Debates of April 7th, 2014

Citizenship and Immigration

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, no, as I have already said, we have no intention of introducing new requirements in terms of language or any other criteria for spousal sponsorship.

We are in favour of open debate. We want to protect women from violence here in Canada and within the immigration program. Does the third party support protecting women from violence? Their leader, the Leader of the Liberal Party, does not appear too sure about that.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for once I congratulate the minister for his acceptance of clear non-Orwellian Liberal logic. Well done. However, he is not off the hook on refugees.

From Jack Pickersgill and the Hungarian refugees, in the 1950s, to Paul Martin, all Canadian governments have accepted thousands of refugees when the circumstances have demanded it. The same is true for other countries today with thousands of Syrian refugees.

Why is it that one month ago the minister said that Canada had accepted a grand total of 10 refugees? For once, will he tell us how many of the 1,300 sponsored refugees are here?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, Canada, as usual, has been generous in responding to the Syrian refugee crisis, as we have always been, in Diefenbaker's time and under every Conservative government. Hundreds of Syrians have arrived in Canada. They have been accepted faster than in any other country.

Earlier this year I mentioned a number that had to do with the referrals we started getting from the UNHCR. In December, we acted quickly on those referrals. We continue to act quickly and to be generous. There are 1,700 applications in process. That is more than any of our peers can boast.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The noise level is starting to creep up a bit. I am going to ask that while members are asking questions or ministers are answering them, they respect those who have the floor.

The hon. member for Newton—North Delta.

Employment

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Here we go again, Mr. Speaker, another day, another example of temporary foreign workers—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. I have just asked members to respect those who have the floor. The hon. member for Newton—North Delta now has the floor, and I will ask members of the government to allow her to put the question.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Here we go again, Mr. Speaker, another day, another example of temporary foreign workers being brought in to replace Canadian workers.

Remember RBC, or how about the mine in B.C. that said workers had to speak Mandarin? Today, it is McDonald's bringing in temporary foreign workers while rejecting Canadians.

How many more scandals do we have to have? When will the minister stop allowing companies to bring in temporary foreign workers to do jobs that Canadians are ready and willing to do?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, the law does not permit that. Let us be clear. If any employer breaks the law, there are serious consequences, which is why, when I learned about the allegations with respect to the McDonald's franchise in Victoria on Thursday, I immediately ordered an inquiry. We had investigators on the site within 24 hours. I immediately suspended that employer's labour market opinions and the relevant work permits. We have added it to our black list. If the inquiry finds that employer lied in its labour market opinion agreements, I will refer this matter to the Canada Border Services Agency.

I want to remind employers that there are criminal sanctions for misrepresentation, including jail time, if they lie on their applications about their efforts to hire Canadians.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that there is no use blacklisting companies that abuse the system because there are no consequences.

The Conservatives have caused confusion in the labour market. The Kijiji strategy and the McDonald's strategy have one thing in common: incompetence. The Conservatives are the ones who created the loopholes that employers can use as they wish.

How long are the Conservatives going to watch the youth unemployment rate hold at twice the national average while companies bring in cheap labour from abroad?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. It is illegal for an employer to invite a foreigner to work in Canada instead of hiring a Canadian. That is why, as soon as I caught wind of allegations against an employer in Victoria, I ordered an inquiry. Investigators were on site within 24 hours. I suspended the work permits and the labour market opinions and I added that employer to the blacklist.

I want to remind employers that there are criminal sanctions, including jail time, if they lie on their applications to bring in temporary foreign workers.

Industry

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week the government announced a weak digital strategy. In comparison, Australia is much more ambitious. The Australian strategy ensures that people will have access to an Internet connection that is five times faster than the target announced by our Minister of Industry.

Why did the minister wait so long to table a digital strategy and why is he being so unambitious?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Mr. Speaker, actually I am quite proud that the minister has launched a very ambitious strategy. It is a path forward that takes full advantage of the opportunities of the digital age, if the NDP would have just listened to the announcement. Frankly, I think it is wonderful that as we move toward Canada's 150th birthday, we are moving Canada to a more digital nation for both businesses and consumers. The NDP should support that.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the government's digital strategy was out of date the moment it was announced. Experts like OpenMedia's Steve Anderson said, it's a “digital strategy for the last five years, not for the five years ahead”. The inadequate investment in broadband will not even come close to the CRTC's original targets, let alone the standard set by other countries. Why are the Conservatives content to be followers rather than leaders when it comes to the digital era?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Frankly, Mr. Speaker, none of that is true at all. What does the NDP have against connecting Canadians, ensuring that Canadians have access to the latest wireless technology? What does the NDP have against protecting Canadians, ensuring that their online privacy is protected; or economic opportunities, ensuring that Canadians have the skills and the opportunities necessary to succeed, not just in the digital economy here in North America, but with all the free trade agreements that we so much support and the NDP do not? How much have we done on digital governments? We continue to do more. The NDP should support that.

Justice

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my constituents regularly tell me that Canada's justice system needs to better respond to the needs of victims rather than offenders. That is one of the reasons I was so pleased last week that our Conservative government made the historic announcement of the Canadian victims bill of rights. This week is the ninth annual National Victims of Crime Awareness Week. Can the Minister of Justice please update the House on what we are doing to raise the awareness of rights for victims?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I was pleased this morning, along with the Minister of Public Safety, to mark the opening of the ninth National Victims of Crime Awareness Week here in Ottawa. It was truly an honour to meet with hockey hero Sheldon Kennedy, Rehtaeh Parsons' dad Glen Canning, and countless others, to help raise awareness for those who have fallen victim to crime. The theme for this year's victims week is “Taking Action”.

To that end, our government is supporting more than 180 events across the country. This is an opportunity for all of us to personally thank the compassionate organizers and individuals who work tirelessly, day in and day out, to meet the needs of victims. I invite all Canadians to take action and get involved in National Victims of Crime Awareness Week.

Rail Transportation

[Mike Sullivan, NDP, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives like to brag that railways are getting safer, but companies are not reporting all of their accidents and derailments. Last year, the CAPC found that CN rail had not reported more than 1,800 incidents between 2000 and 2007. Canada's Transportation Safety Board has just learned that over 100 were unreported last year alone. These trains travel through hundreds of communities. Successive Liberal and Conservative governments have loosened regulations. When will the Conservatives punish these railway companies?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member pointed out, there has been, since 2006, a 40% decrease in the number of rail accidents and an increase in the number of inspections, but in reality, it is very troubling to hear that the Transportation Safety Board has uncovered more incidents that should have been reported. We expect that the rail companies will tell us when they are having incidents that need to be reported to the Transportation Safety Board, and we will hold them to that accountability.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

There is still no concrete action, Mr. Speaker.

Canada's Transportation Safety Board discovered that rail companies hid 100 accidents, in addition to the 1,800 accidents not reported by CN between 2000 and 2007. MMA, which is responsible for the tragedy in Lac-Mégantic, neglected to report 24 accidents and derailments. That includes two incidents in Farnham where unsupervised trains full of oil accidentally moved.

Does the minister think it is acceptable that rail companies do not report all accidents?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, what we find unacceptable is that rail companies do not adhere to the laws we have in this country. That is why we have places that will investigate. One is an arm's-length organization called the Transportation Safety Board, which has done a retrospective analysis of reports of incidents that should have been reported. The information was provided by the railway companies, but that is not good enough. We expect that the railway companies will report these things in a timely fashion so that we will be able to undertake better public policy and better regulation of the railways.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is not doing anything. Old DOT-111 rail cars filled with oil continue to travel through towns and are derailing, but the public is not even made aware.

It is very troubling that the reports issued by rail companies are not reliable. It is also troubling to see that companies are never fined for failing to report all incidents.

When will the Conservatives make the safety of Canadians a priority over the profits of rail companies?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the safety of Canadians is our topmost priority in the government. That is exactly why we have been undertaking so many steps in the past number of months with respect to railway safety. They are numerous. They include making sure that the parliamentary committee is looking into the transportation of dangerous goods in this country and is reporting back in a very short timeframe, increasing the amount of inspections that are done, and beefing up our regulations to ensure that people are travelling safely and that the goods are travelling safely. If they do breach these, we have serious penalties and we have serious repercussions that we will hold railways accountable to.

Infrastructure

[Matthew Kellway, NDP, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with crumbling infrastructure and increasing gridlock, cities across the country are demanding new investments in transit, yet the Conservative government offers only platitudes, not solutions.

The NDP has long called for a national public transit strategy that would boost urban economies, reduce gridlock, and help the environment through transit investment.

Why are Conservatives turning their back on cities like Toronto, and why are they refusing to invest in transit?