44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 30, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/30/23 2:44:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec alone takes in as many asylum seekers as all the other provinces combined. Believe it or not, it has cost Quebeckers $460 million, even though asylum claims fall under federal jurisdiction.
Quebeckers should not have to foot the bill on their own on behalf of Canadians. They also do not deserve the arrogance being shown by the Minister of Immigration, who is from Quebec, I might add, and who likes to say that Ottawa is not an ATM.
It is a shame that we have to go over the head of a minister from Quebec in order to find a solution that respects Quebeckers, but that is what we have to do. We have no choice. I am therefore appealing to the Minister of Finance. Will she reimburse Quebeckers?
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- Nov/30/23 2:45:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a global migration crisis, and Canada is part of it. We have a moral obligation to act. Responsibility for asylum seekers is shared between Quebec and Canada, and this is an ongoing conversation between us.
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- Nov/30/23 2:45:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it took a minister from New Brunswick for the federal government to finally realize how generous Quebeckers have been to asylum seekers. On Tuesday, the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs recognized that Quebec's public services and community organizations are overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, Quebeckers spent $460 million on asylum seekers even though that is a federal government responsibility. On Tuesday, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said he would talk to his colleague, the Minister of Finance. Has he done so? When will he send that $460‑million cheque to Quebec?
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- Nov/30/23 2:46:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad my colleague recognizes the work that my colleague and friend, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, has done.
There was a very positive meeting with Minister Roberge in Quebec City. I myself meet regularly with various ministers in Mr. Legault's government. That means we have a robust collaborative relationship.
The Bloc Québécois wants to convince us that things are not working, that there is conflict here, but the only conflict is the one the Bloc Québécois is trying to provoke among Quebeckers. There is no conflict because we are working together.
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- Nov/30/23 2:47:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the U.S. officially charged an Indian government employee with attempting to assassinate a member of the Sikh community in New York. The target was on the very same list as Sikh Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was murdered in Surrey. These new allegations make Sikh Canadians feel even more unsafe. Meanwhile, the Conservative leader is siding with the Modi government and blaming Canada.
What is the government doing to ensure the safety of Sikh Canadians amid these serious allegations?
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- Nov/30/23 2:47:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the RCMP, with its policing partners across the country, are very engaged with the Sikh community and other communities across the country, which understandably feel an increased threat level with respect to what the U.S. justice department filed in a court in the United States yesterday.
It is obviously a source of concern. It is understandable in the Sikh community. The RCMP continues to collaborate with American law enforcement partners and will do everything necessary to ensure the safety of Canadians.
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- Nov/30/23 2:48:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our hearts sank when we learned that, this year, children in Quebec are asking Santa Claus for warm clothes and food instead of gifts. Opération père Noël is reporting a record increase in requests for basic items. So far, it has received 27,000 requests, up 2,000 from last year. That says a lot about the economic difficulties that families are facing.
How is the government going to tackle this crisis?
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- Nov/30/23 2:49:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are here to continue building an economy that works for everyone. That is why we introduced a bill in the House today to build the economy for children, seniors and small businesses and to lower the cost of groceries.
That is our plan. I encourage everyone in the House to vote for our plan.
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- Nov/30/23 2:49:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in an interview with CFRA's Bill Carroll, Dr. Barry Dworkin reported the case of a United Kingdom doctor who came to Canada, fully qualified and ready to practise, who was denied the ability to take a work simply because she was self-employed, which is an obvious paperwork snafu.
She joins the 20,000 immigrants to Canada who are doctors who cannot work, and the 32,000 nurses. Why will the government not take my common-sense plan to bring in a blue seal professional standard that would allow immigrant doctors, nurses and other professionals to quickly prove they are qualified, get to work, earn powerful cheques and serve patients in need?
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- Nov/30/23 2:50:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are working in partnership with the Ontario government to help re-establish all foreign doctors, making sure they can get accredited.
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- Nov/30/23 2:50:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, it is not worth the cost.
While the U.S. economy is booming with a growth of 5.2%, Canada's economy is shrinking. Canada will have the worst GDP-per-capita growth in all developed nations. In fact, U.S. GDP per person will be $80,000 while Canada's will only be $50,000.
Never has a government spent and taxed so much on Canadians with so little to show for it. Will the finance minister stand up today to tell Canadians why she is taking more from them and making them poorer?
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- Nov/30/23 2:51:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives continue to talk down the economy, I will ask members to allow me to add in a few more facts.
We have ensured that 1.1 million additional jobs are available to Canadians since the end of the pandemic. That is important because those are well-paying jobs. Wages have actually increased and outpaced inflation in this country. The report that my Conservative colleague cites indicates that there was a significant upwards revision of Canada's growth in the second quarter in this country.
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- Nov/30/23 2:52:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, the financial gap between Americans and Canadians has never been larger.
The average GDP per capita in the United States is over $80,000. In Canada, it is merely $50,000. Unbelievably, the situation is getting worse. The growth in the United States was over 5% this year. In Canada, it is shrinking by more than 1%.
When will the government finally take responsibility for failing Canadians, and change direction to adopt a common-sense plan led by a common-sense leader?
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/30/23 2:52:39 p.m.
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Once again, I would encourage all members, especially the member for Timmins—James Bay, to wait their turn to ask a question.
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- Nov/30/23 2:52:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member gives me the opportunity to talk about an American investment that just happened yesterday. In fact, Dow Chemical made one of the largest investments in 126 years of history. It is going to invest more than $10 billion in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta for the first net-zero ethylene plant in the world.
We are going to be producing green plastics. We are going to create jobs. We are going to grow the economy. That is a plan for the future, and we are going to put it in place.
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- Nov/30/23 2:53:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the reality is this. The more the government spends, the poorer Canadians get.
Over the last eight years, the government has imposed a record tax burden on Canadians, levels of debt and deficit never seen before in our country. The result is the worst per capita growth rate since the Great Depression. There is record food bank usage, with two million Canadians going to a food bank every month.
Why are those Liberals so hell-bent to bankrupt Canadians?
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- Nov/30/23 2:54:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our job as a government has been to balance compassion with fiscal responsibility, and that is exactly what we have done. We are there for Canadians with the Canada child benefit. We are there for families with supports. We are there for our seniors with supports.
When the member opposite talks about being there for Canadians, I wonder why that very member has been filibustering our motion on the Canada pension plan in the finance committee for weeks now.
We will continue to be there for Canadians.
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- Nov/30/23 2:54:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the American economy grew by 5.2%, while the Canadian economy shrunk by 1.1%. The American economy is booming and the Canadian economy is at a standstill. Americans are getting richer, while Canadians are getting poorer. Nothing has been working in Canada for the past eight years.
Given these numbers, will the government recognize that its economic plan is a failure?
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- Nov/30/23 2:55:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague for being brave enough to ask a question in French. It is not easy to be a francophone in the Conservative caucus.
Even though I do not often agree with him, all of the Liberals in the House will be there to defend his right to speak in French.
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- Nov/30/23 2:55:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to give a clear answer in French to the member here, who made this type of comment before on May 5, 2009, I would say that my colleague from Lethbridge apologized to the committee.
That being said, can the government tell me what it is thinking—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus: Mr. Speaker, I will continue with my question. Children in Quebec have been sending their letters to Santa Claus to Opération père Noël since 1995. This year, instead of asking for toys, children are asking for winter boots and snowsuits. That does not make any sense.
Does the Prime Minister think it is normal for Santa Claus to be getting these kinds of requests from children?
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