44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 24, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/24/23 11:39:24 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are not enough hours in the day to talk about how wasteful they are. The numbers are undeniable: two million Canadians use food banks every month; a family of four will spend an additional $1,065 on groceries this year; students are sleeping in shelters; and mortgage payments have doubled. The Prime Minister signed off on this mess. He is not worth the cost.
Does he at least have the humility and decency to admit that the country is in such a deplorable situation because of his inflationary spending?
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's question. I even have an idea for her. Christmas is coming. If she is so concerned about affordability, she can give Canadians a gift by voting in favour of Bill C‑56.
Why? With this bill, we are going to reform competition. This is a reform that has been needed for the past 30 years. We are going to have fewer mergers, more competition and better prices.
My colleague should convince all of her colleagues to pass this bill as soon as possible to help Canadians before Christmas.
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- Nov/24/23 11:40:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, less than a month ago, Québecor announced it was cutting 547 jobs, a third of its staff, but the fact that our television is in crisis does not seem to bother the Minister of Canadian Heritage. There is nothing in the economic statement, not one red cent, for our television and radio.
The media crisis is a crisis of democracy. Access to information is under threat, especially in the regions. What is really under threat is the advancement of our culture and our sense of belonging. The minister, who sees perfectly well what is going on, is doing nothing.
Why?
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- Nov/24/23 11:41:15 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague on the fact that the media is in crisis.
That is why we have been there since day one, bringing in new programs to support our news media. We have also modernized the Broadcasting Act. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission—
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- Nov/24/23 11:41:29 a.m.
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Excuse me.
Could I ask members on both sides to stop having discussions with each other? It is hard to hear the answer from the Speaker's chair, and I cannot imagine that the member for Drummond, who is on the other side of the House, can hear the answer.
I invite the minister to repeat her answer from the beginning.
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- Nov/24/23 11:41:50 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, since taking office in 2015, our government has been there to help the entire cultural sector deal with the crisis and the disruption that foreign platforms have brought to the market.
That is why we modernized the Broadcasting Act, and the CRTC is currently consulting broadcasters, platforms and people in the cultural industry to see how we can better help our television and radio stations deal with today's reality.
This modernization will pay off in the coming weeks and months. We will continue to work with my colleague on these issues.
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- Nov/24/23 11:42:28 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the work started a long time ago. We should be seeing results by now.
This morning, I sent the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Canadian Heritage a bunch of reactions from people in the cultural sector. They are all livid. They are furious that the economic statement had nothing in it for them. Even the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture, which is well known to the minister, joined us in criticizing the fact that the economic statement had completely sidelined the electronic media.
The Bloc Québécois was asking for a $50‑million emergency fund to help out the media while the Minister of Canadian Heritage wraps up negotiations with the web giants. For the federal government, $50 million is nothing, but for our media, it would be huge. Ottawa's reasons for refusing to create an emergency fund are political, not financial.
Why did the minister choose to turn her back on our news media, especially our electronic media?
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- Nov/24/23 11:43:13 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we did study the Bloc Québécois proposal and discuss it with certain stakeholders in the cultural sector.
Unfortunately, the $50‑million emergency fund that the Bloc was proposing will not solve the problem. What will solve the problem in the long term is modernized legislation, which we delivered. The enhanced labour tax credit program, which we modified in the fall economic statement, will also help our newsrooms.
We will continue to look at all the solutions. However, one thing everyone in the cultural sector knows is that the Conservatives would have done nothing. They also know that our government has taken action since coming to power in 2015.
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- Nov/24/23 11:43:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal coalition's economic update is out. Prices are up, rent is up, debt is up, taxes are up and time is up for this costly coalition. Billions more in tax dollars will be spent, and Canadians will still be struggling. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
Will the government adopt our common-sense plan to balance the budget or step aside and let a Conservative government clean up its mess?
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- Nov/24/23 11:44:26 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has actually been humorous to watch this week as Conservatives twist and flail like pretzels, turning themselves into things and trying to make people believe they are there for workers. Let us review what they have been doing.
Currently, they are filibustering the sustainable jobs act at the natural resources committee, a bill that gives workers a seat at the table in the clean economy. It represents 400,000 jobs before 2030.
They are opposing landmark legislation our government tabled to ban replacement workers, which is good for workers and enables them to sit at the bargaining table.
Not only do Conservatives have no credibility when it comes to standing up for workers and jobs, but they also have no vision for the future of our economy.
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- Nov/24/23 11:45:14 a.m.
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I think the only people who still believe these talking points are the Liberals.
Mr. Speaker, senators appointed by the Prime Minister shut down debate on a common-sense bill to axe the carbon tax for farmers. The NDP-Liberal coalition is blocking important tax carve-outs on grain drying and barn heating. Its actions, driven by failed policies, directly harm Canadian producers and increase food costs.
Will the government finally support hard-working farmers over their own political agenda and give them a tax break?
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- Nov/24/23 11:45:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the House has already pronounced itself on this particular bill, but I will talk about support for farmers.
Why did the leader of the official opposition cut $200 million when he was at the cabinet table to support farmers for business risk management?
The leader of the official opposition is not worth the risk. He wants to balance the budget on the backs of farmers. On this side of the House, we will always stand up for farmers.
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Mr. Speaker, that response will do nothing to shorten food bank lineups.
After eight years, the Prime Minister is simply not worth the cost. Lineups at food banks have never been so long. People are hurting bad, and the NDP-Liberal government still plans to quadruple its carbon tax on gas, groceries and home heat.
Bill C-234 would lower taxes for farmers who produce our food. This would lower the cost of groceries. It is just common sense.
Will the Prime Minister tell his appointed senators to put people first and pass Bill C-234 so Canadians can afford to eat?
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- Nov/24/23 11:47:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member that putting a price on pollution is what enables us to reduce emissions by the equivalent of removing 11 million vehicles from our roads. In Canada right now, there are 26 million vehicles on our roads. We can imagine, if we added 11 million vehicles, the pollution that we would see in our cities and the level of asthma that our kids would have to go through. This is not happening, because we have put a plan in place to help fight pollution, to help fight climate change and to support Canadians in the process.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, just as they wanted, the NDP-Liberal-Bloc's carbon tax hikes the cost of heating, cooling and fuel, and so it hikes the price of food. The PM showed this when he paused it for some but not for 97% of Canadians.
Common-sense Conservatives will axe the tax for all for good; we know that it is not worth the cost, and so do Canadians. However, will Liberal senators stop blocking the Conservative bill, Bill C-234, to cut the tax on farm fuels so farmers can afford to feed Canadians and Canadians can afford to eat?
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- Nov/24/23 11:48:20 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think facts matter in this conversation. According to the Governor of the Bank of Canada, putting a price on pollution has contributed 0.15% to inflation, and not 15%, as the Conservatives are saying.
Economists agree across the country that our pollution pricing system puts more money back into eight out of 10 households in Canada. If we take that away, we will take money away from Canadians, which is no surprise coming from the Conservative Party. They are simply not there for Canadians, and they are not worth the risk.
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- Nov/24/23 11:49:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been reported that Russia is getting made-in-Canada land mine detonators through Kyrgyzstan. This would mean that Russia is using Canadian-made detonators in Ukraine. This is outrageous.
Canada used to be a leader in demining efforts, and we should be doing everything we can to help Ukraine demine. Instead, because of weak arms and sanctions enforcement, Canada may actually be inadvertently arming Russia. Can the minister confirm these reports and explain why Canada is even exporting land mine detonators at all?
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- Nov/24/23 11:49:43 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will look into what the hon. member has brought to our attention and report back.
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- Nov/24/23 11:49:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people in Nanaimo—Ladysmith are struggling to find an affordable place to call home. All the while, the Liberals delay needed help. They have even put off housing funding in the fall economic statement until 2025, but this is not shocking, since the Liberals and Conservatives have spent years putting people on the back burner so their rich friends can get richer off of housing.
People need homes now, not in two years. Will the Liberals immediately release the promised funding to finally build affordable homes?
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- Nov/24/23 11:50:29 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as a result of measures introduced by the current government, two million people are now living in homes, which have been built, repaired or subsidized through the programs introduced. That work continues. In fact, we saw this week, through the fall economic statement, that there are various other supports being introduced: providing low-interest loans for builders, taking a very close look at the work municipalities are doing on short-term rentals and freeing up short-term rentals to make them into long-term homes for individuals and families.
We have more work to do, and we are going to do it in collaboration with parties that actually want to help.
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