44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 20, 2023 10:00AM
- Apr/20/23 2:34:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. The Prime Minister has increased the spending and the bureaucracy by 50%, and increased the cost of the public sector by more than $21 billion, yet the vital services Canadians rely on, whether immigration, passport or airport services, have never been this dysfunctional. In fact, we now have 150,000 public sector workers on strike, the largest job action in more than 40 years. Who can possibly be that incompetent? Only the Prime Minister can spend so much to achieve so little.
Will the Prime Minister stand up, do his job and fix the government he has broken?
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- Apr/20/23 2:35:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not really surprising today to hear the Conservatives attacking the investments we made in the public service, because who can forget the fact that, when they were in power, they slashed the public service like never before with austerity measures and unprecedented cuts.
That is without counting the number of laws they tried to pass to limit the actions of unions and destroy unions in Canada. It is not really surprising today to hear them complaining about the public service strike.
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- Apr/20/23 2:35:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, why is the Prime Minister not the one standing up and answering for his own failures? Why is the Prime Minister not standing up and doing his job? I will tell members why. He is not worried about lines at passport offices, because he has never had to stand in one. He is not worried about the chaos at the airports, because he has a private jet. He is not worried about skyrocketing food prices or Canadians scavenging from dumpsters to feed their families, because he does not have to pay for it. He is certainly not worried about struggling small businesses, because he has never had to balance a budget.
When will the Prime Minister stand up, do his job and douse this dumpster fire he has created?
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- Apr/20/23 2:36:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague is asking what the Prime Minister is standing up for, he is standing up for the people who live in my community, like the low-income families who now receive more through the Canada child benefit than they did when the Conservatives were in power. He is standing up for workers' rights to collect their Canada pension plan, which the opposition leader has criticized as being too expensive to properly fund. He is standing up for workers who have been impacted by natural disasters on my coast and in Atlantic Canada to make sure they are supported by EI when they lose their job as a result of conditions beyond their control. Every day of the week, we are going to stand up for working families and communities like mine. I invite the Conservatives to join us one day.
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- Apr/20/23 2:37:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has told us that he has not had any ties to the Trudeau Foundation for ten years. Let us assume that is the case. However, one year after he became Prime Minister, China thought it was a good idea to make a $140,000 donation in honour of his father. We know that nothing is free in this world.
What did China have to gain by making a donation to a foundation that hands out scholarships to Canadians? Did it want to help students or act out of altruism? Excuse me if I laugh. Could it be that it wanted to get close to Pierre Elliott Trudeau's son, who had just been elected Prime Minister?
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- Apr/20/23 2:37:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, is the member suggesting that China is responsible for Canada's policies or that the government is influenced by that? That is absolutely ridiculous. That is not at all the case. My colleague opposite and I have stood up for our democracy our whole lives. These are difficult times for democracies, and we must remain united in protecting them.
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- Apr/20/23 2:38:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it would be impossible for anyone looking at this situation not to wonder. We are in the midst of a crisis over Chinese interference. On one side, we have a Prime Minister who is still intimately associated with the Trudeau Foundation. On the other side, we have China, which has paid a lot of money to get as close as possible to the Trudeau Foundation. In the middle, we have an arbitrator, the special rapporteur chosen by the Prime Minister, who is a friend of the Prime Minister and a member of the foundation. One has to wonder.
How can the government hope to restore trust without an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Apr/20/23 2:38:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yes, one can take shots at Mr. Johnston. Anyone can do so, but he is a former governor general who was appointed by Prime Minister Harper. His impartiality is therefore absolutely clear. It is also clear that we must protect our democracy. The only way to do that is to stand united against foreign interference.
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- Apr/20/23 2:39:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Morris Rosenberg, the author of the independent report on foreign interference in the elections, wants an independent public inquiry.
Jean-Pierre Kingsley, a former chief electoral officer of Canada, wants an inquiry. Gerald Butts, the former adviser to the Prime Minister, wants an inquiry. The House of Commons wants an inquiry. Canadians want an inquiry. Now, Michael Wernick, a former clerk of the Privy Council, also wants an inquiry.
Actually, apart from the Liberals and the Chinese authorities, there are not a lot of people who do not want an inquiry. What are they waiting for?
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- Apr/20/23 2:40:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, foreign interference is an issue that we take seriously and it is not a partisan issue. That is why we appointed David Johnston, a non-partisan, experienced professional. It is unfortunate the members opposite laughed when I mentioned his name. He is a gentleman who has given his life to this country and will provide us with information that we will be acting on, including whether or not we hold a public inquiry.
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- Apr/20/23 2:40:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is now faced with the largest public sector strike in 40 years, despite the government spending $21 billion more on the bureaucracy. More Canadian jobs were created in 2021 by the government, yet service levels are down. It takes a special kind of incompetence to have more spending and less results.
The Prime Minister is failing taxpayers, who deserve access to public services. When will he fix the government that he broke?
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- Apr/20/23 2:41:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government respects collective bargaining. Our government respects having a negotiated settlement at the negotiation table.
Let me take this opportunity to talk about exactly what is in our budget that was prepared with, and by, public sector workers with our own government members.
In my home city of Edmonton, Heidelberg Materials is going to create the world's first net-zero cement plant, with $1.36 billion worth of investment. Why? Because the tax credits are right in the budget. It will produce thousands of jobs, shows national leadership, and is an international first in Edmonton thanks to our government.
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- Apr/20/23 2:42:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, why does the Prime Minister not get up and answer questions? Because he does not care.
Canadians are getting sick and tired of hearing about the Prime Minister's free, lavish vacations while at the same time hearing about Canadians diving into dumpsters looking for food. They are getting sick and tired of waiting in lines for services. They are getting sick and tired of trying to balance their home budgets.
It is a special kind of incompetence to be failing so badly. When will the Prime Minister get to work to fix the problems he created?
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- Apr/20/23 2:42:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to respond to my colleague. The kind of competence we have on this side of the House is that we listen to Canadians. That is exactly what we did in the last budget, something Conservatives do not like to talk about.
What did they say? To help them with groceries. That is why we came out with the rebate on groceries, and 11 million Canadians will benefit from it. That is listening.
The second thing they said was that they want a family doctor. That is why we invested in health care.
The third thing they said was to build the economy of the future. That is why we got Ericsson to invest close to half a billion dollars here in Ottawa. That is how we build an economy.
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- Apr/20/23 2:43:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister went on vacation with his family to Jamaica. That is not the issue. Where things go sideways is that he went to a villa that rents for up to $9,000 a night, a villa that belongs to his wealthy friends, who are also donors to the Trudeau Foundation.
How can this Prime Minister be so out of touch? Why did he not follow the precautionary principle?
Here is an opportunity for him to restore his already badly tarnished reputation. Can the Prime Minister tell the House that he used his own funds to pay for his and his family's accommodations?
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- Apr/20/23 2:44:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have answered that question many times.
However, the real question is for my colleague, a former CBC/Radio‑Canada journalist. Does she agree with the opposition's intention to silence our public broadcaster? It amounts to an attack on information, on journalism and, consequently, an attack on our democracy. Does she agree with that?
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- Apr/20/23 2:44:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are worried about accessing services during the PSAC strike. The union is ready to work with the departments to ensure that veterans can maintain that access, but the minister refuses to talk to them. In fact, the minister has not met with the union president for over two years. This is disrespectful and puts our public servants and veterans at risk. What is he scared of? Will the minister do his job by talking to the union or will he continue to ignore his responsibilities to both veterans and the union?
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- Apr/20/23 2:45:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have met with the union leadership and I have met union people. I have met with Veterans Affairs employees. We have increased our funding to Veterans Affairs by over $11 billion. My mandate and this government's mandate is to make sure we take care of our veterans. We have taken care of and we will continue to take care of our veterans.
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- Apr/20/23 2:45:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the government refuses to give public sector PSAC workers a fair deal, the Prime Minister enjoys complimentary luxury family vacations courtesy of his billionaire friends. Do not be fooled by the Conservatives. When the leader of the official opposition was in government, he always sided with big CEOs.
At a time when families are struggling to put food on the table, the Prime Minister ignored red flags from inside his own office. Why does the Prime Minister keep showing bad judgment by cozying up to billionaires instead of fighting for everyday Canadians?
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- Apr/20/23 2:46:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again for the third day in a row, I am happy to talk about this if this is the members' priority.
Yes, the Prime Minister went on vacation with his family over Christmas. This is a home that he had been at when he was one year old. It is a friend whom he has had for his entire life. It is a family friendship that has gone on forever. I do not know if the member opposite has stayed at a friend's before over Christmas or done something like that, but in any event I have answered this question. I would imagine that there are other more pressing things that Canadians are facing than spending three days asking about whether the Prime Minister took a family vacation over Christmas.
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