Debates of Nov. 20th, 2013

Crisis in the Philippines

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am very pleased to participate in this debate. I completely agree with my colleague that we should also extend our sympathies to the Filipinos here in Canada, not only to those in the Philippines.

My colleague expressed very well the depth of our sorrow and our condolences on the occasion of this tragedy. I would like to address what one might call more practical or more concrete issues.

As has been said by others, we do think that the government has provided a reasonably good reaction in the short term. It is a reasonably good reaction in terms of direct contributions and matching contributions. As a former defence minister, I was also pleased to see the quick deployment of the DART and of the helicopters.

However, I do not think it is enough to look at the short term; we must also look at the long term. The tragedy the Philippines has experienced is so big that it will take five years, even 10 years, to rebuild the affected areas. The danger is that, once the media are no longer there, governments might lose interest in the situation and stop sending assistance to the Philippines after a short while, whereas the needs will last for a very long time.

My point is that while we can in general support the government for its short-term action, we have to be equally concerned about the long run, which will last for at least five years or ten. After the media attention has gone away and the television cameras are no longer on, will the government still be there, providing the necessary assistance for the longer term reconstruction of those devastated islands, which we have seen so graphically on television but which will not remain on television for that much longer?

I combine these long-term concerns for reconstruction with the long-term concern mentioned by my NDP colleague from Ottawa Centre regarding climate change. While I commend overall the government for short-term reaction, I believe as well that we must not lose sight of the longer term, neither in terms of the dollar needs for reconstruction and health care nor on the issue of climate change.

That was my first point. I will wear my immigration critic hat to talk about the second point. Once again, the government has good intentions. However, as the saying goes, the devil is often in the details. If we look at the details, we cannot be at all sure that their intentions will really help the situation.

For instance, in terms of immigration, the government intends to take speedy action in sending assistance to those in significantly affected regions and to prioritize their cases.

However, this is where the devil could be in the details. For individuals in significantly affected areas, their cases will be prioritized. That sounds good, but what does it mean?

Let me put on the table the waiting times today for parents and grandparents from the Philippines is 99 months. For children, it is 15 months. For skilled workers, it is 18 months. For provincial program people, it is 12 months. For family live-in caregivers, many from the Philippines, it is 39 months. These are very long times. For people from the affected areas, does that mean they will be prioritized to the extent that wait times will be reduced from 39 months to 38 months or to 10 months, or to two months?

While the ideas put forward by the immigration department are laudable, I think we need more meat. We need to know before too long how many extra people will be let into Canada from these so-called prioritized areas.

We in the Liberal Party, and I as the immigration critic, will certainly be wanting to get more meat in coming weeks. I know it cannot happen overnight. How many more Filipinos will be allowed to come into this country as a consequence of this new policy, and what does their prioritization mean in terms of actual wait times for people from affected areas?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to read a quote into the record and get my colleague's take on it. It is from Valerie Amos, the UN humanitarian coordinator.

An estimated 3.2 million women and 4.6 million children need psychosocial support and protection against violence, trafficking and exploitation. Pregnant women, new mothers and other vulnerable groups also need special care.

We heard a little bit from the government on this. This quote was from the UN coordinator on the ground. Obviously we need to be very specific on what kind of support we would give.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Chair, I think that is another illustration of the point that the devil is in the details. Perhaps what he is alluding to is that as a consequence of this disaster, there may be more people in such situations in the Philippines than there were before. They certainly need assistance and they may be part of the group that should be prioritized, to use the word that the government is using, to come more quickly to Canada or else to receive aid in the Philippines from Doctors Without Borders or one of our aid agencies.

I certainly agree that cases like that at the time of a crisis such as this are frequently very urgent in nature, so whether the assistance is on the ground in the Philippines through an NGO or to come quickly to Canada, in either case speed may be of the essence and there ought to be a high degree of urgency. I commend the government overall for responding quickly, but in particular areas such as my colleague raises, there may be a need for speedier action than we have so far observed.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Mr. Chair, just to set the record straight on all of this, the member was a member of a government that allowed a backlog of some 900,000 files, which we inherited when we became government. We are working very diligently to ensure that our immigration system is fair and transparent and that we bring the people to Canada who are going to have the opportunity to make a new life here.

He alluded to the fact that he was a former member of defence. He talks about the long run. Right now, we are in the middle of a crisis. We have our DART team there doing the analysis and helping out right away. Would it not be prudent of the government to allow that to take place and get the information back on how we can go forward from here, to ensure that DART does its job and that the analysis is done of how the Philippines can move forward?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am afraid my hon. colleague over there is a bit deluded. She might not have heard, but I commended the government for sending the DART. I said overall the government was doing a good job in the short run. My concern is for the long term, that the government will not stay there for the long term. However, I am with her on the DART.

She talked about immigration and I thought we were talking about the Philippines. Instead, she drags out her PMO talking points, which are absolutely false, on immigration. As I have made clear in the House, in the last five years under Conservative rule, the average waiting time for family class immigrants has gone from 13 months to 34 months. That is almost a tripling under Conservative rule. The waiting times, as I indicated, for live-in caregivers from the Philippines, which is what we are talking about now, is over three years. For parents and grandparents, it is over five years. This is dramatically higher than it was five years ago.

These PMO talking points about Liberals and immigration are utterly false and the challenge for these Conservatives is to get their own act together on immigration and bring down these terribly high waiting times, which are wreaking havoc on the new Canadians of this country.

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular)]

Mr. Chair, I would like to begin by expressing my deepest sympathies to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

I rise today to talk about the Government of Canada's swift actions in support of Canadian citizens affected by this devastating typhoon. I do so in my role as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, responsible for consular. Canada's consular response to the typhoon is but one element of the whole-of-government response to this humanitarian disaster. I will focus today on consular aspects.

The Department of Foreign Affairs began quickly and effectively reaching out to Canadians before the storm even hit the Philippines. Assisting Canadians in the region before and after this disaster has been a priority of our consular officials at the Embassy of Canada in Manila and in Ottawa.

The typhoon made landfall in the Philippines on November 8, 2013. On Wednesday, November 6, the embassy in Manila sent its first message to registered Canadians warning of the storm. Our department's travel advice was updated on the same day and posted online at travel.gc.ca, and two more messages were sent on November 8.

The first advised that the embassy would be temporarily closed due to the storm. The second advised that the typhoon had made landfall and reminded Canadians to monitor local news and weather sites. It also urged Canadians to call family in Canada to let them know they were okay, and on the same day the embassy's Facebook page and Twitter feeds were used to update Canadians.

The day the storm struck, and every day since, the consular staff at the embassy has been reaching out to Canadians to confirm their location and their well-being, and to ask if they need consular assistance. On a daily basis, they continue to try to reach Canadians whose whereabouts have yet to be confirmed, by every means available.

Mr. Chair, I think I forgot to say that I will be sharing my time with the member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands.

I will continue to talk about what our department is doing. Our officials are calling and sending emails and texts and using social media. The same communication mechanisms have been used to provide information on transportation options and other advice.

The destruction of communications infrastructure has complicated these efforts. Communications are improving. The embassy's consular outreach efforts are now more successful.

We have bolstered our capacity at our emergency watch and operation centre here in Ottawa. The emergency watch and operation centre continues to take calls and emails from Canadians involved in the situation in the Philippines. This watch is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We have also mobilized our standing rapid deployment team. This is to increase staff on the ground in the Philippines, and they are helping to reach out to affected Canadians and provide assistance.

The embassy has deployed a consular immigration team to Tacloban, where we maintain a daily presence. We maintain a daily presence to identify Canadian citizens and to assist Canadian citizens in departing the area.

The team, supported by local Philippine National Police, is now actively reaching out into the vicinity of Tacloban City, checking last known locations for Canadian citizens in the area. A consular team was also placed alongside the DART in Roxas City to assist Canadians in that area. Of our missing Canadians in the area, all were accounted for and visited. That team has now moved on to locate and help Canadians in need in other areas.

The embassy has reached out to allies to ensure effective information sharing and coordinate our efforts. Canadian consular officials are providing similar services to all our allies. I am proud of our government's response to this crisis.

I would like to assure members that the emergency and consular assistance will continue to be provided to those Canadian citizens in need in the Philippines. I want to congratulate those who have worked so hard on the ground to help Canadians who are in need.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have just a couple of specific questions.

I wonder if the minister of state could update if she has information on how many Canadians are missing. I think yesterday was the most recent update we had on how many Canadians were still missing.

The other question I have is just in terms of capacity with consular affairs. I know there had been a look at bolstering our capacity in the Philippines. Could she tell us how many consular officials have been sent to the Philippines to help support people on the ground?

Those are two very specific questions. First, how many Canadians are still missing? Second, how many Canadian consular affairs officials have been sent to the Philippines to help out on the ground?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Chair, yes, we have had a team of Canadian officials in Canada and on the ground. We have increased the resources. We have doubled the number of our officials who are on the ground. When I spoke today to our deputy minister, I believe he told me there were eight, but I am not sure if that has increased or if that is of yesterday.

The situation has been fluid as far as the number of people with whom we are actively trying to connect. We have 12 Canadians as of today with whom we are still trying to connect and who we believe have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Our team in Ottawa and on the ground in this area is there. It is continuing to provide assistance to Canadians who need it. For members' interest as well, we are advised that commercial U.S. and American military flights are currently available, and should they wish to leave an area affected by the typhoon or depart the Philippines, those modes of transportation are available.

We do have consular officials at the airport in Tacloban and in our embassy and at the airport in Manila. They are contacting missing Canadians by any available means, and we are encouraging people to try to find, contact and reassure their loved ones so we can have some help from the persons who might still be trying to get in touch with us.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are pleased that DART is deployed and has gotten to work immediately to help those affected by the typhoon. Do the government members have an idea of the cost estimate for DART assistance? Do they know what it is going to be? Is the government going to subtract this cost from the money it donates to the relief effort? We know there has been $30,000, the government has given $5 million and Canadians have given $15 million. Is DART above and beyond the government's $5 million?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Chair, the Minister of National Defence was in earlier this evening and he answered that question exactly as the member would like to have heard it. That is that this will be above, and the cost would not be included as part of the package that is our relief to the Philippines.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I would also like to hear more of what he has to say about this topic.

This is not a partisan debate. The people of the Philippines are in our thoughts. I would like to know what medium- and long-term plans the government has to help the Philippines, especially since we know that the Philippines has been particularly affected by climate change.

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Chair, the member is absolutely correct. This is not partisan right now. We are on the ground and, as we said, we are doing what we can to reach the people who are in need.

I was in Winnipeg last week, speaking to the community. The members of the community right at hand are worried about whether the money is going to get to the people who need it, and they are very concerned about some of the scams that are going on. This is a concern of the Philippine people who can see that Canada's response has been over and above. We have always been there. I have, from CIDA, many of the key operational projects that we have had. We are not going to let them down at any time, I can assure members of that just from the investments we have made.

I was in Indonesia this year at the APEC women forum. Canada was thanked for its work and for the projects we have invested in through CIDA, and we should have no concerns about whether our government has been there, is there, and will be there because we have been, we will be, and we will continue to be there for the Philippine people.

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Before we resume debate, I want to reiterate to members or perhaps remind members that one of the benefits of take note debates is that they are informal, and therefore members are invited to take seats in the House that perhaps might put them closer to each other and perhaps encourage the kind of pleasant and fruitful discourse we are seeing this evening.

Resuming debate, the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Chair, it is good to be here this evening, and obviously the thoughts of the House tonight are on our friends in the Philippines. Those of us who are praying people have been praying for them over the last few days, and our prayers continue for those who have been affected by the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan.

It is truly staggering. I do not think we can really understand how many lives have been impacted by this disaster. We are hearing that an estimated 13 million people have been affected across the Philippines, with the passing of a single storm, with over 4 million people put out of their homes and more than 4,000 people who lost their lives. For us who are at a distance, it is a very difficult thing to even be able to comprehend those numbers.

Many other people have been impacted as well. There are people across Canada who have had to wait days to find out about their friends and families.

I want to quickly tell members about my area. It has only been 100 years since my area was settled, and that in itself is a remarkable story about how settlers came from around the world. They settled in western Canada. They lived together and built a society that has become a successful model and has become the heartland of the nation of Canada.

We have always relied on immigration in our province. Over the last decade, in particular, as the economy has really grown and bloomed, we have turned to other nations to send us their best, and we have relied on people coming in from other countries to expand our economy.

The Philippines has been one of those nations that has provided us with some of the best, great new Canadians. In my own small community of only 350 people, we now have 17 Filipino families. We have a manufacturing plant, and it has turned to these families and relied on them to come to our country. These are families who have chosen to live here, and they are invaluable in our community.

Throughout southwestern Saskatchewan, throughout the riding of Cypress Hills—Grasslands, we now have members from the Filipino community in virtually every community in the riding, and they bring a spirit that has been a great asset to our communities. They focus on family and friends and have a strong focus on their faith and hard work. They have become extremely valued members and contributors to so many of our communities.

While our government has been quick to respond—we have heard about that tonight and heard about the various ways we have responded—the real story of compassion is found in various communities across this country.

I would like to take a couple of minutes to talk about what has happened in southwestern Saskatchewan. We have an active local Filipino association that is under the leadership of a young man named Emilio Completo. They decided to hold a fundraiser for their folks back home. They had volunteers from communities such as the Latin American community, the local Swift Current community and communities around my riding. The response from my area of southwestern Saskatchewan was actually amazing. The local area donated $21,458, which is going to be matched by federal government contributions.

The local association has been very active over the past few years. It intends to target this money to solve some of those short-term problems that we talked about tonight and then to actually deal with some of the longer term problems as well. They want to try to take care of immediate needs in the areas that have been most devastated, and they look forward to having a good discussion in their community about how they then might move on to share in some of the things like rebuilding schools, perhaps, and other projects that will be important.

When I talked to Emilio last night about this successful fundraiser, he made the point that he really wanted to pass on his and his community's sincere thanks to the people of Swift Current and the people of all of southwestern Saskatchewan for the generosity they have shown to the Filipino people.

He also made the point that he thanked our government for the quick and generous response it has had. The minister mentioned that she was in Winnipeg last week meeting with leaders in the Filipino community, and the Prime Minister has met a number of times with leaders of the Filipino community, and that has led to good communication with them and then the type of response we have seen.

I understand my time is already wrapping up, but I too want to acknowledge the great generosity of the people of southwestern Saskatchewan and the incredible leadership of Emilio and the Filipino association in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, in bringing the community together to support people who are so far away but who need our help so much.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank the minister of state for his intervention. As he is new to his position and also to the committee, I welcome his intervention on this issue. I think it is one of his first interventions as a minister of state on a file like this.

I will ask him a question about logistics because Canada has decided to focus its attention on the Panay Island. I just want to get from him if he can, or if he can it to us later, as to why we are focusing our aid there. That is the first question.

The second question relates to what we would be doing in the medium to long term if we are going to focus our aid in that region. The Panay Island is where Canada has decided to focus its attention. Also, could the member indicate if that is where the focus of our aid shall remain for the next little while?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Chair, in the spirit of co-operation we are showing here tonight, we have been involved in the Philippines and in particular areas and projects. We look forward to continuing those projects in the future as well.

I want to revert back to what I said about my community which is busy fundraising. The people wanted to ensure that they took care of the immediate needs. That is what they are talking about, going into the areas of their friends, family and the people who they know and reaching those immediate needs, getting people back on their feet, back into decent shelters and getting them some food and safe water. Then we would look forward to the rebuilding of infrastructure.

As I pointed out, it is difficult for those of us who have the great benefits and privileges we have here to understand the kind of devastation that can be caused by a storm like this. We will keep working on the programs that we have had in the past, such as support for local governance, the opportunity to improve the business climate in the Philippines for those who are trying to do business and the agribusiness development initiative that we have been a part of, things like trying to transform the lives of women by giving them opportunities to participate in business as well.

We will continue with those kinds of initiatives and look forward to working with our friends as we have in the past.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would like to congratulate my friend on his new position as well.

We are all here for the people of the Philippines. We have all talked about encouraging people to donate. In light of this, I have a very simple question for the government. Will it extend the matching funds until the end of the calender year?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Chair, presently it is until December 8. Of course, that will be considered.

It is important to understand the generosity of Canadians across the country. I just talked about one example. Certainly, we are seeing examples right across the country of projects and events people are organizing in order to support the Filipino people and their communities. I should point out, as I did a bit earlier, that it is not just coming from within their own communities. It is Canadians of all stripes, shapes and sizes who are more than happy and willing to participate and help out, because that is what we do. If we look at Canada's record in the past decades as far as helping out with international disasters, we have been there and will consistently be there.

I can run through some of the things that we are committing to. We have $30,000 committed to the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. We talked earlier about the $5 million and the $15 million top-up on that. We have launched a relief fund which, as the member opposite mentioned, we will be matching dollar for dollar. We are happy to do that. Putting the DART on the ground in the Philippines so quickly was a huge success and a huge assistance to the Philippines as well. We also look forward to, as my colleague mentioned, Citizenship and Immigration Canada prioritizing the processing of applications.

Therefore, it is a multi-pronged approach which includes the generosity of the taxpayers, the government and certainly the hard work of many people to try to rebuild the Philippines again.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to the crisis in the Philippines.

This was an unfortunate and tragic event. Typhoon Haiyan hit hard, and everything we are talking about this evening has to do with helping Filipinos.

I will try to take partisanship out of this as much as possible, and I want to commend the government's actions to help the people of the Philippines through the financial assistance people have mentioned. The government has promised that it will match Canadians' donations to recognized charities dollar for dollar.

I am of Vietnamese origin and I have been particularly moved by this situation. The Philippines holds a special place in my heart. I used to work in Asia, and have been to Manila, in the Philippines. I also vacationed in the Philippines and took diving lessons there. That is the first place I learned to dive. I have tangible and very real ties to the country.

The Filipino community living in Canada is so close. It has tremendously good values when we talk about family and support. That is something with which I am always impressed.

I remember a couple of events in my riding. When we celebrated Valentine's Day, that was an occasion for me to actually see the culture and how they celebrated. There is a love of life that is tremendously strong. That is why my heart goes out to the people in the Philippines and also their families living in Canada which are going through tragic and difficult times right now.

I want to tell them that Canada is behind them. We are working together, all parties, the government and opposition, to try to help people in the Philippines move forward.

I definitely want to mention, for instance, what is happening in my riding of Brossard—La Prairie. On November 23, which is this coming Saturday, there will be a fundraising brunch for the benefit of the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, organized by the Filipino Canadian community of the south shore. It is a community I work with a lot. It is organizing it at Good Shepherd Church community hall at 7900 Naples Street in Brossard. I obviously will be there. There will be three servings. One is at 8 o'clock in the morning, 9:30 a.m. and I think the last one is at 11 a.m.

Hopefully we will work together to try to find other ways to bring the community together. It is all communities, not just the Filipino community, not just the Asian community, but all Canadians together, so we can actually raise a lot of funds to help people in the Philippines.

This type of help is short term. Obviously there are so many things we need to do. A lot of people here have seen some of the coverage and images and they are haunting. We need to work together to change things and make things better for the people in the Philippines.

The government has acted quickly, but there will be some challenges ahead.

The government has stated that it will take some measures, including some related to immigration. Once again, I do not wish to be too partisan in this case, but I hope that the government will do more than it promised in terms of family reunification in particular.

In my office in Brossard—La Prairie, we have had many problems with wait times in the past. Since I was elected two years ago, wait times for visas and other things have gotten longer.

We have heard the government's promises and, with all my heart, I really hope that they will take shape, that concrete action will be taken to help people come here and to help people over there. Money is certainly important for short-term and medium-term reconstruction. However, we then have to make sure that long-term measures are in place.

When we see the extent of the destruction, we certainly think about everything that must be done to rebuild. Unfortunately, it also makes us think about what happened in Haiti. The international community came together. I am very proud that Canada showed initiative and rose to that occasion.

I want to highlight the generosity of Canadians in general. Canadians from every part of the country have come together to help the people of the Philippines. I repeat that it is very important for people to make sure that the money goes to government-recognized charities so that the government can make a matching contribution. We also have to come up with long-term solutions.

Clearly, in the case of the Philippines, the biggest typhoon in a long time is a direct consequence of climate change.

I will mention an article that came out today in the CBC News. It talks about the impact that the Philippines specifically is suffering because of climate change. The article is titled, “Philippines vulnerable to climate change, consul general says”, and that is the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto.

The article notes that the Philippines is very vulnerable to typhoons and the destruction has slowed down its economy.

If we want to help other countries, we have to take our role seriously. One of the things we have to do is combat climate change. It is very important, and I am not just saying that as a partisan issue.

I will quote from the article, which says:

A Philippine official launched a hunger strike last week to pressure a UN climate change conference to come up with concrete steps to fight global warming. Naderev Sano, a member of the Philippine Climate Change Commission, told the Washington Times he was fasting “in solidarity with my countrymen who are now struggling for food back home”—including his own brother, whom Sano said “has been gathering bodies of the dead with his own two hands.”

It is real. It is happening and we have to do something about it.

One of the reasons I came into politics, became a member and got involved, was because of climate change. We need to protect the environment, and this is a consequence of what is happening globally.

I read another report that came out of Europe that said Canada had the worst climate change policy in the industrialized world. We came in 55th out of 58 countries, and that is very shameful. I think the three last countries were Iran, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia. This makes us think of how we move forward.

We need to think about the future, but of course we also need to react immediately. Once again, I tip my hat to the government for acting quickly. I hope that in the medium term, the government will look at everything related to immigration, aid to people in the Philippines and rebuilding.

The hon. member for Ottawa Centre spoke about cash for work programs. Investment is needed so that the people in the Philippines can rebuild their country themselves. We need to help them do that. We also need to have a long-term vision for what we can do. That is the most important issue.

When people talk about climate change, among other things, it is important to take action. I hope that is what the government will do.

I do not want to be partisan in this debate. Our sincere thoughts are with the people in the Philippines. I am very pleased that we can discuss what we can do and what we can improve to help the people of the Philippines.

I need to tell the Filipino community in Brossard—La Prairie that I am very proud of the work they do and that I will continue working with them.

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

Mr. Chair, I would like to commend my colleague from the NDP for his thoughts and his words of wisdom.

I wonder what his take is and what his thoughts are on asking the government to extend the deadline from December 8 to the end of December, to the end of 2013, for the government to match individuals' donations dollar for dollar.

I know in the spirit of Christmas a lot of youngsters might not want to have presents. They might want to donate the money to their folks back home in the Philippines, from the Filipino community, or little children, Canadian children, from other ethnic minorities and from other walks of life might also want to join in on that.

I wonder if you would agree with me and our side of the House that the government should extend this to December 31.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

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

First, it is important to recognize the government's action in this regard. We also need to ensure that the money that was promised is given out. We need to listen to what the international community has to say on the subject too.

There will be consequences, and we must react to them. On this side of the House, we are open to doing anything we can to help the Filipino community as soon as the government can get involved. There are a number of ways of doing this. Should the government intervene directly to help? I know that in the short term, money is important, but we also have to think about rebuilding. We need to help the people of the Philippines in any way that we can.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Chair, I am grateful for this debate and for the comments made by the member opposite.

However, does he, or does anyone in the NDP benches, really believe that it is good policy, in responding to a humanitarian emergency, to emulate someone who is on a hunger strike to change the weather? Is this the place for that debate when there are 10 million people who are in some degree of humanitarian need, when we are all struggling, still, to reach villages that have been cut off by one of the most severe typhoons?

Yes, someone is on a hunger strike at the climate change conference, but is that the kind of guidance that the NDP is proposing we take, as the Parliament of Canada, as Canadians, on how to act in this particular humanitarian emergency?

Should we be putting all of our effort into praying that the weather changes? Should we not be, rather, concentrating on concrete, tangible action, the way this government has taken it in record time?

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister and congratulate him on his new role.

This is not a partisan debate and, of course, we agree on that. The minister does not understand what is happening when someone tries to send a message saying that climate change is a problem. We have said that we agree with what the government is doing and we are even congratulating it on the measures it has taken.

However, the minister is saying that we cannot do two things at once and this shows the government's real vision or rather its lack thereof. The government is unable to consider the long term and anticipate the outcome.

We would rather not have people on hunger strikes, but that person would not be doing that, especially in the important role that person is playing, if there was not a problem. From what I understand from the question, it feels like the minister does not believe in climate change. I think the idea was to bring the issue forward.

In the short term, we agree with what the government is doing, in terms of helping and putting the money there.

However, we still have to understand what the reasons were for the typhoon and that climate change does have an impact. One of the consequences of climate change are typhoons and some of the things that we are seeing happen, such as floods in Canada. There are concrete things happening.

Unfortunately, what we have just seen from that question is that the government does not want to act on climate change.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I really applaud my colleague for his speech. He started off by acknowledging the government's work and applauding them for it. He talked about the need for all of us to work together. Up until this point in the debate, we actually had a very collegial debate and we were sharing ideas back and forth.

What my colleague was pointing out is that right now, there is a climate change conference going on. He read a news report about what someone—

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!