Debates of Oct. 17th, 2013

Ethics

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I was going to give the member a break. I did not think he wanted me to talk about the 29 separate donations that he made to separatist parties.

If he wants to continue to talk about the fact that he continues to donate to parties that are bent on ruining this country, we will continue to talk about creating jobs, we will continue to talk about reducing taxes, we will continue to focus on consumers and their rights in this country, and we will continue to make our communities safe. We will continue to do all of those things that Canadians sent us here to do, because that is our responsibility: to build a bigger, better, stronger, safer Canada.

Democratic Reform

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 584 days ago, the government agreed to act on an NDP proposal to strengthen Canada's electoral laws to prevent election fraud.

Last April, the former minister finally acted to table a bill but, lo and behold, he met with the Conservative caucus and he was shut down.

In yesterday's throne speech, the government again had the gall to promise this long-delayed bill. I have a question for the new minister, a very simple question. When will we see this bill?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, it will be in time for it to be implemented before the next election.

International Trade

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's dairy and cheese industry provides good, high-paying, middle-class jobs.

Dairy farmers and cheese makers are central to many rural communities across this country. These farmers produce high-quality products at affordable prices without receiving one cent in government subsidy.

Why are Conservatives going to jeopardize the livelihood of dairy farmers and cheese makers across this country?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, all three pillars of supply management are protected, but more than that, farmers from across Canada, who are the best in the world, will now have access to over half a billion new hungry customers.

That is the advantage of the free trade agreement the Prime Minister is working on. It means we will be creating 80,000 new jobs for Canadians, $12 billion in additional GDP; that is $1,000 for every family in this country, each and every year.

The NDP wants to build a big brick wall around Canada. We want to build a bridge to jobs.

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me remind the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food of this, and I will quote:

Canada's position is always that we will protect and promote all our sectors—including our supply management system....

Who said that? It was the Prime Minister.

Can the minister now assure Canadians, especially dairy farmers across this country, that he will not sell them out for a deal?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, there are three pillars to supply management. We know what they are: imports, price and production. All three of those pillars are protected by this arrangement.

Once again, we are ensuring that Canadian farmers, who are the best in the world, will have access to over 500 million new customers with this free trade agreement. This is the biggest free trade agreement since NAFTA. It triples the number of countries with whom we have free trade. It ensures that we create 80,000 net new jobs, $12 billion in additional annual wealth for our economy.

This is jobs; this is hope; this is opportunity.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since they are so disconnected from what is important to Quebec, I will tell them. Quebec's cheese industry is booming. It creates good jobs, often in rural areas that need these economic drivers, in addition to providing delicious cheese to Canadians.

Will the Prime Minister confirm that he will keep his promise of maintaining the supply management system as it currently exists?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, the three pillars of supply management are protected by this agreement. At the same time we will give Canadian agricultural producers and farmers access to 500 million new consumers. This is a growth opportunity for our farmers and an opportunity for Canada to add $12 billion and 80,000 jobs to our economy. This is a great victory for consumers, taxpayers and our farmers.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think he really understood my question.

When the Prime Minister took office, he promised to support Canadian farmers and rural communities, but since he has been in power for too long, he now takes them for granted.

How much did the Conservatives get by breaking their promise to protect our producers and supply management?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, let me quote the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, which said that the trade agreement:

...offers tremendous potential for Canadian producers and food processors to grow exports to the EU. Current agri-food exports to the EU are $2.4 billion a year. When completely implemented, we expect...[this agreement] to eliminate tariffs on virtually all of Canada's agriculture and food products.

This is 500 million hungry customers waiting to buy Canadian agricultural products. It is an enormous victory for our farmers.

Ethics

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP affidavits published this summer contradict the Conservative ministers on the Wright-Duffy affair.

Contrary to what they have been telling us for months, we know that Mr. Wright was not the only person who knew the details of the agreement and that he had hundreds of pages of documents. Let us see whether the Conservative ministers can be honest for once. We know that Mr. Duffy had a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on February 11 of this year.

Whom did Mike Duffy meet at the Langevin Building on that occasion?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was very clear on this matter. Nigel Wright handled this on his own. He did not know anything about the payment until May 15.

In the meantime, our government will continue to focus on jobs and economic growth. We are faced with two opposition parties, one that wants to create a $21 billion carbon tax and raise taxes by over $20 billion on our small, medium and large producers, and another one whose only economic policy after months and months is to reorganize crime so that it can extract taxes from drugs. How pathetic is that?

Start to think about what Canadians really want, which is jobs and growth.

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

Mr. Speaker, this spring the Prime Minister and his ministers repeatedly claimed that it was Nigel Wright, only, who knew about the deal with Mike Duffy and the PMO. Unfortunately, even the Minister of Industry said the same thing repeatedly. He said that right after the loan; however, sworn affidavits in court by the RCMP point out that at least three other key staffers in the PMO and Senator Gerstein knew about the deal.

Why are the Conservatives misleading Canadians, and when will they finally get the truth?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Nigel Wright has taken sole responsibility for this matter. He has said that he handled the file all on his own.

The deal that Canadians really want to know about is the new deal with Europe that is going to see some 500 million new people accessing Canadian products. By this one measure alone, 80,000 net new jobs will be created. We know that the NDP and the Liberals are both against that because they do not think our producers measure up to others.

Our throne speech is quite clear. We will seize the advantages of seven years of Conservative government rule. We will unleash the potential of our producers and create jobs across this country.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians find it hard to believe anything the government has said. Conservative ministers also tried to play dumb with the February 20 email that summarized the deal and claimed that no written records existed.

In court records, the RCMP revealed that Wright provided investigators hundreds of pages of emails as well as a binder labelled “Confidential —Senator Mike Duffy — Schedules...”.

Why did the government mislead the House and claim that no written records existed, when clearly they did? When will it publicly release the email and the binders and come clean on everything else it is trying to hide?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Wright handled this file on his own. The Prime Minister was not aware of any payment on this file until May 15.

In the meantime, this government will continue to focus on Canadians and what Canadians want us to focus on; that is, keeping our communities safe, creating new jobs and unleashing the potential of our small, medium and large job creators across this country.

We are very excited that we are about to sign a new trade agreement that would open up a 500-million-person market to Canadian producers and more jobs.

The only thing the Liberals can come up with is legalizing marijuana for our kids. They even went to my former university saying, “Sign up to be a Liberal member—“

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Sudbury.

Consumer Protection

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while I am happy the Conservatives decided to steal some of the NDP's good consumer protection ideas, unfortunately they missed some of our best stuff.

Canadians are being gouged by credit card companies and banks, often charged excessive fees. Air passengers are often left unprotected. Yet the Conservatives ignored all those consumers.

Will they act now to tighten regulations and better protect Canadian families, or are the Conservatives still too scared to stand up to banks, credit card companies and airline lobbyists?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his quiet tone and approach on the subject.

Of course we regulate our banks. All federal financial institutions, and there are more than 400 of them, are regulated, inspected and audited. We brought in the code of conduct with respect to credit cards a long time ago, and it is supported by the Retail Council of Canada and by the consumer groups in Canada.

A great deal has been done. There is more to do, as outlined in the Speech from the Throne.

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, those are more hollow words for consumers. If they are looking for some more good ideas on how to protect consumers, they should check out www.ndp.ca and the affordability campaign.

The Conservatives' lack of commitment has been made very clear by seven years of talk and no action. Canadians are working hard to make ends meet, and they are tired of being squeezed out of every last cent. Conservatives even voted against the motion to protect consumers from abuse by credit card companies.

Why are Conservatives cherry-picking which Canadian consumer they will help?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, well, we protect all Canadian consumers, of course. It is vitally important, through the Financial Consumer Agency, the federal literacy program and the federal financial literacy co-leader, that Canadians have the best information available, which is available not on that particular website, but on the consumer agency website, so that they can inform themselves of what the best rates are to make good decisions for their families.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have finally listened to the voice of reason in deciding to adopt certain consumer protection measures advanced by the NDP. However, we can see that these are not their ideas because they are proposing half measures. They have completely abandoned our proposed air passenger bill of rights, the purpose of which was to ensure that travellers were treated with respect.

What exactly are they offering for airline customers?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what information the member opposite has, but as we have always said, one should never speculate what will be in the Speech from the Throne. Indeed, one waits for the speech and reads it at that point in time.

What I can tell the House is this. We have great connections with both airlines and airports, and I do hear from consumers across the country. We have constructive dialogues on all of these issues. At the end of the day, the consumer can turn to the Canadian Transportation Agency with individual complaints regarding the airlines.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is what you get when you prorogue Parliament. The members opposite have had a month of vacation too many because they are finding it hard to wake up.

If the Conservatives really wanted to help Canadian consumers, they would have included measures in the throne speech concerning the price of oil, excessive credit card fees and ATM fees. However, there is none of that in this speech.

Yesterday the government acknowledged that action had to be taken to protect consumers. Why then is it bowing to the airlines and credit card companies?