Juno News - December 14, 2022


HEATED： Poilievre slams Trudeau for hunting rifle ban


Episode Stats

Length

8 minutes

Words per Minute

152.70091

Word Count

1,306

Sentence Count

77


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Well, Leader of the Opposition.
00:00:02.200 Well, the Prime Minister sent out his Public Safety Minister today.
00:00:04.700 We thought to back down on his hunting rifle ban.
00:00:09.160 Instead, he just gave a rambly endorsement of the same policy
00:00:13.400 and announced that his rural MPs from across the country,
00:00:18.380 including rural Newfoundland, support the ban on hunting rifles.
00:00:22.960 And the Prime Minister has tried to deny that he's banning those rifles,
00:00:26.100 even though First Nations have said so, his experts have said so.
00:00:30.280 His own caucus members have said so.
00:00:33.040 So will he stand in the House today and really look us in the eye
00:00:36.060 and tell us that there are no hunting rifles on his banned list?
00:00:40.620 Honourable Prime Minister.
00:00:43.700 Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment a number of years ago to Canadians
00:00:47.640 to ban assault-style weapons from this country.
00:00:50.880 There is no place for guns designed to kill the largest number of people
00:00:55.720 as quickly as possible in this country.
00:00:58.320 And that is why we're moving forward with an amendment that ensures that assault-style weapons
00:01:04.300 are banned not just in the past, not just in the present, but into the future.
00:01:08.060 We're going to carefully work with hunters and farmers and caucus members
00:01:12.980 and all parliamentarians from rural areas to ensure that we get that list right.
00:01:17.740 But all Canadians want to see less gun violence in this country.
00:01:20.860 That's what we're going to deliver.
00:01:21.780 Mr. Speaker, that's not what he's doing.
00:01:26.760 He's banning firearms that, in many cases, are not even semi-automatic.
00:01:30.960 These are firearms that have to be rechambered every single time.
00:01:34.920 They are deliberately created for hunting and sustenance.
00:01:38.640 The Assembly of First Nations has unanimously spoken against this ban on hunting rifles,
00:01:44.020 as have numerous experts and now members of his own caucus.
00:01:48.260 They all agree that his ban does not target weapons that are designed to kill people.
00:01:53.160 It targets weapons that are for the legitimate Canadian tradition of hunting.
00:01:59.980 So will he announce he's backing down from attacking our hunters today?
00:02:03.220 Mr. Speaker, we've heard clear concerns from First Nations, Métis and Inuit partners.
00:02:11.860 Our intent with this legislation is to target guns designed for the battlefield,
00:02:16.220 not ones commonly used for hunting.
00:02:18.480 As I've mentioned, the Minister of Public Safety is taking the time to get this right,
00:02:22.300 and that means consulting with partners to make sure we're not capturing weapons we shouldn't be.
00:02:27.400 Now, part of that process is showing up to meet with Indigenous leaders,
00:02:31.920 something the Leader of the Official Opposition failed to do just last week
00:02:36.620 when he had an opportunity to sit down with AFN Chiefs.
00:02:40.580 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:02:42.680 I have been meeting with First Nations leaders from across the country,
00:02:45.560 and they have been unanimous in their desire to protect their millennia-old tradition of hunting.
00:02:52.480 That requires, in the modern sense, the use of hunting rifles.
00:02:56.600 The Prime Minister's government has tabled 300 pages of banned hunting rifles
00:03:02.680 before a Canadian Parliamentary Committee.
00:03:06.940 He is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions,
00:03:11.840 targeting the legitimate hunting tools of rural people and First Nations.
00:03:17.680 Why doesn't he put that money into securing our borders and fighting crime instead?
00:03:20.840 The Right Honourable Prime Minister.
00:03:25.540 The government that the Leader of the Opposition was part of before we took office in 2015
00:03:31.080 cut close to a billion dollars from our borders and police services across the country.
00:03:37.320 We, on the contrary, have been investing to restore that funding
00:03:40.860 even as we move forward close to a billion dollars on keeping our communities safer.
00:03:46.040 We also have invested massively in our border protection to ensure, for example,
00:03:51.500 that last year we were able to collect double the amount of illegal firearms
00:03:55.760 trying to cross our borders as the year before.
00:03:57.860 We will continue to protect our borders.
00:03:59.680 We will continue to protect Canadians.
00:04:01.180 We will continue to move on gun control.
00:04:03.240 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:04:05.640 There's no question that his policies are more expensive than our policies,
00:04:09.000 but they have delivered poorer results.
00:04:10.540 Today, violent crime is 32% higher than when he took office.
00:04:16.040 That includes a massive increase in gang violence.
00:04:19.960 The head of the Toronto Police Force says 82% of the firearms that are used in crime
00:04:27.980 in Canada's biggest city come smuggled in from the United States of America.
00:04:32.740 They are not brought here by hunters from Cape Breton or rural Alberta.
00:04:37.820 So once and for all, will the Prime Minister stop wasting money on hunters
00:04:41.500 and go after the real criminals instead?
00:04:43.560 The Honourable Prime Minister.
00:04:46.480 Mr. Speaker, the last Conservative government, of which their leader was a key part,
00:04:51.840 slashed nearly a billion dollars from our police and our borders.
00:04:55.740 We're building back that capacity.
00:04:57.980 We've invested nearly a billion dollars to end gun violence
00:05:01.260 and keep guns out of the hands of criminals since 2018 alone,
00:05:05.300 including another $137 million for the CBSA in the fall economic statement
00:05:12.140 to fight gun smuggling and trackling.
00:05:14.380 And it's working, Mr. Speaker.
00:05:16.740 We doubled the number of guns interdicted at the border last year
00:05:20.120 as compared to the year before.
00:05:21.720 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:05:24.220 Again, they're going after the innocent people rather than the real problem.
00:05:28.180 Moving on to the heroes that protect our country
00:05:32.100 and go to Veterans Affairs to get the services to which they are entitled.
00:05:36.520 This government is now racking up an embarrassing and shameful record
00:05:42.380 of having recommended medical assistance in dying.
00:05:45.780 At least a half a dozen veterans now report that they have been advised
00:05:51.500 that medical assistance in dying might be the best solution for them.
00:05:55.520 Can the Prime Minister, having had time now,
00:05:58.100 tell us exactly how many veterans have been recommended
00:06:01.300 that their lives come to an end?
00:06:03.360 The Right Honourable Prime Minister.
00:06:05.980 This is absolutely unacceptable,
00:06:10.160 and Veterans Affairs Canada is taking serious measures
00:06:12.600 to ensure not only that this never happens again,
00:06:16.760 but that any Veterans Affairs officers
00:06:20.500 who have been making those recommendations irresponsibly
00:06:24.440 and on their own no longer are in a position to make that.
00:06:27.740 But I will highlight, Mr. Speaker,
00:06:29.300 that we've invested over $10 billion in support for our veterans
00:06:33.760 after 10 years of the previous Conservative government
00:06:36.240 nickel-and-diming them and using them for photo ops.
00:06:39.080 We will support our veterans as we've continued to do
00:06:42.720 and respect the work that they've done.
00:06:45.220 The Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
00:06:47.680 This is from the Prime Minister who said that veterans are asking for more
00:06:50.780 than he can give.
00:06:52.240 This is from the Prime Minister.
00:06:53.720 Is this the first Prime Minister who's ever presided
00:06:56.120 over a Veterans Affairs Department
00:06:57.940 that recommends that the heroes who served our country
00:07:02.160 should get medical assistance in dying
00:07:04.420 instead of being given a good life,
00:07:06.980 the one that they have earned?
00:07:07.940 One soldier, one former soldier, current veteran,
00:07:10.840 actually said the policy is triple D,
00:07:13.520 delay, deny, and dead veterans.
00:07:15.780 Mr. Speaker, the question is very specific.
00:07:17.860 How many veterans have been given the recommendation
00:07:22.180 that they should go to medical assistance in dying?
00:07:24.520 The number, please.
00:07:25.560 The Right Honourable Prime Minister.
00:07:29.040 The number one would be too many,
00:07:31.140 and that is why we condemn in the strongest terms
00:07:33.720 anyone who has recommended that to our veterans.
00:07:37.160 Our veterans lived a life of service
00:07:39.140 and deserve the utmost quality of care from our governments.
00:07:42.940 That is why we invested $10 billion
00:07:45.020 after the previous government chose to shutter
00:07:47.760 Veterans Affairs offices across the country
00:07:50.480 and nickel and dine them every chance that they could get.
00:07:53.200 We respect our veterans,
00:07:54.400 which is why we're taking so seriously the reports
00:07:57.240 that this unacceptable behavior happened within Veterans Affairs.
00:08:00.940 Our veterans deserve the very best,
00:08:03.140 and that's what we'll continue to give them.
00:08:15.020 Thank you for listening.