Debates of May 24th, 2013

Government Expenditures

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

Mr. Speaker, we do not need any lessons from the Conservatives about fiscal responsibility.

Instead of spewing such nonsense, perhaps the President of the Treasury Board could try to find the $3.1 billion he lost track of, or perhaps he could explain to us why he is so determined to ram through the budget implementation bill without any debate.

Are the Conservatives afraid to let Parliament do its work? Are they afraid of being held accountable to Canadians?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for that question. It gives me the opportunity to remind all Canadians that this budget implementation bill has gone to several committees so that it can receive more debate and input from Canadians. As I said before, Canadians want to come and talk about what is in this budget.

What is most important to many Canadians, and my constituents, is the fact that we will be fulfilling our promise to get back to balance by 2015.

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the government has now been caught deliberately withholding thousands of pages of documents that it was obligated to disclose at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The government held back the most damaging pages, which proved without a doubt that the government has been underfunding child welfare for first nations children. Now it is trying to shut down the hearing.

It is decision time for these Conservatives: political damage control, or the welfare of aboriginal children?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the government has already provided 120,000 pages to the tribunal and is abiding by the tribunal's rules to provide more information.

The opposition member should be speaking to Canadians about why those members do not support the matrimonial rights of aboriginal women who need the protection. Why does the member not support aboriginal women having the rights that she takes for granted?

Public Works

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the government is in the process of selling the Montague post office building as well as another important government building in Summerside.

The Montague building has served as a focal point for the town for decades. The sale of the building would eliminate the last remaining presence of the federal government from the town and would have resounding effects throughout eastern Prince Edward Island.

I ask the government to immediately halt the sale of these buildings and the march toward eliminating the federal government presence on Prince Edward Island.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the CRA is always looking for ways to improve its efficiency and the services that it delivers to Canadians. The creation of a second T3 processing site is in line with CRA best practices and would allow CRA to maintain a high standard of service for Canadians.

CRA identified Summerside as an ideal location as it provides access to existing expertise and state-of-the-art facilities.

Syria

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Syria is getting worse by the day. Here in Canada, the humanitarian coalition launched an appeal to Canadians, calling on them to join forces to help the people of Syria. Last week alone, they raised $170,000 in donations.

Will the government follow the example set by these generous Canadians and also answer the call? Will it commit to matching their donations?

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, we are gravely concerned about the situation in Syria.

Canadians are compassionate neighbours. We continue to punch above our weight when it comes to lending a hand. Earlier this year, the minister made our commitment to humanitarian assistance in Syria quite clear. Canada is providing food, water, medical care and safety for victims of this crisis. We continue to call for full, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian needs.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, it is not enough. I remind the government that it was the Minister of Foreign Affairs who said that it was not enough. He thought Canada could, and should, do more. I agree with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Over 8 million Syrians right now are in need of assistance. Over 1.5 million Syrians are fleeing to other countries, especially countries like Turkey, yet the Conservatives, despite promises to help Turkey, have not fulfilled their promise.

Why have the Conservatives forgotten Turkey and helping with the refugee crisis there?

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we have been in regular contact with Turkish government and the minister has personally extended an offer of assistance on a number of occasions to the foreign minister and to the Turkish ambassador.

To date, we are proud to have provided more than $48.5 million in humanitarian assistance, including help to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, such as Turkey.

Rest assured, Canada will continue to stand by them through this crisis.

Natural Resources

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Mr. Speaker, a west-to-east pipeline will add to Canada's long-term prosperity and economic growth. It will make our country more energy secure and it will provide cheap oil for eastern refineries. Our Atlantic Conservative caucus stands solidly behind this project.

Could the Minister of Natural Resources please update us on our government's position toward the west-east pipeline?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his strong support of this important initiative.

Our government strongly supports, in principle, a west-east pipeline that would bring lower cost Canadian crude to refineries in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

I share New Brunswick Premier Alward's concern about the federal Liberal leader's negative comments regarding this highly important job-creating initiative.

The Liberal leader should think twice before he speaks and finally take a stand on a substantive policy issue rather than to take both sides for narrow partisan purposes.

The Environment

[Ted Hsu, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, again the minister just attacked the notion that a west to east pipeline needs an environmental assessment and local and aboriginal consultations. The minister said it “isn’t the time to diss a major project”, earlier today and just repeated the same thing here. However, demanding blind support for a pipeline risks losing the social licence needed in the U.S. to secure approval for Keystone XL.

Does Canada really want to say to the world that even voicing the importance of environmental assessment is a “diss”, or will the government clarify to the world right now that it agrees that honest environmental assessment is important?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we have constantly and consistently said that we will not proceed with a project unless it is safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.

We have an independent regulator to look at the issue. We do not prejudge it and we do not take shots at policies that are good for economic development that will create jobs right across the country, particularly in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, 15 years ago Jose Figueroa came to Canada from war-ravaged El Salvador to start a new life. Now he has a family with three children and a supportive community. However, the government is deporting Mr. Figueroa because he was affiliated with the FMLN in the eighties. The FMLN is the internationally-recognized democratically-elected government of El Salvador and Conservative ministers attended its inauguration. The contradiction makes no sense.

Will the minister stop separating Mr. Figueroa from his family in Canada?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we have a fair and just immigration system that the member should, and does on a regular basis, recognize. Typically, failed refugee claimants have as many as seven negative judicial, quasi-judicial and administrative decisions before they face deportation. This means that our independent IRB has found no merit to the claim that has been put forward in terms of seeking asylum in our country.

Agriculture

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always stood with our livestock industry, including opposing the United States' discriminatory country of origin labelling . After a successful WTO challenge by our government, the U.S. was forced to review its country of origin labelling to make it fair to Canadian livestock producers.

Today, the U.S. released its latest version of the rule. Unfortunately the USDA dug in its heels and will cause further discrimination against our livestock exports.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture please provide our government's view of today's developments?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, the ministers of agriculture and international trade have been clear that our government is extremely disappointment with the regulatory changes put forward by the U.S. with respect to the country of origin labelling. These changes will not bring the U.S. into compliance with its WTO obligations.

We will consider all options at our disposal, including, if necessary, the use of retaliatory measures. Our government will continue to aggressively defend the interests of our Canadian livestock producers and we will not stop until we succeed.

Employment

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have definitely blackballed the Quebec regions. Their cuts to the Service Canada office in Joliette, which is in my riding, the move of the Canada Economic Development offices to another area and their ill-advised reform of employment insurance have hit Lanaudière's economy very hard.

It is not surprising that even the president of the Joliette Conservative Association has decided to leave a party that does not understand anything about Quebec.

What right do the Conservatives have to go after the workers of Lanaudière?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers want a government that focuses on the economy, and that is exactly what we will do.

Since 2009, we have created more than 900,000 jobs across Canada, including 192,000 in Quebec. However, Quebeckers do not want to engage in old constitutional battles, as the NDP would like to do.

We on this side will remain focused on what is most important to Quebeckers: jobs and the economy.

Ethics

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has a mad obsession with wanting to control everything and cover up any scandals. Take, for example, the way he treats the media or the way he treated former minister Guergis.

The illegal spending scandal involves a senator the Prime Minister himself appointed and his closest advisers, who wanted to cover up this matter to the tune of thousands of dollars. Yet, today, the Prime Minister would have us believe that all this scheming went on behind his back and that he knew nothing about it. Individuals have appeared before the Charbonneau commission for less than that.

How is it that the Prime Minister can manage everything with an iron fist, yet he cannot control his own office?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians should control the Senate.

That is why we have introduced seven bills that seek to have senators elected by Canadians. The Prime Minister told the provinces that he would appoint anyone elected in each province. Right now, four senators have been elected, and the Prime Minister demonstrated that he was sincere by appointing them as senators.

Transport

[Bruce Hyer, Independent, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our Canadian economy loses $2.3 billion every year and thousands of jobs due to Canada's uncompetitive airline ticket prices. More and more Canadians are crossing the border for lower American airfares. Unlike the U.S.A., the Conservative government profits from exorbitant airport rents and high security fees on top of various other taxes.

When will the Conservatives stop overtaxing airports and killing our Canadian airline and tourism industries?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Transport)]

Mr. Speaker, Canada works on a user-pay system. The people who use our airports pay for the use of the airports. There is a dividend that the federal government receives from airports each year and that is because the airports lease the land from the federal government.

This is very different than the U.S. model, where U.S. airports are heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. We will not have the taxpayer subsidize air travel. People who use air travel will pay for their trips.

Foreign Affairs

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the following treaties: Canada-European Space Agency arrangements, done at Paris on November 29, 2012; amendments to Annex 1 of the International Convention Against Doping in Sport, adopted at Paris on November 12, 2012; an agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America on government procurement, done at Mississauga on February 11, 2010 and at Washington on February 12, 2010; and modifications to Canada's Appendix 1 to the Agreement on Government Procurement, done at Marrakesh on April 15, 1994.

An explanatory memorandum is included with each of these treaties.