44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 23, 2023 11:00AM
- Oct/23/23 2:58:33 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. President, groups and unions held a protest in Quebec City on Saturday to demand an end to closed work permits for temporary foreign workers. They are right. Closed permits leave workers totally dependent on their employer. Unfortunately, some employers take advantage of the situation.
The Bloc Québécois has finally managed to bring this issue forward for study in committee. Can we count on the government to tell the temporary foreign workers who are watching that it is working on solutions and that closed permits will soon be a thing of the past?
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 2:59:12 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.
Temporary foreign workers come here to work temporarily in fisheries, agriculture or other extremely important sectors like tourism. I should note that the current program is not the same program that existed under the Harper government.
As for sector-specific work permits, we are working on this important issue. We have systems in place to protect workers. The companies' obligations are real and must be met.
76 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 2:59:49 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we need answers.
Closed permits lead not only to abuse, but also to absurd situations. Radio-Canada reported on a good example, specifically the case of Mr. Bérard, who is from Mauritius. He works in Beauce and wants to stay in Beauce, but the plant where he works is shutting down. Because he has a closed permit that binds him to that employer, he cannot look for a job, except in another plant belonging to the same company. He will either be forced to leave his region or forced to leave Quebec because he is losing his job.
Does the government agree that it is time to put an end to these absurd situations?
118 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:00:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, once again, I appreciate my colleague's question and I am sympathetic to the plight of temporary foreign workers in Canada. That is why we have improved the quality of employer inspections. We need to work with organizations that support migrant workers here in Canada.
We have also opened up pathways to permanent residence. We are working on sector-specific work permits.
64 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:01:04 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia has stated that homelessness has gone up by 400% in Halifax since 2019 because the cost of everything has gone up, which has been caused by the current NDP-Liberal government. Even Atlantic Canada Liberal MPs agree that the cost-of-living crisis is caused by the carbon tax.
This Prime Minister is just not worth the cost, and Canadians are suffering. When will the NDP-Liberal government axe the carbon tax so Canadians can keep their homes?
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:01:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating. I was with the head of the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia just a couple of weeks ago when we were announcing a $79-million investment in Halifax that is going to build more homes in that city. It happened to be on the location of an affordable housing project that only exists because it was funded through the federal government's national housing strategy.
If the hon. member wants to address housing policy, I would suggest he talk to some of his colleagues who plan to raise taxes on home builders and cut funding for home building. We are going to continue to make the investments necessary to put a roof over the head of Canadians. I hope the member gets with the times and joins us.
134 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:02:23 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current NDP-Liberals driving up the cost of living in Atlantic Canada, this Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. Liberal MPs from Atlantic Canada have again decided to punish us by quadrupling the carbon tax to 61¢ per litre. Atlantic Canadians have had enough of the carbon tax. Will the Prime Minister now admit that the carbon tax is punishing Atlantic Canada and the most vulnerable people in our society?
80 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:03:03 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, now is probably as good a time, and specifically right now, to remind this House that just about every member on that side of the House ran, of course, on a carbon tax. They had some way of going about it where people would collect green points that would go toward some sort of government-run Amway catalogue where they could collect some sort of greenie things that would be selected by the government. They can remind me, if they can. I can only assume that members from that side of the House would form this government committee where people could cash in their points.
We prefer, on this side of the House, to put cash back into the pockets of hard-working Canadians.
126 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:03:55 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, if RBC takes over HSBC, it will mean that Canada's number one bank will swallow up Canada's number seven bank and its 800,000 mortgage customers in one big gulp. What does that mean for Canadians? This week's variable mortgage rates show that HSBC's variable mortgage rate is 6.4% compared to RBC at 7.15%. That means that families in Toronto or Vancouver with a half-million dollar mortgage will pay $312 more per month over the $1,000 they are paying when they remortgage.
Will the minister reject this merger or will she prove once again that the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost?
114 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:04:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance takes her role as the regulator of the financial sector very seriously. As the Department of Finance stated on November 29 of last year, “The Minister of Finance's decision [on the acquisition] will be informed by all required regulatory review processes”, including those administered by the Office of Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Competition Bureau.
I want to assure everyone that our government is committed to supporting competition because we know competition is in the best interest of Canadians.
89 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:05:18 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, international, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing causes severe harm to species such as wild Pacific salmon and the oceanic whitetip shark. It not only causes economic harm to the thousands who rely on the regulated fishing industry, but also further endangers at-risk species and impacts indigenous communities that rely on certain fish stocks for food, and social and ceremonial purposes.
Can the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard provide an update to this House on the critical work our government is doing to combat international illegal fishing?
93 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:05:58 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his strong advocacy for fish species at risk. This fall, Fisheries and Oceans Canada successfully led the first high seas patrol to detect and prevent illegal fishing in the north Pacific. This operation led to the seizure of over 3,000 illegally fished shark fins.
Our world message is clear: Canada will continue to fight illegal fishing by foreign actors both in Canada and abroad.
75 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:06:38 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP ended the SNC investigation due to the Prime Minister's refusal to give access to cabinet documents.
It does not stop there. During my recent inquiry of the Auditor General, the NDP-Liberal cover-up coalition adjourned the meeting, leaving crucial questions unanswered.
Over the last eight years, the Prime Minister has spent years concealing his role in the SNC scandal. He is not worth the cost. When will he finally produce the documents as requested by the RCMP?
83 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:07:09 p.m.
- Watch
I want to remind all members to please refrain from using mock names.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
17 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:07:19 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as the RCMP has confirmed, there is no active investigation. The case was fully looked into and is now closed. As the member opposite knows, all RCMP operations are managed independently.
33 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:07:38 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, that response is the opposite of the definition of transparency and accountability.
In 2019, after being found guilty of breaching the Conflict of Interest Act, the Prime Minister claimed he took full responsibility for his mistakes, yet here we are after five years and the RCMP confirms that the Prime Minister refused to release all the documents as requested.
Canadians have questions. Unlike the NDP-Liberal cover-up coalition, Conservatives want answers. What is he hiding?
78 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:08:08 p.m.
- Watch
I want to remind all hon. members once again to please refrain from using mock titles.
The hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
26 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:08:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that question, but I also appreciate who it is coming from. The member opposite is somebody I have worked with in the past on the justice committee, somebody who knows the criminal justice system in this country and the difference between political operations and policing operations. There is a bright line in a democracy between those two things. In a democracy, we do not instruct police officers how to do their job.
The RCMP conducted an independent investigation and concluded there was no further investigation merited. We trust the RCMP in this country to do their jobs independently. I wish my colleague opposite would do the same.
111 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:09:09 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, we see that the Liberals cannot help but line the pockets of their friends. The Prime Minister simply is not worth the cost to Canadians. His green tech slush fund is being used to funnel money into the pockets of insiders. The chair of the board is a friend of the Prime Minister: Annette Verschuren has received millions of dollars from the same fund for which she is chair.
How many more Liberal insiders have gotten rich from this slush fund?
91 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/23/23 3:09:47 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as I have said in this House numerous times now, when the minister learned about the allegations of mismanagement at SDTC, he immediately acted to hire a third party to do an independent, impartial review. It came back with a report. Those findings are now being turned into corrective actions, which are part of an implementation plan that SDTC is implementing by December.
Let us make one thing clear. We expect the highest standards of governance from all of our federal agencies.
84 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
