Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is not because my colleague talks about Ukraine that necessarily the Ukrainian government agrees with what he is saying. I think the member should look at what President Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, and the foreign minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, mentioned. They said “thank you” to Canada for the deterrence measures, including a $120-million loan, and also for extending…
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Mr. Speaker, NATO members are unanimous: We have to move forward through diplomatic channels. That is why there are three channels in place, whether it is the Americans talking with the Russians, NATO with Russia or even talks within the OSCE. That is how we ease tensions. However, we agree that there needs to be deterrence. I hope that my colleague recognizes that the government is doing a great …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. When it comes to ensuring that there is not another Russian invasion of Ukraine, of course we believe in diplomacy and deterrence. On the diplomatic front, just yesterday I spoke with officials in the Netherlands, Denmark and Latvia, and this morning I spoke with officials in Estonia. Basically, we are continuing to work with our allies to mainta…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for this very important question because on sanctions, we are really ready to impose severe economic sanctions should Russia further invade Ukraine. We are working closely with our allies: the U.S., the EU and of course the U.K. Sanctions are most effective when we all act in lockstep. Canada is ready.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. On the contrary, we hope to have the support of all members of the House regarding what is happening right now in Ukraine. We need to send Russia a strong message. Russia is currently the aggressor, and we stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. That is why we are putting an enormous amount of energy into the various diplomatic ch…
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Mr. Speaker, we are steadfast in supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Let me quote NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg. He said, “Canada is one of the lead countries in NATO when it comes to providing support for Ukraine.” He also said, “There are not many other countries at the equal level of efforts, doing as much as Canada.” We will continue to work with our NATO allies an…
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Mr. Speaker, when I was in Ukraine a week ago, President Zelenskyy had one ask. It was to make sure that we would help by offering a sovereign loan to the Ukraine government to deal with economic instability. Three days later, we provided $120 million in sovereign loans. What I heard from the national guard on site in Ukraine was that they needed more support in terms of military training. A week …
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Mr. Speaker, as mentioned before, we have already answered the call on the part of the Ukrainian government by expanding and extending Operation Unifier. I was there a week ago and met with the Canadian Armed Forces members on site, who right now come from Valcartier, in Quebec City. I saw on the ground how thankful the national guard is to Canadians for making sure that we are providing the right…
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Madam Chair, is a pleasure to see you in that seat. I am pleased to be in the House this evening to talk about an issue that is a priority for this administration, but also one that is rallying every foreign minister in the western world. The facts are simple. As we speak, there are 100,000 Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine, troops equipped with tanks and missiles, armed troops that are rea…
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Mr. Speaker, we take the allegations of genocide against the Uighur people in China very seriously. That is why we have always expressed these concerns, that is why we are not sending political representatives to the Beijing Olympics, which begin on Friday, and that is also why we have asked the UN human rights committee to investigate the matter. I would therefore like to correct my colleague, wh…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I do not agree on everything. We agree on the fact that we need to make sure that there is no further invasion of Ukraine. However, right now the most important thing we need to do is make sure that we invest in diplomacy and deterrence, and that is exactly what we are doing. Right now, we are really the country that is bridging all the other countries of the alliance…
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Mr. Speaker, what is fundamental and what I want to reiterate to my colleague is that Russia is the aggressor right now. There is no form of aggression on the part of Ukraine or any member of NATO at this time. I think we need to agree on this issue here in the House, because it is fundamental to our understanding of the conflict at the moment. I would like to point out something else. My colleagu…
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Mr. Speaker, it is not because my colleague, the Leader of the Opposition, states facts that they are necessarily true. In that sense, our actions have been clear. First, we gave $120 million in a sovereign loan. Second, we doubled the troops in Operation Unifier in Ukraine. Does he know that we have the biggest foreign military training presence in Ukraine as of now? Does he know that Canadians r…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned dialogue, and I agree. I would like to remind him of the three diplomatic channels all allies are currently using. The first is direct dialogue between the U.S. and Russia, and we are, of course, in touch with the Americans on this. The second is between NATO and Russia. As a NATO member, we are actively participating in NATO's dialogue with Russia. The third is…
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Mr. Speaker, obviously we take the threat of a further Russian invasion very seriously. That is why there are two tacks to stop Russia from further invading Ukraine. The first is the diplomatic one. That is why we are working with NATO and the U.S., and with France and Germany in the Normandy format. Also, we are working on deterrence. That is why we extended and expanded Operation Unifier. We hav…
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservative Party, especially since it made massive cuts to all missions abroad when it was in power. In the circumstances, we are showing leadership on this issue. I went to Ukraine just this week, my colleague, the Minister of National Defence, is there now, and we are working with the Ukrainian government. We are also there to tell the Russian gove…
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Mr. Speaker, as the former tourism minister, I know that this is a very important industry to Canada. I also know that we have been there to support the industry, particularly with help for its workers and also for many businesses, the small ones and the big ones, which have had access to COVID measures throughout the pandemic.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague did not talk about Line 5, but I did.
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Mr. Speaker, the U.S. knows very well that Canada is the first supplier of oil and gas and, of course, Keystone XL is a very important tool to ensure it has access to our market. We will continue to raise this issue with the administration in the U.S.
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Mr. Speaker, we will always be there to fight for the national interest and work with our workers in the oil and gas sector. I hope my colleague was able to convey the importance of our auto sector while he was in Washington, because that was the goal of our mission there.
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Mr. Speaker, the premise of the question is false. Many people in United States Congress and within the executive branch, particularly the White House and the different state and trade departments, are very much aware of the issue of electric vehicles.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague can count on the fact that we have a strong team Canada approach within cabinet, but also the Prime Minister is very much on this issue.
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned to my colleague, should there be a trade irritant that violates CUSMA, we will take necessary action.
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Mr. Speaker, we will always be there to raise any form of trade irritants with the United States and with any other countries with which we have free trade agreements. That is also exactly why we have a mechanism that is very important in CUSMA, which is about settlement dispute mechanisms, which the Conservatives were against.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Innovation is in Detroit right now to talk about just that. We believe that we need to invest in critical elements and we need to make it part of our industrial policy.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not here to comment on hypotheses. I am here to ensure that I answer clear questions from my colleagues. I want to reassure the member that when it comes to a relationship with the United States, we want to work with the opposition, all the opposition, because it is important that we have a team Canada approach.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague can trust the government when it comes to negotiating with the United States. Also, he can trust that we have a good deal in CUSMA. That is exactly why we know that our farmers can count on having important access to the American and Mexican markets.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows that we will always be there to defend our entrepreneurs and our workers. We know that when it comes to the U.S., many jobs on the U.S. side and on the Canadian side of the border are dependent on this relationship. That is why we want to make sure that we have a good relationship, but at the same time that we defend our interests.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a very important industry, and we will always be there to make sure that we work with the workers and the entrepreneurs in the sector.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has been on this. It is important that we work with farmers in P.E.I., and that is what she has been doing. We are working right now on many solutions, but we will always fight for our farmers in P.E.I. We know that the potato industry is important and we have the industry's back.
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Mr. Speaker, we will not take any lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to trade with the U.S. The member should talk to the Leader of the Opposition, his boss, regarding the fact that during the CUSMA negotiations, he himself wanted to capitulate. We were there and we fought strongly for our own national interests and our industries and we were able to make a good deal for Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, I refuse to accept the premise of the question. Of course we have an independent foreign policy and are very proud of it.
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Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's concern regarding potatoes in P.E.I. We know it is a very important industry. That is why I have been in contact with the premier on this very question. Also, the Prime Minister raised it with President Biden when we were in the Oval Office two weeks ago.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade always raises important questions. She has been on this, as has the deputy minister. It was clearly part of the negotiations of CUSMA that we were able to make sure that we were fighting for it.
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Madam Chair, workers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and across Canada will have our support when it comes to their natural resources sector, particularly the oil and gas sector. We also know that Canada is the single-largest supplier of energy to the United States, and we always remind our friends in the U.S. of that.
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Madam Chair, I share my colleague's concerns regarding the next winter Olympics. We were informed by the United States yesterday about its decision to not send any diplomats to Beijing. We will continue to engage with our allies and like-minded countries on this issue. I know my colleague shares my point of view in terms of ensuring that our athletes can attend, but obviously we are still in discu…
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Madam Chair, let me start by saying that we are very happy that the two Michaels, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, are back home. I would like to thank everybody who was involved in ensuring we were able to get them released, including Ambassador Barton, the Prime Minister and many of our colleagues in the House.
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Madam Chair, every time we meet our colleagues and friends in the U.S., we mention our national interests, and obviously we raised the question of Line 5, which is key to ensuring we can get our product to markets, including in the U.S.
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Madam Chair, my colleague is right that this issue was raised by congresswomen and congressmen in the U.S., and I had the chance to have a conversation with the Prime Minister directly about it. I know it is very important. It is dear to me as well, and we are working on solutions.
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Madam Chair, obviously what is happening right now in Ukraine is very important. We know there is a Russian military buildup on the border of Ukraine, and that is why I raised this very issue with my colleagues at NATO and the OSCE, including Ukraine's foreign affairs minister, my counterpart in the U.S. and my Russian counterpart. We take allegations very seriously and want to make sure that we d…
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Madam Chair, obviously we want to make sure that we are able to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees. My deputy had the chance to go to the region, including to Qatar, Kuwait and Pakistan, to find ways to partner with these countries to resettle the 40,000 refugees I just mentioned.
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Madam Chair, we know that workers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and across Canada will have our support when it comes to our natural resources sector, including the oil and gas sector, and it is always a priority for the government when talking with our friends, the Americans.
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Mr. Speaker, of course we want to learn what happened in Afghanistan. We also want to make sure the future Afghanistan is better than it is right now, and that is why we are continuing to follow the situation in Afghanistan very closely. We are very preoccupied with the situation of Afghans, particularly women and girls who are right now in Afghanistan. It is why I have raised the issue with all m…
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague has not raised it yet, but the question of Line 5 is also very important. That is why we have started negotiations with the United States under the 1977 treaty.
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Mr. Speaker, I have no lessons to learn from my colleague when it comes to playing partisan politics, because that is exactly what the Conservatives are doing right now. That being said, we definitely need to learn from what happened in Afghanistan. As a government, we must do that. We are prepared to work with the opposition, but other countries have to do this as well. We are also working within…
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Mr. Speaker, the Afghanistan issue is indeed very important. Of course, Canada served alongside many of our NATO allies in Afghanistan, and we were supported by many Afghans on the ground, which is why we decided to honour that Afghan commitment to Canada by bringing 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. We have now taken in almost 5,000, and we are one of the countries that has received the most Afgh…
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Of course, we can also be proud that we will be resettling many of the NATO-linked refugees. Flights are arriving as we speak.
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Mr. Speaker, of course the question of Afghanistan is important. It is important to our government, and it is important to all Canadians. I just came back from NATO and the OSCE, where I had the chance to meet with many of my counterparts to look at the lessons learned regarding what happened in Afghanistan. We can be extremely proud of being one of the countries that will be resettling the most A…
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Madam Chair, people watching us right now must know that the government is there for the softwood lumber jobs and we will continue to fight for them.
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Madam Chair, my colleague should also remember what her leader said during the CUSMA negotiations. They wanted to capitulate. We were able to have a strong view and that is why we are able to fight for the jobs right now.
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