House of Commons Hansard #215 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was discrimination.
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wondering where the Senate reform is. It is contained in Bill C-7. Senate reform bills have been before the House since we took office. The NDP has blocked this bill 17 times.
I urge the House to give its unanimous consent to pass this bill today.
Nycole Turmel NDP Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government needs to leave job seekers alone and take care of the fraudsters in the Senate instead.
Everyone knows that quotas and objectives are the same thing. The government also knows that its botched reform has placed regional economies in a very precarious position.
Seasonal workers do not deserve to be treated with the contempt that the Conservatives have for them. Mayors, reeves and workers have implored the minister to put and end to this risky plan.
When will she listen to them?
Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, we are working to ensure that employment insurance is there for people who follow the rules and contribute to the system.
Front-line staff and unionized managers at Service Canada do not receive bonuses. The performance pay of executives working in the integrity services branch at Service Canada is no different than that given to executives at the same level across the public service.
Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, with regard to the minister's response, can the Prime Minister confirm that there are bonus systems for managers in the departments? Managers are receiving bonuses because people have to reimburse the government for their employment insurance payments.
Does the government not realize that it is doing something that has never been done before? Everyone opposes what the government is proposing, including chambers of commerce.
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, it is crucial that workers who have contributed to the employment insurance fund be able to receive payments from that fund when they need them.
Clearly, it is also crucial to identify illegal or inappropriate payments.
With regard to compensation in the public service, in all departments, a portion of the pay that managers receive is based on performance.
Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister just confirmed what we have been saying for the past three days. People's pay depends on incentives, and those incentives depend on repayments from the unemployed and other workers in Canada. That is unacceptable.
Does the Prime Minister not also realize that the Government of Canada is simply passing the burden of the debt and the economic crisis on to Canada's regional economies and the provinces? The provinces will have to pay more social assistance—
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, it is quite the opposite.
The purpose of our system is to grant employment insurance benefits to those who have lost their jobs and need those benefits.
Public servants are there to ensure that the fund is helping those who are truly unemployed and the workers who have contributed to it.
Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, there are two ways in which the government is passing the burden from the federal government to the provinces.
It is very clear how it is being done. It is very clear what the impact is. It is very clear that all it is doing is creating a greater demand for social assistance and a greater demand for welfare at the same as the government cuts its employment insurance.
That is exactly what the government—
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Order, order. There is far too much noise going on. The hon. member for Toronto Centre has the floor. I am having difficulty hearing the question.
The hon. member for Toronto Centre.
Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I seem to have stirred up the other side. That is fine. They need waking up.
What is taking place is not only an affront to the workers, it is not only an affront to the chambers of commerce, it is not only an affront to business groups and others who are now coming forward: it is an affront to the nature of the federation itself.
All the government is doing is saving money on the backs of the provinces and on the backs of working people.
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. We ensure in our system that when the unemployed, people who have paid into the system, cannot find jobs in their area that correspond to their abilities, then employment insurance will be there for them. That is precisely what we are doing. We are also making greater efforts to help the unemployed to be able to get jobs when jobs are available.
Of course, we are making sure that there are not inappropriate payments from the fund taken from workers who have paid legitimately into that fund. We are making sure it goes to workers and to the unemployed who legitimately need it.
Thomas Mulcair NDPLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, a few minutes ago the Prime Minister turned around to his House leader to get information on Bill C-7. He might have looked at the wrong date, because it was indeed on February 27 that the bill was last debated, but that is today; it was one year ago today that we actually debated the bill for the last time. The Conservatives have done nothing in the meantime.
The Prime Minister wants unanimous consent. Here it is. If he starts working with the provinces and territories to abolish the Senate, he will get unanimous consent from us.
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, of course, here is the dodge from the leader of the NDP. He does not want to have an elected Senate, so he tries to turn it over and says “get the provinces to do it” so that he can hide behind the various premiers, knowing it is not going to happen.
The reality is this: we know that what he really wants. The reason the NDP members have blocked this piece of legislation 17 times in the House is that they do not want elected senators because they want to appoint their own. Guess what? The people of Canada are never going to give them that chance.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect the federal government to fulfill its responsibilities with respect to transportation safety and to protect Canadians by having the highest safety standards.
Unfortunately, the budget for aviation safety, for example, will be cut by $17 million, and the budgets for marine and railway safety are also being cut.
With investigations into the Burlington derailment and the capsizing of the Miss Ally fishing boat still under way, why are the Conservatives cutting programs meant to prevent these types of accidents?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we are maintaining our essential services and have not cut any front-line safety inspectors. No front-line inspector jobs have been eliminated.
The reality is that we are improving passenger safety. For example, the number of air accidents has decreased by 25% since 2000. The number of railway accidents has decreased by 23% and the number of train derailments has decreased by 37% since 2007. These are excellent results, and we continue to be very mindful of transportation safety.
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' planned cuts will make travellers less safe in the air, on the water or riding the rails. The minister has repeatedly ignored recommendations from the Transportation Safety Board. He just will not implement its recommendations. Conservatives are cutting Transport Canada's budget by almost 30%. Canadians are travelling more than ever, so how can the minister possibly justify these drastic cuts to transportation safety?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we maintain our core function and we have not cut any front-line safety inspectors. The reality is that we have improved safety for travellers. The number of aviation accidents has fallen by 25% since 2000 while air travel increased significantly. Since 2007, train accidents have decreased by 23% and train derailments have decreased by 37%. These are very good results.
Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON
Mr. Speaker, making up stories does not change the facts. Conservatives have cut service to Canadians. Where did they increase the spending? In the Senate, of course.
However, in the spending plans the Conservatives tabled yesterday, we learned of more cuts to food safety. This is the same government that brought us the largest meat recall in Canadian history. Reduced meat inspections, ignored compliance orders and increased self-regulation: why are they gambling with Canadians' health, and why are these reckless cuts coming to Canada's food safety system?
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, absolutely none of that diatribe is true. It is well known that the main estimates do not include departments' total budgets for the year. That is why they are called “estimates”. The member opposite should know that. There are supplementary estimates throughout the year that continue to build the capacity for CFIA and other departments to do the job that Canadians require of them.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, they are making cuts to food safety but increasing the Senate's budget. They are cutting $1 billion from the infrastructure budget but increasing the propaganda budget. Not to mention that VIA Rail's budget is being slashed in half.
More money for party friends and propaganda, less money for services for Canadians. Are the estimates a taste of what is to come in the next budget?
Tony Clement ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, has already indicated, and as the hon. members should know and do know, the estimates are not the budget. The estimates are a baseline that is used for planning purposes. The budget is the budget, and of course we will continue to fulfill our responsibilities when it comes to health and safety and the core programs of the federal government. We will continue to build jobs, opportunity and economic prosperity for our country. That is what the budget is about, and we will continue to stand with Canadians.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, for a refreshing change, let us look at the facts. Conservatives are cutting services that Canadians rely on and spending more on the Senate. Infrastructure spending is down almost 25% while our communities face crumbling roads and bridges. While the rest of the world invests in rail, Conservatives are cutting VIA Rail in half.
Will the next budget be more of the same: more money for Senate cronies, more money for well-connected friends, and less for the services and safety programs that Canadians rely on?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as I said, we have not cut any front-line transportation inspectors. Our transportation safety statistics are the best in Canada's history. We are investing where the money is needed. As announced in 2007, thanks to the infrastructure program, the building Canada fund will continue until March 31, 2014. There have not been any cuts made there. These issues have strictly to do with budget years and fiscal years. No government has invested as much as ours in our country's infrastructure.