hazylavender/hi huggingface dataset:
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Elizabeth May: hearing my hon. colleague from West Vancouver--Sunshine Coast--Sea to Sky Country speak reminds me that when I speak of the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act, I really should give a shout-out to a colleague who worked in this place, the former MP for St. Margarets, Bernadette Jordan. She went on to be minister of fisheries, but when she was a private member and a backbencher, she brought forward a motion that was unanimously supported and which led to the act. On money laundering, this is one of the things that is actually in the budget implementation act. It is found at division 3 of part 4. I completely support these measures. It is long overdue to bring in measures that allow beneficial owners to be completely transparent and allow us to get at money laundering. We have been a haven. We are a hot spot for money laundering. This is not what we want to be famous for in Canada. We are the best of the best if one is a crook who has dirty money. That is not what we want, and I hope this will work in Bill C-47 .
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Julie Vignola: this budget is interesting in some respects. On the environment, however, I think my colleague and I agree. There are serious shortcomings. Let us talk about one of the investments being made, specifically in carbon capture facilities, which are currently not at all efficient. They send more GHGs into the atmosphere than they are able to capture. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on the effectiveness of these facilities and what other means could be used, such as tree planting and plant filtration, to address these challenges.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Elizabeth May: I thank my colleague from Beauport--Limoilou. It is true that the budget does not contain sufficient effective measures to fight climate change. Instead, it includes measures that will actually undermine our efforts to protect our climate. Time is running out. It is not too late, but time is running out. We need to do more.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Mark Gerretsen, Lib.): I may be mistaken, but I believe I heard the member say that Conservatives ran surpluses under Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper. That statement could be no further from the truth. As a matter of fact, between Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper, there were only two surpluses in the entire time both prime ministers were around. The first was on the heels of Paul Martin and the surplus he left for Brian Mulroney. The second came in 2015 at the expense of slashing veterans services and selling shares of GM at bargain prices. Once again I am learning a new revisionist history given to us by the Conservatives. No Conservative prime minister in the last three decades ran a surplus, with the exception of the two I just mentioned. Perhaps the member can inform the House as to where he is getting his data from. It is clearly not based on the reality of what actually happened.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Dan Muys: I think the member for Kingston and the Islands was not listening closely, as often happens. I said operating surpluses, not a surplus overall, which is true. That was articulated last Friday by my colleague from South Shore--St. Margarets . I would further note that the current government inherited a balanced budget from the previous government and has squandered it extraordinarily. We are all paying the price for that.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Denis Trudel: my colleague spoke at length about the fact that Canadian households have difficulty finding housing. That is a huge problem. He quoted the excellent study by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showing that Canada needs to build 3.5 million units of all kinds in the next 10 years. The Conservatives speak of fiscal virtue and reducing the deficit, but investments will have to be made in some areas. For example, Quebec needs 1.1 million housing units in the next 10 years. The private sector will build 500,000, but, one way or another, the government will have to participate in the construction of 600,000 more units in the next 10 years. We will have to spend on programs that work, which is not the case for the Liberals' programs at this time. The big national housing strategy provides $78 billion over 10 years. A little over 100,000 housing units have been built in five years. That is a disaster. How will the Conservatives solve this problem?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Dan Muys: of course housing is a huge need. As I cited, the fact that nine out of 10 young people and new Canadians in particular have given up on the dream of home ownership is incredibly sad in a country as rich as Canada, where for the entirety of our history, people have come to build a better life. My friend referenced statistics from the CMHC, particularly with respect to his province. I would note that our approach is to remove gatekeepers and red tape, which are adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of building homes. Thus, we can get those homes built to top up the supply for people and, obviously, increase the affordability of housing in Canada.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Richard Cannings: I want to follow up on the question about housing. The member for Flamborough--Glanbrook just squeaked in the word "affordability" at the end. The real problem with building more houses is that we are not building more affordable houses. I just had a housing round table in Penticton, and the city representative talked about how the city is building more housing units every day than it has ever built in history, but it has fewer affordable houses every day. That is because, naturally, the housing units that are being built are bought up by the people who can afford them. That will not bring prices down; it will make prices go up. Therefore, I would echo what the member for Longueuil--Saint-Hubert said, which is that we need to get the government involved in building hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Dan Muys: when there is a shortage of 3.5 million houses, we need every type and size of house, whether a single, a semi-detached, a quad or the like. I know there have been investments into affordable housing under the previous government in my home community. My predecessor announced many of those in conjunction with the members of his party in their respective ridings. Obviously, that is something we will continue.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Jenica Atwin: I thank my colleague for her speech. I am sorry, but I will be asking my question in English. It is late, and I am a little tired. The member spoke eloquently about issues facing workers and the need for anti-scab legislation. I know that our government is committed to delivering on that promise. Will the member work with us to achieve those goals and vote for that legislation when it comes to fruition?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Julie Vignola: I have been in the House since 2019. Since then, we have been saying that we will work together and collaborate on anything that is good for Quebec. If it is not good, it is not good; we will improve it, if possible. That said, there is another mammoth in the room for workers. It is a blue whale. It is EI reform, which we are still waiting on, even though the program is over 50 years old.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Lori Idlout: Uqaqtittiji , I would like to thank the member for her thoughtful intervention. I do agree with some points about the budget. One part, where the budget does not spend enough, or early enough, is on indigenous housing. It allocates $4 billion, starting in 2024, but it would be over four years and spread across Canada. Could the member share her thoughts on how we need to prioritize indigenous housing in Canada?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Julie Vignola: for years we have known that the first nations housing situation is extremely difficult and that nothing is being done. Almost nothing is being done about clean drinking water. In northern Quebec and Canada, the permafrost is melting, but nothing is being done to stop homes from sinking into the ground, although we know how to prevent this. The saddest thing is that first nations cannot even decide to build their own homes. The Indian Act requires that they receive authorization from the patriarchal federal government. There are some things that must be changed in the budget concerning the consideration that first nations and Inuit people deserve.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Greg McLean: in the budget, the debt-to-GDP ratio continues to increase because of the current government's choices. Part of the debt consists of a credit for Quebeckers' pensions. It is included in the calculation of the debt. It is a credit accruing to the government. Does my colleague believe that it is fair to include Quebeckers' pensions in the calculation of the national debt?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Julie Vignola: people in Quebec pay taxes just like those in the rest of Canada do. They also pay for the Canada pension plan. Why is that considered a debt? That is an excellent question, because the money adds up. As I was saying in my speech, there is a difference of tens of billions of dollars between the announcements that are made and the money that is actually spent. It all adds up. In less than 30 years, the fiscal imbalance will have cannibalized the budgets of the provinces, especially that of Quebec, but also those of the nine others, while Canada will have paid off all of the debts it has accumulated since 1867. That is rather outrageous. Everyone should be aware of that, and something should be done about it.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Alexandre Boulerice: I thank my colleague for speaking at length about the importance of anti-scab legislation. Yes, Quebec was a leader in that regard. Thanks to an NDP government, British Columbia also has this type of legislation. We are pleased to force the Liberals to introduce a bill in that regard. They said that they would do it in 2023. I know that, in the past, the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP have both introduced federal anti-scab bills. I am wondering why my colleague thinks the government is dragging its feet on this and why it has not already introduced such a bill. We have been waiting and waiting, but the longshoremen in her riding cannot wait any longer.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Julie Vignola: a bill has already been introduced by the Bloc Quebecois. My colleague will have to make a choice, since there are two bills on this subject. That said, I have a single phrase to offer, and it is in English, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for my colleagues: follow the money.
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Adam van Koeverden: my colleague is a keen scholar of human rights and geopolitics, and I always enjoy his speeches on those issues. I am also quite interested in progress in Africa and, like the member and all Canadians, am very dismayed by the crisis in Sudan and the great setbacks that country and the people of Sudan are experiencing right now. I am proud our government has taken a keen interest in the economy, peace and humanitarian efforts in Africa. Our Prime Minister has been to Africa more times than any previous prime minister, I believe. I have been to Africa a number of times as well, on humanitarian trips, and it really does put a keen focus on why we do international development in this country. The main reason is that we can. I ask the member what it is that is unique about the crisis in Sudan. We have seen crises similar to this one in other geopolitically unstable nations over the years. How is this one different? What are experts saying and what, from his perspective, is Canada's role in the coming days and weeks?
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Garnett Genuis: in a way, the member's question could open many different avenues for me to go down in response. We need to think about what is particular to Sudan and we also need to think about the geopolitical context. We need to think about both of those things at the same time. What is particular to Sudan is, of course, the specific circumstances I outlined. There is the fact that there are two rival military organizations fighting each other at the same time as there are the aspirations of the democracy movement in Sudan wanting peace, freedom and democracy. The particular dynamic of the two militaries is particular to that context. The wider situation is that there is Lavrov, and there are other hostile actors, looking at Sudan and trying to take advantage of the situation instead of trying to help and stand with the Sudanese people. The great advantage we have as free democracies, when we are prepared to use it, is that we can always be on the side of the people. That is what we should be focused on, not fomenting conflicts or picking sides between leaders. What does it mean to be on the side of people whose aspirations are the same? They want to live in peace. They want to live in freedom. They want to see their fundamental dignity recognized. Canada needs to be a player with a full spectrum of foreign policy tools: international development, human rights advocacy and a strong military as well. All these things are part of our capacity to be ready to respond when crises emerge.
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Julie Vignola: the situation in Sudan is certainly of great concern. What adds to the concern is that, right now, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security needs additional funds precisely so he can help people not only in Sudan, but in other parts of the world as well. A decade or so ago, there were about 15 countries that were problematic and where the situation was dangerous for the people. Now there are approximately 40. However, so far, Canada has been mum about supporting the Secretary General's actions around the world, and that is making the situation worse in Sudan in particular. Does my colleague have a comment on that?
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Garnett Genuis: the member spoke about instability in many countries around the world. I agree; we are living through a time when the world feels, and in many ways is, more unstable. There is a proliferation of conflicts. There is also a proliferation of humanitarian crises. In the midst of those challenges, we need a strong and confident Canada on the world stage. We also need to have confidence in our system and in the universal aspiration for freedom and democracy. We need to recognize that Canada can be a voice for those principles, those core ideas, those universal ideas on the world stage, and we need to work with like-minded countries to try to expand the space for those values. The best security for our freedom is the expansion of freedom. We need a foreign policy that is rooted in commitment to fundamental principles.
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Blake Desjarlais: I want to thank the hon. member for walking us through many of his opinions and facts related to what is happening in Sudan. Today, someone in my community in Edmonton Griesbach came into my office asking for help. They commented on the fact that their relative was in Sudan now and they had no answers to share with them, other than the short answers that were given by the government. In particular, if we were to find a collective solution among us today, what would be, in the member's mind, the top solution in order to ensure that folks like this person's relatives can actually find safety and security elsewhere, particularly here in Canada?
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Garnett Genuis: I think we need to hear from the government tonight. That is one of the critically important aspects of this emergency debate. We do not have a lot of time, but we have time to hear from every party, including the government. We are going to hear, I hope, more detailed updates on the work the government is trying to do to assist those who are in a very challenging situation, those with connections to Canada, as well as to support the Sudanese people in general. However, certainly for those who are Canadian citizens and those with connections to Canada, we have an obligation to facilitate evacuation, where it is necessary, for the security of those people. We all agree that the government needs to take action. I want to be fair to the government in terms of saying this is probably not one of those situations where there was a long-running expectation of something happening, but, at the same time, we need to hold the government accountable to ensure that it follows through and is able to deliver quickly on the need to assist people. As I said in my comments, there is that short-term need and there are also the long-term issues.
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Mike Morrice: my thanks to your office for granting this emergency debate and to the member for Sherwood Park--Fort Saskatchewan for his role in making sure that this happened. I would like to follow up on the question with respect to the short-term implications. Estimates from Global Affairs Canada are that there are about 1,600 Canadians in Sudan right now. Can the member for Sherwood Park--Fort Saskatchewan share more about what he has been doing? In my view, we should be working across party lines at times like these to find solutions together. What have he and the Conservative Party been doing to work with the governing party to find constructive solutions to get Canadians out?
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Garnett Genuis: I definitely agree that we need to work across party lines in cases like this and other such crises. I will say that in the opposition, we do not have the levers of government at our disposal, so it is up to the government to use the tools that are available to it in terms of eyes and ears on the ground, diplomatic staff and so forth. We are keen to play the role that we can in supporting those efforts and, indeed, in hearing updates from the government and challenging them. I look forward to hearing that update from the minister . We will certainly be asking questions of the minister about what efforts are being undertaken and what more can be done.
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Garnett Genuis: I want to thank the member for raising this issue in question period yesterday and also for highlighting the water crisis. I know that an urgent part of the crisis is access to essential supplies, including water. That has been a major challenge in light of the situation. I do think the government needs to look urgently at how it can support civil society organizations that are working to provide that urgent humanitarian assistance. Of course, there is no glossing over the fact that any such humanitarian support would have to be delivered in an extremely challenging security context. In fact, the justice committee right now is debating a bill precisely on this issue, on how we can work to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance in contexts where there are either terrorist organizations involved or the security situation makes the dynamics very difficult. The government needs to be working to provide that support that is urgently required. Water is a critical part of it. There is a very challenging context here, but we need to be doing all we can to support the people of Sudan.
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Greg McLean: the minister spoke about Canadians who are in Sudan right now who require assistance. There are also permanent residents in Canada, in my riding in particular, who have family waiting to get into Canada. They have already applied. It is a 40-month wait list for a permanent resident to get their family to join them in Canada. Would she consider expediting some of those applications so people who have family in Sudan can make sure their loved ones are safe and they have a path forward to come to Canada?
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Hon. Melanie Joly: this is a very important question. First and foremost, yesterday my colleague, the Minister of Immigration also announced very important measures regarding the Sudanese people in Canada who, of course, would not have to go back to Sudan because of what is going on right now. Of course we can provide the specifics of these measures to our colleagues. This is public information. Second, we are making sure to look at what we could do to support the Sudanese people who are affected, not only through further immigration measures that would be announced but also through humanitarian help. We will have more to say on this in the coming days. I know that my colleague, the Minister of Immigration is proactively looking at this question.
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe: emergency debates like tonight's are important because they reassure people that the government is doing its job when a crisis arises like the one we are discussing tonight. We talked about the long term. We know that Canada is not a military or economic power. However, it can play a humanitarian role and provide international development assistance. The UN asks countries like Canada to allocate 0.7% of their GDP to international development. This government is not even at 0.3%. It is doing less than Stephen Harper's government, which was at 0.33%. I am not kidding. When it comes to international development, we are falling short of what the Conservative government did from 2011 to 2015. There is a humanitarian crisis on the horizon in Sudan, and it will be very serious. Despite that, Canada is not doing its part. Will we eventually make the monetary contribution to international development that the UN is asking for? OECD countries are sitting at 0.42%. Canada is at 0.27%. How can we be worse than Stephen Harper's government when it comes to international development?
Crisis in Sudan
Date: 2023_04_25
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Hon. Melanie Joly: regarding what is happening in Sudan, it goes without saying that we will continue to support the Sudanese people. We have done so for years. We have invested in humanitarian assistance in Sudan, but of course the situation is such that we need to step up and provide additional assistance, not only to the Sudanese people, but also to the neighbouring countries that are going to be affected. We already know, for example, that hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees are currently on the borders of Chad. It is the same in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Egypt. We know that every time there is a conflict, a civil war as is the case in Sudan, that has repercussions in other countries. In short, my colleague can rest assured that, yes, we will respond to this crisis, as we have done many times before, whether it is to help people in Afghanistan or Ukraine or to help people dealing with climate change issues. We will always step up.