Debates of Sept. 25th, 2012

Employment Insurance

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I was asked to bring this story to the House.

Her name is Louise. She is a single mother of two and she receives EI benefits. Last year, she received a golden opportunity. She could work two days a week as a receptionist and keep her EI benefits. As well, she could also keep that part-time salary. Finally, Louise was moving forward for her and her kids.

Now the Conservatives have this new rule where the first dollar she earns on her job will get clawed back.

I have a question, through you, Mr. Speaker, from Louise to the minister. When things were getting better, why did the Conservatives make it worse?

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

Mr. Speaker, in the case of Louise, if she had worked one extra hour beyond those two days that would have been clawed back 100%.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The member for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte needs to come to order. The hon. Minister of Human Resources has the floor.

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, under the new system she would get to keep 50¢ on the dollar if she worked day three and if she worked day four.

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

She was getting a hundred.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. minister is answering the question and we will not have another interruption.

The hon. Minister of Human Resources.

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Louise would have been better off with the new system. She got to work day three and day four. Before she would have had every dollar clawed back.

We are ensuring that when Canadians work they are better off than when they do not.

Post-Secondary Education

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, students are racking up more debt than ever before.

With the youth unemployment rate approaching 15%, young people have a hard time paying back their student loans. The interest on these loans can easily add $5,000 to their debt burden.

Will the government do as some provinces—Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario, for example—have done and reduce the federal interest rate on student loans?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that the Liberals are trying to actually help students when they voted against everything we have done to give them more grants so that they do not have to repay them and do not have to worry about interest rates. In fact, we are helping twice as many students, almost 300,000, with our Canada student grants, as did the Liberals.

However, when we brought in supports to help with the repayment of student loans, the Liberals did not support that. There are so many things, including summer employment for students, that the Liberals keep voting against.

We are helping students afford their education.

Pensions

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, and they voted against all of our amendments to that fact.

After creating the OAS to fight seniors' poverty, Prime Minister Pearson lowered the eligibility age to 65 to combat seniors' income inequality. The Conservatives opposed the move then and, by turning back the clock on pension security, today's Conservatives are promising to show tomorrow's seniors a new hardship

Tearing down is the Prime Minister's mantra and, as the cuts continue, more Canadians will feel the pinch.

Given the haze of nostalgia, I wonder just what other social programs the PM plans to bring back to pre-1970 levels.

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

Mr. Speaker, what we did was raise seniors' incomes. We raised the amount they can earn without having their guaranteed income supplement reduced from $500 to $3,500 so they could have more money in their pockets. We also increased the age exemption, not once but twice. We brought in pension income sharing for seniors.

There are two things in common: one, we introduced those and brought them in for Canadians; and two, the Liberals voted against them.

National Defence

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the F-35 file is not the only one showcasing the Conservatives' incompetence.

The National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman has issued a second report on the delivery of care for Canadian Forces members suffering from operational stress injuries.

The report points to a chronic lack of care available to affected military personnel. Instead of acting on the ombudsman's recommendations, the Minister of National Defence is questioning his mandate.

Why is the government playing political games at the expense of military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have just introduced additional supports for members of the Canadian Forces suffering from post-traumatic stress. We have made a concerted effort during our time in office to hire more mental health professionals and make them available to those suffering from post-traumatic stress.

The ombudsman's report actually noted those progressive moves that we have made and lauded the government for those efforts.

I continue to have faith in the process as we continue to work with psychiatrists, mental health professionals and chaplains across the country to ensure that those ill and injured soldiers receive the best support possible.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, despite some progress, the ombudsman continues to find problems with the government's handling of post-traumatic stress disorder in the military. There is chronic understaffing, long waits for treatment, continued stigmatization and fear of coming forward, and specific failures to meet individual needs and treat fairly those suffering from PTSD.

What no one understands is why the minister is so focused on challenging the ombudsman for doing his job instead of doing his own job and working to solve these problems.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, again the member is wrong. It is the usual rhetoric from that individual.

We have continually throughout our time in office made more investments into the mental health professionals who we have in the employ of the Canadian Forces. We continue to work with professional associations. We continue to work with the soldiers themselves, like the Be the Difference campaign led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Walt Natynczyk, that was meant to de-stigmatize any recognition of a mental health illness suffered from deployment or otherwise.

Yes, there will always be more to do. Yes, we are tremendously indebted to those who have put their lives on the line for our country. We continue to work to improve them.

Status of Women

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats do not just say that we are pro-choice, we actually are. This is not an issue of conscience. It is an issue of women's rights and women's rights are human rights and they are not up for debate.

The Supreme Court was clear decades ago. Canadians have moved on. However, cabinet ministers in the Conservative government do not agree.

While some months ago the government whip made a moving speech in defence of a woman's right to choose, why is he standing by while members of his cabinet are willing to vote against Canadian women?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, private members' business is private members' business and the motion will be dealt with according to the rules of the House of Commons. That is as it should be.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on the campaign trail, the Conservatives promised not to reopen the abortion debate but guess what? We are debating abortion.

The NDP is proud to be the only federal party with a clear position on abortion. Women have the right to choose.

Should women's existing rights be up for debate in Parliament? Can Parliament take away any of those rights? The NDP says no.

Can the ministers who plan to vote in favour of Motion M-312 explain to us why they think it is a good idea to take away Canadian women's basic rights?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the member should be aware of the rules of the House. Private members can come forward with resolutions. The resolution in question will be dealt with according to the rules of the House of Commons. Why is that so upsetting to the hon. member?

International Trade

[Rodney Weston, Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, while the isolationist NDP, which consistently opposes trade agreements with other global neighbours, would close off Canada and Canadian products from the rest of the world, our Conservative government believes in increasing exports and increasing jobs in Canada.

The NDP's anti-trade and high tax policies, like its tax on everything carbon tax, would be disastrous for the Canadian economy

Could the Minister of State for Finance tell us how increased trade benefits the Canadian economy and helps to fuel job creation?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance today gave a major speech promoting our government's commitment to increasing Canada's exports to the Asia Pacific and why that is so critical to industries in Canada to help create jobs and to level the playing field to allow our Canadian companies to compete. We on this side of the House know how important that is to Canadian businesses.

What is incredible is the fact that our strong, stable majority government keeps promoting trade but every time we put forward a new trade agreement the NDP votes against that.

Privacy

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Facebook users across Canada became very concerned when they learned that their private posts could now show up on their public wall. This breach of privacy is a problem that is not limited to Facebook. The longer the government waits, the worse the situation will become.

We are in the 21st century. When will the Conservatives finally update our laws to resolve privacy issues on the Internet?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, this government introduced Bill C-12, which is an important tool for ensuring a stronger digital economy in Canada. We look forward to the oppositions' support in moving that forward.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-12 is already out of date. The government is still stuck in a world of eight-track tapes.

This Facebook privacy concern is a concern to millions of Canadians, but the issue is bigger than that.