Debates of Jan. 31st, 2014

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last night the CBC aired a misleading report on Canada's signals intelligence agency, the Communications Security Establishment Canada. The documents cited were stolen by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and sold to the CBC by Glenn Greenwald. Canada's signals intelligence agency has been clear that the CBC story is incorrect, yet the CBC went ahead and published it anyway.

Here are the facts: before the story aired, CSEC made it clear that nothing in the stolen documents showed that Canadians' communications were targeted, collected, or used, nor that travellers' movements were tracked. In addition, CSEC's activities are regularly reviewed by an independent watchdog who has consistently found it has followed the law.

Why is furthering porn-spy Glenn Greenwald's agenda and lining his Brazilian bank account more important than maintaining the public broadcaster's journalistic integrity?

Veterans Affairs

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today the Conservative government is closing eight Veterans Affairs offices. These offices provide specialized services to thousands of our veterans. They are being replaced by computers and a 1-800 number. Inexperienced staff from other departments do not have the training or the experience to deal with these complex health issues.

Veterans are rightly furious with the government. Why are the Conservatives just steamrolling ahead with cuts that are reducing services to the brave men and women of this country?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our government has created 600 new points of service across the country to assist Canada's veterans.

A critically injured veteran does not have to drive to a district office. We will send a registered nurse or a case manager to them in the comfort of their own home to assist them where the service is required. Veterans who are seriously injured can count on our government to shovel their driveways, cut their grass, and prepare their meals in their homes.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after all the broken Conservative promises to our veterans, that is another one they will not believe. Veterans are not fearmongering, they are worried. They will lose the long-term relationships they have built with staff at their regional offices. These brave men and women have complex mental and physical health issues.

Meanwhile, the Conservative cabinet has doubled spending on its own regional offices. Are veterans really in less need of help than some travelling Conservative minister?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, since coming to office, our government has invested almost $5 billion in additional funding to help veterans and to provide services and benefits.

Regarding the offices that are being merged with Service Canada, we will make sure that each of the eight offices has a fully trained Veterans Affairs Canada employee to provide the necessary assistance.

National Defence

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, under Canadian law, it is illegal for Communications Security Establishment Canada to target and spy on Canadians or anyone inside Canada's borders. This is an agency directly under the control of the Minister of National Defence.

Can the government tell Canadians why this agency was tracking and spying on Canadians in our airports?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that CSEC made it clear to the CBC that nothing in the documents they had obtained showed that Canadian communications were targeted, collected or used, nor that travellers' movements were tracked.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on November 28, the Minister of National Defence said in the House:

...the Communications Security Establishment Canada—CSEC—must abide by Canadian law. It is prohibited from targeting Canadians.

My question is for the Minister of National Defence. Can he tell us how monitoring Canadians' activities through Wi-Fi networks and airports is not the same as targeting Canadians?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, my previous answer addressed this particular question, but I can let the hon. member know, and she may be aware, that the activities of CSEC are reviewed by an independent commissioner, who has repeatedly indicated that CSEC respects the privacy and the laws of this country.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, now I know why Canadian airports provide free access to their Wi-Fi networks.

The Minister of National Defence is responsible for Communications Security Establishment Canada. He must take responsibility for this serious violation of the law, and he must explain why the spying pilot project was extended and why the information taken from Canadian Wi-Fi networks is now being shared with foreign countries.

Did the minister ask CSEC for an explanation, and how does he justify this violation of the law?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, CSEC made it clear to the CBC that nothing in the documents it had obtained showed that Canadian communications were targeted, collected or used, nor that travellers' movements were tracked. I am sure that will reassure the hon. member.

Veterans

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, as if closing service centres were not enough, now we find out that the government has just closed centres for treating veterans with PTSD. One of those centres was in Chicoutimi. Hundreds of people there with PTSD will now have to cross Saguenay park in the middle of winter to get services in Quebec.

How can the government ignore the suffering of our veterans in such a cavalier way?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this is a provincial facility that has nothing to do with the district offices. The Province of Quebec is in the midst of contract negotiations with the service provider and that process should run its course.

The fact remains, our government financially supports this and many other front-line facilities. In this case, we expect these services to continue well into the future.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, they will continue, hundreds of kilometres away.

Today, the Conservatives are closing Veterans Affairs offices while opening and expanding palatial regional offices for themselves and their bloated staff.

Even worse, the Conservative MP for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is now blaming the veterans themselves, saying that the problem is just a stigma in their own heads.

Why are the Conservatives showing such contempt for our brave veterans?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, there will be 650 points of service for veterans to access service.

These offices will be in areas where district offices did not exist. Now there will be Service Canada offices in areas as Durham, Sault Ste. Marie, and many others, so all veterans have access to the services they deserve.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today in Sydney and seven other location across Canada it is black Friday, because the Conservatives are closing offices that provide vital services to our veterans.

At the same time, they are spending millions to open posh new offices for, wait for it, their ministers.

Do the Conservatives not think there might be a scintilla of a chance they got their priorities wrong?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are as follows. As I mentioned, there are 650 new points of service for veterans where they can access these services.

Let me give some examples of how far the offices being merged with Service Canada are from district offices. For example, in Brandon, Manitoba, it is in the same building. In Saskatoon, it is the same building. In Kelowna, B.C., it is the same building. In Corner Brook, Newfoundland, it is the same building. In Charlottetown, P.E.I., it is across the street.

National Defence

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, section 273 of the National Defence Act states that the activities of the Communications Security Establishment shall “...not be directed at Canadians or any person in Canada”.

Could the minister tell this House how tracking the activities of average, law-abiding Canadians could ever be considered lawful?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, there are legislative measures in place to protect the privacy of Canadians and CSEC must adhere to those.

I can tell the hon. member what the independent CSEC Commissioner said:

CSEC’s Chiefs…have spared no effort to instill within CSEC a culture of respect for the law and for the privacy of Canadians.

I can say with pride and confidence that CSEC is truly being watched.

I am sure that will satisfy the hon. member.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me quote Ontario's Privacy Commissioner to the minister:

It is really unbelievable that CSEC would engage in that kind of surveillance of Canadians. Of us.

Will the minister acknowledge that tracking the locations of Canadians by CSEC is against the law? Will he at least acknowledge it is wrong?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the Privacy Commissioner is wrong; it is unbelievable. I have made that very clear.

Again, CSEC is overseen by an independent commissioner, and I accept the report of the independent commissioner.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Communications Security Establishment Canada collected metadata on the location of Canadians, the duration and location of their communications and how they use data.

Is the government really claiming that gathering this information is not the same as illegally monitoring Canadians?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in an earlier answer, CSEC has made it clear to the CBC that there was nothing in the documents that had been obtained that showed that Canadians' communications were targeted, collected, or used, nor that travellers' movements were tracked.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, was the former Minister of National Defence, the hon. member for Central Nova, aware that the agency was collecting information on hundreds of thousands of Canadians and sharing it with foreign countries?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I should have pointed out that the independent commissioner who oversees the activities of CSEC has given a favourable report concerning CSEC's activities and its compliance with the law, but it is not just for this past year or so, it goes back to the years that my colleague was also the Minister of National Defence.