Debates of May 6th, 2024

The Environment

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, every minute, two garbage trucks' worth of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans.

Canada has the longest coastline in the world, and plastic and industrial waste are choking the shoreline, making its way into our food and harming vital ecosystems. However, the Liberals' solution is to cancel the ghost gear fund, which creates local jobs, and removes plastic and marine debris from our waters.

The government says that it cares about the environment, but it refuses to act to protect it. Will the Liberals immediately restore this funding, so we can continue to clean up our coasts?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, the department knows how important the state of our oceans is. I can say that we are working very hard. Projects have been implemented to recover ghost gear. The work will continue with our communities and our people in the field.

Justice

[Iqwinder Gaheer, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government will always uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect Canadians' rights. We even established a rule, in 2019, that every government bill must be accompanied by a charter statement to ensure that Canadians' rights are respected in all legislation.

Last week, the Leader of the Opposition admitted that he would overrule Canadians' rights using the notwithstanding clause. Can the Minister of Justice please reaffirm our government's commitment to upholding the charter?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I will state that our government will stop at nothing to ensure that Canadians' charter-guaranteed rights and freedoms are protected.

One cannot claim to care about freedom and then vow to strip certain people's freedoms away when it is politically inconvenient. That is not democracy. The opposition has said that it will start with criminal justice matters, but where will they stop? Will it be with religious rights, abortion rights or the rights of the LGBTQ2 community?

Our government will always protect all Canadians' rights. It is a wake-up call that the Leader of the Opposition cannot and will not do the same.

Mental Health and Addictions

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this Liberal government, the crises keep piling up. We have a housing crisis, a cost of living crisis and now an opioid crisis. In Montreal, the situation is getting worse and worse. Crack and heroin can be found near child care centres. Parents are worried about the safety of their children, and rightly so.

Who is supporting the Liberal government on its extreme policies? The Bloc Québécois is. The Bloc is not worth the cost.

The question is simple. When, on what date, will the Prime Minister put an end to this radical experiment of legalizing hard drugs?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, as the member is well aware, the Province of Quebec has made no such requests. This means no changes are being considered in the treatment of opioids in Quebec.

Housing

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the Bloc Québécois continues to support this Prime Minister in his reckless spending. The Bloc Québécois wants more transfers to the provinces, but it is voting in favour of $500 billion in centralizing and inflationary allocations. It is incomprehensible.

Without housing, Quebeckers will become homeless, which has a major impact on the health care system. The Bloc Québécois and the Prime Minister are simply not worth the cost.

When will this Prime Minister, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, stop wasting money so that Quebeckers can finally find a dignified place to live?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it might be a good idea for the Conservatives to talk to the Government of Quebec and to the mayors of Quebec's municipalities, because we have an agreement with Quebec to invest in housing.

Quebec and the federal government both understand the importance of investing in housing and investing to help and support Quebeckers, but the Conservatives only understand austerity.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years under this government, it is clear that the Bloc Québécois and the Prime Minister are not worth the cost.

The housing shortage and high cost of rent have forced one 42-year-old to live in her minivan, and she is not the only one. While Quebeckers are trying to survive, the Bloc Québécois has decided to vote in favour of $500 billion in Liberal spending. That means they are voting in favour of bureaucracy and in favour of wasting $60 million on ArriveCAN.

When will the Prime Minister stop wasting money, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, so that Quebeckers can start living with dignity again?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, if the member thinks there is a housing problem in Quebec, why did he oppose the program to support the construction of housing in Quebec?

One, two, three, four, five, six. Six is the total number of affordable housing units built with the support of the federal government when the leader of the Conservative Party was the minister responsible for housing.

We are making investments to build affordable housing across the country, including in Quebec. I am having conversations with my counterpart to continue our collaboration and, at the same time, we are making investments to build affordable housing.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years under this government, the housing crisis has become so severe that Quebeckers are having trouble choosing between putting a roof over their heads and putting food on the table.

The Journal de Montréal reported that someone is living in their minivan while the government continues to waste money. Meanwhile, the Bloc Québécois, which claims to defend Quebec's interests, is making matters worse by voting for the Liberals' $500 billion in spending. It is costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois.

When will the Prime Minister, supported by the Bloc, stop his wasteful spending?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to talk about housing with my colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord. In his riding alone, 180 affordable housing units have been created in recent months. This is extraordinary. I congratulate him on that outcome.

The only problem here is that perhaps he could speak with his Conservative leader to ask him why, during his entire mandate as minister responsible for housing, he created only six affordable housing units across the entire country.

I am very happy for the member, but it may not have been the brightest choice to make a comparison with his leader's record.

Democratic Institutions

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Hogue commission's initial report unequivocally reveals the magnitude of foreign interference in our elections.

Today, the government will be introducing a bill that contains measures for countering this interference. Better late than never. However, if the government wants to prove that it means business, it will have to create, at long last, the foreign agent registry that everyone is calling for. The Bloc Québécois intends to introduce a bill to create a binding registry, although nothing is stopping the federal government from moving forward today.

Will the minister agree to pass legislation creating a binding foreign agent registry?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we obviously appreciate the enthusiasm of our colleague from Trois-Rivières.

Still, he has some experience of how the parliamentary system works. He would not want me to talk about a bill on the Order Paper before it is introduced in the House. I would risk censure by the Speaker for violating members' privileges. That is something I would never do.

I therefore ask my colleague for his patience. I am confident that we will be able to work with him on these important issues in the future.

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Hogue commission report also exposes the Prime Minister's and the Liberal Party's irresponsible attitude toward Chinese interference.

The report confirms that as early as 2019, the Prime Minister was duly informed of irregularities in the nomination in Don Valley North. The report specifies, on page 137, the Prime Minister's reasons for not withdrawing his candidate from the election. Among the reasons, we learned that “the [Liberal Party] expected to win [Don Valley North]”. In other words, the Prime Minister does not care if there is interference as long as the Liberal Party is winning.

Should democracy come before partisanship?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I disagree with what my colleague said. He knows full well that we are the first government to bring in measures to counter foreign interference and we have improved those measures. Following expert recommendations, we adjusted the measures to strengthen them further.

We have worked with our friends at the Bloc Québécois and other parties to help the commission and Justice Hogue do their work. We look forward to having her recommendations.

Parliament will certainly have to work together to follow through on those recommendations.

Mental Health and Addictions

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. Since the request 10 days ago to end deadly legalization, 60 British Columbians have died, and the impacts are felt in every community. The Abbotsford Soccer Association has to sweep its fields for dirty needles and deal with open drug use at our community parks. Patrons of the SkyTrain in Surrey Centre fear open use of meth on our transit system.

Can the minister provide the date when the government will finally cancel this wacko policy?

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay to please keep his voice quiet unless he is recognized by the Speaker to speak.

The hon. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the pilot program in B.C. was set forth at B.C.'s request, to save lives. They have come to us now to amend their proposal. Working with the B.C. government, law enforcement and health care services to get this right and to save the lives of people who are dying because of a toxic drug supply is an urgent priority for us.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, he is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs or disorder. It was 10 days ago that the B.C. government pleaded with the Prime Minister to end this wacko drug policy. There have been 60 overdose deaths since B.C. begged for this to come to an end. On what day will they finally act and give B.C. what it is asking for?

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Again, I am going to ask the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby to please not take the floor until he is recognized for doing so. I know this is a very difficult issue for many, so I ask members to please listen carefully to the questions and listen carefully to the answers.

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have a very effective, collaborative relationship with the Province of British Columbia, and it is frankly insulting to the province to suggest that the province needs to beg us for anything. The province has serious concerns about its pilot project. We share their concerns, and we are working collaboratively and effectively to address those concerns. What we are not doing is playing partisan politics with the lives of real people.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. The B.C. government sent the Prime Minister all the information he needs to end his wacko drug policy experiment. In his 10 days of inaction, it is estimated 60 British Columbians' lives have been tragically lost to overdoses. Wacko drug policies have the RCMP citing government-supplied drugs being diverted and open drug use of crack in hospital rooms, meth in restaurants and fentanyl in parks and playgrounds.

How many more days will it take the Prime Minister to end his failed drug policy experiment?