Debates of Sept. 27th, 2012

Employment Insurance

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for EI is telling us that her new system lets people on a claim keep more money if they find some part-time work. She has been using an example of someone making $450 a week working part-time.

I would like to tell the House about a woman who called my office. She is getting paid $150 a week for part-time work. Before the Conservative changes, she kept almost $110 and now she only gets to keep $75.

Canadians who have been hard hit by the economy are losing more under the Conservative government. Could the minister tell that woman how she is better?

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that right across our great country, even in areas of high unemployment, employers are looking for Canadians to fill jobs in their range of skills and in their geographic area. It does not make sense to have people on EI when there are employers looking for those very same skills in the same town. We are working, through increases to our job alerts and enhancements to the job bank, to connect those people who are out of work with the jobs available to them. That makes sense. That is what we are trying to do for Canadians. It is better for them and for their families.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 300,000 more Canadians are unemployed now than at the start of the recession, so one would think that the working while on claim budget would be going up. Instead, the Conservatives slashed it from $130 million for one year to $74 million over two years. However, the parliamentary secretary claimed categorically, “those who work more will be able to keep more”.

Does the minister really not understand the changes to her own program or did she give her parliamentary secretary the wrong talking points?

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

Mr. Speaker, I do have to correct the hon. member. Since the depths of the recession we have created as a country over 770,000 net new jobs. That is good news.

Let us a look at Tracie who collects $264 a week on EI. She works three days at $12 an hour. Under the old system she would have been able to keep $106. Under the new system she will be able to keep $144. That is an improvement for her.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the facts do not lie. There are 300,000 more unemployed Canadians today and it is plainly false to claim that under the new scheme all EI claimants who find part-time work will get to keep more. Many recipients who found work while receiving EI are taking home less. That, too, is a fact.

This situation is being repeated all across the country and it is the poorest claimants who are being hit the hardest. The minister must know this is true.

Will the minister fix the program and ditch her ridiculous talking points?

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

Mr. Speaker, our goal is to ensure that when Canadians work they are better off than when they do not. That seems reasonable.

Under the old system, people's EI was clawed back dollar for dollar once they had earned a small portion of their claim. That discouraged people from working. It discouraged people who had the skills and the talents that employers in their areas were looking for. We want to ensure that we are connecting those Canadians with those skills with the jobs that are there for them.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Conservatives invited representatives of Canadian Immigration Report to appear before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. The NDP opposed the idea of them speaking in committee, considering the hate speech and racist comments that appear on the group's website. After seeing some of it, even the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration was offended and said someone's name was being dragged through the mud.

Why were the Conservatives not aware of the kind of group they had invited to a parliamentary committee? Was it because the group had flattered the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism between two racist remarks?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism is an immigrant to Canada from Taiwan. One of his constituents made a suggestion for a witness who could appear in committee. As soon as he learned of these potential witnesses' completely unacceptable opinions, he demanded that the witnesses be withdrawn and he condemned the comments made on their website.

However, I must add that we are proud to have the most ethnically diverse caucus in Canadian history and to have maintained the highest levels of immigration in our history.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, voting to take away women's rights an hour after inviting racists to a parliamentary committee is a new low even for the Conservatives. The group's website even features a prominent picture and positive statement about the Minister of Immigration. It also defends white supremacism and includes a section called “Chinafication”.

The Conservatives defended calling this group to committee. Even a cursory look shows that the group should not have been invited.

How could the Conservatives fail to do even basic due diligence?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, what a fine example of McCarthyite demagoguery from the member opposite.

The member for Willowdale is an immigrant to Canada from Taiwan. He put forward a witness at the suggestion of a constituent. The moment he found out that the witness had expressed totally inappropriate views on the Internet, he condemned those views unequivocally, demanded that the witness be withdrawn and said that if the witness came before the committee he would give the witness a serious condemnation of the witness' outrageous views.

We need to face the fact that this is coming from the NDP whose members hang out with the anarchist group No One Is Illegal that says that Canada is illegal. That is--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please The hon. member for Newton--North Delta.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we did not invite racists to committee. We did not vote to take away a woman's right to choose. That was the Conservatives, including the Minister for Status of Women.

To quote from the writings of the CIR:

This hate on National Socialism is completely misguided.... [T]here is nothing inherently wrong with it at all....

The Conservatives even tried to defend these witnesses. Why are they bringing racists to a parliamentary committee?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, those comments are below the member who just said them. She knows perfectly well that the member who put forward the suggested witness is an immigrant to Canada from Taiwan. Is she really making this kind of ad hominem remark against that member?

The moment that Conservative members learned about these outrageous views associated with this witness, they insisted that the person not be brought before committee and condemned unequivocally these outrageous remarks.

However, will the member deny that her predecessor, the immigration critic of the NDP, went to rallies for the anarchist organization called No One Is Illegal that says Canada is illegal? That is outrageous.

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister has done a remarkably poor job in answering questions on the EI file, so I am going to make it really easy today. I am going to go with a true or false question.

Under the old system, people could earn and keep 40% of their EI benefit. So, if they were receiving maximum benefits, they could keep $193, with zero clawback. True or false?

The minister has a 50% chance of being right on this one. Good luck.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member can focus on the past, but our government is focused on the future of Canadians.

We are working with them so they can get the skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. We are working with them to make sure that they know what opportunities are available within their skill range, within their regions. We are connecting them with the jobs available, with employers, because we believe it is a good thing for Canadians to be working, and we are here to help them do just that.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, let us try this again. A woman in my riding who works in a seafood plant receives employment insurance benefits when the plant is closed. She managed to find a minimum wage job in Bouctouche, where an employer is looking for someone to work just one night a week. Let us be clear: there are no other jobs in Bouctouche and, no matter what the minister believes, this woman is not lazy.

Why does the minister want to take away half of this woman's earnings?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that, under the system that the Liberals themselves created, once claimants earned $75, they would lose every dollar they earned after that. Our system is going to allow claimants to keep 50¢ of every dollar they earn. So, 50% is much better than nothing at all.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, now that the government has changed its mind on fleet separation owner-operator policies, fishers are worried that the next thing the government is going to go after is the fishers' employment insurance program.

This program keeps our fishers independent and self-employed and gets them through the winter months when there is no other work in our rural coastal areas. Will the government commit to keeping the fishers' employment insurance program in place, as it has been for the last number of years?

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

Mr. Speaker, we do recognize the value of our fisheries right across this country. That is why our Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has been working with the fishing sector to ensure that they are viable and strong.

We have been very clear, but perhaps the hon. member did not hear because of his own hecklers, that the fishers' benefits program under EI is there, as it always has been.

Health

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today's PBO report clearly shows that the federal government is balancing its books on the backs of the provinces. The Conservatives did this by shortchanging the Canada health transfer by $36 billion.

A majority of Canadians believe that health care should be the government's top priority, yet the Conservatives keep backing away from their responsibilities.

Today, New Democrats launched our national campaign to provide real leadership on health care. Will the Conservatives join us to finally provide the leadership that Canadians are asking for?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure where the NDP and the Parliamentary Budget Officer learned their math, but in reality, when funding is increased to $40 billion, that is an increase. That is our government's record and that is what we have been doing.

Unlike previous governments that balanced their books on the backs of the provinces and territories, we are increasing our transfers to them. We have committed to a long-term stable funding arrangement that will see health transfers reach historic levels by the end of this decade.

Our investments will help preserve Canada's health care system so that it can be there when Canadians need it.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we support a strong universal health care system and, unlike the Conservatives, we do not invite far-right supporters to committee meetings.

Canadians think that health should be a priority, but the Conservatives prefer to make budget cuts. Today, the NDP launched its campaign to improve our health care system.

Will the Conservatives join us in finding ways to modernize our health care system?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP plan is to talk about health care for three years, and of course to raise taxes.

Our plan has long-term stable funding arrangement that will see health transfers increase to historic levels of $40 billion by the end of this decade.

Our plan is to make investments, like the one the Minister of Health is announcing today in Nova Scotia for healthy living and children. We are taking action now because that is what Canadians want and that is what Canadians need.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, all summer long Inuit across the north and here in Ottawa have protested the high food prices. Those prices are about to get worse.

On October 1, non-perishable foods will no longer be considered for subsidy under the nutrition north program. This is going to push the prices of already expensive food even higher.

Will the minister admit that this program is not working for people in the north and commit to keeping the current list of foods on the subsidy list?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can quote a recent letter from an Inuit-owned food retailer, the Stanton Group, which says:

In the first year of the NNC [nutrition north Canada] program, we have seen savings of up to 35 per cent on perishable foods such as fresh fruit, vegetables, milk, meat and eggs: savings that have been passed on to northern residents.

What northern Canadians do not have an appetite for is an NDP carbon tax on everything from soup to nuts, meat and milk, as well as everything else.