Debates of April 30th, 2013

World War I Anniversary

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour Dr. Kevin McCormick, the President and Vice-Chancellor of Huntington University in Sudbury for his great work to recognize the sacrifices made by the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Two weeks ago Dr. McCormick, an honorary lieutenant colonel of the Irish Regiment of Canada, began an 18-month journey to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. During this time he will travel across Canada making personal donations of items of historic value to museums, military associations and units. He will also be reuniting medals and personal effects with family members.

Dr. McCormick made his first donation on April 16 to the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in Vancouver, and he plans to make his final donation on the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I in July next year at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Ottawa.

I applaud Dr. McCormick's mission and would like to take this opportunity to thank him on behalf of all Canadians for his dedication to this worthwhile cause.

The Netherlands

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate the official birthday of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix. This year the Netherlands will bid farewell to Queen Beatrix and welcome the investiture of King Willem-Alexander. The heir will be the first king of the Netherlands since 1890.

Canada has had a strong bilateral relationship and a long-standing history of co-operation with the Netherlands. This was further evidenced by our Prime Minister's visit to Holland in May 2010.

I am one of more than one million Canadians of Dutch ancestry, and I am very proud of this heritage.

I wish to congratulate King Willem-Alexander on this special day.

I also honour Ambassador Wim Geerts for his years of dedication and service with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canada. There will be a reception this evening at Ottawa City Hall that will also serve as the ambassador's farewell reception.

On behalf of Parliament's Canada-Netherlands Friendship Group, I would like to extend best wishes to Ambassador Geerts and his family.

The Budget

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in every jurisdiction where governments insist on imposing austerity measures, growth stagnates, jobs disappear and the population's prosperity is put at risk.

Just look at what austerity has done for Europe, the United States and even for us right here in Canada. It has led to unemployment. The latest Conservative budget will not create the jobs and growth that they had promised.

Failed Conservative austerity measures have cost Canada 14,000 direct jobs this year alone. Failed austerity measures have also undermined our economic growth, which is simply not materializing. Failed austerity measures mean the government has the gall to tell future generations they will have to make do with much less than the previous generation.

In 2015, Canadians are going to elect a competent NDP government and send the Conservatives back to the opposition benches, with the Liberals.

Mental Health

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this morning I was pleased to join the Minister of National Defence, Bell Canada and the True Patriot Love Foundation at the announcement of a $1 million fund to deliver community-based mental health programming for military families.

Bell Canada's innovative Let's Talk program engages Canadians from across the country in an important discussion about mental health issues. Let's Talk helps remove the stigma associated with mental illness and allows Canadians to text or talk to help raise funds.

The Bell True Patriot Love fund is an extension of the Let's Talk program and will provide a series of grants to military family resource centres across Canada for programs related to improving access to mental health care for military families.

I am proud that Port Perry native George Cope has helped start this national dialogue on mental health issues as CEO of Bell Canada. He has also renewed Bell's century-long commitment to supporting the men and women of the Canadian Forces and their families.

I thank Bell Canada and True Patriot Love for their leadership.

Parkinson's Disease

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

Mr. Speaker, Parkinson's is a chronic degenerative neurological disease affecting more than 100,000 Canadians, and April was Parkinson's Awareness Month. There are more than 400,000 family members in Canada who understand that daily life with Parkinson's affects more people than the individuals diagnosed with this incurable disease.

This year, Parkinson Society Canada is recognizing the efforts of caregivers and celebrating April as Parkinson's awareness month. The theme this year is “Managing Parkinson's Disease is A Family Affair”.

Parkinson Society Canada has worked collaboratively with Canadian clinicians and researchers to develop the first Canadian guidelines on Parkinson's disease. I am truly impressed with the inclusive process to develop these guidelines and know that they will be an invaluable resource to improve standards and access to care for all individuals with Parkinson's.

I encourage all members of Parliament to think about their constituents who are living with Parkinson's and the impact Parkinson's can have on their loved ones. We must do all we can to support the people living with this debilitating disease and the friends, family and health care workers who are helping them cope with its impacts.

Unions

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, every year hard-working unionized employees are forced to pay billions of dollars in union dues without any transparency in how that money is spent. Taxpayers are forced to accept that these billions go tax-free. Taxpayers and workers deserve accountability and transparency in that expenditure. That is why a Conservative member put forward a private member's bill to do just that. We expected the NDP members would oppose it. They of course had already been bought off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal union money.

However, today we learned that unelected, unaccountable Liberal senators are siding with the NDP and union bosses to block workers and taxpayers from getting that transparency.

On this side of the House we stand in favour of workers, in favour of taxpayers, in favour of transparency. Why will Liberal senators not get onside and do the same thing?

The Environment

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 1992, Canada pledged to reduce greenhouse gases in order to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change. After weeks of Conservatives denying the problem, we presented a motion calling for urgent action to prevent the global temperature rising 2°C.

Sadly, last night we saw the old-line parties ganging up to deny two decades of broken promises on fighting climate change. Canadians remember Eddie Goldenberg's stunning admission that the Liberal decision to sign Kyoto was nothing more than a publicity stunt. The denial of responsibility yesterday by the Liberal Party was sadly predictable.

It is also sad that the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands chose to defend the failed policies of her political allies instead of telling her friends that they did not get the job done.

New Democrats stand ready to work with anyone in this House and across the country to fulfill the 20-year-old broken promise on fighting climate change.

New Democratic Party of Canada

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, for the past seven years, Canadians have placed their trust in this government. Since then, I am proud to say that we have delivered on our promises, and will continue to do so. We will continue to keep taxes low and focus on jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. We will continue to stand tall for Canadians and their families.

It is disappointing that the one clear priority of the leader of the NDP and his party is to raise taxes and implement wasteful spending. Canadians cannot afford a $20 billion job-killing carbon tax that would raise the price of everything, including gas, groceries and electricity. Canadians cannot afford $56 billion in wasteful spending. Canadians cannot afford the risky policies of the NDP.

On this side of the House, we will continue to fight for Canadians and against the NDP's $20 billion carbon tax and $56 billion wasteful spending schemes.

Employment

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday afternoon at 2:16 p.m., the Minister of Immigration stood in the House and denied the existence of the 15% rule that would allow temporary foreign workers to be paid less than Canadian workers.

Interestingly, at 4:06 p.m., the Prime Minister sent the same Minister of Immigration to announce at a press conference that he was eliminating the very 15% rule that just 110 minutes earlier did not exist.

How can the Prime Minister allow the Minister of Immigration to so flagrantly mislead the House? Is there nothing the Prime Minister thinks he cannot get away with?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that question is preposterous. The reality is that there is a large demand for temporary foreign workers. That is one of the reasons we continue to get these letters from NDP MPs demanding temporary foreign workers for their ridings.

At the same time, it is important that we ensure the objectives of the program are fully respected, and that is to put the priorities of Canadian workers first and the Canadian economy. The reforms we are introducing will do precisely that. I hope this time they will have the support of the New Democratic Party.

Employment Insurance

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, no NDP MP has ever asked for a single Canadian job to be displaced and he knows it.

Today, all four premiers in Atlantic Canada, including two Conservatives, are speaking out against the Prime Minister's cuts to EI. They are asking the Prime Minister to halt these cuts until their impact can be properly studied. Unlike the Prime Minister, these premiers understand the impact that slashing EI will have on workers and on their regional economy.

Will the Prime Minister listen to the premiers in Atlantic Canada, or does he still believe they are promoting a culture of defeat?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that many NDP MPs have written to the government asking for temporary foreign workers for their ridings, even in areas of high unemployment, which is obviously one of the reasons why we brought in reforms to this program.

In terms of Employment insurance, the government has been very clear. Employment insurance exists to protect Canadian workers who find themselves without a job through no fault of their own.

We are fully committed to ensuring that system is there and it is strong for Canadian workers.

Government Expenditures

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today's Auditor General's report is another scathing indictment of Conservative mismanagement.

Conservatives have actually lost track of, wait for it, $3.1 billion. The Treasury Board could not provide the Auditor General with even the most basic record to verify this spending.

We all remember when the Liberals could not account for $1 billion in spending at HRSDC. Conservatives called it a $1 billion boondoggle.

Will the Prime Minister hold his Minister of Public Safety accountable for this $3 billion boondoggle?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of that question is completely false. The Auditor General himself said today that this had nothing to do with improper use of government money.

On the contrary, it has to do with the categorization and reporting of expenses between departments over the period 2001 to 2009. There is some lack of clarity. The Auditor General has made some suggestions on how we can be more clear in our tracking in the future. We will do that.

However, unlike the NDP, we remain fully committed to the legislation and to expenditures to protect Canadians from terrorism.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today the Auditor General revealed that Conservative ministers turned a blind eye to $29 billion hidden in tax havens.

The Canada Revenue Agency came up with a plan five years ago, but the Conservatives have done nothing since then. Instead, they have cut the agency's budget. Who will end up covering that $29 billion? Not the tax cheats, but Canadian families.

Why has the Prime Minister allowed his Minister of National Revenue to turn a blind eye to tax evasion in Canada?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the Auditor General recognized that the Canada Revenue Agency improved its ability to detect, target and collect unpaid taxes. That increase is due to the fact that the agency is collecting more taxes on behalf of the provinces.

In this budget, we have introduced many measures to close tax havens. I hope that, this time, the NDP will help us do just that.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in 2008, the Prime Minister promised to renew the nation-to-nation relationship with aboriginal peoples.

Five years after the residential schools apology, the Conservatives are not taking this and many other matters seriously.

A number of departments are still refusing to provide the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with important documents related to the residential schools.

Today, the Auditor General strongly condemned this lack of co-operation. The commission's mandate will come to an end in 15 months.

Will the Prime Minister commit today, here in the House, to immediately hand over these documents?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in 2008, I made a historic apology concerning residential schools on behalf of all Canadians.

To date, federal departments have handed over more than 3.5 million documents to the commission. The process is ongoing and the government will continue to give documents to the commission.

The Budget

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the week is off to a bad start for the government.

The Auditor General's report not only mentions a mysterious sum of $3 billion, but it also shines a light on the government's poor management of search and rescue operations. The four Atlantic premiers have asked the government to suspend changes to employment insurance. What is more, this government continues to refuse to scrap its new tax on the middle class, saying that the tariff will be paid by Chinese companies and not Canadian consumers. Not one economist seems to agree.

Where is the study to back up this questionable prediction?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government has repeatedly reduced tariffs for Canadian consumers. At the same time, we have eliminated special tariff reductions for Chinese companies. The Liberal Party is against lower tariffs for consumers, but is in favour of special measures for Chinese companies. That policy does not make a lot of sense.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, following the line of reasoning of the government, if low tariffs are a form of international development assistance, then the largest recipient of Canadian foreign aid is actually the United States of America. It makes no sense.

We Liberals know that stalled middle-class incomes are the defining issue facing Canadians today. Is the government satisfied with the low level of growth in median household income in Canada? If not, why did it make no reference to this crucial challenge in its latest budget?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure the leader of the Liberal Party understands the issue of tariffs.

Let me be clear. The position of the government has been that we have progressively reduced a wide range of tariffs for all Canadians. Canadians have benefited from that to the tune of over half a billion dollars a year.

At the same time, we do not think it is appropriate to have special tariff reductions only for companies from countries like China. The Liberal Party apparently thinks that is appropriate. That is the wrong policy.

The right policy is lower tariffs for Canadians and to ensure that Chinese companies pay their fair share.

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that not only does the government have no plan to help the middle class, it does not seem to believe the middle class needs help.

Over the last 30 years, while our economy has more than doubled in size, median household income has only risen 13%. Middle-class Canadians have not had a real raise in more than a generation.

How can the government fail to see this is a problem?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there is no country in the world better to live in right now and better to be middle class. The reason for that is because we are keeping taxes low for Canadian families, because we are making investments to the Canadian economy that matter, because we are keeping our debts low and keeping our banks strong, and day after day we are not listening to the ideas of the Liberal Party instead doing good things for the Canadian economy.

Search and Rescue

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, following on the heels of the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Auditor General is confirming that there are not enough bilingual search and rescue employees.

Yet the Conservatives are determined to close the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre even as the Auditor General is saying that we have reached a breaking point, because the Conservatives have no plan or policy in place for search and rescue.

We have oceans on three sides of our country. We have millions of lakes and rivers. We have mountains. When will the Conservatives get serious about helping Canadians in distress?