Debates of Oct. 5th, 2012

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, again, this minister is being careless, negligent and most certainly incompetent. He claims he is innocent. Indeed, we on this side of the House think he is a special kind of innocent.

He chose to protect the interests of the Americans by stopping the exports instead of protecting the health of Canadians. This is a public health issue.

My question is for the Minister of Health.

Could she put down her iPad and answer the questions and do her job? Why has she kept mum on this? Let her answer some questions. We want to know. Let her stand up for once.

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

What a diatribe, Mr. Speaker. We need to raise the quality of debate in the House, not lower it.

The Minister of Health is doing an admirable job. We work in partnership with our provincial colleagues in public health, as well as the federal department of public health. Everyone is anxious to get to the bottom of this and move on.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, it is day 31 since the Americans notified Canada on E. coli and the Prime Minister still fails to hold his ministers to account for the biggest recall ever.

I have a list of the products for Canada alone, which is some 240 pages long. Do members remember that the minister claimed that no products reached store shelves?

The incompetence of both the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board knows no bounds. Truck drivers knew there was a problem and meat cutters knew there was a problem but the minister failed to act and the health minister was lost in silence.

When will the Prime Minister take charge of this issue?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, we will never apologize for the size of the recall. This is based on science and on protocols that are developed well in advance of these types of situations.

We take this very seriously, which is why we continue to build a robust food safety system. We have Bill S-11 coming to us from the Senate and I am hoping the Liberals will support it when it gets here.

Port of Montreal

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the antics of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario have led to growing interest in the Robert Abdallah affair, and the Conservatives are going to have to answer questions.

Therefore, I will ask a simple question: why did the PMO, Dimitri Soudas and Leo Housakos push for Abdallah's appointment? What were they going to receive in exchange?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the hon. member is referring to an appointment that was not made and that we do not have the power to make.

The question that I will now put before the House is this: why did the NDP accept $340,000 in illegal money from a union?

Why are the New Democrats refusing to support the bill before the House of Commons to make union finances transparent? What do they have to hide?

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as far as we are concerned, the RCMP does not have to raid our offices.

This is not just an attempt to make a partisan appointment, as was the case at the Port of Québec and the Port of Toronto, for example. We are talking about someone who is facing serious allegations in an inquiry on corruption and collusion that is taking place right now.

Why did the Prime Minister's press secretary, Senator Housakos and Frank Zampino support Abadallah's appointment?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, she did not answer the question. Why would her party pose questions in the House of Commons about an appointment that was never made, and one that we do not have the power to make, when her party was caught red-handed accepting $340,000 in illegal union money? That was money that was taken out of the pockets of hard-working, blue collar Canadians who gave no consent for that money to be funneled into the coffers of the NDP. The NDP did not care. It had no shame. The NDP was happy to just scoop up that illegal money--

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Joe Comartin]

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

Public Safety

[Alexandrine Latendresse, NDP, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, we learned that the Chinese embassy organized a party for Canada Border Services officials. Alcohol was flowing so freely that some senior officials were falling down drunk by the end of the party.

This raises concerns about the fact that state secrets may have been leaked during this so-called drunk fest. This is not the first time that we have been exposed in this manner. We have already had a former minister leave extremely confidential documents lying around his girlfriend's place.

Why do the Conservatives not take the risk of espionage seriously?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect law enforcement officers to act with integrity at all times. The CBSA is looking into the facts of this situation. Anyone found to have behaved inappropriately or acted inappropriately will face sanctions and discipline.

[Alexandrine Latendresse, NDP, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am astounded by the Conservative's indifference, which is a sharp contrast to the seriousness of the situation and the potential risk.

When foreign countries get our customs officers so drunk that they are vomiting in their government vehicles, the Conservatives should be asking questions.

When our intelligence service is concerned about equity participation in our natural resources by foreign state-owned enterprises, the Conservatives should be asking questions.

When will the Conservatives start taking threats to national security seriously?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we are absolutely not indifferent. We, as all Canadians, do expect our law enforcement officers to act with integrity at all times. The CBSA is looking into the facts of the situation. I would think the hon. member would appreciate that and would approve of that. There is due process for this kind of scenario, and anyone found to have acted inappropriately will face sanctions and will face discipline.

The Economy

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, NDP MPs day after day recite their tired old socialist talking points: low taxes are bad; trade is bad; business is bad; economic growth is bad. In the NDP world, the solution to everything would be its high tax, big government schemes, such as its job-killing carbon tax which would rip money out of the hands of Canadian families and employers to feed the NDP's big government dreams.

Would the Minister of Foreign Affairs share with the NDP, Parliament and all Canadians the results of our low-tax, pro-trade and pro-growth plan?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP members keep talking down the Canadian economy. They keep complaining that Canadians are not paying enough taxes. That is why they want to impose a $21.5 billion carbon tax on Canadians. The NDP can continue to do this, but Canadians know that our job creation plan is working.

Today we saw the announcement of the creation of more than 50,000 net new jobs. There were 800,000 jobs created, 90% of them full-time, 80% of them in the private sector. That is good news for Canadians.

Employment Insurance

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is really cute to hear them talk; meanwhile, they do not mention the carbon tax.

Workers are not the only ones paying for the employment insurance reforms. The employers are too. Workers are quitting their jobs because it simply is not worthwhile to work part-time. The employers contribute just like the workers do. Why should they be punished if they need part-time workers? The Conservatives' approach is completely unacceptable.

When will they help employers and workers by fixing the problem with the working while on claim project?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the NDP, we find it encouraging that there are more people working than before. That is good news.

For example, more than 820,000 jobs have been created since the recession. This is good news. She should encourage people to work. That is what they need.

Seniors

[Ryan Cleary, NDP, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Mr. Speaker, a rising unemployment rate and a higher deficit are not things to cheer about.

I would like to relate a Tim Hortons moment gone bad involving a man who helps keep minor hockey alive in my riding. Robert is 63 years old. He has worked at a hockey rink for over 35 years. He has collected the Canada pension plan since he turned 60 and collects EI for the months the ice is off the rink. Come January, Robert's Canada pension plan will be clawed back 50¢ on the dollar from his EI cheque.

Why is the government so set on punishing seniors?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is we have done more to support seniors and make them financially better off than any other government in Canada.

Let us look at the things we brought in and which the NDP opposed. We brought in pension income splitting for seniors. The NDP opposed that. We increased the age tax credit for seniors, not once but twice. The NDP opposed that. We also brought in the largest increase in 25 years to the guaranteed income supplement to help the poorest seniors. As usual, the NDP opposed that too.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, like all Canadian children, first nation children deserve a high-quality education. We simply cannot continue to deprive an entire generation of this fundamental right.

And yet, this government continues to make unilateral decisions instead of respecting first nations and working in partnership with them. In Manitoba, for instance, provincial funding in some communities is nearly twice as much per student compared to what the federal government spends on first nation students.

When will the minister commit to investing in and supporting first nation education?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete steps. We are working together with first nations and we are starting to see improved student outcomes. We have comprehensive first nations education agreements in Nova Scotia and British Columbia demonstrating improved student outcomes.

The NDP should stop spreading misinformation and start standing with us as we support first nations students in reaching their goals.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. On first nations reserves across Canada, there are schools that do not have enough paper. They do not have enough materials. The classes are overcrowded. The rooms are full of mould.

When will the minister realize that to fix the crisis, he and his government have to sit down with aboriginal leaders and work with them with respect?

When will the minister and the government negotiate in a meaningful way with first nations? At the end of the day, the question is, how many more generations of aboriginal children have to be deprived of a proper education in Canada?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of the investments that we have made in first nations education. We are leading an initiative that is long overdue and we expect outcomes. This is what first nations students, their parents and their educators want. It is what we want to work with. We will not be distracted by misinformation and polarization coming from the opposition.

We are investing in individual students. We are also committed to introducing a first nations education act which would improve governance and accountability for first nations.

Correctional Service Canada

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is cancelling the contracts of non-Christian chaplains in federal prisons, thereby requiring inmates of other faiths to turn to Christian chaplains for religious guidance. The minister says he “is not in the business of picking and choosing which religions will be given preferential status”, but by providing funding only for Christian chaplains, he is doing precisely that.

Will the minister recognize this contradiction, reinstate funding for chaplains of all faiths, and uphold the values of freedom of conscience and religion, and equality before the law, as enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada strongly supports freedom of religion for all Canadians.

Last month the Minister of Public Safety asked for an immediate review of the chaplaincy program to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are being used wisely and appropriately. Upon reviewing the program, it was determined that changes were necessary so that this program supports the freedom of religion of inmates while respecting taxpayers' dollars.

Convicted criminals will continue to have access to religious services of their choice on a voluntary basis.