Debates of Oct. 30th, 2013

Ethics

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know better. They know very well that the Prime Minister and his entourage tried to hide something from them.

During the briefings on the Senate scandal, the Prime Minister must have known that Nigel Wright did not act alone. He must have know, for example, that Arthur Hamilton, Benjamin Perrin, Ray Novak and Jenni Byrne, among others, were involved.

That being the case, why did the Prime Minister wait until October 24 to confirm that Nigel Wright did not act alone? Why?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I did on Monday, I would refer the hon. member to affidavits that were filed in court.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister changes his story daily on the Senate.

First, only one person knew about the payoff between Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy. Then “a few” did. The Prime Minister first said his chief of staff resigned. Then on Monday he claimed Wright was fired. First we heard about one cheque. Now we hear about two.

Why will the Prime Minister not apologize for misleading Canadians? When will Canadians hear the truth?

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

Really, Mr. Speaker, the only person changing the story is the Leader of the Opposition who actually said at one point that he did not get a bribe, or he did get a bribe. He had to think about it. Maybe he did; maybe he did not.

Yesterday he said it was inappropriate to get legal expenses paid for, but now we know that he did get them paid for.

The NDP leader is all over the map on this and completely inconsistent. The only thing we want to make sure all Canadians understand is that when it comes to protecting their taxpayer dollars, the moral of the story that I wanted to complete the other day about angry Tom and his three chairs is that we can only depend on the—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.

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

Mr. Speaker, thank you for that small mercy.

On the one hand, we have unelected Conservative and Liberal senators ripping off taxpayers. On the other hand, we have a Prime Minister's office coordinating the cover-up and the payoff. Right in the middle of the whole sad affair, we have a Prime Minister refusing to tell Canadians what actually happened.

When the scandal first surfaced, what did the Prime Minister do to fix it? Nothing. When the audit was whitewashed by his senators, what did he do? Nothing, but New Democrats will keep asking the questions until we get the answers Canadians deserve.

If the Conservatives want to stop defending the Senate, they should join us and abolish it.

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

Mr. Speaker, the NDP does not want to abolish the Senate. The reason we know it does not want to abolish the Senate is that we will be arguing for reform or abolition before the Supreme Court in just a couple of weeks. Does the House know who is not even showing up to make any argument? The NDP.

In fact, the two NDP governments that made any argument at all have argued to make abolition as difficult as possible.

We know the NDP position on the Senate is nothing more than a grand public relations exercise, and it will never deliver. On this side of the House of Commons, just like Eugene, we will deliver.

National Defence

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last June the previous minister of defence said, “Any Afghan vet injured in combat will not be released as a result of those injuries”.

He even went further, “...everyone would be better off if the hon. member had chosen to contact my office...”. Last week we did just that. We contacted the minister's office. It did not help Corporal David Hawkins, who suffered injuries in Afghanistan and was released last Friday with less than a year of service left before he qualifies for a pension.

Will the minister today honour his predecessor's promise and reinstate Corporal Hawkins?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we want to thank Corporal Hawkins for his service and sacrifice for Canada.

Before being released, members of the Canadian Armed Forces work with the military on a transition plan. Ill and injured Canadian Forces members are provided with physical, mental and occupational therapy services for their eventual transition to civilian life. Members are not released until they are prepared.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, imagine firing an injured soldier before he is eligible to collect his pension. That is what is happening. Ten years is what it takes to get the pension. People with nine years service are given the pink slip by the Conservative government. That is uncaring, with no compassion whatsoever.

My question is to the Minister of National Defence. When will the government change its policy to ensure that it is demonstrating respect for members of our Canadian Forces and not denying them the opportunity to have a pension by not allowing them to continue their service in the forces?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the member has his facts wrong. In fact, members are not released until they are prepared.

It is pretty hypocritical coming from the member, when his party did nothing to help veterans in the country. It did nothing for the military. That has changed under our government, and I am very proud of that.

Steel Industry

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for over 100 years, Stelco made steel in Hamilton, providing good, high-value jobs. However, when Stelco ran into trouble, it was sold off to U.S. Steel on a solemn promise to maintain jobs and investment in my home town of Hamilton.

The Conservative government then rubber-stamped that U.S. Steel takeover. Well, if it was not obvious before, it certainly is obvious now: U.S. Steel has broken that promise, and we want to know what the government is going to do about it.

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, it is actually not true. Production is going to continue. This company, U.S. Steel, has had a drop in revenue of 11%. On Monday of this week, it announced a loss of almost $1.8 billion. That is not something that the government can yell and scream about and correct. There are difficulties in the private sector.

However, one of the things that U.S. Steel manufactures in Canada is steel pipes that are used in pipelines. The NDP comes before the House and says no pipelines to British Columbia, no Keystone XL pipelines, and then comes before the House again and asks what is happening to all the jobs in steel manufacturing. He should talk to his own colleagues.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives will fight to protect the jobs of the senators, but they will not lift a finger to protect the jobs of Hamiltonians.

The fact is, the Conservatives have totally mismanaged foreign investments. They approved the Stelco takeover. They retreated in court when it came to defending jobs, and now they are standing idly by while they shut down the blast furnace permanently. There is no doubt that U.S. Steel broke its promises to Hamilton.

Why will the minister not do his job, stand up to U.S. Steel, and stand up for Canadian workers?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the agreement that we had will keep jobs in Hamilton and keep jobs in Lake Erie. What she is describing is entirely not true with regard to the matter before us.

Again, we have the NDP leader and an NDP environment critic going to Washington, D.C., saying not to approve Keystone, do not approve the Enbridge line, do not approve the Kinder Morgan pipeline, have no more pipelines, and yet those steel pipelines are actually manufactured in Hamilton and Hamiltonians are losing their jobs. It is little wonder.

It was John Quincy Adams who once said that being all things to all people means being nothing to no one. That is today's NDP.

Health

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, like most Canadians, I have never been one to look forward to the times when I have to visit a hospital. They are places we go to get better and are staffed by qualified people to help us. However, the complicated tasks that they undertake can lead to unintended injuries if we do not ensure we have proper policies to protect patient safety.

Could the Minister Health please inform the House what our government is doing to improve patient safety?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his incredible advocacy to protect patient safety.

Recently I was pleased to announce a significant investment in the Canadian Patient Safety Institute to help reduce harm, save lives, and protect the health of Canadians. This investment will ensure, as the member says, that medication is safer, that surgeries are safer, and that home care is also safer.

We have seen this approach work. We have seen it work now in 700 hospitals across the country and we look forward to much more success. At the end of the day, our government is working very hard, with the support of the hon. member, to make sure that we protect patient safety.

Ethics

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very simple question. Has the Government of Canada, or the Conservative Party, paid any legal fees for the member for Peterborough, who is facing very serious charges under the Elections Act? They include wilfully incurring election expenses in excess of the limit, wilfully exceeding the contribution limit by paying election expenses of $21,000 out of his own funds, and knowingly providing the Chief Electoral Officer with false documents that failed to report a $21,000 election expense.

Has the Government of Canada paid his legal fees?

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

Mr. Speaker, no, the Government of Canada has not paid his legal fees.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are dismayed to learn that seriously injured soldiers are being kicked out of the military before they qualify for their pensions. In June, the former defence minister said that injured members are not released from the military until they are prepared to do so, yet today another injured soldier is facing discharge.

Will the new Minister of National Defence intervene and immediately put a stop to this disgraceful practice? The NDP supports our troops. Why will the Conservative government not?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member actually has it wrong. Before being released, members of the Canadian Armed Forces work with the military on a transition plan. Members are not released until they are prepared. That has not changed, certainly not under this defence minister and not under the previous defence minister.

Employment

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, every MP in the House has heard from businesses from their riding who are having trouble finding workers with the right skills to fill the jobs that are available. These mismatches are among the greatest challenges facing continued economic growth.

I wonder if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Development can update the House on our efforts to help unemployed people or underemployed people get these jobs?

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Peace River for his diligent efforts on behalf of workers in his riding.

The Conservative government believes that employers are best positioned to make decisions about skills training, not government bureaucrats. That is why our government is introducing the Canada job grant next year. This grant will help Canadians access skills training that leads to a guaranteed job at the end of that training.

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business are among many organizations that said the status quo simply does not work and that they support putting decisions in the hands of job creators.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the situation for Atikamekw students in Manawan is unacceptable.

The Conservatives have cut $430,000 from education services. An entire section of Simon P. Ottawa elementary school has been deemed unsafe.

The minister proudly marked the opening of the Otapi school in Manawan two years ago, but that does nothing to fix the problems at the elementary school.

This situation is urgent. Will the minister promise to release emergency funds to fix the problem?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, if the member were even remotely serious about the problem she is referring to, she could have at least had the decency to inform me personally or to inform my office, which she did not do.

As for her question, I will take the matter under advisement. I have no idea what she is referring to. Since she did not have the decency to give me any warning, I will look into the situation and get back to her.