Debates of May 1st, 2024

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister sees fit to challenge, through the person of Ms. Elghawaby, a law passed by the Quebec National Assembly and to create a law for a minority within a minority, who, I would point out, asked for no such thing. It is a religious law.

I respect the Muslim community at least as much as the Prime Minister does, but is he building bridges by creating privileges or by creating divisions?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the Bloc Québécois leader knows full well, when Bill 21 lands in the Supreme Court, we will intervene in our capacity as the federal government, because we are concerned about the consequences this bill could have on Quebeckers. We will make our voice heard at that time. Yes, we have opinions on how the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Canadians can be better protected, and we will share those opinions.

At the same time, we will always seek to offer everyone the same opportunities to buy a house and build a better future, because we know that young people are struggling these days.

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

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers want this law, and the money they have put into the Liberals' staggering deficit is going to pay for a Supreme Court challenge to a law that they want.

In short, can he rein in Ms. Elghawaby, tell her to stop attacking Quebec and respect the right that Quebeckers have to live in a society with a secular state?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as a democratic country and province, Canada and Quebec allow citizens to use their judicial system to challenge laws they disagree with.

This is exactly what many Quebeckers are doing because they disagree with Bill 21. It is their right, as Quebeckers, to challenge laws they find unfair. That is what is happening, and it is perfectly legitimate. The Quebeckers who are challenging the law are no less Québécois than anyone else.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada's biggest city, gun crime is up 66%. It is 100% nationwide. I just shared the tragic story of someone out on bail, slamming his car into an innocent family. Two wonderful grandparents are dead. A beautiful baby is dead. He was out on bail under the Prime Minister's catch-and-release bill, Bill C-75.

How many more will have to die before he repeals catch-and-release, and brings jail, not bail, for repeat offenders?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I will highlight that we worked with provinces, including many provincial Conservative leaders across this country, to bring in bail reform. We will continue to work on things that are keeping Canadians safe.

At the same time, the leader opposite talked about gun crime. We moved forward with some of the strongest measures on gun control that this country has ever seen: a freeze on the purchase of handguns; a total ban on assault-style weapons, which has been in place for four years.

These are the kinds of things that the Conservative Party and its leader have consistently stood against, even as we move to make our communities even safer.

Firearms

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he mentioned all the guns that he claims to have banned and that he promised to seize four years and $40 million ago.

How many has he seized?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there are thousands of different types of assault-style weapons that, for the past four years, have been rendered illegal to sell, illegal to buy and illegal to use, including at a gun range.

We are now working on a program to allow those owners to sell them back to the government, for them to be destroyed, and get money so that they can go buy other guns or other products if they want to, which will be legal. This is about fairness, even as we move to keep Canadians safe. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition wants to make those assault weapons legal again.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, all those weapons are still legal. One can still own them.

The Prime Minister says he is going to seize them. He is going to buy them. He has spent $40 million doing that.

I am going to ask this again: How many guns has he bought, just the number?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition knows, we are in the process of establishing that buyback program. The priority was making sure those guns were no longer available to buy, to sell, to bequeath or to use. That has been the case for four years.

What the Leader of the Opposition is conveniently refusing to opine on is the fact that he has committed to the gun lobby across this country that he would reverse the 2020 OIC, which banned those assault-style weapons. He wants to bring those assault-style weapons back, or he can contradict me right here.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I will contradict him because they are not banned right now. It is perfectly legal for people to possess those guns. They are easy to possess.

The answer to the question is that he has not seized a single, solitary one of them. He has spent 40 million tax dollars that could have secured our ports and our borders, and he has not taken in a single, solitary gun.

Is that why gun crime has risen by 100% since he became Prime Minister nine years ago?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I will note, as did everyone in this chamber, that the Leader of the Opposition did not deny that he will be reversing the ban on assault-style weapons. He does not even think it exists right now. Well, it does exist right now. It is illegal to buy, to sell or to use any of those weapons. When the amnesty ends next year, it will be illegal to own them as well. We are giving an opportunity for people to sell them back to the government. That is what we are doing to keep people safe. That is what he will not commit to keeping.

Indigenous Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, in Nunavut, the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation administers the Inuit child first initiative to help kids, but its great work is being made difficult by the government's delays. Close to 70% of requests were not processed on time, leaving traumatized children without the health care they deserve.

When will the Liberal government finally ensure that first nations and Inuit children can get the care they need in a timely manner?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I absolutely agree that there is more to do. Over the past years, we have made significant historic investments in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon in responding to the health needs, particularly of indigenous, Inuit, first nations and Métis children.

We will continue to step up. There is more to do, but my work with Premier Akeeagok and others is entirely focused on delivering more services to young people in a timely manner: more housing, more infrastructure and more health care. These are things we are working on. We will continue to do that work.

Mental Health and Addictions

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

Mr. Speaker, in the last year, deaths related to the toxic drug crisis are up 17% in Alberta and 23% in Saskatchewan. Every toxic overdose death is preventable, but in provinces with Conservative premiers that do not have safe supply or decriminalization and do not believe in harm reduction, deaths are soaring. Alberta is on a trajectory to have the most toxic drug deaths per capita in Canada by June.

Treatment, recovery and harm reduction go hand in hand. Will the Liberals finally make sure that all Canadians whose lives could be saved have access to these life-saving supports?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Courtenay—Alberni for bringing up those stats, which show that there are real challenges around the opioid and toxic drug supply epidemic right across the country.

Every step of the way, the government will continue to be anchored in compassionate, evidenced-based approaches that look at this as a public health crisis. We will work with provincial governments across all jurisdictions to move forward on measures that support and save lives. That is our commitment to Canadians, and that is what we will continue to do.

Diversity and Inclusion

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is committed to promoting Canadian values, such as inclusion, diversity and acceptance. As elected members of the House, we are all responsible for our conduct in this chamber and outside of it. Yesterday, our government called out the Conservative leader for his behaviour in the courting of a far-right, white nationalist extremist group. Instead of standing up to apologize and to distance himself from it, he shockingly doubled-down and threw a temper tantrum.

Can the Prime Minister please tell the House what impact the far-right extremism and its enablers have on vulnerable communities and Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what we saw yesterday from that side was unbecoming of anyone who aspires to leadership. The Conservative leader's refusal to denounce far-right, white nationalist extremism cannot and will not be overlooked by Canadians.

Far-right extremism and its enablers pose real and dangerous threats to marginalized communities. This is not something that, as a country, we can stand for, and on this side of the House, we never will. Unfortunately, that leader cannot say the same.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I will get back to this at the end of question period, but I encourage all members, aside perhaps from the last question, to continue in the positive vein, which I think Canadians have noticed, that members have been taking today.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, two years ago, after having doubled the rent, doubled mortgage payments and doubled the needed down payment for a home, the Prime Minister promised, in his budget, that he would double home building. Here we are, two years later, and homebuilding is down 8%. His housing agency says that it will be down next year and the year after that. If it cost him $89 billion in programs to bring homebuilding down, how much would he have to spend to bring it up?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the housing plan is focused on fairness for every generation. We, over the coming years, will be unlocking 3.8 million new homes by cutting red tape, by rezoning, by lowering the costs of homebuilding and by using public lands and vacant office buildings to build affordable housing for Canadians.

We will be reviving the dream of home ownership for young Canadians by making it easier to save up, tax-free, for a down payment and by giving renters credit for their monthly rent payments toward the ability to get a mortgage. We have put forward the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan this country has ever seen.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing it does not do is build homes. Since the Prime Minister made the most recent promise, in 2022, to double housing construction, the number of builds is actually down and is expected to continue to drop, next year and the year after that, according to his own housing agency, yet he says we should all be reassured because, once again, he is spending tens of billions of dollars on the problem he created.

Can the Prime Minister tell us in what year homebuilding will actually rise?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know well that the federal government has an important role to play in ensuring housing starts across the country and in ensuring the opportunities for Canadians to buy their first homes and to move forward up the equity ladder. These are things that we know we have a role to play in. However, we are not alone in that, which is why we are challenging and encouraging municipalities and provinces to also step up with ambition in our national homebuilding plan.

This is why we are putting incentives on the table, and we are putting investments in the pockets of municipalities, including with our accelerator fund. There is more to do, but we will be doing it in partnership.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is what the Prime Minister has been saying for nine years, and the results have been doubled rents, doubled mortgage payments and doubled down payments. Just this week, a survey showed that 72% of Canadians who do not own a home believe they never will.

Canada was not like this before the current Prime Minister, and surely, it will not be like this after he is gone. Can the Prime Minister comment on what it is like to be the only prime minister in history to deprive an entire generation of home ownership?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government that was in place before I became prime minister had a housing minister who is now the Leader of the Opposition in a government that explicitly said that the federal government had no role to play and no responsibility toward building affordable housing across this country, so for 10 years there was almost no federal involvement in building homes across this country.

We turned that around, starting in 2017, and we will continue to invest to create opportunities and to create fairness for millennials and gen Zs, so that they can buy—