Christine Normandin

Mr. Speaker, finally a Liberal has realized that Bill C‑39 is a big mistake. The member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country criticized the fact that Bill C‑39 grants the power to build pipelines while violating environmental laws. He spoke out against the fact that Bill C‑39 would limit the duration of consultations, which could be detrimental and could silence indigenous voices, and he is right about that. It also looks like the Prime Minister is going too far with his big beautiful bill and rollbacks that will be felt for generations. Who on the government side will speak out against this bill?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country is right. Bill C-39 is the biggest environmental setback in recent history, but that is not all. Bill C‑39 seeks to circumvent checks and balances for the benefit of American oil companies. Bill C‑39 seeks to limit workers' rights. Most Liberals ran for office precisely to fight this kind of measure. When will they have the courage to speak out against the Prime Minister's big beautiful bill?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I will be brief, because I can already guess what your answer to my question will be. Mr. Speaker, you have previously stated that you can determine whether a question in the House is relevant, but you cannot do the same with the answer. In response to a question from the member for Barrie South—Innisfil today, the government responded by sharing the news of Anne Carson winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, which is entirely legitimate. That said, I would suggest that the appropriate time to do that would have been during Statements by Members. If you accept that it is possible to answer a question with that response, then logically, you should also accept that it is possible to do so for 39 questions, which would give the government 39 more statements. I would ask you to reflect on that.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister defended Bill C‑39 on the grounds that it does not repeal any laws. This is true. The problem is that it allows developers to circumvent laws when they have the Prime Minister's backing, as in the case of Pacific link. The laws still exist. They simply do not apply to projects selected by the Prime Minister, whose proponents can bypass impact assessments, disregard environmental laws, and proceed without first consulting experts, the provinces and indigenous peoples. Yesterday, the Prime Minister called it “efficiency”, but is it actually a Liberal two-tiered system?

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-39 is part of a pattern of serious abuse of authority by the Prime Minister. He is giving himself the power to suspend whatever laws he wants. He is giving himself the power to approve projects without consulting any experts, provinces or indigenous peoples. In addition to Bill C‑39, the Prime Minister is creating more and more new agencies to do his bidding in order to circumvent the public service. He is flouting the parliamentary process and snubbing journalists, except for the American media. In short, he is disregarding all checks and balances so that he can govern unilaterally, by decree. Is he telling us that he is the law?