44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 28, 2023 10:00AM
- 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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Mr. Speaker, for decades, New Democrats and the Canadian Labour Congress have fought Liberals and Conservatives for anti-scab legislation. This session, the NDP used its power to force the Liberals to finally respect collective bargaining rights. While the Conservative leader pretends to have the backs of workers, when push comes to shove, he is nowhere to be found in standing up for them. CLC leaders are here on the Hill today demanding that the anti-scab legislation be implemented sooner than the 18-month Liberal timeline.
Will the Prime Minister commit to the necessary changes to truly support workers and implement the anti-scab legislation, Bill C-58, as quickly as possible?
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- Nov/28/23 2:32:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know to what extent strong unions and collective bargaining are essential to the prosperity of the middle class in this country. That is why, from 2015 onward, the government has been a friend to organized labour and has worked with it to overturn the anti-union legislation that the Stephen Harper government brought in, including the Leader of the Opposition as a minister in that government.
We have continued to stand with workers. We are very pleased that the NDP is supporting our replacement workers bill. We really hope the Conservatives will understand that supporting workers means supporting unions. We hope the Conservatives will stand up and support our anti-scab legislation.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to dodge the question about the tax he plans to quadruple on Canadian farmers. One farm alone in my riding is spending $150,000 a year on carbon taxes, and the Prime Minister wants to quadruple that number, for up to $600,000. That might put the farm out of business, which would mean we would have to buy more foreign, expensive food from more polluting countries.
The Prime Minister is blocking a common-sense Conservative bill, Bill C-234, in the Senate that would take the tax off our farmers. Will he commit here and now to another carbon tax flip-flop and carve it out for our farmers, so our people can afford to eat?
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- Nov/28/23 2:34:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is only one party in the House that is flip-flopping, and it is the Conservative Party with regard to its support for Ukraine. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has expressed its disappointment with the Conservatives for voting against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. In fact, it is calling on the Conservatives to change their position, to vote for the bill and to support Ukraine.
It is hard to trust what the Leader of the Opposition says, because he keeps changing his position. He says he supports Ukraine, but he did not in his actions. He could direct his caucus to support this legislation and to support Ukraine.
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Mr. Speaker, we are against the carbon tax deal that the Liberals put before the House, and we are against quadrupling the carbon tax on Canadian farmers. The Prime Minister cannot defend his position, nor does he have the courage to just admit, as he did on home heating oil, that he was wrong. He plans to quadruple the tax on our farmers, who feed our people; this will send millions more people to the food bank.
Will the Prime Minister rise today and show the courage to admit he was wrong and back Conservative Bill C-234 to take the tax off our farmers, so our people can afford to eat? He should get up and answer.
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- Nov/28/23 2:35:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is ironic to hear from the leader of the official opposition about courage to admit he was wrong. In fact, on Thursday, when he was called out by the media for falsely alleging that there was a terrorist attack, instead of taking ownership as any Canadian would be expected to do, he blamed the media and doubled down.
The Leader of the Opposition has a real challenge with taking responsibility for his actions and his decisions. Quite frankly, Canadians deserve better, and they deserve to know the truth behind his decisions and his actions.
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Mr. Speaker, farmers from across Canada are calling on Liberal-appointed senators to support a common-sense Conservative bill, Bill C-234, which would lower costs on farming and make food more affordable, but the Liberals' environment minister has threatened to resign if there are any carbon tax carve-outs. This is amazing when we have a record-shattering two million Canadians relying on food banks.
The environment minister's dedication to making life unaffordable is unwavering. Will the Prime Minister ask his environment minister to stop threatening so-called independent senators and allow the passage of Bill C-234, so Canadians can afford to feed themselves?
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- Nov/28/23 2:37:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to read an extract from a news article titled “Canadian Senator Flees Home Amid Safety Concerns Following ‘Wanted Poster’ Incident”. It reads:
In a disturbing turn of events, Canadian Senator Bernadette Clement was reportedly forced to leave her home due to fears for her safety. The incident came about after a provocative post, akin to a ‘wanted poster,’ was shared online by [a member of the Conservative Party of Canada].
Who is bullying whom in this House and in the Senate? It is certainly not us. We are not telling senators how to vote; the Conservative Party is.
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- Nov/28/23 2:37:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here are the facts that the environment minister refuses to recognize. An Alberta poultry farmer paid $180,000 a year in carbon taxes just to heat and cool his barn. When the Prime Minister quadruples his carbon tax, he will be paying $480,000 a year. That farmer said he cannot afford those tax hikes. His options are to pass on those costs to consumers or just call it quits. Does the environment minister want to bankrupt Canadian farmers and force Canadians to food banks just to save his job?
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- Nov/28/23 2:38:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here is what an independent senator said about what the Conservative Party is doing in the House and in the Senate.
According to this article, Senator Saint-Germain said that “Plett ‘violently’ threw his earpiece” and ‘stood before Senator Clement as we sat at our desks, yelling and berating us for proposing this routine motion”. She went on to say that the Conservative senator “‘pointed fingers’ at another ISG member” and “suggested he would block work...on the Senate's human resource subcommittee.”
No matter how much the Conservative Party would like us to believe that this is about taxation, it is not; it is about bullying.
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- Nov/28/23 2:39:10 p.m.
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I would like to once again remind all members not to speak unless it is their turn to do so. That way everyone can hear the question and answer.
The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is not worth the cost. It is costing all Canadians more and more. The Liberal carbon tax on farmers has a direct impact on food prices. I would like to remind members that people are struggling to put food on the table right now.
We, the Conservatives, have made a common-sense proposal to eliminate the Liberal carbon tax on food production. I am talking about Bill C-234, which is currently before the Senate. It does not happen every day, but the Bloc Québécois, the NDP and even the Green Party agree with us on this. Only the sore losers disagree.
Why is the government now giving unelected senators the power to overturn the will of the House of Commons?
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- Nov/28/23 2:40:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to see the double standard the Conservatives are applying to the Senate, because they are not shy about using the Senate to block bills that they do not like.
I would also like to remind the House that we saw in the news recently how independent senators are being intimidated by Conservative senators at the request of the Conservative Party of Canada in the House. That is not how things work. We do not tell anyone in the Senate how to vote or what to do. We have discussions, but we do not force anyone to do anything, unlike the Conservative Party of Canada.
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- Nov/28/23 2:40:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the reality in my riding, and I am sure it is the same in Montreal, is that food banks are overflowing. They are not overflowing with food. They are overflowing with people who used to donate to food banks but now have to use them. Over two million Canadians cannot afford food, so they go to food banks.
What we are trying to do is bring down the cost of food by helping farmers, but the Liberal government and the Minister of Environment want senators to oppose the will of the House of Commons.
Does the minister think that is democratic?
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