House of Commons Hansard #135 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was businesses.
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the facts do not support what the minister is saying.
The chronology is clear. Documents show that Transport Canada was well aware of the ignition switch issue with GM vehicles in June 2013. That is eight months earlier than the date the minister gave when she was asked when Transport Canada knew about this.
In light of these facts, again, will the minister explain why she deliberately misled the House?
Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I knew of the defect from GM when we received the notice of defect in February 2014. I said that last year and I say that today as well. My officials told me the same thing. They knew of the notice of the defect in this fleet at that point in time.
Transport Canada inspectors were investigating an accident in June 2013. Through their investigation, they determined there was a problem with the ignition switch. After the notice of defect and the recall, they went back and looked at the accident again in a new light.
Dennis Bevington NDP Northwest Territories, NT
Mr. Speaker, the deadline for the Indian residential school personal credit for educational programs and services is tomorrow, yet out of around 80,000 former survivors who are eligible, only 10,000 have applied. This is pushing leaders like Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus to ask the government for an extension of the deadline.
Will the minister heed this call? Will he work with other signatories to the agreement and get the deadline extended so that more survivors can access compensation for these large sums of money that are owed to first nations peoples?
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, although reminder notices were mailed to close to 75,000 of those recipients and although there has been an email and social media campaign to inform them, yes, indeed, we are going to work with the partners in the agreement to try to get an extension.
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's apology in 2008 was to be the start of a reconciliation process. For that to happen, the survivors need to have access to the programs and credits owed to them so that they can continue to learn and pursue their healing process.
I will repeat the question: will the minister work with the courts and the other signatories to the agreement and get the deadline extended, and can he confirm that in writing today?
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, it is obvious he will not take “yes” or “no” for an answer.
I just stated that, indeed, we are presently in negotiations, talking with our partners, in order to give this extension so that the victims of residential schools who are eligible for this education credit may get it.
Joan Crockatt Conservative Calgary Centre, AB
Mr. Speaker, today, there is joy in Halifax. The Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Athabaskan is back in her home court after a successful mission, Operation Caribbe.
This was an international campaign to target illicit trafficking by organized crime in the Caribbean and in the eastern Pacific. I would like to congratulate and welcome home her crew after a job well done.
Would the Minister of National Defence please update us on HMCS Athabaskan's activities?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I join the hon. member in welcoming home the crew of the HMCS Athabaskan. I am proud of their accomplishments and commend them for their efforts.
The HMCS Athabaskan seamlessly conducted joint operations, supported multiple aircraft patrol sorties, and participated in six intercept operations, one of which resulted in the successful disruption of 820 kilograms of cocaine.
Canada's commitment to Operation Caribbe has contributed to the interception of a significant quantity of illegal narcotics. The Canadian Armed Forces has been involved with this operation since 2006. We remain committed to working with our partners to improve regional security and deter criminal activity in the western hemisphere.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the chair of the PROC committee regarding the agenda of the committee itself.
The 18th report of the committee, which reconstitutes the House of Commons committees, was presented in the House on September 30. It has not yet been concurred in. Committee travel has also stopped. Hundreds of hours of committee time have been lost.
Would the chair tell the House if the committee will meet to consider any further action it can take to get the committees back to work?
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Mr. Speaker, as we know, the committee continues to work on ways to improve committee work in the House. Daily, I try to stand here to move concurrence on the report. It has had a great aerobic effect, but not much else.
Apparently, the official opposition wants to deny members the voice of their constituents at committees. We hope we get back to work soon.
Rathika Sitsabaiesan NDP Scarborough—Rouge River, ON
Mr. Speaker, this week, UNICEF reported that child poverty in Canada is at 21%. That is one in five Canadian children growing up with the stress and deprivation of poverty, struggling to learn without adequate nutrition and facing the likelihood of poorer health.
When is the current government going to stop leaving so many children behind and get serious about eradicating child poverty?
Social DevelopmentOral Questions
Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley Nova Scotia
Conservative
Scott Armstrong ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, here is what that report actually said. It said, “that's really impressive. It’s better than the majority of other countries did during the recession.”
UNICEF also commented that our national child care benefit “kept money in circulation”. It said, “money goes to poorer families, and that tends to be spent on children and then it kept money circulating in the economy as well.... That kind of investment in children is so important.”
That is what UNICEF said. We are on the right track.
Joyce Bateman Conservative Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, today Statistics Canada released a report on child care in Canada.
Canadians know that our government's policies give parents the choice for child care because, as everyone knows, there is no single solution. That is what this recent report shows.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Development please update the House?
Social DevelopmentOral Questions
Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley Nova Scotia
Conservative
Scott Armstrong ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Winnipeg South Centre. She is a highly effective member and again she is on the right track.
Statistics Canada says that of the 46% that do use some form of child care, approximately a third uses daycare centres, another third uses home daycares, and the remaining third uses private arrangements. We are on the right track. It is a flexible system. We support the universal child care benefit.
If the opposition gets the chance, it is going to take that benefit away from moms and dads across this country. It should get on board and support our plan for child care.
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
Mr. Speaker, the new CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources sees zero hope of developing the Ring of Fire in the next 50 years. He cites no plan, no infrastructure, no leadership. This means no jobs, no investments for northern Ontario and no benefits to Ontario's broader mining, finance and technology sectors. Almost all of the government's Ring of Fire announcements failed to materialize.
When will the government show the leadership it promised over a year ago and work with Ontario to make the Ring of Fire happen?
Greg Rickford ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
First, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his generally positive tone and the effective interaction he has had on Ring of Fire, up until that question was put. The president's remarks are indeed regrettable.
While Cliffs has taken a business decision regarding its operations in the Ring of Fire, industry proponents, communities, including first nations communities, the Government of Ontario and our government are quite optimistic about the prospects for the Ring of Fire. We will continue to work collaboratively to ensure that we maximize the enormous economic potential of the Ring of Fire and the infrastructure that is required to support those projects.
Claude Patry Bloc Jonquière—Alma, QC
Mr. Speaker, while scientists and the forestry industry are rightly concerned about the spread of the spruce budworm epidemic in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, the federal government is doing virtually nothing to address a problem that could become very serious.
Instead of waiting for the industry to be seriously affected, why does the government not invest more, as it did for the pine beetle epidemic in British Columbia?
Greg Rickford ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for asking a question on a topic that is so important to rural communities.
I am proud that economic action plan 2014 builds on our government's success by focusing on innovation and protecting our forests from pests. For example, by focusing on diversifying markets for our forestry products, we have increase our softwood lumber exports to China tenfold.
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
Mr. Speaker, during question period you were very generous in allowing the member for Ottawa South to ask two questions. When he asked his question in English, he was rather judicious in his choice of words.
However, when he started speaking French, he used unparliamentary language.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I appreciate the hon. member for Ottawa—Orléans raising the point. I will have to take a look and see what was said exactly.
I will warn hon. members, though, about using terms such as “deliberately misleading”. I heard some phrasing of that in kind of a rhetorical nature. I do not think it is helpful. It gets far too close to the line. I would ask members, instead of trying to get as close to the line as they can, to stand a few paces back. I think members will appreciate that.
Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order as well.
In my last answer for the hon. member for Ottawa South, I said the year 2004. Of course I mean the year 2014.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I appreciate that.
I believe now the hon. opposition House leader would like to ask the traditional Thursday question.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in caucus, the NDP MPs had the opportunity to thank the security guards, including Alain Gervais, who showed such courage during the events of last week, with which we are all familiar.
This week we are back to work. As the Leader of the Opposition just said, we continue to offer to work with the government on various files in the wake of last week's events. We will examine those files.
We continue to offer to work with the government, and we are still waiting for a reply.
For next week, I would like to know what the government is scheduling for its agenda. I particularly would like to know in terms of opposition days what the government perceives for the two opposition days that remain in this cycle.
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, this afternoon we will continue to debate Bill C-43, the economic action plan 2014 act, no. 2, at second reading. That is a bill that focuses on job creation, economic development, growth and prosperity for all Canadians, and is certainly something that is welcomed in this time of continuing global economic uncertainty, and something that focuses on the priorities of Canadians. That debate will continue tomorrow and then will conclude on Monday.
Of course, also on Monday, the President of France, François Hollande, will address both houses of our Parliament that morning.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will consider Bill C-44, the protection of Canada from terrorists act, at second reading.
Ideally, we will conclude this debate on Wednesday, so that a committee can get on with the important work of studying the details of this legislation. This will be an opportunity for all parties to study the bill and its important measures in detail.
Next, I am hoping that on Thursday we could wrap up the second reading debate on each of Bill S-5, the Nááts’ihch’oh National Park Reserve act; and Bill C-21, the red tape reduction act.
Finally, next Friday, November 7, will be dedicated to finishing the third reading debate on Bill C-22, the energy safety and security act.
There was a specific question with regard to the remaining two allotted days. As members know, I believe we have four weeks available to us after the opportunity in the ridings to observe Remembrance Day with our constituents. I anticipate that those two allotted days will be designated for dates in that last four-week period.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
The hon. Minister of State for Finance is rising on a point of order.