Debates of April 30th, 2024

Health

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the member opposite for his years of advocacy and reassure him that I spoke with Grand Chief Fiddler just last week about this very project. We are working with the province and with the region to make sure that everyone can access quality health care, no matter where they live.

Diversity and Inclusion

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, disinformation, extremism and violent hate are on the rise around the world, including here at home. Standing up to far right extremism is something that I know the government takes very seriously, but it is shameful that the Leader of the Opposition entertained and posed for photos with organizations our national security agencies call far right extreme groups that are rooted in white nationalism and that promote hate and violence.

Could the government please tell the House how important it is that these far right extreme groups be condemned and addressed for the real threat that they are?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Diversity]

Mr. Speaker, while we are investing $273 million toward Canada's first-ever action plan on combatting hate in the budget, the leader of the official opposition is encouraging hate as he cozies up to far right white extremist supporters—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The Speaker has made rulings about lending intentions to hon. members of the House, so I will ask the hon. minister to please correct her statement in a way that is respectful of all members.

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have been very deliberate about choices to be inclusive, while the Leader of the Opposition is making a very deliberate choice in courting far right extremists. This is extremely reckless, and it is dangerous. He owes Canadians an apology, and he needs to denounce the cozying up that he is doing with these groups.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, Quebec will not achieve its French integration targets if the number of people needing to learn French breaks records every year.

Quebec cannot continue to take in 54% of all of Canada's asylum seekers. This is a matter of social justice for the people we can no longer house, educate or even feed. Yes, Quebec society is also about integration, because we have a duty to provide these people with all the necessary tools to welcome them properly.

Will the minister finally announce an equitable distribution of asylum seekers among Quebec and the provinces?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, sometimes I wonder if the Bloc Québécois is confusing the willingness and the ability to take in asylum seekers.

What is clear is that Quebec is doing more than its fair share. However, 54% is an exaggeration. If we look at all the humanitarian streams that Quebec covers, the figure comes down to 24% or 25%. Yes, Quebec is doing more. Clearly, it needs to do more concerted work with the Canadian government, but it will take this partnership between Canada and Quebec that we have and that we will continue to work on.

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

Mr. Speaker, the willingness to take in asylum seekers is real.

Quebec will be unable to reverse the decline of French if the federal government rows in the opposite direction. Ottawa is responsible for two-thirds of Quebec's temporary immigration through the international mobility program and asylum seekers. The federal government is not fulfilling its responsibilities, whether it is in terms of teaching workers French or taking in asylum seekers. Ottawa is ultimately responsible for the skyrocketing need for French language courses in Quebec, but it is doing nothing.

The Liberals keep saying that more needs to be done to protect French, so why are they refusing to do more to accomplish that?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, what is very clear is that we will be there for Quebec to do more more to support the French fact in Quebec. We have contributed $54 billion since 2015. That is a lot of money.

I have a question for the member opposite. If he thinks that we should accept more asylum seekers from Haiti, would he be willing for Quebec to take in more?

Housing

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, in this much more civilized and fitting parliamentary setting, I can announce that budget 2024 lays out a generational plan to build millions of homes for Canadians.

We already know that skilled trades workers will be the key to successfully building all these homes. As well, Canada's Building Trades Unions' conference is taking place right here in the capital region as we speak. Could the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages assure us that our government has the workers it needs to do this work across the country?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche for his question.

I was at Canada's Building Trades Unions' conference yesterday to talk to people about how we are going to address the housing crisis in Canada. Budget 2024 provides tens of millions of dollars to support training and apprenticeships for workers from coast to coast to coast to build homes for Canadians for decades to come. Skilled trades will be the driving force behind this effort. We are going to make sure they have everything they need to get the job done.

Canada Border Services Agency

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, La Presse recently alerted us to the fact that the Canada Border Services Agency has an obsolete and surplus goods program. Basically, it is a program to give money to merchants who throw away their excess merchandise. We are talking about non-perishable goods.

For example, let us imagine that I have a store that sells jeans. I import a new style, and I end up with unsold jeans that are out of fashion. I have two choices: Either I throw them in the garbage and Ottawa refunds me the duties, or I donate them to charity and I do not get a cent. It is a recipe for waste.

Who in Ottawa thinks this is a good idea?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

I was not aware of the facts of a particular case. If he is asking if we are in favour of that kind of waste, I think I share his opinion. The answer, of course, is no.

I would be happy to talk to the Canada Border Services Agency to see if it is possible to find an alternative.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the average calibre of the questions has certainly improved drastically today, but the average calibre of the answers has not.

The Canada Border Services Agency refunded businesses over $20 million to have them scrap their goods after taking pains to render them unusable, at a time when food banks are swamped with demand because times are tough.

Ottawa is funding waste at the expense of social solidarity. It makes no sense. Will the Minister of Public Safety review this misguided program, which penalizes generosity and encourages waste?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we absolutely will review the facts that my hon. colleague has presented. Obviously, I share his concern over this situation.

As I said, I will be pleased to follow up with the Canada Border Services Agency. I look forward to it.

Health

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, April is Cancer Awareness Month. Though the month is ending, the need for cancer awareness and education continues.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, two out of five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. In 2023 alone, an estimated 239,000 Canadians were newly diagnosed with cancer.

Could the Minister of Health update the House on what our government is doing to support Canadians impacted by cancer?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Scarborough—Agincourt for her continued advocacy.

She knows all too well, as do I and every member of the House, that so few of us get to make it through life without being touched by cancer. It is imperative that we do all that we can.

I want to take a moment to recognize the Canadian Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Canada and all those who work tirelessly to advocate. Over the last five years, we have put $1 billion to work for breakthroughs in science and to improve how we prevent and treat cancer. We are taking critical action in prevention. Together, we can see an end to cancer.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the community of Port Renfrew in my riding relies on recreational fishing as the major economic driver in the region, bringing in an estimated $26 million per season.

However, the Liberals plan to end that important economic pathway and are failing to provide credible data to justify the fishing closures. This move will harm the local economy and devastate the local community, including the Pacheedaht First Nation.

This is shameful. Why are the Liberals putting Port Renfrew's economy at risk with these ill-informed and punitive fishing closures?

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, just a couple of weeks ago, I was in B.C. talking to a lot of first nation communities on a whole host of topics that are important to them and to their communities. I know that this one is equally important in terms of recreational fishing from a food and ceremonial perspective, cultural perspective and an economic perspective. I will set some time aside to discuss the item with the member opposite very soon.

Taxation

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today was the final day for most Canadians to file their taxes, and thanks to NDP pressure the wealthy will be paying somewhat more. Unlike the Conservative leader who, while in government, gave $60 billion to corporations, New Democrats would rather fund key public services, like dental and pharmacare.

As usual, the Liberals continue to ignore the need for serious tax fairness at a time of rampant corporate greed. We still use a system where wealthy corporations can get out of paying $30 billion in taxes in one year.

Does the government have an idea how much money the wealthiest Canadians will deprive Canada of this year?

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

Mr. Speaker, this budget is about fairness for every generation. It is about making the essential investments in housing, in affordability, in economic growth.

We agree with the idea behind the question, that the way to finance those investments is to ask those who are doing the best in our society to contribute a little more. That is why, in the budget, we are proposing to increase the capital gains inclusion rate. We hope all members will support that.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, this brings us to the end of the questions that were indicated by the various whips in the House. Now question period will continue on for another five minutes and we will go to other members who will rise, keeping all in proportion.

The hon. member for Kitchener Centre is rising. Unfortunately, questions from independent members are not on today's schedule.

The hon. member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia.

Firearms

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has announced its decision to once again postpone the mandatory buy-back program for assault weapons. Since Canada Post refuses to accept the prohibited weapons, and since Ottawa has once again failed to plan this program properly, the Liberals have decided to postpone the whole thing until 2025. This means that it will likely be the Conservatives who decide the future of this program.

Why do the Liberals not take their responsibilities seriously instead of putting this in the hands of the Conservatives?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for the question. As she is well aware, the government fully supports a buy-back program for military-style firearms. However, I do not share her pessimism about the next federal election.

The good news is that we are already working to develop a buy-back program that will be in place this year and next. We made a commitment to buy back those firearms, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if no assault weapon buy-back program is instituted within the next year, we will have lost a decade of work, and public safety will continue to be jeopardized for another decade. The Liberals have no right to betray their commitment at this point. They have no right to let their courage fail them. They have no right to offload the responsibility for assault weapons onto irresponsible people who want to keep them in circulation.

I am appealing to the Minister of Public Safety as a statesman: Will he take action before it is too late?