House of Commons Hansard #254 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was shippers.
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Mr. Speaker, three days ago the Minister of Heritage tweeted that “Nigel Wright is a great Canadian. Canada is stronger because of his service....” Now that the RCMP is on its way, does the member still think that is true?
James Moore ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, it may surprise the member opposite to know that very good people can make very big mistakes, and I think that is what happened here.
Philip Toone NDP Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Mr. Speaker, in his follow-up report, the Commissioner of Official Languages concluded that the Conservatives did nothing to implement his three recommendations regarding bilingualism in rescue centres. They did nothing to guarantee bilingual service or to ensure the safety of francophone maritime users. In short, Halifax cannot take over the activities of the Quebec City centre.
Instead of jeopardizing the lives of francophone mariners, fishers and recreational boaters, when will the Conservatives finally commit to keeping the Quebec City centre open?
Jacques Gourde ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, we are currently studying the report and the recommendations made by the Commissioner of Official Languages. We want to make it very clear that the Canadian Coast Guard will not consolidate the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre unless it is convinced that the ability to provide bilingual services will be maintained.
Philip Toone NDP Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Mr. Speaker, it has been almost a year since the report came out. I would like the government to stop studying the report and start implementing its recommendations.
The commissioner confirmed what the NDP has been saying all along. Unless proper language services are provided, the Quebec City centre should remain open. The Conservatives did nothing to ensure the safety of francophones at sea after they made the irresponsible decision to close the Quebec City centre.
Will they keep the Quebec City centre open permanently, yes or no?
Jacques Gourde ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, we want to make it very clear that the Canadian Coast Guard will not consolidate the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre unless it is convinced that the ability to provide bilingual services will be maintained.
Joan Crockatt Conservative Calgary Centre, AB
Mr. Speaker, in all its forms, child abuse is an appalling crime that has a lifelong impact on its victims.
I am proud of the decisive action that our government has taken, not only in support of those who have been traumatized by child abuse, but also to clamp down on offenders. This includes tougher sentencing and elimination of house arrests for child sexual offenders and investments in state-of-the-art child advocacy centres.
Will the minister please inform the House what steps our government is taking today to further protect the rights of victims in Canada?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women
Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is very excited because today the Minister of Justice is attending the grand opening of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre in her hometown of Calgary.
Today, our government announced an investment in the centre to help young victims and their families. We are all very proud to support Mr. Kennedy, who is a tireless advocate on behalf of children who have fallen victim to child sexual predators.
Our Conservative government will continue working to protect society's most vulnerable people, especially children.
Gerry Byrne Liberal Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL
Mr. Speaker, the people of P.E.I. are hurt, ashamed and disgusted with the whole Duffy fiasco and the effect it is having on the province.
Would the minister of ACOA show that someone over there has learned something about the mistakes of their boss, drop the talking points and answer the following question directly and honestly: iIs the ACOA minister's former provincial cabinet colleague, Kevin MacAdam, still being paid $135,000 a year for an ACOA job in P.E.I. that he has never shown up for, while claiming government housing allowances for living in Ontario?
Is there another shoe to drop here in P.E.I.?
Gail Shea ConservativeMinister of National Revenue and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons on integrity from that party, I can tell members that.
The independent investigation by the Public Service Commission did not find any evidence of wrongdoing or influence on the part of ministers or political staff in this matter.
The Public Service Commission report clearly states, and I would ask that member to listen, “No evidence was found to support allegations of political influence in the ACOA investigations”.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the government is once again trying to stall the equality in child welfare case at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, this time using as an excuse its failure to disclose tens of thousands of documents.
It has already spent $3 million trying to have this case dismissed. It would have been far better off to spend that money preparing for the case.
Would the minister commit to making these documents available and stop delaying the proceedings so first nation children get the justice they deserve?
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the rhetoric of the NDP, which opposed a simple bill like Bill S-2 to give rights to children and women on reserves, its members stand to complain about the process that is before the court.
We have disclosed some 120,000 pages. There are more to come. It has chosen to go before the commission. We will follow the rules imposed upon us to give the documents that we have and that are relevant to the case.
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to strengthening our relationships with our partners in the Americas.
This week the Prime Minister and the Minister of International Trade are in South America, working to deepen our trading relationships and create new opportunities for Canada's exporters.
Could the hard-working Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade please share with the House how our government's ambitious pro-trade plan is creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for hard-working Canadians?
Gerald Keddy ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade
Mr. Speaker, our government continues to expand Canada's role in the Americas. Under our government, Canada has signed trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Honduras and Panama, all agreements opposed by the NDP.
The NDP cannot hide from its anti-trade record. It even sent an anti-trade mission to Washington to lobby against Canadian jobs.
Our Conservative government continues to develop new opportunities to grow Canadian exports and create Canadian jobs.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are still trying to ram a single national securities regulator down the provinces' throats. The Minister of Finance says he wants to press ahead with his plans for a common regulator over the objections of Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta. Worse than that, he is moving forward after being told “no” by the Supreme Court. Even the Maple Group, which controls the TMX, has said that the current systems works well.
Why is the Minister of Finance trying to impose a common securities regulator on the provinces when the current system is working well?
Ted Menzies ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, I would suggest the current system is not working that well when we talk to investors who want to come and invest in Canada. It is a very cumbersome system. They have to go through 13 different processes. We want to provide a welcome environment for investment in our country, and that is why we need to move forward.
We are working co-operatively with the provinces, and it is a very good process so far. The courts have made it very clear to us that we, as a federal government, have the responsibility for capital markets and that we must pursue that.
Louis Plamondon Bloc Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Finance made very clear his obsession with securities regulation and his intention to circumvent Quebec's own securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers, yet the current system is working very well. It comes in second among industrialized countries. The president and CEO of the AMF appeared before the committee himself to speak out against the inappropriate extension of the federal office responsible for creating a Canada-wide securities regulator and—importantly—to point out that a common regulator would be a step backwards.
When will the minister stop trying to strip Quebec of its financial expertise?
Ted Menzies ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, we cannot ignore our regulatory responsibilities or the decision of the court, which has said very clearly that there are certain responsibilities for capital markets, and they lie with the federal government.
We firmly believe Canada needs a common securities regulator to better protect investors, improve market oversight and reduce costs for businesses. We are working co-operatively with the provinces, and that process is moving forward.
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, during question period, I spoke about a report prepared by the Popular Travelling Commission on the Right to Housing, which states that more than a quarter of a million households in Quebec have critical housing needs.
Today, I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House to table this report in both official languages, for everyone's benefit and to allow my colleagues in the House of Commons to examine Quebec's troubling housing situation so that we can all work together to fix it.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House?
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, it has been a bit of a rough week for our colleagues across the way. We are coming back from a riding week with the government absolutely mired in scandal. The Prime Minister has lost confidence in some of his most trusted hand-picked friends and advisers and the unelected, unaccountable and under investigation Senate keeps giving him gifts he does not want. The Prime Minister has not even been able to answer questions in the House this week because he desperately needed to get to Peru, this week in particular.
Two weeks ago, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons listed the bills that have become a priority for the government.
Many of those bills have been sitting on the order paper for months, some for years even, not being debated. In order to study this long list of bills—and perhaps in the hope that we will spend less time scrutinizing their ethical lapses—the government has decided to sit until midnight for the next five weeks.
I might add that this is without a budget for overtime for staff on the Hill to accommodate five overtime weeks. I wonder if my hon. colleague across the way is prepared to move the necessary ways and means motions to accommodate it. I suspect not.
We will continue to sit until midnight, and I hope Conservatives will actually engage in some of these debates they so desperately wanted to see into the night.
Could the government House leader tell me which bills he intends to call, specifically on which days, and at which point in the day and night for tomorrow and next week as well? Could he also tell me if he anticipates the Prime Minister to be here next week to answer some of the tough questions to which I think Canadians want and deserve answers?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as you know, our government has moved forward this week to conduct business in the House of Commons in a productive, orderly and hard-working fashion, and we have tried to work in good faith.
We began the week debating a motion to add an additional 20 hours to the House schedule each week. Before I got through the first minute of my speech on that motion, the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley interrupted with a dubious point of order to prevent the government from moving forward to work overtime. His was a bogus argument and the Speaker rightly saw the NDP delay effort as entirely devoid of merit and rejected it outright.
During its first speech opposing the motion to work hard, the NDP then moved an amendment to gut it. That amendment was defeated. The NDP then voted against the motion and against working overtime, but that motion still passed, thanks to the Conservatives in the House.
During the first NDP speech on Bill C-49 last night, in the efforts to work longer, the NDP moved an amendment to gut that bill and cause gridlock in the House. I am not kidding. These are all one step after another of successive measures to delay. During its next speech, before the first day of extended hours was completed, the NDP whip moved to shut down the House, to go home early. That motion was also defeated. This is the NDP's “do as I say, not as I do” attitude at its height.
Take the hon. member for Gatineau. At 4 p.m., she stood in the House and said, “I am more than happy to stay here until midnight tonight...”. That is a direct quote. It sounded good. In fact, I even naively took her at her word that she and her party were actually going to work with us, work hard and get things done. Unfortunately, her actions did not back up her words, because just a few short hours later, that very same member, the member for Gatineau, seconded a motion to shut down the House early.
I am not making this up. I am not kidding. She waited until the sun went down until she thought Canadians were not watching anymore and then she tried to prevent members from doing their work. This goes to show the value of the word of NDP members. In her case, she took less than seven hours to break her word. That is unfortunate. It is a kind of “do as I say, not as I do” attitude that breeds cynicism in politics and, unfortunately, it is all too common in the NDP.
We saw the same thing from the hon. member for Davenport, when he said, “We are happy to work until midnight...”, and two short hours later he voted to try to shut down the House early. It is the same for the hon. member for Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing and the hon. member for Drummond. They all professed an interest in working late and then had their party vote to shut down early. What is clear by their actions is that the NDP will try anything to avoid hard work.
It is apparent that the only way that Conservatives, who are willing to work in the House, will be able to get things done is through a focused agenda, having a productive, orderly and hard-working House of Commons. This afternoon, we will debate Bill C-51, the safer witnesses act, at report stage and third reading. After private members' hour, we will go to Bill S-12, the incorporation by reference in regulations act, at second reading.
Tomorrow before question period, we will start second reading of Bill S-14, the fighting foreign corruption act, and after question period, we will start second reading of Bill S-13, the port state measures agreement implementation act.
Monday before question period, we will consider Bill S-2, the family homes on reserves and matrimonial interests or rights act. This bill would provide protection for aboriginal women and children by giving them the same rights that women who do not live on reserve have had for decades. After question period, we will debate Bill C-54, the not criminally responsible reform act, at second reading, a bill that makes a reasonable and needed reform to the Criminal Code. We are proposing to ensure that public safety should be the paramount consideration in the decision-making process involving high-risk accused found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. It is time to get that bill to a vote. We will also consider Bill C-48, the technical tax amendments act, 2012—and yes, that is last year—at third reading.
On Tuesday, we will continue the debates on Bill C-48 and Bill C-49, the Canadian museum of history act.
On Wednesday, we will resume this morning's debate on Bill C-52, the fair rail freight service act, at third reading.
On Thursday, we will continue this afternoon's debate on Bill C-51. Should the NDP adopt a new and co-operative, productive spirit and let all of these bills pass, we could consider other measures, such as Bill S-17, the tax conventions implementation act, 2013, Bill C-56, the combating counterfeit products act, Bill S-15, the expansion and conservation of Canada’s national parks act, and Bill C-57, the safeguarding Canada's seas and skies act.
Optimism springs eternal within my heart. I hope to see that from the opposition.
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
I would like to seize a little bit of that optimism from the House Leader, Mr. Speaker, and embrace that.
About two months ago, I asked about a reference that was made to a letter that was written from my office in support of temporary foreign workers. It was referenced by the minister and several other backbenchers on the Conservative side.
I ask the House Leader to produce the letter. This is my fourth intervention, I believe, because there has been no record of a letter. He assured me he would produce it.
In the absence of that letter, am I to arrive at the conclusion that no such letter exists and that the minister was misleading the House, or will the government embark on making sure that letter is forwarded to me?
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I am not sure if the government House leader will come back to the hon. member or not, but we will see what happens in the days to come.
Orders of the day.