44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 28, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/28/23 2:15:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, seniors deserve better.
We have the fastest-growing senior population ever, and the federal government should have a plan. Here are some examples of gaps. Seniors between 65 and 74 are receiving less OAS. Single seniors, largely women, are facing more economic challenges. They are not seeing any tax fairness.
On housing, too many seniors call my office and describe themselves as house-rich but financially poor. They share that they have housing beyond their means to maintain, but the market is not building houses that they need. One senior told me that her kitchen is upstairs, but she cannot handle stairs anymore, so she lives downstairs and uses a hot plate.
Far too many seniors are now unhoused. Medication continues to be too expensive, and across Canada, too many seniors cannot afford the costs. They are making choices that hurt their health.
The NDP would create a national seniors strategy, working with all levels of government to create solutions that make sense locally. We would address unfair taxation and find ways to support seniors so that they could age with dignity. Is it not time for that kind of government?
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- Nov/28/23 2:16:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just a week after the Montreal Alouettes, boasting the most Quebec players ever, brought home the Grey Cup, my alma mater's team, the Université de Montréal Carabins, won the Grey Cup, the top prize in Canadian university football.
Led by quarterback Jonathan Sénécal and an indomitable defence squad, head coach Marco Iadeluca's Montagnards allowed not a single touchdown during the post-season series. How about that third-down tackle by Nicky Farinaccio that sealed the 16-9 victory against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds? That is how we brought the two most important trophies in Canadian football, the Grey Cup and the Vanier Cup, home to Montreal, Quebec.
Thanks to football and the Montreal Carabins program, we are going to have to start calling it Quebec football instead of Canadian football. Congratulations to the Université de Montréal Carabins. Congratulations to the Montagnards. Go Carabins, and long live Quebec football.
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- Nov/28/23 2:18:03 p.m.
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- Re: Bill S-9
Mr. Speaker, Canada has seen the highest use of food banks ever in history. In Ontario alone, food banks had six million visits in one year. Why? Because people cannot afford the cost of food. Why is food so expensive? Because the Prime Minister is taxing farmers into bankruptcy. The Liberals are planning to quadruple the carbon tax.
One farmer in Alberta pays $180,000 a year in carbon tax and that does not include the GST on top of that. This is not sustainable. Food is not a luxury.
This can be fixed. Conservative Bill C-234 is a carbon tax exemption for farmers. It passed in the House, but the Liberal-controlled Senate is blocking the passing of this bill. Why? Because the radical environment minister has threatened to resign if any more carbon tax carve-outs are permitted.
Let us end this nonsense and implement common sense. Pass Bill C-234 and support the people who feed us, farmers.
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- Nov/28/23 2:19:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, November is Indigenous Disability Awareness Month, a time to recognize the contributions of Métis, Inuit and first nations persons with disabilities to Canada's social, economic and cultural fabric.
Included in Canada's action plan to implement UNDRIP is a measure to ensure that the equality and rights of indigenous persons with disabilities are respected in the design and delivery of government programs, policies and services.
The government is also working with indigenous communities and their representatives on the realization of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and has funded numerous projects to support the social inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Together with the disability community, stakeholders and other levels of government, Canada is creating more inclusive workplaces and communities, providing additional opportunities for persons with disabilities, including indigenous persons with disabilities, to reach their full potential.
Mahsi cho.
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- Nov/28/23 2:21:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He said that doubling the national debt would not have any consequences because interest rates were low, but those same deficits drove up interest rates and, next year, the government will be spending $52 billion, or $3,000 per Canadian family, on interest on the national debt. That is more than the government will be spending on health.
Why is the Prime Minister spending more on bankers than on nurses?
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- Nov/28/23 2:21:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know that, since last week, more and more Canadians are having a hard time believing what the opposition leader says. Let me set the record straight. Canada has the lowest deficit in the G7 and the best debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. Inflation continues to drop, while we maintain the services that Canadians depend on. The Conservative leader would cut child care, dental care for seniors and pensions for seniors.
We know that in order to invest in the future of the country and to be there for Canadians, we need to invest responsibly, and we are continuing to do that.
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- Nov/28/23 2:21:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is false. Seniors and Canadians are the ones who now have to make cuts to their grocery budget. The head of Food Banks of Quebec says it is an unprecedented and tragic situation, adding that organizations in his network are facing exceptional and growing pressure, with 71% of them reporting a shortfall of food. That is what misery looks like after eight years of this Prime Minister, who is driving up the price of food with his inflationary deficits and his taxes on our farmers.
Will he finally reverse his inflationary policies so that Canadians can eat?
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Mr. Speaker, it is becoming a bit hard to believe what the opposition leader is saying, because instead of speeding up passage of Bill C‑56 to help Canadians by increasing competition in the grocery sector and others, he has stalled and found ways to slow down the passage of this bill, which is there to help Canadians.
We will continue to be there to help Canadians by investing in the economy and in support for them and by staying on a responsible financial path.
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- Nov/28/23 2:23:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is impossible to believe anything the Prime Minister says. First, when he gave $15 billion to one battery plant, he said there would be no foreign workers, that it was all a rumour. Then he said it would be one. Then his minister said there would be a few. Now the company says there will be 900.
This is $15 billion, $1,000 in costs for every single family. Now the Liberals are giving money for 900 foreign workers to do a job that the Canada’s Building Trades Unions said could be done by our people, at a cost of $300 million of lost wages for our union workers.
Will the Prime Minister release the contract so we find out how many Canadian tax dollars are going to foreign replacement workers?
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- Nov/28/23 2:23:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to have to correct the facts in the House of Commons given what the Leader of the Opposition continues to say. There will be 2,300 local Canadian construction jobs and 2,500 permanent Canadian jobs when the Stellantis plant is completed. There will be 3,000 jobs in the region when the Northvolt plant in Quebec is completed.
We would think the Leader of the Opposition would support those, but he does not. His uncontrollable urge to make everything a partisan issue means he is not supporting the investments that are going to help in Windsor, in St. Thomas, in Quebec or elsewhere across the country. He wants cuts; we want investments in the future of Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has forced seven million Canadians to cut back on their diets, to a point where they are no longer healthy. The Prime Minister has forced Canadians to cut their budgets for food. Therefore. a record-smashing two million people are lined up at a food bank every month, around corners in ways that we have not seen since the Great Depression. That is the austerity he has imposed on Canadians. Now he wants to quadruple the carbon tax on the farmers who bring us our food.
We have a common-sense Conservative bill, Bill C-234. Will the Prime Minister stop blocking this bill in the Senate and let it pass so that our farmers can produce food and our people can afford to eat it?
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Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition actually cared about Canadians being able to afford their food, the Conservatives would not have dragged their heels on the passage of Bill C-56, which would increase competition in the grocery sector.
Indeed, there are a lot of factors that deliver higher food prices not just for Canadians but for people around the world. One of the key ones is Russia's continued illegal invasion of Ukraine. On this side of the House, we can affirm clearly that we will stand with Ukraine with everything necessary for as long as necessary. As we saw last week, no Conservative politician can say the same in the House.
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- Nov/28/23 2:26:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, actually, we are the only party that has stood with Ukraine rather than trying to impose a carbon tax.
I understand what the Prime Minister is doing. He has imposed so much misery here at home, whether by doubling housing costs, forcing people into tent encampments or forcing two million people to go to a food bank. These are the problems here at home at the kitchen table. He is so desperate to talk about anything else that he avoids talking about what is happening in our country.
Will he answer the question? Will he take his tax off our farmers so our people can afford to eat?
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- Nov/28/23 2:27:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows full well that 97% of fuel emissions in the agricultural sector, in the farming sector, are already exempt from our price on pollution. However, he is so desperate to try to score partisan points that he actually refused to stand in support of something Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked us for in the House.
How is the Leader of the Opposition explaining to Ukrainian Canadians right across the country that he no longer stands with Ukraine on things it needs right now to win this war against Russia?
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- Nov/28/23 2:28:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, gunfire has been heard in Montreal over the past few days. Windows have been broken, and graffiti has been directed specifically against the Jewish community. There are fears that these actions were in some way encouraged by an exception in the Criminal Code that allows hate speech and the incitement of violence.
In light of recent events, would the Prime Minister agree to remove the religious exemption from the Criminal Code?
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- Nov/28/23 2:28:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with my hon. colleague that the rise in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in Canada is alarming. The rise in acts of hatred is even more unacceptable. I strongly condemn the attack on the Jewish Community Council. We condemn all violence.
We will be looking at my hon. colleague's bill to see whether it can help combat hate and incitement of violence. This is a complex issue, but we are here to work constructively to protect Canadians.
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- Nov/28/23 2:29:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am cautiously optimistic about this.
I hope that we will get somewhere quickly, but we need to reach agreement. The bill is very short. All that we need to do is remove the exceptions, two sections of the Criminal Code, which are used to excuse, permit and perpetuate hate speech. Does the Prime Minister agree that we should move quickly on a bill that is necessary and easy to pass in the House?
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- Nov/28/23 2:29:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said, hate in any form has no place in Canada and must be condemned. More things unite Canadians and Quebeckers than divide them. Obviously, our Criminal Code does not tolerate hate speech. Calls for genocide, public incitement to hate and the deliberate promotion of hatred are already prohibited. We will examine the legislative measure proposed by the leader of the Bloc Québécois carefully. We will be there, working to keep Canadians safe while respecting the free society in which we live.
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- Nov/28/23 2:30:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Quebec and Canadian labour movement and the NDP's insistence, we will have anti-scab legislation. This law will make it possible to negotiate better working conditions and wages for workers, but we had to force the Liberals to do it.
The Conservatives, who claim to be friends of workers, are not sure how they will vote on this bill that will help increase families' purchasing power. This anti-scab legislation needs to be passed and implemented quickly.
Is the Prime Minister going to do it, or is he going to drag his feet again?
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- Nov/28/23 2:31:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know that the NDP likes to say it is the workers' party. However, since 2015, we have demonstrated that we are here to work hand-in-hand with unions. We did that by reversing the Harper government's anti-union bills, in which the current Leader of the Opposition played a part. We have been doing it for eight years, and we are going to continue doing it.
We are very pleased with the replacement worker bill. We are happy that the NDP is supporting our bill, and we hope that the Conservative party will understand that building a stronger middle class requires union support. We need to support the unions, too.
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