SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 221 - Sep/20/23

Ms. Joanne Thompson (St. John's East, Lib.)

Sep/20/23 2:12:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with a population of just 500, the municipality of Bauline in St. John's East may be small in size, but it is big on addressing the pressing issue of climate change. Perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, Bauline understands the threat of our changing climate and extreme weather events better than most. The town recently hosted its third annual Climate Action Day, bringing together the local council and residents of Bauline, with a shared determination to reduce carbon emissions through consistent and well-thought-out actions. Bauline has set a high standard for all of us to emulate and is a true champion for change. If our smallest communities can make significant strides in reducing their carbon footprint, then it is incumbent upon us all to collectively challenge communities, both big and small, to follow suit. Climate change requires all of us to act, and Bauline's exemplary leadership serves as an inspiration to us all.

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Mr. Marty Morantz (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, CPC)

Sep/20/23 2:13:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in June, the finance minister said, “Canada’s plan to bring down inflation is working.” She called it a “milestone moment”, taking credit for the reduction. Yesterday, we learned inflation has gone up to 4%, an increase of 43% since she made those comments. Now inflation is higher here than it is in the United States. Mortgage payments are up 151%, to $3,560. Rent has doubled. Before the Prime Minister took office, it took 25 years to pay off a mortgage. Now it takes 25 years just to save for a down payment. The NDP-Liberal government wants to blow the bank. The Prime Minister has added more debt than all previous prime ministers combined. Common-sense Conservatives would bring homes people can afford by reducing inflationary deficits and taxes to bring lower interest rates. After eight years, the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.

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Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)

Sep/20/23 2:14:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first, I have a special message for someone important in my life. To my daughter, I say happy birthday. I love her, and my life got a thousand times better the day she was born. However, I worry about my daughter's safety: After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, crime is up nearly 40%. Gang-related murders are up 108%. Worst of all, sex crimes against children are up 126%. Despite this, the Liberal-NDP government stands by its pillowy-soft sentences for gun, sex and violent offenders, who are an affront to ordinary Canadians. Luckily, we are beginning to realize that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Conservatives and our leader are ready to work to reverse the wave of violent crime that has been ushered in by the Prime Minister. He is not ready to act; we are.

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Hon. Mona Fortier (Ottawa—Vanier, Lib.)

Sep/20/23 2:15:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I want to express my admiration and gratitude for an exceptional woman, the Hon. Monique Bégin. Driven by the strong liberal values of feminism, equality, social justice and equity that guided her career, she cleared a path for all the women who entered the House after her. In 1972, she became one of Quebec's first three women members of Parliament. A true pioneer, she also served with distinction as a minister, creating the child tax credit, supporting a guaranteed income supplement increase and passing the Canada Health Act. After leaving politics, she made Ottawa—Vanier her home and continued serving others as a faculty member at the University of Ottawa. She also influenced and advised political decision-makers, and I am privileged to count myself among them. We owe Monique Bégin a great deal for her outstanding achievements. We also have a duty to carry the torch she passed to us. I offer my sincere condolences to her loved ones. May she rest in peace.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Sep/20/23 2:16:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work of Project EmpowHER and other women’s health organizations that have come to Ottawa to advocate for universal coverage of contraception in Canada. It is time that we end financial barriers that limit access to contraceptives. I heed Action Canada’s call for “universal no-cost prescription contraception”, which is “predicated on everyone being able to give free and informed consent, and on that consent being respected”, as well as its call to “see an end to forced sterilization and discrimination in the healthcare system”. It is time to put in place a national pharmacare strategy that includes free contraceptives and get rid of the cost barriers that limit an individual’s right to choose. It is time to respect people’s bodily autonomy, including the right to reproductive choice, and to recognize reproductive rights as human rights and ensure free access to contraceptives in Canada.

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Mr. Yves-François Blanchet (Beloeil—Chambly, BQ)

Sep/20/23 2:17:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is only natural for Quebec to see itself as more than a mere province, since it was shaped by giants like Jacques‑Yvan Morin, who passed away on July 26. In 1973, he became leader of the official opposition with just six elected members from the Parti Québécois, which would transform Quebec three years later. He then served as deputy premier of Quebec alongside René Lévesque, and later as minister of education, minister of cultural and scientific development and minister of intergovernmental affairs. Jacques‑Yvan Morin was at the forefront of our nation's history as it was being written. He was a professor emeritus and prominent jurist who was trained at top schools like Harvard and Cambridge. He was the first full-time professor of international law at the University of Montreal. He belonged to a rare breed of distinguished Quebec intellectuals from that era, who toko the plunge and devoted everything they had to serving Quebec. On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I offer my condolences to his wife Élisabeth Gallat‑Morin, his son Étienne, and all those who loved him. I am grateful to Jacques‑Yvan Morin, a towering figure in Quebec history, for sowing the seeds of a future that can now be reaped by younger Quebeckers.

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Mr. Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC)

Sep/20/23 2:19:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, instead of celebrating this harvest season, farmers across Canada are shuddering at the thought of their first carbon tax bill. When the NDP-Liberal government triples the carbon tax, farmers will be forced to pay $150,000 in additional taxes, all for the crime of working hard to feed this country. The NDP-Liberal government's punitive tax is felt all the way from the farmer who grows the food and the trucker who moves it to the Canadian who eats the food if they can afford it. Onions are up 60%, cabbage is up 70%, carrots are up 74% and even potatoes are up 68%. After eight years under the current Prime Minister, families will pay more than $16,000 more for groceries this year alone. With food banks lined up out the door, from Victoria-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island, to Victoria, British Columbia, Thanksgiving is going to be tough. The NDP-Liberal tax is truly farm to table, and the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Lib.)

Sep/20/23 2:20:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise as the MP for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill to speak on gender equality, a fundamental issue for so many in my riding and all of Canada. Today marks the midpoint of Gender Equality Week, and in this place, we are just about at the midpoint to gender equality. Over 100 years have passed since women could first run for office, yet only 30% of MPs are women. However, women make up more than 50% of the population. Women make up over 36% of the Liberal caucus; our policies encourage women to run, and we address the barriers they face and unequivocally support women's rights. Less than 18% of the official opposition's caucus is made up of women, and it is a caucus that is certainly not unanimous in its support of gender equality or a woman's right to choose. In honour of Monique Bégin and other trailblazers, we must keep moving forward toward a just and equal society and not let regressive forces take us back.

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

Sep/20/23 2:21:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister has said that times are tough for politicians. At his retreat in Charlottetown, he said that inflation would go down. We learned yesterday that it has actually gone up. In fact, since the Minister of Finance declared victory over inflation, it has increased 43%. This could force the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates on Canadians, who are already carrying the highest debt levels in the G7. Will the government finally reverse its inflationary taxes and deficits so we can cut interest rates before we have a mortgage crisis on our hands? Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Speaker

Sep/20/23 2:22:30 p.m.
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I am sure that the hon. Leader of the Opposition would like an answer, so I will ask members to quiet down. It is nice to see you all excited, but I would like to recognize the hon. minister.

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Hon. François-Philippe Champagne (Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Lib.)

Sep/20/23 2:23:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see so much enthusiasm from my colleagues on both sides of the House. During the summer, we did something important. We listened to Canadians. They told us three things. They want help with the cost of groceries and the cost of housing. One thing that Canadians did not tell us was to stop helping families, youth and the most vulnerable members of our society. The Canadians who are watching us today know that we will always be there for them, and they are beginning to understand that the Conservative leader is just too risky for Canada.

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

Sep/20/23 2:24:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it seems to me as though, for once, the Liberals are actually happy with the person leading them in question period. I would like to congratulate the hon. member on his new duties. He is a little guy from Shawinigan. Perhaps we will have another little guy from Shawinigan as Prime Minister one day. I can understand why even the Liberals want to fire the Prime Minister. He costs too much and is not worth the cost or effort.

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Hon. François-Philippe Champagne (Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Lib.)

Sep/20/23 2:24:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the Conservative leader is busy ranting, Canadians are clearly telling us one thing: They need our government's help. That is why we are here to help on the grocery front, for example. We called in the CEOs of the major grocery chains this week. We are going to lower the GST on housing. We are going to take action to help Canadians. If there is one thing Canadians are tired of, it is hearing the Conservative leader's slogans. One thing they understand is that he is just too risky for Canada. We will be there for Canadians every step of the way.

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Slogans
Gst

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

Sep/20/23 2:25:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at his recent retreat in Charlottetown, the Prime Minister said that life is really tough for politicians. Today he is off on another trip to New York for three days to give a couple of speeches and burn a whole lot of fuel, at the same time as he raises carbon taxes on Canadians for the crime of driving to work and feeding their families. Yesterday, inflation was way up. It is accelerating. It is higher than in the States and in Japan, which could drive up interest rates. Will the Prime Minister balance the budget and axe the tax to bring inflation and interest rates down?

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Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson (Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Lib.)

Sep/20/23 2:26:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Speaker

Sep/20/23 2:26:24 p.m.
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Order. I realize it is Wednesday, everybody is excited and emotions are running high, but we have to get through question period. Let us see if we can just calm down and hear the questions and answers. The hon. minister.

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Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson

Sep/20/23 2:26:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear that affordability is, of course, the top priority for the government. It is very clear that it is a huge concern on the minds of many Canadians. It has caused us to look at programs such as removing the GST from the construction of new rental units, providing money for home efficiency, the grocery rebate and a range of other things. However, I would say that it is also important that while we are addressing affordability, we do so in a manner that actually will allow us to also address the climate crisis. It is an existential threat to the future of our children. Shame on the Conservatives for having no climate plan. On this side of the House, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can do both.

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

Sep/20/23 2:27:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they are prepared to thunderously applaud anyone, other than their own leader, who stands up in the House of Commons. No wonder the Prime Minister says that it is a really hard time to be a politician. Right now, speaking of hard times, he is off in New York for another three days, burning a lot of jet fuel while he applies a carbon tax, which he wants to quadruple to 61¢ a litre, on farmers, single parents and struggling working-class families who have to choose between eating and heating. Will the Prime Minister park the plane, end the high-carbon hypocrisy and axe the tax?

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Hon. Anita Anand (President of the Treasury Board, Lib.)

Sep/20/23 2:28:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, our government actually has a plan to support Canadians during this time. We have, for example, the grocery rebate helping 11 million Canadians. We are helping 4.2 million Canadians with the workers benefits and over six million Canadians with indexed old age security. What is the Conservatives' plan? That is right; they do not have one.

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Plan
Support

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

Sep/20/23 2:28:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our plan is to axe the tax and use technology, not taxes. It is really incredible that this high-flying, high-carbon hypocrite is jetting around the world at the expense of Canadian taxpayers at the same time as he raises fuel taxes on everyday Canadians. The NDP supports him 100% in the 61¢-a-litre carbon tax they want to impose. That and the inflationary deficits have driven inflation back up. Will the government finally end the inflationary taxes and deficits so we can bring down rates before Canadians go bankrupt?

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