Debates of Sept. 24th, 2012

Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by saying that I will share my time with my colleague from Rivière-des-Mille-Îles.

On June 20, 2012, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism held a press conference to introduce Bill C-43, which has some provisions for the faster removal of foreign criminals to their country of origin.

This bill would allow for the faster deportation of foreigners and permanent residents who are convicted of a serious crime in Canada or abroad, and it would refuse them access to the Immigration Appeal Division. To that end, the bill redefines “serious criminality” as being any crime that was punished in Canada by a term of imprisonment of at least six months, instead of the period of two years that is currently found in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Furthermore, with Bill C-43, the government is asking this House to once again grant increased and unlimited discretionary powers to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, including the power to agree or refuse to grant temporary resident status to an individual for a maximum period of 36 months based on public policy considerations, without specifying or defining “public policy”.

Finally, Bill C-43 provides for imposing additional, more stringent conditions with regard to permanent residence for foreign nationals who are deemed inadmissible on security grounds. It also proposes eliminating the power granted to the minister to review a humanitarian application from a foreign national who is inadmissible to Canada when there is reason to believe that he has been involved in the crimes described in section 34 and subsequent sections of the current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The security of Canadians has always been and is still a priority for New Democrats. Without handing the government a blank cheque, the NDP believes it is possible to work with the government to prevent foreign nationals who have been involved in serious crimes from using stalling tactics successfully to delay their deportation from Canada.

However, because Canada enforces the rule of law, the NDP would like to remind this House that measures to enforce our legislation must never violate the principle of the rule of law, the national obligations entered into by Canada under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights agreements. Finally, measures to enforce our legislation must not violate the principles of fundamental justice when they involve the right to life, liberty and security of the person.

In a number of cases in which the government has been unsuccessful, our courts have consistently reiterated the importance, in the words of Justice Zinn of the Federal Court, of “the balancing necessary in a constitutional democracy that follows the rule of law.” They have repeatedly held that foreign nationals on Canadian territory have the right to claim the legal and judicial guarantees available under our legislation. The Singh decision, handed down by our Supreme Court, illustrates this principle.

In that case, the Supreme Court informed the government that asylum seekers who are in Canada are entitled to fundamental justice when their normal or accelerated deportation to another country means they are likely to be tortured or exposed to threats to their life, their freedom or their safety. In another case, the Supreme Court held that, in a democracy, not every response is available.

Unfortunately, when judges hand down decisions concerning asylum seekers, decisions that frustrate the Conservatives' political imperatives, they are subject to virulent attacks by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, who accuses them, as he did on February 11, 2011, of acting on a whim, or perhaps in a fit of misguided magnanimity. It is unacceptable to question the independence of our judges when they refuse to facilitate the achievement of the Conservatives' political aims or when they refuse to base their decisions on elements other than legal, justice and equity considerations.

In his speech, the minister complained about judges who, in his view, have been preventing him from deporting a foreign criminal for six years. He publicly discredited the guardian of the law and the rule of law, that is, the judiciary, by suspecting Canadian judges of frequently handing down prison terms of less than two years for the sole purpose of blocking the criminal's rapid deportation.

The minister also attacks Canadian judges every time they reverse or overturn the careful decisions he says are made by the highly trained public servants on administrative tribunals and even other judges.

The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism's criticisms of Canadian judges lead us to believe that, for the Conservatives, decisions regarding the removal of foreign criminals must be made without the possibility of appeal regardless of who makes the decision and the irregularities involved. For the Conservatives, judges who rule on cases involving the removal of foreign criminals must make their decisions based on the Conservatives' political and ideological imperatives rather than on the rule of law. That is unacceptable.

Such a vision of justice is not that of a country in which the rule of law prevails and where there is a permanent separation of power among the legislature, the executive and the judiciary in order to prevent abuse and maintain constitutional order. The lord that Justice Zinn cites found this tension to be acceptable because it demonstrates that the courts are performing their role of ensuring that the actions of the government of the day are being taken in accordance with the law. Lord Woolf concludes by saying that the tension is a necessary consequence of maintaining the balance of power between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

As set out in the preamble of the Constitution Act, 1867, Canada is founded on the rule of law. According to Justice Zinn: “The rule of law provides that the Government and all who exercise power as a part of the Government are bound to exercise that power in compliance with existing laws.”

The courts are the institutions that the Constitution charged with ensuring that the government's decisions, including decisions regarding the removal of foreign criminals, are being made in compliance with the existing laws.

While ensuring that the safety of Canadians is not jeopardized, the NDP is reaffirming its concern and its willingness to place more emphasis on improving the equality and speed of the immigration system for the majority of people who have not committed any crimes and who follow the rules.

Clearly, there is a need to protect the integrity of our immigration system. This is especially true since many workers in the area of refugee rights, in particular members of the Canadian Council for Refugees, have been calling for a reform of the system for many years.

The flaws in our immigration system are well known. However, unfortunately, the Conservatives are using a small number of high profile cases—usually involving permanent residents who were charged with serious crimes and then used the appeal process to delay their deportation—to justify the need to have a faster process for deporting foreign criminals who are living in Canada. The minister's office describes the bill as tough but fair, and repeats that it is easy for non-citizens to avoid deportation: all they have to do is not commit any crimes.

The current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act contains clear provisions that enable law enforcement authorities to be tough on criminals who try to abuse our immigration system. For example, it sets out that foreigners found guilty of crimes must be deported from Canada immediately, and it recognizes the detention authority of officials.

Officials may detain individuals without a warrant and arrest individuals who cannot produce identification.

Furthermore, there are more categories of people who are inadmissible to Canada than under the previous Immigration Act of 1985. Under the IRPA, foreigners may be deemed inadmissible for a number of reasons, including under section 34, for being a danger to security, section 35, for jeopardizing human rights, section 36, for acts of serious criminality or, section 37, for being involved in organized crime, section 40, for misrepresentation, and for terrorist acts.

Under section 52 of the act, individuals facing a deportation order must leave Canada immediately and never return.

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act individuals cannot appeal a removal order for jeopardizing security, for human or international human rights violations, or for organized criminality. The Act denies them the right to have the decision reviewed. Smugglers are subject to particularly deterrent sentences.

Instead of making the necessary corrections to make their department run smoothly, the Conservatives are trying to circumvent all control, even the control of judges.

We demand that the individuals affected have the opportunity to go before a judge to contest expedited removals order concerning them.

The application of removal measures must respect the balance between the need to safeguard Canadians and national and international human rights obligations. A measure—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. member, but her time has expired.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, when the minister brought in this legislation and introduced it to Canadians for the first time back in June, in the dying days of the session, he provided the top five reasons for a fast removal of foreign criminals. We do have a difficult time with why he would call them foreigners, as permanent residents, but that is another issue. In that backgrounder, he listed five individuals. I am sure the member has likely seen the five individuals. There is very little doubt about the problems they have caused in Canadian society.

When we in the Liberal Party see the very character of these types of individuals, we, too, are concerned. We do not want to see individuals of this nature taking advantage of their residency and we see the value of deporting them in a timely fashion? However, would the member agree that this legislation, amended properly, would be able to deal with these type of individuals and that the government needs to be open-minded in approaching committee stage and hopefully making the necessary amendments?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

Clearly, it is absolutely crucial that we be able to deport criminals like that. The discourse we have been engaging in so far demonstrates how much we want to debate the substance and form of this bill, and we sincerely hope that the amendments we would like to make to this bill will be heard in committee.

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague. We very much appreciated her enthusiasm.

She gave a very compelling example of the link that is sometimes made between immigration and crime in the collective unconscious. I wonder if she could expand on her thoughts on the consequences this can have?

In practice, the actions of a very small minority, just a few individuals who are serious criminals, reflect on the entire community to which they belong, and that is extremely unfortunate for the rest of the community.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.

Obviously, attempting to stigmatize people, immigrant communities in this case, is dangerous and uncalled for. People who hear those kinds of messages quickly begin stereotyping others. They forget how critically important it is to our country, a land of immigrants, to bring in skilled people who want to settle in Canada. They want to bring their skills and their ingenuity and participate in our country's economic development.

In a way, this approach covers up that aspect and emphasizes only divisive issues, focusing only on stories that play up the dark side of the situation. We would do better to put more effort into family reunification and reducing the length of time that takes. Economically, we would be better off doing more to support the integration of skilled people who end up spending a year or two or even more looking for work in our society.

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning and afternoon, I listened closely to my colleagues' remarks on Bill C-43, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

I want to make one thing clear. This bill would affect a very small percentage of permanent residents: those who abuse our immigration system. During this debate, my Conservative colleagues referred to some extreme cases to support their argument. That was a diversionary tactic because the vast majority of new immigrants commit no crimes and follow the rules.

My constituents want the government to focus on improving the immigration system to make it faster and fairer, something this government has failed to do since coming to power.

The NDP will support this bill at second reading so that the committee can take a closer look at it. However, as we have seen during today's debate, my caucus has some major reservations when it comes to this bill.

Before I say more about the bill, I would like to reiterate that it is one aspect of this government's piecemeal approach to immigration. Earlier this session, the government introduced Bill C-31, which, as we know, creates two classes of refugees and completely undermines refugees' rights.

You will recall that this government also reduced refugee health care services, which means that many of them will not have access to the health services they need. Is that the best way to treat people who often are penniless and have been traumatized? I think not.

Many doctors, organizations and groups of experts, including the Canadian Paediatric Society, oppose the proposed changes that will limit access to primary and preventative health care for some of the most vulnerable children and adolescents in Canada. These changes deprive a large number of children of treatments or doctor's visits if their parents do not have money to pay for the health services and medications. This is beneath a civilized country such as Canada. We must take care of our refugees.

When I travel abroad, I am very proud to wear the Canadian flag. Why? I am proud because, to other countries, Canada represents a model of diplomacy, a fair country, a humanitarian country where people are treated with dignity and fairness, no matter where they come from. However, this Prime Minister's Conservatives are transforming this country by dismantling, among other things, our immigration system.

Among other things, this bill takes away the minister's responsibility to examine the humanitarian circumstances. At present, the minister is required, at the request of a foreign national, to examine the humanitarian circumstances of the foreign national who is deemed inadmissible on grounds of security, human or international human rights violations, or organized criminality. If the minister deems it is justified, an exemption for humanitarian reasons may be granted, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected. Unfortunately, this will no longer be the case if the bill is passed.

In addition to undermining our humanitarian reputation, the Conservatives are promoting the mentality of “them against us”. However, in our communities, the line between them and us is not black and white. With this bill, we run the risk of removing people who arrived at a very young age with their parents, have spent their lives in Canada, and cannot call anywhere else their home. They may not be Canadian citizens, but these people have contributed to our communities, have paid their taxes and are part of our society.

This Conservative government's approach is simply to deport people. It is like discarding these people without any concern for their well-being.

I would like to read some comments from Ahmed Hussen, the president of the Canadian Somali Congress, who thinks that the new bill will result in a huge increase in the number of young male immigrants who are deported without appeal:

The net will be cast wider and it will capture even more people. One big mistake on the part of these young men could see them sent to a dangerous place they know nothing about.

He also said:

For the people that are likely to be captured by this new law, we feel that a good number of them are first-time offenders who, if given a chance, would most likely reform and change their behaviour.

Why does this government not concentrate its efforts on increasing front-line immigration services? Why is the Conservative government eliminating the jobs of public servants who process immigration applications? Why is the government refusing to take action to facilitate family reunification? Instead of cutting services for Canadians, this government should give our immigration system the tools it needs to function.

Now let us talk about Bill C-43, which we are debating right now. There are two aspects of the bill that concern me. First, this bill puts even more powers into the hands of the minister, giving him authority over the admissibility of applicants for temporary residence. The minister can declare that a foreigner is inadmissible for a maximum period of 36 months if he feels that it is justified by public policy considerations. This creates a very dangerous grey area. What constitutes public policy? That is not clear in this bill.

The Conservatives are already wary of newcomers, and they have a tendency towards repression, so I am not sure we should be giving more discretionary powers to the government, and to this Conservative government in particular.

My other concern about this bill is that it changes the definition of “serious criminality” with respect to appealing a determination of inadmissibility. In the past, a conviction in Canada that carried a sentence of two or more years would lead to the automatic revocation of a permanent or temporary resident's right to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

I can give some examples. If this bill passes, we could deport people who have six marijuana plants, for example, since they could be subject to a six-month sentence. These are not people who have committed violent or serious crimes and who deserve to be punished.

This bill also targets people with mental illness, who are already overrepresented in our justice system. Many individuals have spoken out against this bill because of that. John Nash, an immigration and refugee lawyer with South Ottawa Community Legal Services, said that these changes will affect many people with psychiatric problems. He said that many people with mental illness end up in the criminal justice system. Those people could be deported too.

Instead of focusing on job creation, the Conservatives are attacking the most vulnerable members of our society. Instead of focusing on job creation, the Conservatives are attacking unemployed workers by forcing employment insurance beneficiaries to accept jobs that they are overqualified for and that do not pay as well as their previous jobs. Instead of doing something about climate change, this government has its head in the sand, which will hurt future generations. Instead of improving our immigration system to deal with applications quickly, the government is portraying all immigrants as criminals.

I want to make it clear that New Democrats recognize the need for an efficient legal system that can deport serious criminals who are not citizens. However, the Conservatives' proposed solutions are not balanced and could have devastating consequences in addition to politicizing our immigration system.

Our immigration system is broken. Just read the Auditor General of Canada's reports, which show that Canadians are waiting longer to bring their relatives to Canada and that lineups are getting longer.

I hope that once we are together in committee, my Conservative colleagues will take the NDP's concerns regarding Bill C-43 into account and accept our proposals.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal caucus has expressed a great deal of concern regarding that particular minister desiring more and more power. Examples of that include the minister deciding what countries are safe countries even though it was recommended that it be an advisory panel of human rights experts that decide. That would have been a better way to hold the minister in check. Also, the minister took on the responsibility of determining who or what grouping of two or more individuals is to be deemed as an irregular. Today we have legislation before us with the minister saying that he wants to be able to deny individuals the ability to come to Canada on a temporary visa.

I wonder if the member would like to comment on the power grab that the minister seems to be fixated on. Does she believe that there is a need to make some changes to hold the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism more in check for his actions?

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague raises a very good point. We are fortunate to live in a country with some of the best courts in the world.

I have to wonder why the government is undermining the judicial process by putting more arbitrary power in the minister's hands. Canada has very good courts and should make use of them.

Many people in my riding have come to my office to try to obtain visas so their loved ones can attend baptisms, weddings and funerals, but they cannot obtain them.

Instead of attacking scapegoats, the government should be addressing the immediate problems facing Canadians.

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, further to that point, the last time the minister wanted to weigh in on the immigration-refugee issue he wrote some regulations on the back of an envelope and suddenly thousands of refugees lost their federal health coverage while they were waiting for status in Canada, which was an outrage across the country. Municipalities and doctors were asking what was happening with the government. This is not what our country stands for.

Today we are dealing with a different issue but it is the same concern. Are we really going to entrust in the office of one minister a very complex file, a file for which the minister and others in the government do not seem up to the task?

I would ask my hon. colleague to give a little more context as to why, for example, families in various immigrant communities in our country would have cause for concern over the bill.

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this bill does in fact harm Canadian families and families in our communities.

This bill could force young people or others who have spent their entire lives in Canada to go to a foreign country that is unknown to them, simply because they committed a crime that calls for a six-month jail sentence.

This bill is step backward in terms of humanitarianism. It does not treat people like individuals who have rights and dignity; it treats them like criminals.

It is not the NDP way to treat newcomers or people who live in our country as though they were criminals.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We have time for a brief question and a brief answer.

The hon. member for Saint-Jean has the floor.

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be brief.

My colleague spoke about cuts. Does she not think that there is a contradiction between, on the one hand, making cuts to the Canada Border Services Agency and, on the other, proposing a bill that makes more work, which means doing even more with even fewer employees?

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, by cutting the budget of these organizations, the government is reducing the personnel of these organizations that offer front-line services. These are people who process immigration requests. They work in the front line and can be part of the solution. But instead of giving these organizations the tools they need, this Conservative government continues to prevent them from fulfilling their mandate.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Before giving the floor to the hon. member for Trois-Rivières to resume debate, I must inform him that I will have to interrupt at 6:30 p.m., at the end of government orders for today.

The hon. member for Trois-Rivières has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is with very mixed feelings that I take part in this discussion on Bill C-43. I say mixed feelings because there is definitely an issue here worth discussing and finding a solution to, but this is no way to approach it.

I am here, speaking in the House, because of the voters of Trois-Rivières. We can all agree that Trois-Rivières is not exactly an immigration gateway to Canada. Imagine my surprise in the weeks following my election when I saw the plurality of the cultural communities in Trois-Rivières, when I spoke with the people of those communities and recognized the wealth of diversity. I also recognized a need to listen to one another, in order to try to understand each other, given our respective cultural baggage.

I realized that there should be an individualized approach to immigration for each of the people that I met with in my riding office. There is no doubt that, of all the files that I have dealt with in Trois-Rivières since I was elected, those related to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration have been the most complex. It seems that this goes without saying, given the nature of the subject at hand. As a result, I have a very hard time when someone tries to present a simple or even simplistic solution to a complex problem involving immigration.

Thus, to support Bill C-43 as it stands would require me to turn my back on core values that I cannot deny. It is also asking me to take a great leap of faith to vote to send this bill to committee in the hopes that major amendments will be made to it, particularly given the number of amendments that were accepted in the case of a bill as large and important as Bill C-38. If the past is any indication, there is not much there to reassure me.

However, with all due respect for parliamentarianism, I must still place some hope in committee work and in the fact that the committee could considerably improve a bill that contains certain elements that I think are essential and could do away with others that are simply not consistent with the values held by most Canadians.

For the sake of time, I will start with my biggest concern. If I have any time left, I will end with the points on which both sides of the House could come to an agreement. I hope that this approach will be constructive and will help to set the tone for the work that members of this committee will do.

My first concern is that the vision of the Conservatives' bill is completely black and white. Bill C-43 is one of many Conservative bills that, as I said earlier, proposes a simple solution to a complex problem. With regard to the bill we are discussing this afternoon, there seem to be good people and bad people but very rarely good people who have given in to a moment of weakness and are not necessarily destined for a life of crime, but whom the Conservatives want to force to leave the country.

The picture before us is, once again, presented only in black and white, with almost no shades of grey. Yet it is difficult to describe reality without using all shades of grey. We simply have to think back to black and white television, for those who are my age, anyway. If there had been no shades of grey, we would not have seen much of anything. Very few things, particularly concerning immigration, correspond to this dualistic view of the world. Any search for consensus must look at solutions that take into account a broader range of shades of grey, which will allow us to consider every possible situation.

Bill C-43 also presents a risk of considerable abuse.

Let us first talk about the powers that would be granted to the minister. I must point out that this is not a question of examining the personality of the current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, but rather of the powers that could be exercised by any individual who is in charge of that rather complex department.

Usually, in famous western movies, there are good guys and bad guys, and there is usually a sheriff to mediate the conflict. Well, in this case, it seems that the sheriff is none other than the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. His discretionary power will increase, while the criteria used to achieve justice seem to be decreasing.

The minister would thus have the authority needed to rule on the admissibility of temporary resident applicants. That means that the minister could rule that the foreign national is inadmissible for up to 36 months, if he believes that it is in the public interest.

I will digress for a moment. First, the verb “to believe” introduces a grey area or value judgment. It is hard to imagine that the verb to believe refers to objective criteria. The belief might vary from one minister to the next. We know that cabinet shuffles, even changes in government, are legion in our democratic system.

Bill C-43 does not define public interest. What is really in the public interest and allows the minister to determine that it would be best to deport a person?

What is more, Bill C-43 takes away from the minister the responsibility, even the obligation, to examine the humanitarian circumstances of the foreign national who is deemed inadmissible for security reasons. That again is a grey area and is difficult to define.

I believe that the minister in charge of such a department must be the instance of last resort. He must rise above the fray and not be a part of the decision-making machine, and not have a penchant for ideology.

Furthermore, the bill changes the definition of what is considered to be “serious criminality”. This will be a particularly important matter to be debated in committee. What corresponds to the NDP or Conservative view of what we might term “serious criminality”, and will also garner the broadest consensus among Canadians when it is time to describe and judge what constitutes “serious criminality”?

Previously, a serious criminal was someone given a sentence of two or more years, which was the logical connection to the judge's reasoning when judging a crime. If a crime was deemed to be punishable with a sentence of two years or more, the criterion of “serious criminality” was met.

By changing this criterion from two years or more to six months or more, will judges be asked to change how they interpret the law and make their rulings? Absolutely not. It means that we are opening the door to including all sorts of crimes that, under the old law, would not have been viewed as “serious criminality” and that detractors would consider to be grounds for deportation.

We can well imagine that judges will not change their rulings and that a much larger number of cases may find their way into the new process set out by Bill C-43.

What about the right to an appeal process? It is no longer an option, even for someone given a six-month sentence for a crime that most Canadians would not consider a real threat to public safety.

For example, imagine an immigrant with an incurable illness that causes unbearable pain. He decides to seek relief by discreetly growing five or six pot plants at home. He is not selling drugs. While some parliamentarians are considering the possibility of legalizing marijuana, for just such a situation, that person could be found guilty of a serious crime and be deported to a country that he does not know well enough culturally to live in safely and soundly. He may have come to Canada as a child. Canada could be his only refuge and ours the only culture he has ever known.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Trois-Rivières will have nine minutes to speak when the House resumes debate on this motion.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to an issue that I raised in question period about the cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency at the terminals for Marine Atlantic in Port aux Basques and Argentia.

As a result of that, we are putting in danger potato crops in P.E.I. and New Brunswick. The soil is infested with what is called potato wart and once that soil is transported from Newfoundland and Labrador to other parts of the country, there is a risk that it will infect crops.

Doing away with the jobs that are charged with the responsibility of washing down all of the vehicles before they leave Newfoundland and Labrador is putting at risk those crops because if they are not washed, then that danger is very real.

The government has said that even though it is cutting those jobs, the vehicles still are going to have to be washed. The problem is that no one knows who is going to do that, where it is going to take place, and it is a serious issue. We raise this issue again to point out how serious it is and to see whether we can get the government to reconsider the position it has taken.

I am told there was absolutely no consultation whatsoever on this. Those of us who are familiar with where the ferry is in Port aux Basques, in particular, know it is in a very secure area. Once vehicles go into Marine Atlantic's ferry terminal, they cannot come back out because they are in a secure area in order to board Marine Atlantic's vessel.

The problem is that at least right now when the vehicles go into the terminal area where they are washed down, then we know they are on site and will not go anywhere else where there would be contaminated soil. If, as suggested, this can take place outside of the terminal area, that poses a real problem. Again, if the vehicles are washed off the ferry terminal premises, there is a chance that they will pick up contaminated soil from where they have been washed to where they have to go to the ferry terminal. It is a serious issue and we do not think enough thought has gone into this.

These jobs are supposed to be gone as of April 1. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is supposed to stop providing cleaning of the vehicles April 1, 2014. Once that happens, there has to be something in place. The government has said that this could be turned over to the private sector, that there is an opportunity for it. However, no one has stepped up to the plate at this point and we are seriously concerned that if no one does, then the government is not acknowledging the consequences of this. While it says that the vehicles will still have to be washed, it has not said how that will happen.

That is a serious problem for us. We are trying to find some way of ensuring that the vehicles continue to be washed, but at this point in time no one has stepped up to the plate. The vehicles need to be washed. How will that happen if the government does not continue to do it?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, our government remains strongly committed to protecting Canada's plant resources and recognizes that we all need to help to ensure preventative measures are taken.

Like all departments and agencies, the CFIA is contributing to the government's promise to balance the budget. Canadians know that, unlike previous governments, we take the spending of taxpayer money seriously. Our budget supports the CFIA's drive toward modernization and will allow the agency to focus its valuable resources where they are most needed.

Vehicle inspection and cleaning stations were set up in Port aux Basques and Argentia, Newfoundland, in order to mitigate the risk of spreading potato wart and potato cyst nematode to other provinces. These invasive pests can be transported in soil and other high risk items such as plants and plant products.

The CFIA's inspection activities are essential in order to respect its regulatory obligations under the Plant Protection Act and to protect vulnerable potato growing regions in other parts of Canada.

This change will have no effect on food safety. The CFIA will continue to inspect all vehicles prior to their boarding the ferry in both Port aux Basques and Argentia, Newfoundland. Contaminated vehicles will not be allowed on the ferry until they are properly cleaned. The CFIA, however, will no longer wash the vehicles at these ferries after they have been found to be contaminated with soil.

Using taxpayer dollars to pay for car washes is not needed. Vehicle operators are responsible for ensuring that their vehicles are free of soil contamination prior to boarding these ferries. The CFIA will, however, work with other federal bodies to ensure that drivers will still have access to washing facilities.

This initiative is common sense and I ask that in the future the opposition understand what is in the budget before it votes against it.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I am curious as to how the CFIA will ensure that drivers have access to facilities to wash their vehicles. At this point in time, it is not clear how that will happen. To suggest that it is a waste of taxpayer money to wash these vehicles and to refer to it as simply a car wash is hardly being upfront. We realize there is a serious issue here. We are talking about a multi-million dollar potato industry in P.E.I. and New Brunswick alone. To refer to saving money on what he is calling simply a car wash is hardly being upfront and honest with respect to what this entails.

We all recognize the need to balance budgets. That is not what this is about. This is about the need to recognize the damage that can be done and the loss of jobs that accompany this. We are talking about 14 people who received letters, indicating that jobs would possibly be lost. Apart from that, the seriousness of this situation and how drivers are going to wash their vehicles leaves us wondering what the government knows that we do not.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot stress enough that the CFIA has not and will not make changes that would put the health of Canadians or our potato industry at risk. Indeed, the budget will allow the agency to focus its valuable resources where they are most needed.

As I mentioned before, washing cars is not a good use of CFIA's time. Inspecting the vehicles to ensure there is no contamination, to ensure that vehicles do not go on to the ferry contaminated, that is a good use of CFIA time, but not washing the vehicles themselves.

We are going to ensure, by working with the different levels of government, that car wash facilities are available to Canadians. If their vehicles have contamination, then they will have the proper washing facilities to remove that contamination.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservative government made anything clear through its 500-page kitchen sink budget omnibus bill, it was that transparency was its enemy, despite years of lip service, and good, beneficial, public policy-making was a victim of blind ideology that will leave Canadians individually responsible for regulating, monitoring and protecting the health and safety of their loved ones.

In a move lacking comprehension, the Conservatives particularly targeted the budget of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The budget cut funding by $56.1 million and slashed 234 full-time positions. Never mind that the Weatherill report, on the heels of the listeriosis tragedy, called for 170 inspectors to be added. The government seems to believe that food-borne threats have a shelf life of their own and it can now slash the department. At least this was its answer when it was asked how it could cut the funding dedicated to dealing with monitoring listeria.

Senior management at the CFIA made it clear during an employee town hall that these cuts would have a measurable impact. They told CFIA staff that it was impossible to cut 10% of the budget and not deal with the front line.

Conservatives also suspended key elements of a consumer protection program, completely ignorant of concerned Canadians with nutritional restrictions or specific food allergies. We know what dietary restrictions are important for Canadians suffering from heart disease, diabetes or other ailments and what sort of diet can prevent debilitating illness.

Just prior to when I asked this question, Postmedia ran an article that clearly demonstrated instances of our biggest food brands drastically understating quantities of harmful nutrients while inversely exaggerating health benefits. Of the 600 products tested by the CFIA, more than half had inaccurate or inconsistent labels, with some off by as much as 90%.

Meanwhile, Conservatives think that a mother of a child with celiac disease should be responsible for determining the label's accuracy. To add insult to injury, Conservatives also feel a simple web-based portal should be sufficient for that same mother to seek enforcement not through the government but from the offending company.

Cuts like this have been made before by a Conservative government and they resulted in tragedy when seven people died and hundreds of others became seriously ill from E. coli in Walkerton, Ontario.

The Conservatives refuse to acknowledge that food-borne illness targets the most vulnerable among us in our communities. Seniors and children are hit the hardest. These are the very people we must be working harder to protect. Instead, the top line of Conservative budget cuts is, “Good luck—you're on your own”.

Let us look at what they are doing to trans fats. Health and nutrition experts have been clear that cutting trans fats from Canadian food would not only be immediately better for our health but it would save taxpayers nearly $9 billion over the next 20 years. In 2007, when the Conservatives could not afford to be blindly ideological, they listened to these experts and promised to reduce trans fat usage within two years through monitoring and regulation. However, this summer they not only quietly scrapped limits on trans fats but are now removing monitoring.

On this side, we stand for good government, government that takes seriously its role of protecting the public. I know there are members opposite in the Conservative ranks who do not wish to see another tragedy born from lax inspection of food.

Will the government finally take health and safety seriously and restore the regulations in staffing essential to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, first of all let me say that protecting the health and safety of Canadians remains the top priority of this government. Let me be clear that no changes would ever be implemented that would put the health of Canadians at risk.

If I may just talk a bit about food safety, a report on OECD countries evaluated Canada's food safety system and stated that we have a superior food safety system. Why is that?

In our last budget, we allocated $50 million toward food safety alone. The member and his colleagues voted against that. In our previous budget before that, we put forward an additional $100 million toward food safety. The member and his colleagues voted against that. Here the member is concerned about food safety, but when we put forward actual concrete measures and funding to improve food safety, they vote against them.

I will also say that since having been elected as the Conservative government, we have hired an additional 700 new inspectors with no help from the Liberal Party.

The last thing I will say is that we did receive the Weatherill report. We studied the Weatherill report after the listeriosis crisis. We are implementing all 57 recommendations.

This is a strong track record for this government. I do not understand why the member and his government continually vote against food safety and vote against increased funding for food safety.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure Canadians would feel more assured of the parliamentary secretary's response if they were not the same tired talking points that fail to address real and serious concerns.

What did he say? He said no changes will be made that will put the health of Canadians at risk. These are the same old talking points.

He says the government has hired more inspectors. Never has the government come to committee and explained the actual number of hirings. In fact, there are 234 fewer inspectors. The parliamentary secretary did not tell us that the OECD report was before all of these proposed government cuts.

The secretive Conservative government makes changes, hopes no one will notice, and then when asked for information that it is legally obliged to present, obfuscates and refuses.

Conservatives label anyone critical of their agenda, just as he has done of me or anyone who questions their actions, as being an enemy of their agenda.

Turns of phrase and talking points are thin gruel when it comes to legitimate concerns about the safety and security of our food. Until the government becomes less concerned with feeding us lines, I am sad to say we are on our own when it comes to getting the facts.