Debates of March 4th, 2013

Regional Economic Development

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

Mr. Speaker, either the minister is talking nonsense or she does not understand her own reform.

People all over eastern Quebec are angry about the uncertainty created by the Conservative government's policy of abandoning the regions.

We have lost count of this government's underhanded attacks on the regions: gutting employment insurance, abandoning the forestry industry, closing regional post offices and slashing VIA Rail's budget.

Why does the government keep attacking our regional economies? Why do the Conservatives want to suck the life out of the regions?

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, more than 980 forestry businesses have received support from EDC.

I would also like to remind the member that federal transfers to Quebec have increased by 44%, and that does not include the Old Harry offshore oil and natural gas initiative. That is regional economic development, just as we promised. We are getting results.

And then there are the NDP, who vote against nearly every economic stimulus measure that we put forward in the House of Commons.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2011, the Conservatives promised to give more power to the regions, but over the past two years of Conservative rule, the powers that be have abandoned the regions.

The Conservatives seem to have no problem giving generously to big corporations and banks, but they are incapable of doing anything whatsoever to help our regions recover from the crisis.

I have serious concerns about the government's priorities when it says one thing then immediately does another.

The regions are key to our identity. Will this government make them a top priority once again?

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

Mr. Speaker, the regions are this government's priority. Once again, we have taken unprecedented measures. We have given $2 billion back to municipalities through the gas tax fund. We have made that permanent. It is the law.

We are working for Quebec and, unlike the virtually invisible NDP members, we have implemented economic development measures. The NDP slogan in Quebec is more like “our region on the scrap heap”.

We will continue to implement positive economic measures without raising taxes.

Employment Insurance

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government may not listen to workers or employers, but will it at least listen to Conservatives?

More and more of them are condemning the job-killing employment insurance reform. The long list includes Allen Cormier, Conservative candidate in the most recent election in Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia; Michel-Éric Castonguay, Conservative candidate in the most recent election in Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord; André Plourde, former Conservative MP for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

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

Mr. Speaker, our employment insurance system provides financial support to people who have lost their jobs, while they are looking for work. We have expanded the program to provide more support to those people and to help them find work. If there are no jobs in their field or in their region, employment insurance will be there for them as always.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative attack on unemployed workers has changed from legitimate investigation to deliberate intimidation. Past practice was that there would be home visits only for flagged files. The change to random visits is a whole new level of mistrust, yet the minister contends that it is just business as usual.

I ask for one simple, truthful answer. Are these random visits new? I am going to provide a clue. It is a three-letter word that starts with y and ends with “mess”.

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

Mr. Speaker, Service Canada has a responsibility to find and stop inappropriate claims and to protect the funds that Canadians have paid into the system, whether they are employers or employees, and to protect the integrity of the employment insurance system so that people can access the benefits when they need them.

Last year, the employment insurance program lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to inadmissible claims.

Poverty

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the UN's right to food envoy confirmed today that poverty and food insecurity are a growing problem in Canada. In their election platform, the Conservatives promised a national food policy to address this insecurity. Two years later, there's not a whisper of a plan. In fact, the Conservatives have gutted measures and help for the most vulnerable by eliminating the long form census and dismantling the Canadian Council of Welfare.

Why is the government determined to make this unfortunate inequality even worse?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, implementing the recommendation in the report would have a devastating impact on Canadians, including a $48 billion tax hike.

I met with the UN rapporteur last year and was very surprised at how ill-informed he is about Canada and the programs that we have in Canada for Canadians.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food has roundly criticized the Conservatives for their incompetence. We know that the Conservatives ignore the problems of malnutrition and health, but now we have learned that by eliminating the long form census they have made the problem worse.

Why are they refusing to create a national strategy to ensure that all Canadians have access to nutritious and affordable food? Why have they eliminated the tools to make this possible?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, again, implementing the recommendations coming from the UN rapporteur would have a significant impact on all Canadians, with a $48 billion tax hike. That is the same member who made a recommendation that we should be reducing health transfers to provinces and territories. I will not accept the report from a UN rapporteur who studies from afar. The recommendations would not be affordable for Canadians.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, what a typical response.

An international expert reports on a real problem in our communities, and the Conservatives respond by attacking the messenger. A serious government would recognize that 800,000 Canadians depend on food banks every month. A serious government would listen to UN concerns about nutrition, especially for children.

When will the Conservatives stop ignoring these problems and bring in measures to ensure good nutrition and to end hunger in this country?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, that is the same member who wants to create a massive new bureaucracy called the sodium registry. Those members want to force every family bakery, every family restaurant, to register with the government how much salt they put in their foods. Canadians do not want bureaucracy; they want choices. That is why our focus is on providing Canadians with the information they need to make healthy decisions for their families.

This just goes to show, again, how out of touch the NDP is with Canadians. The NDP's priorities are soft on crime and hard—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Welland.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is the kind of baseless response we would expect from the Conservative government. The Conservatives ignore the truth and attack the messenger, regardless of who it is.

Since 1988, the number of farmers under the age of 35 has dropped by over 70%. Without young farmers to take over, Canada is facing a crisis in agriculture, and Conservatives are sitting on their hands. The Conservatives' inaction and lack of vision is making this problem worse.

Where is the plan to reverse this dramatic decline in young farmers across this great country?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, the exact opposite is true. Our agricultural policies are helping farmers to thrive. Let me provide some information from farm financial reports. The net cash income for Canadian farmers will increase by 14% in 2012, to reach a record of $13.1 billion, the highest level in nearly 40 years.

Young farmers want to know that they can raise their families on the farm, and under our agricultural policies, they can.

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

Mr. Speaker, while they spout nonsense and say anything at all, they are ignoring the crisis taking shape right before their eyes.

The reality is that the number of young farmers has dropped drastically: more than 50% of Canadian farmers are over 55 years old. In the next 15 years, there will be a massive transfer of farm assets from the baby boom generation to the new generation of farmers.

When will the Conservatives take this situation seriously and propose policies to help the next generation of farmers?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, the one main concern of young farmers is whether they can earn enough money on the farm to raise their families. As I mentioned, the net cash income for Canadian farmers will increase by 14% in 2012, the highest level in 40 years.

One policy that we will absolutely not implement is a $21 billion carbon tax that would dramatically affect farmers, both young and old.

Public Safety

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that they can count on this government to give police the tools they need to do their job. This is true in all communities across Canada, including aboriginal communities.

Our government has stood up for matrimonial real property rights, tougher sentences for dangerous criminals and funding to keep young people out of gangs. Policing is also an important tool for keeping communities safe.

Could the Minister of Public Safety please update the House on the future of the first nations policing program?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member, who is an 18-year veteran of the RCMP, for his service and for asking the question.

Our government is committed to keeping our streets and communities safe. That is why I am proud to announce today that our Conservative government is renewing its commitment to first nations policing. We will provide stable, long-term funding over the next five years. In fact, this is the largest investment in the history of this program and a significant increase from the previous Liberal government. This initiative is keeping our streets and communities safe.

Veterans

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the more days go by, the harder it is for the Conservatives to protect the privacy of veterans. The Conservatives refuse to take this problem seriously, even though the number of privacy breaches has grown. The most recent case is that of a veteran who requested a copy of his file and received the files of two other veterans. It is about time that the Conservatives begin taking seriously the breaches of our veterans' privacy.

Why is this happening time and again under this minister?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important to remind the House that we take the confidentiality of veterans' files very seriously. I would like to read a quote:

Veterans Affairs Canada has sent a clear signal that privacy is vital to its operations....the Department is moving from reacting to privacy issues to proactively addressing them.

Who did I quote? The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

We will continue to protect our veterans' privacy.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to offer sincere condolences for the police officer who was killed in Kuujjuaq and to the other officer who was shot. Hopefully he will recover very soon.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage is aware of my question. Richard Caissie of Courtenay, B.C., a CF veteran, asked for his personal medical files and said that he received two personal medical files of two other veterans.

When will Richard Caissie receive his files, because he has not yet received them? Will the minister apologize for that error, and what about protecting the privacy of all our veterans and military personnel in our country?