Debates of May 2nd, 2013

Government Expenditures

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

Mr. Speaker, spending on national security went to national security. If the member opposite does not believe me, she just needs to look at the report of the Auditor General himself. The Auditor General said, “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.”

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister should go check his facts. In reality, the Conservatives simply do not know what happened to billions of dollars in spending, and they are making up new excuses daily to try to explain this mismanagement.

In opposition the Prime Minister once said, “...one would think that there would be some element of shame from the Liberal Party regarding today's report but there is none whatsoever.”

Is the Prime Minister now ready to live up to those words and show some contrition for mishandling $3 billion in security spending?

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

Mr. Speaker, “no misrepresentation whatsoever” were the direct words from the Auditor General at his press conference when he released the report. He said, “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.”

The money was spent on national security. The Auditor General has made it quite clear.

Search and Rescue

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, why is it that no minister is ever held to account and there are no consequences for those who mismanage billions?

The Conservatives are also playing catch-up on search and rescue today. Apparently they will be borrowing an idea from the NDP and setting up a 30-minute response time, but this does not make up for their decision to close the Kitsilano Coast Guard station or their failure to replace the Buffalo search and rescue aircraft.

When will they do the right thing and reopen the Kitsilano station?

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

Mr. Speaker, time and again we have increased our funding for search and rescue. We purchased new Coast Guard vessels, and the NDP voted against that. We have new Coast Guard hovercraft in Vancouver, and the NDP voted against that.

Just today the Minister of National Defence and the minister of state for national defence announced six new initiatives for search and rescue, including better tracking of aircraft, new funding for search and rescue with satellites and better coordination with local officials and first responders, with the money to make all of this happen.

We are doing exactly what Canadians expect: we are delivering resources and we are delivering the funds. The NDP is doing exactly what we have come to expect: they vote against it.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today's last-minute press conference does not fix the fundamental problems with search and rescue. There is a huge lack of operational resources.

I am sorry, but a website and some satellites will not rescue someone. Fishers, boaters and mariners need to be able to count on a well-equipped search and rescue service.

That takes equipment, planes and helicopters. Closing a marine search and rescue centre, like the one in Quebec City, will not help anyone.

When can we expect an announcement about search and rescue equipment?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. Canada's search and rescue system is one of the best in the world, and we are taking steps now to improve it.

The measures that we have announced today will continue to improve our ability to prevent unnecessary death and to respond to search and rescue incidents. As was mentioned, we have the first comprehensive quadrennial review of search and rescue involving all of the partners, better tracking of aircraft, an investment of $16.2 million in new satellite technology, a new system with respect to the Canadian beacon system and an update to the joint rescue centre in Halifax.

All of these steps are welcome news for our SAR techs.

Government Spending

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, responding to the Auditor General's criticisms with a press conference is bad enough, but it gets worse.

The President of the Treasury Board is not convincing anyone with his attempts to explain how he could have lost $3.1 billion.

The Auditor General was clear: either the money was spent on things that have nothing to do with anti-terrorism initiatives, or else the budget envelope expired and the $3.1 billion was not spent.

Could the President of the Treasury Board give us a breakdown on the measures that were funded with this $3.1 billion?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will again cite, as we have cited, the Auditor General's own words. This is what he said on Tuesday:

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.

This chapter has to do with the categorization of expenses by the Treasury Board between 2001 and 2009. All of the money in question is accounted for in the public documents tabled in Parliament, including the public accounts.

Taxation

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, close research establishes one thing very clearly; that is that the Conservative Party has been engaged in a stealth campaign over the last several years. They are raising taxes and tariffs by $10 billion, and they are raising employment insurance premiums between 2010 and 2015 by another $10 billion. That is 10 and 10: a $20 billion program.

Why is the Conservative Party hiding this from the Canadian public?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is utterly ridiculous. Of course, under the Liberal government, it was the EI fund that was raided by the Liberals—money taken away from Canadian—and padded their budgets. We know that that is what happened, and we have ended that.

We have brought integrity back into the EI system to ensure that it is there for workers when and where they need it.

With regard to taxes, of course, our government has lowered taxes almost 200 times. The average family of four has $3,200 more in their pocket than before our government came into office. That is the difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives. It is why they are in third place and why we continue to govern with a strong, steady and stable majority.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the minister what is ridiculous. In 2010, on March 10, the minister and his government voted to raise taxes by $729 million. On April 5, 2012, the government voted to raise taxes by $3.6 billion, and on March 27, 2013, the Conservatives voted to raise taxes by another $3.3 billion.

That is the math. That is the truth. It is at the back of each budget document. They can look it up themselves. They have to come clean with the Canadian public and admit that, in fact, it is a government that is raising taxes and slowing the economy by stealth. That is what the—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have lowered taxes in every one of our budgets. Canadians know it, and that is why our government has been re-elected.

With regard to the Canadian economy that the new, old Liberal leader has mentioned here, Stats Canada today has reported that in the month of March, Canada had a trade surplus. By the way, this trade surplus was driven largely by the resource sector. Sorry to the New Democrats; it is not a Dutch disease. It is actually helping the Canadian economy. As a result of that, Canadian exports have jumped over 5%, the biggest increase in two years.

The economy is going in the right direction.

Foreign Affairs

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have another question for the minister. It is very clear that Canada is facing an important challenge with respect to the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal. My question is the following.

At this time, as we work hard to restore Canada's credibility abroad, why are Conservative MPs and senators pulling Canada out of the Inter-Parliamentary Union? Why are they doing that?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is also clear that Canada has a very good international reputation. Just look at what we are doing in Afghanistan, what we accomplished in Libya, our principled stand on Syria and what we are doing around the world, whether it is with our commitment to free trade or our job protection measures. From all viewpoints, our government is protecting Canada's integrity on the international scene. Our focus is clear and consistent.

Privacy

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we can see that the Treasury Board president is busy looking under the cushions for the $3 billion he lost track of, and he does not have time to deal with the fact that the privacy of over a million Canadians was breached. Perhaps the HRSDC minister can explain why, of the 885 privacy breaches in her department, only 62 were reported to the Privacy Commissioner. Common sense dictates that when the privacy of Canadians is compromised, one informs the people affected and the commissioner.

Why did the minister not report these violations to the Privacy Commissioner?

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

Mr. Speaker, we find any loss of privacy, any loss of Canadians' personal information, any violation that way, to be unacceptable. We have, indeed, taken action as a government to strengthen privacy protections.

I, indeed, have requested a meeting with the Privacy Commissioner. I think there are always ways we can collaborate to find out if there are more things we can do that can further protect the privacy of citizens. We have done so for veterans. We have done so for mandatory reporting of breaches, and we will continue to do so in the future.

[Denis Blanchette, NDP, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives really should take the risk of identity theft more seriously. The privacy breaches that have occurred at the Department of Public Works and Government Services have affected no fewer than 348,061 people over the past 10 years. This department alone is responsible for one-third of the violations of Canadians' privacy.

Does the Minister of Public Works and Government Services have a plan to stop the privacy leaks that have been occurring in her sieve of a department?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have already said that we are going to work with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to better protect Canadians' privacy. Of course, most of the breaches occurred a number of years ago, but perhaps we can do more in the future.

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

Perhaps, Mr. Speaker? Just perhaps? If the minister's personal information had been compromised, he would take this situation seriously. It happened to me. My information was compromised while his government was in office.

I believe that Canadians will be surprised to learn that the privacy breaches at the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food affect 92,000 people. That is a huge number. The worst part is that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food remained silent about the whole thing. This loss of Canadians' personal information happened on his watch.

I want to know what his plan is.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, our government takes the protection of Canadians' privacy very seriously, particularly when it comes to the proper handling of confidential personal information.

As I already said, I am going to meet with the Privacy Commissioner in the near future. Perhaps we can also take other measures in the future.

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is playing a supporting role today.

Ninety-two thousand people had their private information compromised by the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Clearly, there are problems within the system, yet the minister is still silent. What is he going to do to fix this serious problem within his department? When is he going to stand and give Canadians and farmers who had their information breached some straight answers?

Will the minister stand and respond today, or will he remain silent to farmers across this country who had their private information breached by the government?

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

Mr. Speaker, we take any violation of citizens' personal privacy as a very serious matter. We take it very seriously. That is why I have requested this meeting in the near future with the Privacy Commissioner so that we can go over the improvements that have already been made. But perhaps there may be other things that can be done to better protect people's personal privacy as well. As I mentioned already, we have done so for veterans. We have done so for mandatory reporting of breaches. We have new guidelines, but we always hope for better ways to deal with these issues, and we will do so in the near future.