Debates of April 29th, 2024

The Budget

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister was revealing his budget, or rather his plan to interfere in Quebec's jurisdictions, he justified it by saying that people do not care which level of government is responsible for what.

However, a Leger poll found that 82% of Quebeckers believe that the federal government should respect the division of powers. This proves that the Prime Minister is out of touch with reality. Quebeckers are clear. They want the federal government to work with other governments.

Instead of electioneering, why will the Prime Minister not give Quebeckers the money they are owed? That is what Quebeckers want.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, in this budget, we are investing in housing. The Conservatives are complaining. Bloc Québécois members are complaining. They are going to vote against it. In this budget, we are investing in dental care. The Conservatives are complaining. Bloc Québécois members are complaining. Both parties are going to vote against it.

Basically, both parties will find different excuses to vote against the same budget. If we listened to the Conservatives and the Bloc, Quebeckers would wind up with nothing.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are not the only ones who are against jurisdictional interference. Every provincial and territorial premier added their signature to that of the premier of Quebec in a letter calling on Ottawa to respect their jurisdictions: health, education, housing. They are all calling for the right to opt out with full financial compensation whenever the federal government steps out of its jurisdiction. Everyone is against federal interference from coast to coast to coast.

The Prime Minister thinks that everyone else is wrong, but perhaps he is just looking to pick a fight.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the member talks about picking fights, but the people in the Bloc Québécois are the real experts in picking fights. They are speaking from experience. They have a doctorate in picking fights.

The Bloc tells us that housing is important, but they vote against it. The Bloc tells us that helping our seniors is important, but they vote against that. The Bloc tells us that we need to make sure that our children do not go to school on an empty stomach, but they vote against that.

The Bloc talks and talks. All they do is talk. They are good at that. They are all talk and no action. They do not walk the talk.

Persons with Disabilities

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government stood by while food prices and rents skyrocketed. This hurts people living with disabilities disproportionately. After making folks wait more than three years, the government announced a disability benefit. It is too little, does not cover enough people and is going to be clawed back by provinces. People struggling to put food on their tables have been given crumbs by the government.

When will the Prime Minister get serious about helping people living with disabilities?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are glad to be the first federal government in Canadian history to put forward the financing for supports for people with disabilities across our country. That is a milestone. It is a very big deal. This is just the first step. We recognize there is more to do, including working carefully with provinces and territories, and we are going to do it.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is failing people living with disabilities.

Disability groups have been clear. The disability benefit announced by the government does not work. Two hundred dollars is not enough. The Prime Minister is giving big oil billions of dollars, while giving peanuts to people with disabilities.

Will he sit down with these groups and solve this problem?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is proud to be the first federal government to introduce a disability benefit. That is a big step forward, and we are proud to have done that.

We understand that we now need to work closely with the provinces and territories. This is just the beginning. We must and will do more.

Mental Health and Addictions

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, crime, chaos, drugs and disorder are what we have after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government. The extremist policies of the Prime Minister have forced parents in British Columbia to protect their kids from used needles at the playground. Done openly and in our faces, there is drug use in Tim Hortons, on the SkyTrain and even in our hospitals.

The Prime Minister's negligence is killing our citizens. When will he admit that his radical decriminalization experiment has failed and end it?

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

Mr. Speaker, too many Canadians are dying every day from an ever-changing, illegal toxic drug supply. The opposition leader and members of the Conservative Party talk a big talk about investing in treatment, but Conservatives cut two-thirds of the drug treatment fund when they were last in government.

Let us talk about what saves lives: safe consumption sites, accessible social and health care services, prevention, treatment and harm reduction. The Conservatives have no plan. On this side of the House, we will continue to work to save lives.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk through a clear lens. The number of Canadians who have died from drug overdoses since 2015 is 40,000. They were entirely preventable.

Last year, B.C. set a record with over 2,500 overdose deaths, and the Liberals want to talk about saving lives and compassion. Premier Eby and the Prime Minister have failed British Columbians, and now the Prime Minister is taking his deadly experiment to Toronto. Until the extremist drug policy is dismantled, people will keep dying.

Will the Prime Minister prioritize recovery and stop killing Canadians with his radical ideology?

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

Mr. Speaker, the opposition does not want to implement the plans or the tools that are needed to save lives because its members do not have a plan. All they offer Canadians are slogans and fear. Slogans are not an evidence-based strategy. They are just words.

We have a full suite of measures that addresses this crisis because it is a public health public crisis. It is not a criminal issue. We continue to work with B.C. on the exemption it requested, with the clear lens of public health and public safety.

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

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. After nine years of the Prime Minister's extremist policies, public drug use has become the norm. The Prime Minister has made it legal in British Columbia to smoke meth on the beach beside a family or smoke crack in a hospital beside health care workers. In fact, a nurse in British Columbia stopped breastfeeding her twin girls early, at 13 months, because of being exposed to illicit drugs in the hallway.

When will the NPD-Liberals realize that time is up and end the decriminalization today?

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

Mr. Speaker, every life lost to the illegal toxic drug supply, every overdose and every family experiencing the loss of a loved one, is a tragedy. Our focus working with the B.C. government on its exemption request is on saving lives and providing health care.

Harm reduction is health care. Treatment is health care. Prevention is health care. Enforcement is also part of the plan. We continue to work with law enforcement in the provinces. Conservatives continue to divide.

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

Mr. Speaker, drug deaths are up 380% in B.C. since the Liberals took office in 2015. The NDP-Liberal coalition unleashed a horrific experiment in British Columbia, and now the NDP premier is pleading with the Prime Minister to fix this disaster.

We are learning that, for Toronto, the minister has decided to double down and expand this failed project into Toronto. After nine years, the NDP-Liberal government's drug policy is failing Canadians, and the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Instead of expanding this, will Liberals do the right thing and just end this policy today?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, around the world, opioid deaths are taking so many lives. The only way we can rise to meet that moment is with truth and evidence and not by inflaming, through spreading false information, the situation.

I would ask the member opposite, instead of trying to seek opportunity to attack in the House, to work collaboratively on evidence-based solutions that save lives. Like her, and like every member of the House, when a life is lost, it rips us all apart. We have to meet it with truth and honesty and set aside partisanship.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, overdose is the leading cause of death in my province of British Columbia. The NDP-Liberal Prime Minister's extremist drug policies have turned our neighbourhoods into war zones. Hard drugs are being used in playgrounds, coffee shops and even hospitals. Last week, a drug-addled man lit fires and consumed drugs in front of traumatized kids at the Prince George Aquatic Centre. The RCMP was called numerous times, but its hands are tied because of the Liberals' insane drug policies.

Will the Prime Minister end his deadly drug decriminalization today?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask clearly what evidence the Conservatives are basing their decisions on. The answer to that question—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order. The hon. minister has the floor.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, replacing science with slogans and replacing research and evidence with talking points will not fix the problem. There is not a person in the House who is not ripped apart when we watch somebody lose a loved one to this crisis, but to meet it with partisanship, to meet it with pretend solutions and to do things that have failed in other jurisdictions is a disgrace for those who have lost family members.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. After nine years, the Prime Minister's extremist policy is allowing for deadly hard drugs to be used in public spaces such as parks, coffee shops, beaches and hospitals. A leaked memo in B.C. is now instructing nurses to teach patients how to inject illegal drugs into their intravenous.

Will the Prime Minister end his deadly drug decriminalization experiment today?

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

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are committed to saving lives and to making sure people who use drugs do not die alone.

We moved forward with a decriminalization pilot project at B.C.'s request and have always maintained it would be rigorously monitored and adjusted as needed. We know that a full suite of tools, including harm reduction, is needed. Even the MP from Cariboo—Prince George knows it. He said himself, “I asked if safe injection sites were helping. They did say that safe injection sites probably do help.”

Every tool, every resource, to save lives is what we are committed to.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning La Presse reported that five families of Indian origin are crammed into a single apartment because of the housing crisis. That is beneath Canada and, unfortunately, it is the norm for thousands of asylum seekers.

These people are arriving here and realizing that they do not even have the right to work to support themselves because the federal government is taking two years to give them their work permit. Then they realize that Ottawa is now taking 38 months to process asylum claims.

How many more families will have to endure these inhumane conditions before the federal government addresses these backlogs?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, first I will address the mistake the member made. He said it takes two years to get a work permit. It actually takes three months. Clearly, we can do more, but we need to be factual in the House of Commons.

If I am hearing the member correctly, I understand that he is going to support our budget, which puts billions of dollars on the table for the provinces, for housing in particular.

As for asylum seekers and how we should be welcoming them as a country, I think we can do better, but Quebec and Canada will need to work together.