SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 206

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 5, 2023 11:00AM
  • Jun/5/23 2:39:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that did not answer my question, but anyway. The Liberal solution is full of holes. We have a Prime Minister who hides the truth from citizens and who wants to force the opposition leaders to join him in his secretive practices. He wants to let them in on the secret, while keeping Quebeckers and Canadians in the dark. The Liberals are looking at this problem from the wrong angle. The problem is not that the public knows that China is interfering in democracy. On the contrary, the problem is that China is able to continue interfering behind the scenes. The problem is the darkness, not the light. When will the government launch an independent public inquiry?
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  • Jun/5/23 2:39:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think my Bloc Québécois friend might be confused about who kept Canadians in the dark. The Conservative Party did absolutely nothing to address foreign interference, despite the fact that our intelligence agencies raised the issue publicly in 2013. Our government did the opposite. We implemented measures to counter foreign interference. We strengthened them every time the experts advised us to do so, and we are going to do exactly the same thing when it comes to Mr. Johnston's recommendations.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:40:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this government talks about opposition leaders but says nothing about China's interference. That is what we need to address, and yet, as a result of the Johnston report, there will be no inquiry into the Chinese police stations, no inquiry into the electoral candidates backed by China, no inquiry into the intimidation of the Chinese diaspora, and no inquiry into the threats against our elected members. What is the use of allowing Mr. Johnston to continue to do his work if he himself is telling us that he will not be investigating Chinese interference in our democracy?
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  • Jun/5/23 2:41:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, our government has a list of meaningful action that has been taken with respect to foreign interference with the creation of new powers for CSIS, with the creation of a new national coordinator in the fight against foreign interference and with a public consultation for the creation of a new foreign agent registry. We are prepared to work together with the Bloc and with all members in the fight against foreign interference to better protect our democratic institutions.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:41:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, food costs are up. Inflation is up. Mortgage payments are up. Rental payments are up. Faith in the Prime Minister is down. When will the Prime Minister end these inflationary deficits, scrap the tax and bring back the common sense of the common people?
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  • Jun/5/23 2:42:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure there was a question in there, but I do not mind actually sharing with the Conservatives—
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  • Jun/5/23 2:42:26 p.m.
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I want to remind hon. members, there is a little chattering and I am not pointing at either side here, that this chamber is much more technically advanced than our old chamber, and it picks up everything. If someone is speaking and someone next to the microphone, not even next to it but a couple of seats away, says something, it will be picked up. I just want everyone to keep that in consideration while someone is speaking. The hon. Minister of Families, please start over so that we could hear the whole thing. It will be nice and quiet.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:42:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure my hon. colleague asked a question there, but I do not mind enlightening him on the measures that we have taken to help Canadians with the high cost of living. For example, we brought forward the Canada housing benefit that helps millions of Canadians who are low-income renters. We brought forward the Canada dental benefit that has helped over 300,000 Canadian children access the dentist, and the Canada child benefit, which is now up to almost $7,000 a year per child under the age of six for the lowest-income Canadians. I would also mention the grocery rebates, which would be going out to 11 million Canadians this July.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:43:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal deficits drive inflation and Canadians are paying the price. John Manley said that government fiscal policy is making it harder to contain inflation, and Stephen Poloz said that government deficits last year made the Bank of Canada raise interest rates higher, which means Canadians are paying a higher price for government spending. Just last month, inflation went higher when the Minister of Finance said Canadians should expect inflation to go lower. Is there a plan to end inflationary deficits and spending to bring down inflation and interest rates?
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  • Jun/5/23 2:44:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I also do not mind providing a bit of a history lesson to Conservatives, because, in fact, when the Liberals left government in 2006, they left the Conservatives with a big, healthy surplus. What did the Conservatives do? Well, they actually brought in years of deficits while cutting services and going through a global recession. On the other hand, what did we do? We invested in Canadians. We have supported Canadians. In fact, we know that inflation is high, but when it comes to food inflation, a new report today actually announced that Canada is the second-lowest in the world when it comes to food inflation. We know there is more to do. We know we need to support Canadians. We are doing the right thing.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:44:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are proud of a record that, during the last recession, cut taxes for Canadians. However, let us talk about energy and food costs, which are some of the biggest contributors to inflation. It is puzzling that the government continues to increase taxes on both fuel and food and making them more expensive by continuing to increase the carbon tax. These carbon taxes, as the central bank says, are inflationary, and this government wants to impose a second carbon tax, which will just make food and fuel more expensive, because we have to ship the food to the table and farmers use fuel in their operations. When will the government realize that its policies are making inflation worse?
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  • Jun/5/23 2:45:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 2016 was the worst year for forest fires in Alberta, and already we are on the verge of surpassing this on June 4. We have just seen the worst forest fires in the history of Nova Scotia, and this is only June 4. Quebec asked the federal government over the weekend, because it said it could not handle all the forest fires it is seeing, and it is only the beginning of June. What is the response from the Conservative Party of Canada? It is to let make pollution free again. Let us allow the largest polluters in Canada to pollute as much as they want. Let us stop using the most effective tool to fight climate change, which is carbon pricing—
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  • Jun/5/23 2:46:17 p.m.
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The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:46:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people across the country are hurting because of the housing crisis. They are paying exorbitant prices or are being forced to move. The Liberals are not building enough social or affordable housing and are not investing enough to maintain existing housing. Yesterday, the NDP leader and I visited an affordable housing complex in Notre‑Dame‑de‑Grâce that had to condemn and close entire apartment units for lack of money to maintain and renovate them. That is ridiculous. When will the Liberals wake up and make serious investments in accessible housing for everyone?
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  • Jun/5/23 2:46:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. We agree with him that housing is currently difficult to find and that it is much more expensive. We created the first national housing strategy, which invested in affordable housing and recognized the right to housing, because we need legislation to tackle market speculation. That is exactly what we are doing.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:47:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the raging wildfires in Alberta have left countless communities devastated. As families were allowed to return home, I joined some in the East Prairie Métis Settlement to witness the destruction and mourn the loss of their homes, cultural heirlooms and family memories. Despite being hit the hardest, first nations and Métis settlements have only received lip service from both the provincial and federal governments. Will this government take its relationship with first nations and Métis settlements seriously and provide immediate housing supports to those who have lost everything?
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  • Jun/5/23 2:48:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with the member that, last week, the Prime Minister and several of us met with the Métis National Council, for example, and talked about working with the Métis National Council to actually implement a priority on emergency management. I also want to assure the member opposite that Indigenous Services Canada and the Government of Canada have been working closely with first nations and Métis communities impacted by these fires, and we will continue to support them in every way possible.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:48:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, June marks National Indigenous History Month, which is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions of first nations, Inuit and Métis across Canada as well as their culture, languages and heritage. It is also an opportunity to reflect on historic wrongs, how they have impacted relationships with indigenous people and the ongoing work to advance reconciliation. The reality of Canada's colonial history, including dispossessing indigenous people from their lands, continue to be felt to this day. Can the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations please update this House on the work Canada has been doing to advance reconciliation to address past harms—
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  • Jun/5/23 2:49:17 p.m.
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The hon. minister.
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  • Jun/5/23 2:49:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last year, we resolved a record number of 56 specific claims for $3.5 billion in compensation. In addition, this past April, we reached a historical settlement with Treaty 8 first nations, which will return just over 44,000 hectares of land to those communities. We are also addressing a number of past harms, namely the harms caused by the tragedy of residential schools and the destruction of language and culture, with the Gottfriedson settlement earlier in January for $2.8 billion. While National Indigenous History Month is the occasion to reflect on everything that is going well in this country for indigenous peoples, it is also a reminder that we—
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