SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

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

Jun/21/23 3:02:20 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, Canada has the worst household debt in the G7, by far the worst, and that debt risks blowing up when rates rise. One of the ways the Prime Minister has been wasting money is that he gave $210 million to the Asian infrastructure bank, which is controlled by Beijing and designed to build the infrastructure of Beijing's Communist empire throughout Asia. We warned him five years ago and now some of that bank's own executives are speaking out against it. He claims he is stalling his involvement in the bank, but the real question is this: When will we get our $200 million back?

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

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

Jun/21/23 3:02:59 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, Canada has long been involved in investing in infrastructure around the world because we know that it creates growth and opportunity in the global south. It continues to contribute to fighting climate change, as people are building more resilient infrastructure and indeed energy infrastructure. We are part of multilateral development banks all around the world. As the Leader of the Opposition pointed out, we are reviewing our participation in the Asian infrastructure bank, and we will make the decision that is right for Canadians.

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

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

Jun/21/23 3:03:30 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, he is defending the $200 million he gave to a bank, one of whose executives said, “I didn't find a single, tangible benefit to communicate back home here to Canada of what this bank does that is consistent with our values in a way that would benefit Canadians.” While Canadians are starving and cannot heat their homes, he is forcing them to give $200 million to this bank controlled by Beijing to expand a Communist empire in Asia. When will Canadians get their $200 million back from this Liberal-friendly bank?

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

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

Jun/21/23 3:06:54 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister just admitted that the Asian infrastructure bank is “controlled by Beijing”. He says he is not going to get our money back. He is just going to review our participation. While Canadians cannot afford to eat, heat or house themselves, he is forcing them to give almost a quarter-billion dollars to this Beijing-backed bank. I am asking the question: Will the Prime Minister take back our $200 million from this bank, which he admits is controlled by Beijing?

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

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

Jun/21/23 3:07:33 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, we remain committed to building infrastructure around the world, particularly in emerging southern nations. We are there for investments, for roads, for power plants and other things across the south, and we will continue to be. Yes, we are in the process of reassessing our participation in this Asian investment bank. We will share our findings with Canadians when we complete the assessment.

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

Mr. Daniel Blaikie

Jun/21/23 7:21:04 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, yes, that is a fact, and it has been done by Liberal and Conservative governments. In fact, it was a key election commitment of the sitting Prime Minister that he would not do this anymore. I think the running tally between Liberal and Conservative governments by 2015 of what had been raided out of the employment insurance account was about $63 billion or so. This was money that did not belong to government but belonged to workers in order to pay wages while they are out of work. Perhaps somebody knows that number better. What I find quite disconcerting is that the current government is at it with the same old tricks, except that this time, instead of just gratuitously grabbing that money out of the EI account, it has said that it is going to take $25 billion of pandemic CERB debt and apply it to the EI account. Therefore, it is saying that it is not really taking money out of the account but just debiting the account. One does not have to be a democratic socialist to be upset about this. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business thinks it is a bad idea, and it is upset about it too. Both employers and employees are rightly upset about the fact that the federal government has once again decided to go grab out of the EI piggy bank, which is not what it is. It is also why we should have legislation to protect that account, but we do not, and it is why we have been very consistent in calling on the government to—

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