Debates of June 3rd, 2013

Ethics

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, there are standard operating practices for ministerial exempt staff, and they were followed in this regard.

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

Mr. Speaker, are taxpayers on the hook for the lawyer Mr. Nigel Wright has hired, the previous chief of staff to the Prime Minister, Mr. Guy Giorno?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise to the member opposite that I am not going to speculate in terms of what Mr. Wright is or is not doing. I have no idea.

What I do know is that the leader of the Liberal Party is standing up for the status quo. He is pitting one region of this country against the other. What Canadians want is their political leadership to accept responsibility, to seek reform of the Senate, to seek elections to the Senate and to seek real change. Only the Liberal Party is standing in the way of that. Shame on the Liberal Party for its lack of leadership and for supporting the status quo.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, undue political interference is not just happening at the PMO. The office of the Minister of National Defence requested that the independent national investigative service track down how a defence journalist got information on a military exercise with our allies. Of course, the information came from a U.S. Navy press release, a fact noted in the story.

Why did the minister push the independent NIS, a branch of the military police, to go after a journalist? Does the minister have a problem with the media reporting on the facts?

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, members of the House have previously expressed concern about the unauthorized disclosure of information by National Defence. Information is shared through many avenues. Of course, access to information and proactive communication are but two examples. In a department like National Defence, security of information is critical, and there are established procedures and processes to release information and remain vigilant. However, when information is inappropriately released, we expect the department to follow through on how it happened.

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service is not meant to be used by a minister who wants to investigate a journalist who is bothering him.

The minister's office is clearly involved in this witch hunt. The Minister of National Defence is going after a journalist who used information from a press release. He is picking on a journalist for doing his job. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service currently has five investigations under way concerning this journalist. Yes, five.

Why is the Minister of National Defence using an independent investigation service for a witch hunt?

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, Associate Minister of National Defence]

Again, Mr. Speaker, in a department like National Defence, as I said, security information is critical. There are established procedures and processes.

DND is developing a robust and comprehensive departmental security plan as part of a complete review of security policies and procedures. That is scheduled to be completed in 2014, with an interim report this fall. This is a very significant undertaking involving areas such as security screening, physical network and personnel security as well as all policies and procedures required to integrate them.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, on a completely different topic, 61 countries, including some of the biggest arms exporters in the world, are prepared to sign an arms trade treaty. Canada, however, is missing in action. This treaty will prevent the arms trade from fueling conflicts in areas such as Syria, Sudan and the DRC.

Why are the Conservatives not taking a firm stance against the illegal trade in arms by immediately signing this treaty?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from my friend, the member opposite. I also appreciated the same question I got from the Liberal Party last week.

Canada already has some of the highest standards in the export and control of munitions. We believe that any treaty regarding the sale of munitions that helps move the international community closer to world-leading standards is a good thing.

We participated actively in these discussions. I think we have an obligation to listen before we act, and that is why we will be consulting with Canadians before the government takes any decision.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is about the regulation of global trade in weapons. It is not about domestic use. The minister has had two months to figure this out. Why does he not just sign? It is time to sign this accord.

Every year, half a million people die because of the illegal trade in arms. Why is the government failing to join the rest of the world in limiting the arms that go to some of the hottest conflicts in the world? In fact, right now, when we are talking about Syria, we are talking about arms going to Syria. It is time to stop that. Sign the deal now.

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to sending weapons and arms to Syria, many countries, including some of our allies, publicly contemplated doing that, and nothing in this treaty would stop that, I would say very directly to the member opposite. We have very strong domestic regulations with respect to the export of both arms and munitions.

What we do not want to see is the NDP and their friends in the Liberal Party try to bring in through the back door a long-gun registry that would only hurt law-abiding sportsmen and only hurt law-abiding hunters and farmers. This is what the Liberals and the NDP want to do in the next election, and I want to assure members that we will not let them get away with it.

Bullying

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the past few years, communities across the country have been deeply affected by tragedies related to bullying, cyber-bullying and intimidation. There have been far too many tragedies.

We know that the heartbreaking headlines do not begin to tell the full story. Reports that one in three adolescent Canadian students say that they have been bullied are extremely troubling. Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage please update the House on our government's support for an important project that will help youth take action against bullying?

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

Mr. Speaker, Jamie Hubley was 15 years old when, after months of torment and cruelty and bullying, he committed suicide. Amanda Todd, from my community, was 15 years old also when she committed suicide after being anonymously hounded and harassed online by some of her fellow students.

Today I was pleased to announce a new partnership with the Canadian Red Cross to empower over 50,000 young Canadians from across the country and give them the tools they need in their own classrooms, in their own schools and in their own communities across the country to stand up against those who cruelly and viciously attack kids with cyber-bullying.

I know that members of Parliament from all parties in the House have called for the government to take action when it comes to cyber-bullying and the cruelty our kids face. Today we announced a bold national plan with the Red Cross, and I want to thank all members of Parliament for supporting this effort.

Infrastructure

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

Mr. Speaker, municipal leaders gathered in Vancouver this weekend to tackle the $171-billion infrastructure deficit. They wondered why Conservatives ignored the FCM's call for dedicated public transit funding and voted down the NDP's national transit strategy.

Now the Ontario government is asking for a meeting to partner with the federal government to break traffic gridlock. Will the minister meet with Canada's largest province, or does he plan to ignore it also?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, let me quote Michael Roschlau, president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Association: “Never before has a federal government invested so much in public transit”.

We have been a great partner since 2006 for public transit. We will continue to do so, and I hope they will vote for the budget.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' new building Canada plan simply does not do enough to tackle the $171 billion infrastructure deficit facing Canadian municipalities. We now know that the announcement of billions of dollars over 10 years actually represents a cut.

When Montrealers have to boil their water and drivers wonder whether they are on the streets of Beirut, not those of a major city in Quebec, we have every right to wonder when the government will invest enough money so that we can upgrade all of our infrastructure.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it was an honour to announce the biggest infrastructure plan in this country's history, made possible by this Prime Minister, in our latest budget.

This NDP member still does not understand. He thinks that we need to manage cities on behalf of mayors. I know that some MPs would like to become mayor, since they think that we have to manage everything from Ottawa. The city of Montreal is managed by the mayor of Montreal. We will not start deciding which streets to pave. That is what the member would like us to do.

We make the money available, and it will be there.

Transport

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, for many Arctic communities, the only viable travel option is by air, but many northern airports are so old, air carriers are having to downgrade, flying smaller and slower airplanes. This makes life in northern communities more challenging and more expensive.

Conservatives have claimed that there is money, but a new report indicates that it is not enough for the much needed northern upgrades. When is the government going to make improving access to Arctic communities a real priority?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, at Transport Canada, safety is the top priority in every region of the country. Since 2006, the Government of Canada has invested $38 million in 20 safety-related projects in airports in the north. Canada has one of the safest transportation systems in the world, and it gets even stronger every single year.

Search and Rescue

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government closed the Kitsilano Coast Guard station with no consultation and without even producing a risk analysis report. Now, three of five B.C. marine communication and traffic services centres will also close.

Similar cuts in the Arctic meant mariners went without emergency radio service for over a week. Marine safety experts are warning us that these closures are too risky.

How can British Columbians trust that these new closures will not put more lives at risk on B.C.'s coast?

[Keith Ashfield, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated many times in the House, our first and foremost priority is the safety of mariners and people at sea.

Our government is investing in the Coast Guard's infrastructure to take advantage of today's technology to deliver the same service at strategic locations across the country. Better-connected centres equipped with modern technology will ensure improved effectiveness and reliability of services.

41st General Election

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, a Federal Court judge has found that dirty tactics were used to try and disrupt Canadians' right to vote in the last federal election. The judge found widespread electoral fraud in many ridings. Instead of being concerned about attacks on voters, Conservative MPs are attacking the Federal Court judge. Why are Conservatives attacking judges, rather than getting to the bottom of this crime?

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

Mr. Speaker, an ultra-partisan group lost the last election, and now it has lost in court. The party brought forward an ultra-partisan court effort without producing a single, solitary person who was prevented from voting by a telephone call or a robocall. It was this absence of evidence that caused the court to rule that there is no evidence linking the Conservative Party to any inappropriate or illegal calls.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court confirmed that there was fraud, so the fact is there was fraud. Additionally, the court found that the most likely source of the information used to commit fraud was the Conservatives' secret database. Why would Conservative MPs object to the Federal Court's fraud findings if they were not trying to protect the criminals responsible?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my hon. colleague to actually read the judgment, which found that there was no evidence linking the Conservative Party or its officials, or its candidates in fact, to any wrongful activity in this regard. In fact, the ultra-partisan group that brought forward this case failed to produce a single solitary voter in all of Canada who was prevented from voting by a robocall or a telephone call.