House of Commons Hansard #124 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was isil.

Topics

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The hon. member for Davenport.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON

Mr. Speaker, last year the government committed to resettle 1,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2014. In July, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said that Canada had only resettled 284, less than one-quarter of its total commitment. An internal report from Citizenship and Immigration reveals that Conservative cuts are preventing sponsorship applications from being processed.

When will the minister stop misleading Canadians about the numbers? What is he doing to get the other 1,000 Syrian refugees here in Canada?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Ajax—Pickering Ontario

Conservative

Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, the report to which the member is referring is way out of date. We have given significant new resources to the processing centre in Winnipeg and across our network to speed the processing of refugees. There are 1,645 Syrians in this country since the beginning of that crisis in 2011. There are more than 18,600 Iraqis in this country.

The real question is this. Why is the NDP voting against international action coordinated by President Obama in the United States to ensure military tactics are used to protect refugees on the ground? There are millions of them.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON

Mr. Speaker, the real question is this. Why does this minister consistently mislead Canadians about these numbers?

He knows that around 1,300 of the Syrian refugees were already here before the government made these commitments. He admitted this himself to The Globe and Mail in July: only 177 government-assisted and 108 privately sponsored refugees are here.

When will the minister stop playing games with numbers to hide his own failure? When will he act to speed up processing, including for privately-sponsored refugees?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Ajax—Pickering Ontario

Conservative

Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, 1,645 refugees have all arrived from Syria since 2011. The member opposite should get his facts right. On a per capita basis, 18,600 is the largest number resettled from Iraq by any country. These are real actions that speak for themselves, as will be Canada's military contribution, which will help millions more.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Sadia Groguhé NDP Saint-Lambert, QC

Mr. Speaker, the minister has to stop playing games with the numbers. The truth is that 1,300 out of the 1,500 Syrian refugees he is talking about are already here. This government has just two and a half months to keep its promise to welcome 1,100 privately sponsored refugees. So far only 100 or so of those refugees are in Canada. In the past, temporary resident permits were provided to speed up the family reunification process, for example for the former Yugoslavia and Haiti.

Why does the minister not follow suit for Syria?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Ajax—Pickering Ontario

Conservative

Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, our objective was 1,300 refugees. We already have 1,645 refugees in Canada. In speaking of her sons, Souhad Al Dandashi said, “Now I look ahead and I see, God willing, a future as I dreamed for them”. These are real results.

The Dandashi family's case was brought to our attention in January. They arrived in Montreal in January.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Sadia Groguhé NDP Saint-Lambert, QC

Mr. Speaker, if the minister put as much effort into welcoming Syrian refugees as he does into playing with numbers, his department's bureaucratic problems would have been solved a long time ago.

The minister has to dispense with the nonsense. Yesterday, he explained that Sweden has welcomed more Syrian refugees than Canada has, saying that Syria was not far from Europe's borders. Come on. He made it sound like the refugees just had to walk to their host country.

Will the minister stop putting on such a sorry spectacle and start keeping his promise to welcome more refugees?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Ajax—Pickering Ontario

Conservative

Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, the fact remains that asylum seekers are in a different category than resettled refugees. In Canada, we have already resettled more than 20,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees. That is more than any other country.

The real sorry spectacle here is that of the NDP, which is not prepared to support any military measures whatsoever to help millions of refugees in Iraq and neighbouring countries, who need and have asked for our help.

PensionsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Patricia Davidson Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government has taken unprecedented action to put more money back into the pockets of Canada's seniors. That includes the tax-free savings account and one of the most popular tax relief measures in Canadian history, pension income splitting. Our government is also leading by example by creating the pooled registered pension plans.

Can the Minister of State for Finance please tell the House about our newest step to ensure Canadians receive a secure and dignified retirement?

PensionsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Crowfoot Alberta

Conservative

Kevin Sorenson ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)

Mr. Speaker, today I was pleased to announce that five companies have been approved to provide federal pooled registered pension plans. This is a major milestone toward offering an attractive new retirement savings option for those millions of Canadians who do not have a workplace pension plan. I would like to encourage the provinces, such as Ontario, to bring forward the necessary legislation so that all Canadians can benefit from this new pension plan.

Canadian seniors and pensioners, all Canadians, can rest assured that we are standing up for them.

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Mr. Speaker, the report tabled today by the Commissioner of Official Languages showed that the Conservatives are balancing their budgets on the backs of linguistic minorities, cutting services like the co-operative development initiative and the Hervé J. Michaud experimental farm in New Brunswick. When will the government stop these cuts and instead show some leadership to respect the linguistic duality across this country?

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Saint Boniface Manitoba

Conservative

Shelly Glover ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of our government. We created the roadmap for official languages. It is a very comprehensive investment, the most comprehensive in Canada's history. It represents an investment of $1.1 billion. We would like to thank our Commissioner of Official Languages for his work. I believe that the report was balanced and that the commissioner thanked us for the work we have done. If there is time, I hope that I will be asked another question about the progress that we have made, which the commissioner pointed out in the report.

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Mr. Speaker, the minister wants us to ask the question and so we will.

Concerning official changes, the Conservatives have scored a big fat zero, and the official language minority communities are paying for it. The commissioner talks about that in his report.

The Conservatives continue to cut programs and services. In Moncton, the postal union had to file a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages because francophone employees do not have access to Canada Post information in both languages, and 75% of communications are in English only.

Will the minister tell us what she is going to do to correct the situation?

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Saint Boniface Manitoba

Conservative

Shelly Glover ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to quote our Commissioner of Official Languages.

This is what he said at the press conference: “I think that, in the vast majority of cases, the institutions are aware of their responsibilities”. There has been a steady increase in the number of people whose language level is appropriate to their position.

This is what he said in his report:

In 2013–2014, all federal institutions evaluated demonstrated that they take measures to create an environment conducive to the use of both official languages...

Electoral ReformOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Alexandrine Latendresse NDP Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, in their unfair elections act, the Conservatives got rid of the Commissioner of Canada Elections with no reasonable explanation.

Some asked a very valid question about the cost of this administrative fiasco deemed useless by all the committee witnesses, including the commissioner himself. The Conservatives did not want to answer, claiming cabinet confidence. That is ridiculous.

Can the minister explain why he refuses to tell Canadians what he does with their money?

Electoral ReformOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of State (Democratic Reform)

Mr. Speaker, the move has not actually occurred. As a result, there have been no costs.

Electoral ReformOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Mr. Speaker, if there had been no costs, they would have released that, would they not?

Just because something is embarrassing to the minister does not mean that he gets to hide behind access to information. He led a personal vendetta against the integrity of Elections Canada. He is now trying to hide the cost of this from Canadians. Now he tells us that it did not cost anything; yet he used cabinet confidence to keep it from Canadians.

He cannot have it both ways. Why does the minister not just stand up and tell Canadians why he is trying to hide behind cabinet confidence and using access to information to deny Canadians basic information about the spending of government?

Electoral ReformOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of State (Democratic Reform)

Mr. Speaker, obviously, when the commissioner is housed in a new facility, that facility will have to be rented from somebody. That does cost some money. At this point, that move has not occurred. As a result, the costs have not been incurred.

That being said, we are very proud of the decision to create independent investigations so that we can have law enforcement that is fair and neutral. That is the right thing for the elections act and it is the right thing for Canada.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC

Mr. Speaker, two years ago, the Canadian Forces Ombudsman reported that:

...[a] chronic personnel deficit has strained the mental health system and is at the root of its most pressing challenges.

Then, last June, the defence committee learned that the Canadian Forces still have a shortage of mental health professionals for our troops.

In light of a new combat deployment of Canadian troops, what steps is the government taking to address the existing shortage of mental health practitioners?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Niagara Falls Ontario

Conservative

Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, we have made an unprecedented investment in health and mental health professionals for our armed forces. The budget is at its highest level ever. We have made this a priority, and we will continue to support our men and women in uniform, something that was not done under the previous administration.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON

Mr. Speaker, the government's response to the veterans affairs committee report on the new veterans charter should have been a strong signal to veterans, but instead the minister merely kicked the can further down the road.

After tonight's vote, we shall be engaged in a war in Iraq. That means more members of our forces will someday be veterans without the resources they need and deserve.

Canadian Forces members are willing to put their lives on the line. Why must they return with doubt that they will be cared for by a government more willing to invest in self-promoting advertising than in the well-being of our veterans?

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Vaughan Ontario

Conservative

Julian Fantino ConservativeMinister of Veterans Affairs

Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank the committee for its diligent work and the product that resulted, which is 14 well-thought-out recommendations. Those recommendations are presently being worked on.

We have all along worked very hard on supporting our veterans and their families. Unfortunately, through eight budgets, that member's party as well as the NDP have not supported our efforts to increase the benefits and support for our veterans. We will continue to treasure and appreciate their work and also ensure they are well looked after.

Canada PostOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Alain Giguère NDP Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC

Mr. Speaker, some of the suburbs north of Montreal have lost their home mail delivery service. Now, a private company is preparing to take over from Canada Post by providing a home mail delivery service. For $240 a year, people will be able to receive their mail at home twice a week. That is a perfect example of a two-tier service.

Does the minister understand that many Canadians cannot afford to pay for home mail delivery?

Canada PostOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Halton Ontario

Conservative

Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that currently in Canada two-thirds of Canadians do not receive their mail at their door.

More importantly, this issue has come up with municipalities across Canada and collectively, as one single voice, they considered a resolution asking the government to tell Canada Post to reverse its decision on community mailboxes. The result of that was a resounding defeat of that resolution. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities and municipalities across the country understand the issues Canada Post is facing and they are supportive.