Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, our government is taking the issue of foreign interference in Canada's democratic institutions very seriously. As my colleague heard, our government has taken unprecedented steps since we formed the government in 2015 to put in place a series of measures precisely to provide greater transparency and understanding to Canadians on a threat that has existed for well more than 13 years, w…
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that our government has been very transparent about our efforts to counter foreign interference in our elections and our democratic system. We look forward to working with all parliamentarians in the House of Commons and the Senate. That is exactly why we created, for example, a parliamentary committee to study these and other issues and to report to Canadians. We created in…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that this should be a non-partisan issue, because we all have an interest in protecting and strengthening our democratic institutions. Our government has introduced a series of robust measures that were assessed by independent experts following the last two federal elections. The good news is that we are always looking for additional measures that we can…
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Mr. Speaker, just because the Leader of the Opposition keeps insisting on a falsehood does not make it real. He knows very well that our government took unprecedented steps to deal with this issue, because we take it seriously: a panel of senior public servants, chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council; setting up in law the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, includ…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that we must work together, as parliamentarians, precisely to counter foreign interference in our democratic institutions. My colleague knows this very well because she sits on the parliamentary committee. I look forward to seeing her when I attend on Thursday. We have been transparent with parliamentarians, but we have also introduced important measures…
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Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise to you that I disagree with the opposition leader's false claims that the government did nothing. As soon as we came to power, we took action against foreign interference in our elections. Ours is the only government ever to have done so. When my friend, the opposition leader, was the minister responsible for democratic institutions, he did nothing when int…
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Mr. Speaker, we take the issue of foreign interference in Canada's electoral system, any foreign interference, very seriously. That is why when we formed government, we took a number of unprecedented steps that did not exist when my friend was a minister in the previous government. We created the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians precisely so that parliamentarians fr…
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition was the minister responsible for democratic reform in the previous Conservative government. In 2013, CSIS identified foreign interference as a challenge in the electoral context. Mr. Harper's former national security advisor raised this publicly in 2010, 13 years ago. When my hon. friend was the minister responsible for this very file, he did absolutely no…
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague, the Minister of Health, said, all Canadians are deeply concerned about this issue. We share that concern with all Canadians, including Quebeckers. We have had important conversations with first ministers and ministers of health from across the country. This evening, I am meeting with the Premier of Nova Scotia. Tomorrow, I am meeting with the Premier of British Columb…
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Mr. Speaker, I think my hon. colleague understands the importance our government places on the appropriate investments in the Toronto waterfront. We have a history of collaborating with both the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto. I am happy to tell my colleague that I had a chance to meet with senior executives and board members of Waterfront Toronto in December. I have had conversations…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague has a lot of parliamentary experience. He knows that the Government of Canada's position has not changed. We have always expressed concerns about the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause. My hon. colleague mentioned the last word. This should not be the first word. It should be the last resort. We accept and understand the purpose of the notwithstanding clau…
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Mr. Speaker, I think all members recognize the extraordinary work done by our colleague in Toronto. When transit is accessible, easy to use and on time, more Canadians will use it. The investments our government is making in transit are making it more reliable, safer to use and more able to keep up with the increased ridership and population over time. That is why I was happy to announce the $1.5-…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague heard the Minister of Health's answer about the major investments our government has made in the health care system. That is good news. As everyone knows, we are prepared to make more investments across Canada. We know Canadians are worried about the public health care system. We are in talks at several levels with the provinces and territories. We will find our way to an…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the NDP for his important question. We obviously share his concerns about the issues we are seeing in the public health care system across Canada. He talked about the difficulties in children's hospitals. The shortage of health care professionals is an important issue, and it is exactly what we are discussing with the premiers and the ministers of health. We are …
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, as my hon. colleague is well aware, to say that we are not prepared to increase health transfers is not true. We have been very clear. We will work with the provinces to increase federal transfers to the provinces, which are responsible for managing their health care systems. We recognize that. We are simply asking to have a transparent discussion with the provin…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been very transparent, as have all ministers in the government. Before the Conservatives were even interested in the real threat that foreign interference presents, the government took action. We took action in 2019. We renewed that action in 2021. We had a group of experts chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council to examine these issues and assure Canadians th…
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Mr. Speaker, as I said several times, and as the Minister of Public Safety and the Prime Minister also said, we take the threat of foreign interference very seriously. Obviously, we are on the job to protect the democratic institutions that are so important for Canada. The good news is that that is exactly what our government did. Despite all the efforts of the conspiracy theorists opposite, I can…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that the government has been very transparent. My colleague across the way is referring to documents that a House committee has requested. The good news is that there is a committee of parliamentarians specifically tasked with looking at these kinds of intelligence and national security issues. I invite my colleague to ensure, as will we, that this committ…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that all the criteria were properly met. We respected the rights of all Canadians in an important process. We also thought it was a good idea, when we established the criteria with the Rouleau commission, to ask the commission for suggestions and opinions on the possibility of modernizing the Emergencies Act, to listen to the experts. That is why we are lo…
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Mr. Speaker, I respect my colleague opposite, but no matter how many times he says something that is not true, he cannot make it true. Nothing our government did suspended Canadians' rights. We made an important decision in order to protect Canada's economy and keep Canadians safe. We were transparent at every stage of the decision-making process, including before the commission last week, and we …
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is an experienced member of the House and he sat in cabinet. He would know that ministers do not answer questions on details of specific police investigations in the House of Commons. What governments do is put in place the appropriate processes to ensure that our democratic institutions are protected from foreign interference, a concern that all members of the House shar…
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Mr. Speaker, we obviously share the concern of all members of the House about the importance of protecting Canadian democracy from any foreign interference, and we know that authoritarian regimes around the world have attacked other western democracies for many reasons and for many years. That is why we thought it was important to take all steps necessary to protect our democratic institutions. As…
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Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has said very clearly, and as my colleague, the Minister of Public Safety, has repeated, our government put in place an independent process of experts chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council, something the previous Conservative government had not thought important enough to do. That group of experts chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council, which included the …
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Mr. Speaker, we obviously share our colleague's belief that it is important to protect the electoral system and the integrity of our elections. That is why the government took action several years ago by creating a committee chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council and with intelligence experts to ensure that Canada's elections are free and open. That is exactly what this group confirmed in 2019 …
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Mr. Speaker, I will describe the precedent we have set. It is a precedent of transparency, a precedent of rigour, a precedent that protected Canadians' lives and the Canadian economy during a difficult time. Yes, we invoked the Emergencies Act in a focused, balanced manner for nine days. It addressed a situation involving a national emergency that threatened Canadians from coast to coast to coast,…
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Mr. Speaker, I testified. As I know that my colleague was very interested, I testified before the commission along with the Minister of Public Safety on Tuesday. I spoke in French. I answered in French to questions asked in English. The government was there. We answered the lawyers' and Justice Rouleau's questions, and we are proud of the testimony and the evidence that we provided on behalf of th…
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Mr. Speaker, our government shares the concerns of all Canadians. As my colleague knows, in order to ensure that elections in Canada are free, open and democratic, we created a body in 2019 that the previous Harper government failed to create. It is a panel of experts chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council, and its job is to ensure that elections are free and democratic. If the members of that …
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Mr. Speaker, my friend across the aisle knows very well that our government took historic steps, because we take this issue very seriously, to put in place, in 2019, the critical incident panel chaired by national security experts and involving the Clerk of the Privy Council. This group of independent experts reviewed, during an election period, any allegations of this sort. If it meets the thresh…
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Mr. Speaker, it worries me that my colleagues from Quebec seems to disagree with the idea of helping all Canadians, including Quebeckers, adapt their infrastructure to handle climate change. After hurricane Fiona hit the Magdalen Islands, my colleague, the Minister of National Revenue, witnessed the resulting difficulties first-hand. We will set up programs to help Quebec's municipalities, Quebeck…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the discussion my colleague and I had in terms of making the Infrastructure Bank more responsive to indigenous communities and to the fight against climate change. That is exactly what our government is doing. Our adaptation strategy is designed specifically to support communities like hers that are vulnerable from these extreme weather events. My colleagues made an impor…
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Mr. Speaker, again, I have good news for my colleague. We will not have to say these things that my colleague claims to be true. What we are going to do is work with the Government of Quebec in partnership with the municipalities and public transit services. I had a very constructive and positive discussion with the mayor of Quebec City. For example, we are going to share the excess costs of the t…
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Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise that we do not share my hon. colleague's view that we are being unfair to Quebec municipalities and the Quebec government. I know he will not be happy to hear this, but I can tell him that I had a very positive discussion with the Quebec minister responsible for infrastructure and with my counterpart, the minister responsible for Canadian relations. I am qu…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not share my Bloc colleague's pessimism. As my colleague the Minister of Canadian Heritage has said in this place several times, and rightly so, the member is desperate to pick a fight. The good news is that we are trying to work collaboratively. In the nine other Canadian provinces, we have found the right way to invest this money together with the provinces, and we will do exac…
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Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating my colleague on her appointment as the infrastructure critic for the official opposition. I obviously look forward to working with her on these important issues. We have a fundamental difference with respect to the Conservative Party. They did not believe there was a role for the Infrastructure Bank in helping bring access to private capital and institut…
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Mr. Speaker, we are very appreciative of the focus of the Conservative Party on foreign interference in Canadian elections because it is something we have been concerned about for a long time. The Conservatives have recently decided that this is an important issue, and there is good news. Our government set up a critical incident election protocol, chaired by the Clerk of the Privy Council with th…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think we need a lecture about starting fights from the Bloc Québécois, which is always spoiling for a fight. I know that my colleague, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, has often pointed that out. I am ready to do so myself. I have good news for my Bloc colleague. A week ago, I had a really great meeting with the Mayor of Quebec City and the provincial infrastructure ministe…
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Mr. Speaker, I hope it does not surprise the member that I am happy to speak for the government House leader on this issue. As members know, our government and the Prime Minister, in particular, have made very significant efforts to encourage young people to be involved in our parliamentary democracy. Our government has constantly taken steps to ensure that our democracy is open and inclusive for …
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to confirm for our colleague what the Minister of National Defence said early this morning, and that is that every request from the Government of Nova Scotia for military assistance has been responded to positively. We have said yes to all of the requests from provincial authorities for military assistance. The good news for my colleague is that we will continue to do exact…
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Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes. The government of Canada will always be there to rebuild better any infrastructure it is responsible for. Furthermore, we will work with stakeholders, the fishing industry, the provinces and municipalities to make sure we go even further and rebuild public and economic infrastructures essential to these communities, including in the Magdalen Islands and across Atlan…
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Mr. Speaker, as our colleague from Cumberland—Colchester knows, the Prime Minister is currently in Nova Scotia and is visiting Prince Edward Island today as well. I have had very constructive and positive conversations with Premier Houston and the other Atlantic premiers. We can be very clear. The Government of Canada will be there not only to support the residents of the area who were hard hit, b…
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Mr. Speaker, as colleagues know, the scale of the storm witnessed in Atlantic Canada this past weekend was unprecedented. As we have said, our government stands ready to support provinces and all Canadians during this difficult time. My colleagues and I are, of course, working closely with local and provincial governments as well as indigenous governments to respond to the needs of impacted people…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I can assure him that that is exactly the kind of conversation we are already having with the premiers of the Atlantic provinces and the Government of Quebec. We are using a model the Prime Minister introduced with Premier Horgan in British Columbia. The idea is to expedite applications for federal assistance to make sure that reconstruction happ…
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Mr. Speaker, we agree with our hon. colleague that the Atlantic provinces and eastern Quebec need help now, and that is exactly what we are delivering to the communities and people affected. I can tell my hon. friend that I spoke with the four Atlantic premiers again this morning. We have an ongoing and active conversation, as do all of my colleagues. Every request that they make of our government…
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Mr. Speaker, on Friday, we announced over $29 million in joint funding with Quebec for five sports and recreation projects in the Nord-du-Québec region. Five indigenous communities in Nord-du-Québec will soon have access to high-quality, modern, accessible facilities where residents can come together and enjoy their favourite activities. We are always happy to invest in these types of projects acr…
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Madam Speaker, far from wanting to silence the official opposition, we are actually trying to help the members have an opportunity to vote on this legislation. We are trying to help them out of the dead end they found themselves in last evening, as our friend for New Westminster—Burnaby pointed out, where they were using a series of absolutely ridiculous measures to ensure that the House was votin…
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Madam Speaker, I hope our colleague was not asking you when you will represent Canadians, because I think not only that you represent very well the people of your great Quebec constituency, but also that you represent all Canadians when you sit in that chair. I cannot imagine my colleague would be casting that aspersion on you because that would be inappropriate. There is a level of manufactured i…
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Madam Speaker, our colleague from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford reinforced the unfortunate circumstance at the joint committee looking at medical assistance in dying. I entirely associate myself with his view on the inability of those witnesses to be heard on an issue as important to Canadians and as sensitive as medical assistance in dying. This is exactly what the House of Commons should not do. If …
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Madam Speaker, I disagree with our colleague from Montcalm when he says that democracy happens in the streets. I do not share his pessimism. However, I appreciate the fact that he mentioned what happened last night. The repeated calls for votes showed a lack of respect for our colleagues who sit on House of Commons committees. I am thinking in particular of the Special Joint Committee on Physician…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank our colleague for New Westminster—Burnaby for his comments and his question. As colleagues know, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby is a senior member of the House. He has served the Province of British Columbia and the citizens of New Westminster—Burnaby well for a long time. I had the privilege to work with him when I was an opposition House leader, and when we…
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