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Hon. Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

May/1/23 3:07:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, do members know that, last week, the Conservative member for Northumberland—Peterborough South called the grocery rebate “cheap marketing”? The grocery rebate is going to deliver support to 11 million low-income Canadians who need it. That support was supported by all parties in the House, so it was a real shame to see the flip-flopping Conservatives attack a policy Canadians need. However, we were not surprised, because they care more about cheap talking points than they care about Canadians.

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Mr. Heath MacDonald (Malpeque, Lib.)

May/1/23 3:08:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian veterans have served and sacrificed in the name of our country, and should never be without a safe and affordable home. As a proud supporter of our veterans, I was pleased to see, last week, our government launch a new veteran homelessness program to help ensure every veteran can have a place to call home. Could the Honourable Minister of Housing, Diversity and Inclusion please elaborate and tell the House how this program will help veterans get the essential housing and services they need?

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Hon. Ahmed Hussen (Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Lib.)

May/1/23 3:08:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his important work on this important issue. We know that one homeless veteran is one too many. That is why we announced the new veteran homelessness program. This program will provide much-needed rent supplements and wraparound supports that are geared toward the particular needs of Canadian veterans. Veteran-serving organizations can apply through the Infrastructure Canada website over the next eight weeks for this important fund. This is a significant step in ensuring that each and every Canadian veteran has a safe and affordable place to call home. We will remain dedicated to those who have served us with courage and dedication.

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Mr. Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, NDP)

May/1/23 3:09:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in April, the Trudeau Foundation president and eight board members resigned due to controversy over a Chinese government-linked donation. Furthermore, last week, it was alleged that the donation was not even flagged as foreign money because the former Trudeau Foundation president, Morris Rosenberg, allegedly misled the public and qualified it as a Canadian-based donation. With all of these questions around the foundation and its role in foreign interference, when will the government finally clear the air and call a public inquiry?

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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

May/1/23 3:10:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, on the question of foreign interference, we are absolutely united in making sure that we have to do everything we can to protect this country. That is why the former governor general, Mr. Johnston, was appointed to take a look at these issues. With respect to the charitable foundation that the member is attacking, I would ask him to direct his questions to that foundation. I was the head of one of the largest health charities in Canada and had to answer tough questions when I was with that charity. The foundation is an independent organization with no relationship to the Prime Minister, and that has been made clear on many occasions.

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Mr. Alain Rayes (Richmond—Arthabaska, Ind.)

May/1/23 3:10:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, except for the Americans and the Swiss, Canadians pay more for patented medicines than anyone else on the planet. Despite the reform passed last July, its implementing guidelines led to squabbles and a series of resignations from the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, which caused further delays. To this day, nothing has changed, and Quebeckers and Canadians are still paying higher prices than the rest of the world. Can the Liberal government tell us what steps it is taking to fix this problem once and for all?

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Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos (Minister of Health, Lib.)

May/1/23 3:11:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for raising this important issue. He is quite right that the cost of patented medicines in Canada is too high, especially in relation to comparable countries. That is why, as he also mentioned, we enacted new regulations on July 1, 2022, that will allow us to compare our prices to the prices charged in comparator countries, excluding the U.S. and Switzerland, to make patented medicines more accessible and affordable across Canada in the coming years.

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The Speaker

May/1/23 3:12:13 p.m.
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I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. P. J. Akeeagok, Premier of Nunavut. He is accompanied by several cabinet ministers for Nunavut: the Hon. Pamela Gross, Deputy Premier and Minister of Education; the Hon. John Main, Minister of Health; the Hon. David Akeeagok, Minister of Justice; the Hon. Joanna Quassa, Minister of Environment; the Hon. David Joanasie, Minister of Community and Government Services; and the Hon. Margaret Nakashuk, Minister of Family Services. Some hon. members: Hear, hear!

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Mr. Brad Vis (Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, CPC)

May/1/23 3:13:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from your home, my home and all our homes, let us bring it home with direct flights to Amritsar. Petitioners in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon are calling on the Government of Canada to amend the air transport agreement with India to allow for direct flights to Amritsar to serve the one million-plus Punjabi Canadians who are looking for this flight. It makes economic sense. It makes cultural sense. Let us get it done.

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Ms. Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné (Terrebonne, BQ)

May/1/23 3:14:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to present petition e‑4296 regarding the repatriation of the Saint-Maurice firing range. The petition, which I have been sponsoring for nearly two months, has already gathered 1,500 signatures in just a few weeks. The petitioners are calling on the federal government, and more specifically the Department of National Defence, to do the following: 1. Transfer the Saint-Maurice firing range to the Government of Quebec and/or the City of Terrebonne; 2. Expedite the assessment process to determine the amount of unexploded ordnance on the land and the time needed for decontamination work; and 3. Ensure that the site is decontaminated at federal expense as soon as possible. The petition also points out that the piece of land measures 650 hectares and is one of the largest lungs of the Montreal Metropolitan Area. This petition is receiving a lot of support, including from the City of Terrebonne, the Town of Bois-des-Filion, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie Les Moulins, the Conseil des bassins versants des Mille-Îles, the Société de développement et d'animation de Mascouche, an organization called Génération OUI, and the list goes on. It is therefore high time for the Department of National Defence to make a clear commitment, relinquish the site and start cleaning up the contamination it created, with the ultimate goal of protecting the area from any real estate development.

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Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, CPC)

May/1/23 3:15:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present a petition today on behalf of Canadians who are very concerned about the unprovoked and illegal war Russia is waging against Ukraine. They are concerned about those Ukrainian refugees who have come here seeking asylum and are being shut out of the Canada summer jobs program. A lot of the youth who are over here are not eligible to apply to the Canada summer jobs program. The petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to open it up to the children of those Ukrainians who were authorized for emergency travel to come here, work and be safe, as their children should be given the same opportunities.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

May/1/23 3:16:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many concerned petitioners from Saanich—Gulf Islands have filed this petition asking the government to consider the following: indigenous people have rights, are entitled to traditional territories, and have been stewards of land, which includes old growth forests across Canada. We know the climate crisis demands of us that we do more to protect old growth forest. Valley-bottom, high-productivity, old-growth ecosystems in British Columbia are particularly endangered. There are many specifics to this petition, but in summarizing, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to ban the export of raw logs, as the federal government does have control around trade issues, and to ban the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production, a practice that is, unfortunately, funded in the recent budget. The petitioners ask the government to take seriously the critical importance of protecting indigenous sovereignty and old growth forests, as well as engaging first nations leadership in climate action.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

May/1/23 3:17:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this petition was signed by people in my riding, many of whom have taken significant steps to support newcomers to Canada from Ukraine, people who have come to Canada for the time of the illegal, unprovoked, full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian newcomers are hard-working. They are committed to contributing to Canadian society while they are here, but petitioners are concerned about how young people who come here under the emergency authorization for travel are not able to occupy positions associated with the Canada summer jobs program. The summer jobs program funds many positions that young people might apply to, and this exclusion prevents Ukrainian young people from accessing summer jobs that are available to all of their peers and almost everybody else in Canada. This is unjust and unreasonable, according to petitioners. Folks who are here in Canada should be able to work and contribute alongside everyone else. Therefore, the undersigned call on the Government of Canada to allow Ukrainian youth under the Canada-Ukraine authorization of emergency travel to apply for jobs under the CSJ program.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.)

May/1/23 3:19:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the last number of years, we have seen a great growth in our Indo-Canadian community. Along with that growth, we have seen a considerable demand with respect to additional international flights, as expressed earlier, to Amritsar, New Delhi and Chandigarh, many international airports in India. Residents, in particular in the Winnipeg, in the capital region and in other areas, are hoping to see more direct flights, whether through Air Canada, Westjet or other international airlines. The idea is that we try to get more international direct flights. Ideally for me it would be Winnipeg to Amritsar, but the bottom line is that whatever the members of Parliament, the House, the minister, the different airport authorities and different stakeholders can do to enhance air service to India would be seen as a positive thing with respect to the petitioners.

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Mr. Colin Carrie (Oshawa, CPC)

May/1/23 3:19:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the House knows, Haiti has experienced a dire political, economic and humanitarian crisis comparable to Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine. According to the United Nations, gangs have taken over Haiti and cases of sexual violence and terrorism have increased, including kidnapping, which is up by over 105%. Homicide is up by 35%. We all know that Canada's compassion is well known as the strength of or nation's fabric and must continue to be shown to all people facing humanitarian challenges. I have a petition calling upon the Government of Canada to create a Canada-Haiti humanitarian visa program, allowing citizens and permanent residents of Canada to help their Haitian family members to find temporary safe residence in Canada in dignity and grant them the ability to work and study while in Canada, and provide Haitians who are already in Canada a temporary residency status option to acquire or extend their work and study permit so they continue to live, work and study in Canada temporarily.

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Mr. Ted Falk (Provencher, CPC)

May/1/23 3:20:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here that is signed. It recognizes that the risk of violence against women increases when they are pregnant. Currently the injury or death of a preborn child or the victim of a crime is not considered aggravating. It also recognizes that Canada has no abortion law and that this creates a void in our legal system that does not recognize the preborn child as a victim of violent crime. Justice requires that an attacker who abuses a pregnant woman and her preborn child be sentenced accordingly if the sentence should match the crime. The petitioners ask that the House of Commons legislate that the abuse of a pregnant woman and the infliction of harm on her preborn child be considered an aggravating circumstance for the purpose of sentencing under the Criminal Code.

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Hon. Ed Fast (Abbotsford, CPC)

May/1/23 3:21:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am tabling in the House three similar petitions in which the petitioners firstly note that the risk of violence against women increases when they are pregnant. It is very important to note that currently an injury to or the death of a preborn child as the victim of crime is not considered an aggravating factor. Justice calls out that an attacker who abuses a pregnant woman and her preborn child be sentenced accordingly. Really, the sentence should match the crime. The petitioners therefore call upon the House to legislate the abuse of a pregnant woman and/or the infliction of harm on a preborn child as an aggravating factor in sentencing under the Criminal Code. The three petitions all ask for the same thing.

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Mr. Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock, CPC)

May/1/23 3:22:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I too am rising today to present a petition signed by Canadians from across the country. The petitioners are concerned about the lack of protections for the preborn human. They point out that the risk of violence against women increases when they are pregnant and that currently there is no protection for the preborn at all. Therefore, justice requires that an attacker who abuses a pregnant woman and her preborn child be sentenced accordingly and the sentence should match the crime. The petitioners call on the House of Commons to legislate the abuse of a pregnant woman and/or the inflicting of harm on her preborn child as an aggravating circumstance for sentencing under the Criminal Code.

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Mrs. Carol Hughes (Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, NDP)

May/1/23 3:23:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise once again to table a petition that highlights the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The petitioners state that Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that consists of meditation exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. They note that practitioners are the victims of various forms of persecution in China, including forced organ harvesting and trafficking. They once again call on the government to pass a resolution to establish measures to stop this crime by the Chinese Communist regime of systematically murdering Falun Gong practitioners for their organs, amend the Canadian legislation to combat forced organ harvesting and publicly call for an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong in China.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

May/1/23 3:24:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time. The Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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Stand

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