Debates of April 16th, 2013

Employment

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will say it again so that the minister understands. Her program is so poorly managed that Canadian workers are losing their jobs because of it and Canadian employers cannot find foreign workers because of all the bureaucracy involved in the program.

Together with the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, she let the program get so completely out of hand that she launched a review six months ago. However, we still have not received an answer. We have no idea when she will improve the program. Since she does not know how to do her job, she should let Parliament do it for her.

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

Mr. Speaker, our priority is to create jobs. We also want to connect Canadians with jobs that are available across Canada. That is our objective, our top priority.

When you have a clear and major shortage, you must look for people elsewhere to fill those positions temporarily. We are aware that there are problems with the program. That is why, in budget 2013, we announced that we would make changes.

Democratic Reform

[Alexandrine Latendresse, NDP, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the spring of 2010, Elections Canada recommended that it be given more investigative powers so that we could better combat election fraud.

It has been three years, and the Conservatives have done nothing.

Last spring, the Conservatives promised to take action on this within six months. It has been a year and the Conservatives have yet to do anything.

The situation is not getting better. Last month, Elections Canada suggested other reforms. It has been a year and we have seen nothing.

The minister keeps going on about a reform that is supposedly on the way, but we have been waiting for years.

He is all talk and no action. When will he finally take action?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians' confidence in the integrity of our election system has been challenged.

Our government will introduce comprehensive election reform proposals to increase accountability, accessibility, and integrity in Canada's elections system.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to first congratulate the minister for having graduated from promising legislation in due course yesterday to promising it in the near future.

With the recent charges, we are a step closer to catching those behind the fraud scheme in the last election. The Chief Electoral Officer recently said that election law reforms “...need to be enacted by spring 2014 to give Elections Canada enough time to fully integrate them in time” for the next general election.

These reforms are obviously urgently needed, so one more time: when are we going to see this legislation?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party has been working with Elections Canada to get to the bottom of what happened in Guelph, and we are pleased to see that Elections Canada work has progressed this far.

As I said, our government will introduce a comprehensive elections reform proposal to increase accountability, accessibility, and integrity in Canada's election system.

Veterans Affairs

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while the NDP members continue to bend and twist Canada's rich military history to suit their far left leanings, our government is committed to commemorating Canadian veterans and their accomplishments.

In January our government proudly marked 2013 as the Year of the Korean War Veteran, and today the Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Minister of National Defence made yet another great announcement. Would the Minister of Veterans Affairs please update this House on how we are continuing to recognize Canada's great accomplishments during the Korean War?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member for Don Valley West is right. They were young and reckless. Along with more than 15 countries with the United Nations 60 years ago, they fought in Korea for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law against communism. Today, the Minister of National Defence and I presented a certificate of recognition to our great Canadian Korean War veterans to show our deepest gratitude and recognition for their many sacrifices.

I thank our Korean War veterans.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have failed in their responsibility to sit down on a nation-to-nation basis to negotiate and implement a comprehensive land claim for the Métis in Labrador. This should come as no surprise. The government has allowed claims to languish for years without progress or resolution. Denying aboriginal people greater control over their futures is just wrong.

Will the minister commit today to immediately begin negotiating the NunatuKavut claim, yes or no?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, to put it politely, it takes some gall. This claim was laid down in 1991 under a Conservative government and in 1992—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs has the floor. He has barely started his response and still has lots of time left.

The hon. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs has the floor.

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, I said this claim was laid on the table in 1991, and for the better part of 13 years that the Liberals were in office, they did nothing with it and today they have the gall to stand and call for action while they are sitting in the third place.

Government Services

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives promised that their cuts to the public service would not affect the quality of services provided to the public. However, we know that this is not true.

By 2016, 29,000 jobs will be eliminated, not 19,000, as they announced. At Human Resources and Skills Development and Veterans Affairs Canada, 25% of the staff will be eliminated; at Statistics Canada, it will be one-third.

Will the Conservatives redo the math and admit that they have misled the House?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, what that left-wing think tank has done, and the NDP, is combined what were temporary positions and assumed that we are reducing full-time positions, like the 8,000 census takers for the 2011 census.

The fact is there are 19,200 positions being reduced. Of course, we are doing so on behalf of the taxpayer because we believe that we can deliver excellent quality services to Canadians for less at a more sustainable cost to the taxpayer. That is why this government is in office: because we care about the taxpayer, we care about Canadians, we care about services, and we are not going to have a $21 billion carbon tax.

La réforme démocratique

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

Mr. Speaker, in the government's response to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs' 15th report, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform wrote:

An essential part of a well-functioning democracy is the willingness to make reforms to the administration of elections when needed....The Government will also review further recommendations of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada that may be forthcoming.

Can the Minister of State for Democratic Reform please update the House on his plans to introduce a comprehensive election reform proposal?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, our government is pleased to announce that it will introduce comprehensive legislation on Thursday to improve the integrity, accountability, and administration of Canada's election laws. The new legislation will respond to the motion passed by the House of Commons last year and a recommendation made by the Chief Electoral Officer, the procedure and House affairs committee, and others.

Employment

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development had the audacity to claim that employers cannot pay temporary foreign workers 15% less for the same work. Her own government's release stated, “A new wage...will also be introduced to provide employers with greater flexibility. Wages that are up to 15% below the average wage for an occupation in a specific region will be accepted....”

Will the minister stop making things up and fix the mess that she created?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should tell Canadians the rest of the story, that this situation applies if, and only if, within that company other Canadians doing the very same job are being paid that wage.

We want to protect the jobs of Canadians. The previous system actually allowed for foreign workers to receive more money than Canadians doing the same job. That was not fair. That was not right. We fixed it to ensure Canadians get first crack at the jobs and that everyone is paid fairly.

International Co-operation

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told this House that Canada legally withdrew from the treaty to combat drought and desertification because it was “...not an effective way to [use] taxpayers' money”. The cost of the treaty, $300,000 a year, is roughly equivalent to half the cost of a G8 gazebo or 109 days of the care and feeding of a rented panda, less than 4% of the PMO office budget, a third the cost of shipping an armoured vehicle to India, or two days of government advertising to tell us how happy we should all be with the way the government is spending our money.

By what criteria is that spending more effective than pulling our weight in the world to confront drought and expanding deserts?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the criteria. That is making Canada's assistance more effective and efficient so we can dedicate those resources to the people most in need.

We are supporting concrete measures to help developing countries deal with drought instead of paying for conferences, salaries, and bureaucrats. Our commitment is to help the poor in a tangible way. We are doing that. It is not about talk shops or travel.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of a parliamentary delegation from the Republic of Uzbekistan, led by Her Excellency Diloram G. Tashmukhamedova, Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis.

1982 Repatriation of the Constitution

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I am advised the hon. member for Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia wishes to raise a point of order.