44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 21, 2024 10:00AM
- May/21/24 2:59:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her advocacy and her tireless work.
I am proud to stand in this House to tell Canadians our government will always defend and support a woman's right to choose. Conservatives claim this is settled, yet anti-choice bills and petitions keep cropping up.
It is settled for us. No ifs, buts or maybes. We will never stop defending the rights that women in this country have fought so hard for.
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- May/21/24 2:59:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, July 1 is shaping up to be a disaster for people looking for housing in Quebec. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, new housing construction in Montreal has decreased compared to last year for both multi-unit dwellings and detached homes. Clearly, this Prime Minister's strategy is just one more in a long list of failures.
Will the Prime Minister remove the barriers to building instead of wasting Quebeckers' money?
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- May/21/24 3:00:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is interesting, considering that my colleague who asked the question has no plan to fix the situation.
We have a plan to make the investments needed to build housing. For example, we signed an agreement with Quebec to build 8,000 affordable housing units.
To contrast, the Leader of the Opposition, when he was housing minister, was only able to build six units across the entire country. The Conservatives are going to cut programs for housing. We are going to make the investments. There is no clearer contrast.
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- May/21/24 3:00:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the minister should remember is that over the last nine years, this government, with help from their Bloc Québécois friends, has created the conditions that have made today's cost of living unaffordable, raised interest rates and increased inflation.
This government, aided by the Bloc Québécois, voted in $500 billion in inflationary spending. As a result, Canadians and Quebeckers are now faced with a housing shortage or unaffordable options.
Can the minister answer my question more thoughtfully?
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- May/21/24 3:01:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, memories are short. After spending a week in our ridings, it is easy to forget the six affordable housing units that the Leader of the Opposition built when he was the minister responsible for housing. We are talking six affordable housing units across the entire country during his entire tenure.
In the riding of Charlesbourg—Haute‑Saint‑Charles alone, 222 affordable housing units have been built in the last few months thanks to the leadership of Quebec municipalities and the financial support of the Canadian and Quebec governments.
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- May/21/24 3:02:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this government, after nine years of this Prime Minister's leadership, this Liberal Party is not worth the cost. Unfortunately, Canadians are paying the price. In what way? Rent costs have doubled since the Liberals took office.
People in Quebec City are starting to worry about the crisis that is looming for July 1. Le Soleil spoke to Nicole Dionne, who helps people find housing. She said, “Starting in mid-May, people start panicking if they haven't found housing yet.... A lot of people could be forced to camp outside.”
What does the government have to say to those people who would rather camp outside when they cannot find decent housing?
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- May/21/24 3:02:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Ms. Dionne is absolutely right and, unfortunately, she will be surprised to learn that the Leader of the Opposition created only six affordable housing units across the country during his entire term as the minister responsible for housing. I do not mean six units in the Quebec City area. I mean six affordable housing units in the entire country.
Just in the riding of my esteemed colleague, the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, more than 150 affordable housing units have been built in the past few months, thanks to the leadership of Quebec City's municipal government, whom the Conservative leader calls incompetent, but also thanks to the support of the Canadian government.
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- May/21/24 3:03:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is really unfortunate that the member for Québec is continuing to tell tall tales.
I am not sure that Ms. Dionne will find what he just said very funny, because people in Quebec City are suffering right now. According to Le Soleil, the organization is receiving twice as many requests in Quebec City and Lévis as it did last year, and 815 people have asked for help from the CMHC.
Is the minister willing to go see them and tell them another tall tale?
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- May/21/24 3:04:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to go and visit the 160 affordable housing units that have been built in my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent's riding. The problem is that his Conservative leader is accusing the municipalities of Quebec of being incompetent.
Nevertheless, hundreds of affordable housing units are currently being built in Quebec City thanks to the leadership of its municipal government and, obviously, with the support of the Canadian government, which, instead of boasting about the six affordable housing units that the Conservative leader built, is working closely and respectfully with all those involved.
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- May/21/24 3:04:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is moving a closure motion to force the implementation of the budget.
This budget interferes in Quebec's jurisdictions; its theme is to decide for Quebeckers. Imposing conditions on Quebec and the cities under the threat of cutting funding for housing, intruding into health care in favour of private care, grabbing power in the financial sector; we have to wonder if the Liberals have a bit of a separatist streak. Indeed, never has a budget attacked federalism in such a way.
Why not collaborate with Quebec instead of picking a fight?
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- May/21/24 3:05:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very surprised that my colleague is worried about the state of federalism. I thank him for his concern for Canada.
We too are concerned about Canada. That is why we are introducing important programs for all Canadians.
The Bloc Québécois should be ashamed because it campaigned on wanting to work for housing, for seniors, for the environment and for families. It voted against all that. It should be ashamed.
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- May/21/24 3:05:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me reassure the member, I do not care much about federalism.
I know that Quebeckers want to be masters in their own house, and yet what the federal government is doing with this budget is trying to be master everywhere.
While the Liberals seek to govern in place of the provinces, no one is looking after federal business. No one here is looking out for seniors 65 and over who do not qualify for the OAS increase. No one is looking after EI. No one is seeing to reimbursing the costs of receiving asylum seekers. No one is looking after our key sectors like forestry and aerospace.
Instead of trying to be masters everywhere, why do the Liberals not take care of their own responsibilities?
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- May/21/24 3:06:33 p.m.
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Who is taking care of our seniors, Mr. Speaker? It is the Liberal government. Who is looking after housing? It is the Liberal government. Who is looking after our young people? It is the Liberal government. Who is taking care of the environment and fighting climate change? It is the Liberal government.
The Bloc Québécois is doing one thing and one thing only: looking for a fight. Bloc members have lost their identity. They do not even know why they are here anymore.
At the risk of repeating myself and without wanting to cause them too much grief, these people, in the beginning, were here for their passion. Today, they stay here for their pension.
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- May/21/24 3:07:21 p.m.
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Order.
I invite all members to be very careful with their language.
The hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock.
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- May/21/24 3:07:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this NDP-Liberal Prime Minister and his extremist agenda, once-safe B.C. hospitals are now infested with chaos, drugs and weapons. The B.C. Nurses' Union confirms that staff are exposed to fentanyl and meth smoke, even in maternity units. This is wacko.
That is why I will introduce the safe hospitals act, which would toughen penalties for criminals who bring in weapons and ban the minister from allowing open hard drug use in hospitals.
Will the Prime Minister support our common-sense Conservative plan, yes or no?
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- May/21/24 3:08:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the first order, if we are going to have safe hospitals, we have to provide science-based, evidence-based information and not support misinformation, because, too often in our hospitals, it is actually misinformation that is fuelling much of the aggression that our doctors and nurses are facing.
Secondly, I would say to the member opposite, with regard to the health committee going and listening to people on the ground in British Columbia and hearing directly from those affected by this toxic drug crisis, why were the Conservatives not there?
Why did they not send anybody to listen? Why are they not actually on the ground listening to the people who are suffering in this crisis?
It is time to act on solutions and evidence.
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- May/21/24 3:08:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it will be news to the B.C. Nurses' Union that it is spreading disinformation. Here is the reality. Nurses should never be exposed to fentanyl smoke in their workplace. Patients should not have to worry about dangerous weapons when they are vulnerable and seeking treatment in hospitals. After nine years, I cannot believe I even have to ask this.
Does the Prime Minister support tougher sentences for criminals who bring weapons into hospitals?
Will he make it permanently illegal to smoke meth in hospital rooms next to newborn babies, yes or no?
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- May/21/24 3:09:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only thing that separates the member opposite and her concern for victims and families is that my colleagues and I on this side of the House want to use evidence-based solutions to make sure that we respond to the crisis with things that are working.
The reality is that the strategy the member is advocating was first led by Newt Gingrich in the United States. It was the greatest disaster of his career. He has completely abdicated any responsibility for it, saying that it was a disastrous mistake. Stephen Harper's advisers are saying the same thing. What they are advocating would not work.
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- May/21/24 3:10:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal coalition, Canadians are suffering with crime, chaos, drugs and disorder.
The minister talks about evidence. What about the evidence from the BC Nurses' Union and its outcry to ban weapons and hard drugs inside of hospitals? What more science could there be than that?
On this side of the House, the Conservatives announced our plan for tough penalties for weapons in hospitals and to not allow the minister to decriminalize or even legalize hard drugs.
Why do we have to ask again? Will the Prime Minister make it illegal to smoke crack and meth in a hospital next to a baby?
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- May/21/24 3:11:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it disappointing that the member across actually did not join the recent visit by the health committee to B.C. to speak to experts on the ground, an actual member of the committee.
On this side of the House, we follow science, we follow medical experts and we follow the best, evidence-based practices in order to save lives. The war on drugs did not work then; it will not work now. We need compassion, evidence and science to guide us through this.
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