Debates of Oct. 7th, 2011

Rail Transportation

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is now a full year since the rail freight service review was completed. It is over six months since the government promised to implement it. In March the government said it would work with all parties to draft legislation giving shippers the right to enforceable contracts with the railways. Now the government is suggesting a process to avoid legislation.

Which is it: enforce shippers' rights or avoid shippers' rights? I ask for the fourth time, will the legislation be introduced this year?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Transport)]

Mr. Speaker, in March of this year our government announced a comprehensive strategy that responds to the findings of the rail freight review. Our government is following up on its commitments to improve the performance of the rail-based supply chain. Stakeholders, all parties and certainly ours, everyone in the commercial sector and people who rely on rail freight will work together to make sure that we can have an efficient and effective rail freight operation in our country. We will be naming a facilitator for this process shortly.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, it has been over a year. Clearly the government is dragging its feet on implementing the railway service review. Who gains by the slow response? The railways of course, while farmers pay higher rates for poorer service.

Are the government's efforts to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board really to protect its railway friends? We know it was the Wheat Board that challenged the railways on price gouging. It defended farmers' interests before the CTA and won 14 times against United States grain interests. Just for whom and why is the government making the reckless decision to destroy the Canadian Wheat Board?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, our government remains committed to giving western Canadian grain farmers the marketing freedom that they want and that they deserve. An open market in western Canada will attract investment. It will encourage innovation and will create value-added jobs. It is going to build a stronger Canadian economy.

The member knows that is true. He should join with us in bringing western Canadian farmers the freedom they deserve.

Democratic Reform

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister dismissed the Liberals' advice on his Senate bill, but will he listen to independent experts and staunch Conservatives?

Three out of four western academics say that his ill-conceived plan would hurt Alberta and British Columbia. The Prime Minister's former chief of staff, Tom Flanagan, said, “This bill scares me”.

Why do the Prime Minister and the Minister of State for Democratic Reform want to hurt their own province?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' agenda is clear. They would rather support the status quo in the Senate than reasonable and achievable reforms.

Alberta has shown that giving Canadians a say in Senate nominees is not only possible, but it works. We congratulate Premier Alward and his government on committing to give New Brunswickers real input into their Senate representatives.

G8 Summit

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has confirmed that he cannot determine how the amounts allocated to the G8 slush fund were set. In the minutes of one of the meetings of the very select local area leadership group, the MP for Parry Sound—Muskoka stated that the Prime Minister's Office was in charge of determining the budget.

Because the local MP is not talking about local issues, can the foreign affairs minister tell us why the Prime Minister wanted to have a $50 million slush fund?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, that of course is not the case. The $50 million was allocated in budget 2009 as part of Canada's economic action plan. The goal was to spruce up an already beautiful part of our country so we could present our best face to the world. People at these summits stay over 100 kilometres away from the exact summit site. There was also, as is traditional for these types of initiatives, funding made available to thank the region for hosting the world. All 32 of the projects came in on or under budget.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to the minutes that report what the minister said, amounts over and above the basic budget for the G8 Summit Management Office must be determined by the Prime Minister's Office.

The Conservatives cannot deny what is in the documents uncovered by the NDP. That is why the mayor of Huntsville is embarrassed.

Who approved the slush fund? Was it the Prime Minister, as the President of the Treasury Board said?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

No, Mr. Speaker.

President of the Treasury Board

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General called the monkey business in Muskoka unlike anything he has seen in his 33 years of working in the Auditor General's Office. I would remind members that he was here during the sponsorship scandal.

How can the miscreant minister from Muskoka be the President of the Treasury Board when he himself shows such contempt and disregard for the very Treasury Board guidelines that were put in place to protect us from this kind of partisan political pork barrelling?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I say to my friend from Winnipeg Centre that it will not come as any surprise to him that I disagree with the premise of his question.

The Auditor General did review this issue and came forward with a number of observations on how the government could be more open and transparent. No one argues with her good judgment. We have accepted all of her advice.

The good news I can report is that on all 32 public infrastructure projects every single dollar was accounted for and they all went to public infrastructure projects.

The good news is that all of these infrastructure projects, as part of Canada's economic action plan, have created hundreds of thousands of jobs. Even in September, 61,000 net new jobs were--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, maybe he did not see the headline: “Rules were broken”. The government broke every rule in the book. However, unlike the sponsorship scandal, there is no Chuck Guité here to be the fall guy. In fact, the architect and the mastermind of this whole Muskoka slush fund was the minister himself. We know what happened to Alfonso Gagliano. He got put out on an ice floe.

Why does the government continue to defend this miscreant minister from Muskoka, when he would make a perfect ambassador to, say, Hans Island?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I will not cede sovereignty over Hans Island. We will not send an ambassador to Hans Island because Hans Island is part of this great country. We will not allow the NDP to sellout our sovereignty and give away an island. Shame on this member.

Employment

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in recent days the NDP has repeatedly talked about higher taxes on Canadians; everything from complaining about our GST reductions, demanding a new tax on everyday financial transactions, or punishing with a $10 billion-a-year hike on taxes for employers. This NDP high tax agenda is worrying for it would cost Canadian jobs when we can least afford it.

Our Conservative government, on the other hand, is on a positive low tax and pro-job strategy for jobs and growth that actually is working.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance please update the House on Canada's job market?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to report that Statistics Canada announced today that over 60,000 net new jobs were created in September. Our job growth shows that we are on the right track.

Indeed, approximately 650,000 net new jobs have been created since July 2009. That is over 90% full-time jobs and nearly 80% of them from the private sector.

However, too many Canadians are still looking for work and the global recovery remains very fragile. That is why we are looking forward to implementing the next phase of Canada's economic action plan and its job creating measures like the hiring credit for small businesses.

Pension

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, global economic instability is threatening the retirement savings of millions of Canadians. Yet the Conservatives are doubling down on the stock market by moving ahead with their ill-advised pooled registered pension plans. This government must take action to protect the qualify of life of retired Canadians.

When will the Conservatives stop gambling with Canadians' pensions and start strengthening the Canada pension plan?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have worked hard to enhance retirement security for Canadians. We have reduced taxes for seniors and retirees by $2 billion, including by allowing pension income splitting. We have reformed the framework for pensions that are under federal jurisdiction in order to better protect retirees. Together with the provinces, we have reviewed the proposals for making other improvements, and we about to implement a new pooled registered pension plan, the PRPP. The PRPP will allow pension plans to be offered at little cost to millions of people who have never had a pension plan before.

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that in the last quarter stocks fell 12%. Private pension funds were hit extremely hard. We know that pooled registered pension plans do nothing to protect Canadians when the stock market plummets.

We need a stronger public pension plan. Canadians and provincial leaders across the country are demanding basic retirement security. The Canada pension plan can provide this by generating larger and more stable investment returns.

Will the government stop gambling with the future of Canadians and strengthen CPP?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, CPP reforms continue to be examined by ourselves and provincial governments, but I want to note that many provinces share the concerns of small businesses and others if we increase costs during a fragile global recovery.

I want to cite something that was said during the election by Catherine Swift, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, when she was talking about the NDP's suggestion to double CPP. She said: “That would mean probably about a 60 to 70 per cent increase in premiums from what we understand”.

That was very, very worrisome. So any tax breaks that were in the NDP platform were grossly outmatched by what it was going to ding--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

Service Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, government cuts to Service Canada are harming the most vulnerable Canadians. There are places in the country where it is no longer possible to speak to a human being. The telephone system hangs up on people who call before they are even able to speak to an agent. By cutting jobs at Service Canada, the government is choking the system.

Why is the government cutting services for unemployed Canadians?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to serving Canadian taxpayers responsibly and respecting the money they earn. That is why we are trying to improve the services offered by Service Canada. We are protecting our official languages and are making improvements to the telephone system. We are trying to provide the best service possible to Canadians.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government clearly does not understand anything about what the unemployed in this country are going through. Some must even wait up to three months to receive their employment insurance benefits. Waiting periods are already too long, and the government is now adding to them by making cuts to the services offered by Service Canada.

Will the government finally explain why it is preventing unemployed Canadians from accessing the insurance they themselves paid into?