Bill C-378 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Department of Veterans Affairs Act (fairness principles)

This enactment amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act to require that, in exercising his or her powers and in performing his or her duties and functions, the Minister of Veterans Affairs take into account certain principles in relation to, among others, persons who have served in the Canadian Forces or merchant navy or in the naval, army or air forces or merchant navies of Her Majesty as well as in relation to their dependants or survivors.

Business of Supply

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, perhaps the member missed my point. We have to get beyond rhetoric. We have to see what is happening on the ground. There is a call for mass civil disobedience starting on March 10 in my community. This is real. This is well advertised. This is coming.

We have to get beyond rhetoric. We have to get out of the Ottawa bubble and see what this means to communities.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, listening to New Democrats on pipelines is second only to listening to New Democrats on trade; it is hard to figure out their position.

My question to the member is simple. New Democratic Premier Rachel Notley of Alberta, who has a revolutionary taxation regime for fighting climate change, is fighting tooth and nail to get this pipeline approved. The New Democratic government of British Columbia is putting significant obstacles in the path of a legitimate federally approved pipeline.

I think I understand that member's position, but what is the position of the New Democratic Party of Canada with respect to the Kinder Morgan pipeline?

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, sitting in this place makes one want to weep at times.

I just said there is plan for massive civil disobedience in my community on March 10. That member stated a bunch of rhetorical talking points because he is scared to answer the question of whether he is prepared to use military force to stop this.

What is this place for? It is bizarre that we are not talking about the core part of this debate. It is very discouraging.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Speaker, before coming here as an elected member from British Columbia's coast, I was an elected member of the local government. I heard a lot of concern about oil tanker traffic with respect to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. I heard about how it would jeopardize existing jobs, our wild salmon industry, and tourism. Much money is generated on the basis of a pristine environment, and that is partly why we have had to stand up and oppose oil tanker traffic from Kinder Morgan.

I would like to hear my colleague's comments on the purported jobs that Kinder Morgan said would accrue to British Columbia from construction and pipeline operations, because to us it looks all downside, no upside.

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, the company's web page is incredibly informative when it comes to describing this project. The web page says there will be 90 new jobs after this pipeline is built, 50 in British Columbia. One could open a White Spot restaurant and have more jobs in B.C.

I agree that the impact from this project would be different on Alberta, but, for British Columbia, the province I have been elected to represent and where my constituents are clearly saying there would be no benefits for them, it is my job to stand up in the House and say that. When the minister threatens to use the military against them, I also have to stand up and defend them from that.

Members on that side of the House are being unrealistic. They are not conscious of what will be coming if they try to force this pipeline through.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague from Burnaby South for his sterling work in listening to his constituents and learning about the issues surrounding the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

August 20, 2015, was the genesis of the motion we are seeing today. I support the fact that it was brought forward. We are going to oppose this motion for reasons my colleague from Burnaby South spelled out.

On August 20, 2015, the Prime Minister came to British Columbia, and in front of a crowd in Esquimalt, said very clearly that Kinder Morgan would not be approved unless the entire process was redone. That was a solemn commitment he made to British Columbians on August 20, 2015, a few weeks prior to the election date, and that is the genesis of the problem we have before us today.

The Liberals and the Prime Minister have taken Mr. Harper's incredible gutting of environmental regulations and the NEB process and are making that discredited process, a process that does not involve Canadians, does not involve British Columbians, their own. In other words, the Prime Minister promised to redo the whole process and put in place something that would actually mean legitimate consultation with British Columbians, but he did the exact opposite. It is absolutely shameful.

The Liberals have compounded this, as my colleague for Burnaby South just mentioned, by threatening military action in British Columbia. We have an illegitimate process, one the Liberals promised to change. They did not change it. Instead, they approved the pipeline, which the Prime Minister said very clearly they would not. On top of that, they threatened British Columbians. It is because of that badly broken, gutted promise made solemnly to British Columbians, just a few weeks prior to the election date, that so many British Columbians have come out in opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. We have first nations that have come out in opposition. The City of Burnaby, which I and my colleague from Burnaby South represent, has come out strongly opposed, as have municipalities throughout the coastal region.

Why have they come out in opposition? It is not just that the process is illegitimate, that Mr. Harper's Conservative government gutted the whole process and made it illegitimate in anyone's eyes, and that the Liberals promised to do one thing and are doing the exact opposite. It is also because of the impact on the coast, which could be catastrophic.

I grew up in New Westminster, and I am proud of growing up in the Lower Mainland. Four generations of my family have lived in that area. My grandfather came from Norway and fished on the coast for a number of years.

The fishing and tourism industries have a profound impact on our economy in British Columbia. We are talking about impacts the Liberals have never investigated or looked at, an illegitimate process, and the potential loss of billions of dollars if there is just one spill. That is why so many communities have come out in opposition to this project. It is why so many communities have said that, ultimately, without a legitimate process, this is simply something that has no credibility.

My colleague for Burnaby South talked about the impact on the Fraser River. I would like to mention the Brunette River area, where I walk my dogs every morning. It is an area that could be profoundly impacted by the new route that is being pushed through. There were no consultations. The City of New Westminster was not able to come forward with its concerns. This is habitat that has been restored through decades of work by people who are involved in the Sapperton Fish and Game Club and other community organizations. They restored the habitat, and now we have Kinder Morgan, with the approval of the Liberal government, putting at risk the Brunette River as well. These are profound risks that have not been investigated through a legitimate process.

I should mention, being one of the few people in this House of Commons who has been ankle deep in oil, having worked in the Shellburn oil refinery and the Burnaby tank farm, that I know how serious the environmental impacts can be. I know how difficult it is to clean up even a small spill. I can say with some assurance that the incredible irresponsibility with which the Liberals have approached this whole process, not just by betraying British Columbians by breaking their promise but by refusing to put in place any sort of public consultation process, is something that has alienated many British Columbians.

My colleague referenced the Royal Society report. The Royal Society report is something that every single Liberal MP, not just those from British Columbia, should be reading, because it speaks repeatedly to the fact that we do not know the impact on the Salish Sea or the B.C. coast of a spill of bitumen. We have no idea. The Royal Society repeatedly requests that high priority, urgent research be done in all these areas, because we simply do not know. The pipeline the Prime Minister wants to push through is something that could have profound impacts on the coast, and scientific evidence shows that the Liberal government and the Prime Minister have simply not done their homework.

I was in this House when the Harper government gutted the environmental rules. I spoke to the budget for 14 hours, because there was so much to glean because of the impact on fish habitat and on environmental legislation right across the country.

It never would have occurred to me, or to most British Columbians, that the Liberals, having promised to address the concerns raised by Canadians from coast to coast to coast about the gutting of those environmental regulations, would refuse to do that.

This is no small issue, because when we talk about the impacts of just one spill, we are talking about impacts that could last for a generation. David Schindler, who is the foremost authority on water policy and water in Canada, recently wrote about the impacts of the Exxon Valdez. One generation later, the impacts are still being felt. The fishery has not come back in Alaska. The coast continues to be polluted by that spill. David Schindler is someone who has profound scientific renown, yet the Liberals, just as they have thrown aside the scientific evidence from the Royal Society, have thrown aside the scientific evidence from David Schindler. We know that the Exxon Valdez had a profound impact and continues to have a profound impact. The Kalamazoo River spill continues to have a profound impact on habitat, after the spending of a billion dollars.

We have a Prime Minister who came to Nanaimo a couple of weeks ago and said that there would be no coastal protection unless British Columbians promptly ignored all that evidence and promptly agreed with the Liberals on building the pipeline. That is unacceptable. That is why there is so much reaction in British Columbia. There is the illegitimate process, there are the broken promises of the Liberals, and there are the threats that unless the pipeline is agreed to, there will be no coastal protection and no environmental policies to combat climate change.

That is childish rhetoric that comes from the government. It is childish rhetoric that is improper for a national government. We need a national government that will actually show leadership on climate change and put in place the kinds of policies and process that consults British Columbians and Canadians. That is something Jagmeet Singh will bring to Ottawa when he is elected in 2019.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, one of the things that is great about pipelines is that they bring petroleum products to the world. Petroleum products make all our lives better. I do not think any one of us got here today without these petroleum products. We need petroleum products to ensure that we can live the lifestyle we have.

The Trans Mountain pipeline would allow petroleum products to make it to parts of the world where people are living in energy poverty and where they do not necessarily have the luxury we live in. This would allow us to get something out to the rest of the world.

It seems that my NDP colleagues are standing in the way of feeding the world, essentially, when it comes to petroleum products. To some degree, I understand that. What is interesting about this is that even though I and my NDP colleagues seem to disagree, fundamentally, on this issue, we seem to agree that the Liberal governments are doing a terrible job.

Would my colleague agree with that?

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

Madam Speaker, I would agree with that, but I would also like to say that the Conservatives have done a terrible job. One of the worst jobs they have done is in the province of Alberta.

I had a lot of respect for Peter Lougheed. He actually understood that there needed to be value added, that there needed to be an investment in wealth creation, and that services needed to be protected in Alberta. In the last 30 years, under Conservative governments, we saw exactly the opposite. They gutted education. They gutted health care. In terms of wealth creation, Norway, which has actually produced less oil over a shorter period of time, now has $1 trillion in its sovereign wealth fund. Alberta Conservatives gutted the heritage fund. They left it with nothing.

It is fair to say that although the Liberal government is bad, Conservatives in Alberta should be hanging their heads in shame. They took a valuable resource, and over decades, because they were concerned with rip and ship rather than anything else, left Alberta without the kind of heritage we have seen from the social democrats in Norway, which now has a trillion dollars for rainy days forever. That is social democracy in action.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Madam Speaker, during his speech, my colleague cited the changes made in 2012 that gutted certain protections in our Fisheries Act, our environmental assessment process, the navigation protection act, and more. I agree that they were very important changes, which we are taking some steps to remedy. However, where I think we may part ways, and I will give the member an opportunity to comment, is that I believe that it is possible to construct, in a responsible way, a major energy project, including a pipeline, if there is a rigorous process around it and important environmental conditions.

I wonder if the member believes that it is possible to build a pipeline in an environmentally responsible way. If so, could the member give an example of one he supports?

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

Madam Speaker, the Liberals certainly do not listen when the opposition speaks, but they do not even listen to themselves.

I appreciate my colleague's comments, but he just mentioned two things that have not happened. First, he said that we need a rigorous consultation process, but they have gutted that. That is what the Liberals did. They brought a gutted process to the table. The member then said that we need to be responsible environmentally. We have not even had the environmental evaluation.

What is the impact, when we have a multi-billion dollar tourism industry, of just one spill of bitumen? Even the Royal Society has no idea what those impacts are. What happens when there is a shutdown of the fishery industry that generations of British Columbians have depended on, including people in my family? The Liberals have no idea. They did not do an evaluation on the environment. They have not done public consultations. Now Liberals are saying, “Hypothetically, if we did all these things, what would you say?”

The Liberals should have done it. They did not get the job done. It is shameful that they broke their promise to British Columbians.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to advise you that I will share my time with the hon. member for Calgary Rocky Ridge.

For my riding in particular, this issue is of critical importance, and let me provide a quick example to illustrate exactly why. Within hours of the province of Alberta announcing what was basically a blockade of B.C. wine being sold or transported into that province, I received a call from a panicked B.C. wine owner. That winery owner has 6,000 cases of wine sold into Alberta, yet still has to make delivery. This is not some big corporate winery, and 6,000 cases represents a huge part of this winery's annual sales revenues and volume of production. This is a family-run winery, where on any given day we will see father and daughter working side by side. They have mortgages to pay, wages for staff, utilities, taxes, and hopefully at the end of the day, enough left over to draw a wage. I am certain everyone in this place can empathize with the resulting fear and frustration being felt by the British Columbia wine industry.

How did we get here? On the surface, we have two fighting New Democratic Party provincial governments. In B.C. we have a coalition NDP desperate to maintain its power through its deal with the Green Party. Of course, that coalition is on thin ice after the NDP approved the Site C dam project that it had railed against for years. Going after the Trans Mountain pipeline project is a political necessity for the B.C. NDP, and likewise for the Green Party in British Columbia.

So far, the Green Party has delivered very little. It abandoned its opposition to bridge tolling to support the NDP, and is likewise supporting an NDP government that approved the Site C dam and one that wants to support B.C. liquefied natural gas. B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver is desperate to show his base that his support for the NDP is not just a sell out deal that has resulted in little else but his party receiving taxpayer subsidies for political parties.

Meanwhile, over in Alberta, we have an NDP government essentially terrified after the two provincial political parties recently merged, with an election that is quickly approaching. For the Alberta NDP, fighting for the Trans Mountain pipeline is critically important not just for it to survive but because this project is absolutely critical to Alberta. That is what is troubling. This brewing trade dispute is politically helpful for both these NDP governments. Meanwhile, small family wineries are caught in the middle as political pawns.

As members of Parliament, how do we fix this? Ultimately, we know the Prime Minister has stated he strongly believes the Trans Mountain pipeline is in Canada's national interest. For the record, I agree with the Prime Minister on this. However, here is the problem. Beyond saying that he strongly supports the Trans Mountain pipeline and that the project is in Canada's national interest, the Prime Minister has said nothing else as to what measures he is prepared to invoke to make this project a reality. Of course that has created uncertainty, and in essence, a leadership vacuum on this file.

Therefore, the province of Alberta is basically in a situation where, absence of any federal leadership on this issue, it is now essentially forced to not only defend the interests of Alberta but also the Canadian interest. To be candid, I agree that the Prime Minister's lack of action and leadership on this file has put Premier Notley into a difficult and unfair situation. That is why we are having this debate today.

It is all well and good for the Prime Minister to say that this project is in the national interest and that it will get built, but he does not say when it will get built. When will he show some leadership and take action?

Here is the part I find deeply troubling. Recently on CBC we heard that “ultimately the federal government will not allow any province to impinge on its jurisdiction over the national interest. Full stop.” On the surface, this sounds somewhat promising. There is only one problem. Who said it? According to the same CBC article, it was “a senior Liberal, speaking on condition of anonymity”. In other words, it was not the Prime Minister, not the Minister of Natural Resources. The best the Liberals can do is to send out some anonymous person to speak some tough talk to the CBC. Seriously, is this the best that the current Liberal government can do?

What troubles me more is that this is a Prime Minister and Liberal government who will fight against veterans in court, even after they promised that they would not. This is a Prime Minister and Liberal government who will fight against faith organizations receiving summer jobs funding for grants unless they take a values test. This is a Prime Minister and Liberal government who will fight against the Prime Minister's having to repay his illegal vacation expenses, but when it comes to fighting for a project that the Prime Minister has deemed to be within Canada's national interest, basically nothing. All we get is some lowly anonymous Liberal leaker hamming it up with his favourite CBC reporter. Of course, that is why we are in this situation and why we are having this debate.

The Prime Minister needs to clearly articulate to Canadians what actions he will take to ensure projects in Canada's national interest become a reality. I think everyone here gets that. The time for platitudes and flowery language is over. Now is the time for action and to deliver results. If this Prime Minister is not capable of doing that, I would suggest he should find someone else who can, preferably someone who is not a senior anonymous Liberal.

I would also like to add a few observations. When it came to potentially looking after the interests of Irving Shipbuilding, the Prime Minister was prepared to cancel another shipbuilding contract in Quebec at great cost to taxpayers, until the public found out. When it came to defending the interests of Bombardier, we know once again that the Prime Minister was prepared to cancel a contract. In fact, the current Liberal government has now announced a procurement policy with this in mind.

I mention these things because we know that the Prime Minister is actually capable of standing up for certain things from time to time. Surely if the Prime Minister strongly believes that the Trans Mountain pipeline project is in Canada's national interest, he will do the same. The only question to be asked is why he has refused to do it thus far. Ultimately, that is what we need: a Prime Minister who will step up, show leadership, and deliver results for the country. That is the job of the Prime Minister.

That is why today I will ask this place to support the motion before us. In effect, what it is calling for is for the Prime Minister to do his job. On this side of the House, we do not believe that is asking too much and I hope that Liberals on that side of the House will agree.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, the fact is that the government put in place a process. It was an amended process. It was designed to give an added level of scrutiny to the pipeline approval process. Pipeline approval was granted. The Prime Minister has been in British Columbia. Ministers have been in British Columbia. We have relayed to the Government of British Columbia that this is in federal jurisdiction and this is an approved pipeline. What we have, though, is a Government of Alberta, a New Democratic government, and a Government of British Columbia, a New Democratic government, who cannot seem to see eye to eye.

I asked my hon. friend from British Columbia in the other party what the position of the federal New Democratic Party is. I would now ask this hon. friend, whether he has been able to discern a position. We know the position of his party. Has he been able to discern a position among all the New Democratic voices here? What is the position of the New Democratic Party of Canada on pipelines?

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Speaker, the fact that the member opposite is trying to use this issue to sling at the NDP shows that he is much more concerned about political posturing. In fact, I pointed out on Twitter recently that right now the premiers of Alberta and British Columbia are both doing what they figure is in their electoral interests, and so is the Prime Minister, because he does not want to lose seats in the Lower Mainland, which, by the way, was not an area where the Prime Minister held a town hall. If the Prime Minister believes, in this place, that it is in Canada's national interest, why is he not in Burnaby saying that it is in the national interest?

Questions like this will not help that lady and her father who, right now, have products they cannot get to market. Why? It is because the Liberal Prime Minister has refused to step up and speak as one country and one national economy.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Speaker, earlier today, the Minister of Natural Resources spoke about the oceans protection plan. He commented on a $1.5-billion investment, which is about $300 million a year, and we are still trying to find the details of what exactly is being spent.

I wanted to ask a question of the natural resources minister, but I have not had the opportunity. I will ask my hon. colleague a very simple question about science and whether the product we are talking about, bitumen, sinks or floats. I wonder if my hon. colleague could talk about a peer-reviewed scientific report or study that shows whether it sinks or floats.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am really glad that the member from British Columbia looks upon me with such esteem that he would consider me a substitute for the Minister of Natural Resources.

I will try to address his question, but getting back to the resources, the $1.5 billion that the Liberal government is designating to beef up safety on the coast, British Columbia did not get any of the $400 million that was announced for Atlantic Canada for it to innovate. The government, when it comes to talking about our coasts and whatnot, very much plays a regional game.

I would point out to the member, though, that the old pipeline that we have today, that has been serving that market for 60 years, probably will not be able to produce enough product for there to be an increase in material security. The member runs into a problem. We do not get the $1.5 billion in resources if there is not an expanded pipeline. I would bet any day that most of his constituents would much rather see investments in a new pipeline with new protections rather than having the status quo, with so many trains and trucks going to the Burnaby Chevron refinery.

When it comes to bitumen, I would say there are a number of different reports. Blair King has done a number of posts on that. He is an expert in the field and asks many of the same questions the member seems to want to parrot. It is important for us to ask these questions in committee, where there is time, but right now, our motion specifically asks the Prime Minister to do his job. I hope the member can appreciate we are being clear and up front with what we want the Prime Minister to do.