Debates of Nov. 18th, 2014

Child Care

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the NDP talks about how it can serve maybe 10% of Canadian families at best, this government announced measures just a couple of weeks ago that would benefit over 4 million Canadian families.

This government will continue to act for the benefit of all Canadian families.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I did not hear an answer from the Prime Minister. I will give him a hint. The answer on the number of child care spaces created by the Conservatives begins with a z.

By the way, if the Prime Minister thinks today that it is such a bad idea, why did he promise it to Canadians to get elected in 2006?

The Prime Minister promised to give Canadians a choice but the only choice he is proposing is between money for the rich or more money for the rich. Is that really what he promised?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government promised to give money to over 4 million Canadian families. The NDP has promised to take that money away from Canadian families. That is the difference between us, the Conservatives, and the socialists.

Taxation

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to give money to the richest 15% in 2015. We are promising day care spaces at $15 a day . That is the difference.

Canadian families are paying as much as $2,000 a month for child care. As young people are graduating with massive student debt and heading into a morose market for young people, they are worried about whether or not they can afford to have kids.

The Prime Minister promised he would wait until the budget was balanced before more tax breaks for the rich. Why is he borrowing $3.1 billion to pay for yet another tax giveaway for the wealthy few?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, of course, we all know the facts. Over four million Canadian families will benefit from the policies that we have announced.

However, the reason the NDP continues to oppose this and misrepresent it is because it hates money in the pockets of ordinary working families. It wants that money to go to bureaucrats and to unions, but guess what? Under our government, it is going to real working Canadians.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what counts is whose pocket they stole that money from. They took that money from the employment insurance fund. The Liberals plundered $50 billion from the employment insurance fund and the Conservatives went on to raid another $7 billion from it. That creates a false surplus of $3.8 billion that comes from workers. They took that money from the pockets of workers. It is a reverse Robin Hood. This is the question: is the government proud of the fact that it is taking money from the poor to give to the rich?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what is the NDP's real policy? Their real policy involves raising the employment insurance premiums paid by Canadian workers and companies by $6 billion.

That is the real difference. Those members want to raise by billions of dollars employment insurance premiums. Under this government, employment insurance premiums will be falling.

Labour

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, last week, my colleague from Hull—Aylmer and I wrote to the Prime Minister and the leader of the Liberal Party to propose a policy for dealing with harassment on Parliament Hill.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to support our proposal to deal with harassment?

I would like to ask this for the Prime Minister. Has he reviewed our proposal for dealing with workplace harassment on the Hill, and will he support it?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, sexual harassment is obviously a very serious matter. I cannot comment on the particular cases because I know nothing of the facts. However, I can say that the government has had policies in place for this for some time. I gather the Board of Internal Economy and the procedure and House affairs committee are looking at that. We would be pleased to share our existing policies with those bodies.

Access to Information

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, tonight this House begins debate on the transparency act, a positive step toward more open government. It would strengthen our access to information system and make the Board of Internal Economy open by default.

We hope for all-party support, and in that spirit we are very open to amendments and improvements. Will the Prime Minister support sending this bill to committee for study?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is kind of rich to hear the leader of the Liberal Party talking about transparency. That is the party that voted against the Federal Accountability Act, that opposed union transparency, and that opposed transparency on first nations reserves.

This government will continue to move forward on transparency.

The Environment

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister personally went to Copenhagen in 2009. There, he made a commitment on behalf of Canada to reduce our carbon pollution 17% below 2005 levels.

Will Canada achieve the commitments that the Prime Minister made to the world in Copenhagen, yes or no?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am very surprised that the Liberals would want to raise the issue of carbon emissions. Under the Liberal government, they promised to reduce carbon emissions by an enormous amount and raised them by over 30%.

Under this government, for the first time in Canadian history the carbon emissions have actually fallen.

We view the recent agreement between China and the United States as a very positive step toward the Paris conference in 2015. We look forward to working with our partners in the international community.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I take that as a no.

Last week, the United States and China agreed on commitments to combat climate change.

Canada's reputation is once again being tested. Instead of looking for solutions, the government has chosen to muzzle its scientists and experts.

Can the Prime Minister explain what he will do, since it appears that he will not be respecting his own Copenhagen commitments?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party signed an international agreement that did not contain any targets for China or the United States. That is why we rejected that protocol. Since we came to power, we have called for an international protocol that includes mandatory targets for all major emitters.

Now, this agreement between China and the United States is a very promising step, and we look forward to working with our international partners.

National Defence

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the minister is claiming that no decision has been made, the Pentagon insists that the Conservatives want to buy at least four F-35 fighter jets.

The Conservative government is getting ready to spend billions of dollars without informing Canadians or Parliament. It was that same lack of transparency and inability to control costs that put an end to the previous program. The Conservatives are clearly not learning from their mistakes.

Why is the minister refusing to tell Canadians the truth about the F-35s?

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, no decision has been made. Any statements coming from the Pentagon are completely false.

We need to ensure that our men and women in uniform have the equipment they need to do the job asked of them.

That is also why the lifespan of the CF-18s will be extended until 2025.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, how is it that, despite official denials, the government is down in Washington organizing an early production date for F-35s? The Pentagon did not say that these documents were wrong or that the presentation was wrong; it said it was “...for official use only. It was to inform future decisions regarding Canada's F-35 acquisition”.

The document does state that, for this proposed swap to happen, the Conservatives will have to deliver a letter of intent this month. Will the government be doing that?

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, any declarations to the effect that we have purchased four F-35s are completely incorrect. We have made no decision on replacing the CF-18 at this time.

We will also ensure that the brave men and women in uniform have the equipment they need to do the job. That is why the CF-18 has been life extended to 2025.

Government Advertising

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, since 2009 the Conservatives have spent over $100 million of taxpayers' funds in self-promoting advertising while telling seniors and veterans that the cupboard is bare. Canadians are not hoodwinked. The government's own polling shows that taxpayers are sick and tired of this money being wasted on partisan self-glorification. Now the Conservatives are turning the taps on again, doing ads to promote their income splitting scheme that would only benefit the wealthy.

I have a simple question. Will the minister tell the House how much money is being wasted on this pre-electoral partisan binge?

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

Mr. Speaker, only the NDP could refer to a massive tax benefit for working Canadian families as a binge, a benefit that would provide up to $2,000 of direct tax relief for families, treating families as an economic unit, that would increase the universal child care benefit provided to children between the ages of 7 and 18 from $1,000 to $1,700 a year. Together these constitute a total net benefit of over $1,200 for the average family. Four million families, 100% of families with kids, are going to benefit from this government's package.

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives can rattle off whatever excuses they want. The ads promoting their election gimmick, income splitting, are partisan ads paid for by taxpayers. What is more, the Conservatives do not even want to tell us how much the propaganda cost.

Come on, that makes no sense. Much like the Liberals with their sponsorship, the Conservatives are trying to buy Canadians with their own money. It is appalling.

Will the minister finally tell us how much these useless, partisan and misleading ads cost?

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

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the hon. member is absolutely wrong. We clearly need to inform Canadian families that they can receive a new universal health care benefit for children between the ages of 7 and 18. This is one of many changes which, together, will provide $1,200 in tax relief for each family. Every family with children under the age of 18 will receive tax benefits because of these changes. Canadians need to be informed of the significant benefits they will receive as a result of all these changes.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration does not like refugees, but yesterday he demonstrated his utter contempt for all Canadians. Instead of acknowledging his failure to meet his government's promise to bring 1,300 additional Syrian refugees, the minister back-counted refugees from three previous years. Instead of admitting he broke his promise, he bizarrely claimed he “overfulfilled” it, whatever that means.

Will the minister abandon his mean-spirited attempts to mislead Canadians and finally live up to Canada's promises?

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

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts: 1,800 Syrians in Canada since the start of the conflict. We have overfulfilled our commitment to bring government-assisted refugees to this country. That commitment was 200 and we have brought many more. Private sponsorships are way up in recent months. We are expecting a lot of progress on that front.

Here is what the opposition does not want Canadians to hear. In 2009, we committed to bring 20,000 Iraqis to this country as resettled refugees. We have met that target one year early.