44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 28, 2024 10:00AM
- May/28/24 2:56:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is the height of hypocrisy for Conservatives to claim that they care about the most vulnerable among us.
Let us talk about seniors. There are 900,000 seniors across the country who are benefiting from the GIS put in place by our government.
On children in school, I agree that it is a tragedy for a kid to go to school hungry, and that is why our national school food program will provide meals for an additional 400,000 children.
The Conservatives are opposed to both. We will take no lessons from them when it comes to this.
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- May/28/24 2:56:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the hunger and/or homelessness.
Food Banks Canada gives Canada failing grades, as nearly half of Canadians are financially feeling the cost of living increases. Housing costs have doubled. One in four experiences food insecurity. Food bank usage is up 11% in Windsor—Essex; 61% of Canadians are using food banks, and they are the first-time users.
We believe in bringing it home. The tragedy of the current government is that people cannot afford a home, let alone food to put into it. Is this the sunny ways that the Prime Minister promised Canadians?
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- May/28/24 2:57:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives had the opportunity to be in government, they focused no attention on those who were homeless or vulnerable.
We have not only met our targets every year to reduce poverty, but we have taken important action. What the Conservatives essentially are saying is this: “In tough global times, we're here for you to cut your dental care. We're here for you to cut your diabetes medication. We're here for you to cut your child care. We're here for you to cut the supports that you need in difficult economic times.”
Canadians will see through that. They know who has their back.
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- May/28/24 2:58:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the hunger or the homelessness.
Nearly half of Canadians are paying more than a third of their paycheque for food. The Moose Jaw Food Bank helped nearly 8,000 households in 2023, up 58%.
It is time to give Canadians back their dignity. Will the Prime Minister axe the tax, or will it take a common-sense Conservative government before Canadians can afford to eat?
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- May/28/24 2:58:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from these Conservatives when it comes to supporting the most vulnerable among us.
Since we formed government, 1.3 million Canadians have been lifted out of poverty, including hundreds of thousands of children. However, we recognize these are very challenging times in Canada and around the world, and that is why we are so glad to be putting in place a national school food program: 400,000 kids will get meals because of it.
How can the Conservatives vote against that? Do members know how? It is because they only believe in cuts and austerity.
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- May/28/24 2:59:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday we asked the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship about the distribution of asylum seekers. He replied that we were confusing capacity and willingness. I would like to remind him that, this year alone, Quebec has opened the equivalent of more than 50 schools to provide introductory classes for the children of asylum seekers. Now that is willingness.
Meanwhile, Ottawa is not spreading out the asylum seekers among the provinces, nor is it paying Quebec back for costs incurred, while families sleep out on the streets because the shelters are too full. That is a problem of willingness. When is the minister going to deal with his willingness problem and take action?
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- May/28/24 3:00:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to highlight the Bloc Québécois member's passion for immigration. Obviously, when we talk about a willingness to take in newcomers, we are entitled to wonder why, for example, PRAIDA, Quebec's regional program for the settlement and integration of asylum seekers, has not increased its capacity for several years.
Obviously, this responsibility is shared between Quebec and Canada. That is what we are doing. We announced weeks ago that we were going to do it. We expect to see results, but it is a positive development in our relationship.
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- May/28/24 3:00:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with those sorts of comments, we can more easily see why Ottawa has been asleep at the switch for months when it comes to asylum seekers.
If the minister still thinks that this problem has to do with a willingness to welcome asylum seekers rather than the capacity to do so, then he is really missing the point. Meanwhile, there are people lining up at food banks. There are people who have nowhere to stay. There are schools that were already under-resourced and are now at the end of their tether.
When will the minister realize that people, including asylum seekers, are stretched thin, that they cannot take any more because of his government's inaction?
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- May/28/24 3:01:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that Quebeckers and Canadians will agree with me that we have taken action by transferring $5.2 billion to Quebec under the Canada-Quebec accord. We are always prepared to do more.
It is also very clear that Canada, like many other countries, is dealing with historic levels of irregular migration, but I believe that we can overcome that challenge, in partnership with the provinces and territories, obviously.
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- May/28/24 3:01:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, it is clear that NDP-Liberal extremist drug policies have been a complete failure, something that everybody seems to understand except the NDP-Liberal government.
One hundred per cent of people recently polled were opposed to these dangerous drug policies that are flooding our streets with potent drugs. It said, “All believed this was a step in the wrong direction.”
What will it take for the Prime Minister to cancel his deadly and dangerous taxpayer-funded drug trafficking experiment?
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- May/28/24 3:02:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member well knows that, first and foremost, diversion is illegal in the country of any narcotics. It does not matter what they are for, such as ADHD methamphetamines or anything else of that sort. When it comes to prescribed alternatives, it is one tool of many to combat the overdose crisis in the country to save lives.
The Conservatives choose an either/or in a war on drug policy that will leave people dead in the streets rather than getting them to health care. Shame on them.
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- May/28/24 3:03:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, the only thing that has dropped in price has been the price of hydromorphone, which, by the way, the street price has gone from $20 a pill to $2 a pill under the government's watch, because of the diversion it has allowed.
Police have sounded the alarm, sharing that 50% of the hydromorphone that they have seized has been from diverted taxpayer-funded drug trafficking schemes flooding the streets with potent drugs and fuelling new addiction.
The question is simple. When will the government put an end to this dangerous program?
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- May/28/24 3:03:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will say it again. Diversion is illegal in the country. Not only that, but the Conservatives are trying to portray the fiction of our streets rather than the reality. The RCMP has made it explicitly clear about what is happening with regard to diversion. The numbers the member quoted are simply not facts. The fact is that data shows there has been no increase of hydromorphone in the past decade from drug seizures across Canada.
We are talking about saving lives. Where are they?
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- May/28/24 3:04:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Journal de Montréal reported that there are people doing drugs next to an elementary school in the Saint‑Henri neighbourhood of Montreal. Parents have to step over people who are shooting up in the street. They are traumatized. They are worried for their children.
Can the Prime Minister confirm that he will not accept the City of Montreal's request to legalize the use of hard drugs in public spaces?
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- May/28/24 3:04:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yet again, the Conservatives want to play games with the lives of people who need health care. It is shameful. Decriminalization is about personal possession. It has nothing to do with the control of substances in the country.
On this side of the House, we know that people need prevention and harm reduction, which the Conservatives refuse to acknowledge. They need health care. They should stop criminalizing our loved ones and get them into health services.
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- May/28/24 3:05:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the regional economic development agencies of Quebec are very important. They contribute to the growth, productivity and innovation of Quebec companies.
That is why I was a bit upset with my Conservative colleague from New Brunswick Southwest, who said that these agencies were hurting the local economy.
Can the minister reassure Canadians, and can she also talk about how our government supports the economic development agencies of Quebec?
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- May/28/24 3:06:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pontiac for her question. I am very anxious to know what the Quebec Conservatives are saying to their colleague from New Brunswick Southwest, who wants to wipe out the regional economic development agencies.
Every dollar they invest generates more than four dollars in investments. Unlike the Conservatives, we believe in investing in economic growth and job creation. They just want to make cuts. Even provincial Conservatives are terrified of their austerity plan.
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- May/28/24 3:06:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the Liberal-NDP government, its catch-and-release policies have gotten so bad that it is allowing criminal organizations to operate freely in the streets. Even after a seven-month investigation involving 26 arrests and $33 million of stolen vehicles, at least 14 people are already out on bail. The police worked for months to catch these criminals, and days later a broken system lets them free.
When will the government finally do the right thing and keep career criminals in jail so that Canadians can keep their cars?
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- May/28/24 3:07:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will start by saluting the impressive work of the Peel police force for cracking an organized criminal ring that is taking people's cars.
The second thing I want to underscore for the member and her entire caucus is that they cannot selectively listen to law enforcement. What law enforcement tells me and the Minister of Public Safety all the time is that the days of teenage joyrides are over. This is an international organized criminal effort. We need to deal with that and follow the money path.
How are we doing that? We are doing it with anti-money laundering offences and beefing up our strength on money laundering through the fall economic statement and the budget, two things Conservatives are voting against.
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- May/28/24 3:08:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is that minister's policy that is working against the Peel police. This is coming from a guy who, in his ministry, had three cars stolen in three years. The evidence is right on his doorstep. The Liberal catch-and-release policies are not working.
After nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, the GTA does not stand for “greater Toronto area”; it stands for “grand theft auto”. Forty cars are stolen a day in Toronto, 20 in Peel. How many more is it going to take for him to do something about it?
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