Debates of Oct. 15th, 2012

Employment Insurance

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the Conservatives still have not learned from their mistakes. They are still creating talking points instead of jobs. The fact is that the Conservatives have only solved half the problem. Even those Canadians who did get a reprieve are left hanging until January. Their bills are due now. They cannot tell their landlords to wait until January.

All unemployed Canadians deserve fairness from the government, so I will ask the minister one more time: Will she now properly fix the mess that she has created?

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

Mr. Speaker, we believe that it is important to help people who are unemployed get back to work. We know that having a part-time job often speeds up that process because having a part-time job often turns into a full-time job.

We want to encourage and support Canadians who are looking for work. That is why we are going to make sure that if they work two, three, four days a week while on claim they will be better off than not. In fact, if they work those days they will be better off than under the old program.

That is something tangible in support of our unemployed workers. Too bad the NDP will not support them.

International Trade

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is incredible. Conservatives spend millions on advertising while cutting back on EI.

However, let us turn from misplaced priorities to Conservative dishonesty. For months the trade minister has denied he is looking at signing a deal with Europe that would increase the price of medicine. He called it a myth. Now we learn that the minister has been studying exactly that and found that extending drug patents could cost Canadians as much as $2 billion a year.

Will the minister now admit that this deal could raise the price of prescription drugs for Canadian seniors?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always sought to strike a balance between promoting innovation and job creation and ensuring that Canadians continue to have access to the affordable drugs that they need.

For the hon. member opposite, we continue to consult with the provinces and the territories in an very open set of negotiations. These—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am getting a lot of help here. These negotiations continue to be the most open, progressive negotiations—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the official opposition will help the government bring affordable medicine to Canadians.

Why will the minister not come clean about what he is putting on the table? Life-saving prescription drugs are a necessity, not a luxury. Of course we must support the research and development of new drugs, but not at the expense of Canadian seniors, employers and provinces.

Will the minister refuse any deal that drives up the price of prescription drugs for Canadians? How about some honesty this time. Canadians deserve an answer.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, let me once again assure the House that an agreement will be signed only if it is in the best interests of Canadians.

Does the NDP want to talk about—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While I have the floor, if the NDP wants to talk about what is going to drive costs up for Canadians, and especially Canadian seniors, let us talk about its carbon tax—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a $2 billion increase in the price of generic drugs is not in the best interest of Canadians, and that is what we are opposing.

According to a report published by Industry Canada and Health Canada officials, seniors and the sick will be the ones footing the bill if the government goes forward with the free trade agreement with the European Union as it now stands.

Will the Conservatives protect Canadians' interests and refuse to sign any trade agreement that will increase drug prices?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, that is just absolute nonsense. What our government is doing and what we have always sought to do with this agreement is to strike a balance between promoting innovation and job creation and ensuring that Canadians have access to the affordable drugs that they need. It is as simple as that.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government's handling of the E. coli outbreak at XL has been a display of complete incompetence, leaving Canadians in the dark. Sadly, consumers are losing confidence in the beef on store shelves and it is hurting cattle ranchers, who offer a safe product and have done nothing wrong.

Since the government's current system clearly failed, will the minister finally acknowledge that we need an immediate independent and comprehensive CFIA resource audit to better equip our inspectors in order to prevent further damage to our food supply chain?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, our top priority is food safety and to ensure that consumers have confidence in that food supply.

Canadians continue to consume beef. That is good news. However, as part of our government's response to the Weatherill report, an expert advisory committee was established some time ago. That committee, along with CFIA, will completely review this and that report will be public.

Government Appointments

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Mr. Speaker, despite an order by the Public Service Commission that Kevin MacAdam, the long-time political buddy of the defence minister, must be terminated from his six-figure job at ACOA for indiscretions, he remains in place, still collecting his cheques.

While Mr. MacAdam runs roughshod over the Public Service Commission, could the minister show some semblance of protecting the integrity of the public service by confirming that Mr. MacAdam is no longer receiving taxpayer-funded language training for a job that had mandatory bilingual requirements from the get-go and will he confirm that he is no longer receiving Ottawa living expenses when his job is in Charlottetown, P.E.I?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, this is a matter that is before the courts. However, I can tell members that this is not a political issue. Public court records state that the commission found problems with the way the public service ran its hiring process. It did not find any political interference by ministers or political staff.

Employment Insurance

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, for the last month the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development has embarrassed herself by regurgitating lame talking points about the working while on claim program.

Last week, in a grasp for political appeasement, she made changes that made it more convoluted and more unfair by creating two different types of EI recipients. It is sort of like the captain of the Titanic saying, “Anybody who boarded before lunchtime gets a life jacket; anybody else, enjoy the dip”.

Will the minister put back in the allowable earnings provision to—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Human Resources.

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

Mr. Speaker, we introduced a new pilot project that would support Canadians who were working on claim and allow them to work two, three, four days a week and not be punished for it. That is important, because our priority is job creation. We need all the skills and talent of Canadians at work.

We made some adjustments to ensure that those who were working while on claim last year would be grandfathered in to allow them an easier transition to a new pilot project.

National Defence

[Matthew Kellway, NDP, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in September 2008, the Prime Minister said that a decade of war in Afghanistan was enough, and a motion passed in the House agreed there would be no more combat operations by Canada after December 31, 2011. Now we learn that Canadian soldiers continue to be deployed in combat roles in the volatile region at the centre of the Taliban insurgency.

Why did the Prime Minister break his promise? Why are the Conservatives violating their own 2008 motion to end combat operations in 2011?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. Combat operations in Afghanistan for Canadian soldiers have ended. We do in fact have a very small number as of October 15, less than a half dozen, who are taking part in a long-standing tradition, which is exchanges with countries such as Great Britain, Australia, United States, NATO allies.

This is a long-standing international practice in which Canadian Forces benefit from professional development. In fact, we receive forces from other countries to take part in this type of exchange, something I am sure the hon. member would support.

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, regardless of the number of soldiers involved or under which flag they are fighting, the fact is that, in 2012, Canadian soldiers are still involved in combat operations in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the Conservatives announced that such operations would end in 2011. By so doing, the Conservatives are violating their own motion, and that is a political decision.