44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 7, 2024 10:00AM
- Jun/7/24 11:59:56 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, across the country, communities need new infrastructure to grow, build more homes and enable economic growth. This is especially true in the north. Investing in our communities also means investing in our airports. Northerners want reliable, safe and affordable service when it comes to air connectivity.
Could the Minister of Transport please tell us what the government is doing to ensure that the communities in the north are more connected and more livable?
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- Jun/7/24 12:00:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Yukon is not only excellent, he is also right. Investing in our communities means investing in our airports. Northern, remote and indigenous communities must have access to the air services they need and expect. This is why we invested $186 million to upgrade the infrastructure at the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.
We have a plan to build a Canada that the next generation will be proud of. The Conservatives, well, they pretend to care about making life better for the next generation of Canadians, but they just pretend. On our side, we are doing it.
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- Jun/7/24 12:01:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's explosive report on the NDP-Liberal green slush fund shows that personal friends of the Prime Minister voted themselves millions in taxpayer cash. With 96 cases of declared conflicts by board members, they still voted to award themselves that taxpayer cash. In another 90, they failed to disclose the conflict of interest and still then gave themselves the cash anyway.
Now, will this NDP-Liberal government release all the slush fund documents and call in the RCMP?
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- Jun/7/24 12:01:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, SDTC is an organization that has served the clean-tech sector for over 20 years. When we knew about the allegations of mismanagement, our government acted immediately. There are a number of steps over the last many months that our government has taken to get to the bottom of the issues in terms of the governance and HR practices of the organization.
I think it is important to keep in mind that this is an arm's-length organization. It operated independently of government oversight. We are now folding it into the National Research Council and installing a more robust governance framework.
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- Jun/7/24 12:02:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that member's response does not make any sense. That organization, in 2017, got a clean bill of health from the Auditor General. Then when the government took it over, it dumped the chair within three days, a record amount of time. That new board member gave $217,000 to a company she had a direct relationship with.
The question remains: Will the government then release all of the documents connected to this slush fund and call in the RCMP?
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- Jun/7/24 12:02:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate for us all, as a government and members of Parliament, to demand the highest governance standards when dealing with public funds. That is what our government has done from day one. As soon as we learned about allegations of mismanagement in this independent organization, we ordered independent reviews done, fact-finding missions.
We collaborated with the Auditor General in her review, and now we are moving forward with the recommendations that the Auditor General has made, which include folding the organization in to have better transparency, accountability and oversight.
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- Jun/7/24 12:03:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the reality is that there is $123 million worth of inappropriately awarded contracts, $76 million given to Liberal insiders; resignations, abuse and a leadership team that seemed far more interested in protecting Liberal cabinet ministers than Canadian taxpayer dollars. This is the legacy of the failed green slush fund.
When will the Liberal government give up the cover-up and call in the Mounties?
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- Jun/7/24 12:04:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course, that question has just been answered repeatedly by my colleague.
However, I cannot let this opportunity or this week go by without punctuating some of the great economic news that we have seen. There has been a loud reduction in interest rates. Canada is leading the world in interest rate reductions. Today, we can see that we have now recovered 141% of the jobs that were lost in the first months of the pandemic, compared to just 128% in the United States. Importantly, there are over 1.3 million more Canadians employed than at any time before the pandemic.
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- Jun/7/24 12:04:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, tech giants have dominated the online space for years. For far too long, they have gotten away without contributing their fair share to the audiovisual sector and Canadian creators, while generating millions in revenues from their work. Our government passed historic legislation last year to level the playing field between platforms and creators.
Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage provide this House with an update on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act?
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- Jun/7/24 12:05:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, this week, the CRTC released its decision on initial contributions by global streamers as part of the implementation of the Online Streaming Act. This means digital platforms will contribute nearly $200 million per year to our audio and audiovisual sectors, including content creators.
Unlike the Conservatives, who defend tech giants and obstruct all attempts supporting Canadian industries, we are standing up for Canadian artists and good-paying jobs. The Online Streaming Act is about fairness for our creators, levelling the playing field, more Canadian jobs and content made for us, by us.
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- Jun/7/24 12:05:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the B.C. communities of Merritt, Princeton and Abbotsford were devastated by floods in 2021. Five people were killed, thousands were forced from their homes, farmland was flooded; and roads, bridges and other structures were destroyed. At the time, the Prime Minister said that he had the backs of these Canadians. Now these same communities have been denied funding to mitigate future disasters.
Will the minister live up to his promises and provide these communities with the funds they need to rebuild and prevent more devastating floods?
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- Jun/7/24 12:06:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the 2021 floods and landslides had a devastating impact on communities across the Lower Mainland, disrupting lives and livelihoods. Through the disaster financial assistance arrangements, we have now provided over $1.4 billion to the province to help them recover from those floods. The program allows the province to put $210 million to reduce the vulnerability of mitigation projects like dikes and pumps. We will continue to work closely with the province in all capabilities that they need and in terms of making sure that they can fully recover.
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- Jun/7/24 12:07:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians will never get over nor accept the betrayal of their country's democracy by traitors who sell themselves out for personal and political gain. Instead of shielding subversives on the payroll of foreign operators, will the government release the cabinet documents to the Hogue inquiry and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians so that such individuals can be investigated, or is it the case that the Liberal Party does not want to incriminate itself?
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- Jun/7/24 12:07:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just because our colleague makes something up does not make it true. He knows very well that our government has worked collaboratively with the Hogue commission. In fact, officials from the Privy Council Office are in regular and ongoing contact with the lawyers from the Hogue commission to ensure that they have all of the appropriate and relevant documents to do the important work that all recognized parties in the House supported. We obviously look forward to working in a continued way with the national security committee of parliamentarians. My colleague should be careful before he makes up things in the House of Commons.
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- Jun/7/24 12:08:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to three petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-393, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (electronic products recycling program).
He said: Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the legislation, with thanks to the great member for Victoria for seconding it. The legislation would ensure that all electronic products containing toxic substances sold in Canada would be disposed of and recycled in a responsible manner.
Electronic waste often contains hazardous materials. When improperly disposed of, these substances can leach into soil and water, posing serious risks to ecosystems and human health. Recycling programs allow for the recovery of valuable materials from e-waste. Components like metals, plastics and rare earth elements can be extracted and reused, reducing the need for new raw materials. Finally, recycling also consumes less energy than manufacturing new electronic products from scratch. By recycling, we conserve energy and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with production.
I hope that all members will join me in supporting this important initiative for our planet.
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- Jun/7/24 12:10:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to table a petition signed by many constituents in regard to air travel between Canada and India. The Indo-Canadian community continues to grow, to the benefit of all of Canada, as does the desire of Indo-Canadian individuals to travel to India. Petitioners are looking for the government, airline industries or airport authorities to look at the possibility of ways we can enhance travel between the two nations.
An hon. member: Table the petition.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: I would ask the member across the way to be a little bit patient.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by the people of Pickering—Uxbridge, of Whitby and of the Liberal Minister of Health's riding of Ajax. They call on the House of Commons to immediately pass Bill C-368 and repeal the new regulatory constraints on natural health products passed last year that millions of Canadians rely upon that has since affected medical freedom of choice and affordability.
“Boo hoo, get over it” just does not cut it.
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- Jun/7/24 12:12:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.
The first follows the Gutsy Walk that just happened across this country to bring attention to irritable bowel syndrome and those suffering from Crohn's and colitis.
The people who signed the petition point out that safe access to washrooms is a basic physical need and necessary for participation in civic life, the workplace, educational settings and other public spaces. They also point out that exclusionary washroom policies cause significant barriers for trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people. They note that avoiding washroom use can result in serious health consequences including urinary tract infections and kidney problems.
Therefore they call on the government to, among other things, amend the Canada Labour Code to require gender-inclusive washrooms in all federally regulated workplaces and to ensure that there is access to public washrooms for everyone in this country.
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- Jun/7/24 12:13:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with the second petition, petitioners note that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put an unsustainable level of strain on Canada's public health system. They say that provincial health care systems must be brought into compliance with the five criteria of the Canada Health Act. They would like to see facilitation of the development of new post-infection therapeutics, and, more importantly, enforcement of air quality standards for all public buildings and the provision of funding for the resources needed to maintain those standards. Also, they would like to see the institution of universal mandatory paid sick leave of at least two weeks.
There is a suite of measures, but I think the petition reminds us all that, having come out of the pandemic, there are lessons still to be learned and policies still to be implemented for the health of Canadians.
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