Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we agree with our opposition colleague that it is important to build a strong economy in Canada. The good news is that the Conservative Party helped adopt Bill C-5, which, in fact, enabled the government to accelerate the construction of major projects, including major energy infrastructure projects like the ones our colleague just mentioned. I was in Contrecœur, near Montreal. Other …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague would remember very well the votes that happened at the end of June when we passed Bill C-5, which removed all federal barriers to interprovincial trade in Canada. He is highlighting something with which we agree: the important GDP boost of removing all these barriers. The vast majority of these barriers have always been in the hands of provinces and territories. We thou…
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Again, Mr. Speaker, our colleague has highlighted consistently one of the important challenges in having free trade across Canada. As he well knows, the regulation of the sale of alcohol is within the hands of provincial and territorial governments. However, his idea of changing section 19 of the Canada Post Corporation Act to incentivize provinces to allow it and to co-operate with the Government…
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Again, Mr. Speaker, I indicated to our colleague that we have called an urgent meeting of interprovincial trade ministers following the Prime Minister's meeting with first ministers at the end of January. That is happening in a few weeks. We are going to seek to make progress in collaboration with provinces. I would ask our colleague to note that it was Ontario and Nova Scotia, two champions for t…
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Mr. Speaker, at the risk of echoing our colleague the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, I must say that we have good news for the hon. member. This week, the Prime Minister was in India, where we signed an agreement worth over $2.5 billion for energy exports. We worked with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to approve the Bay du Nord project off the coast of that province. We als…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our colleague for his consistent work in terms of removing barriers to interprovincial trade. As he knows very well, the federal government removed all our exemptions to free trade in Canada by legislation supported by the Conservatives in June. I know he has been, and he should be, as pleased as we are that the governments of Ontario and of Nova Scotia recently signed…
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Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is focusing on what we can control: building here at home, working with allies and buying what is needed. Canada's new defence industrial strategy consists of a $500-billion investment in Canadian industry, security and prosperity. This is just as much an employment strategy as it is a defence strategy. It represents 125,000 new careers and strengthened supply…
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Mr. Speaker, as our colleague correctly pointed out, the government is committed to expanding its partnerships around the world, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. Canada and Taiwan enjoy strong economic ties and a close relationship. While remaining consistent with our long-standing one China policy, we will continue to advance Canada's interests by diversifying our trade and strengthening …
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Mr. Speaker, we are obviously very pleased with our colleague's offer to work with the government to improve Canada's economy, to ensure that we are a country that attracts historic investments from abroad and from within Canada in order to build a stronger, more resilient economy and to create jobs in all trades across Canada. I look forward to working with our hon. colleague and urge him to supp…
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps I will be allowed to add my voice to other colleagues and say how happy I am to see former prime minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa today. I had the privilege of serving in the House when Mr. Harper was Prime Minister of Canada for nine years, and it is a privilege to see him in good health and smiling in Ottawa today. With respect to supporting the auto industry, I also rememb…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is lucky. After four tries, his question was deemed in order. However, he is having some difficulty with the facts. He talks about people who are not in government and public policies that are not government policies. He knows full well that our government supports supply management and that we will not negotiate this issue with the Americans under any circumstances. Des…
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Mr. Speaker, again, on this side of the House, I remember being an opposition member of Parliament. I was very impressed with some of the quality people from Bay Street whom then prime minister Harper recruited to serve as chief of staff in his office, for example. It was not a scandal then that people with business experience could serve in the government. We are proud that this government and th…
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we want to thank our friend for his excellent conspiracy theory work. We think only the Conservatives would be shocked that quality women and men with experience in the private sector would step forward to work with a government that is going to build Canada strong and get major projects done. We are proud of the people who want to come forward and serve Cana…
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to echo my colleague in thanking Ms. Hillman for her service to Canada. I had the privilege of working very closely with Kristen over the past few months. I am very grateful for her friendship and for what she has done for Canada. I understand that the Leader of the Opposition is trying to extrapolate a series of things that are not true. He knows full well that the policies …
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Mr. Speaker, as fond as I am of my colleague from Quebec, I see that he is asking the same question his leader asked a few moments ago with a view to getting a sound bite played on Le Téléjournal this evening at 6 p.m. or later with Ms. Galipeau. He knows full well that the public policies he is referring to have never been public policies of the Liberal government and will never be public policie…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, our colleague from Quebec is giving me an opportunity to brief him. Just yesterday evening, I participated in an activity put on by the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec. I had the opportunity to speak with the vice-president of the Producteurs de lait du Québec, and we obviously talked about supply management. Yesterday evening, in Montreal, I was able to reas…
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows full well that Canadians did not trust his judgment when it came to standing up to President Trump and not signing an agreement that was in the interests of the United States. What did we do? We worked with the United States to find an agreement that will be in the interests of Canadian industries and workers. At the same time, we are taking more mea…
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Mr. Speaker, I know it is an inconvenient truth for the Leader of the Opposition that Canada, right now today, has the best deal of any trading partner of the United States, but do members know what? It is not good enough for Canadian workers and it is not good enough for Canadian businesses. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who would have signed any bad deal put in front of him, the Prime Min…
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Mr. Speaker, we want to thank our colleague in the Conservative Party for that manufactured indignation. We want to remind him and his colleagues in the Conservative Party that our government made a commitment to Canadians in the last election. It was an election campaign that perhaps they would prefer to forget. We made a commitment to build the Canadian economy the right way and to build major p…
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Mr. Speaker, as we said yesterday, just because our colleagues keeps repeating the same inaccurate phrase, that does not make it real. The Prime Minister has said that our government will always stand up for workers in the auto sector, in the steel sector, in the aluminum sector and in the forestry sector. Unlike the Conservatives, our government is not going to sign just any old deal. We are goin…
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Mr. Speaker, again, our colleagues keep repeating phrases that they know are not accurate. What is accurate is that our government has always supported the hard-working women and men who work in our steel sector in every corner of the country. We have put in place unprecedented support measures. We are prepared to continue to do more. The Prime Minister met with industry leaders in this sector las…
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Mr. Speaker, the government is actively involved with the sectors of the economy that are facing the most pressure from the unjustified 232 tariffs. This includes, obviously, auto workers. It includes workers in the steel and aluminum industries and in the softwood lumber industry. We have already taken steps to support those workers and those businesses. My colleague should be excited that there …
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Mr. Speaker, again, our colleague knows full well that the government is very interested in taking every measure step to protect the aluminum industry, the workers in that industry and the other industries that were just mentioned. He knows full well that President Trump is the one who decided to suspend the negotiations that, to us and to the American side, were on track to bringing Canada and th…
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Mr. Speaker, just because the Leader of the Opposition keeps repeating the same line over and over again, that does not make it real. The Leader of the Opposition knows very well that our government was elected to defend Canadian workers and the Canadian economy. That is exactly what we did in the budget that was tabled in the House of Commons. The opposition decided not to support Canadian worker…
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Mr. Speaker, it might be useful to remind our colleague from New Brunswick that the government had been engaged in constructive and extensive negotiations with the American administration and that we were pursuing a deal we believed would be in the interests of Canadian workers and the Canadian economy, and the Americans as well. President Trump decided to suspend those negotiations, and while he …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague knows very well that the government was elected with a mandate to diversify our trade with other countries around the world. This is an ambitious agenda that Canadians supported in the last election. Perhaps my colleague was a bit confused. Generally, that starts with the head of government taking a trip, to the United Arab Emirates for example. The good news is that we …
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Mr. Speaker, like his colleague from Fundy Royal, the member would remember very well the time he served in Prime Minister Harper's office. They were overrun with credit card spending and government cutbacks. The Conservatives pretend to be interested in things now, like the fight against crime, but they were cutting CBSA officers and underfunding the RCMP. What did they do yesterday? They voted a…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague from Bourassa for his question. We are living in a time of transformation. We are laying the groundwork for some of the most significant investments made in Canada since the Second World War. Canadians elected an ambitious government, a government that would take action to build a strong and resilient economy. In just a few moments, the House of Commons will be h…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised that our colleague remembers the last federal election so clearly. Canadians chose a government that was prepared not only to defend and support Canadian industries, but also to negotiate with the U.S. government to reach a deal that is in the best interests of Canadian workers and industries. Canadians had their say in the last election. They knew full well that th…
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Mr. Speaker, our government has no difficulty looking at the hard-working women and men who work in our auto industry and in industries across the country to say that we are fighting for their jobs, we are standing up to the Americans against unjustified tariffs and we are negotiating what we think will be agreements that will be in the best interests of Canadian workers and the Canadian economy. …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague knows very well that we are working to support auto workers and the sector in Canada. There is over 100 years of proud history of making vehicles in Canada. It is a manufacturing sector that is important to every part of the country. That is why we are not only taking measures with the Government of Ontario, partners across the country and unions to support the industry …
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague referred to apologies. Perhaps he would like to lean forward a couple of rows and suggest to his boss, the Leader of the Opposition, that he should apologize to the men and women who serve in Canada's RCMP for attacking their integrity and attacking the work they do to protect all Canadians. He should be ashamed of himself. He pretends to stand up for the police. He atta…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague has heard very well that the government will make these contracts available to the opposition. He can assert a series of fabricated conspiracy theories, but it does not make them true. What is true is that our government is supporting a proud tradition of building vehicles and cars in Canada. There is over 100 years of Canadian workers building these cars. We are going t…
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Mr. Speaker, just because our colleague, with great indignation, asserts a series of conspiracy theories does not mean they are true. What is true is that our government is standing up for Canadian workers and Canadian businesses. The Prime Minister met with President Trump in Washington two weeks ago. We have engaged in a series of conversations and negotiations precisely to get a deal that is in…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague knows very well, as my colleague, the Minister of Industry has indicated, that of course, all the information will be put before the parliamentary committee appropriately. Just because our colleagues on the other side assert some falsehood with great indignation does not make it accurate. What is accurate is that our government is standing up with the province of Ontario…
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Mr. Speaker, we understand that our Conservative colleagues on the other side of the aisle do not like to work with Premier Ford and his government. On this side of the House, we will work with all premiers of every political stripe, and groups representing workers and businesses, precisely to defend those businesses from the unjustified tariffs imposed by the American administration. We will do t…
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition had 45 minutes to think about whether he will apologize to the brave men and women of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who work to defend Canadians every single day. His attack on the integrity of the national police is totally inexcusable. Why does the Leader of the Opposition, who claims to support the police, not take a minute to apologize to the women…
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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 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, 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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