43rd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION House of Commons Debates Official Report (Hansard) VOLUME 149 NUMBER 009 Tuesday, January 28, 2020 Speaker: The Honourable Anthony Rota CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 539 HOUSE OF COMMONS Tuesday, January 28, 2020 The House met at 10 a.m. GOVERNMENT ORDERS [Translation] Prayer BUSINESS OF SUPPLY OPPOSITION MOTION—AUDIT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S INVESTING IN ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS CANADA PLAN ● (1005) Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC) moved: [English] That, given the Parliamentary Budget Officer posted on March 15, 2018, that “Budget 2018 provides an incomplete account of the changes to the govern‐ PETITIONS ment’s $186.7 billion infrastructure spending plan” and that the “PBO requested the new plan but it does not exist”, the House call on the Auditor General of Canada to immediately conduct an audit of the government’s “Investing in Canada Plan”, in‐ OPIOIDS cluding, but not be limited to, verifying whether the plan lives up to its stated goals Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP): Mr. Speaker, it and promises; and that the Auditor General of Canada report his findings to the is an honour to table to a petition calling on the government to de‐ House no later than one year following the adoption of this motion. clare a public health emergency for the opioid crisis that is affecting Canadians right across the country. We have lost over 12,000 Cana‐ He said: Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my regards to my dians to the opioid crisis. esteemed colleagues and to Canadians. I am very pleased to rise to‐ day to give my first speech in the House in 2020. The petitioners are from Courtenay—Alberni. They are calling on the government to reform current drug policy, to decriminalize Before I get into the meat of today's motion, I am sure that my personal possession, to create a sense of urgency and immediacy colleagues really want to know why I am so proud to rise to speak and to create a system to provide safe, unadulterated access to sub‐ today. What has changed in 2020? What has changed since 2019? stances so that people who use substances experimentally, recre‐ We have entered into a new decade. The Conservative leadership ationally or chronically are not at imminent risk of overdose due to race is under way. We have a new Speaker in the House. The Que‐ a contaminated source. bec regional media have been saved, and I am now the critic for in‐ frastructure and communities. The petitioners are calling on the government to declare the cur‐ rent opioid overdose and fentanyl poisoning crisis a national public That, however, is not what I am most proud of. What then is so health emergency under the Emergencies Act in order to manage special about 2020? Although members may not be able to tell and resource it with the aim to reduce and eliminate preventable from looking at me, I have changed. It has nothing to do with new deaths. This will save lives. year's resolutions. I do not exercise enough, I do not always eat the way I should, and I did not make any resolutions to be kinder to the The petitioners are calling on the House to take real action. government in the House. Sorry about that. What has changed is * * * my title. QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER For a week now, my wife Caro and I have been able to proudly Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Presi‐ call ourselves grandma and grandpa. My son David and his wife dent of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Lead‐ Audrey welcomed a baby boy named Clovis into the world. er of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand. I wanted to dedicate this first speech to my very first grandson and to his parents, who have made me so proud today. Welcome, The Speaker: Is that agreed? Clovis. It is for you and all other children like you, for their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, that we all gather here to Some hon. members: Agreed. make Canada a place where families can succeed and thrive. 540 COMMONS DEBATES January 28, 2020 Business of Supply As parliamentarians, we must never forget that despite our differ‐ said. The previous Conservative government managed to bring in ences of opinion and different visions of how to go about it, we an ambitious infrastructure plan that did not burden our grandchil‐ have a duty and a responsibility to safeguard the well-being of our dren. The logic was sound. We could take advantage of the low in‐ children and all children, as well as their future. terest rates to take on tangible infrastructure projects. We might have seen something tangible. We might have seen some results. As I said, I did not make a resolution to stop holding this govern‐ We might have seen Canadians at work. This could have had an im‐ ment to account, so it is also for Clovis that I moved a motion to‐ pact on our economy. At the very least, if the money from these day. On behalf of the official opposition, my motion holds the gov‐ loans went toward our infrastructure, we might have seen results. ernment to account with respect to infrastructure. The problem is that reality caught up with the government rather The motion is very clear. The 2018 budget provides an incom‐ quickly. The most positive of Conservative pessimists understood. plete account of the changes to the government's $186.7-billion in‐ Spending did increase, the deficit ballooned, but the investments in frastructure spending plan. The Parliamentary Budget Officer re‐ infrastructure did not materialize. quested a new plan because some of the funds had not been spent, but, unfortunately, he was told such a plan did not exist. That The Liberals' investing in Canada plan, the government's $186- means the Parliamentary Budget Officer is no longer in a position billion cornerstone of infrastructure spending, made several promis‐ to give parliamentarians the facts. That is why we are now calling es to Canadians: on all parliamentarians to ask the Auditor General of Canada to au‐ dit the results of the Liberal government's investing in Canada plan 1. Rate of economic growth is increased in an inclusive and sustainable way. and look into how it is being run. 2. Environmental quality is improved, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are re‐ Despite all the Liberals' claims and lofty promises, their infras‐ duced and the resilience of communities is increased. tructure plan has not achieved the stated goals. They went on and on about how their $186-billion plan would put Canadians back to 3. Urban mobility in Canadian communities is improved. work, but the numbers make it clear that a significant amount of that money was never actually released, that the impact on employ‐ 4. Housing is affordable and in good condition and homelessness is reduced year over year. ment was not as promised and that promises to grow the GDP were never fulfilled. 5. Early learning and child care is of high quality, affordable, flexible and inclu‐ sive. I will start with a bit of background. Let us look back to the 2015 election campaign. The 2015 campaign will probably go down in 6. Canadian communities are more inclusive and accessible. the books as the one when the Government of Canada spent more than at any other time in Canadian history, largely because of a 7. Infrastructure is managed in a more sustainable way. promise that was broken. I must admit that this promise made Canadians happy at the time, but they got duped by a party that was prepared to promise heaven and earth in order to get back in power. That is straight out of the investing in Canada plan. That is what the Liberals promised to do with those billions of dollars. After pulling the wool over their eyes, the leader of that party, the current Prime Minister, soon went back on his word and drove Have Canadians seen a single one of these objectives material‐ the federal books into his party's trademark colour. Since 2015, ize? Unfortunately, it is obvious that the government failed to meet Canada has been in the red because of the red party, and the situa‐ its objectives during its first mandate; if we look at the numbers and tion keeps getting worse with every passing day. everything before us, it will not meet them in this mandate. What was that promise? No, it was not electoral reform, although that pledge did not come true either. The Prime Minister and his The government failed miserably. Unfortunately, it also failed to then candidates travelled all over the country repeating that they report to parliamentarians on its management of the $186-billion would run modest deficits of $10 billion the first year, $10 billion investing in Canada plan. I am sure I am not the only member of the second year, and $6 billion the following year, before returning Parliament who has been waiting since the announcements, since to a balanced budget at the end of their term. They wanted to reas‐ the last election campaign, to see shovels in the ground across the sure everyone, because people had a sneaking suspicion that the red country over the past four years. We were expecting to see roads, party might like red budgets. bridges, schools and community centres being built. We thought they would be all over the place.