44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 29, 2023 02:00PM
- Nov/29/23 2:38:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, in the last election, the Prime Minister promised to pass legislation within the first 100 days to protect Canadians from toxic online content and to hold platforms accountable. Last month, a 12-year-old boy in Prince George took his own life in response to online sextortion. It has been 764 days since the government was sworn in, and more of these incidents have been happening every year.
When will the government introduce the online harm bill to protect kids?
82 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:38:52 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to protecting our kids, I think we all agree that we have to do everything we possibly can.
That is why we have spent such a significant amount of time working with communities, including racialized communities, and working with experts, moving forward in the right way to keep our kids safe from online harms and to keep them safe in the virtual world, where more and more of us spend increasing amounts of time.
We need to make sure we get it right, both for the grand principles of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly that are so important in our democracies and also for communities that are all too often subject to discrimination and marginalization. That is what we are going to do.
130 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:39:41 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, government delay is causing harm to kids. We need action.
The COP28 president is looking to secure development agreements in Canada. The minister said they only talked about climate change, but his department is refusing to disclose who will be part of the Canadian delegation until the end of COP28.
Is the Prime Minister sending the Minister of Environment to Dubai to eliminate fossil fuels or to sign new development deals?
73 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:40:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we need to be careful about associating a tragedy that happened in Prince George with the actions or inactions of any particular government.
We understand how horrific this is for the family and for the community. We will continue to work to make sure that kids across this country are protected. That is why we are serious about moving forward in protecting them from online harms.
This is an extremely serious issue that we will always handle with the respect and responsibility it deserves. This issue should not serve as an excuse to lob veiled accusations. It is a tragedy that we all need to work on together.
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:40:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to avoid responsibility for having doubled the cost of housing over the past eight years. He is not worth the cost of rent.
According to the United States' Realtor.com website, October 2023 was the sixth consecutive month of rent decreases over a one-year period. According to the Rentals.ca website, “Canada's rents continued to reach new heights” for the sixth consecutive month.
Why is the cost of rent falling in the United States and rising faster in Canada than at any other time in its history?
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:41:45 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we launched our housing accelerator this fall precisely to create more housing in Canada and lower rents for all Canadians. That is part of the actions we have taken since 2017, and even before that, to invest in housing in Canada.
We know how much we have left to do. Our population is growing faster than that of the U.S., but I am sure that the Leader of the Opposition is not speaking out against immigration.
We will continue to be there to build more housing and to grow our economy and our population at the same time.
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:42:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister loves to blame others for the fact that he has doubled housing costs in eight years. He is not worth the price of rent.
Let me quote the organization realtor.com in the United States: “October 2023 marks the sixth month in a row of year-over-year rent decline”. Rentals.ca in Canada says, “For the sixth month in a row, asking rents in Canada hit a new high”.
Why, after eight years of the Prime Minister, is rent going down in the States and up in Canada?
98 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:43:10 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, since 2015, we have been investing in housing in this country to make up for the 10 years of lost time when the member, as the minister of housing in a previous government, got out of the business of building and supporting housing across this country.
We have done an awful lot, and we recognize there is more to do, which is why part of our fall economic statement was about investing even more in creating homes and unlocking the potential of this country.
As for the difference between Canada and the United States, one of the differences is that our population is growing much faster than the population in the United States. I am certain the leader of the opposition was not about to suggest he was anti-immigration, because we all know immigration creates jobs and prosperity, and that is what we are all for.
149 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:43:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who brought up immigration. I was about to point out that in Canada, according to his housing agency, home construction is down 32% year over year and in the United States it is up 5%.
It is true that the Prime Minister has much more expensive federal government programs to build more government bureaucracy and fewer homes. Will he adopt our common-sense plan to build homes, not just bureaucracy?
77 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:44:34 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we all know the mistrust and distaste the Leader of the Opposition has for expert analysis and expert advice, particularly because the experts have roundly panned his approach on housing, as it is not going to create the housing that Canada needs.
What are we doing? For example, concretely, we talked about 9,000 housing units in Hamilton, 7,000 housing units in London, 44,000 housing units in Vaughan, 9,000 housing units in Halifax and more to be created over the next few years. These are investments we are making that are delivering for Canadians right across the country, while he continues to propose cuts and austerity instead of the investments Canadians need.
117 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:45:25 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, every time the Prime Minister gives homebuilding numbers, he is talking about promises that have not been realized. For example, he promised in 2015, eight years ago, that he would sell federal lands to build homes. Now, today, Radio-Canada reports that it takes 23 years for the government to dispose of lands and turn them into new homes. In fact, one project will not be done until 2038.
How many generations of Canadians would have to survive long enough for the Prime Minister to realize any of the promises he makes?
94 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:46:09 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, that underscores the importance of being able to work constructively with municipalities to build housing. Those numbers from the City of Ottawa are something we are concerned with, and we are going to be working to make sure they accelerate the construction of housing on federal lands.
We are there for investing in more housing. We are there to release federal lands for the construction of housing. However, instead of doing what the Leader of the Opposition says and picking fights with municipalities, we will work with them to ensure they are building faster. That is what our housing accelerator is all about: unlocking hundreds of thousands of new homes over the coming years.
116 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:46:53 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, what he has actually done is unlocked hundreds of new photo ops at the expense of Canadian taxpayers. For example, he has now given $15 billion to the renamed and recycled construction loan program. This is a program that has built fewer than half of its targeted promises, and the new money that he says will build homes will arrive in 2025 and the new homes in 2028.
How many times would the Prime Minister have to be re-elected on his promises for housing for a new home to actually get built?
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:47:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the irony is that the Leader of the Opposition is attacking us for making announcements of thousands upon thousands of new units built across the country when he does not make any announcements at all because he has no plan. He is not sharing a plan to build more homes. He is not sharing a plan to invest in the economy. He is not sharing his approach on how to create more opportunities for Canadians while fighting climate change and while responding to the climate crisis. He just stands there and makes personal attacks, and sneers at everything and says that it is all broken, instead of doing the hard work, rolling up his sleeves and delivering a real plan for the future of Canada.
127 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:48:19 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the problem with the Prime Minister is that the future never comes. It is a promise that is always just around the corner. For example, his $4-billion housing accelerator has completed exactly zero homes two years after it was announced, and here is why. The other day he announced a bunch of money in Halifax, and where did the money go according to the city? It went to hire 29 new bureaucrats, the same bureaucrats who are blocking housing construction in the first place.
Why does he not accept my common-sense plan to require cities to boost housing completions by 15% in order to get federal money so that we build homes, not bureaucracy?
118 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:49:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I hate to break it to the Leader of the Opposition, but a TikTok video is not a plan.
We are going to continue to work, roll up our sleeves and deliver for Canadians every step of the way. While the Conservatives are flip-flopping all over the place, refusing to stand with workers, refusing to stand with Ukraine and watching too much far right American TV, we are going to stay focused on delivering concretely for Canadians, with the lowest deficit in the G7, the best debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and the best AAA credit rating of all countries around the world except for the top three, of which we are a part. We are going to continue delivering for Canadians.
127 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:49:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, a few years ago, the cover of Croc magazine stated, “Just because people laugh does not mean it is funny”. According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the simple act of celebrating Christmas with a tree, family, music and gifts is systemic racism. I wonder if good old Santa Claus is racist. I wonder if snow has become racist. Does the Prime Minister think that Christmas is racist?
72 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:50:34 p.m.
- Watch
I have to say that I am not convinced that this has anything to do with government administration, but I see that the right hon. Prime Minister is on his feet.
The hon. leader of the Bloc Québécois.
42 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:51:04 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Human Rights Commission falls under the federal government's jurisdiction. I am therefore asking the Prime Minister of Canada to show some backbone and respond.
29 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/29/23 2:51:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to try to answer such a ridiculous question. Obviously, Christmas is not racist. Canada is a country of diversity, a country where we celebrate our personal and individual beliefs and where we also share and celebrate our neighbours' milestones and special occasions. That is a strength that enriches our country. Sharing our celebrations makes us a rich and diverse country, and we always will be. The Bloc Québécois is trying to pick a fight and is being ridiculous. It is unbelievable.
93 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
