SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 315 - May/22/24

May/22/24 9:55:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member opposite. I would suggest that what the NDP believes in is stimulating investment here at home. This is something we believe very strongly in. It is the partnering of public investment and private investment. This is something we have lost sight of over the last few decades. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has pointed out that the infrastructure deficit in this country is now approaching a quarter of a trillion dollars, for sewage plants, bridges, roads that need to be reconstructed, schools and hospitals. After the Second World War, there was a fair taxation system that asked the rich to pay their fair share and asked the profitable corporations to pay a certain level of tax. As a result of that, we were able to build a society that had massive infrastructure and allowed us to build schools, roads and hospitals. We have moved away from that. It was eroded by Conservatives, including the Harper Conservatives, and was unfortunately not picked up by the Liberals. After the 2015 election, they should have put in place a fair tax system that would have allowed for the public investments, partnering with private investments, to have allowed our economy to really take off. These are all reasons why an NDP government would be the best choice for Canada.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

May/22/24 9:56:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is much in my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby's speech that I want to support, but I was particularly drawn to his reminiscences, believe it or not, of a better time that I think of quite often: the degree of co-operation that happened in this place during COVID. I distinctly remember the work we did. There were all of the finance critics from every party, including me for the Green Party and the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby representing the NDP as finance critic. The member for Carleton was, at the time, finance critic, but he is doing something different now. We all met on a regular basis with a former colleague, the hon. Bill Morneau, who was minister of finance. We met every other week. We brought news from the ground of what was not working for our businesses locally, and what was working. As we could not vote in this place, every bit of the $80 billion in emergency spending to help Canadians was passed unanimously every time. I want to stop for a moment and thank all of our colleagues for the ability to pull together to help Canadians in crisis. Please, let us do it again.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/22/24 9:58:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, who is a good friend, for raising that point. It is true that during COVID we saw the best of parliamentarianism in this country. All members of Parliament were working together. We will recall that we did not have the virtual Parliament to start. We had a scant number of MPs in the House because of social distancing. At the same time, we were able to agree on a variety of supports that made a big difference in the lives of Canadians. I would suggest, and I think my colleague would agree with me, that the climate crisis now calls upon that same level of co-operation. We need to work together. There are the wildfires in northern Canada. The fire season is starting earlier than ever. In British Columbia, we lived through the heat dome that killed 600 people, including 60 people in my riding. Atmospheric rivers have cut off portions of Canada from other portions of Canada. There is absolutely no doubt that the climate crisis is at hand. We all need to work together, and I would hope that we would find a renewed sense of co-operation among all members of Parliament to combat this crisis that requires a degree of co-operation never seen before in our country's history.

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Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)

May/22/24 9:59:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. It is interesting to hear my hon. colleague speak, because even during question period today, his leader rose and talked about greedy CEOs. He got quite a reaction, because it is fairly well known that, despite the fact that the NDP leader constantly speaks about Loblaw and the connections that he makes, his brother is lobbying on behalf of Metro. NDP members, particularly their leader, take shot after shot at the Liberal Party. Then what do they do? They vote with the Liberals time after time. They have not seen a single solitary thing, in my view, that the Liberals themselves have not taken credit for. At what point will the member start providing the opposition that I have seen him provide in the House to the Liberals, in the form of tangible opposition, and by that I mean voting against them when they are providing poor governance?

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/22/24 10:00:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think the member errs in one respect. I go to Kamloops quite often, and I know that the people of Kamloops now are benefiting from the NDP's dental care program. In fact the member should be talking with his constituents. There are hundreds of them who have already received the support in Kamloops, which is wonderful. Now, of course, I would hope that the member would vote for the NDP pharmacare plan, because there are about 18,000 people in his riding who would benefit from the diabetes medication and about 25,000 people in his riding who would benefit from the contraception. However, when the member says that we vote with the Liberals, I think it is actually the contrary: When we are talking about pharmacare, dental care and anti-scab legislation, the Liberals have been forced to vote with us, and I think that is a very good thing.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

May/22/24 10:01:34 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-59

Uqaqtittiji, my colleague's intervention was excellent. I will ask the member about the Competition Act and Bill C-59, particularly because it is the NDP that is the only party that is fighting corporate greed. I would like to give a specific example. I am a member of the indigenous and northern affairs committee, and it was my motion that got the North West Company, a grocery company that is subsidized by the Liberal government, to offer subsidies to alleviate poverty. However, instead of using the subsidy to alleviate poverty, the North West Company is helping to feed corporate greed. For example, the CEO, Dan McConnell, would not answer my questions regarding his salary, his benefits or the bonuses that he gets. Instead, he said that he would give me the responses in written form, which he has now provided. That CEO, in 2023, earned $765,000 and in the same year received a bonus of just over $1 million. How would the Competition Act and Bill C-59 help to address that kind of corporate greed?

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/22/24 10:03:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the member for Nunavut, who is an extraordinary voice for Nunavut, for northern Canada and for indigenous peoples. She brings so much to the floor of the House of Commons and has been such a remarkable fighter for her constituents and for people right across this land. It is appalling to me to hear these figures. The member is talking about nearly $1.8 million dollars paid in salary and bonuses to the CEO of a company that has been part of what can only be described as massive food price gouging in northern Canada and Nunavut. I have been to Nunavut, and I have seen the prices, which are unbelievable for any regular family to try to afford to put food on the table. If it were not for country food, people simply would not be able to survive. This is why it is so important to have NDP MPs in the House, and ultimately to have an NDP government. Simply, Liberals and Conservatives will never take on the corporate CEOs who gouge Canadians. NDP MPs and an NDP government will.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

May/22/24 10:04:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to be able to address the issue of budgetary measures, because I like to think there is a lot of contrast, a big difference, between Conservatives and Liberals. Maybe one of the ways I can highlight the difference is to talk about some of the things that a caring government does. I can say that, virtually from the very beginning, in 2015, the government in essence recognized the valuable role Canada's middle class and those people aspiring to be a part of it play in giving us a healthier and stronger economy. All the way through there were tax breaks to the middle class, enhancements to child care programs and increases to the guaranteed income supplement, programs that literally lifted hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty. Carried into a worldwide pandemic, we were developing programs to support Canadians at a time when the government may have needed to step up. Fast-forward to what we see today. I believe, when we do a comparison, we get a really good contrast in terms of what type of government we have and what type of government we would see if, heaven forbid, Conservatives were to win the next election. I think of the types of programs and investments we have put in that demonstrate very clearly that we want to have an economy that works for all Canadians. We recognize the importance of fairness. Think of generation X and the millennials, and the issues they have to face. The budget we are talking about today is really and truly a reflection of what the values of Canadians are and what their expectations are of the national government. We know this because the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister and my colleagues within caucus who work within their constituencies are bringing the feedback that is so critically important here to Ottawa so that the budget reflects the interests of the constituents we represent. I do not say that lightly, because I believe it is a reflection of what we have been told as parliamentarians. That is why what we see in this budget and have seen over the last couple of years is serious investments in people in a very real and tangible way. It is interesting to look at who it is the leader of the Conservative Party is talking to. Contrast that with who it is the Prime Minister is talking to. I have made reference to some of the events that have taken place in my home province of Manitoba. Just last week, the Prime Minister was in The Maples in Winnipeg. We were talking about the budget and how, in this budget, we would be spending money to support 400,000-plus children in all regions of the country by ensuring there would be a nutritional program for children who need food when they are going into the classroom. We were at a school with the provincial minister of education, who was a former principal, from what I understand. It was a great opportunity to be in front of children, child care providers, teachers and educators to see first-hand the benefits of providing nutritional foods. The Province of Manitoba also saw the value of the program and is investing, I believe, about $30 million itself. What our constituents want to see is governments working together, which is what we saw just last week with respect to the national food program for children. It is hard for a child to learn on an empty stomach. It is an issue that has existed for many years. When I was first elected in 1988, as I made reference to in my comments, Sharon Carstairs was talking, as a former teacher herself, about how difficult it was for a child to learn on an empty stomach. The government is actually delivering on a program that is going to have a real, tangible impact. The Prime Minister is working with the provincial minister, highlighting and amplifying how valuable that program is going to be. We listen to the Conservatives, and they do not support the program. It is unfortunate, but it is not the only thing. We invested $198 billion over 10 years in health care for future generations. I would tell every member of Parliament to talk to their constituents. We love our health care system. This is a commitment from the Prime Minister and the government to ensure that we have quality health care. We talk about mental health care and long-term health care. We talk about all sorts of needs to be met, with family doctors and so forth, and this is materializing in a substantive way. It was not that long ago, a number of months ago, that the Prime Minister was at the Grace hospital with the premier of the province, who was saying how Ottawa's financial contributions were going to make a tangible difference in terms of staffing, whether doctors or nurses, as well as wait times and so forth. As a government, not only did we commit the billions of dollars to preserve the health care that Canadians love, but we also made health care agreements with the different provinces and territories. There has to be a higher sense of financial accountability. Canadians have an expectation. Again, the Conservative Party opposes it; Conservatives believe that Ottawa does not need to play a role in health care. We saw that during the Harper years, when the current leader was part of that cabinet. Last year, the Prime Minister was with me in Tyndall Park, where—

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The Deputy Speaker

May/22/24 10:12:01 p.m.
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The member for Mégantic—L'Érable on a point of order.

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Mr. Luc Berthold

May/22/24 10:12:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for allowing me to make this little special request to the members of the House. I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House to change the votes from the members for Calgary Midnapore, Perth—Wellington and King—Vaughan, which were votes against the amendment to Motion No. 39, to votes in favour. I would also ask to add a vote against the main motion from the member for Perth—Wellington.

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Votes
Change

The Deputy Speaker

May/22/24 10:12:41 p.m.
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I have received notice from all recognized parties that they are in agreement with this request. Is it agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed. The Deputy Speaker: It is agreed. The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/22/24 10:13:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we should think of the progressive programs that the government has put in place over the years, including in the current budget, to support Canadians, as well as why the Conservative Party continuously and consistently votes against those programs. I referred to health care and $10-a-day child care. In Tyndall Park, the Prime Minister talked with child care workers about the benefits of that particular program. All provinces are on board, working with the federal government. We can talk about housing. The Prime Minister, again not that long ago, was in Manitoba with not only the premier but also the mayor of Winnipeg. They talked about investing hundreds of millions of dollars, recognizing the important role that the government plays in providing housing. The leader of the Conservative Party was minister of housing; we barely need two hands to count the number of houses that were built when he was in that role. He built six units. At the end of the day, as a government, we are working on building a substantial number of houses. Over the next number of years, it is going to total close to four million homes. The Conservatives will laugh at the premiers, the mayors and the other municipalities that are working with the government, but at the end of the day— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Deputy Speaker

May/22/24 10:15:04 p.m.
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Order. I know it seems at times that we are having a conversation here, but the hon. member for Winnipeg North has the floor, so I will ask the chamber to listen attentively to the hon. parliamentary secretary.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/22/24 10:15:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, time goes by really quickly here. I am trying to demonstrate to my friends across the way that, whether it is with health care, child care, housing, a national food program, pharmacare, a dental program or the first-ever disability benefit, the government is taking progressive measures to support Canadians and to support constituents across the country in all regions. However, the Conservative Party consistently votes against these. Its members do not quite understand that, to build a strong, healthy economy, we need to support Canadians. Over the years, including in the budget, we have brought forward programs to do just that. We brought in programs to support individuals, whether they are seniors, people with disabilities or many others. At the end of the day, what do we hear from the Conservatives? They constantly vote “no”. They go around the country saying how Canada is broken. It was not that long ago that there was an extreme right group the leader of the Conservative Party actually met with. It was the Diagolon group. These are the individuals the Conservative Party is actually listening to—

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The Deputy Speaker

May/22/24 10:16:57 p.m.
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The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. Frank Caputo

May/22/24 10:17:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that sometimes the rhetoric and hyperbole can go a little bit awry here, but at the end of the day, the parliamentary secretary is suggesting something very serious when he says that the member for Carleton met with people from an organization that has espoused hateful language and—

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The Deputy Speaker

May/22/24 10:17:31 p.m.
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I appreciate the conversation tonight, but that is descending into debate, so the hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/22/24 10:17:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I suspect that a number of Conservative members might be a little upset with the fact that their leader actually met with that group. He actually went into the trailer and met with members here on Parliament Hill. This is not a disputable issue. At the end of the day, that is fine for the MAGA right Conservatives, that far-right element. I would suggest that the Conservative Party is more like the former Reform Party than it is conservative. Members do not need to believe me. Listen to what former prime ministers have said. Joe Clark said that he never left the Conservative Party; the Conservative party left him. Kim Campbell has said all sorts of unparliamentary words about today's Conservative Party, especially with respect to the leader. Even Brian Mulroney was very critical of the Conservative Party. He said it is not a progressive party any longer. That aspect was amputated. Do not just listen to me. This is what people within the progressive conservative movement have been saying about the Conservative Party today. It is not a conservative party; it is a far right party like the Reform Party. I talked about the social programs. There are many different progressive social programs that we have brought forward, but I want to emphasize them from an economic point of view. To have a healthy country, we need a healthy economy. We can take a look at the economy and what we have been able to accomplish by working with Canadians, by working with other entities. I would suggest to members that it goes so much further than what Stephen Harper ever did. We can take a look at the job numbers as an example. In 10 years, almost a million jobs were created under Stephen Harper. When it comes to our government, we are talking about over two million jobs after eight and a half years. When I think of jobs and opportunities, at the end of the day, one of the most powerful messages that was in the budget document was the fact that Canada, on a per capita basis, has more foreign direct investment than any other country in the G7 or the G20. If we want to look at it from a worldwide perspective, we are number three. Why do people around the world look at Canada as a place to invest their money? I would suggest that it is due to a number of factors. In Canada, the government has actually signed off on more free trade agreements than any other government has. That is a fact. As a result of such things, by recognizing the value of trade and the value of receiving foreign investment, we have actually hit significant records, unlike the Conservatives, who oppose government involvement in investments. I would tell my Conservative friends to look at the battery industry. We can talk about Stellantis, Honda and Volkswagen. The current government, working with Doug Ford in this particular case, has actually had substantial investment in an industry that was virtually non-existent in the past. It will be providing tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs into the future. These will be good, middle-class jobs. They will be green jobs. This is having an impact. From being absolutely nowhere in the world in regard to EV battery production, Canada is now in the top two or three in the world, in terms of that sort of production. This is something that is making a difference. Even on economic matters, the Conservatives are offside. They do not support the Volkswagen investment. Even though Doug Ford recognizes its value, today's Conservative reformers do not support that. It was the same thing with Stellantis, and now the Conservatives are out there criticizing the Honda investment. I understand that it will be Honda's largest investment in North America. When we talk about the Volkswagen battery plant, in terms of size, it will be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200 football fields. It will be the largest manufacturing plant in Canada, possibly even in North America. When Stephen Harper was prime minister, we literally lost tens of thousands, going into over 100,000, manufacturing jobs. This is a government that is bringing back manufacturing jobs. These are the types of things that, as a government, we have been proactive in dealing with. We recognize that there are issues that Canadians are facing. When we look at things such as inflation, inflation is something that is happening around the world. Even though Canada, in comparison to other countries, is doing relatively well, as a government we were focused on inflation. Back in June 2022, the inflation rate was over 8%. Today, it is at 2.7% and it has been at a far better rate over the last few months, to give us reason to believe and have hope that we will actually see the interest rates go down. We understand the affordability issue. We understand why it is so important that we make sure that Canada continues to have that AAA credit rating, unlike what the Conservatives try to say to Canadians. Consistently, they try to give the false impression that Canada is broken. If they genuinely believe that Canada is broken, by God, that would mean the world is broken, because, at the end of the day, when one contrasts Canada's overall performance over the last nine years, I would challenge them to show what G7 country has done better, what G20 country has done better. It is because we support Canadians in a tangible way, lifting Canadians out of poverty, providing investments in apprenticeship programs, ensuring that there is a healthy economy and building infrastructure. No government in Canada's history has spent more real dollars in infrastructure builds than this government has. We understand the importance of a healthy infrastructure, a healthy economy, investing in people. That is the way in which we will be able to grow Canada, and Canada has been growing as a direct result. It is a country that we believe in. Not only do we say it, but we also invest in it, in many different ways, not just through social programming, by having the backs of Canadians and supporting them, but also by developing a stronger, healthier economy, while at the same time recognizing that, yes, the economy matters but so does the environment. That is why it is so important that we keep having the price on pollution and that we do not buy into the misinformation that the Conservatives put out on the price on pollution. Quite frankly, more constituents of mine actually receive more money through their rebates than they pay in the carbon tax. That is a fact that has been highlighted on many occasions. There is still much more to do, and we will continue to work day in and day out in the different regions of the country to improve and have a fairer and healthier country.

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Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)

May/22/24 10:26:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, I typically say, but on this occasion I rise with the difficult task of pointing out just what this member has done. He has spoken about a far-right group, and I am reading from a Global News story that talked about sexually assaulting the spouse of a member of the House. The member across the way just compared the leader of His Majesty's opposition to that group, when the leader of His Majesty's opposition himself called them “odious” and “losers”. Made aware of disgusting comments made, I am not even going to use this man's name. This person, who continually carries water for a Prime Minister who invited a Nazi into this House, who said that a woman experienced it differently, who has done all sorts of things, who pressured the first indigenous attorney general in this country's history into obstructing justice, has the audacity to do that. He should be ashamed. He should apologize and withdraw right now.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/22/24 10:28:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will try to get a copy so the member can actually respond to one of the news articles on it. It seems that the Conservative Party is a little sensitive to the fact that I made reference to Diagolon and the fact that the leader of the Conservative Party actually went out to a trailer to meet with them and have discussions. I am saying the leader of the Conservative Party did it. If he did not do it, then maybe the member should be a little more clear on that particular point. Did the leader not go out to the rally? If the member is offended, he should not be offended at me, he should be offended at the leader of the Conservative Party, who chooses the company he keeps. If the leader is consulting with the far right, if he is starting to adopt policies from the far right, do not blame me, blame the leader of the Conservative Party. Obviously the member is very upset about it. I will see if I can find the information and provide it to him directly.

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