44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 24, 2023 11:00AM
- Apr/24/23 2:51:22 p.m.
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Order. I hear somebody shouting. Before we go to the next question, I want to remind hon. members that they each have an earpiece, and they can turn it up if they are having a hard time hearing.
The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.
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- Apr/24/23 2:51:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been saying for weeks that he built a wall between himself and the Trudeau family's taxpayer-funded foundation. New revelations now show that the Prime Minister did not actually build the wall and that these claims are completely false.
The Trudeau Foundation hosted a meeting inside the Prime Minister's own office with five deputy ministers. Was there a wall down the middle of the room or something? Canadians deserve a full investigation into political involvement and foreign interference into the Prime Minister's taxpayer-funded family foundation. Will the government allow that full investigation to take place?
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- Apr/24/23 2:52:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the meeting in question was between public servants and the foundation. It did not involve the Prime Minister. It was in a building, yes, and there are many meetings that take place all over Parliament Hill.
This is what is going on: Again and again, the Conservatives are looking for any way they can to connect this when no such connection exists. I made it clear that no such connection exists. I will repeat that, day in and day out, and they will continue to try it with us.
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- Apr/24/23 2:53:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us listen to the words the government House leader used. He said that, yes, it was in a building. Do they know what building it was? It was in the Prime Minister's own office. That is not just any building. It is of some significance.
If there were a meeting that took place in my office, and then I claimed I had no idea that people were using my office, how would they have gotten in? Did I leave the key somewhere?
Could the government House leader provide us with a more serious explanation? If the Prime Minister did not know about this meeting, then how did the people get into his office?
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- Apr/24/23 2:53:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure which building the member is in. Maybe he is in the Confederation Building, and now I know that he is aware of every meeting that takes place in the Confederation Building.
Come on. Let us be realistic here. The actual issue is that they are attempting to be—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/24/23 2:54:05 p.m.
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Order. Are we ready to continue?
The hon. government House leader.
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- Apr/24/23 2:54:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to the underlying assumption that comes again and again, let us be very clear about what the Conservatives are trying to do. They are trying to paint a picture of the government, and it is offensive to suggest that any Canadian government would allow a foreign government to interfere or help make decisions. It is absolutely ridiculous. It attacks one of the fundamental tenets of our democracy, which each of us has here, and that is to protect our institutions.
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- Apr/24/23 2:55:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said, and I quote, “I made that decision 10 years ago to not engage with the [Trudeau] foundation and that is what we have all been consistent with.”
It appears that the Prime Minister has once again misled the House. We know that his cabinet was in contact with the Trudeau Foundation in 2016. We learned this morning that the Trudeau Foundation secured a meeting with the most influential deputy ministers of the new Liberal government just six months after the election. If what the Prime Minister said is true, then why was that meeting held in his office?
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- Apr/24/23 2:55:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here is what Chantal Hébert said this morning, and I am paraphrasing: I have been to the Langevin Block three times. All three times, it was for round tables organized by the Clerk of the Privy Council with deputy ministers. I have never met the current Prime Minister. It is entirely possible that the Prime Minister did not even know that the meeting with deputy ministers had taken place. It had nothing to do with him. It was not his political staff.
Are the Conservatives saying that Chantal Hébert is also part of the conspiracy?
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- Apr/24/23 2:56:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, no, that is not what I am saying. What I am saying is, “Pass Go and collect $200,000”.
That seems to be how the Trudeau Foundation saw the 2015 election: donations from the regime in Beijing and access to the federal government's top mandarin. It was a jackpot for Liberal cronies.
As La Presse reported, the Prime Minister has been droning on for the past three weeks about how there is a wall between him and the Trudeau Foundation. Little did we know that he was referring to an actual wall in his own office.
I have a number of questions for the Prime Minister. Who requested the meeting? Who asked the deputy ministers to attend? Why was the meeting held in the Prime Minister's building? Last but not least, who gave the Trudeau Foundation such unprecedented access to the Prime Minister's staff?
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- Apr/24/23 2:56:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the walls that protect our institutions. Let us talk about the CBC and Radio-Canada. Let us talk about the fact that the Leader of the Opposition wants to work with large tech giants to destroy the walls that protect those foundations.
Let us talk about the Bank of Canada, which he wishes to reach into to change its direction. This is the Bank of Canada, something that has been completely independent while protecting monetary and fiscal policy.
I wonder if, like when he was giving advice about cryptocurrency, he would apply that advice to the Bank of Canada and make the Bank of Canada listen to his political direction. It would have the same disastrous effect on all Canadians as it did on those who listened to his advice on cryptocurrency.
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- Apr/24/23 2:57:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, where is the Prime Minister in the labour dispute between his government and the public service?
After a weekend without any progress and given that the situation is likely to escalate, the Prime Minister must personally intervene. That is a formal request from the union and it is also in the interest of Quebeckers, who have everything to lose if the dispute drags on. Every hour that passes moves us further away from a desirable negotiated solution and leads us closer to an escalation of tensions.
Will the Prime Minister finally sit at the bargaining table?
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- Apr/24/23 2:58:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are currently at the table. We are negotiating with the Public Service Alliance of Canada. A great deal of progress has been made. We must remember that there were 570 demands at the outset. A few are remaining and we will get there.
We will reach a fair and reasonable agreement for Canadians.
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- Apr/24/23 2:58:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister needs to get involved.
The union has said that, at this point, he is the only one in office that can resolve certain key issues.
If the strike drags on, some people will not receive their tax refund. Some will experience another passport crisis. Some people's employment insurance claims will not be processed. The only reason the strike is still going on right now is that the Prime Minister is refusing to take a seat at the bargaining table.
When will he step up to the plate?
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- Apr/24/23 2:59:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been in mediation for three weeks now, and our team is working tirelessly to negotiate new collective agreements that are fair, competitive and reasonable.
This round of negotiations has been very difficult. As I said earlier, the union came to the table with 570 demands. I am proud to say that there are only a handful left on the table. Our bargaining team is working very hard, and we will come to an agreement very soon. We will continue to make an effort to come to an agreement.
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- Apr/24/23 2:59:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 700 soldiers at Petawawa went without heat and hot water because the Prime Minister could not reach a deal with public servants. According to leaked documents, the Prime Minister secretly told our allies that he does not feel our military is important. Now Canadians know the truth. Under the Liberals, our women and men in uniform will never be considered a priority.
The Prime Minister's residence would never go without heat and water. Why were heat and hot water not deemed to be essential services for our Canadian Armed Forces?
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- Apr/24/23 3:00:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, an agreement has been reached that allows the heating plant to resume operations and provide heat and hot water to those living at the garrison.
On our commitment to the Canadian Armed Forces, our defence spending is increasing, unlike that of the Conservatives, who let defence spending dip below 1% when they were in power. We invested $40 billion in NORAD modernization. Our defence spending is increasing by 70% under our current defence policy. In our last budget, we are increasing defence spending by $8 billion.
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- Apr/24/23 3:01:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is called creative accounting.
The Prime Minister's incompetence has caused the worst public service strike in decades, and it is disproportionately hurting national defence. Our troops are not being fed, do not have heat or hot water, and are not being reimbursed for out-of-pocket meal expenses in places such as Poland.
It is said that an army marches on beans and bullets, and the incompetent Liberal government cannot even get that right. The Prime Minister does not consider the basic needs of our forces essential. He is literally leaving our troops in the cold and hungry. Why is that?
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- Apr/24/23 3:01:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is somewhat surprising, when the Conservatives let defence spending dip below 1%, for my hon. colleague to suggest that we are not paying attention to what we are rightfully focused on, which is increasing resources for the Canadian Armed Forces, increasing defence spending, ensuring our forces have the equipment they need to fight forest fires and floods here at home, leading the enhanced forward presence battle group in Latvia, making sure we are a leading donor to Ukraine in its time of need, contributing in the Middle East, and the list goes on. We will always be here for the armed forces.
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- Apr/24/23 3:02:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is displaying a special kind of incompetence, and once again, Canadians are the ones who will pay the price. He increased the cost of the public service by 50% in eight years without being able to prevent 150,000 employees from going on strike, the worst strike in 40 years. We also found out that 700 soldiers are living on a base without heat or hot water because of the public servants walking off the job.
Does the Prime Minister not think that our soldiers deserve better, after everything they do for our country?
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