Debates of Oct. 7th, 2014

Pan American Games Torch Relay

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians from coast to coast are being invited to celebrate and share their Pan Am spirit by taking part in the Toronto 2015 Pan Am torch relay.

This national event will be fuelled by hometown pride, with stops planned in five Canadian cities that have previously hosted major games. They include Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, Halifax, and Vancouver as well as 130 communities across Ontario, including my hometown of Burlington. Three thousand torch bearers will proudly carry the flame and share the Pan Am spirit of the games during the 41-day journey toward lighting the caldron at our opening ceremony in Toronto.

I know this event will be an opportunity to showcase our diverse culture, accomplishments, vast geography, and proud history. Our government is proud to support the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games torch relay, and we encourage all Canadians to take part in this celebration.

I encourage those wishing to become torch bearers to check out the toronto2015.org website for all the details. Mr. Speaker, I have registered to be a torch bearer, and I hope you have too.

Quebec Community Centre for the Visually Impaired

[Anne-Marie Day, NDP, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to once again shine a spotlight on one of the achievements of my riding, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

On Friday, September 26, we opened the new community centre for the visually impaired in Charlesbourg. This centre will host indoor activities for the Carrefour québécois des personnes aveugles. There are 11,000 visually impaired people in the region.

The Fondation Caecitas and the Lions Clubs in the Quebec City area worked together and raised $100,000 for the centre. The centre was also made possible by technology developed by HumanWare, a Quebec company.

The centre provides such services as Internet access with adaptive software, speech synthesis of texts and text magnification. Furthermore, every computer has a braille keyboard. The services will be available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. The centre is located at 523 Louis-XIV Boulevard in Charlesbourg.

Congratulations. This is a great achievement.

Snowbirds

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to mention that the 44th season of the Snowbirds came to a successful close in Moose Jaw last weekend. The Snowbirds continue to showcase the skilled professionalism and teamwork of our Canadian pilots and technicians serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force. This season, in 50 performances in 35 locations throughout North America, people enjoyed the Snowbirds' show.

This past weekend also marked the 50th anniversary of the Snowbirds' aircraft, known as the CT-114 Tutor jet. As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations, past and present Tutor instructors, technicians, students, and Snowbirds gathered with the general public to honour the jet's service.

I ask all members to join me in congratulating the Snowbirds on a successful season and in wishing the Tutor jet a warm 50th anniversary.

Royal 22nd Regiment

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

Mr. Speaker, this year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Royal 22nd Regiment, a regiment that has served Canada with pride and great distinction.

I have a very personal connection to the regiment as my father served with them for most of his career, having commanded the 3rd Battalion, and his father Gérard served with the Royal 22nd Battalion, the predecessor to the regiment, during World War I.

The Royal 22nd Regiment has served with distinction in every major Canadian military engagement, including both world wars, Korea, Afghanistan and multiple peacekeeping missions.

Championed by Wilfred Laurier, the Royal 22nd Regiment, a French-speaking regiment, served in many of World War I's major engagements.

I am sure all Canadians join me in paying tribute to the Royal 22nd Regiment, our famous Van Doos.

Teaching Awards

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister will announce the recipients of the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence and for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. This year's awards will be presented to 54 recipients from across the country, and 17 of these will receive the national awards from the Prime Minister at an event in Ottawa later today.

As someone who actually led a couple of schools in Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, I was very fortunate to work with several very inspiring and excellent teachers. I know the rare qualities that teachers have to be able to deliver effective education to our young people.

The Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence recognize the outstanding elementary and secondary school teachers in all disciplines who, through the innovative use of communications and technology, help Canadian students meet the challenges of the 21st century, societally and economically.

I am very proud to wish the nominees all the very best and thank them for their hard work and dedication to ensure that Canadian youth live, grow, and thrive.

The Senate

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Liberal and Conservative senators are angry.

Not only did the Auditor General have the nerve to question their spending, but he also had the nerve to send in young people. Some senators have never seen a young twentysomething accountant.

Liberal Senator Joseph Day said he was concerned that the auditors were young.

One Conservative complained about a 22-year-old kid running around asking him questions about his spending, and he was critical of these young auditors sticking their noses in his business. Taxpayers pay for his business.

That is the Canadian Senate: useless, unelected officials who object as soon as they are asked to be accountable for their $92 million budget.

What is worse is that the Prime Minister and the Liberal leader claim that this archaic institution, which refuses to be accountable, is still relevant.

The NDP will continue to get our young people involved, to be proud of them and to let them defend the interests of taxpayers while the Conservatives just neglect them.

Nobel Prize in Medicine

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand in the House to congratulate McGill graduate Dr. John O'Keefe on winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine yesterday. He is the tenth McGill graduate or professor to bring honour and pride to Canada as a Nobel laureate.

Dr. O'Keefe was recognized for his contribution to the discovery of cells that contribute to the brain's inner GPS, which makes it possible to orient ourselves within our environment. Discovery of these cells may lead to a greater understanding of Alzheimer's, as this particular area of the brain is affected early on by those suffering from this terrible disease.

Our government has made record investments in science, technology, and innovation to improve our quality of life and to create new jobs and opportunities for Canadians. We announced the Canada first research excellence fund in economic action plan 2014, a $1.5-billion legacy commitment to ensure that Canadian colleges and universities continue to contribute to this world-leading research we are celebrating today.

National Defence

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that more than 6,000 fighters joined ISIS in just the first few weeks after U.S. bombing began in Syria and Iraq. In one case alone, 73 fighters joined ISIS in Aleppo right after multiple civilians were killed in the first round of air strikes.

Does the Prime Minister not realize that these current tactics, the same ones he wants to follow, will only create more recruits for ISIS and can in fact be disastrously counterproductive?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what the world understands very clearly is that in the absence of any response, ISIL was growing like a cancer over the summer over an entire region. This constitutes a threat not just to the region but to the global community entirely and also to Canada. That is why it is essential that we work with our allies to undertake steps to make sure we limit the military capacities of this organization.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning on the same failure of U.S. air strikes in Kobani.

As the U.S. bombing ramps up, ISIS has simply reverted to the same guerrilla tactics that it has been using for over 10 years. A senior Syrian Kurdish military official said:

We haven't received military aid nor humanitarian aid, and we don’t know what these random airstrikes have succeeded in doing.

Why does the Prime Minister think that he knows better than commanders on the ground?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the intervention in question has been requested by the Government of Iraq, by a range of our allies, and in fact by a large part of the global community.

We know that when we face this kind of a threat, a terrorist Caliphate established in the open that threatens this country and threatens it quite explicitly and directly, that is not something we can just sit back and watch.

We are undertaking a range of actions, and we are very fortunate to have men and women who are prepared to put their lives on the line to undertake those actions on our behalf.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not seem to have a clear sense of his objectives in Iraq. First, he said that we would act with our allies to eliminate the threat. The following week, he said that the aim is to significantly degrade the capabilities of ISIL.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs set a whole other objective, saying that simply containing the problem would be a victory in and of itself.

Eliminate, degrade or contain: which is it?

Eliminate, degrade, or contain: which is it?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I referred to those objectives during my speech in the House. It is crucial that we degrade the terrorist military capabilities of the Islamic State organization. We cannot just sit back and watch as this organization grows and poses an increasing threat to our country. We are working with our allies around the world to limit the threat this organization poses.

The Environment

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development confirmed that the Prime Minister failed to meet his watered-down climate change targets. The targets are light years behind the Kyoto targets.

Has the Prime Minister even tried to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for the first time ever and thanks to our plan, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced. At the same time, the economy has grown.

This is absolutely essential to our objectives going forward. We want to make sure that we continue to grow the economy while continuing to take steps to limit emissions and achieve our environmental objectives.

Our objective on this side of the House is not to kill jobs and not to impose a carbon tax.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner could not be clearer. They will never attain those objectives.

Let us go back to what the Prime Minister has actually said, verbatim, about the Kyoto protocol:

Kyoto is essentially a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealth-producing nations.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

They applaud, Mr. Speaker. That is shameful.

The Prime Minister lowered Canada's climate change targets. He killed Kyoto. He refuses to regulate our largest single source, oil and gas. He has done nothing. How can he face his children and his grandchildren?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that when we have an agreement which covers only about one-third of global emissions, the effect of that agreement is not to reduce emissions, it is simply to shift emissions from developed countries to countries with lower environmental standards.

That is why, since we came to office, we have advocated an international protocol that would be binding upon all major emitters, which is something I am pleased to see is the recent position of a number of governments around the world.

Foreign Affairs

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the war in Iraq and Syria has given the world millions of new refugees. In recent days, 140,000 Syrian refugees have entered Turkey, joining the 850,000 already there, all of them bracing for a harsh and cold winter ahead.

What specific funding, resources and personnel is Canada deploying to meet this crisis?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, the government has announced a series of humanitarian measures and humanitarian funding, including by the Minister of Foreign Affairs yesterday on the issue of sexual violence.

Our position on this side is very clear. We do not think the fact that we are undertaking a military mission in any way precludes the humanitarian response. In fact, what refugees want is a country in which they can actually live. That is what our allies are hoping to do.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the current war in Iraq and Syria has given the world millions of new refugees. Nearly one million of them are now in Turkey and they are bracing for a harsh winter ahead.

What financial support and resources will Canada deploy to help these refugees?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, the government began announcing a series of humanitarian measures in Syria and Iraq, including the funding to combat sexual violence that the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday. This humanitarian and military mission is necessary to ensure that we do not end up with a country governed by terrorists, but rather a country in which the refugees can live.

The Environment

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, the environment commissioner released a damning report. The Conservative government has completely failed to tackle climate change.

The commissioner said that it is becoming increasingly clear that we will not meet our 2020 Copenhagen targets. The minister agrees with the commissioner's findings and recommendations.

Does the Prime Minister also admit that his government has failed in this regard?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is an unbelievable question coming from the Liberal Party, which has the worst record in the world on this issue.

The reality is that the Liberal Party signed these incredibly ambitious targets and then went in precisely the opposite direction, seeing some of the fastest increases in global greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

Under our government, we have lowered greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, have been able to grow the economy. That is why we will continue on track.