House of Commons Hansard #153 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was measures.

Topics

Government PrioritiesOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. I would ask the right hon. Prime Minister to avoid using terms like that in the House, as I did yesterday to the opposition. I do not think it is helpful to the tone of debate in the House.

The hon. member for Papineau.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Speaker, veterans deserve honesty and they deserve to be a priority. To mitigate the damaging Auditor General's report, the Prime Minister trumpeted $200 million in veterans funding, hoping we would not see the small print that explained it was to be given over 50 years.

Why billions for immediate tax breaks that help wealthy families like the Prime Minister's or my own, but only pennies for veterans?

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

In fact, Mr. Speaker, this government has invested over five billion additional dollars in veterans programs. I know the Liberal Party has opposed that every step of the way, just as the Liberal Party has opposed every tax cut we have brought in for Canadian families.

No matter how many times the Liberal Party votes against veterans, no matter how many times it votes against tax cuts for Canadian families, this government will move forward with those.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's priority is tax breaks for the wealthy instead of meeting our sacred obligation to our veterans. His new plan is worth even less per year than the savings from closing the nine veterans services offices.

It is by now, clear to all that the Prime Minister owes veterans an apology. Will he stand and apologize?

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

December 2nd, 2014 / 2:25 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the only party that has to apologize is the Liberal Party for voting against every one of the $5 billion worth of investments we have made in Veterans Affairs. The Liberal Party tries to play veterans off against taxpayers, saying in some way that we cannot do things for both. In fact, as members know, the tax benefits that we have recently brought in for Canadian families benefit every Canadian family in the country.

Canadians will tell the Liberal Party leader that when he goes around the country trying to figure out how he can take that money away from them to put it into the coffers of the government.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC

Mr. Speaker, our veterans deserve to be treated with respect, a principle that has been violated by this Prime Minister. He prefers advertising and propaganda to offering crucial mental health services. It is clear to everyone that the Prime Minister has his priorities all wrong. Will he finally apologize to our veterans?

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, once again, the only party that needs to apologize to veterans is the Liberal Party, which voted against $5 billion in investments for our veterans. Our government is the one that created nearly all of the veterans' mental health services. These services barely existed when the Liberals were in power.

At the same time, we cut taxes for Canadian families. We will continue to invest in our veterans and give tax breaks to families.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC

Mr. Speaker, the report tabled by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner today paints a troubling picture.

RCMP flights took off overweight and then logs were falsified to cover it up. This report raises concerns from both a safety and an integrity perspective. What is even more alarming is the lengths the Conservatives went to in order to keep this report from being public.

Why did the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness go to court to try to block the Integrity Commissioner from doing his job?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Lévis—Bellechasse Québec

Conservative

Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. As this relates to a matter before the court, it would be inappropriate to comment any further.

Let me quote what the Integrity Commissioner had to say about the RCMP, “I am satisfied with the RCMP's response on this matter”. So I am. While I expect the RCMP to conduct itself in the highest manner, we fully support it when it is protecting us, and we will continue to do so.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Rosane Doré Lefebvre NDP Alfred-Pellan, QC

Mr. Speaker, this matter is no longer before the court. The report has now been made public.

The Integrity Commissioner's report is certainly worrisome. What is even more worrisome is the Conservative assault on auditors. The Conservatives took office in 2006 promising transparency and protection for whistleblowers, but instead, they went to court to prevent the Integrity Commissioner from publishing his report on the RCMP.

Why did the Conservatives not want this report to be released?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Lévis—Bellechasse Québec

Conservative

Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, let me quote the Integrity Commissioner. He said that he was satisfied with the RCMP's response.

Of course, we thank the commissioner for his report. We expect the RCMP to continue to be professional both in serving the public and in its administrative management. I am convinced that it will continue working hard to protect the public.

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Sadia Groguhé NDP Saint-Lambert, QC

Mr. Speaker, people with terminal cancer, people who have had organ transplants, people with severe depression and people who are in debt are among the 14,000 Canadians who are still waiting for their case to be heard by the Social Security Tribunal, which has an ever-growing backlog.

Does the minister think it is acceptable that thousands of Canadians have been waiting for years to get the disability benefits to which they are entitled? What is he going to do to rectify the situation?

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Southeast Alberta

Conservative

Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism

Mr. Speaker, first of all, we are talking about an appeal process. Obviously, we are talking about individuals whose applications for benefits were rejected initially and who are then subsequently filing an appeal.

That being said, we are working to reduce the Social Security Tribunal's backlog of income security cases. That is why we have added 22 part-time decision makers to the tribunal and have moved 12 decision makers from the EI section to the pension section. We are going to continue working with the chair of the tribunal to speed up the process.

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jinny Sims NDP Newton—North Delta, BC

Mr. Speaker, with more than 14,000 people waiting for a hearing now, the Conservatives' mismanagement of the Social Security Tribunal has created a situation where people who are terminally ill or so heavily in debt that they are suicidal have to beg to have their cases heard quickly. This is completely outrageous. Canadians have paid for these benefits with their premiums. They should not have to go begging when they need them.

How could the Conservatives let this happen?

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Southeast Alberta

Conservative

Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism

Mr. Speaker, I am sure, inadvertently, the member is misleading us when she suggests that this is a denial of benefits for those who apply, when in fact we are talking about individuals whose applications for benefits were rejected initially and who are then subsequently filing an appeal.

We are working with the chair of the Social Security Tribunal to accelerate the process. We have added 22 part-time decision makers. We have moved 12 decision makers from the EI section to the pension section. We are looking at additional actions necessary to speed up the process.

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jinny Sims NDP Newton—North Delta, BC

Mr. Speaker, things have gotten so bad at the Social Security Tribunal that the tribunal is telling people who have been living without any income for multiple years that they cannot expedite their hearing because it would be unfair to all the other people who are in exactly the same situation and still waiting for a hearing.

Why can the government not get its act together, instead of telling desperate people to get in line behind all the other people living without an income?

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Southeast Alberta

Conservative

Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism

Mr. Speaker, any time there is a process where people are applying, the normal process is for those applications to be considered in the order in which they were received. Only in the sort of fantasy world of the NDP could they all be considered at the same time. That is obviously not possible in the real world.

In the real world, we are working with the tribunal to add additional decision makers to speed up the process and reduce the backlog. Of course there is the good news that there has been a 90% reduction in the number of EI appeals being filed because of a fast-track process of reconsideration by officials in my department, which is working very well for EI applicants.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, in the real world the Conservatives have failed Canadians just when they needed help the most.

The Minister of the Environment and her Conservative government have failed to rise to the urgent challenge of fighting climate change. The world is gathering in Lima right now to move forward and set the stage for a global agreement on climate change that will be finalized next year in Paris.

Will the minister finally deliver on the government's long-promised oil and gas regulations, or is it happy to make Canada an international pariah?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Nunavut Nunavut

Conservative

Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, we are playing a leadership role on the international stage. We have contributed $1.2 billion to more than 60 developing countries to reduce emissions and to adapt to climate change. Last week we announced an additional $300 million for the green climate fund, and we are a founding member and a major financial contributor to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. We are also addressing short-lived climate pollutants under Canada's chairmanship of the Arctic Council.

We will continue to protect our environment while keeping the economy strong.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives promised oil and gas regulations, they promised to act if the U.S. acted, and they promised to reduce our emissions. The only thing that they are any good at is breaking promises. Now we are not even on side with the Obama administration and what it is doing.

The minister's own department admits that her 2020 targets will not be met by a long shot, so what exactly are the Conservatives going to offer in Lima?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Nunavut Nunavut

Conservative

Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of our record. We are a founding member of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. We have made significant investments to help support green energy infrastructure internationally. We have one of the cleanest systems in the world. We have already regulated the transportation and electricity sector. We are planning to reduce HFCs, one of the fastest growing greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Thanks to these actions, carbon emissions will go down by close to 130 megatonnes from what they would have been under the Liberals, and without introducing an NDP carbon tax.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to trust a minister who would rather attack her own constituents than tackle their problems.

As the the United Nations conference on climate change gets under way, our partners are wondering whether the Conservatives have taken note of the agreement between China and the U.S., and whether they will once again show up in Lima empty-handed or, alternatively, with a plan and more stringent commitments.

Will the Conservatives finally take climate change seriously and announce a credible plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Nunavut Nunavut

Conservative

Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the cleanest electricity systems in the world, with 79% of our electricity supply emitting no greenhouse gas emissions. We have taken actions on two of the largest sources of emissions in Canada, the transportation sector and the electricity generation sector. Canada has also become one of the first major coal users to ban the construction of traditional coal-fired electricity generation units. Canada's per capita greenhouse emissions are now at the lowest levels since we started recording in 1990, and the total emissions will go down by close to 130 megatonnes.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

François Lapointe NDP Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Mr. Speaker, the government has been irresponsible regarding the fight against greenhouse gas emissions and it is no better when it comes to protecting species.

Yesterday the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada determined that the beluga should be on the endangered species list. According to marine mammal experts, pollution and noise disturbance are the main threats to the species. Even TransCanada has suspended its work off the coast of Cacouna for an indefinite period of time.

Will the Conservatives put an end to the oil port project, which is right in the middle of the belugas' breeding grounds? While they are at it, will they also do the right thing and create a marine protected area for the St. Lawrence estuary?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission B.C.

Conservative

Randy Kamp ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that our government is fully committed to protecting species at risk. That is why we have made significant investments in implementing the Species at Risk Act. We are also taking additional measures under the national conservation plan.

Regarding the COSEWIC reassessment of beluga, we will follow the normal practice of making a status decision after consultations with Canadians, taking a new look at the scientific evidence, and all impacts are considered.

I should note, though, that the St. Lawrence estuary beluga is already listed, so it has already the needed legal restrictions.