House of Commons Hansard #214 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was municipalities.

Topics

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River has the floor.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

Mr. Speaker, B.C. is now embarking on a new path by moving forward on exporting liquefied natural gas, or LNG. These new developments will create jobs and economic growth in B.C. and across Canada.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The hon. member for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin has to come to order. The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River has the floor.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

Mr. Speaker, these new developments will create jobs and economic growth, in B.C. and across Canada.

Could the parliamentary secretary tell this House how our government is supporting this important industry?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Cypress Hills—Grasslands Saskatchewan

Conservative

David Anderson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources is in B.C. today to discuss the creation of jobs, expanded economic growth and long-term prosperity.

Canada is ideally positioned to become a major source of natural gas to the fastest growing economies in the world. We will be working with the provincial governments and the private sector to increase markets for Canadian LNG, while at the same time introducing new and practical environmental protection.

The benefits of natural resources, including liquefied natural gas, extend to all Canadians through tax revenues. Those tax revenues support our social programs, including health care and education. That is why we support this industry. That is why we support market diversification.

PrivacyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Françoise Boivin NDP Gatineau, QC

Mr. Speaker, that was a minute of propaganda jingle, if I ever heard one.

The more Canadians learn about the government's handling of private information, the more concerned they get. It not only lost the private financial information of more than half a million Canadians who had student loans, it also lost information on Canadians with disabilities. There is more. Another department is now implicated.

I am not asking about what barn doors the government has closed now that the horses are gone, but what other private information has been lost, floating around out there on a non-encrypted USB key.

PrivacyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Haldimand—Norfolk Ontario

Conservative

Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development

Mr. Speaker, the loss of this information is totally unacceptable, particularly as it was avoidable. That is why steps have been taken to change all of the processes and the procedures dealing with the data of individuals so that their privacy and their data are protected going forward.

PrivacyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Françoise Boivin NDP Gatineau, QC

Mr. Speaker, that is a bunch of baloney. It is ridiculous.

We have learned that the Privacy Commissioner will broaden her investigation into the loss of personal data to include the Department of Justice. A lawyer for the department was carrying unencrypted information on approximately half a million Canadians. The Conservatives' lax attitude toward privacy protection is unacceptable.

Can the Minister of Justice tell us whether or not his department allows staff to waltz around with personal information on USB keys?

PrivacyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Haldimand—Norfolk Ontario

Conservative

Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development

Mr. Speaker, the loss of this information is totally unacceptable, particularly since it was preventable.

The department has been instructed to change all of the processes and systems for handling Canadians' data in order to prevent this type of incident in future.

Government AccountabilityOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC

Mr. Speaker, the problem is not just about the personal information of Canadians. It is a much larger and more chronic problem that the Conservatives are unable to fix.

Last October, a computer and USB key were stolen from a car. They contained information about more than 700 people under surveillance by an officer responsible for stemming the flow of money to criminal and terrorist organizations.

Can the Conservatives explain the loss of these sensitive documents?

Government AccountabilityOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Whitby—Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, I believe the incident the member is referring to was a FINTRAC incident that happened, I believe, last November. The federal agency responsible contacted the local police and the Privacy Commissioner, as well as all affected businesses and individuals.

Some months ago FINTRAC took corrective steps to ensure this never happens again, including changes to the ways it stores and transports information.

Government AccountabilityOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC

Mr. Speaker, protecting the private information of Canadians should be a priority, but the Conservatives have repeatedly bungled these breaches. They have lost hard drives, lost USB keys and exposed the private information of thousands of people.

Now the federal agency charged with preventing the flow of money to organized crime might have actually allowed this information into the hands of the very criminals it is trying to stop.

Why did the government keep these serious privacy breaches secret? Where is the transparency?

Government AccountabilityOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Whitby—Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, FINTRAC is an independent arm's-length agency and specific questions should go to FINTRAC.

However, FINTRAC did take action immediately when this occurred, which I believe was in November. It hardly kept things secret. It called the local police. It called the Privacy Commissioner. As I have already said, it contacted all of the affected businesses and individuals.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Sean Casey Liberal Charlottetown, PE

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago the Royal Canadian Legion launched a public campaign calling on the Conservatives to increase funding to the Last Post Fund.

Yesterday, the Royal Canadian Legion got its answer. It is buried at page 382 of the estimates. It shows that the Last Post Fund will be cut next year by $1.4 million. At the same time, the Conservatives will increase their advertising spend by 10 times that amount.

Why have the Conservatives put self-promotion ahead of a dignified burial for our veterans?

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Lévis—Bellechasse Québec

Conservative

Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House we will not cut like the Liberals did. To the contrary, while we are finding some—

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. The hon. Minister of Veterans Affairs has the floor.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals cut the Last Post Fund program, but—

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, order. The hon. Minister of Veterans Affairs has the floor.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC

I was just saying, Mr. Speaker, that the Liberals cut the Last Post Fund program, and we are maintaining this funding while finding administrative savings. Ten thousand veterans are benefiting and have benefited from this program. This program, actually, is being maintained and is fully funded.

Will the Liberals support the $130 million I will be seeking for veterans?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of National Defence lost $4.9 billion off DND's base budget. This is the same minister who cannot line up the fiscal cycle with the procurement cycle and has lapsed billions of dollars in previous budgetary allotments. He is the same minister who has lost military procurement to Public Works and Government Services following the F-35 fiasco.

We have a minister who cannot protect his budget, who cannot spend what he is given and cannot manage his core procurement responsibility. When will this decade of debacles end?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Central Nova Nova Scotia

Conservative

Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, let me inject a little reality into the House. In fact, the Conservative government has seen increases of roughly 34% in the defence budget since 2005-06. Let us roll the clock back to when this member was part of the government that presided over a decade of darkness that saw the Canadian Forces rusted out.

Whether we have increased funding for procurement, for infrastructure, for salaries, or for programs for soldiers, this member and this party have a sad, sorry record of not supporting the Canadian Forces.