Debates of Nov. 21st, 2012

Securities

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in fact his attitude so far has been to make future cuts to transfer payments without any consultation. Is that what he means by working with the provinces?

He attacks the finance ministers for not implementing his own vision while he is mismanaging an economy that will now grow at a slower rate than the United States, with 350,000 more unemployed in Canada today than when the recession hit in 2008.

Is this why he and the Prime Minister refuse to meet with the premiers?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite says that transfers have been reduced. Nothing could be further from the truth. Transfers, in all respects, in equalization, in the Canada health transfer, in the Canada social transfer, have grown to a record level in Canada from this government to the provinces.

If the member opposite does not want to look it up, I can help with the number. Federal support has reached the level of $60.9 billion annually and will continue to grow each and every year. As we have made clear, we will not—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Edmonton--Strathcona.

Public Works

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Public Works pled guilty to three labour code violations in relation to the Fleet Street plant boiler explosion, which three years ago claimed the life of engineer and father of four, Peter Kennedy, and injured two others. Those losses may have been prevented had the department complied with the law requiring hazard training.

Will the minister, today, after taking three years to plead guilty, stand in this place and apologize to those workers and families for the harm and loss suffered because of her department's failure?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, this has been a terrible tragedy. All the employees at Public Works have been feeling this for the last three years with this employee's family. It has been a very difficult time for the family and for the employees who worked with the deceased. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Since this happened, we have introduced enhanced training and management oversights for all heating and cooling plants in the national capital region. We have been working closely with the union and the union head, Donna Lackie, has said that they are confident that the measures we have put in place will ensure the proper training so this does not happen again.

Again, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Workplace Safety

[Denis Blanchette, NDP, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing the Conservatives should not take lightly, it is the safety of their own employees. The Conservatives have done nothing to stem the growing number of fatal workplace accidents in Canada. There were more than 1,000 in 2010.

The tragic death of Peter Kennedy should serve as an impetus for the minister. Protecting Canadian workers at their workplace must become a top priority again.

What does the minister intend to do to prevent such a tragedy from happening again?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the question on health and safety in our country because it is indeed a very important matter, which we take very seriously, both here in the government and governments across the country.

Although we only have a small portion of the total employees in Canada, we lead the way in terms of making sure it is of utmost concern that the people who work in the federal jurisdiction are protected through health and safety measures. We actually bring boundaries to ourselves, in terms of making sure we are the first to deal with violence in the workplace regulations. Those are the kinds of things that are forward looking, and those are the things I will continue to do.

Veterans Affairs

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday a protest was held by veterans and their families over their outrage at the government's decision to close the Veterans Affairs office in Sydney. In total, nine offices are to be closed across this country. As I stated in the House during Veterans Week, Cape Breton soldiers have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

The government needs to understand the importance of this in-person service. Veterans were there for us; now we need to be there for them. Will the minister stand up for our veterans and change this short-sighted decision?

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, veterans will now receive services at five locations instead of the one location where they were previously receiving service. There will be no reduction in services to local veterans. In fact, those veterans who require home services will continue to receive them.

The opposition is just trying to defend union interests. Here on this side of the House we actually defend veterans' interests. It is because of our Conservative government, under the leadership of this Prime Minister, that veterans now need to complete two and a half million fewer forms or phone calls or faxes, because we have eliminated the need for them to have to provide receipts for certain services. We—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Vancouver Quadra.

Tourism Industry

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, leaders of Canada's $79 billion tourism industry are in Ottawa today, and they are not happy with the government. The list of reasons is long, so here is one: cuts to our national parks and our national monuments are hurting shops and restaurants right across the country. It is so bad that cruise ships will be steering away from Cape Breton after Labour Day because the area's parks now close a month earlier than before. That amounts to thousands of customers for every ship that is no longer going there.

What is the government thinking? Why undermine tourism and the jobs that are so important to our communities?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, we are supporting, not undermining, tourism. However, the Liberal Party is now undermining the unity of this country by attacking members of Parliament from Alberta for representing their constituents. The member of Parliament for Ottawa South actually said, speaking of Alberta MPs, that they should really go back to Alberta and run for municipal council. These Alberta MPs were elected, on average, with 67% of the support of their constituents to defend their constituents and Canada's economy, and they will not be lectured by the arrogance of the Liberal Party.

Citizenship and Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, things are a complete mess at immigration. The minister is wasting time on self-congratulatory petitions—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville.

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

Mr. Speaker, things are a complete mess at immigration. The minister is wasting time on self-congratulatory petitions, cancelling visas that he says were granted by mistake, invading the privacy of visa holders, closing 19 regional offices, overloading the Montreal call centre and taking 20 months to approve sponsorship of spouses in Syria.

I wrote to him about the terrible situation in Syria. His response: a form letter.

Will he speed up the process for sponsorships for a country in crisis, yes or no?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, yes, we already have.

When that member was the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, he never told the members of the Bloc Québécois to go back to Quebec. He never said they had no business being here to represent their constituents.

A Liberal member for Ottawa South just said that elected members from Alberta have no right to be here to represent the interests of their constituents. It is outrageous. All members have the right and the democratic mandate to be here on behalf of their constituents.

41st General Election

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, sometimes life is not fair. Luckily, scandals remind us that we have senators. It does not make sense for a senator to be given an allowance for a residence that does not even belong to him. Since senators are not accountable to anyone, I imagine that the Conservatives find this acceptable.

However, those who are accountable, namely the members opposite, are using all sorts of ludicrous diversion tactics, each more juvenile than the next, when we mention electoral fraud. That is a real problem.

I have a very simple question for the Conservatives: will they strengthen the Canada Elections Act or will they condone electoral fraud?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, it is perfectly normal for senators and members of Parliament to have one residence in their riding and another here in Ottawa. We have asked the Standing Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration to ensure that senators are complying with Senate policies and to take corrective action if they are not.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I remember asking a question about electoral fraud.

This tired government is all about smoke and mirrors. The Conservatives are all talk, no action. They adopted our motion to help Elections Canada prevent electoral fraud, but now they have put that motion on a shelf and are happily looking the other way. There is a clear choice to be made: either they want cleaner elections or they want to protect their friends who committed electoral fraud.

Which side are they on?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have already implemented the Federal Accountability Act, which made it possible to establish rules with regard to the funding of elections and Elections Canada's objectivity. The NDP violated this law by illegally accepting over $300,000 from unions.

Speaking of transparency, maybe the member will take this occasion finally to rise on the question of political finance. After his 29 donations to the separatist party, is he now a federalist?

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of bizarre attempts to deflect, let us talk about the member for Saint Boniface, who went on national TV and tried to pass herself off as a victim of electoral fraud and claimed Elections Canada had ignored her concerns. However, then she had to recant because Elections Canada had red flagged her campaign. Now the trail is leading right back to Conservative Party headquarters.

Defrauding Canadians of their right to vote is not ethical or clean behaviour. Will someone over there stand up and take responsibility? Will they stand up, please, and do the right thing?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course I am prepared to stand up and defend the clean and ethical campaign that our party ran in the last election. The question is whether that member is prepared to do the same.

His party defrauded workers of $340,000, which it took in illegal union money. The reason union donations are illegal is that workers do not have the power to consent to giving the money. Do those members really expect us to believe they did not know, when all this money was coming in, that it was illegal? Did they really believe we would not find out? Why does he not stand and answer that question?

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, God help them when they are hiding behind those pathological excuses.

Speaking of excuses, we have the intergovernmental affairs minister, who has refused to explain the role the Guelph political operative Chris Crawford is playing in his office. Here is the thing. The Conservatives are telling us they are really glad the beleaguered minister is flying around his riding in his province using his ministerial budget, so then why does he need a director of parliamentary affairs? Are we really to believe that he hired one of the key operatives in the Guelph scandal to book him rooms at the Sinbad's motel in Gander? Is he going to stand up and explain himself?

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

Mr. Speaker, only for the NDP would it be a scandal for a member of Parliament to spend too much time working in his constituency with the people he serves.

It is a scandal because that member would not want to go back to his riding to have to explain to them why he ran, time after time, on the promise of abolishing the wasteful billion dollar Liberal long gun registry, and then, when he had a chance to do something about it, he betrayed those very same constituents.

I am proud to stand with this minister.