Debates of Nov. 19th, 2012

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, he is right here working hard on behalf of his constituents.

Speaking about in and out of the House, this is a member who regularly claims that he is going to be bold enough to finally repeat his false allegations out of the House. However, he sneaks out of the House through the back door and avoids doing exactly what he committed to. The reason for that is he has no evidence for the allegations he is making. Therefore he has not the courage to repeat them where he could actually be held accountable for making them.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism once had a petition on his web site asking people to praise him, and now we learn that he had his department spend taxpayer money on monitoring his popularity, even in the middle of the federal election campaign.

Will the President of the Treasury Board ask the Public Service Commission to investigate and to ensure that the political neutrality of the public service was not compromised by the immigration minister's vain desire to know how popular he was?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it does not surprise me that this question would come from the Liberal Party, which actually does not understand how it needs to work with the communities that have come to this country to become Canadians. The Liberals have made a determination that they know what is right when it comes to immigration. Every single time we have passed new immigration law in this country, including ethnic monitoring, reaching out to each and every new Canadian in this country, we receive an increase of support.

The Liberals should get on the train and they should get on the bus, because where this country is going in immigration is the right way.

Employment

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday officials of the northern B.C. mining company that hired hundreds of temporary foreign workers told a federal court that they did advertise those jobs in Canada. However, what they failed to say was that they tried to squeeze Canadian workers, offering $17 less per hour than the standard rate. Now a review of the program will not help these workers. Will the minister immediately suspend these temporary foreign worker visas so Canadian workers will have a fair chance to apply for these jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians must have first crack at all the jobs that are available in this country. In terms of this specific case, because it is now before the courts it would be inappropriate for me to comment any further.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives recently closed 19 regional Citizenship and Immigration Canada offices and laid off 75 employees at the Montreal call centre. As a result, the response rate is barely 9%.

Meanwhile, the minister wasted nearly $1 million of taxpayers' money to find out what ethnocultural communities think of him. Instead of helping people, the minster preferred to stroke his ego with taxpayers' money.

How can he now justify these cuts in services to the public?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we have done nothing of the sort. The official opposition calls it a waste of money. It is doing so while not understanding the purpose of media training and monitoring or what we do in terms of making sure we are listening to constituents across this country.

There are more than just one or two media outlets that present the news and present what the government is doing. In this case, when we are monitoring what the ethnic media is saying, we are ensuring that our policies are consistent and that they are the ones that those individuals and communities support across this country.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that our diplomats posted in Moscow have to work in a rundown building that is vulnerable to terrorist attacks and espionage, all because the Conservatives are incapable of managing a simple renovation project competently.

Despite the fact that our diplomats are exposed to such threats, the Conservatives' mismanagement of this matter will cost taxpayers $30 million in cost overruns.

Why are the Conservatives unable to keep our diplomats safe?

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs)]

Mr. Speaker, our government does take the safety and security of our diplomats extremely seriously. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has made it clear that we will take all necessary actions to ensure they remain safe. We will not engage in public or partisan discussions that could place the arrangements that we make for our men and women in the public service at risk. We will continue to do what is right and needful in this situation.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is about Conservative mismanagement and it is putting Canadians at risk. The leaked memo was clear. Let us go over it. It said:

The possibility of terrorist incidents in Russia is high.... Moscow is an extremely hostile environment and the current site is highly vulnerable to counter-intelligence threats.

The memo goes on to say that the current building offers “almost no protection” against a terrorist attack. Why is the government not doing more to protect our diplomats in Moscow?

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs)]

Mr. Speaker, since 2007 our government has committed over $100 million to ensure security at our missions abroad. We are constantly reviewing security measures and any developments that require a review of these measures or risks associated with any specific mission.

With regard to the specific story that the member is referring to, we take the release of this kind of information extremely seriously and we are considering calling in the RCMP.

Health

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, prescription drug abuse is a serious issue that destroys families and lives every day. This is a complicated issue, and despite what the New Democrats and some provincial health ministers have tried to argue, politically interfering in science to ban one drug would do little to solve the problem.

Could the Minister of Health please update the House on what our Conservative government is doing to deal with this prescription drug abuse problem?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague has pointed out, the issue of prescription drug abuse is bigger than one specific pill. That is why today our government announced tough new licensing rules that will help to prevent drugs like OxyContin from being illegally distributed.

However, prescribing drugs is a provincial-territorial jurisdiction, so provincial and territorial health ministers and doctors play a major role. That is why I am also calling on the provinces and the territories and the medical professionals to look at what they can do to fight this problem. Unlike the opposition, we will not politically interfere in science.

Employment

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that one would be too easy. I will not go there.

Not only are the Conservatives proud to announce with great fanfare the elimination of more than 10,000 jobs in the country, but they are also unable to enforce the target when it comes to federal jobs on the Quebec side of the national capital region. Gatineau has seen its share of federal department and agency jobs decrease significantly between 2011 and 2012.

Instead of patting itself on the back for laying off thousands of workers, will the Conservatives agree to meet the government target of having 25% of federal jobs on Quebec soil?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, as I announced on Friday, I can say that we have kept our election promises and that we have succeeded in cutting the number of jobs in the public service.

We have met our first year targets. We think this is important to respect the taxpayer and also to give public servants the certainty of their position going forward. We are being respectful but at the same time it is critically important for the future of our economy that we meet our targets when it comes to government spending.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, he is not answering the question on the issue of 75:25.

To be proud of eliminating those jobs is not only outrageous, but it is extremely stupid. We are talking about high-quality jobs that have major repercussions on the economy of an entire region. The people who were laid off by the Conservatives are those who provide essential services to Canadians. Cutting those jobs is the same as cutting services. And yet, people are still paying just as much in taxes for those services.

The federal government committed to meeting the 25% quota for jobs on the Quebec side. This is another broken promise. What are they waiting for to correct the situation?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, after the implementation of budget 2012, we have the same proportion of jobs in every region as before.

I could say to the hon. member, though, that we are taking our situation seriously. We want to make sure that we can deliver as good or better services to Canadians across this country on core public services. Certainly over 70% of our reductions are in back office operations and operational savings.

We are meeting that commitment as well, far better than the risky plans of the NDP were it to be in power.

Infrastructure

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that they are taking the matter seriously, and I look forward to some serious answers.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has been clear: it is calling for stable, long-term funding so that cities can plan properly and our roads, water treatment plants and public transit systems can continue to operate properly. If the Conservatives do not help Canadian cities renew their infrastructure, we are going to hit a wall—no pun intended.

What is the Conservatives' response to the FCM's calls? Will they continue with their piecemeal approach?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, never before has a government provided as much assistance for municipal infrastructure renewal. Never.

It is easy for the NDP to congratulate itself on funding infrastructure with a $21 billion carbon tax. That is not what we are going to do. We are going to take into consideration the fiscal capacity of Canadian taxpayers, and we will build a new infrastructure plan that will make sense and support municipalities and provinces across the country.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is so typical. The Conservatives make up stuff about the NDP to distract us from their own inaction.

I have a question about a recent flip-flop on infrastructure. Last Thursday, the Conservative candidate in Victoria spoke out against the $250 million investment for a secondary sewage treatment plant in Victoria. Victorians are confused, the Conservative government has supported this initiative and yet the Conservative candidate says he opposes it and disagrees with the Prime Minister.

I ask the minister, who actually speaks for the Conservatives?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands how important infrastructure is in this country. That is why we have launched the historic $33 billion building Canada fund and made the gas tax a $2 billion permanent transfer to our cities. We will continue to work with provinces and municipalities, and we will continue to support them.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, documents from the Shawanaga First Nation school principal show the minister's claim that federal per-student funding for first nations is comparable to provincial funding is simply not true. The documents show that the funding for his students is $5,600 annually, but it costs more than $12,000 to send students to provincial schools off reserve.

Why is a student at a school on reserve worth half of a student attending school off reserve? When is the government going to close this unacceptable and disgraceful funding gap?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the member is comparing apples with oranges I am afraid to say.

We spend $1.4 billion on 117,000 first nation students across the country. There is a lot more to education than the transfer to the school. We have to build schools. We have to have a ministry. We have to have school boards. It all fits together.

When we do the comparisons, we can find that there is rough comparability, but there are differentials, which is why when we cut the agreement in British Columbia we—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Beauséjour.

Employment Insurance

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, when the minister defends her unfair changes to employment insurance, she seems to be saying that people in Atlantic Canada are too lazy to find jobs themselves.

What the minister does not understand is that often there are no jobs in the regions. The people know this and protested by the thousands against these changes in New Brunswick this past weekend.

Why are the Conservatives refusing to solve the real problem: the lack of stable, long-term, full-time jobs in Atlantic Canada? Why are they punishing workers?