44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 1, 2024 02:00PM
- May/1/24 2:42:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately there is fearmongering going on by the Leader of the Opposition right now.
I will recall for people that a number of years ago the City of Vancouver approached us with a desire to decriminalize in its city, and we said, no, we would not do that for Vancouver, that we work with provinces and public health systems. That is why we moved forward with British Columbia on a pilot project it wanted.
With regard to any other province, whether it be Quebec, Ontario or anywhere else, we will work with the governments in place on proposals they may or may not have, in order to deal with the opioid epidemic. That is all.
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Mr. Speaker, he still will not clearly answer the question, which is doubly concerning because Toronto has been overtaken by crime and chaos since he brought in the catch-and-release policies under Bill C-375, Bill C-5 and Bill C-83. Violent crime is up 40%. We just heard the tragic story on Monday of a liquor store robber crashing into a family, tragically killing grandparents and a precious child. The assailant was out on bail.
Will the Prime Minister repeal catch-and-release?
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- May/1/24 2:43:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe if you or other parliamentarians, or indeed Canadians, look at the transcripts of these questions and answers, they will see that I actually did answer the questions the Leader of the Opposition posed to me in terms of how we were going to work with British Columbia and how we would work with any province that came forward with positions to try to help with the opioid epidemic. We would examine those on their merits.
However, the Leader of the Opposition has not answered Canadians' concerns about why he will not condemn Diagolon, the far right extremist organization and why he will not reject the endorsement of Alex Jones, noted conspiracy theorist.
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- May/1/24 2:44:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he has not answered the question of whether he would expand decriminalization elsewhere. He is using vague references to jurisdictions, but it is his jurisdiction alone to grant exemptions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Will he admit his real plan is to take the decriminalization of hard drugs he imposed on British Columbia and do that in all the provinces and territories across the country?
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- May/1/24 2:44:59 p.m.
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No, Mr. Speaker. For eight years, almost nine years now, Canadians have seen that our approach on the opioid epidemic is grounded in public safety, in public health, in compassion, in funding frontline workers and in doing things that work to save lives and help people. It is not to have some sort of secret plan, as he proposes.
If the Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about secret plans, he would probably do well to actually clear the air for Canadians about his seeking support among members of extremist right wing organizations like Diagolon.
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- May/1/24 2:45:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is again false. The government is now suddenly and only partially changing its message on decriminalization. The Prime Minister's minister of addictions is out now saying she is waiting for more information from British Columbia on its request to recriminalize crack, heroin, meth and other hard drugs in hospitals, on transit and in parks.
There are six people dying every single day. What more information does he need?
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- May/1/24 2:46:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are dozens of people dying every day in provinces right across this country from the opioid epidemic. We could talk about the challenges faced in Alberta. We could talk about the challenges faced in Ontario. We could talk about the challenges faced right across the country. Different provinces and jurisdictions have different approaches. Some work better and some have not worked as well. We will continue to be there in a thoughtful, compassionate, rigorous, science-based way to work with jurisdictions on directions that work best for them and adjust those proposals and those responses as necessary. That is what a responsible government does.
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- May/1/24 2:46:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister sees fit to challenge, through the person of Ms. Elghawaby, a law passed by the Quebec National Assembly and to create a law for a minority within a minority, who, I would point out, asked for no such thing. It is a religious law.
I respect the Muslim community at least as much as the Prime Minister does, but is he building bridges by creating privileges or by creating divisions?
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- May/1/24 2:47:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Bloc Québécois leader knows full well, when Bill 21 lands in the Supreme Court, we will intervene in our capacity as the federal government, because we are concerned about the consequences this bill could have on Quebeckers. We will make our voice heard at that time. Yes, we have opinions on how the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Canadians can be better protected, and we will share those opinions.
At the same time, we will always seek to offer everyone the same opportunities to buy a house and build a better future, because we know that young people are struggling these days.
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- May/1/24 2:48:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers want this law, and the money they have put into the Liberals' staggering deficit is going to pay for a Supreme Court challenge to a law that they want.
In short, can he rein in Ms. Elghawaby, tell her to stop attacking Quebec and respect the right that Quebeckers have to live in a society with a secular state?
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- May/1/24 2:48:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as a democratic country and province, Canada and Quebec allow citizens to use their judicial system to challenge laws they disagree with.
This is exactly what many Quebeckers are doing because they disagree with Bill 21. It is their right, as Quebeckers, to challenge laws they find unfair. That is what is happening, and it is perfectly legitimate. The Quebeckers who are challenging the law are no less Québécois than anyone else.
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- May/1/24 2:49:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in Canada's biggest city, gun crime is up 66%. It is 100% nationwide. I just shared the tragic story of someone out on bail, slamming his car into an innocent family. Two wonderful grandparents are dead. A beautiful baby is dead. He was out on bail under the Prime Minister's catch-and-release bill, Bill C-75.
How many more will have to die before he repeals catch-and-release, and brings jail, not bail, for repeat offenders?
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- May/1/24 2:50:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will highlight that we worked with provinces, including many provincial Conservative leaders across this country, to bring in bail reform. We will continue to work on things that are keeping Canadians safe.
At the same time, the leader opposite talked about gun crime. We moved forward with some of the strongest measures on gun control that this country has ever seen: a freeze on the purchase of handguns; a total ban on assault-style weapons, which has been in place for four years.
These are the kinds of things that the Conservative Party and its leader have consistently stood against, even as we move to make our communities even safer.
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- May/1/24 2:50:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he mentioned all the guns that he claims to have banned and that he promised to seize four years and $40 million ago.
How many has he seized?
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- May/1/24 2:51:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are thousands of different types of assault-style weapons that, for the past four years, have been rendered illegal to sell, illegal to buy and illegal to use, including at a gun range.
We are now working on a program to allow those owners to sell them back to the government, for them to be destroyed, and get money so that they can go buy other guns or other products if they want to, which will be legal. This is about fairness, even as we move to keep Canadians safe. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition wants to make those assault weapons legal again.
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- May/1/24 2:51:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all those weapons are still legal. One can still own them.
The Prime Minister says he is going to seize them. He is going to buy them. He has spent $40 million doing that.
I am going to ask this again: How many guns has he bought, just the number?
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- May/1/24 2:52:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition knows, we are in the process of establishing that buyback program. The priority was making sure those guns were no longer available to buy, to sell, to bequeath or to use. That has been the case for four years.
What the Leader of the Opposition is conveniently refusing to opine on is the fact that he has committed to the gun lobby across this country that he would reverse the 2020 OIC, which banned those assault-style weapons. He wants to bring those assault-style weapons back, or he can contradict me right here.
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- May/1/24 2:52:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will contradict him because they are not banned right now. It is perfectly legal for people to possess those guns. They are easy to possess.
The answer to the question is that he has not seized a single, solitary one of them. He has spent 40 million tax dollars that could have secured our ports and our borders, and he has not taken in a single, solitary gun.
Is that why gun crime has risen by 100% since he became Prime Minister nine years ago?
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- May/1/24 2:53:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will note, as did everyone in this chamber, that the Leader of the Opposition did not deny that he will be reversing the ban on assault-style weapons. He does not even think it exists right now. Well, it does exist right now. It is illegal to buy, to sell or to use any of those weapons. When the amnesty ends next year, it will be illegal to own them as well. We are giving an opportunity for people to sell them back to the government. That is what we are doing to keep people safe. That is what he will not commit to keeping.
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- May/1/24 2:54:10 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, in Nunavut, the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation administers the Inuit child first initiative to help kids, but its great work is being made difficult by the government's delays. Close to 70% of requests were not processed on time, leaving traumatized children without the health care they deserve.
When will the Liberal government finally ensure that first nations and Inuit children can get the care they need in a timely manner?
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