44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 5, 2024 02:00PM
- Jun/5/24 2:22:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is playing with fire. Last week, it was reported that the chief of defence staff, Wayne Eyre, complained that the use of military personnel to assist in wildfire operations is wickedly wasteful. Is it wickedly wasteful at a time of a climate emergency?
As a Manitoban, I know just how much of a difference the Canadian military has made in fighting major floods and wildfires when all other resources have been exhausted. Now, when we are sending more troops to Latvia, our key military leaders are essentially saying that, when it comes to forest fires and floods in Canada, good luck.
This is unacceptable, as is the response of the Prime Minister. When I asked him about this in question period, he responded with a series of indecipherable platitudes. The Prime Minister should take a stand and make it clear that his government will reject any idea that helping is wasteful when it comes to forest fires and floods.
Finally, we need to reject the way in which we are increasingly sleepwalking into major policy decisions without considering their consequences. At a time when nothing less than the future of our planet is at stake, Canada is increasingly being part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to international conflicts and catastrophic climate change. Canadians deserve better.
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- Jun/5/24 2:23:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the war grinds on in Ukraine. The horrors continue for the Ukrainian people, and we want them to know that we stand with them. It is against that backdrop that Canada is welcoming Oleksandra Matviichuk this week. She is a human rights activist and winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Prime Minister met her on Monday and the Bloc Québécois had that honour this morning. Her message is clear: There is a need for more weapons and more justice for Ukrainians. She is asking Canada to increase its military aid. She is also asking Canada to take up her call for justice on behalf of the 72,000 victims of war crimes. She is calling for the Russian barbarians who committed and ordered these atrocities to be brought to justice before a special tribunal. As she said, “We need Canada's weight to convince other countries that the time has come.”
We want to assure Ms. Matviichuk that she and Ukraine can count on the weight and support of the Bloc Québécois. In the name of peace and justice, Slava Ukraini!
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- Jun/5/24 2:24:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a new day means a new scandal for the tired Liberal government. This time, it involves the Liberal employment minister, who needs to answer for whether he violated federal law by continuing business deals even after joining cabinet.
In a conversation at his firm about contracts and cash, one of the firm's partners told someone asking for the money that a man named “Randy” would be available in 15 minutes for a partner's call. The employment minister was quick to say that the text conversation was not referencing him; it was someone else. It was another Randy.
It is a small company. He owns 50% of it. He used to be a partner.
Let us see if we can find out who the other Randy is in a game of “Guess Who?” Is he tall? Does he wear glasses? Does he have brown hair, blond hair or no hair? Is he a federal cabinet minister? Does he come from a city that rhymes with “smedmonton”?
Mr. Speaker, the other Randy probably has the same last name and the same job as the employment minister. Will the other Randy please stand up?
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- Jun/5/24 2:25:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this week, Canada is honoured to welcome to Ottawa the International Civil Aviation Organization leadership: Salvatore Sciacchitano, president of the ICAO Council, and Juan Carlos Salazar, secretary general of ICAO.
Canada is dedicated to supporting ICAO in pursuit of a safe, secure, sustainable, inclusive and accessible global aviation system. We value ICAO's positive impact on international civil aviation.
ICAO is a key component of the UN system and plays a critical role in supporting a multilateral rules-based order. ICAO, located in Montreal right next to my riding, is the only United Nations specialized agency headquartered in Canada. This year marks its 80th anniversary.
Today, Canada reaffirms its commitment to being a world-class host to ICAO and pledges to continue to work with ICAO and its member states to develop and implement the highest standards for global aviation.
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- Jun/5/24 2:27:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, members of the House knowingly and wittingly assisted hostile foreign states.
Canadians have a right to know who they are and what information is involved. Who are they?
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- Jun/5/24 2:27:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows very well that no government, including the former government, of which he was a member, is going to discuss particularities of intelligence information publicly. He knows better than that.
However, the good news is that, if the Leader of the Opposition wanted to get the appropriate security clearance, he would be able to see the confidential report of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians. He would then be much more informed than he is now. We would invite him to do so, so that he would not stand up and cast aspersions on the floor of the House of Commons without any information whatsoever.
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- Jun/5/24 2:28:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we do not need secrets and confidentiality. That is what got us into this problem in the first place. We need the facts so that Canadians can judge.
Just as in the case of the green slush fund, the Auditor General revealed $123 million of spending that broke the rules, $59 million of projects that never should have been awarded money at all and $76 million in money gone to companies connected to Liberal-appointed members, including $217,000 to the chair of the fund that was giving out the money.
Will the government support our common-sense plan to hand over all this information to the RCMP for a police investigation?
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- Jun/5/24 2:29:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the Conservatives do not want to talk about the economy today, but we know that the economy is the issue that most concerns Canadians. That is why I am so glad to share some great news. Today, the Bank of Canada lowered interest rates. Canada is the first country in the G7 where the rates have gone down, and it is thanks to our economically responsible fiscal plan. Our plan is working.
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- Jun/5/24 2:30:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this Prime Minister, and with the support of the Bloc Québécois, Montreal is in a state of chaos, as crime, drugs, and disorder run rampant. Children need police escorts to get to day care.
Will the Prime Minister agree to the Conservatives' request to disallow the Criminal Code exemption for supervised injection facilities in order to ban them next to day care centres and schools?
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- Jun/5/24 2:30:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, it comes as no surprise that the Conservative leader does not want to talk about the economy. We know that the economy is the top concern for Canadians. That is why I am so pleased to share some good news. Today, the Bank of Canada lowered its key interest rate. Canada is the first G7 country to do so.
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- Jun/5/24 2:31:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, interest rates remain 20 times higher than they were when the member promised they would go down. Remember when she said that the big risk was deflation and low rates? She was exactly wrong then, and she is even more wrong now.
Six years ago, I said there was a carbon tax cover-up. The government would not reveal the true cost of its carbon tax. Then the government published information claiming everyone was better off. Now we find out that there is a secret report showing that, with the economic costs considered, the vast majority of Canadians are paying more.
Will the government end the gag order, stop the carbon tax cover-up and release the report?
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- Jun/5/24 2:32:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is really sad and shameful that the Conservatives continue to talk down the Canadian economy and that they are unable to celebrate our great country.
The reality is that this has been a great week for Canada. First, the Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup final, and then, today, the Bank of Canada lowered interest rates. Canada is on a roll. Our plan is working.
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- Jun/5/24 2:32:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government has put the Parliamentary Budget Officer under a gag order. In fact, I have a copy of the gag order right here. This is a letter from the environment minister to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. It says, “the Department is providing...unpublished information. As such, I request you to ensure that this information is used for your office's internal purposes only and is not published or further distributed.” Liberals do not want Canadians to know the true cost of the carbon tax.
Why will they not end the gag order, stop the carbon tax cover-up and release this report today?
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- Jun/5/24 2:33:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the person who seems to be labouring under a gag order is the Conservative leader, and that gag order seems to prevent him from saying anything positive about our amazing country.
The fact is that today is a day of really good news. The Bank of Canada has lowered interest rates. Canada is the first G7 country to lower rates. Our government's economically responsible plan has created the conditions that made that possible. Our plan is working.
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- Jun/5/24 2:34:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the tentacles of foreign interference have extended into the House. The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians has confirmed that members of Parliament are working under the influence of foreign powers in the very heart of our democracy.
The committee is bound to secrecy. Political parties are not bound to secrecy, and they are certainly not forbidden from taking action. I do not want to hear a list of what the government has done in the past to deal with foreign interference. Obviously, that has not worked.
What is the government going to do today?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from La Prairie for his question and for his contribution to the implementation of the Hogue commission. I would also like to thank him, his party and all the other partners for the important work being done today to support Bill C-70, for example. This bill will strengthen our national security institutions and our collective ability to recognize and counter foreign interference. For that, I sincerely thank him.
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- Jun/5/24 2:35:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important. The parties need to take the high road. There are members among us who are knowingly or naively working for other countries. That is not nothing. Do they realize how serious that is?
I am appealing to the Prime Minister and the leaders of the major political parties. If anyone sitting here with us is under foreign influence instead of the influence of their constituents, they have no business being here and they must leave.
What is the government doing to make sure that happens?
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- Jun/5/24 2:36:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to me it is a bit surprising that even the Bloc Québécois does not want to talk about the economy. I know that the economy is the key issue for Quebeckers.
Today we have good news: the Bank of Canada has decided to lower the key interest rate. That is good for Quebec and good for all of Canada.
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- Jun/5/24 2:36:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the allegation that there are MPs knowingly working for foreign governments to undermine our democracy is deeply serious. That is why I have requested a classified briefing to get more information. The Prime Minister has known about this since March and has done nothing, and the Conservative leader does not even want to know what is going on and refused this information.
Why are these two leaders looking away from foreign interference when it serves them?
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- Jun/5/24 2:37:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague, the leader of the NDP, for his important work and the work of his House leader in setting up, for example, the commission led by Justice Hogue.
I am very pleased to hear that he is interested, having received, obviously, the appropriate security clearance, in getting all of the confidential information that is behind the important work of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.
Our government created that committee. We appreciate its work. We value its recommendations. We have always acted to put in place strengthened measures when we receive thoughtful analysis, like we did from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, and we will continue to do that important work.
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