Debates of Oct. 29th, 2014

The Budget

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government is focused on what matters most to Canadians: jobs and economic growth. More than 1.1 million net new jobs have been created since the depths of the recession, over 80% full-time, nearly 80% in the private sector.

We are taking action in our budget implementation plan to create opportunities right across the country for small businesses, large businesses and employees. We are making life more affordable for Canadian families by doubling the children's tax credit to $1,000. We are ending pay-to-pay billing practices and we are doing a great deal more.

Employment Insurance

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the minister's talking points, the Parliamentary Budget Officer's numbers do not lie. The story they tell is that the government's EI tax credit will cost taxpayers $550 million to create a paltry 800 jobs, at a ridiculous cost of $700,000 per position.

Economists warn that this flawed measure also creates a perverse incentive to reduce employment. Why will the government not scrap this wasteful plan and instead adopt the Liberal policy which would create a substantial number of jobs for Canadians?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Liberals' back-of-the-envelope plan that would actually reduce jobs by encouraging companies to fire people.

Let me quote from the CFIB about our plan. It said, “It's a big, big deal for small businesses. It's good news for people looking for jobs”.

It will lower payroll taxes by 15%. It will create 25,000 person-years of jobs. It will impact 90% of businesses. Some 780,000 businesses will benefit from this plan. That is in contrast to the 45-day work year, which will cost—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Markham—Unionville.

The Budget

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this government's continued attacks on asylum seekers are disturbing.

Yesterday we learned that the government consulted only one province, Ontario, and Ontario does not even want that power. In fact, not one province has asked the government to make these changes.

Will the government stop inventing solutions to problems that do not exist, and will it eliminate this unfair provision?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the rules that apply to refugees and asylum seekers are not going to change because of any measures in this bill.

Why do the Liberals insist on talking about this measure and not all the other budget measures we have taken to make Canada's middle class the strongest in the world, as indicated in The New York Times study? This is thanks to successive Conservative budgets and our economic policy, which is why we are so proud of this budget and the measures in this bill.

Employment Insurance

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the omnibus budget bill corrects 10 mistakes from earlier bills. Haste makes waste and Conservatives make mistakes. Finance officials admit little internal analysis was done on the small business job credit, which has been panned by Jack Mintz as a disincentive to growth. Instead of correcting this mistake in a future bill, will the Conservatives accept the Liberal proposal for a two-year tax holiday for new hires, a plan endorsed by Restaurants Canada, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, and the CFIB?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, by now everyone understands that the Liberal plan is an incentive for companies to fire employees. Let me talk a little more about our budget plan. The budget bill supports amateur athletes. It makes the tax system simpler and fairer for farming and fishing businesses. It makes it easier for charities to raise funds by easing tax rules. It improves competition in telecommunications markets by allowing regulators to impose monetary penalties on companies that violate rules such as the Wireless Code. It has a great deal to—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Saint-Lambert.

Employment

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, nobody believes the minister any more. He cannot even count, and nobody can count on him.

The temporary foreign worker program is a real mess. More unskilled foreign workers are coming to Canada. Unemployment is still high, and the minister's job market numbers do not reflect the reality that businesses are experiencing.

When will the minister admit that he messed up?

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the government's reforms are a success. We know this because the number of employer requests for temporary foreign workers has dropped by 75%.

Just yesterday, I heard about a major employer in Alberta that launched a program to recruit unemployed aboriginal people in its region. That is because of our changes to the temporary foreign worker program, which are putting Canadians first in the job market.

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

Mr. Speaker, there is a clear pattern with Conservatives on the temporary foreign worker program. They made promises when the issue was in the news and then do not do anything about them later. In 2013, they gave themselves new powers to inspect. Seven months later not a single inspection had happened. They also promised to crack down on use of the program, and a year later, the number of foreign workers was up by 6%.

Why did the Conservatives manage the program so badly?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to invite my colleagues opposite to attend a technical briefing any time they would like so they could actually understand this. For example, the new powers for inspecting workplaces could only be legally applied prospectively for temporary foreign workers who are being applied for and would arrive in the future, not for those who applied in the past.

Perhaps the NDP members have a new principle where they would like to retroactively apply all new laws, but the reality is that since our reforms were put into place last year, we have seen a reduction by 75% in the number of temporary foreign workers applied for by employers. We are ensuring that Canadians come first in the workforce.

Canada Post

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative move to end home mail delivery has raised controversy and opposition across the country. Now the new superboxes are causing their own trouble, because just last week a woman from Nova Scotia realized that her mailbox key opens the mailbox of one of her neighbours.

Canadians count on sensitive personal mail information being kept confidential. Why are the Conservatives still backing a plan that manages to make getting mail both less accessible and less secure?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, in 2013 Canada Post delivered 1.2 billion fewer pieces of mail than it had done in the previous years. As a result, it has to make sure that it continues to be self-sufficient, as per its act. It has devised a five-point plan. In that five-point plan, it is taking the final one-third of households in this country that do receive mail at their door to community mailboxes. It is rolling out that change across the country now. I encourage people to work with Canada Post to make sure that it gets it right.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we already knew that the Conservatives were too incompetent to deliver people's mail to their homes. Now we know that they cannot even install secure mailboxes. We used to have boxes made in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, but now we have boxes made in the United States, and it turns out that one key can open several boxes. This is happening from Repentigny to Nova Scotia. It looks like the idea of keeping mail confidential has gone out the window along with home mail delivery.

Why are the Conservatives in such a hurry to gut Canada Post, and why are they putting the privacy of Canadian citizens at risk?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated before, currently two-thirds of Canadians do not receive their mail at their door but go to community mailboxes. I know Canada Post is now rolling that out across the country to the remaining one-third of Canadian households. As it goes through that process, I encourage people to work with it to make sure that any complaints they have are brought to the attention of Canada Post.

Foreign Affairs

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, ISIL terrorists are creating chaos in the Middle East and inciting violence that has sadly reached us on home soil. Canada has joined our international partners in providing military assistance and humanitarian aid to stop the further spread of ISIL and to ensure the humanitarian crisis does not worsen.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs please update the House on how Canada continues to work with our allies to stop the lSIL terrorists?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, obviously working on a combat mission with the United States is an important part of the attack on terrorism in Iraq and the threat that is posed by ISIL.

One of the other things that Canada and the international community can do is to clamp down on the financing of such terrorism. This government, through listing terrorist organizations, has done a lot in recent years. An international conference will be held on November 9 in Manama, Bahrain, to look at what we can do to work together to attack the financing of ISIL. That is another example of this government getting tough on terrorism.

Consumer Protection

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for years New Democrats have stood in this chamber and asked the government to take action on credit card merchant fees—fees that are the highest in the world, fees that the Competition Tribunal found were anti-competitive and excessive, fees that raise prices for consumers and hold small businesses back—yet for years the government has done nothing.

Can the minister tell us when he will finally act and introduce mandatory regulations?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government is working with stakeholders on a voluntary approach to reduce credit fees for merchants while encouraging them to lower prices for consumers.

We also heard the concerns of small business and introduced a code of conduct. The code has been welcomed by consumers and by industry groups, especially small businesses. However, the NDP voted against the code and against supporting small businesses and consumers.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after promising to curb the greed of credit card companies that impose abusive fees on merchants and therefore consumers, the Conservatives have now reversed that decision and are proposing a voluntary code. Once again, the Conservatives are favouring the credit card companies instead of defending small business owners and consumers. Does the minister really believe that credit card companies will suddenly stop abusing their monopoly voluntarily?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP always wants more legislation and higher fees for Canadians.

Our government is working with stakeholders on a voluntary approach to reduce credit fees for merchants while encouraging them to lower prices for consumers. This is the right way to proceed.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the NDP government of 2015 will defend both consumers and SMEs, of course.

The Canada Revenue Agency recognizes that its letters are so complicated and so poorly written, that often taxpayers do not know whether to write a cheque or wait for a refund. It is a mystery. Ultimately, this mismanagement leaves Canadians confused and paying penalties.

Will the government move quickly to correct the situation, reassure Canadians, and finally provide adequate service?

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, regarding the recommendations referred to by the hon. member, this was an evaluation that was initiated by the agency. It was done to keep it accountable and ensure services to Canadians are constantly improving. The agency regularly receives feedback on communications. Clarity is essential. These recommendations will lead to change and improve services for all Canadian taxpayers. We are taking action.