Joyce Murray

[National Defence, November 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, veterans seeking service are often in crisis, and yet the average wait time to get service at a mental health clinic, at an OSI clinic, is approximately three months. At many of the DND centres, it is almost three times the promised wait time.

This is caused by the government's failure to staff these services properly, and all the while it is clawing back billions of dollars from the departments of Defence and Veterans Affairs.

How can our serving men and women believe they are a priority for this government after all of the neglect and the deception?

[National Defence, November 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about a decade of delay and deception by the current government. Since 2006, the Conservatives have spent $750 million on partisan advertising. Meanwhile, they have cut the defence budget to the point that we hardly even having a functioning navy, as we heard at the defence committee on Tuesday.

The reality is that a total of $14 billion has been either cut or announced and then clawed back from defence budgets.

Why do the Conservatives believe that hundreds of millions of dollars in partisan advertising is more important than providing brave men and women in uniform with the basic equipment that they require?

[Petitions, November 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition, which is signed by literally hundreds of residents from White Rock, British Columbia.

The petitioners are concerned that, based on a notice from the federal government's Department of Transportation, the city of White Rock has shut down the public's open access to the beaches of Semiahmoo Bay without prior public consultation and notice.

They are concerned that this will increase the likelihood of risky behaviour such that people will try to cross the railway tracks to get to the beach. It will cause a significant drop in property value, a reduction in business patrons for the marine businesses, as well as other hardships.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon the government to direct the city of White Rock to stop further installation of planned fences and immediately consult with the local public, find mutually acceptable solutions and then collaborate on sharing costs for the controlled crossings of these tracks.

[Infrastructure, November 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the western premiers have called on the federal government to be a partner in building the critical infrastructure they need for getting their products to markets. The government is spending billions on extra tax breaks for the rich by way of income-splitting, but refuses to invest in the roads, rail, and bridges that will make our export markets stronger and help all Canadians and the economy.

Do the Conservatives not realize that their 90% cut to the build Canada fund will have a devastating effect out west?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 17th, 2014]

With regard to the staffing of Canadian Armed Forces clinics: (a) at each base or location, what is the number employed of (i) military psychiatrists, (ii) civilian psychiatrists employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (iii) Calian psychiatrists, (iv) military psychologists, (v) civilian psychologists employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (vi) Calian psychologists, (vii) military medical doctors, (viii) civilian medical doctors employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (ix) Calian medical doctors, (x) military medical social workers, (xi) civilian medical social workers employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xii) Calian medical social workers, (xiii) military registered nurses specializing in mental health, (xiv) civilian registered nurses specializing in mental health employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xv) Calian registered nurses specializing in mental health, (xvi) military addictions counsellors, (xvii) civilian addictions counsellors employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xviii) Calian addictions counsellors; (b) what is the average full-time equivalent salary for (i) military psychiatrists, (ii) civilian psychiatrists employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (iii) Calian psychiatrists, (iv) military psychologists, (v) civilian psychologists employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (vi) Calian psychologists, (vii) military medical doctors, (viii) civilian medical doctors employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (ix) Calian medical doctors, (x) military medical social workers, (xi) civilian medical social workers employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xii) Calian medical social workers, (xiii) military registered nurses specializing in mental health, (xiv) civilian registered nurses specializing in mental health employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xv) Calian registered nurses specializing in mental health, (xvi) military addictions counsellors, (xvii) civilian addictions counsellors employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xviii) Calian addictions counsellors; and (c) what is the average number of patients treated per month by (i) military psychiatrists, (ii) civilian psychiatrists employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (iii) Calian psychiatrists, (iv) military psychologists, (v) civilian psychologists employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (vi) Calian psychologists, (vii) military medical doctors, (viii) civilian medical doctors employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (ix) Calian medical doctors, (x) military medical social workers, (xi) civilian medical social workers employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xii) Calian medical social workers, (xiii) military registered nurses specializing in mental health, (xiv) civilian registered nurses specializing in mental health employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xv) Calian registered nurses specializing in mental health, (xvi) military addictions counsellors, (xvii) civilian addictions counsellors employed directly by the Department of National Defence, (xviii) Calian addictions counsellors?

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 17th, 2014]

With regard to the Canadian Armed Forces: (a) what are the full costs to date for army, navy and air force contributions to Operation Reassurance, broken down by each service; and (b) what are the estimated future costs of Operation Reassurance, as well as the costs for any other initiatives by the Canadian military to promote stability in Eastern Europe?

[Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act, November 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the comments of the member across the way.

Liberals certainly feel and believe that strong security measures that protect Canadians are very important. Our intelligence agencies, our security agencies, do very important work in this regard.

It was under a Liberal government that the Order in Council to create, for example, our signals intelligence agency were put in place by cabinet, and it was also under a Liberal government that the National Defence Act and the Anti-terrorism Act were put in place to strengthen the ability of our security agencies to do their work.

The member used the word “balance”. What is missing in the government's approach is that very idea. I was listening carefully to hear any mention of the words “freedom”, “privacy rights”, and “civil liberties”, and I did not hear those words even once.

I ask the member whether she is aware that the deputy director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security considers the embedding of privacy rights and civil liberties in every program, system, and activity of Homeland Security to be essential to having a strong and effective security outcome for that department. How does she think that relates to the government's approach?

[Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act, November 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the member has said that the bill is a measured and reasonable step forward. However, we are supporting the bill to go to committee because it needs thorough scrutiny. There are measures in the bill that experts are concerned might violate international law. There are other measures that include provisions to enact an element of another bill that really does not have very much to do with the core elements of the provisions around CSIS.

My largest concern is that, unlike the advice that the Information Commissioner has given, any movement to strengthen or increase security measures should also be accompanied by an increase in oversight. However, that is completely ignored by the current government. In fact, the member's government has said that security oversight is just fine as it is.

In his view, does the member feel there is no need or any benefit in having an oversight that would tie together the various security agencies, such as CSEC, the Canadian Border Services Agency, RCMP, immigration and others, which, in some cases, are operating in silos in terms of oversight?

Would an integrated overview approach, as proposed by Bill C-622, which we will be voting on tonight, and other legislation, not be a positive thing in order to identify any gaps among the agencies and fix the—

[Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act, November 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, further to the member for Gatineau's comments about not having full information, I want to point out that the Information Commissioner, Mme. Legault, pointed to “'information asymmetry' when it comes to national security measures—the government has all the relevant information, and Canadians are asked to approve of new measures without that information”.

She is concerned about that, because it is not just about protecting fundamental security rights. There are also other fundamental rights, and we need to have the appropriate information to make the appropriate judgement call.

The commissioner also called for “a complete review into the oversight of national security bodies”. I know that has been mentioned by a number of speakers.

One of the reasons for the Liberal Party's support of a parliamentary oversight committee, aside from our Five Eyes partners all having such a thing, is that it can be more effective, in terms of security, than a patchwork of oversight for individual security and intelligence agencies and nothing to integrate them.

I would like to ask the member for Gatineau, especially given the tragic events of October 22, whether that oversight that could look at the gaps between different security agencies, whether it is the RCMP, parliamentary security, CSIS, or CSEC, could strengthen our security as well as strengthen privacy.

[Privacy, November 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, over the past year, information leaks revealed that the Communications Security Establishment of Canada spied on innocent Canadian air travellers and facilitated a massive U.S. spy operation on Canadian soil.

Last November, Justice Mosley revealed that CSEC kept the courts in the dark on how it shared Canadians' private data with foreign intelligence agencies.

Will Conservative MPs join us in standing up for their constituents' rights to privacy? Will the government commit to a free vote on Bill C-622, which would help protect both the privacy rights and the security of Canadians?