Debates of May 8th, 2024

Official Languages

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as far as the Prime Minister is concerned researchers who use the same figures as Statistics Canada are just looking for a fight, but not his MP, who insults Quebec and has made all of the Francophonie question his choice today.

What would not count as a fight for the Prime Minister? Supporting the scatological little tantrum of his MP and friend?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would like to remind all hon. members to be very mindful of the words they use to ask or answer questions and to keep everything parliamentary.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member apologized and withdrew the offensive word.

We will continue to be there to defend French and the francophonie around the world and across Canada. Unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois cannot say the same after attacking a Franco-Ontarian and minority language communities across the country.

We are always going to be there. We will be there to defend French in Quebec, with billions of dollars in investments, and we will be there for minority communities across the country, as we have always been.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, the word that I used and that you called me out on is not nearly as bad as the word that the member over there used and that nobody said anything about.

The Prime Minister is trying to sow division between francophones in Quebec and francophones in Canada. I would like to remind him that, in the last election, I wanted to talk about francophones outside Quebec during the English debate and I was told that that was not the place and that we could not talk about French during the English debate.

Is that not picking a fight?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to be able to work with the Bloc Québécois to defend francophone communities across the country, but if French starts doing better and better in Canada, that it will be bad for their dream of separatism. That is why they do not care about the fate of French outside Quebec. They want to show that Quebec is the only place where French can be protected.

We need to protect French in Quebec and that is why we are investing to do just that, but we will also protect French everywhere in Canada.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled across Canada.

The crisis is now more urgent than ever in Quebec. Non-profit organizations report meeting people who are contemplating and planning suicide because they have no idea how they will pay their rent next month.

Will the Prime Minister finally stop his radical plan to fund more bureaucracy instead of more homes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have invested $900 million in Quebec alone through the housing accelerator fund. It has been so well received by Quebeckers that the Quebec government chose to add $900 million to the federal investment, because it knew the program would deliver housing across Quebec.

We are here to work in partnership with municipalities and provinces to invest in more housing, while the ideologically driven Leader of the Opposition calls for austerity and cuts, saying that if the government spent less, people would have more homes.

That is not true. He is wrong.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, now he is spending more to deliver fewer homes.

It is certainly true that he is spending hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars. He has a new number every year, a new program worth billions more. However, people do not live in the billions and millions of dollars. They live in apartments and houses that now cost twice as much as they did when he took office.

Does the Prime Minister finally understand, after spending nine years creating the worst real estate crisis in the G7, that the more he spends, the more it costs?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as people are well aware, it takes years for investments in housing to have an impact.

When he was the minister responsible for housing and his former government was in power, they spent virtually nothing on housing. They made no investments in housing for 10 years. Then the Conservatives were surprised to see a housing crisis beginning in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Of course that was because the Conservative government had underinvested in housing for so long.

We have been there to invest in communities and to help Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I have already celebrated the fact that our programs would cost a lot less and accomplish a lot more.

An apartment would cost $973 a month. Currently it costs nearly $2,000. Average monthly payments would be about 38% of the average paycheque. Currently they amount to nearly 64%.

When will the Prime Minister realize that just because his programs are expensive it does not mean that they are good?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we clearly see the fundamental choice Canadians are facing in the next election.

Should a government put its fiscal position in service of Canadians to invest in communities and invest in housing, or should it make cuts to programs to further improve its fiscal position, which is already the best in the G7?

The Conservative leader wants ideology-driven austerity and cuts. We want to make investments for Canadians.

I know what Canadians are going to choose.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, since he implemented his big spending plan, interest rates have skyrocketed. Doubling the national debt inflates interest rates. Who could have foreseen this? In fact, anyone could have.

Any plumber or mechanic could have told him that this is always what ends up happening. That is why Canada has the worst mortgage debt and housing costs in the G7.

Will he finally follow my common-sense plan to have a dollar of savings for every dollar of new spending to reduce interest rates and inflation?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, thanks to our sound fiscal management, inflation is coming down and is back in the Bank of Canada's target zone. Interest rates will also begin to fall in the months ahead, we are almost certain of it.

The reality is that the Leader of the Opposition is conflating two things: the government's very strong fiscal position and the situation of families who need more help.

I suggest using the government's strong position to help families. The Conservative leader, in contrast, says that the government should cut services to Canadians. He is wrong.

Indigenous Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, last month the United Nations special rapporteur visited Canada. He confirmed what indigenous peoples already know: that the right to clean drinking water is not being upheld. The Prime Minister has millions of dollars for the North West Company, Loblaw and Costco but asks indigenous people to wait for clean drinking water.

Will the Prime Minister stop fighting these solvable issues and ensure that all first nations have access to clean water?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to end boil water advisories across the country. When we took office in 2015, there were 109 long-term boil water advisories. We have now lifted about 135 or 140, perhaps even a few more. We are going to continue to lift long-term boil water advisories in ways that are building infrastructure, supporting communities and solving this generations-long problem.

We are here to continue to work with indigenous communities on solving these problems, in true partnership, in building for the long-term future every Canadian and indigenous person deserves.

The Economy

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as the cost of living continues to soar, more people in Nanaimo—Ladysmith are barely scraping by. Rent is up. Groceries are up. The number of households living below the poverty line continues to rise.

Instead of helping those who need it, the Liberals are handing $60 billion to the ultrawealthy. What about the Conservatives? They will always choose the side of lobbyists and rich CEOs.

When will the Prime Minister stop propping up rich CEOs at the expense of people in Nanaimo—Ladysmith and across Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our latest budget is actually focused on equality for every generation, and a big cornerstone of that is asking the wealthiest Canadians to pay a little more so we can invest even more in housing, invest even more in pharmacare, invest even more in child care and invest even more in programs like our school food program that is going to help 400,000 kids across the country.

We know there continues to be more to do, and we are stepping up because not only do we know that helping with affordability for Canadians matters, but we also know that confident countries invest in themselves, their people and their future, and that is exactly what we are doing.

Pharmacare

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government's groundbreaking pharmacare program will provide free contraceptives to millions of women across Canada. While access to free contraceptives is fundamental for every woman to plan their future on their time, the Conservative leader has chosen to deny women this basic freedom.

Can the Prime Minister tell the House why a pharmacare program that guarantees free contraceptives is so important?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader opposes pharmacare and our plan to provide free contraception prescriptions to Canadians, and we all know why. The leader and his caucus' ideological objection to reproductive freedoms is putting all Canadians at risk.

Yesterday the member for Peace River—Westlock sponsored an anti-choice petition. The member for Yorkton—Melville has introduced several private member's bills that would serve as a sneaky back door to limit women's bodily autonomy.

One would think that someone who claims to stand for freedom would be there for women as well, but the Conservative leader is not.

Mental Health and Addictions

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost, the crime, the drugs and the disorder.

Groups that provide child care services are considering relocating after a man died of an overdose in the backyard of day care centre.

Is the Prime Minister going to go so far as to accept the Montreal mayor's request to legalize crack, heroin and other hard drugs, as he did in British Columbia?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is shameful that the Leader of the Opposition uses tragedies to exploit people's fears and fundraise for the Conservatives.

The reality is that he has his facts wrong. No one in this country, apart from the Conservative leader, is talking about legalizing hard drugs. We are focused on science, compassion and a public health approach. That is what people need: housing, services and help.

We are making that happen.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is actually the Prime Minister's government that is talking about legalizing drugs. It did it already. It legalized hard drugs in British Columbia, and the NDP in that province pulled back just before the provincial election.

The Prime Minister now has in his possession an application from the City of Toronto to repeat the same nightmare in that city. The minister responsible says the application is “dormant”. It is not dead; it is dormant. Dormant means asleep.

Is that not really the Prime Minister's plan: to wake it up after the election so he can impose the same thing on Toronto as he did in B.C.?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is shameful to hear the Leader of the Opposition misleading the House and misleading Canadians for his own fundraising political gain. There is nobody in this country talking about legalizing hard drugs, with the possible exception of members of the Conservative Party themselves.

The government's approach is focused on a public health approach grounded in science, compassion and community safety. We are talking about wraparound services like housing, mental health treatment and harm reduction that are helping people around the country, and we will continue to work with provinces and jurisdictions in their approach.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is playing word games again. He pretends there is a difference between legalization and decriminalization. It is basically the same thing, but we will use his word. He brought in decriminalization in British Columbia, which led to a 380% increase in overdose deaths. There were 2,500 deaths last year, the worst death count in any province's history.

Will the Prime Minister admit that his decriminalization in B.C. was a deadly disaster, or will he admit that he plans to do it again right across the country, everywhere, after the next election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, earlier, the Leader of the Opposition was suggesting that I do my homework. One would think that on an issue that the Leader of the Opposition is making so much fundraising money off of, he would have actually done his work and would have realized there is a difference between legalization and decriminalization. That is one that really matters.

We, yes, responded to a request for a pilot project by British Columbia to continue to try new approaches in solving this toxic drug overdose epidemic. We will continue to work with British Columbia, as we have, as they choose to make adjustments to their pilot project because we know saving lives and keeping communities safe is the most important thing.