Debates of Oct. 19th, 2012

New Democratic Party of Canada

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, Conservative MPs will return to our ridings and we will proudly tell our constituents that we will stand up for their interests and against the NDP's $20 billion carbon tax.

On page 4 of its election platform, the NDP clearly laid out its new tax, which would raise the price of everything and raise billions in new revenues from Canadians.

Earlier this year, the NDP leader said that his new carbon tax plan “will produce billions”.

As we travel throughout our ridings to various events this weekend, and in my riding of Don Valley West I will be listening to my local constituents' concerns over the NDP leader's $20 billion carbon tax plan.

Budget Implementation

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have still not learned their lesson. They have introduced another monstrous 450-page bill. Despite what the Minister of Finance claims, his bill is full of surprises that were not in his budget.

Will the minister agree to split the bill so that we may study the surprises separately?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our economic plan for jobs, growth and opportunity that was tabled in March has been debated in the House for many days and over many months. The Minister of Finance has already split the budget bill into one in the spring and one in the fall. Its goals and its objectives are all about creating jobs. We have seen more than 800,000 net new jobs created. That is good news for Canada and good news for Canadian families.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, they were lying in the spring and they are lying again this fall. That might work for the Conservatives, but it does not work for Canadians.

This bill threatens Canada's wetlands, lakes and rivers, and it is generous to those who want to install pipelines without assessing the risk.

If they were proud of these changes, they would split the bill and allow the Standing Committee on the Environment to do its job. The government has to be flexible. It was open to taking out the part on MP pensions. Why not study other parts of the bill separately?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we presented a budget that was debated in the House for a good number of days. We presented legislation and spent an unprecedented amount of time debating it and voting on it this spring. The minister has divided it up. We will have a second budget bill this fall with more debate and more opportunity for discussion.

However, it is all about jobs, investment and opportunity. It is all about creating economic growth so Canadians can get back into the workforce and be able to provide for themselves and their families.

What we need is the NDP to get off its bench and get on to the job creation train instead of its carbon tax train.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance promised no surprises but then tabled a bill full of things never mentioned in his budget document. Navigable waters was not in the budget but that did not save it from being gutted. Labour Code changes were never raised, but surprise, there they were in the bill.

A few minutes ago, we negotiated to split MPs' and senators' pensions from the omnibus bill. Apparently, splitting the bill is possible after all. Why will the Conservatives not do it for the other surprises: for research and development and for navigable waters? Why will they not do it for the environment?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear the NDP trying to take credit for the good work of the government House leader who worked with the Liberal Party to try to split the bill.

The member talked about the changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act. This was contained on page 282 of the budget. Let us look at what the municipal leaders said, those people who are closest to the people they govern:

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities welcomes the federal government's commitment to make the Navigable Waters Protection Act work better.... The changes announced today will allow local governments to spend less time processing paperwork for small, low-risk public works projects by removing redundancies, red tape and project delays—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

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

Food Safety

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, conditions at the XL Foods plant in Brooks are shocking: fecal matter found on carcasses, raw blood dripping on meat and duct tape holding parts of the plant together. What is so troubling, though, is that this information is coming from American audits, not Canadian authorities. When pressed, the CFIA called these reports “a snapshot in time”, nothing for Canadians to be worried about.

Well, Canadians are worried. When will the Conservatives take responsibility for these real concerns that Canadians have?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course we take consumer confidence seriously. That is why with the integrated nature of the North American beef market and process market, as trading partners, Canada and the U.S. regularly audit each other's food safety systems. The next U.S. audit will be in Canada coming up at the end of this month.

The U.S. audit she is talking about clearly stated that upon finding food safety issues, “The CFIA and the establishment took immediate and appropriate corrective actions”. They did the right thing.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, why are we leaving it to the Americans to tell us what is wrong at the plant? The fact is that the only documentation we are getting on the XL Foods operation is from the Americans, and it paints a very bleak picture.

Canadians are concerned about the integrity of the food safety system and they are concerned about the health and safety of their families. However, the minister dismisses these concerns and ignores safety failures. When will he start telling the truth about what is going on at the XL Foods plant?

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

Mr. Speaker, if the members opposite were actually concerned about the truth, they would reveal the fact that most of the information that is being bandied about in the media is from a 2003 audit in a different plant.

The Environment

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are imperilling the health of our lakes and rivers without due parliamentary process.

Buried in yesterday's 443 page budget bill is a complete re-write of Canada's Navigable Waters Protection Act. There is nothing in the March budget that talks about gutting the federal protection of our waterways.

Why are the Conservatives pushing this through in a massive budget bill and ignoring the legitimate concerns of Canadians? Why are they putting Canada's world-famous lakes and rivers at risk?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the government is doing no such thing.

What we are doing is modernizing legislation that was passed in 1882, whose entire purpose is to ensure that some waterways are navigable by shipping and other transport. What we are doing is responding to concerns by municipal leaders from coast to coast to coast. We are responding to one former Liberal leader who said, “...the federal Navigable Waters Act is a huge impediment to investments and to jobs. ...it should be repealed and replaced by legislation that meets the needs of the 21st century”.

Why will that Liberal member of Parliament not agree with the respected former Liberal leader?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are endangering our lakes and rivers with their changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act. In 2009, they changed the act by adding a five-year review clause.

Why are the Conservatives making these changes before getting the results of their own review?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it was our government that proposed the changes. We worked with the municipalities in every region of Canada. We got the opinions of the municipalities regarding Canada's infrastructure. That is why we proposed the changes in the budget. We are keeping our promises in this bill.

Our goal is to protect water transport on our rivers and lakes across Canada and to encourage economic growth. That is our goal. We have already created 800,000 new jobs, which is good for all Canadians.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Liberal Party proposed a plan to separate the cuts to MPs' pensions from the budget bill and to fast-track these cuts into law. We are pleased that the Conservatives have supported our proposal.

Will the Conservatives now agree that changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act should be separated from the 443 page budget bill and put into their own separate bill? They agreed to fast-track the cuts to MPs' pensions, a Liberal plan. Will they agree to the Liberal plan for separate legislation?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it was this government that presented a budget this past March where we envisaged change on page 282 to Transport Canada regulations with respect to shipping.

We worked with municipal leaders from coast to coast to coast who came forward with a useful suggestion. What municipal leaders said was that we could make government more sensible and efficient while also protecting our waterways and natural environment.

That is exactly what the government is doing. When we want to cut red tape and ensure that navigable waters and shipping are protected, why is the Liberal Party of Canada always standing up against measures to create more jobs, more hope and more opportunity?

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, last spring, the Conservatives gutted the Environmental Assessment Act. They cancelled more than 3,000 environmental assessments. Now. this fall, their second budget implementation bill is set to shred the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Out of 32,000 Canadian lakes, only 97 will now be protected.

Why is the Conservative government determined to dismantle laws to protect Canada's environment?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it has never been a law to protect the environment because it is not an environmental law.

We do have strong environmental laws in this country, like the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Federal Sustainable Development Act, the Fisheries Act, the Migratory Birds Convention Act, the Species at Risk Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

The changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act would not touch any of those acts. They deal with changes to navigation protections, in essence, they protect navigation not the environment. The member should get it straight.

Budget Implementation Legislation

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, day after day that member puts on a cute performance, but the reality is that the Conservatives are dismantling Canadian environmental laws to help their well-connected friends, but sadly they are not willing to stand up for middle-class families.

The Conservative budget bill would allow employers to deny new employees statutory holidays for 30 days after they were hired. This budget would tax Canadians' health care benefits. The Conservatives are literally stealing Christmas. Could it—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

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

Mr. Speaker, that was absolute nonsense. All Canadians know that what this bill will do is help create jobs, maintain our long-term prosperity for years to come and help Canada to continue on the path to economic development.

When we look at what is in this bill, in fact, we have the hiring credit for small businesses, which the NDP is hell bent on voting against. I do not know why, during Small Business Week, they are doing this to small businesses, but we on this side are going to support small businesses to increase the economy and we are going to do it proudly.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, this is a sad day for our country. The government has decided that the vast majority of our waterways no longer require the protection of one of our oldest environmental laws. This move to emasculate the Navigable Waters Protection Act is another irresponsible measure in the Conservatives' monster bill. Our waterways are one of our greatest natural resources, underpinning future generations' quality of life. Now, only 97 of the 32,000 lakes in Canada will be protected.

Why is this government putting our waters at risk just to please its friends in the oil sector?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague does not understand that the Navigable Waters Protection Act is not about environmental protection but about navigation.

It is not an environmental law and it has never been an environmental law. It is a law for navigation. When we change a law that is not related to the environment, it has no effect on the environment. We will continue to have all these environmental laws in place.