Debates of Nov. 19th, 2014

Citizenship and Immigration

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, talk about responsibility. The UN has called the flood of refugees in Syria “a mega crisis”. Just to put it in perspective, if Canada were Syria, it would mean that the entire population of Toronto right now were internally displaced.

The minister was told by his own department that Canada could accept thousands more Syrian refugees. Instead, the minister has accepted just 200. His inaction is inexplicable. It is unacceptable.

Canada should and could be saving lives right now. Why is the minister not acting?

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

Mr. Speaker, Franz Kafka rides again. He has clearly taken out a membership card in the NDP.

Today, the number of Syrian refugees that have arrived in this country has risen to 1,857. We have surpassed our commitment to government-assisted refugees and we have met our commitment to bring 20,000 Iraqis to this country more than a year in advance. That is all good news for refugees. That is something Canadians can be proud of.

In a crisis where there are millions of internally displaced, millions of refugees fleeing terrorist violence, the NDP needs to explain why it is not prepared to do a single thing to face up to ISIL and other terrorist groups.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the small craft harbours program has seen drastic cuts in recent budgets, but the latest action by DFO brings into question the very existence of the program.

Without consultation, DFO is cutting by half the number of area managers in Newfoundland and Labrador, leaving eight people in total responsible for 335 harbours and 205 harbour authorities. Volunteers run harbour authorities. They apply for funding to fix aging federal infrastructure and should receive a timely response.

Why is the government willing to risk the safety of those who earn a living at sea?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the important role that small craft harbours play in many coastal communities. We do recognize the valuable role that small craft harbour volunteers play in their communities and we thank them for that.

In recent years we have made unprecedented investments in small craft harbours across this country. In fact, we are investing in Newfoundland and Labrador alone this year over $30 million in small craft harbours.

The region has proposed making some organizational changes to its area office, which will see less being spent on administration and more being spent on actual harbours.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Richibucto harbour, on Principale Street, is in serious need of repairs and a long-term plan.

At the request of the mayor, Roger Doiron, who is in Ottawa today, I have often asked the minister for funding and a long-term plan. I recently met with Cyril Polchies, a Mi'kmaq fisherman with the harbour authority, who also reiterated how important this harbour is to the community.

When will the minister finally take action to help the people of Richibucto and repair the harbour on Main Street?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot speak specifically to the plans for Richibucto, but I want to be clear that we have made unprecedented investments in the small craft harbours program. We have increased the base budget by $10 million and we have invested an additional $40 million over the last two years alone.

We are committed to working with the harbour authority associations and the volunteers, because I believe that they play a big role in their communities.

Those increased investments have allowed us to invest half a million dollars in dredging in the riding of Beauséjour alone.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's and Ontario's official languages commissioners say that francophone minority communities are not reaping the benefits of francophone immigration. Barely 2% of francophone newcomers settle outside of Quebec.

Will the minister implement the commissioners' recommendations to ensure that our francophone minority communities reap the benefits of welcoming francophone newcomers?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is something we work on every day. Last week, I met with the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick. The goal is for 4.4% of immigration outside Quebec to be francophone by 2018. We are making progress. As part of the new immigration system, express entry, we want to mobilize all of our francophone immigration networks and all employers across Canada to get thousands of francophone immigrants in all of our provinces and territories.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we need tools to support francophone immigration to minority communities. The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada wants the express entry program to include a francophone component. We need to speed up processing of applications from francophones who want to settle in communities where French is the minority language.

Will the minister implement the recommendations of the Commissioner of Official Languages and the FCFA's proposal or not?

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

Mr. Speaker, our immigration system does not just have a francophone component. All immigration to Canada is francophone and anglophone. We are proud to welcome francophones to communities across the country. Actually, 30% of Yukon's population is now francophone. We offer services to new immigrants across Canada. We have made a lot of progress on that, and we have worked closely with the ACFA.

We are proud of the francophone immigration networks we have across Canada thanks to the roadmap.

National Defence

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the terrorist group ISIL has largely funded its military activities by refining and selling crude oil on the black market. ISIL has profited by millions of dollars every day in this way.

Yesterday the U.S. State Department confirmed that air strikes have eliminated much of ISIL's oil refining capacity and have clearly reduced its revenue. This is clear evidence that despite what the NDP and Liberals have said, air strikes are reducing the capacity of ISIL to continue committing mass atrocities.

Can the Minister of National Defence please update the House on the efforts our armed forces are making in the fight against these extremists?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, illicit oil sales are a substantial source of revenue for ISIL. That is why we are pleased to hear that the United States State Department said that at least 22 of ISIL's refineries have been destroyed. This means that since the air campaign began, ISIL's refining capacity has been reduced by at least 11,000 barrels a day.

Let there be no doubt that air strikes have significantly diminished the capacity of ISIL to fund its military operations. The RCAF has now conducted over 80 sorties during Operation Impact. As always, Canada will continue to do its part in fighting tyranny and oppression.

Public Safety

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we have already said, Bill C-10 is an ineffective, ideological grab bag that will simply inflate prison costs and prison populations, especially in provincial prisons, despite falling crime rates. A study conducted by Le Devoir confirms it: in two years, the prison population rose by 10% in Saskatchewan, 11% in Quebec and 18% in Manitoba.

Will the federal government compensate the provinces, which should not have to pay for the Conservatives' bad decisions, and will it remove the ridiculous six-month minimum sentence for possession of marijuana?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, I am sure, there is shared jurisdiction with respect to prisons, but let us be frank: it was our government that took the necessary steps to respond to the outcry from the public that we were hearing over very serious offences, including violent sexual offences. That resulted in some mandatory minimum penalties.

I remind the member opposite, contrary to the public view, that his leader and his party have pledged to do away with mandatory minimum sentences when it comes to some serious offences, such as distribution of date rape drugs and child pornography.

Health

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the mobile ultrasound program has dramatically improved maternal health outcomes for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation in northwestern Ontario. The current sonographer will retire soon. Any replacement will cart hundreds of pounds of equipment to 16 remote communities. This rules out many qualified women.

One option is to equip these communities with cart-based scanners at a one-time cost of $15,000 each. Another option spends hundreds of thousands of dollars bringing people to a central location for scans. Will the Minister of Health decide to save money and buy the scanners?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, we invest very heavily in aboriginal health on first nations, but also specifically in the area of maternal health. I am happy to look into her specific issue and get back to her.

Taxation

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it was not long ago that Liberals were attacking the idea of providing support for families, saying that parents would simply spend the money on beer and popcorn. The candidate for Banff—Airdrie has shown that Liberals have not changed their ways. He recently said that tax cuts are a bad idea because Canadians will spend the money on the wrong things.

Can the Minister of Employment and Social Development update the House on the meaningful tax cuts that this government is providing hard-working Canadian families?

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

Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed but not surprised to hear the Liberal candidate in Banff say that he was opposed to tax cuts for families because it is “handing people money for what? Arguably nothing.” That is an echo of the Liberals saying that parents would spend money on “beer and popcorn”.

We believe that parents of kids will invest in their children, not in “beer and popcorn”, not in nothing. This is why the Liberals were opposed to the GST cut, it is why they want to take back the choice in child care benefit, it is why they want to eliminate the family tax cut. It is because they think Liberals know how to spend money better than families. We—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Terrebonne—Blainville.

Canada Post

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pretty soon the people of Blainville will be the ones to lose their home mail delivery service. I have held public consultations on the matter and I know for a fact that the people of my riding will not accept this loss.

Furthermore, now private companies are offering to take over home mail delivery from Canada Post for $30 a month. It makes no sense.

Did the Conservatives put an end to home mail delivery as part of a scheme to privatize Canada Post?

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense. Canada Post, in its five-point action plan, in order to turn around its finances, has not proposed privatization. Instead, it proposed a number of other measures, but it is only that party opposite that seems to suggest there is no crisis at Canada Post and therefore no need for action by Canada Post. We disagree. It has its five-point plan and it will carry that out.

Natural Resources

[André Bellavance, Independent, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after stopping in Victoriaville, the president of the Union des municipalités du Québec will be continuing his tour today in the Centre-du-Québec region.

One of the concerns of the UMQ is TransCanada's energy east pipeline project and the impact it will have on safety, environmental protection and land use.

Today the UMQ discovered that the techniques used and the route that TransCanada proposed to the National Energy Board were not up to date and did not reflect the negotiations that took place between the municipalities and the company.

Can the Minister of Natural Resources guarantee that TransCanada will have to provide all the proper documentation so the National Energy Board can do its job?

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, the proponent's communication strategy does not play a role in our decision-making process. The project will undergo a rigorous science- and fact-based review to determine if it is safe for Canadians, safe for communities, and safe for the environment. We have been clear that projects will only proceed if they are safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Jackson Lafferty, Deputy Premier and Minister of Education, Culture and Employment of the Northwest Territories.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!