministers, regardless of political parties or partisan stripes. Again, if the Leader of the Opposition genuinely cared about affordability for Canadians, he would be voting in favour of our dental benefits, which are helping hundreds of thousands of kids right now and would help millions of Canadians into the future, but he voted against it. He voted against tax cuts for the middle class while we raised them on the wealthiest 1%. Now, he is running to his American billionaire buddies to go after local news for Canadians. That is not what Canadians—

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The Speaker

Apr/18/23 2:26:08 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Apr/18/23 2:26:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is from a guy who took a $160,000 taxpayer-funded trip to a private villa, for which there is no security reason he could not pay for his own room. He took a $6,000-a-night vacation in London and two weeks in Costa Rica in the middle of the summer. He went surfing in Tofino on truth and reconciliation day at taxpayers' expense, and he got a guilty verdict for staying at billionaire island. The Prime Minister is out of touch, and Canadians are out of money. When will he stop with these vacations and start working for the people in this country?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:26:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Conservative leader cared as much about Canadians as he does about partisan attacks, he would actually be stepping up to support our delivery of direct benefits to Canadians. He continues to stand against the child care agreements, down to $10 a day in six provinces and territories across the country, already saving Canadians right across the country hundreds and hundreds of dollars every single month. He would be standing in favour of the dental care supports we are sending to hundreds of thousands of kids, instead of continuing to vote against them. He would be accelerating the delivery of the grocery rebate to help 11 million Canadians—

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The Speaker

Apr/18/23 2:27:31 p.m.
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The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

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Mr. Yves-François Blanchet (Beloeil—Chambly, BQ)

Apr/18/23 2:27:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, friendship really matters. There is an old saying in Quebec that a friend is a friend. I am not going to ask questions that the Prime Minister is not going to answer. I will assume that he knew that the Green family contributed to the Trudeau Foundation before going on vacation with them. I will move on to the ethical point. Can he tell the House, Quebeckers and Canadians the cost of the accommodation where he stayed, and whether he personally paid, out of his own pocket, for the stay?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 2:28:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our families have been friends for 50 years. However, when it comes to friendships and for other vacations, we always consult the Office of the Ethics Commissioner to ensure that all the rules are followed. That is what Canadians expect, and that is what we do every time. It is important to follow the rules, and that is exactly what we did.

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