Debates of Jan. 30th, 2014

Ethics

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives really need to stop taking Canadians for fools.

David van Hemmen, Nigel Wright's former executive assistant, was defended by the law firm Carroll & Wallace in the Senate expense scandal. He was tossed out of the Prime Minister's Office in August 2013, but is now serving as a policy advisor in the office of the Minister of State for Finance.

Exactly why did the Privy Council Office hire the law firm Carroll & Wallace to defend Mr. van Hemmen between May 13 and August 30, 2013?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said to an earlier question, ministers of the crown and their staff do have access to legal assistance for the things they undertake in their role as staff or as ministers. This is a policy that predates our government. It is a long-standing policy.

I can appreciate that the member might not have had a chance to read or acquaint herself with that, since the NDP has lost 16 straight elections and has never served in government.

National Defence

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that the Treasury Board was brought in to take over supervising the Department of National Defence.

Only one in five projects has come in on time and on budget. The only thing they can do without going over budget is buy paper and paper clips. For everything else, they need someone else to be in charge.

If the department cannot manage the budgets for 80% of its projects, how can it be expected to keep its promises about shipbuilding and materiel for our troops?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is completely offside with this in terms of what actually happens.

As a matter of fact, under this government there has been an unprecedented investment in the Canadian armed forces and national defence of this country.

While I am on my feet, over $100 million more has been put into health care expenditures. I am very proud of that, and they should be as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, on issues like the F-35 and numerous others, the previous Minister of National Defence oversaw some of the most incompetent and out-of-control military procurements in our Canadian history. Things were so out of hand that the President of the Treasury Board was brought in to take over supervising the department's operations. The minister responsible for gazebos and glow sticks is now supposed to solve the problems at Defence.

Can the defence minister tell us how long he expects his department to be under another minister's control?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the work that has been done by National Defence, and I am very proud to be a part of a government that has made this a priority. Indeed, this is something that should have the complete support of the hon. member.

Veterans Affairs

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, day by day, the Minister of Veterans Affairs reveals a little more of his total incompetence. After treating a group of veterans disrespectfully, he is veering into conspiracy theories. He is trying to blame the unions for veterans' anger about service cuts.

This is not about whether unions oppose closing service centres; this is about veterans demanding the services they are entitled to.

Will the minister address veterans' concerns instead of pushing his anti-union agenda?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, there is a big difference between union bashing and speaking the truth, and I have proof that I am speaking the truth.

In any event, the union has engaged in fearmongering and put out some false messages attributed to an employee of Veterans Affairs Canada, totally framing her. It put out messages that clearly created fearmongering among the veterans community. If that is not mischief-making, I do not know what is.

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

Mr. Speaker, if PSAC is standing up for veterans, then God love the union movement.

My question is very clear. Mr. Roy Lamore, a World War II veteran from Thunder Bay, said that people dealing with DVA on the phone, the 1-866-522-2122 number, should be prepared to bring their lunch. Is this what the Minister of Veterans Affairs means by enhanced services?

It is not too late for the minister to do the right thing. Will he now stand in his place and reverse the decision to cut the further eight bases across Canada?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, to be clear, the available Service Canada locations with trained Service Canada staff in the locations where we are closing offices are Charlottetown, zero kilometres; Sydney, zero kilometres; Corner Brook, zero kilometres; Windsor, one kilometre; Thunder Bay, four kilometres; Saskatoon, zero kilometres; and Brandon, Manitoba, zero kilometres. That is service that is handy to the veterans and—

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain.

Employment Insurance

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the latest available socio-economic data for Mauricie show that the population is aging at an increasing rate and that there are chronic economic difficulties. In addition, recent changes to the employment insurance regime for seasonal workers are forcing young people to leave their region. Has the government taken steps to compensate for the regulatory inconsistencies that threaten these so-called seasonal jobs?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely wrong.

The changes we have made to the employment insurance program simply encourage unemployed workers to actively seek jobs available in their communities. Nobody will have to leave their community and go elsewhere if there are no jobs available. Employment insurance is still there; nothing has changed in that regard.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, government policy should enhance job growth and improve income. However, in the P.E.I. seasonal economy EI is having the opposite impact. Take a farmer's seasonal employee for example, who is needed only a day and a half a week at this time of year and paid $16 an hour. After deductions and the EI clawback of 50¢ on every dollar, the employee is left with less than $6 an hour. The employee is poorer and the farmer has trouble attracting employees. It is starting an underground economy. Will the minister stop inflicting this economic hardship and reconsider the policy?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the member for Malpeque, we understand that dynamic economic growth and high standards of living are not created by employment insurance. It should be there to support people who cannot find jobs in their local area. That is precisely why we have made changes to encourage people to actively search for work in their communities. If it is not available, of course they can receive EI.

What we will not do is adopt the Liberal policy of a 45-day work year, which would impose a multi-billion-dollar increase in job-killing EI premiums. That is irresponsible.

National Defence

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, this government's military procurement process is completely broken.

We are now at the point where the Department of National Defence is being overseen by the Treasury Board. As a result, there are more delays, higher prices, more waste and job losses under the Conservatives.

How did we get to the point where this government, which claims to be a good financial manager and to want to equip our soldiers, is incapable of either?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member may not be aware that all government expenditures go through the Treasury Board. I do not know what it was when he was in government, but I can tell him that unlike when he and his colleagues were in government—

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

None went through the Treasury Board.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Maybe nothing went through Treasury Board because it was never a priority with them, so I guess I can understand that part. But it is a priority for our government to support our men and women in uniform.

Veterans Affairs

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in my community people are outraged at the minister's disrespect for veterans and his insistence to close our local veterans office. These closures are going to hurt veterans in Windsor and Essex County, plain and simple. The people who fought to defend Canada should not have to fight again for the services they earned when they came home. Will the minister apologize to veterans in Essex County and Windsor and keep our office open? What will it take for him to do the right thing?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, to the citizens and veterans of Essex County, they can find services at the Service Canada locations where Veterans Affairs Canada employees are present: in Windsor, Amherstburg, Belle River, Leamington, Tilbury, Wallaceburg, Chatham, Sarnia, Petrolia, and of course from zero distance to the local office right in Windsor.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the member opposite, New Democrats are working for veterans. These offices provide critical, specialized front-line services for our veterans. They cannot be replaced by a 1-800 number, or a computer. The Conservative cuts mean that even more veterans will be relying on the London office, which will have fewer staff to serve them. Will the minister do the right thing, the honourable thing, and stop the closure of these offices?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many times one has to repeat the message. The services that are being provided to veterans are enhanced, to the tune of some 600-plus service points across the country. As for London, Ontario, there are local services that will be available through the service centre office.

Not every veteran needs to go to these offices. If they are in need of services and cannot travel, we will travel there. We do not make them travel. We have been doing that all along and will continue doing that.

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

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives are closing veterans' service centres, they are spending $4 million a year on ministers' offices all over the country.

Instead of investing in direct public services, the Conservatives are investing in services for Conservative ministers.

How can the Conservatives justify that the budget for ministers' satellite offices has doubled, when they are making cuts everywhere else in the departments?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous government, we believe that all Canadians should have reasonable access to government ministers' offices. That is why, in 2010, we expanded and launched offices in the Northwest Territories, in fact three offices in the far north. That is because, unlike the opposition, we believe that all Canadians should have access to government services right across this great country.