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Results: 181 - 240 of 302
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
We agree that municipalities are essential. We are working closely with them and we encourage the provinces to do the same.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Chair, let me start by saying I am aware of Irving Oil's decision and I think this is a very good step in energy self-sufficiency for our country. It's great to see Canadian energy products being refined and used here in Canada.
When it comes to pipelines, let me just point out that our government has actually bought a pipeline and I'm very pleased to report that this pipeline is being built even as we speak.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Chair, I am almost tempted not to dignify that juvenile question with an answer. Let me simply say that I believe there are a lot of eager customers for Canadian energy products. When we can get that oil to our Pacific coast, I know that people will be happy to buy it, and it will be great for all Canadians.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Chair, following the example of my colleague, let me just say that I know the member is very concerned about Canadian working people and understands that today, as we face the coronavirus, we need to be even more concerned about Canadian working people.
The member opposite would agree with members on this side of the House—and I think on the other side of the House—that workers in the oil and gas sector are particularly affected and are facing a double blow. That is why I am extremely proud of the $1.7 billion our government has committed to cleaning up orphan wells. I think this is a program we can all—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just continue my answer from the previous question, which is to say that our government's priority today is to help Canadian workers whom we know are facing a greater challenge than at any time since the Great Depression. We understand that the workers in the oil and gas sector are facing a double whammy. We also understand the importance of cleaning up Canada's environment, and I think the orphan well program is perhaps one of those rare programs that members on all sides of this House can support.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just say to the member not opposite but on this side of the House that our government absolutely agrees that all Canadians and all Canadian companies need to pay their fair share. We have committed unprecedented amounts of money to the CRA to find examples of tax fraud. Having said that, we also understand that we are facing an emergency right now, and our priority first and foremost is to take care of Canadian workers and not to punish them.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank the member for his question.
I completely agree that municipalities are still vital, especially now as we get Canada's economy going again. They are also vital when it comes to public transit.
I think every member of the House understands the conditions municipalities have to work within, and all of us should understand that municipalities are under provincial jurisdiction. The federal government is willing to work with municipalities and provinces.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I'd like to thank the member for her important question. It gives me an opportunity to point out how important our $1.7 billion for cleaning up the orphan wells has been.
This program, as we have already seen, is creating great jobs for workers in the oil and gas sector in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. These are the parts of the country that have been the most affected, and that's why we have targeted our support there.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Let me just say that I am sure the member opposite, who is a member for Alberta, is not in any way suggesting that any of the funds we have dedicated to orphan well cleanup should be taken away from Alberta and moved to any other part of the country. We will—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I think the member opposite must have a definition different from what the oil and gas sector has for what constitutes real and meaningful support, support that has reassured the industry, support that has reassured the oil sector.
Let me talk about the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and its reaction to the LEEFF financing support. It said, “Today, we welcome the federal government's action to increase access to capital and liquidity”.
These are important steps. They've increased confidence in the industry, and that's the right thing to do.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, the industry understands very well that this is significant support and that the support absolutely is coming.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, our government has long been clear in its support for Keystone XL. In fact, in 2013, before we were in government, our then future prime minister travelled to Washington to make very clear our support for that important pipeline.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I would like to thank the member opposite for her very important question. It gives me an opportunity to underscore what the Prime Minister announced earlier today, which is that our government has now agreed with our American partners to roll over for another 30 days the restrictions on non-essential travel between Canada and the United States.
The member is quite right that for ridings like hers, these restrictions are particularly important. We've worked very closely with the provinces on the border. The Premier of British Columbia was very clear that the epidemiological situation in B.C., in his view, meant that we needed to maintain those restrictions in place. I'm very glad that by working co-operatively and collaboratively with the U.S., we have been able to do that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I would like to thank the member opposite for her very important question.
Our government is absolutely aware of the essential role municipalities play every day, and particularly of the essential role they will play as we are all looking toward restarting the economy.
As the member opposite suggested, public transit is an essential part of the work municipalities do. At the FMM meeting, over the phone last week with the Prime Minister and the first ministers, the Prime Minister did discuss the need to support municipalities and for provinces to really work with the municipalities and with us to ensure that our municipalities are able to be part of a successful relaunch of the Canadian economy.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
Sorry, I was on mute.
Our government's priority is to respond to the needs of Canadians during this economic crisis, a crisis greater than any other our generation has experienced.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, our priority is to support Canadians in the deepest crisis that we have experienced since the Second World War. This is what we will continue to do.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, more than seven million Canadians have received the CERB, and I am delighted to be able to say that. Our country is experiencing the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Our government is here to help, and we are proud of that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I will give Canadians a clear answer. Of course, instances of fraud will be looked into carefully. I also want to say to the member opposite that we trust Canadians. Canadians have shown tremendous resilience, tremendous dedication to the common good in this crisis, and I trust Canadians in accessing our benefits.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, the member opposite may not appreciate, as our government does, that we are experiencing the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. That is why our government has acted, and it has acted with alacrity. We trust Canadians to do the right thing. Fraud, of course, will be investigated.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I feel, in the question periods we've had this week, that Conservatives want to have their cake and eat it too. Half of their questions are about businesses in their communities or sectors that are not receiving enough government support. The other half of their questions are about how we need more red tape to make it harder to support Canadians.
Our government knows that Canadians need support. The Conservatives—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Let me just say this: I will make no apologies for our government's approach, which has been to value speed over perfection and to be there when Canadians have needed us the most. Of course, fraud must be and will be looked into, but right now the priority is getting support to Canadians. You know what? I trust Canadians to do the right thing. I think that all members of this House should do that as well.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
My thanks to the hon. member for his question.
I completely agree that the pandemic crisis is truly very serious in Canada and very serious also in Quebec, especially in Montreal. A few days ago, I spoke with Valérie Plante, the mayor of Montreal, and I will be speaking with her again tomorrow. Our government is very involved. We are working in close collaboration with others.
At the same time as we are holding a virtual sitting of Parliament, the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces are providing their assistance to seniors in Quebec and Ontario. Let me take this opportunity to thank them.
As for health funding, we have increased the funds for the provinces and territories by $500 million in order to help them prepare to fight COVID-19. It is very important to do so.
Finally, let me assure the provinces that the federal government is here to help you in the fight against COVID-19, including the funding for that fight against COVID-19.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My thanks also to the hon. member for his question.
I must emphasize that we do understand the importance of working in close collaboration with Quebec during the crisis. In fact, that is what we are doing.
We have already increased the health transfers by $500 million, in order to help the provinces to fight the pandemic. We are ready to do more, because we understand that this is a genuine health crisis.
Let me now give an example to prove that the federal government has stepped up. The Canadian Armed Forces are in Quebec at the moment. We are working in close collaboration with Quebec on the matter of procurement, which is an extremely important problem.
We have to work together and we are going to continue to do so.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thanks for that reminder, Mr. Chair. I should also say happy birthday. Buon compleanno.
It is easy to forget to respond through the chair when we see each other so intimately on video, so no problem.
Look, I really want to thank the honourable member for that very important question. Let me assure him, through you, Mr. Chair, that our government is absolutely focused on ensuring that our support for the Canadian economy is designed to support Canadian workers. Sometimes that does mean supporting Canadian companies, but I want to assure the member opposite that we will put every measure in place that we can to ensure that this support does what it's designed to do.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Like many people who grew up in Alberta, I am very familiar with the amazingly beautiful Okanagan, but I am not personally familiar, I'm sad to say, with that canal. I can commit to the member opposite that I will raise this issue with our Minister of Infrastructure, who is working very energetically with the provinces right now to get money to shovel-ready projects.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I totally support Okanagan vineyards and orchards, but I think the member opposite will agree that it is imprudent to make a commitment without knowing all the details. What I can commit to doing is to looking into this and getting back to the honourable member.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
That's a great question, Mr. Chair. Let me just say that yesterday I had a very good conversation with the Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, who told me how glad he had been yesterday to announce a project putting to work federal support for cleaning up orphan wells and how many great jobs that was creating. It's one example of doing what the member opposite suggests, and I agree that there is always more to do.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, as the Prime Minister recently said, it is absolutely appropriate for us to look into the behaviour of all countries in the handling of this global pandemic—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
When it comes to the work of committees, let me just say that we strongly support the essential work of parliamentary committees. They are, of course, absolutely independent. We support their work, and we support their ability to call all the witnesses that they feel they need to speak to in order to best inform Canadians.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As the Prime Minister said yesterday, it is absolutely appropriate for us to be all asking questions about how different countries have behaved in a crisis, including China. Our Minister of International Development has spoken with the head of the WHO about a post-crisis review.
Let me simply say that I am personally convinced, and I think all members of this House are, that democracies will always be more transparent than authoritarian regimes.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I agree with the member opposite that our cities are absolutely essential engines of growth for our country at all times and they are going to be particularly essential as we look towards restarting our economy. If our cities can't work, none of us is going to be able to work. That is why our government has been energetically working with and talking with cities. We have been urging the cities to talk to the provincial governments and we are very keen, working with provincial governments, to find ways to support our cities.
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.
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