Debates of Nov. 26th, 2014

National Defence

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is not what the Auditor General said.

The Auditor General noted that this government has put in place significant mental health support services for our vets and employees of the armed forces. We are very proud of the support we are giving our armed forces.

Health

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, is the Prime Minister proud of the fact that 250 Afghan vets were medically discharged before qualifying for their pension? Is he proud of that?

There are 95 victims of thalidomide living in Canada. They struggle every day with tasks that most of us would take for granted, because of disabilities inflicted upon them by a drug approved and recommended in the past by the Canadian government.

Other countries are already providing compensation to those affected by thalidomide. Will the Prime Minister bring together all parties in this House and support ongoing compensation for thalidomide victims in Canada?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the government has already said and as the minister has said, this is a terrible series of events that those of us who were raised in the 1960s remember very well.

There was a settlement in the 1990s, but we understand that there are ongoing needs. The department and the minister have been in discussions with the victims association. We look forward to moving forward on this matter.

Public Safety

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we approach the 25th anniversary of the Polytechnique tragedy, we are debating Bill C-42, which would allow dangerous weapons to be freely transported in a trunk of a car. Imagine if that car were broken into.

The bill also takes classification decisions on guns away from police and puts them in the hands of politicians.

Does the Prime Minister recognize how dangerous those clauses of the bill are?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the statements made by the leader of the Liberal Party are completely false. The bill does not authorize the carrying of concealed weapons.

On the contrary, there is no “conceal and carry” in this legislation. The fact of the matter is that arms can only be transported between specific locations, and they must be taken by the most direct route. The firearms must be in a trunk, in a locked case, and must be unloaded. Those are the facts.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-42 would allow handguns and assault weapons to be freely transported in a trunk anywhere within a province, even left parked outside a Canadian Tire or local hockey arena. Imagine if the car carrying these weapons were broken into or stolen.

The bill also takes classification decisions on guns away from police, and puts them in the hands of politicians.

Both of these provisions threaten Canadians' safety. Will the government remove them from Bill C-42?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said and I will repeat, the statements the Liberal Party leader has made are recklessly irresponsible and false. The fact of the matter is that under the current law and this proposed law, firearms can only be transported between specific locations. They must be in a locked case, they must be in a trunk, and they must be unloaded.

Those are the facts, but we expect this kind of distortion from the party that brought in the long gun registry and is itching to bring it back.

Veterans

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Auditor General told us that veterans deserve better services. We were all touched by the story of Jenifer Migneault, which we heard yesterday. It makes no sense that there is no financial support for people who, like her, have to quit their job to support their spouse.

Will the Prime Minister finally commit to helping our veterans, particularly those who are dealing with mental illness?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General looked at the veterans' mental health programs put in place, for the first time, by our government. He looked at two programs.

In terms of the rehabilitation program, he said that the department had implemented important mental health assistance mechanisms and that it was responding to veterans' requests under this program in a timely manner. As for the disability benefits program, he said that 94% of veterans are eligible for benefits, but that the process is cumbersome and complex.

The department will uphold those recommendations.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, distress levels among our veterans are a problem. According to the ombudsman, their suicide rate is 45% higher than in the general population.

Alarm bells are going off, but the government is dragging its feet. The Auditor General says that a quarter of veterans have to wait over eight months before receiving mental health care. That is unacceptable. Why is the minister trying to save $1 billion at our veterans' expense?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Auditor General for recognizing that Veterans Affairs does indeed have a robust mental health strategy in place, that we have put in place mental health support, that we provide rehabilitation to veterans in a timely manner, and that we are working to improve the consultation process with our veterans.

Again, it was our government that asked the Auditor General to review the services we are providing to veterans, so we can be better informed and ultimately make the process better.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Speaking of the mental health strategy, Mr. Speaker, in 2009 the government committed to develop performance measures to assess if the mental health strategy was meeting the mental health needs of veterans.

The Auditor General has now confirmed that the minister never followed up on that commitment. He did not even bother to collect data that would be helpful to make this eventual assessment.

Can the minister explain to Canadians why he refused to fulfill this commitment and ensure that veterans receive the mental health services they need?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday our government announced additional mental health support for Canadian Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and their families.

We are investing in a major new operational stress injury clinic in Halifax. We are also opening new satellite locations across the country, while expanding the current facility in the greater Toronto area.

Our government is committed to our veterans, Armed Forces members, and their families, and we will continue to work on their behalf.

National Defence

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

If it is so committed, then it needs to actually act, Mr. Speaker.

The universality of service rule has been called arbitrary and unfair by the Canadian Forces Ombudsman, yet the Conservatives insist on keeping a policy in place that discriminates against those suffering, leads to more dismissals, and robs Canadian Forces members of their pensions.

Given the outcry from members and veterans, will the Conservatives show some sense of compassion, and will they remove universality of service?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

In fact, Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Armed Forces work with ill and severely injured personnel who are no longer able to serve. They are provided up to three years to prepare for the transition to civilian life.

The Armed Forces members can also transfer, if they wish, to cadet organizations administration and training.

I should point out to the hon. member that we have invested nearly $30 billion in delivering benefits, programs, and supports. None of this had the support of the opposition, but we will continue to support veterans and members of the Armed Forces.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, they want us to agree that they are standing up for veterans. That is the difference.

The Conservatives are not doing anything to ensure that soldiers and veterans in distress have access to mental health services. Our soldiers have to serve for 10 years to be entitled to a full pension, but if they talk about their mental health issues, they risk being kicked out of the forces and losing their pension. They lose everything. The Conservatives are forcing soldiers to keep quiet or risk losing everything.

Will the minister finally change this policy so that soldiers can get help?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, that is a complete mischaracterization of what takes places in the Armed Forces. They work with these individuals, as I indicated, and they work with them for up to three years to facilitate their transfer to civilian life, or if they wish, they can transfer to cadet organizations administration and training.

That being said, the hon. member spoke about mental health. He may have missed this, but we now have 25 operational stress injury clinics with front-line health care professionals and experts, right across this country, to work with our veterans.

New Democrats may have missed that, because they vote against all these measures.

Veterans Affairs

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

What we did not miss was that the Conservatives closed nine service offices across the country, Mr. Speaker.

Conservatives have shown no sense of compassion for veterans, just shallow talking points, more hollow boasting, and childish attacks on the opposition.

Can we have some sense of shame from Conservatives about their failure to meet the basic needs of veterans? Will the Prime Minister now admit to veterans that their closing of regional offices, their court battles with veterans, and their denial of benefits have been wrong? When will they finally take responsibility and apologize to our nation's veterans?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, we announced additional mental health support for Canada's veterans, Armed Forces personnel, and family members. There will now be 25 operational stress injury clinics across our country.

We are providing the benefits and services that our veterans so dearly need. When it comes to standing up for Canada's veterans, our government has a strong record, even though the opposition continues to vote against these measures.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have shown over and over again that they just cannot be trusted to safeguard our personal information.

This week, there was yet another privacy breach at the Canada Revenue Agency. This time, private financial information on hundreds of Canadians just got sent to the media.

The minister has a legal duty to safeguard this information, but time and time again at the CRA, there are misplaced laptops, unprotected websites, snooping employees, and the latest excuse, human error. When will the minister take real action to stop this endless loop of privacy breaches in her department?

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, this privacy breach is completely unacceptable. I said that in the House before, and I say it again. We are taking it extremely seriously.

The Privacy Commissioner was notified of the breach, and at my direction, the CRA has launched an internal investigation into the breach, with a review of security protocols. Following that internal investigation, appropriate remedial steps will be taken, including disciplinary action.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of remedial steps, this minister has had some spectacular bloopers when it comes to losing the personal data of Canadians.

Help me understand this one. Her department gathers the personal financial information and home addresses of key Canadians, like former war crimes tribunal Justice Louise Arbour and diplomat Allan Gotlieb, tosses it in the mail and sends it to the media, and no alarm bells go off? How about a little accountability here?

Will she tell us this? Did she take any concrete steps after the last breach, because how is it possible that the information of these Canadians was so casually put at risk under her watch?

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite has a flair for taking disparate things and trying to put them into one question.

Having said that, this privacy breach is very serious. We do take it seriously. We are very proud of our record at the CRA overall. We have 129 million pieces of correspondence every year. We deal with millions of taxpayers and their personal information.

On this particular matter, I have directed an internal investigation. We are taking steps.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2010, a Revenue Canada employee lost a laptop containing the tax information of 2,500 Canadians. In 2011, a Revenue Canada employee secretly snooped through the personal files of hundreds of Canadians. Earlier this year, 900 people had their personal information stolen because of the Heartbleed bug. Most recently, private information about a hundred or so prominent Canadians was accidentally sent to CBC.

How many breaches will it take for the Conservatives to get serious about Canadians' privacy?

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, this breach of privacy is completely unacceptable. We are taking this situation very seriously. On my orders, the Canada Revenue Agency has begun an internal investigation into this breach of privacy and the agency's security protocols.

Following that internal investigation, as I have said, appropriate remedial steps will be taken, including disciplinary action. We are on top of this matter.