Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to rise today on behalf of the government and my Liberal caucus colleagues to pay tribute to the life of one of our former colleagues, someone you also knew well, Mr. Speaker, and one of my best friends, the late Hon. John McCallum, whose kindness, generosity and incredible sense of humour touched everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him. I will provide a brief o…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the Bloc Québécois for his question. I am not the least bit embarrassed to remind members of the House and all Canadians that we are in the midst of important discussions with the United States on two fronts. First, we are talking about how to improve trade relations in the short term in strategic sectors, such as the steel, aluminum, auto and softwood lumber ind…
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Mr. Speaker, in our discussions with our American counterparts, we constantly talk about the importance of having agreements that benefit both economies. I agree with my friend, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, that the United States will always remain our only neighbour and a critical economic partner. The Prime Minister has said that the trade relationship is changing. That is what we need to w…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the first part of the question from my friend, the leader of the Bloc Québécois. Obviously, we have to show respect in our conversations and relations with our American counterparts, and the same goes for the American people. The United States has the largest economy in the world. We currently have the most advantageous agreement of all its trading partners. At the same t…
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the bill on one Canadian economy seeks specifically to respond to the threat of U.S. tariffs and economic instability. During the election campaign, the Prime MInister was very clear. We are going to build major projects in Canada and we are going to build them the right way by respecting the environmental standards and working in partnership with indigenous peoples, …
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the U.S. President had a constructive meeting in Kananaskis during the G7. They discussed a number of issues. Obviously, the priority for us was to speak directly to the U.S. President about the issue of tariffs and, as my colleague just indicated, the impact that tariffs are having not only on Canada's economy and Canadian workers, but also on the U.S. economy.…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague often speaks about her son, who is an example of exactly the kind of worker and skilled professional the country and, frankly, this government want to support. I was encouraged by conversations with labour leaders representing not only the skilled trades but a series of other professions that would benefit from exactly this kind of nation-building exercise. Provincial pre…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue that we need to fulfill our obligations with regard to consultation and partnership. I know how committed my colleague is to indigenous peoples, and I really appreciate that. That is something we have in common. The five-day consultation he referred to is a consultation process in a bill that is before Parliament and that would enable …
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Mr. Speaker, I know that colleagues in the House will be disappointed. I arrived at the last minute to give this speech. I am told that the first speech has unlimited time. If I had not arrived in time, colleagues could have heard the member for Winnipeg North for possibly a few weeks on this bill. My colleague from Winnipeg North is absolutely right. This commitment to one Canadian economy, to ge…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question, and I absolute appreciate the challenge he has just identified. One of my friends for the last couple of decades is also a physician, Andrew Furey, and he was the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador until recently. He worked with Atlantic premiers because, as my colleague has correctly identified, the actual certification of physicians and other…
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Mr. Speaker, I obviously understand the political aspect of my colleague's question. I think we need to be careful before defining the responsibility that the bill can assign to a minister. We have to be careful not to exaggerate those circumstances. As I have said, environmental standards and regulations will obviously be at the forefront, as will consultation with indigenous peoples. I would hav…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk for his question. He just put his finger on exactly what we want to do with this bill. We have been very clear. The Prime Minister was very clear during the election campaign. Within six months at the most, we would like to have exactly the kind of agreement that my colleague just described to avoid duplication and to minimize co…
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Mr. Speaker, I see that our friends in the Bloc Québécois miss our former leader and prime minister, Justin Trudeau. I think that is important to note. On the contrary, we have introduced a bill in Parliament that specifically enables the Government of Canada, in partnership with the provinces, territories and indigenous peoples, to build major projects that will drive the Canadian economy forward…
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moved: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-5, An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act, be disposed of as follows: (a) the bill be ordered for consideration at the second reading stage immediately after the adoption of this order, provided that, (i) two members from each recognized party,…
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois knows full well that we just finished an election campaign during which the Prime Minister, our party leader, asked Canadians for a clear mandate to accelerate projects of national interest. That is precisely what the bill before the House of Commons will do. However, to suggest that the government would scale back environmental impact assessments and …
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Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise that I do not agree with my friend from the Bloc Québécois when he says that we have adopted a purely Conservative policy. On page 1 of our election platform, on the very first page, we talk about building one Canadian economy out of 13 and ensuring that we can once again carry out major projects that are in the national interest. That is why NDP, Conservat…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, of course, did not mislead Canadians. Our colleague will know that it is only within the jurisdiction of this Parliament or the Government of Canada to remove barriers that are properly federal barriers to free trade within Canada. The provinces also have a series of measures that they are working on removing. In fact, I have been very encouraged by provinces signi…
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Madam Speaker, on the contrary, we are not waiting. Yesterday, my colleague the Minister of Finance and I met with people from the steel industry and others. We talked about the importance of supplying liquidity to support the aluminum sector in Quebec and across Canada. The Department of Finance has a mechanism specifically designed to provide that support. We already adapted EI measures before t…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-5, An Act to enact the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act and the Building Canada Act. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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Mr. Speaker, our government received a mandate from Canadians to negotiate a new security and economic partnership with the United States. We entirely share our colleague's view that the tariffs imposed, and they are not only on steel and aluminum, at a ridiculously punitive rate of 50%, are unjustified and illegal, as are all the other tariffs imposed on the Canadian economy. That is why Canada r…
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Mr. Speaker, we fully share the concerns of our colleague from Chicoutimi—Le Fjord. Aluminum workers in Saguenay are among the best workers in Canada. The United States relies on the aluminum that Canada produces. It decided to impose 50% tariffs. That is going to hurt its economy. We understand that this is a worrisome situation for workers and the industry in Canada. That is precisely why we are…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I can assure my colleague that we fully share the concerns of all Canadians about the negative consequences the American tariffs are having. As I said in a response a few moments ago, with regard to the aluminum industry in Quebec and the steel industry in the rest of Canada, the Americans rely on our product. We have responded very firmly. We are one of the countries that…
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, our government took action even before the election to support workers across Canada who are affected by the illegal and unfair tariffs imposed by the Americans. As the Prime Minister said, Canadians gave us a mandate to negotiate a new economic partnership and security agreement with the United States. We also have a mandate to protect our industries and our workers.…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Terrebonne for her excellent question. During the election campaign, our government promised to build one Canadian economy out of 13. By Canada Day, we will introduce a bill to eliminate all federal barriers to interprovincial trade and work with the provinces and territories to catalyze projects in the national interest. That is how we will build the strongest …
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Mr. Speaker, once again, Canadians expect the federal government, in partnership with provincial governments of course, to be hard at work protecting the economy from the threat of tariffs. This is precisely the work we have been doing since the dinner we had in Florida with President-elect Trump. I can inform our colleagues that I have had quite encouraging exchanges with the incoming commerce se…
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Mr. Speaker, far from misleading Canadians, the government thinks it is important to be transparent in terms of the fiscal picture of the government. This is why, based on legal advice and accounting practices, the government booked contingent liabilities that increased the initial deficit projection to the level my colleague referred to. This is about righting historical wrongs with indigenous pe…
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Mr. Speaker, the fall economic statement was indeed tabled in the House of Commons yesterday. It is an economic statement that focuses on economic growth and the need to support Canadians during hard times, given the cost of living. That remains our government's primary objective, as it should. This statement also shows that we are using taxpayers' money responsibly. That is exactly what we will k…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague will not be surprised that we do not agree with the idea of having a Conservative government that wants to cut programs that support Canadians, that voted against $10 child care to support Canadian families, and that voted against a dental care program in Canada. Canadians expect to have a responsible government that works to support them in economically tough times. Tha…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for his congratulations. It will come as no surprise that we do not share his pessimism. We have every confidence in the Canadian economy, in Canadian workers and in the fall economic statement, which gave Canadians a great deal of hope in terms of support for these difficult economic times. We have also announced significant investments. I look forward to sharin…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is talking about the government's deficit. He knows full well that the net debt-to-GDP ratio is dropping. He knows that this is the best performance in the G7. He also knows that Canadians expect their government to support them in tough economic times, whether it be with $10-a-day child care or a dental care program. The Conservatives actually voted against all of those…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect their government to be focused on their economic concerns. They expect their government to be focused on the real threat that 25% tariffs across the board would mean to the Canadian economy. That is the work our government is doing. I can report that I had an encouraging preliminary conversation with the foreign affairs minister yesterday, with the U.S. border czar, M…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the Bloc Québécois for his congratulations. A government is legitimate when it has the confidence of the House of Commons. That is exactly what the House gave the government several times last week. As the leader of the Bloc Québécois mentioned, our objective remains to support Canadians in tough economic times and to work with the administration of President-ele…
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Mr. Speaker, as I said a moment ago, we are proud of the fiscal and economic record of this government. This is a record of supporting Canadians through the pandemic. This is a record of investing in entrepreneurship and innovation. This is a record of providing, for example, Canadians with $10-a-day child care, historic investments that speak to not only affordability issues, but growing the econ…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the opposition House Leader for his heartfelt congratulations on my new role. I want to tell him and all Canadians that our government is very proud of the fall economic statement we made public yesterday. The fall economic statement speaks to growth in the Canadian economy. It speaks to supporting Canadians with serious affordability challenges. It speaks …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is well aware that deporting people who do not have legal status in Canada and who have violated our criminal law is a serious responsibility that we accept. It goes without saying that it is a serious responsibility to work with our police forces and the CBSA. We are also working with our partners in some provinces to ensure that we can detain anyone who poses a real th…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not want to correct my colleague, but he said that the committee adopted a motion unanimously, implying that our Liberal colleagues also adopted it. This confirms our desire to see parliamentary committees fulfill their responsibilities while respecting the independence of the Auditor General. If the Auditor General decides to investigate, the government will obviously be very ha…
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Mr. Speaker, we certainly share our colleague's concerns about the circumstances of what happened at the Laval centre on the weekend. I have asked border services to conduct an immediate review of the facility's security systems. We have tripled the number of guards on site. We have changed protocols for certain people to access certain parts of the facility. We will keep working to ensure that th…
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Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise to my colleague that the answer is neither. Many countries around the world are experiencing similar situations as the number of asylum seekers is increasing. However, we accept that we have a responsibility, by law, and in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, to ensure that certain individuals who pose a threat to Canada's public sa…
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Mr. Speaker, we are always in problem-solving mode. As my colleague knows, this system replaced a 36-year-old system that was at risk of failing across the board. It is used for assessing $40 billion in duties and taxes every year. A responsible government always tries to secure such an important system for the Canadian economy. We are addressing all the problems quickly to guarantee quick respons…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is well aware that the government does not give instructions to the Auditor General. We respect the freedom of committees to study what they want and to invite the Auditor General to look at issues that are important to Canadians. The CARM replaced a 36-year-old system that was likely to fail. We understand the concerns of businesses and the private sector. I have full c…
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Mr. Speaker, here in the House, we have repeatedly talked about the how important the work of our border services officers is. They keep our country safe, process immigration cases when necessary and prevent drugs like fentanyl from crossing our borders. CBSA officers do important work for our country every day. We have full confidence in that work. We are going to invest more to support their imp…
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Mr. Speaker, again, we obviously share our colleague's concerns. We want to support Canadian businesses and ensure that their payments are accurate and efficient. We want to avoid extra costs for these businesses. That was the point of modernizing this technology, a process, I would remind my colleagues, that began in 2010. It is not just one government that made the decision to take on this moder…
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Mr. Speaker, it is completely irresponsible to pretend that they can solve the problem by adding to the existing misinformation about the security of our border. I would ask our colleague to be more responsible before repeating slogans that I am sure his head office has forced on him. That is not in the interest of Canadians or in the interest of the Canadian economy. What is in our interest is to…
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Mr. Speaker, the safety and security of children who participate in the mother-child program is obviously a top priority for the Correctional Service of Canada. It is important to understand that this program has existed for decades, including during the time that Mr. Harper was prime minister of Canada. There are eligibility criteria and protocols to participate in this program. It includes child…
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Mr. Speaker, we have made clear, and the Prime Minister repeated it again just a few minutes ago, that we will continue to support the important work done by the women and men who work for the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We think it is unfortunate the previous Conservative government cut the money available for this important work. We have also said that we…
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Mr. Speaker, it would appear that the only plan the Conservatives have is to think up silly new rhymes in question period. What we said at the committee that the member referred to a few moments ago is something we have said for many months: We will continue to invest additional resources in the important work of the CBSA and of the RCMP. We are obviously looking at all ideas that would help stren…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not want to disagree with my friend for Edmonton—Griesbach, but the idea that we came back empty-handed is completely false. He knows very well that we had a productive discussion with Mr. Trump and his future cabinet secretaries. The Prime Minister, of course, spoke about the importance of protecting the Canadian economy and Canadian workers from tariffs. We also discussed with …
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Mr. Speaker, one of the first things in our plan was to reverse some of the draconian cuts that the previous Conservative government made to the brave women and men who work in our Canadian border services. We take the issue of border integrity and border security seriously, as do the Americans. Our discussion on Friday evening with our American friends was very much about the joint work that we c…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely correct. Imposing the tariffs that the Americans are considering will harm Canadian workers and the Canadian economy, but also the American economy and American workers. That is why we spoke with President Trump and his future secretaries about the importance of working together and recognizing the integration between our two economies. Obviously, we discuss…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, we had a very cordial and constructive conversation with our American partners on Friday evening. We talked about security at the Canada-U.S. border over the decades and the integration of Canadian police forces with their American partners. We talked, for example, about the important work that the RCMP is doing in the fight against fentanyl, which has led to drug seizures…
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