Foreign Affairs Committee on April 2nd, 2015

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Will you talk to Minister Alexander to issue a passport?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

—and he has that power and that responsibility.

Certainly, when we looked into this, I was very pleased to hear the comments of my colleague—

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

But you were completely—

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

—who indicated that travel documents will be made available—

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

No, it's not the issue.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

—to this individual when the time comes.

I listened very politely, but I did have to make that very clear, Mr. Chairman. It's the Minister of Immigration.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

It's up to the government.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

It's not out of my office that we produce those. Again, I have complete confidence in him.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I'm sorry.

Mr. Chair, he's ragging the puck. I know what he's doing.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

I'm very pleased about the comments made by my colleague in the last two days in the House of Commons.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I have a very direct question.

The government is now saying it will not issue a passport, as per its powers, to Mr. Fahmy. It's incredible. It's astonishing, Mr. Chair. This government not only has left Mr. Fahmy abandoned in Egypt but it also won't even grant him the basic identification he needs to rent an apartment or to get married. The only thing stopping Mr. Fahmy from being able to travel within Egypt, as is his right, or rent an apartment or get married—

Mr. Nicholson, you're married. I'm married. You remember what it was like. You had to go to officials and provide documents. Why aren't you allowing Mr. Fahmy to get married? Don't give me this “It's Mr. Alexander”. You know that this has been in front of you. Your government took a month to send erroneous information back to Mr. Fahmy to say he is not able to get a passport from your government.

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Chair, could I answer this?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Is that the standard of service that this government is giving to Canadians abroad? If it is, then you're incompetent, sir.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Mr. Dewar—

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Well, he is.

The one thing you should be able to give Mr. Fahmy.... If you can't provide a passport to a Canadian and you have the powers to do so, then it is a matter of incompetence and it is disgraceful.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

That's all the time we have.

We're going to move over to the second round.

Mr. Trottier, go ahead for seven minutes.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the minister for joining us today.

The purpose of today's meeting is actually for the crown to present its request to Parliament to spend money. That's what is actually being discussed today. We as parliamentarians, on behalf of Canadian taxpayers in particular, want to ensure that Canadians are getting value for their money. Some members wish the crown would spend more within the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. Some members might feel that the department should be spending less.

Through your main estimates and your report on plans and priorities, you presented your prioritized spending plans. I note several things in there, especially in the RPP. In the budgetary planning summary, I see some reductions in spending in most of the program areas, in keeping with our government's effort to reduce the deficit. I see increased estimates in support of international commerce in particular. I see spending at about the same levels in international development and international humanitarian assistance. Of course, some priorities and events, such as typhoon relief or earthquake relief, are inherently difficult for Foreign Affairs to predict. Another event that was very difficult for us to predict was the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

Minister Nicholson, could you expand on some of your comments earlier about the atrocities that ISIL is carrying out on ethnic minorities? Why is it so important that Canada fight to stop these horrors from being committed? Also, do you feel there's enough in your estimates to rise to these challenges?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

I think there certainly is, Mr. Chair, and, as you can see, the budget for the department has risen. I'm very pleased about that and all the different areas that we have become involved with and all the areas to which we contribute.

You made specific reference with respect to ISIL, the jihadi terrorists. We have made that a priority. That's a priority for our government. This group is a threat to Canada. It's a threat to the region. That's why we are there assisting in Iraq. We've expanded the mission to Syria because we are not going to give this organization, this terrorist group, free rein to move in and out of Iraq, so we're joining with our coalition partners.

The list of atrocities committed by that group is astounding. I don't know if the world has ever seen anything quite like this before. Unlike some parties, some individuals, who want to stand on the sideline, we are a country where that has never been the Canadian way. We stand up for what is right in this world, and that is what we are doing with the extension of this mission. This is what we are doing in our assistance for Ukraine. This is what Canadians can count on their government to do, that when they see such atrocities committed, they can expect this government to stand up and take action about it.

We have a joint responsibility with our coalition partners, but we should make no mistake: this organization directly targets Canada. We know that. We know of the threat, we will stand up to that threat, and we will do what is right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Mr. Goldring.

[Peter Goldring, Conservative, Edmonton East, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you for appearing here today, Ministers and gentlemen.

My question is for Minister Yelich. The deep freeze has ended and summer is rapidly approaching. Students are finishing up their exams soon, and many of them will be looking to be doing some international travelling. What consular advice can you share with us to ensure safer travel for our constituents?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Blackstrap, SK]

Thank you. I do have some information to share.

I also spoke earlier about the importance of my job as Minister of State for Consular Affairs. The consular issues are my issues. I would like the committee to understand that it is my responsibility to answer Mr. Dewar's question on Mr. Fahmy. We have done a lot for Mr. Fahmy, as he well knows. I do think that he should understand that his questions should be directed to me, as yours should be directed.

We have three Rs when it comes to travel.

First of all, we want people to read up. Our government has revamped the travel.gc.ca web page so that it's a one-stop-shop educational resource for the Canadian traveller, featuring an up-to-date informative travel advisory mobile device while on the go. I can't stress how important it is to ensure that people who are travelling have valid travel insurance before going anywhere, regardless of where they are travelling to or from. I want to encourage all of you to promote this website to ensure that people see that there is valuable information available for all Canadians who are travelling so they can avoid situations and be aware of some of the advisories that we are posting.

I would also like to encourage young people to register when they are travelling. We do have registration. We encourage travellers to use the registration of Canadians abroad service. It's called ROCA. It's free. It's a critical tool to allow contact of Canadians during an emergency so we know where the Canadians are. It only takes a few minutes to complete for wherever you're going. It is quick, confidential, and mobile-friendly. As I said earlier, people are travelling to many different and remote areas around the world, and in the event there is a tragedy or a crisis, we will be able to reach those who might be in these serious situations.

Finally, “reaching” us is our third R. We want you to know that there are consular services offered to Canadians, as I said, 24-7. That's 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone, by email, and by social media. Canadians can call collect from anywhere in the world when they need assistance from us.

Again, this information and more on travel can be found at travel.gc.ca. I'm wishing that Canadians do enjoy their summer travel and read up on their excursions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Garneau, you have seven minutes, sir.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My questions will be about the department's expenditures.

In last year's Public Accounts of Canada, some $345 million was approved but not spent. Could you please tell us why that money wasn't spent?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Thank you very much.

Overall you will see that the department's spending and budget are up. Some of the money was not spent because of the timing. Some of it was spent the year before. We're not losing any of the money. Some of it, for instance, wasn't spent on the chancery, for instance, in Moscow. That was a fairly big sum. It wasn't spent, but nonetheless it's not lost. It will continue on in the future.

Overall, as you can see, and I'm sure you're very pleased to see, the Foreign Affairs budget has gone up, and that will continue.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Thank you.

I recall that when I was president of the Canadian Space Agency, Treasury Board would check very carefully at the end of the year how I had spent my money. They always had questions, not only if I overspent, which I didn't, but also if I underspent, and the reasons for it.