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Results: 1 - 30 of 1564
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I will start with what matters most to me and to our government. No woman should be sexually harassed at work. No woman in the Canadian Armed Forces should be sexually harassed while serving her country. We must change the toxic culture in the Canadian Armed Forces, and we will do just that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I want to start with what is most important to me and our government, which is that no woman should be sexually harassed in Canada. That is particularly true when it comes to Canada's brave women in uniform. To those women I would like to say directly that there is clearly a toxic culture in our armed forces and that must change. Our government has full confidence in our Minister of National Defence.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our Minister of National Defence is an inspirational trailblazer and we are proud to have him on our team. I would like to share with the House and Canadians some examples of the minister's work that I saw first-hand as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He defended Canada's national interests during the Trump administration in the face of charges that our steel and aluminum tariffs posed a national security threat. We worked together at NATO to pledge Canada's support for the Baltic states, for Ukraine and to build the training mission in Iraq. This is the track record of our Minister of National Defence.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government has a lot of respect for the House of Commons. We understand that the House and its committees have a job to do and should have all the information they need to do that job. I can assure the Leader of the Opposition that national security is a priority for our government.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House who is going too far. It is the Conservatives who are going too far with their partisan games and thereby threatening Canada's economic recovery.
Canadians need the wage subsidy and the rent subsidy to be extended until the end of September. Our government wants to do that, but Conservative partisan delaying tactics are stopping us from passing the budget, and that irresponsible Conservative behaviour is the biggest threat to Canadians' well-being today.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, yet again, it is the Conservatives who, for reasons I cannot understand, seem hell-bent on hurting hard-working Canadians. They are hurting Canadians by depriving them of the income and business supports they so urgently need. They are hurting Canadians by depriving the provinces and territories of $5 billion to support the vaccination campaign and our health care systems that are working so hard to protect us.
It is time for the Conservatives to stop posturing and to support the budget so we can support Canadians.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the biggest threat to Canada's economic recovery is the Conservatives' partisan games. The Conservatives' tactics are preventing us from passing the budget, and this irresponsible behaviour is jeopardizing the well-being of each and every Canadian.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we understand and I understand very well the serious threat posed by the Conservatives' tactics. Canada is currently in the process of reopening its economy and building a strong economic recovery. To do so, however, Canadians and Canadian businesses need the support of our budget. It is the Conservatives who are preventing us from supporting Canadians, and they need to stop.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I will say that the Conservatives' partisan games are the biggest threat to Canada's recovery right now. Conservative tactics are preventing us from passing the budget. This irresponsible behaviour threatens the well-being of every Canadian.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what poses the single greatest threat to Canada's economic recovery today: Conservative partisan games. Canadians need the wage subsidy, the rent subsidy and income support to be extended until the end of September. Our government wants to do that, but the Conservatives' partisan delaying tactics are stopping us from passing the budget and that irresponsible behaviour threatens the well-being of every single Canadian.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, it is utterly hypocritical for the Conservatives to even pretend to be concerned about Canadians and the Canadian economy. The single biggest threat the Canadian economy faces today is Conservative partisanship, which is blocking our budget. Conservatives are blocking the extension of the wage subsidy, rent subsidy and income supports. Canada is ready to come roaring back. We just need Conservatives to get out of the way.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, if the opposition refuses to pass the budget bill, key COVID‑19 measures will end. The wage subsidy, the rent subsidy and the Canada recovery benefit will no longer be available.
If the NDP thinks that Canadians no longer need these supports then it should be honest and just say so.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I question why the leader of the NDP is stopping our government from extending the CRB. We agreed that Canadian workers need additional support over the summer as the Canadian economy comes roaring back. That is why our budget would extend support to September 25.
If the New Democrats think that support is no longer necessary, they should be open and say that to Canadians. Otherwise, they should help us pass the budget and extend these necessary supports.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, it is utterly hypocritical for the Conservatives to even pretend to be concerned about ordinary Canadians. The single biggest threat the Canadian economy faces today is Conservative partisanship, which is blocking our budget. The Conservatives are blocking the extension of the wage subsidy, the extension of the rent subsidy and the extension of income supports.
Canada is ready to come roaring back. We just need the Conservatives to get out of the way.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House what else Canadians, who indeed are exhausted and who indeed do need support, are being deprived of because of the immature partisan games of the Conservatives: $5 billion to support provincial and territorial health systems, $4 billion directly to the health care system and $1 billion for the essential vaccination campaign. That is what Canadians need right now and it is what Conservatives are blocking.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House what is truly irresponsible today just as we are poised to finish the fight against COVID. What is irresponsible are Conservative partisan games. Canadians need the wage subsidy, they need the rent subsidy and they need income support to be extended to the end of September, but the Conservatives are stopping us from passing our budget. It is that irresponsible behaviour which threatens the well-being of every single Canadian.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, first, the member opposite needs to get his numbers right. Canada's labour force participation rate in April was in fact higher than the labour force participation rate in the U.S., the U.K., France and Italy.
I do want all members of the House to help me and to help our government support Canadians. I want them to help me extend the business and income supports. I want them to help me give more support to our seniors and to our youth.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me remind everyone what is really important to Canadians and what the House can do to support them as we finish the battle against COVID-19.
Unfortunately, over the past two weeks, the Conservatives have used every procedural trick in the book to delay debate on Bill C-30. Canadians expect better. They expect us to get this bill across the finish line.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the real question is, when will the official opposition do its job and allow Canada to restart the economy? Instead of doing that, instead of understanding that now is the time to finish the fight against COVID and get back to work, the official opposition is engaging in dilatory, delaying tactics. In doing so, it is putting in peril the wage subsidy, rent support, the Canada recovery hiring credit, all measures we need to restart Canada.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me point out what is really posing a serious economic threat to Canadians and posing a real threat to what needs to be our national priority right now, which is finish the fight against COVID and support the Canadian economy as we come roaring back. The threat is Conservative delaying tactics, which are stopping us from passing the budget. That means the wage subsidy, rent support, Canada recovery hiring credit, the CRB are all set to expire this month.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me remind the member opposite that, thanks to the resilience and strength of Canadians, Canada has recovered 81% of the COVID recession job losses. That is compared to just 66% recovered in the United States.
However, Canadians do need more support for our economy to come roaring back from the deepest recession since the Great Depression. They need the strong support measures in the budget, including the wage subsidy, the CRB and the Canada recovery hiring credit.
It is the Conservatives who are stopping the budget from being passed.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I would remind all members that we have already spent 22 hours in the House and 40 hours in committee debating this bill. We listened to 160 speeches on this bill in the House, and the committees heard from 132 witnesses.
I would also like to remind all members of the House that it is now June 14. This bill is absolutely necessary for Canadians, for the economic recovery, for the Canada emergency wage subsidy, for the Canada emergency rent subsidy and for the Canada recovery benefit. All these measures are in this bill.
I do not understand why the Conservatives think this partisan squabbling is more important to Canadians than support for the economic recovery.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.
Again, I wish to remind members of what this debate is actually about. Today we are talking about economic measures that are essential to Canadians. Today we are initiating the economic recovery. For a successful economic recovery, it is imperative that we continue to provide support measures to Canadian businesses and to Canadians and Quebeckers. This support is urgent and essential.
Since we have a minority government, we need the support of progressive parties to bring in what Canadians need. That is what we are doing today.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I know the member for New Westminster—Burnaby shares my concern for Canada's working people. He, like me, knows they need continued support as Canada finishes the fight against COVID and as all of us work so hard for an economic reopening to punch our way out of the COVID recession. To do that, we need the income supports and the business supports in this budget. We need to extend those to September 25. Without passing this budget legislation, those supports will expire this month.
Due to the Conservative delaying tactics, we have no choice but to move time allocation because we know Canadians urgently need this support. I am calling on all members of the House, particularly from progressive parties, to support us.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his very hard work. As my colleague points out, this is getting really serious. The time for parliamentary theatrics, the time for parliamentary games and the time for the delaying tactics of the Conservatives is long past.
Today is June 14. The essential business and income support measures in the budget that are holding up Canada right now expire in June. The budget proposes to extend them to September 25. Canadians need that. People have sacrificed so much in the fight against COVID. We need to come together in the House, finish the fight against COVID and support the recovery. That is why we need to pass this budget legislation.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her hard work.
Let me say a few things. First of all, on the question of an election, let me be very clear: Our government has absolutely no desire for an election. We think the job right now is to work hard to support Canadians, to finish the fight against COVID and to support our national effort to punch our way out of the COVID recession. That is our sole and unrelenting focus.
However, we do not have the luxury of time when it comes to the budget legislation. These income and business support measures run out in June. That is why we need to pass this budget legislation now and that is why the government is doing something we do not relish, which is bringing forward time allocation.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, let me just say this to Canadians: Canada continues to have the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. Following the tabling of our budget, the credit ratings agencies Moody's and S&P both reaffirmed Canada's AAA credit rating. That is the highest there is. That is clear, objective evidence of the reality, which is that this budget presents a prudent and responsible fiscal path. That is the verdict of the judges who really matter.
Let me also say, through you, Madam Speaker, to the Conservatives: It is time to stop delaying tactics. It is time to stop playing games with Canadian jobs and Canadian businesses, and to extend the supports Canadians need.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to answer the questions, because it gives me the opportunity to point out that our concern for creators, cultural workers and tourism companies is exactly why it is so urgent to support Bill C‑30. These people, these Quebeckers, are the ones who need the support this budget will give them.
However, the only way we can help them is with the support of progressive parties in the House. That is what Canadians want, and that is our job.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
I would like to once again point out that we have already had a great deal of discussion on this bill. We had 22 hours of debate and 160 speeches in the House as well as 40 hours of debate and 132 speeches in committee.
I would again remind all members of the House that what Canadians and Quebeckers want is to get the help they need. We are in the midst of a crisis, a global pandemic, and they need the federal government's support to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a strong economic recovery. We need to take action and do our job.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, we can manage our time. The problem, which is threatening to become Canada's problem, is that the Conservatives appear to prefer partisan theatrics and partisan games to doing the work of the country: doing the important work we were all elected to do.
This is a national crisis. COVID has plunged Canada into the deepest depression since the Great Depression. It is time for all of us to set aside juvenile games, roll up our sleeves and pass this essential budget legislation that will continue the wage subsidy, continue the rent subsidy and continue the CRB. These support measures expire in June. We have no time to waste. Let us set aside the juvenile gamesmanship and let us do our jobs.
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