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Results: 331 - 360 of 420
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I speak with the cities very often, in fact I have been speaking with them a lot over the last few days, and let me tell you what I tell them. What I tell them is they are absolutely essential to our country, to our economy and to our restart. Cities, of course, fall under provincial jurisdiction. Having said that, our federal government is ready and willing to work with the provinces to support our cities.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just remind Canadians and the member opposite, Mr. Chair, that our government has made unprecedented investments in cities, unprecedented investments in public transit. It is something we believe in very strongly. I agree with the member opposite that having public transit up and running will be absolutely essential to the restart. I have been speaking, just over the past 24 hours, with Canadian mayors and premiers. We believe that we need to work together to support our cities to keep them going, and that is what we will do.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, what I will commit to do is to work with our cities, to work with our provinces, to ensure that our cities are able to be the essential part of the reopening of our economy that they need to be.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me start by saying that, when it comes to the Canada-U.S. border, decisions about our border will be taken by Canadians in the interests of Canadians. We are taking a cautious and prudent approach. Canadians have made huge sacrifices in fighting the coronavirus. We respect those sacrifices. We will not squander the gains we have made.
We are very aware of the particular concerns of British Columbia. In fact, just yesterday, I spoke with the premier of B.C.—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, Ambassador Barton is an excellent representative of Canada in China, and he is a member of our government and very much shares and helps to formulate our government's policy when it comes to China. Ambassador Barton, of course, shares our government's view that a post-crisis review is absolutely necessary.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, we are working very closely with our provincial partners on the reopening.
I am pleased that we were able to publish, on Tuesday, April 28, shared guidelines on the reopening, which were supported by the Prime Minister and all of the premiers of the provinces and territories—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, as I was saying in my answer to the first question, the question of coordinating national and provincial parks is a very good one. That is something we are definitely working on.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the member opposite for his view that we need to be cautious and prudent and put the health and safety of Canadians first. That is very much the view of our government as well.
When it comes to international borders, the health and safety of Canadians is absolutely the first criterion we are going to look at. Of course, we will be looking at the situation with coronavirus—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank the member for his question and for his very collaborative approach with our government on a number of issues. I would like to thank him for this particular question and his particular reference to methane, because it gives me an opportunity to highlight some very important progress that the federal government made this week in working with the Province of Alberta.
Just yesterday Alberta joined B.C. and Saskatchewan and published its own draft regulations on methane. This will allow us, in working with Alberta, to work on equivalency on methane, which will allow us to work towards standing down the federal system in those jurisdictions. This is tremendously important, because it will allow us to cut methane emissions by 45% by 2025. It's hugely important for fighting climate change together.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, let me challenge one assumption implicit in the honourable member's question, the assumption that our government fails to understand the importance of the oil and gas sector to our economy. Let me quote some leaders from Alberta and their response to the lease program.
Tim McMillan, CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said, “I think this is essential. Not all companies are going to need to tap into this sort of liquidity...but some that are normally high-quality, stable companies likely will be looking for this program to provide a certain amount of liquidity for them.”
CAPP understands that we are supporting Canadian companies, including in the oil and gas sector, and I would urge the members opposite to understand that as well.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me assure the honourable member that, first and foremost, all decisions about Canada's border are taken by Canadians and with the health and safety of Canadians first and foremost in mind. When it comes to the current agreement's coming up next week, we are in very close conversations with Americans about next steps.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just be clear that I didn't speak about any changes; I spoke about a very collaborative conversation with our American neighbours about next steps.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I found during the NAFTA negotiations that negotiations are best not conducted in public, but let me just assure Canadians that the health and safety of Canadians is first and foremost. Our government is taking a cautious approach, and we're working effectively.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just say that I think the honourable member was actually seeking to know what exactly is being discussed with our American partners. Let me just say that we are taking a very cautious approach to the health and safety of Canadians. A very collaborative discussion is happening.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I'm not sure what the member is alluding to, but let me just say that the current arrangements are working extremely well. Non-essential travel is down very sharply. Essential travel, particularly for trade, continues, and that's a good thing, too.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just emphasize to the honourable member that on a couple of occasions he has implied that a loosening of the current restrictions is being discussed. Let me be very clear that this is his assertion; I have not said that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I can assure you that dairy producers will receive fair compensation.
I should also point out that we preserved supply management when negotiating the new NAFTA. That is important to Canada and Quebec, and I'm very pleased that we were able to do that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank the member for his question.
I fully understand, as we all do, the important role processors play in our system and our country. I can assure the members of the House that we will continue to work with Canadian processors as the agreement comes into force.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me please inform the honourable member that we are, of course, aware that the current agreement expires. I had a long conversation yesterday with the Prime Minister—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Yes, absolutely. Our government is wholly committed to restarting the economy, and we are working closely with the provinces to do just that.
Last week, our government, together with the provincial and territorial premiers, [Technical difficulty—Editor] released the principles that will guide efforts to restore economic activity across the country. That is key. The discussion between the Prime Minister and the premiers is continuing today.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, between the outbreak of war in September 1939 and the allied victory in Europe on May 8, 1945, more than one million Canadians served in our country's armed forces. More than 43,000 lives were lost. In the liberation of the Netherlands, which we also commemorate this week, 7,600 Canadians perished over the course of a brutal nine-month campaign. The scale of their generation's sacrifice can be difficult to comprehend, for this was a time when Canada's population was only 12 million—think about that—yet they shouldered their burden and they carried it without complaint until the job was done and they could come home and resume their lives, those who were able to come home.
In so doing they laid the foundation not only for seven decades of postwar peace and prosperity but also for a new generation of immigrants from across the European continent and, in time, from around the world, who built new lives in Canada, and who built Canada itself.
For them, our country represented peace and a refuge from crisis and turmoil. Then, as now, Canada held the promise of a better, more peaceful and more prosperous future. What better and more enduring example is there of Canada's importance in the world?
The tens of thousands of patriotic men and women who enlisted to serve their country during the darkest days of war in the early 1940s could not have known that, in the end, the allies would be victorious.
They could not have known that on a sunny day in May long years later, Canadian soldiers would be greeted as heroes by throngs of overjoyed men, women and children in the streets of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague. They knew only that they had a moral obligation to serve, one shared by the six brave Canadians who tragically lost their lives a week ago while serving in Operation Reassurance.
Mr. Chair, as we mark the liberation of the Netherlands and Victory in Europe Day, we honour all these great Canadians. We honour their toughness, their moral fibre and their resolve, which changed the course of history. We honour their sacrifice.
For the Canadians who went to the front lines and served in the Second World War not only defeated the forces of fascism, authoritarianism and oppression. They built a better world. They built transatlantic alliances that protect us to this day and formed bonds that enhance our prosperity.
When Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands addressed this House in 2018, he spoke of the enduring friendship between our two countries, a friendship forged during the war through the extraordinary actions of ordinary Canadians. Our soldiers liberated the cities from Nazi occupation and, to this day, the children who hailed them in the streets remember them still. Seventy-five years later, they continue to tend to the graves of our fallen soldiers. Their children and grandchildren lay flowers at the feet of monuments dedicated to the memory of our Canadian heroes.
It has been 75 years since our parents, our grandparents and our great-grandparents, the greatest generation, stepped up to do their part to build a more prosperous, secure and free world. As our Minister of Veterans Affairs put it, many sacrificed their future to liberate people who had suffered for years under brutal occupation. They left behind family, friends, children, parents and communities, people who loved them. My grandfather, Wilbur Freeland, and his two brothers, Carleton and Warren, were among those volunteers. Carleton and Wilbur came home. Warren did not.
Today, as our country faces a new battle against a pandemic that knows no borders, I cannot think of a better example to follow, and I cannot think of a better reason to serve.
For the last surviving members of the greatest generation, our elders are now the generation most in need of our protection from the COVID-19 pandemic. They look to us to do what is right, responsible and just, however hard that might be. They look to us to forgo, for now, the comforts and pleasures of gatherings and ordinary social interaction. They look to us to follow the advice of public health professionals to wash our hands, to avoid non-essential travel and to stay home as much as possible for as long as necessary.
I actually think it is very simple. We owe it to the generation of Canadians who won that great victory in Europe, and who built the peace that followed, to do whatever is in our power to keep them safe. We owe it to generations to come, our own children and grandchildren, to bequeath to them a country that is more prosperous, more free and more secure than the one we ourselves inherited.
They did their part. Now we must do ours.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, we agree that small businesses are essential for the Canadian economy. That is why our government has implemented an economic program that is without precedent in Canadian history. We have done so to help all Canadians, including workers and businesses. We have specifically helped businesses to pay salaries. Small businesses can access loans of $40,000.
As for rent…
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, let me start by challenging the notion that our economic support has been in any way cold-hearted. I think all the members of this House really, really feel for Canadians. We know that this is an unprecedented time, without parallel since the Second World War, and I think all of us are working hard to support Canadians and Canadian companies.
Our economic support right now is at 11% of GDP. That is a lot of money going into the Canadian economy, and that is great. When it comes to flexibility for the support for small businesses, we have made some tweaks along the way—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, the government is not slowing down the production of Canadian-made PPE. I, in fact, agree with the member opposite that the fact that Canada has preserved a strong manufacturing base, the fact that Canada's outstanding patriotic manufacturers are stepping up to support us, is fantastic. We are working so closely with those manufacturers. We are proud of their work.
I spoke last night to the CEO of Thornhill Medical in my own riding. They are making ventilators right now and have started to deliver them to Canada.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
The government will commit to doing everything necessary to support Canadians, Quebeckers and the Canadian economy. It's impossible to predict today what exactly is going to happen with the coronavirus, but the Government of Canada will be there to support Canadians. We've already done a lot. Eleven per cent of GDP is a lot, and we will do everything necessary going forward.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, my answer is twofold.
First, the member is right to say that the seasonal nature of the fisheries and tourism sectors makes them unique. We agree that has to be taken into account.
Second, I want to point out that we have already invested $675 million in our six regional development agencies, and we made such a large investment because the agencies provide assistance to fishing and tourism businesses in the regions.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I will simply say that fisheries, including the lobster fishery, are a special case, and we are working on it.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, no Canadian worker ever should feel compelled to work in dangerous conditions. That is particularly true today, when we know that conditions are particularly dangerous. This government will never do anything with our programs to force workers to make that kind of choice.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, the member opposite is quite right about where the federal government has particular authority in food processing, which is to guarantee the safety of the foods processed there for Canadians to eat. I think all members know that it is the provinces who are responsible for public health and for delivering health care. They are doing a fantastic job, and we are collaborating closely with them.
When it comes to Cargill and food processing, I agree with the member opposite that it's something we all need to be particularly concerned about, and we have been.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I think we all understand that there is a very clear difference between the duty to inspect food that is produced and ensure that this food is safe for Canadians, and the equally sacred, or I would say even more sacred, duty to ensure that workers are working in safe conditions. We take both of those extremely seriously, and we are aware what falls specifically in our jurisdiction. Having said that, we care very much about all Canadian workers. I think all of us are so grateful for the essential workers working in Canadian food processing. We have a shared responsibility to keep them safe.
Results: 331 - 360 of 420 | Page: 12 of 14

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