Debates of June 5th, 2014

Government Appointments

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, again, Mr. Therrien is the best candidate for this position. Yesterday, the NDP said that the Privacy Commissioner is not the best candidate, and then they turned around and said that we have to listen to the commissioner. That is a hypocritical position.

Access to Information

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

Mr. Speaker, today the Information Commissioner released a damning new report on the Conservatives' transparency. Complaints are up 30% because of processing delays. Some consultation delays are just ridiculous. For example, the Department of Natural Resources asked for a whole year to consult another department before releasing a document. It takes them a whole year to consult each other. Let us stop pretending that the Conservatives are good managers. What specific plans do they have to shorten these delays and comply with the law?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I can say that this government has been responsible for processing over 50% of all access to information requests submitted since the law was enacted in 1983. Every year since we have been in power, the number of access to information requests has gone up.

We are acting. We have over 200,000 datasets online for complete information for the Canadian public as well. Our record is second to none when it comes to access to information.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it was the culture of secrecy that allowed corruption to flourish in the Liberal years, but these Conservatives are even worse. Today, another damning report from the Information Commissioner confirms that the black shroud of secrecy is destined to become the single most defining hallmark of the Conservative government.

The public has a right to know what their government is doing with their money. Conservatives used to believe that. In fact, I took six of their promises made to Canadians and put them into a bill to reform the Access to Information Act and they voted against it.

I want to know just when they decided to break faith with Canadians and break their promises about--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. President of the Treasury Board.

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, as I already said, of the total number of access to information requests that have been replied to since 1983, 50% of them have been replied to by this government. We have replied to more access to information requests than the Trudeau, Mulroney, Turner, Campbell, Chrétien, and Martin governments combined. That is our record on access to information and we are darn proud of it.

Industry

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, British Columbia is home to more than 650,000 kilometres of off-highway roads. These roads are not only used by commercial industries, such as the oil, gas, mining, and forestry sectors, but also by the public to access rural and remote areas. In recent years, high demand for radio space across all industries has put a strain on the system.

Can the Minister of Industry update this House on what our government is doing to improve the communications and safety of roads in rural B.C.?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for the question. He represents one of the largest electoral districts in Canada and understands what none of us should ever forget, which is that Canada's resource industries and people who live in rural and remote communities in this country must have reliable access to communication networks as it is essential to create jobs and have access to tourism and opportunities in those parts of this country.

Today I was very pleased to announce that we will be dedicating 40 new radio channels across British Columbia to ensure that this access to information and communication will be a fact all across British Columbia: the Okanagan, across the island—all across British Columbia. It is essential for us to move forward on this, which we are. We are working with the Province of British Columbia and we will continue to stand up for B.C.

Transport

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

Mr. Speaker, the auto industry is vital to Canada, but it has taken another hit. An internal report released today by GM finds that “Incompetence and neglect led to the failure to recall unsafe vehicles for over a decade”. This has been linked to at least 13 deaths, including a tragic accident here in Canada.

Why is the minister refusing to appear at the committee to answer questions, and will she now rethink her silence, or is she satisfied with this culture of incompetence and neglect?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I appeared before a committee of the whole on May 7 of this year to answer just these questions with respect to GM and I am happy to answer questions here in question period every single day.

We know that GM Canada issued the recall as soon as they told us they had received that information to do so. If that is not the case, we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is responsible for transportation safety, but she is not stepping up to that responsibility.

In the U.S., Congress is getting ready for a new series of hearings on GM's manufacturing defects. Here in Canada, the minister is refusing to answer the committee's questions and seems to be taking a back seat while the Americans are getting answers.

Does the minister believe that Canadians should rely on the U.S. Congress to find out more about these defects that have already caused at least one death in Quebec?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, there have been nine complaints in Canada regarding this faulty ignition switch. Two of them have ended in tragedy, and those two are being investigated by Transport Canada.

The member opposite is referring to whether or not GM Canada was given the information in a timely fashion that they should issue a recall. We understand from GM that they issued the recall as soon as they found out from their partner in the United States.

We have no information to the contrary. We have asked them repeatedly. If information comes to light through our current investigation that such is not the case, we will prosecute under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Canada Post

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by attacking Canada Post as they have, the Conservatives have driven a stake into the economic heart of the regions. The Conservatives claim that there is a moratorium on closing rural post offices, but since 2006, 164 of them have closed their doors. Residents are talking about the negative impact on their communities and are unhappy with the quality of service, which is plummeting.

Why are the Conservatives attacking services for people who live in the regions?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct, there is a rural moratorium with respect to Canada Post offices that was put in place by this government, because we wanted to protect the service in those areas.

Canada Post also has developed a five-point plan. One of them is to remove the door-to-door service for one-third of Canadian households, which the member opposite has been talking about a lot in recent days.

I think it is important for the House to know and understand that the Federation of Canadian Municipalities defeated a resolution calling on the government to reverse the decision on door-to-door service. Two-thirds of Canadian municipalities support us on this.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if there is a moratorium, the minister is responsible for honouring it.

You do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand that when you put prices up and reduce services, you are going to hit the wall. Mr. Speaker, imagine that the 23 geniuses who run Canada Post could think of nothing better than to transform post offices into closed counters. Everything is kept behind a locked door. Customers receive no service until they find the bell to ring for the employee. Unbelievable. The results are clear: a 50% decrease in revenue. It is obvious that Canada Post management is messing everything up.

When are the Conservatives going to learn that they need to find solutions to maintain service and not shrink Canada's public postal service?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Post was faced with the reality that one billion fewer letters are being delivered in this country. As a result of that, it is seeing a decrease in its revenues, and increase in its expenses and it had to have a plan.

Canada Post developed a five-point plan. That plan is being implemented, and that is in place to ensure that in the future, all Canadians can receive timely mail and packages at the places they wish to have them.

Government Appointments

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

My question is to the President of the Treasury Board. This morning in committee, the Clerk of the Privy Council presented his report on the state of the public service. He rightly said that Canada has one of the best public services in the world. A large measure of that is due to its fundamental values of being non-partisan and its appointments being merit-based.

How important does the minister himself feel those values are in upholding the integrity and reputation of Canada's public service?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I think those are very important values.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

My golly, Mr. Speaker, we got an answer.

Those values, though, were not respected at ACOA in 2012, when the Public Service Commissioner had to revoke two rigged appointments, friends of the Minister of Justice.

Now it seems those values will be violated again with two more tainted political ECBC appointments slated to get rolled into the public service, also friends of the Minister of Justice.

Would the minister respect the Integrity Commissioner's finding and assure Canadians that tainted ECBC appointments would not get a free pass into the public service? Would he assure us that those values will be respected?

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. The Public Service Commission and the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner in both cases found no ministerial interference with these hirings. That is a fact the hon. member should acknowledge.

However, in 2006, the Public Service Commission reported that the Liberals gave ministerial aides free rides into the public service.

On this side of the House, we take accountability seriously. That is exactly why we had to pass the Federal Accountability Act and eliminate the revolving door the Liberals had into—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster.

Democratic Reform

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

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-23, the electoral “deform”, has been criticized far and wide. Just today, at the electoral fraud trial in Guelph, we learned that Andrew Prescott—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

As much as I love the Cape Breton accent, I am going to ask those members who want to continue on with the previous question to maybe find a seat outside, in the lobby, but not in the chamber where they seem to be disturbing, certainly, the Chair.

The hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster.

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

Just today, at the electoral fraud trial in Guelph, we learned that Andrew Prescott, who was involved in the Conservatives' 2011 campaign, said that these fraudulent robocalls were organized at the national level. However, the Conservatives' electoral “deform” does not address this problem.

Why leave the door wide open to more electoral fraud like this?