SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 252 - Nov/21/23

Nov/21/23 2:08:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to draw members' attention to a major development for the francophone community in Saskatchewan. On November 18, the Fransaskois Nation boutique opened a bookstore in Saskatoon. The grand opening was attended by many Franco-Saskatchewanians, who are thrilled to have a new French bookstore. This is the only French bookstore in the entire province of Saskatchewan. In addition to selling books, the Fransaskois Nation boutique offers its customers a whole range of products that showcase Fransaskois culture. It is important to promote Fransaskois heritage and nurture a sense of belonging in Saskatchewan's francophone community. I commend Fransaskois Nation for the grand opening of its bookstore, and I wish the store owners and all Franco-Saskatchewanians every success as they celebrate their identity and our pride in the French language.

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Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, CPC)

Nov/21/23 2:09:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, we stand with Ukraine as Ukrainians mark the Day of Dignity and Freedom, commemorating the Orange Revolution of 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity of 2013. Ten years ago today, we saw the beginning of a new era for Ukraine. Young students craving change took to the streets of Maidan to stand up for their aspirations of Euro-integration and to reject lawlessness. They stood for justice, truth and freedom and our shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The world witnessed their strength and resilience. What started as barricades on the Maidan was shortly transformed into the trenches of Donbass, and, for the past 636 days, we have watched Ukrainians' heroic resistance against Russia's illegal invasion. What started as a defence of liberty and democracy has evolved into safeguarding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Opposition to domestic tyrants like Viktor Yanukovych shifted to armed resistance against the barbaric raiders and terrorists led by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Every day, Ukrainians unite for democracy, peace and prosperity, not only for their homeland but also for all western democracies. Slava Ukraini.

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Mr. Shaun Chen (Scarborough North, Lib.)

Nov/21/23 2:10:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one in four children around the world is impacted by conflict and disaster and is more likely to be displaced or living in a refugee camp. November 20 is World Children's Day, an opportunity to recommit our support for the fundamental rights of all children, including access to education, health and nutrition, and safety from violence. Earlier this month, youth leaders from across the country were in Ottawa to advocate for the health, protection and security of children worldwide. They shared their experiences at a parliamentary reception I co-hosted with Results Canada, a national organization enabling everyday people to help put an end to extreme poverty. With over 500 million children facing crisis situations globally, it is critical to engage next-generation leaders to tackle the challenges of today. As we confront the realities of rising global conflict, let us raise our collective voice and champion children in emergencies.

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Mr. Greg McLean (Calgary Centre, CPC)

Nov/21/23 2:11:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for years now, the Minister of Finance has brought forward statements not on what will be done for Canadians, but on how she can throw money around to address the latest “crisis”. Let us go through them: an environment crisis, a cost of living crisis, a housing affordability crisis, a national unity crisis, an addiction crisis, compounded by a homelessness crisis, a food bank crisis and a spiralling debt crisis. These crises have been caused by the NDP-Liberal government. A rule doctors follow as a first step when taking action is to do no harm. The government's actions over the past eight years are killing the Canadian economy. Canada needs a new approach, one that puts results ahead of empty words and the splashing around of other people's money. It is obvious that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Let us start with balancing our budgets and focusing on building homes, jobs and futures for Canadians. Common-sense Conservatives will deliver powerful paycheques, not empty words.

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Mrs. Rosemarie Falk (Battlefords—Lloydminster, CPC)

Nov/21/23 2:12:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the most expensive government in our history, it is Canadians who are suffering the real world consequences. There are now a record number of Canadians who are using food banks. Housing costs have doubled. Canadians are reportedly cutting back on basic necessities just to afford their energy bills. The cost of living is spiralling out of control here in Canada, and it is the NDP-Liberal coalition that is responsible. It continues to hike taxes and add fuel to the inflationary fire, driving up interest rates. The only way to undo the damage that it has done is to reverse course in today's fall economic statement. Conservatives have provided a plan to cancel the planned quadrupling of the carbon tax, to announce a plan to balance the budget and to deliver a plan to build homes, not bureaucracy. Canadians are desperate for common sense. Let us bring home lower prices.

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Hon. Steven MacKinnon (Gatineau, Lib.)

Nov/21/23 2:14:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take this opportunity to welcome municipal representatives from across the country to our great national capital region. They are here, of course, to represent their local communities at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Advocacy Days on Parliament Hill. The FCM is the national voice of municipal governments, with over 2,100 municipalities of all sizes, from urban to rural, and representing more than 92% of all Canadians. If we want to ensure that the realities of all Canadians are taken into account, it is essential that municipalities and the federal government work together. That is why I would like to thank the mayors, reeves, councillors, municipal executives, staff and the FCM for being here and working with us.

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Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Nov/21/23 2:15:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is in Ottawa this week to discuss the essential work its members do in over 2,000 communities. Sixteen of those communities are in my riding: Fruitvale, Montrose, Trail, Warfield, Rossland, Castlegar, Slocan, Silverton, New Denver, Nakusp, Grand Forks, Greenwood, Midway, Osoyoos, Oliver, Penticton and the regional districts of Okanagan–Similkameen, Kootenay Boundary and Central Kootenay. I want to single out Leah Main who is a councillor from Silverton. Leah is a champion for rural issues on the FCM executive. Municipalities are at the pointy end of the stick on some of the toughest issues, such as housing, climate adaptation, public safety, mental health and more. Small towns lack the funds to tackle these massive problems, and many even lack the HR capacity to apply for existing funding programs. We need to fix this with a more direct allocation of funds so that communities across Canada can do the work that we depend on them to do.

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Mr. Luc Thériault (Montcalm, BQ)

Nov/21/23 2:16:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, which we are marking with the Bowvember campaign. Quebeckers are especially motivated this year, because it was prostate cancer that took the life of Karl Tremblay, the lead singer of Les Cowboys Fringants. He was not even 50 years old. Growing a moustache or wearing the Procure bow tie is great, because it helps get information out there and it supports medical research. However, there is something even more important that all men can do to fight prostate cancer, and that is to get screened for it. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend a friendly invitation to you and to all my colleagues in government and in opposition that might, in other circumstances, be considered unparliamentary. My message is this: “Guys, go and get your prostate checked”.

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Mr. Philip Lawrence (Northumberland—Peterborough South, CPC)

Nov/21/23 2:17:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, eight years of the NDP-Liberal government have given Canada the worst economic growth since the Great Depression. The OECD predicts that GDP per capita growth will be a paltry 0.7% per annum over the next 10 years, putting us dead last among advanced economies. We are facing declines in investment, innovation and productivity. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. This country is quickly approaching a fork in the road. Canadians can choose between the last eight years of record food bank usage, crime and chaos in our cities, and Canadians losing their houses because of high inflation and high interest rates or a Conservative plan that will empower Canadians to pursue their dreams unfettered by burdensome regulations, punitive tax rates and corrosive inflation. It is time for a new direction. It is time that Canadians started winning.

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Mr. Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre, Lib.)

Nov/21/23 2:18:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the famine genocide in Ukraine known as the Holodomor, when Joseph Stalin closed Ukraine's borders and confiscated all food to destroy a Ukrainian population that was opposed to his rule. Nineteen people per minute, 1,200 per hour and 28,000 per day were dying of famine at the height of the Holodomor. The world was silent, and millions died as a result. My grandmother, Olena, was a survivor of the Holodomor. She once told me that she hoped the victims of the Holodomor would not only be remembered, but that they would be honoured. Honouring them for her meant not just remembering them or commemorating them, but taking the steps to ensure that a crime like this never happens again. Right now in Russian-occupied Ukraine it is happening again. Russia is killing, torturing and raping civilians. Russia is deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine again. The only way to stop this is for Canada and our allies to give Ukraine the support it needs to ensure that it recaptures all of its territory, to ensure that it achieves a decisive victory. Let us do as my grandmother would have asked if she were here today. Let us remember the victims. Let us commemorate the victims. Let us honour them.

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The Speaker

Nov/21/23 2:19:44 p.m.
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There has been a request for unanimous consent to allow a member to make her statement again, because another member had walked in front of her at the time. Does the member have unanimous consent? Some hon. members: Agreed. The Speaker: The hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou.

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Abitibi

Ms. Sylvie Bérubé

Nov/21/23 2:20:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we were very sad to hear about the death of Charly Washipabano, an important figure back home in my riding. He was a member of Hockey Abitibi‑Témiscamingue's board of directors and program coordinator with the Eeyou Istchee Sports and Recreation Association. Charly Washipabano was a former player with the Amos Comètes midget AA and Amos Forestiers midget AAA teams in the late 1990s, and he later joined the U.S. college circuit in New Hampshire. After his hockey career, he played a key role in developing hockey in James Bay as a coach trainer and coach of several minor hockey teams. In 2022, he was invited as a guest coach to the Montreal Canadiens development camp for hockey hopefuls. A charismatic and iconic figure within the Cree Nation, he left us far too soon. I offer my deepest condolences to his family, his friends and Cree communities.

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

Nov/21/23 2:21:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. A Scotiabank report indicates that government deficits, with the federal government deficit being the largest, have increased interest rates by 2%. That adds $700 a month to the average mortgage. For the average family, it means an additional $8,400 in interest because of this Prime Minister's deficits. Is he going to table a plan today to balance the budget and lower interest rates so that Canadians can keep their homes?

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

Nov/21/23 2:22:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are well aware that the Conservative Party's approach is austerity and cuts. We are investing in housing. We are investing to ensure that Canadians can live more affordably. We know that things are difficult for Canadians. Austerity and cuts are not the answer. The answer is strategic investments to support families, create the jobs of tomorrow and build hundreds of thousands of new housing units in the years to come.

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

Nov/21/23 2:22:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, austerity and cuts are exactly what Canadian families are living with today. Seven million of them are cutting meals because they cannot afford food prices after he has inflated them. Many are cutting homes and are forced to live in tents because mortgage rates have risen so fast under the Prime Minister's deficits. Scotiabank now calculates that government deficits are adding two full percentage points to the rates. That is $700 per month in higher mortgage payments. In the next three years, $900 billion of new mortgages, or two-thirds, will come up for renewal. We risk a massive default crisis. Will the Prime Minister announce a plan to balance the budget, to bring down mortgage rates, so Canadians can keep their homes?

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

Nov/21/23 2:23:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have seen this movie before. The Conservative politicians' approach to facing challenges is always cuts and austerity. He recognizes, as we all do, that Canadians are facing difficult times, and his solution is for the federal government to do less, to invest less in Canadians and to be there less to support Canadians. That is not what we are going to do. Over the past number of months, we have announced the construction of over 200,000 homes across the country. We are delivering supports for people, for buying groceries, with greater competition, and we are moving forward with clean jobs into the future. Whether it is manufacturing with Stellantis or Volkswagen, or whether it is resources, we are moving forward to support workers.

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

Nov/21/23 2:24:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we are proposing is for the federal government to do less damage and cost less money, so that Canadians do not have to live in austerity and cuts as they do today. Today, we found out that rent rose faster in October than in any month in 40 years. The Prime Minister's solution to that is to quadruple the carbon tax. Will the Prime Minister announce in an hour, in his fall economic statement, that he has gotten a little bit of common sense, that he is going to cancel the quadrupling and cap the tax until the carbon tax election, when I will win and axe the tax altogether?

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

Nov/21/23 2:25:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our solution for Canadians who are having trouble affording housing is to build more housing. It is to invest in working with municipalities, to unlock more homes built and to bring down rents. These are the investments we are making. It is interesting that the Leader of the Opposition talks about the damage we are doing to Canada by delivering $10-a-day child care, the damage we are doing to Canada by delivering dental care to kids who cannot afford it and the damage we are doing to Canada by continuing to step up for seniors and protecting their pensions. If that is damage, then we really see what the Conservative leader is made of.

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

Nov/21/23 2:26:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is forcing Canadians to give $15 billion to one battery plant. We now learn that it is going to employ 1,600 foreign workers with Canadian tax dollars. Now, $15 billion works out to $1,000 in federal taxes for every single family in Canada. One would think he would have read the contract he signed with this multinational company. If he did, can he tell us what section in the contract limits the number of foreign workers who get Canadian tax dollars?

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

Nov/21/23 2:26:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even having watched the Leader of the Opposition in his almost 20-year political career, it is still astonishing to see the way he chooses to use any misinformation to score political points. The fact of the matter is that he opposes the investments in manufacturing in Canada. He opposes the Stellantis deal to create EV batteries. He opposes the Volkswagen deal that is going to create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs in St. Thomas. He continues to stand against a plan to grow great jobs into a net zero future, and he will use any fake excuse to try to advance that cause.

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