44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2024 10:00AM
- May/10/24 11:53:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, historically speaking, most of the armed forces' civilian employees in Quebec have been women.
They are rightfully asking why the federal government discriminates against them. For example, they are rightfully asking why a financial assistant in Bagotville gets paid $10 less an hour than an assistant doing the same job in Ottawa. The striking workers are rightfully demanding equal treatment across all bases. At a time when the armed forces are struggling to recruit, they should be demonstrating that they respect their employees.
The striking workers are returning to the table. They are ready. They will be tabling a counter-offer at 3:30 pm. Will the defence department finally listen to them?
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- May/10/24 11:54:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, once again, I appreciate my colleague's question, because we know that it is possible to find solutions and come to an agreement at the bargaining table, as we did in Kingston, Petawawa and right here in Ottawa.
Once again, I would just like to say that the agreement that was negotiated will significantly increase wages by 13.75% over three years. We hope that the three parties that are on strike will return to the negotiating table.
I would like to thank all the employees who work so closely with our military members and their families.
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- May/10/24 11:55:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after nine years of this Bloc-Liberal government, the housing crisis is reaching unparalleled proportions. This July 1 will go down in history, but for all the wrong reasons. The crisis is not limited to large urban centres. It affects the regions as well.
An article published in this morning's La Presse says that Quebec's association of police chiefs has noticed a significant rise in homelessness. This sad state of affairs results from insufficient housing and a rising cost of living.
When will this government, backed by the Bloc Québécois, stop announcing programs that simply add to the bureaucracy instead of ensuring that housing gets built in the regions too?
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- May/10/24 11:55:45 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question.
It is a very interesting question, coming from a member who supports a plan that is devoid of any measures to assist renters or build affordable housing, but that does include measures that increase tax rates on new apartments.
That is no good. We have a plan for making investments to build affordable housing. For example, we signed an agreement with Quebec to build 8,000 housing units. In contrast, when the leader of the Conservative Party was the minister responsible for housing, he built only six units across the entire country.
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- May/10/24 11:56:29 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, rents were half as expensive then. It took nine years for this government to get its act together.
After nine years of this Bloc Québécois-backed government, they voted for $500 billion in centralizing, inflationary spending that is driving up prices across the board, pushing more people into homelessness across Canada. The Liberals' inability to control their spending is the cause of all these problems. Add to that a carbon tax, and we can see where that got us.
When will this Prime Minister, supported by the Bloc Québécois, stop his wasteful spending so Quebeckers can afford decent food and shelter again?
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- May/10/24 11:57:07 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for the member for Beauce, who is a former mayor of a major municipality in Beauce.
I am interested in hearing my colleague from Beauce's opinion of his Conservative leader's attitude. We know that he built six affordable housing units when he was the minister responsible for housing. We also know that he insulted and continues to insult Quebec municipalities by calling them incompetent.
How does it feel, as a former mayor of a Quebec municipality, to be on the receiving end of that kind of insult? Being called incompetent by a Conservative leader who built six housing units while he was the minister responsible for housing—
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- May/10/24 11:57:46 a.m.
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The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.
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- May/10/24 11:57:51 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, does the minister know Nadia Gagné? Has he heard of Nadia Gagné?
Nadia Gagné is a woman who has been living in her van for the past few days. Why is that? It is because she lost her home. There are currently 24,000 people on the waiting list for low-income housing in Montreal. There is one very important number that the minister keeps forgetting, and that number is nine. Two terms plus one equals nine. The Liberals have been in government for nine years. Is he proud of his government's record today, after nine years of Liberal governance—
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- May/10/24 11:58:30 a.m.
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- May/10/24 11:58:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, for whom I have a great deal of respect. He is an involved and important person in the Quebec City area. I thank him for telling us about Nathalie. There are many other Nathalies in the Quebec City area who need help from the Canadian government. Life is tough in Quebec City in 2024. That is why we need a government that invests, not a Leader of the Opposition who insults. Relationships, in both private and political life, are based on respect.
Does he consider insulting Quebec municipalities, including our own municipality, a sign of respect?
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- May/10/24 11:59:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives continue to show their true colours. The Conservative leader said he would override the rights of Canadians by using the notwithstanding clause.
On Tuesday, the member for Peace River—Westlock introduced a petition here in the House to restrict abortion access, and on the same day, every Conservative member voted against a bill that would provide contraceptives to women who cannot otherwise afford them. Yesterday, coincidentally, an anti-choice March for Life protest was held here in Ottawa.
Can the Minister of Health assure women across Canada that their —
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- May/10/24 11:59:47 a.m.
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The hon. Minister of Health has the floor.
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- May/10/24 11:59:50 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her incredible advocacy in making sure women have autonomy over their own bodies. It was so disappointing, on the one hand, to hear them speaking about this. I understand that over half the Conservative members are anti-choice. Their telling our daughters and our sisters what they should do with their bodies is upsetting enough, but then in the same order, to vote against women's being able to get the reproductive medicine they need means they want them to have no choice whatsoever about their bodies, not a choice—
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- May/10/24 12:00:27 p.m.
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The hon. member for St. Albert—Edmonton has the floor.
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- May/10/24 12:00:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Minister of Employment pocketed money from his business partner, the same business partner who was lobbying the minister's department while securing $110 million in government contracts. Meanwhile, the minister actively hid the shady arrangement from the Ethics Commissioner.
For two weeks, the minister has refused to answer the most basic question, so I will ask it again: How much did the minister pocket?
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- May/10/24 12:01:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member well knows that the minister has answered these questions, and of course the member would not dare say the things he just said in the chamber, where he uses parliamentary privilege, outside, because he knows that to do so would have serious consequences.
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- May/10/24 12:01:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, the Canadian Armed Forces has 16,000 personnel vacancies and a crisis of morale, recruitment and retention.
That is why the defence committee unanimously voted to cancel the April 1 rent increase for base housing. Like other Canadians, our troops cannot afford rent and groceries, and they know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
Will the Prime Minister show that he actually supports our troops and reverse the April 1 rent increase, yes or no?
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- May/10/24 12:01:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to defence spending.
The Conservatives let defence spending drop below 1%. They voted against a salary increase for our members. They voted against funding for Ukraine. They voted against Operation Unifier. They voted against $40 billion for NORAD modernization. They badly mismanaged our procurement for years.
Today in the House, I have no lessons to take from that side.
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- May/10/24 12:02:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, when asked by the media, the immigration minister clearly stated that all international students undergo a criminal record check to enter Canada. That is false. Police certificates are not mandatory for international students who enter our country, thanks to the Liberal government. The immigration minister is following the exact same reckless path of his predecessor, who notoriously lost a million people.
Why did the minister mislead Canadians? Can he tell us how many international students were let in without police clearance?
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- May/10/24 12:03:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, for far too long, international students have been exploited and have been vulnerable to abuse and fraud. That is why we are taking concrete action. We implemented a new verification process to authenticate acceptance letters. We raised financial requirements to ensure that students are prepared for their life in Canada. Recently we announced a national cap on student visas.
We have a responsibility to ensure that international students are set up for success. That is exactly what we are doing.
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