44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 8, 2024 02:00PM
- May/8/24 2:23:04 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is not worth the cost; neither is the CBC.
Under the leadership of the CEO, Catherine Tait, viewership, trust and revenue are all down. Despite this abysmal performance, the Liberal government has rewarded Ms. Tait by extending her contract and granting another $60,000 bonus. That is more than most Canadians make in an entire year.
Another $15 million was handed over to the executives as more bonus money. After this, the CEO had the nerve to come to committee and claim that the CBC is chronically underfunded. She then announced that she would be cutting 800 jobs.
Then, just weeks ago, the Prime Minister announced that he would be giving $140 million more to the same failed institution. This means that now the CEO can continue to give herself and the top executives big fat bonuses.
Greed and incompetence are exactly what is dragging this organization down.
Common-sense Conservatives are calling on the Liberal government to instruct the CBC to stop awarding themselves big fat bonuses.
173 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:24:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, May 3 commemorated World Press Freedom Day, a day when we celebrate journalists for the work that they do and the risks they take to keep us informed. They pay a high price, with attacks by groups from authoritarian regimes to criminal enterprises. Journalists risk life and limb pursuing truth.
This year, the price was high. It was the deadliest year on record, with 115 journalists dead in conflict zones. They worked with the word “press” emblazoned on their flak jackets, sharing stories that we need to hear. Hundreds more languished in jail.
As the Leader of the Opposition and others, as we have just heard, boast about putting “for sale” signs on the CBC, many around the world are putting up gravestones instead. It is a short trip from rhetorical attacks on the press to actual violence. As journalists perish in jails and newsrooms dim their lights, truth and fiction become harder and harder to distinguish.
I am proud to be part of a government that stands with journalists, champions facts over misinformation and reinforces the democratic values we hold dear.
188 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:25:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have a common-sense plan: axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Still, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He has doubled our national debt only to double the cost of housing, or triple it in Montreal, to be honest.
As the end of the month draws near, Quebeckers are worrying about paying the rent. Will the Prime Minister finally reverse his inflationary policies, which are putting Quebeckers at risk of losing their houses or apartments?
88 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:26:11 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, instead of stirring up anxiety with misinformation, the member should give Canadians the true facts.
The fact is that Canada's fiscal position is the strongest of the G7 countries. We have the highest credit rating of almost any country in the world. We are investing responsibly to ensure that we are putting the government's assets in the service of Canadians and their interests. Our investment in housing is based on a highly comprehensive plan to create housing for all generations.
84 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:26:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, is he seriously accusing me of causing Quebeckers anxiety? It is like he is saying that Quebeckers would never have noticed that their rent has doubled if I had not mentioned it. Does he think Quebeckers cannot read numbers? He says the economy is not about numbers, but rents are numbers. The prices we pay when we buy food at the grocery store are numbers.
Will he finally look at the numbers and see that he is not worth the cost?
83 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:27:28 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, for months, years even, we have heard the Conservatives say that our policies of investing in Canadians are the reason Canadians are facing challenges.
On the contrary, Canada has the strongest fiscal position in the G7. We are investing and using that strong position to help families who are struggling. These investments in housing, dental care, senior care and child care are all investments that help Canadians and put the government in service of Canadians.
77 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:28:09 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, while common-sense Conservatives will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost after nine years. He has doubled the debt and doubled housing costs. He has increased spending by nearly 80%. What did we get for the money? We got the worst per person income growth in the entire G7 and the worst mortgage debt of all those countries.
When will the Prime Minister realize that the more he spends, the worse things get?
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:28:46 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have been talking down the economy for a long time now, without understanding that Canada actually has the strongest macroeconomic performance in the G7.
Our perspective is to put that solid footing of the Government of Canada in service of Canadians by investing in housing, by investing in dental care, by investing in child care and by investing in the supports that Canadians need in this difficult time. His solution is for governments to invest less in Canadians, for ideological reasons, and to be there less for people when they need it most.
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:29:29 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is more proof that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He tells Canadians they have never had it so good. He doubled the debt, doubled housing costs and forced two million people to a food bank. He brags that he spent $87 billion on housing programs, and what did it get us? It got us the worst housing inflation of any country in the G7, the second worst out of nearly 40 OECD countries.
Why does the Prime Minister always spend the most to achieve the worst?
92 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:30:07 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians will take no lessons from a former housing minister who was in a government that did not believe in investing in housing.
Obviously, over decades, the federal government underinvested in housing, and it has led to the challenges we are facing now. That is why we are putting and have been putting, in service for Canadians since 2017, the solid fiscal position of the federal government to invest in Canadians, to invest in communities, to invest in housing and to help solve the challenge people are facing around the world. We are solving it despite—
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:30:47 p.m.
- Watch
The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
6 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:30:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is absolutely right that we did not waste the billions of dollars that he has now put into his programs, but here are the results.
The average rent for a one bedroom when I was the housing minister was $973, and we built 80,000 apartment units at that low rate. Now the cost has more than doubled. Meanwhile, Stats Canada reports that incomes are down $17,000 per family.
Why are Canadians making $17,000 less to pay double the price for a home?
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:31:31 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, here is the question Canadians should be asking the Leader of the Opposition.
Given that Canada has one of the strongest economic balance sheets in the G7 right now in a country-to-country comparison, should we invest in supporting Canadians and creating housing with that solid balance sheet, or should we, as the Conservative leader is proposing, cut programs, reduce investment and do less for Canadians?
We should be putting the strong fiscal position of the government in service of Canadians. That is what we are doing. That is what the Conservative leader opposes.
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:32:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister seemed to endorse the vulgar slurs used by his MP, who made what I will call the “M-word” famous in the French-speaking world. It is all a bit of a distraction, however, because the real issue is actually the issue of funding for francophone universities.
In order for us to move on from this and avoid getting tarred as foul-mouthed barbarians, could the Prime Minister ask the member to resign as chair of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie and to apologize to our partners throughout the Francophonie?
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:32:56 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, far be it from me to interfere with the poetic argument of the leader opposite, but the reality is that the word he referred to has been known around the world for a very long time. Our member was not the first to use it. He was certainly overzealous, but he apologized and withdrew his remarks.
The fact remains that we will continue to be there to protect francophones across the country, and we will continue to be there to defend French in Quebec and to do something the Bloc Québécois can never and would never do, which is defend francophones outside Quebec.
109 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:33:43 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we have an expression in Quebec that goes, “je ne peux rien lui faire qu'il ne se fera pas lui-même”. In other words, he is his own worst enemy and keeps digging himself into a deeper hole.
It has gotten to the point where he is doubling down and continues to endorse comments that make absolutely no sense by trying to do something that he is not particularly good at. Quick little jokes are not his strong suit.
Could he take responsibility, tell the joker next to him to keep quiet and force the member to resign from the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie?
114 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:34:22 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois leader's responsibility is to pick fights with Ottawa.
The federal Liberal government's responsibility is to defend official languages across the country. We are here to defend French in Quebec, but also to defend the French fact everywhere in Canada. We will be there to defend linguistic minorities across the country.
It should not surprise anyone that the Bloc Québécois's latest battle is to attack a Franco-Ontarian. It is no secret that they do not like francophones who speak French outside Quebec.
98 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:35:11 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling to put food on the table. What are the Liberals doing? They are giving $25 million to Costco and Loblaws. What are the Conservatives doing? Their leader is too busy wining and dining corporate lobbyists in private dinner clubs.
New Democrats have a clear plan, which is to tackle corporate greed. We need to make sure we bring down the prices and stop giving millions of dollars to corporate grocery stores.
When will the Prime Minister stop giving big grocery a free ride?
88 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:35:49 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, not only are we continuing to move forward on our grocery code of conduct, but we are working on a project to make food more affordable through competition reform. Now, we are creating a national school food program, which is expected to provide meals for more than 400,000 kids a year and save the average family with two children as much as $800 per year on grocery costs.
We are also ensuring that the wealthiest pay their fair share. Indeed, there are measures in the House right now that will crack down on predatory pricing, and the NDP has the opportunity to support us as it goes through the House.
113 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/8/24 2:36:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives have the courage to take on corporate greed, which is driving up the cost of food, but we do.
While people are having a hard time filling their fridge, the Prime Minister is giving $25 million to Loblaw and Costco when they are making record profits.
What will it take for this Prime Minister to understand that these corporations that are pocketing billions of dollars do not need this money?
79 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
