Debates of June 11th, 2013

Elections Canada

[Alexandrine Latendresse, NDP, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they are taking Canadians for fools.

For some time now, the government has been promising to amend the Canada Elections Act, but so far nothing has been done. On Tuesday, April 16, the minister went so far as to state that: “...our government is pleased to announce that it will introduce comprehensive legislation on Thursday...”

When will they finally introduce amendments to the Canada Elections Act to deal with fraudulent calls?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, election reform is something our government takes very seriously, and that is why we are ensuring that we take the time to get it right. We committed to introducing legislation, and we will introduce legislation.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is as if the minister thinks his primary duty is making up word games to avoid responsibility. Seriously, these are important powers that would help the Chief Electoral Officer and Elections Canada investigate voter fraud, but after promising the bill with much fanfare, the minister had to backtrack and withdrew the bill under pressure from his own Conservative caucus.

Summer is fast approaching, so I have a very simple question for the minister. Will he or will he not table this bill before the House rises? Yes or no.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, we committed to introducing legislation, and we will introduce that legislation. We are taking the time to get it right.

Conservative Party of Canada

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I do not envy Conservative backbenchers as they head out on the barbecue circuit, forced to defend broken promises on the Senate 59 times, broken promises on transparency, broken promises on electoral fraud and phony campaign financing. The only defence they can come up with is that they are not quite as bad as the Liberals used to be.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, I ask Conservative backbenchers: Is this really what they came to Ottawa for, to defend the unbridled patronage and rum bottle politics that they used to so resoundingly condemn?

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

Mr. Speaker, one thing I do know is that there will not be any Conservative members of Parliament who, unlike the member for Winnipeg Centre, will be defending lawsuits for libel this summer.

What we will be talking about this summer is, indeed, our government's record of delivering for Canadians. In fact, it was announced last week by Statistics Canada that the Canadian economy has created over a million new jobs. In fact, Canada has the best jobs numbers in the G7 and the lowest taxes in 50 years. We will be proud to stand on our record all summer.

Elections Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have had enough of paying for the Conservative pretty department.

First, the Prime Minister gets caught paying his personal makeup artist and stylist out of taxpayer funds. Then the finance minister is caught billing taxpayers for Maybelline and CoverGirl cosmetics, trying to look good on budget day. Now the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs is trying to get a taxpayer rebate for beauty products and services during the last election.

Would the government confirm that the parliamentary secretary did not break Elections Canada rules?

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, more than two-thirds of my personal expenses were for child care, as I campaigned from 7 a.m. until after 10 p.m. every day. While voters can tell members that my five-year-old son came to many doorsteps, he also had to eat, play and go to sleep at a reasonable hour. I had to keep campaigning.

In fact, the media called my campaign particularly respectful, intelligent and focused on issues, not on mudslinging.

Elections Canada has very clear-cut rules and definitions of what can and cannot constitute a personal campaign expense. All campaigns, including my campaign, need to follow those definitions.

National Defence

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, Corporal Kirkland was given his discharge papers, and in rejecting the terms made to him by the Canadian Forces, he wrote:

As of 15 Sept. 2015 I would be able to collect a Partial index Pension, this pension would help me in my quality of Life and is essential to my successful release. The [Minister] has stated in Parliament on 6 June 2013 that I may stay in the forces as long as I need. I believe this option should be available to ALL wounded soldiers.

Does the minister agree?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as is the case with all injured members, Corporal Kirkland, in fact, will be able to fully prepare mentally, physically and occupationally for his eventual release. That is his option. That is the case with all Canadian Forces members injured in combat.

With respect to Corporal Kirkland, I can inform the member that, in fact, Colonel Blais, of Canadian military forces personnel, spoke with him and confirmed that this direction applies to him and that this option for release will be his and his alone.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am actually pleased to hear the minister's response. I do hope that his response is assurance that Corporal Kirkland will receive his pension, that he will receive his medications, that this option will be available to all the wounded soldiers, because that is a policy decision, and that further, the chain of command is onside.

I am pleased with the minister's answer, and I am hoping that when he responds, he will recognize that, in fact, Corporal Kirkland is watching his response.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

I am pleased that he is pleased, Mr. Speaker.

Search and Rescue

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

Mr. Speaker, over a year ago, Defence Research and Development Canada's report indicated that increasing the search and rescue service's hours of operations helps save lives. The Conservatives knew that, but they did nothing about it. It took NDP motions and a report from the Auditor General for them to realize that it might be time to stop dragging their feet. We are talking about people's safety. It is a matter of life and death.

Why did they not do anything before?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I announced on May 2, in order to help the Canadian Forces optimize its SAR preparedness, its readiness posture, a comprehensive analysis of peak periods of seasonal, weekly and daily SAR activities across the country has been conducted. This was in addition to a number of measures we announced at that time to improve the ability of the Canadian Forces to respond to the largest search and rescue territory on the planet.

We are continuing to make improvements in that regard and are continuing to bolster and improve the ability of the greatest search and rescue technicians anywhere in the world.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, it was a half measure. The reality is, they claim that search and rescue is a “priority”, then they fail to act when warned. For over a year, the report from Defence Research and Development Canada gathered dust, potentially putting lives at risk. New Democrats were warning them. Experts were warning them, and even internal reports were warning them. Improving response times saves lives. They were warned, but they did not act. Why?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we acted, and we continue to act. I remind the hon. member that our SAR crews frequently surpass their mandated response times. In fact, in 2011, 103 Squadron, based in Gander, in the member's home province, averaged a 21.3-minute reaction time in the 30-minute posture, and 58.7 minutes during the two-hour evening posture.

This is a remarkable accomplishment brought about by training, dedication and the willingness to risk lives in the service of our country.

Privacy

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, that is not what the Auditor General said. Why can the minister not just admit that he was wrong?

Yesterday, the minister could not answer questions about whether the Communications Security Establishment received information from the U.S. program known as PRISM. Hours later, though, CSE released a statement.

Can the minister now tell us if he has raised any concerns with the United States about the NSA eavesdropping on Canadians? What steps has the department taken to help the Privacy Commissioner in her investigation?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I can advise my hon., albeit paranoid, friend that, in fact, CSE does not target Canadians, and of course, nor do we ask our allies to do so.

CSE is also, of course, very much subject to the Privacy Commissioner, but we have our own commissioner, a former federal judge, who has said on a number of occasions that it highlights CSE's genuine concern for protecting the privacy of Canadians and that to date, all recommendations related to privacy have been addressed, and he has lauded CSE's ability to protect Canadians' privacy.

National Defence

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Corporal Glen Kirkland is one of the heroes of Canada who served so valiantly in Afghanistan. He appeared before the House of Commons defence committee, telling everyone of his fear that the military would try to release him early to deny him possible benefits. He wishes to be released on September 15, 2015, but the other day, he got a release notice saying that he is supposed to go in a few months.

The minister in the House said very clearly that he can stay as long as he desires, and so my question is quite simple. On behalf of Corporal Glen Kirkland, will the minister now honour his commitment and allow him to stay in the military until September 15, 2015? Yes or no.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question. In fact, all injured members are not released from the military until they are prepared to do so. Until they are prepared for release, they work with members of the Canadian Forces on their transition plans. When it is appropriate for their families and they are ready to make a shift into the private sector, there is a program specifically designed to help with that transition. That will be the case for Corporal Kirkland. That will be the case for injured members of the Canadian Forces on my watch.

United Nations Human Rights Council

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Richard Falk has once again disgraced himself. Mr. Falk is once again attacking UN Watch, an NGO led by Canadian Hillel Neuer, and has called for it to be investigated. This is McCarthyism in the worse sense of the term.

Will the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism inform the House as to whether the government agrees with Mr. Falk or not?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, Richard Falk is an embarrassment to the United Nations Human Rights Council. He has praised 9/11 conspiracy theorists repeatedly. He has suggested that the United States provoked terrorist attacks against it. He is now attacking a Canadian-led UN Watch.

We call on Richard Falk to be fired as a special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council. He is a disgrace to that body and the United Nations.

Transportation Safety

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, three engineers paid with their lives when VIA derailed in Burlington.

For a decade, the Transportation Safety Board has asked the minister to mandate automatic braking systems and voice recorders for all trains. Derailment after derailment, year after year, the minister failed to act. Today the safety board asked the same thing again.

How many more crashes and how many lost lives will it take for the minister and the Conservative government to act and put safety first?

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

Mr. Speaker, naturally our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the tragic Burlington derailment and all traffic accidents on the tracks. We take these issues very seriously.

I will point out that safety has actually improved over the decade. However, we have listened to the recommendations in the report and the Minister of Transport is encouraging the Railway Association of Canada, CN and CP to install recording devices. It would be a big help.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I think that Canadians would appreciate less lip service and more action from the government.

How many more people will have to lose their lives for the government to do something about this?

For years the NDP has been calling on the government to make employee and passenger safety a priority and to have automatic braking systems installed on trains.

Will the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities respond to the recommendations of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada by introducing a bill that would make automatic braking systems mandatory?