Debates of Nov. 6th, 2012

Canada Post Corporation

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, listen to this: Canada Post will soon charge $200 per address in new residential developments, which are obviously located primarily in suburbs and in the regions.

New homebuyers must already pay a municipal tax, a welcome tax, a school tax and a water tax, among others. And now the Conservatives want to impose a postal tax.

As of January 1, for a new neighbourhood with 100 houses, for example, there will be a total of $20,000 in taxes for developers. We can easily imagine that they will pass that on to buyers.

Why do the Conservatives want to impose a new tax on Canadian families?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Transport)]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to universal, effective and economic postal service for all Canadians. As a crown corporation, Canada Post operates at arm's length from the government and is responsible for its operational decisions. We expect that no taxpayer money would go into Canada Post.

I know the NDP would rather control Canada Post. It would rather have it all unionized, run by the government, and charge a fortune to the taxpayers. We will not do that.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, and then part of the profits of Canada Post goes to general revenue of the federal government.

Rural B.C. communities are experiencing a reduction in postal services. Beaverdell, a small community in my riding, will see the closure of its post office on Saturdays as of November 17. As a concerned citizen pointed out to me, “There are folk who live here but work in Kelowna or elsewhere who can only access their mail on Saturdays”. Our government should not allow Canada Post to trim its budget on the backs of rural communities.

Will the minister commit today to contact Canada Post and put a stop to these ruthless measures?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Transport)]

Mr. Speaker, sadly, Canada Post has not posted positive revenue in the last couple of quarters in large part due to the work stoppage, which that member's party continued and caused many of Canada Post's customers to move to other forms of transmission of data.

In regard to rural areas, we have the new Canada postal service charter and we expect Canada Post to follow it.

Natural Resources

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the natural resource sector is responsible for nearly 20% of Canada's economy and over one million Canadian jobs. It is the backbone of communities across Canada that rely on a strong natural resource sector for their livelihood. On the other hand, the NDP would rather throw out these jobs with its $21 billion carbon tax.

Could the minister update the House on the importance of natural resource jobs?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian building trades yesterday said that natural resources are game changers for construction workers across Canada, with over 45% of their members engaged in oil and gas. They support our efforts to create streamlined, efficient environmental reviews. They understand that. To quote, “Jobs matter in this economy—Canada can't afford to put that at risk”.

When will the NDP listen to hard-working Canadians, stop opposing resource development and stop advocating a—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain.

Forestry Industry

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, Resolute Forest Products announced that it is shutting down paper machine No. 10 and thereby cutting 111 jobs at its plant in Grand-Mère and hundreds of indirect jobs in Mauricie.

This announcement once again shows the federal government's lack of commitment to Canada's forestry industry.

When will we see investments to help revitalize the forestry industry?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the questions are completely misleading.

No other government has ever invested as much to diversify the forestry economy and seek new markets and new products.

That being said, these are business decisions. Unfortunately, forestry companies are still going through tough times. We know that the pulp and paper market is not growing. It is not easy, and we sympathize with the workers. We know that it is always very tough on the families that are affected, but we will continue to support the industry as a whole, in the hope that it finds other markets.

Air Transportation

[José Nunez-Melo, NDP, Laval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, far too often passengers are not allowed to board a flight they have paid for. This happens when airlines accept too many reservations. For that reason, I introduced the bill to create a passengers' bill of rights. Travellers deserve to be protected, as they are in Europe, against overbooking and delays.

Will the government undertake to protect air passengers' rights?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, Transport Canada is doing all it can so that we have the best air transportation system in the world.

We are working very hard on air safety and security and the accessibility of all services. Obviously, we do not manage the airlines.

My colleague would like the government to manage all the companies, bring in more workers and introduce a $21 billion carbon tax to provide the government with more money. That is not our approach. We are doing our job and we will respect all airlines that provide excellent service across Canada.

Regional Development

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, my spectacular riding of Yukon and, indeed, the rest of Canada's north is home to world-class natural resources, representing tremendous economic potential not just for northerners but for all Canadians. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, I have seen our government's unprecedented commitment to Canada's north and northerners creating jobs and economic opportunities.

Can the minister please tell the House what the government is doing to further streamline regulatory processes in the north?

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

Mr. Speaker, this morning I was proud to introduce the northern jobs and growth act. This act would bring about important changes to help create a more stable investment climate in the north. It would also increase the predictability and efficiency of the regulatory review process for major northern projects. This act would allow northerners to benefit from projects that create jobs in mining, oil and gas, transportation and other business sectors in the north and across Canada.

Financial Institutions

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, small businesses in Canada pay among the highest credit card processing fees in the world, and as of April 1 these fees are set to increase by a whopping 33%. Small businesses in my community of Surrey are hurting. The Conservatives must take action to protect small businesses and stop hiding behind the ineffective voluntary code of conduct.

When will the minister stand up for consumers and small businesses by regulating the credit card industry?

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

Mr. Speaker, when will the NDP ever stand up to protect small businesses? It has had the opportunity to do that time and again and has refused to do so. When we brought forward a code of conduct to do exactly what the hon. member is asking about, to make sure that businesses have choice in what cards they use and to protect their bottom line, what did the NDP do? It voted against it.

Government Spending

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' obsession with the monarchy knows no limits. They continue to waste money: millions of dollars are being squandered to commemorate the War of 1812; thousands of dollars were spent on a stained glass window in the Senate bearing the image of the Queen, and now the Prime Minister is announcing the creation of an advisory committee to help him appoint the Governor General and lieutenant governors.

Is there anyone in this government who will finally put an end to these monarchist leanings and, like the Quebec minister of intergovernmental affairs, speak out against the fact that money is being shamefully wasted on archaic and outdated symbols?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, frankly, this is ridiculous. What the Prime Minister announced was a consultative approach with others about these positions, which were created for and are important to our institutions.

With regard to Canada's heritage, we have certainly made investments. The hon. member forgot to indicate that we also made unprecedented investments in the 400th anniversary of Quebec City and the 375th anniversary of the city of Trois-Rivières. We are investing in every part of the country to protect Canada's heritage.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of Mr. Jan Deboutte, 2012 chair of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Oral Questions

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

Mr. Speaker, very briefly, on a point of order arising out of question period today, I noted the Conservatives were quite obsessed with the number of meetings that our members have been holding with members of workers' unions across the country.

I would like to add to the record that Conservative ministers have met 28 times with big union bosses, including the Prime Minister—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, order. If the hon. member wishes to add something to the record, he can do so during a future question period or perhaps statements by members, but not through points of order.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-24, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Panama, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Panama and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Panama, be read the third time and passed.

Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

There are still eight minutes left for questions and comments for the hon. member for London West. The hon. member for London West.

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to do that, but with regret I must attend a committee in just a few moments. I will not be able to pursue that additional part of time now.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, it is too bad there were no questions for the member for London West, because in his remarks he talked about Canada being open for business.

That is for sure, but not only is Canada open for business, what we are also seeing in all of the Prime Minister's initiatives on free trade is that Canada is really up for sale. That is what worries us. It is one thing to be open for business, but it is entirely another to be so desirous of agreement at any cost, regardless of what the net benefits are for Canada, that Canada is really up for sale. That is what I wanted to ask the member to see how he might respond. I guess he is going to the same committee meeting that I have to go to.

On Bill C-24, the Canada–Panama FTA, since negotiations concluded on this trade agreement, more than 1,155 days have passed. That is more than 38 months or more than 3 years.

The Minister of International Trade has claimed that the reason for the delay in passing the legislation is the opposition. The real reason has nothing to do with any opposition party, but is clearly related to government incompetence in trying to utilize the House to get legislation through.

The Liberal Party has supported this legislation, and if this were any priority for the government, it could and should have passed the legislation, but has failed to do so.