Debates of Nov. 22nd, 2012

41st General Election

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

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about fiction. Let us talk about how the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance tried to divert attention from Elections Canada investigations into what was happening in her campaign by pretending to be a victim, but that tactic was a flop.

Here is what we do know. When Elections Canada called her campaign, her team said the fraudulent calls were coming from Conservative Party headquarters. Here is a chance to be clean and ethical. Do not be part of the cover-up but tell us: Who was it that was coordinating the calls into her riding?

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

Mr. Speaker, the only betrayal that occurred here is that the member told his constituents again and again that he would stand behind rural people, honest, law-abiding duck hunters and farmers, and vote to eliminate the wasteful billion dollar long gun registry. But when he had the chance, he decided to betray his word and vote to keep the Liberal long gun registry in place.

While I am at it, I am curious about what he said to his constituents about his leader's comments, calling big mining industries that create jobs in his communities “a disease”.

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

Mr. Speaker, I actually feel for the member for Saint Boniface who is leaving her political reputation in the hands of a spinmeister. Who else is hiding over there? Oh yes, there is the member for Ajax—Pickering, another red-flag campaign constituency. Now, on the day before the election, Elections Canada wrote to the Conservatives, “the frequency of calls seem to be increasing”. So rather than hide behind the duck hunter in the weeds, will the hon. member do the honourable thing and tell us who at Conservative Party headquarters coordinated the dirty tricks in his riding so that he could get here?

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

Mr. Speaker, the reason that member raises in the House things that have nothing to do with government business is that he wants to use the umbrella, the comfortable blanket of parliamentary immunity to protect himself against making those false allegations outside of the House of Commons, where, like every other Canadian, he would be accountable to defend them.

One day, he will have to be accountable for the false words he used with his own constituents when he promised that he would eliminate the long gun registry and went back on his word.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Revenue and acting fisheries minister is fully aware that there are 1,400 former fishers from the Atlantic groundfish licence retirement program who deserve to be treated fairly by the government and paid the millions of dollars they are owed.

After fighting with the fishermen in court for over six years and losing, will the minister finally commit to doing the right thing and ensure that every single former fisher in this program is treated equally and fairly and paid the millions of dollars owed to them?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member and the House that these fishers will be treated fairly and that we will clean up the mess created by the Liberal Party.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Clearly, Mr. Speaker, cutting services to Canadians is becoming the operating policy of the government. However, the consequences for Canadians do not end with service cuts and job losses. In Borden-Carleton, P.E.I. and across Canada, the minister is moving rapidly to privatize the records management division of the CRA, risking the protection and security of documents.

Why is the minister putting at risk sensitive financial and medical records and turning record storage over to minimum-wage employees?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, we do not keep medical records. We are the department of national revenue. I want to make sure that is clear.

Our top priority, of course, is the economy, which includes making sure that Canadian tax dollars are spent wisely. This change will ensure the privacy and security of taxpayers' records and will do so at a lower cost. We must ensure that taxpayers' money is spent where it will do the most good. In any event, more and more Canadians are moving to electronic services.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, Conservative import tariffs are forcing Canadian hockey families to pay $200 more to suit up their kids in hockey gear than American families pay. Tomorrow, on Black Friday, thousands of Canadian families will head south of the border to buy hockey gear to avoid this Conservative hockey tax. That creates American jobs in American cities.

Why will the finance minister not give Canadian families a break this Christmas, help Canadian retailers and get rid of this job-killing hockey tax?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. friend for his insightful question. I thought we were in football season, but I guess we are moving toward hockey.

Our government has reduced tariffs and taxes on Canadians. That brings the cost of everything down. We also put in place a fitness tax credit for parents who want to enrol their children in sports. However, if I recall, I think everyone on that side of the House voted against that as well.

International Trade

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, government ministers are in Brussels for closed door trade talks with the EU, where Conservatives are actually pushing for provisions that would allow foreign corporations to sue Canadian governments. Today, Mobil Oil won a challenge that strikes down Newfoundland and Labrador's efforts to encourage investments in R and D. We have just seen lawsuits filed against Quebec's fracking laws and Ontario's wind energy legislation, and the Conservative FIPA with China allows foreign investors to sue Canadian taxpayers as well.

Will the Conservatives put a stop to these undemocratic measures and protect Canadian taxpayers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the NDP back to the trade file. The NDP members have been ignoring this file for a long period of time.

To follow up on the member's comments, the minister is indeed in Brussels, doing the job that he is supposed to be doing, putting the finishing touches on a comprehensive economic and trade agreement with the European Union. That is important work.

As far as the FIPA with China goes, that is important because it will allow us to have rules-based trading with them, something that even the NDP should support.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' double-talk on supply management is rather worrisome.

On one hand, the minister tells poultry and egg producers and dairy and cheese producers that they have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, as soon as the minister is behind closed doors, he trades away the supply management system. The government must not change the rules on access and the tariffs that protect our supply management system, period.

Will the minister defend this principle in Europe today?

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

I am waiting for the light to go on. Okay, we have the light.

Mr. Speaker, the opposition—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is pretty important, as even the NDP saw the light that time.

However, on supply management, the NDP does not have to ask the government side but should ask the supply managed sector. It should ask the sector in Quebec. It should ask the sector anywhere in Canada. They will tell the NDP that our government stands up for supply management, and we continue to do that.

Foreign Investment

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the past, the Conservatives refused to stand up and defend our jobs. Just look at Electrolux, Caterpillar, Xstrata, Falconbridge or U.S. Steel Canada. If the past is any indication, then there is cause for concern over the sale of Nexen to the Communist Chinese government.

If the government thinks that handing over control of our natural resources to a Chinese state-owned corporation is such a good idea, then why do so behind closed doors?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP wants to block practically every form of foreign investment, and the Liberals want to rubber-stamp every investment. Fortunately, Canadians can count on a responsible government that acts in their best interests.

Our government has always scrutinized every proposed foreign investment in this country, and it will continue to do so.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, support among Conservatives is crumbling on Nexen. In today's paper it is said:

[W]e should resist state ownership...of agencies of foreign governments.... [The] decision must ultimately be capable of carrying the judgment of a majority of Canadians.... More than 60 per cent of Canadians currently oppose what they know of the deal.

Who was that? It was the Prime Minister's own mentor, former Reform leader Preston Manning. He says that the NDP and Canadians are right on Nexen.

Why are the Conservatives ignoring concerns about this sellout of Alberta's natural resources?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to foreign investment, we know that at the extreme end of the spectrum, the NDP will block everything. The NDP will block every proposed transaction in this country. On the other side, there are the Liberals who rubber-stamp every single form of investment in this country.

Fortunately, Canadians can count on their responsible government, which is always acting in their best interests. That being said, we always scrutinize the transactions closely and will continue to do so.

Ethics

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Londoners and Canadians learned that the RCMP has charged Liberal insider, Joe Fontana with breach of trust by a public officer, fraud and uttering forged documents. He was charged after it was revealed he allegedly stole taxpayers' money from the House to pay for his son's wedding.

For several weeks, government members have called for Liberal members to condemn this theft, but Liberals have refused to do so and continue to protect their friend.

Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on our government's commitment to respect taxpayers' dollars?

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, sadly, this is not the first time that the Liberals have stolen money from Canadian taxpayers. We all remember the tens of millions of dollars they stole through the sponsorship scandal, which helped put their party in the far corner over there.

At his press conference today, Liberal insider Joe Fontana was asked if he had heard from former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. Liberal insider Joe Fontana's response was, "No comment".

Canadians want to know, did Liberal insider and former Prime Minister Paul Martin advise Joe Fontana to stay on as mayor? Do the Liberal members opposite agree with us that it is time for their friends to resign?

Search and Rescue

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the decision to close the maritime search and rescue centre in Quebec City is illogical and dangerous for pleasure craft operators and commercial navigation.

The Conservatives decided that the language of work of the employees who will be transferred to Halifax will be English only, but that does not work. Francophone employees will have to translate all their communications, which will double their workload. And then, the Conservatives are surprised that they cannot find anyone to fill these positions.

Will the Conservatives review their plan and keep search and rescue services in Quebec City instead of moving them to Halifax and Trenton?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, we are confident that the changes in Quebec City will have no negative impact on our ability to respond to distress incidents on the water quickly, effectively and in both official languages.

Quebec is served by 19 Coast Guard vessels, including seven search and rescue lifeboats, two hovercraft and six helicopters. We are ensuring that the Coast Guard has the resources to do the job and save lives.