Debates of Feb. 12th, 2013

International Cooperation

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, the review by officials has shown that the organization delivers projects effectively and without discrimination or bias and has done so in this case.

Telecommunications

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the CRTC is getting an earful on its consultations on the new draft of its wireless code. One of the chief complaints: Canadians are fed up with being locked into three-year contracts.

One commentator said, “Simply put: three year contracts trap consumers and do absolutely nothing to benefit them”. Two-year contracts are the international norm, but Canadians are stuck with three years.

The CRTC regulates, but it is the government that makes the law. Why have Conservatives failed consumers and allowed this practice to go on for so long?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, ensuring trust and confidence through the protection of Canadian consumers is essential to the growth of our economy. This is why we took key steps to address consumer concerns that fall under federal jurisdiction. As my colleague mentioned, the CRTC is currently conducting public proceedings on the national wireless service consumer protection code.

On top of this, I want to remind the House that we have cut taxes over 140 times, putting an average of $3,000 back in the pockets of Canadian families. This is real action.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just three-year contracts that pose a problem. Consumers are also upset about the locking of cellular telephones, exorbitant roaming charges and excessive service charges.

Even the chairman of the CRTC admitted that the market is dysfunctional and that the situation needs to be corrected. Because of the Conservatives' inaction, we are paying two to four times more for telephone services than in Europe or Asia.

When will the Conservatives protect the interests of the 27 million Canadians who own cellular telephones?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that the CRTC is currently holding hearings on the development of a national code on wireless services.

The member talks about protecting Canadians, but we reduced taxes 140 times, which amounts to an average of $3,000 in savings for Canadian families. The NDP opposed the GST cut, the universal child care benefit, the home renovation tax credit, the children's arts tax credit, the children's fitness tax credit, the textbook tax credit, the job creation tax credit … I am going to run out of time. These are all initiatives that the NDP voted against. They have to be accountable to Canadians for that. They voted against their will.

National Defence

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am always pleased to see someone from my riding of Kitchener—Waterloo featured prominently on the national stage. Today Tom Jenkins presented his report, “Canada First: Leveraging Defence Procurement Through Key Industrial Capabilities”.

Could the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women please update the House on what this report means for our important defence and security industries in Canada?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, our government is focused on what matters to Canadians, which is jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.

We believe the government is more powerful as a customer than as a subsidizer. Military procurement plays a major role in the Canadian economy, and it drives innovation. It is estimated that every billion dollars in defence and security spending creates or sustains 18,000 jobs and creates $710 million in gross domestic product.

To help inform our further development of our defence procurement strategy, I appointed Tom Jenkins as a special advisor. Today I welcomed his report.

Employment Insurance

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, instead of getting their EI benefits in a timely manner, unemployed Canadians are being told their cheque is in the mail. But it gets worse. Now the minister is saying the job is in the mail.

Sending out job alerts just does not cut it. In fact, it is all but useless when there are five unemployed Canadians for every available job.

When will the government get serious about job creation and fix the EI mess that it created?

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

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the challenge we have is that many employers across this country simply cannot find the people they need with the skills to fill the openings they have. That is why our government, through the economic action plan, has been investing significantly in helping Canadians who are out of work get the skills and training and development they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

We are also focusing on helping young people get those skills that employers need. Unfortunately, every effort, whether it is career focus, skills link, or pathways, the NDP voted against.

[Philip Toone, NDP, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives tell us over and over that their employment insurance reform will have no impact on seasonal workers. That is strange, because yesterday the member for Lévis—Bellechasse candidly admitted that no impact study had been done. No study at all!

The Conservatives are making changes recklessly. They are not interested in understanding the urban and rural industries that depend on seasonal jobs.

Why not suspend the reform and conduct studies on the impact of the changes?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is not true at all. Of course an analysis was done. As we always do when we make changes, we had an analysis done.

Employment insurance will be there for workers in seasonal industries during the off-season, if there are no other jobs for them. The system has always been there for them and it will always be there when there is no work.

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

Mr. Speaker, farmers in my riding are worried about the impact of employment insurance reform on their seasonal labour force. Although the workers have valuable expertise that leads them to return to the farms each year, the EI reform will mean the farmers have to replace them. The minister does not appear to understand that vegetables cannot be made to grow in the dead of winter.

Does she understand this economic reality? If so, why does she want to make our businesses less competitive and less productive?

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

Mr. Speaker, what we want to do is to create jobs for people and connect them with the available jobs. If seasonal workers can find work that matches their skills during the off-season, we will encourage them to take it. We will even help them find those jobs. They are free to return to their previous work, if they wish, in the working season, but for the rest of the year we want to help them, unlike the NDP.

[Marie-Claude Morin, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is still way off the mark.

Since she does not understand what the impact of her reform will be, I will give her a real-life example. That may help her.

In my riding, Les Serres Rosaire Pion et fils is a real institution, employing 125 workers in its greenhouses in the peak season. But the changes to employment insurance will force a number of them to change jobs. The greenhouses will lose a number of skilled workers, which will of course have a negative impact on productivity, profitability and the local economy.

Why does the minister want to hurt our economy by lowering the productivity of our businesses—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

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

Mr. Speaker, our goal is to improve Canada's productivity. We must do so in order to compete with the world. To do that, we must utilize all the talent and all the skills of all Canadians. The old employment insurance system discouraged the unemployed from seeking work. We want to encourage them. That is why we have introduced a number of ways to help them find jobs and earn more money.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians who have lost their jobs and have taken early CPP are facing huge clawbacks to their benefits as a result of the government's changes to employment insurance. They are losing 50¢ on the dollar as a result of the new working while on claim rules. But CPP is pension income, not employment income. This is essentially stealing money from these pensioners.

Will the government help these Canadians who are suffering and fix this problem today?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are trying to make sure that Canadians are encouraged to work and to make sure that they are better off when they are working than when they are not. That is why we are helping them identify jobs in their areas. That is why we are connecting them with employers so that they can be more productive at every stage of their lives.

Food Safety

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister announced Friday that the government will spend almost $4,000 a day to study the XL Foods disaster, which will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. This comes on the heels of reports arising from access to information that there are fewer CFIA veterinarians on the front line now than before.

Does the minister think it is a better use of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to investigate their mess at XL now, instead of having given CFIA the resources to prevent dozens of illnesses and the largest meat recall in Canadian history before it happened?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, safe food for Canadians continues to be a priority of this government. We continue to make sure that CFIA has the capacity, both from a budget and from a people perspective, to make sure that front line is safe and that they are doing that job on behalf of Canadian consumers.

I am quite baffled by the fact that all through the fall, the member for Guelph kept calling for some sort of review, some sort of analysis of where we need to spend our money, and that is exactly what we are doing. This is an arm's-length review by three eminent Canadians. We look forward to that report.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development told me yesterday that her department had signed a contract with Equifax to protect the former students who are affected by the missing personal information. The problem is that this was a lie. The protection offered includes no assurance to protect victims against identity theft or any automatic monitoring of their accounts.

She is ultimately responsible for the data that was lost. Why is she refusing to provide the best protection available?

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

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the department has engaged Equifax on a six-year contract. The goal there is to protect the privacy, the credit, of those people who were unfortunately affected by this totally unacceptable loss of data.

The department is trying to contact as many people as possible who could have been affected so that they can take advantage of this program.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot even say with certainty what years were on the disappearing hard drive. Adding insult to injury, some of the private letters informing us of this loss have been sent to the wrong people, and the minister is hanging her hat on a government offer that is actually offering less protection than what the department first recommended.

It is not enough. Canadians deserve straight answers. Since the minister refuses to tell the whole truth about what happened, will she at least accept responsibility and apologize? Will she just say that she is sorry?

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

Mr. Speaker, the loss of data was totally unacceptable. That is why the Privacy Commissioner was brought in. The RCMP has been brought in, and a very thorough investigation is under way to find out exactly what did happen in this avoidable and unacceptable situation.

Meanwhile, we are doing the best we can to try to protect the credit ratings and privacy of Canadians affected. That we will continue to do.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to helping newcomers succeed and helping to ensure that they contribute their skills fully to help our economy grow and create jobs. Part of this plan includes giving immigrants the tools and knowledge they need to hit the ground running as soon as they arrive in Canada.

Could the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism please update the House on these efforts to help immigrants succeed?