Debates of May 10th, 2013

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, as summer students are out there looking for work, we know that this is going to be the toughest summer ever, and it is because of the government's twisted list of priorities.

As we watch the hockey game tonight, know that every time one of those mind-numbing action plan ads comes on, it is $95,000 of taxpayer dollars being wasted. That equates to 32 summer jobs.

Why does the government not stop with the snow job and create a summer job?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, it was the Minister of Human Resources who announced this week our plan, a robust plan, to create 36,000 student summer jobs this year.

If the Liberals think government advertising is something the government should cut back on, they should know our government has reduced spending from when the Liberals had government advertising. We are spending less, and because we are spending less, we are creating jobs, not only in the summer but year-long full-time jobs. This year it was reported that 36,000 full-time jobs were created in Canada in the month of April. We are getting results for all Canadians, including young Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are applauding over there. They are applauding failure because there are 40,000 fewer summer jobs this year than when they took over. Four hundred thousand young Canadians are looking for work, and they have turned their backs on them. Last year was the worst year recorded for summer work in our country, and they are on their way to beat their own record.

Why do the Conservatives not shut down the backbench peep show and the Conservative infomercials and invest in our young people?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, indeed we are investing in young people. That is why, if we look at the jobs, we are not only investing in young people, we have the best job numbers of any country in the G7.

The job numbers today point that out. They point out that Canada has created 36,000 full-time jobs and 20,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector. We are delivering for all Canadians, for young Canadians, for middle-class Canadians in all regions of the country. We are better off because the Conservatives are governing Canada.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about 411,000 young Canadians out of work and 173,000 who have just given up.

We learned that 19,000 fewer students were working this month than last month. Every time we see another ad for the economic action plan on TV, it means 30 fewer jobs for our young students. That is one job per second of partisan advertising.

How can this government imagine that partisan advertising is more important than jobs for our young people?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, this is completely ridiculous. First, the amount of advertising that the Government of Canada was allowed to run was reduced when the Liberals were in power. Second, a review of the figures for the month of April shows that Canada created 36,000 new full-time jobs. We also have 20,000 new manufacturing sector jobs across Canada. These results are for all Canadians, for our young people and for every region of the country.

That is what you get when you elect a Conservative government.

The Budget

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first Conservatives shut down debate in the House on their omnibus budget bill. Now they have refused to allow for a proper study at committees. From meddling in collective bargaining to raising taxes on small businesses, the bill is full of damaging measures. It is no wonder the Conservatives are trying to avoid proper scrutiny.

Why are they forcing through this sham committee study? Why will the Conservatives not allow for a proper study of each and every component of the bill?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud to talk about budget 2013 and all that it contains for Canadians. I know my good friend the chair of the finance committee, the member for Edmonton—Leduc, is one of the finest committee chairs that our country has ever seen.

In budget 2013, we have the manufacturing fund. We have the Canada jobs grant. We lowered taxes on Canadians. We create jobs in every region of the country. Budget 2013 is something that we are proud to celebrate at committee, in the House and across the country. Let us talk about it as much as we can.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the member should know that last year when we had a similar process every committee only had one or, at most, two meetings to study every component of the bill.

This sham of a process is simply inadequate. The government's omnibus bill will amend 49 acts, and only one committee will be entitled to amend it, even though the bill covers everything from international aid to labour relations. Canadians deserve better. These changes will have a real impact on their lives.

Why are the Conservatives avoiding every form of transparency? Why are they not requiring an in-depth study of every part of the bill?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, this is from the New Democrats, pretending they actually cared what was in the budget when they declared publicly they would vote against it before they even had read it. Members will excuse me if I do not buy into the false sincerity of the New Democrats. They said that they would vote against the budget no matter what.

Canadians know better. They know that this government has delivered for the Canadian economy. They see it in our job numbers. In the month of April, 36,000 new full-time jobs were created and 20,000 new jobs in the manufacturing sector have been created in our country. We are going in the right direction and we are going to continue to because of budget 2013.

Government Expenditures

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

Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising that they do not want the process to be transparent. They seem to have a hard time with basic accounting principles.

Earlier this week, the Conservatives avoided the issue when we asked them to explain the part of the Auditor General's report detailing money that was tracked. Part of the money went to “services of a security expert to advise a host country on security matters related to the staging of an international sporting event”.

My question is simple. What event was this? Who was the expert? Who approved the spending?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General confirmed that reporting on matters such as this was a purely internal to government reporting process and its shortcomings did not prevent parliamentarians or Canadians from scrutinizing spending.

The Auditor General clearly stated, “We didn’t find anything that gave us cause for concern that the money was used in any way that it should not have been”. These are the facts.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, those are strange facts. It is always a pleasure to quote the Auditor General, but he needs to be quoted in full. I will read the part that follows the bit that was already quoted. The Conservatives always forget to read this part.

It’s important for there to be a way for people to understand how this money was spent. [This next part is important.] And that summary reporting was not done.

The Conservatives continue to deny that they lost track of $3.1 billion, but they cannot tell us where the money is. They say that it is all in the public accounts, but anyone with access to the Internet and Google knows that is not true.

Why do they continue to make things up about their serious mistake?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is misleading the House. Departments have always been, and still are, responsible to report to Parliament through the normal processes, public accounts, main estimates and quarterly financial reports. The Auditor General reaffirmed this fact in committee when he said, “We didn't identify anything that would cause us to say that we felt that anything was going on outside of those processes.” These are the facts.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Well, there we go again, Mr. Speaker, misquoting the Auditor General and no clue where the money went.

The Auditor General gave three options for where the money would have gone. That is not complicated. First, it may have lapsed. Second, it might have been spent on security. Third, it might have gone to other programs.

Will the member again just throw back an out-of-context quote from the AG, or are the Conservatives now ready to tell us where the $3 billion was actually spent?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite still has it wrong. Departments are responsible to report to Parliament. She does not have to take my word for it, but she should take the Auditor General's word that departments “are responsible for accounting and reporting their spending through the Public Accounts of Canada”.

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives cannot find $3.1 billion, but they can find $2.4 million to track their own MPs. Now that is Conservative priorities.

If I told Conservatives that my question today was going to be on a scandal, they would need to ask me, which one? That is where we are. The Conservative government is so entangled in its own spending scandals it can barely keep track. When $3.1 billion of taxpayer money gets spent without any public scrutiny, well, the Conservatives shrug. When did they stop caring about good financial management?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, again, the member opposite has it wrong. The Auditor General was very clear on this, and I will say it very slowly and clearly for the member opposite to hear this time, “We didn’t find anything that gave us cause for concern that money was used in any way that it should not have been”. These are the facts.

Agriculture

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us take a moment to talk about their spending.

At Agriculture Canada, 665 have employees received job notices. These are just more cuts to essential services for Canadians.

Employees in the department’s science and technology and market and industry services branches are the ones who will be losing their jobs.

Walking away from Canada's breakthroughs in agriculture is akin to turning back the clock.

Why are the Conservatives cutting services that help farmers carve out a place in our markets?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite has it all wrong. What the agricultural department is doing is looking to reduce costs in IT, human resources, asset management, policy and a lot of things that are duplications of what are done by industry and by the provinces. We are looking at an efficient, effective system that builds the strength of the farm gate. That is exactly what we are delivering.

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear: the changes the Conservative government is making in the departments are not based on science or fact.

The Conservatives are making cuts to a branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada that helps keep farming profitable.

They have also changed the National Research Council's mandate. It will now serve industry instead of conducting basic research.

What is the point of these ideological changes that do nothing for agriculture or the economy?

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the National Research Council of Canada has the capacity to align its research with the needs of the market and industry in order to enhance productivity and competitiveness. This then generates demand and creates high-quality jobs, which translates into economic growth and job creation.

That is what we are doing. We are being falsely accused of cutting research, when this government has invested more than $9 billion of new money since 2007.

Those members over there voted against that, and that is a scientific fact. The math is very easy to understand. They are speaking out of both sides of their mouths.

Government Expenditures

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about math for a second. If they would stop misquoting the Auditor General, Conservatives would realize that every rationale they give is drowned out by the $3.1 billion they cannot account for. They are simply bad managers.

This is verified by the $2.4 billion in secret consulting contracts. When the government spends billions on services, Canadians should be provided with an explanation of what those services are. Why are the Conservatives not following their own rules and hiding these contracts from the public?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility to use taxpayer dollars as efficiently as possible. In some cases, the government contracts with private sector companies to deliver or improve services without maintaining an expensive government bureaucracy. These include contracts with nurses in rural and remote first nation communities, experts to identify $5 billion in savings and world-leading shipbuilding experts to help build Canada's shipbuilding industry.

Our government recently took steps to provide taxpayers with even more transparency by requiring public disclosure of any contract with former public servants receiving pensions.

Government Advertising

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, each time Canadians see an economic action plan ad during a hockey game, they should know that it is costing them $95,000. What a waste of public funds.

Why not use those peak audience periods to promote tourism, since the Conservatives have cut the tourism budget by 23% in the past two years?

Instead of running partisan ads, would it not be more appropriate to promote Canada to the world and create jobs here?