44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 27, 2023 11:00AM
- Nov/27/23 3:04:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we noticed he did not say “Canadian” workers.
On top of that, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry said that he is going to hold a meeting with the company to find out from the company what its plans are for the contract he negotiated and signed. I cannot make this stuff up. He has to ask the company what is in the contract he negotiated. A $15-billion subsidy is going to cost every Canadian family $1,000 in taxes and leave Canadian union workers in the cold.
If they have nothing to hide, will the Liberals come clean and release the contract?
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- Nov/27/23 3:04:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, especially from a party whose leader, when he was minister of employment, oversaw the loss of not 3,000, not 30,000 but 300,000 manufacturing jobs. Can we imagine? It is shameful.
With an investment of $3.4 billion by Stellantis, we will be creating 2,500 jobs at the plant. We are going to continue to invest in Windsor. We will invest in our workers. We will invest in our industries.
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- Nov/27/23 3:05:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister gave billions of tax dollars to subsidize a single battery plant. Now we learn that hundreds of the jobs linked to the plant will not be filled by qualified, local, unionized Canadian workers but by taxpayer-funded foreign replacement workers.
If that is not bad enough, now the Liberals are desperately fighting to keep the details of the contract hidden. Why are they doing so? If it is such a good deal, what does the government have to worry about? Did Liberals actually sign off on giving billions of tax dollars without securing guarantees that Canadians would get the jobs?
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- Nov/27/23 3:05:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am fairly certain that Dave Cassidy, the president of Unifor Local 444, speaks for his membership, which are Canadian workers.
He said, “This is nothing new”, that they go through launches like this all the time. He said that this “is nothing more than political hay.” He cannot believe our politicians are playing this game and riling up thousands of people; this is the circus around politics. If Pierre had his way, these factories would not even be built.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/27/23 3:06:28 p.m.
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I would like to remind all members that, even if they are reading a quotation, they cannot refer to a member of the actual House aside from their riding name.
The hon. minister.
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- Nov/27/23 3:06:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will end the same way I ended before: We should listen to workers.
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- Nov/27/23 3:07:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recently recognized Canada as a world leader for its national action plan to end gender-based violence. One important component of that plan is a better justice system.
It was not so long ago that a judge presiding over a rape trial asked the victim why she could not just keep her knees together. The Conservatives at the time gave that judge a promotion.
Can the Minister of Justice share the progress that has been made since that Stone-Age response?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question and her commitment.
Gender-based violence is an epidemic in Canada. We recently passed Bill S‑12 to improve the national sex offender registry and give victims more power in the criminal justice process. We also passed a bill that guarantees that judges will receive sexual assault training.
We will continue to fight against gender-based violence so that all Canadians, both men and women, can be safe and feel safe.
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- Nov/27/23 3:08:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, nearly $50 billion of taxpayers' money is subsidizing three battery plants. That is nearly $3,000 for every Canadian family. We have learned that hundreds of workers who will receive this money will be foreign replacement workers. We expected Canadians' money to be used to fund unionized, well-paying jobs for Canadians and Quebeckers. Instead, this money will be used to hire 900 foreign replacement workers in Windsor and hundreds more in Saint‑Basile‑le‑Grand and McMasterville.
After eight years, why has the Prime Minister failed to secure Quebec jobs in Montérégie?
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- Nov/27/23 3:09:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians watching at home must be wondering what is going on.
One thing they see is that the Conservatives were against Volkswagen's investment. They were against Stellantis' investment. They were against GM's investment. They were against Ford's investment. Now we have just learned that they are against Northvolt's investment in Quebec.
With Stellantis' record $3.4‑billion investment in Windsor, we will create 2,500 jobs. Up to 2,300 Canadian workers will build the plant.
We believe in the automotive industry. We believe in our workers. We believe in Canada's prosperity.
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- Nov/27/23 3:09:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the Quebeckers watching us on television right now that the Liberals are doing everything in their power to keep Quebeckers from finding out the truth about contracts.
First, a Liberal minister said that there would be just one foreign replacement worker in Windsor. That changed to a handful. Then the chief of police said there would be 1,600 foreign workers. Radio-Canada added to the story when it reported that hundreds of foreign workers would be replacing Quebeckers in jobs subsidized by Quebec taxpayers in Montérégie.
This Prime Minister is not worth the cost. I challenge him to make the contracts public. Will he do it?
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- Nov/27/23 3:10:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people watching at home are realizing what a risky bet the Conservatives are.
When the leader of the Conservative Party was the minister of employment, Canada lost not 3,000, not 30,000, but 300,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector.
One thing Canadians know without a doubt is that we are with them. With Stellantis' record $3.4‑billion investment, we are going to build one of the largest battery industries around. There will be 2,500 workers working at the plant and up to 2,300 building it.
We believe in workers and we believe in Canada.
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- Nov/27/23 3:11:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after learning that this government has earmarked $15 billion in public money to fund foreign workers in Windsor, now we learn that Northvolt in Quebec will also need foreign workers. We are talking about another $7 billion in taxpayers' money.
The Liberals said there would be only a small number of employees. We are now talking about several hundred employees. We need to get to the truth.
This Prime Minister has failed to protect jobs for Quebeckers. He must make the battery plants contracts public.
When will he make them public?
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- Nov/27/23 3:11:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know people watching at home are wondering what is really going on. It is simple.
Thanks to our government's efforts, we have secured the largest private investment in the history of Quebec. For once, Canada is entering the automotive sector through the front door. Everyone in the House should stand up and applaud. Quebec will now be part of the automotive industry and Quebec will have a battery industry.
We should all be proud of what Quebec and Canada can accomplish. Let us be proud.
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- Nov/27/23 3:12:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. As a mother of three young men, I raised my boys to be respectful of women and to recognize that eliminating gender-based violence is an issue for all people, regardless of gender.
Can the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth please provide an update on how we can raise boys and young men to be champions of women and support ending gender-based violence?
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- Nov/27/23 3:13:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the fight to end gender-based violence will not end unless men and boys are involved. Since we launched the national action plan to end gender-based violence, we have funded organizations such as White Ribbon that work every day to make sure men and boys are involved in this fight.
Gender-based violence must not and will not be tolerated. All of us can make that a reality.
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- Nov/27/23 3:13:47 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, the federal housing advocate says the government fell short in building homes across the country. Under the Liberals, too many indigenous people everywhere, especially in cities, are homeless or sleeping in overcrowded houses. They have failed to uphold indigenous people's basic rights.
Thanks to the NDP, the government announced $4 billion over seven years for housing, but indigenous people are still waiting. Why have the Liberals not released all of this urgently needed funding to respect indigenous people's right to housing?
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- Nov/27/23 3:14:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her advocacy on this and many other issues in the north.
We agree with the finding of Canada's housing minister that Canada's colonial history is the absolute cause of the oppression of the Inuit, as well as first nations and Métis. That is why we are on the road to reconciliation with our indigenous partners.
We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in housing in Inuit Nunangat, but we know there is more to do. We will keep doing it in the spirit of co-development and in the spirit of reconciliation.
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- Nov/27/23 3:15:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while other countries get set to up their climate ambitions before COP28, Canada is getting singled out for the massive gap between our words and our actions, and the federal government's home energy retrofits grant program is running out of money. The greener homes grant program could easily be funded and expanded simply by taxing the record-breaking profits of the oil and gas industry.
Will the government expand the successful program to support Canadians struggling with the rising cost of living?
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- Nov/27/23 3:15:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, transitioning the way people heat their homes is not only important for the environment but makes life more affordable. That is why it is so important that our government created the oil and heat pump program, which is helping people right across our country who rely on oil to transition to heat pump heating. That is going to reduce their bills going forward.
More than that, the greener homes grant has been amazingly successful. It has been wonderful to see so many Canadians take advantage of this program. I agree with the member that it is a very important part of what our government has been doing.
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