44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 3, 2023 10:00AM
- Oct/3/23 3:42:24 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the government being out of touch with reality, this is exactly what we are talking about. The minister is completely out of touch with the reality of Canadians, people who are currently seeking help from food banks that are overwhelmed. Food banks are so overwhelmed that they are not able to provide food to all those who are asking for it right now. There are families in the minister's riding, in Montreal, who are being turned away by food banks because they cannot meet the demand. It is unprecedented. Unfortunately, even in the face of this crisis, members voted to keep the second carbon tax on June 5, 2023.
Can the Prime Minister and the Bloc Québécois set aside their ideology for once and help people in need?
140 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:43:03 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, what is out of touch with reality in 2023 is to be a party that hopes to form government but has nothing to say about climate change. Still today, the party's official position is to deny the very existence of climate change, while, this summer, tens of thousands of people across the country were displaced not once, not twice, but three times, in some cases because of record wildfires. There was major flooding across the country, and the Conservative Party has nothing to say about climate change.
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:43:38 p.m.
- Watch
I would simply like to remind members that there can only be one conversation going on at a time. That is very important.
23 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:43:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Governor General's dry cleaning bill since 2018 amounts to $117,000. Her laundry must be clean, all right. In addition to this $117,000, we can tack on another $2.7 million in travel, $71,000 in limousines and $130,000 in clothing, all expenses fit for royalty. The cleaning might be dry, but it is raining cash on the Governor General. Dry cleaning is one of the services included with the office. If she needs extra to cover her laundry, she can always dip into her $350,000 annual salary.
When is the Prime Minister going to do something about this situation?
108 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:44:47 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, obviously, every dollar invested must be spent conscientiously and responsibly. We will make the appropriate checks.
18 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:45:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, a report by Radio-Canada reveals that the RCMP hires unilingual anglophone executives for high-ranking bilingual positions. They do not speak a word of French. They are not taking French lessons. In no way, shape or form are these people qualified for their positions, not today and not any other day. It is a blatant violation of the Official Languages Act, a violation that is so commonplace in Ottawa that even the RCMP—the police, for crying out loud—is in breach of the act.
Will the minister do something?
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:46:13 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, first of all, congratulations on your election as Speaker. As far as my colleague's question goes, the answer is yes. Our government is constantly taking measures to make sure that federal government agencies meet their obligations under the Official Languages Act. That is what we expect of the RCMP.
I will be meeting with the RCMP commissioner tomorrow. I will definitely raise this important issue with him, because we truly believe in the Official Languages Act.
79 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:46:18 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this new law was supposed to put an end to these cases of contempt for French at the federal level. Every single francophone will be paying close attention to what the new minister does.
This is the first blatant case of a federal agency thinking it is still okay to undermine French since the new Official Languages Act came into effect.
Will the minister demonstrate to the entire public service that those days are over, or will he demonstrate that it is still okay to undermine French?
89 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:46:58 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your new role in the House.
This year we are celebrating the modernization of the Official Languages Act, but we must also set the record straight and talk facts. The principle of bilingualism is a fundamental principle of both our country and our government. We expected the RCMP to live up to these principles and to fill bilingual positions with bilingual personnel.
66 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:47:33 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the housing crisis is hurting hundreds of thousands of families across Canada. TVA recently reported the heartbreaking story of one Lanaudière family: a single mother and her three children who had to leave their home and move into a garage. We are a G7 country. This is outrageous. It is small wonder that the woman said she was living through “hell” at the moment.
Now the government is proposing to introduce a new tax. Even the Bloc Québécois is sold on the idea.
Does anyone think it is right to introduce a new tax when hundreds of thousands of families are struggling?
112 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:48:12 p.m.
- Watch
The hon. Minister of Housing.
5 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:48:20 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let me begin by offering my congratulations and all the success in your new role.
With respect to the hon. member's question, I will not diminish the very serious challenges that families are facing across this country. In order to address Canada's national housing crisis, we are taking a number of different measures. We are investing in affordable housing in a way that no government has over the course of my entire life. In addition, in order to contribute to the ability for builders to build more homes, we are cutting taxes and changing the way that cities build homes through the housing accelerator fund.
When I compare our plan to theirs, members can trust that we will get more homes built, and that has been confirmed by finance officials at committee.
136 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:49:05 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, the average house price has doubled. The Prime Minister said, “it wasn't me”. After eight years of this Liberal government, the cost of rent has doubled. This Liberal Prime Minister said, "it wasn't me”. After eight years of this Liberal government, it now takes 25 years to save for a down payment for a home. This Liberal Prime Minister said, “it wasn't me”.
This Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost. If he is not responsible for anything, will he just get out of the way so that Conservatives can fix what he broke?
112 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:49:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is telling in the member's question that no ideas on how we can build more homes have been introduced by the Conservatives.
With respect, we are moving forward with a plan that is cutting taxes for home builders. We are moving forward to increase the amount of money that we are going to contribute to help cities change the way that they build homes.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Sean Fraser: Mr. Speaker, as I hear members opposite yell, “We put a bill forward”, let us dig in on what it actually includes: A plan to raise taxes on home builders and cut funding for homebuilding. That will not lead to more homes getting built.
We have a plan to address the housing crisis. I hope the Conservatives join us.
137 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:49:43 p.m.
- Watch
I would like to remind members once again that only one member has the floor at a time. If members are patient and wait for their time to ask a question, we will obviously allow members the opportunity to do so.
Even if members look away from the Speaker, I can sort of guess where the voice is coming from.
The hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon.
67 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:50:35 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is amazing, with a government that has accomplished so little, for the minister to be so proud. What he talks about is 5,000 units that are going to be built. CMHC says we need to build three million more units than we normally build. That 5,000 works out to 0.0016%, and he stands here bragging like he has accomplished something. The Liberals' lack of action has consequences and they are not worth the cost. Paula from B.C. is 71 and retired, and she is saying she is facing a 75% increase in rent.
If Liberals cannot actually do anything to fix it, will they get out of the way so the Conservative leader can fix what is broken?
125 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:51:21 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, with great respect, my hon. colleague deeply mischaracterizes both the nature of the plan and the impact that it is going to have. He is clearly only reading one sub-bullet when he is looking to the measures that will build 5,000 homes. I would point him to the estimates that the cut on GST for apartment construction in this country would have, showing that we expect to see up to 300,000 homes built. I point him to the recent change to the Canada mortgage bond program, which is going to add 30,000 homes a year over the next decade, which is 300,000 homes.
I could continue, but if he reviews the measures we have put together in their totality, he will see it dwarfs the effort Conservatives are putting forward.
137 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:52:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, millions of Canadians are struggling to pay the rent. Last month, TVA Nouvelles reported that a single mother with three children was forced to abandon her mould-infested apartment and live in a garage because she cannot afford to pay the rent anymore. She described the experience as hell.
The Prime Minister just is not worth the cost.
What is the NDP-Liberal government going to say to this single mother of three who cannot afford to pay the rent anymore and who is descending into depression?
96 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:52:48 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, what we are going to say to that single mother is that she cannot afford the Conservatives and their austerity that will make her life worse.
What we are going to say is our government has helped to lift 2.3 million Canadians out of poverty. What we are going to say is our early learning and child care program has cut child care fees by 50% across the country already. We are down to $10 a day in four provinces.
We will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to helping the most vulnerable.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/3/23 3:53:28 p.m.
- Watch
We are doing very well, but I would ask the member of Parliament for Grande Prairie—Mackenzie to please wait his turn and give the example to all of his colleagues going forward.
The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.
42 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
