Debates of Nov. 24th, 2014

Holodomor

[Peter Goldring, Conservative, Edmonton East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today we remember the Holodomor, a crime against humanity the world in the past knew little of, it being hidden behind the Soviet curtain of iron. More than seven million people perished in Ukraine 80 years ago in a forced famine of unimaginable horror.

The deep rich soil of Ukraine, known as the breadbasket of Europe, suffered not the ravages of nature but the savagery of one man: Stalin. While millions of Ukrainians horribly starved to death, the people of the world feasted on Ukraine's bountiful crops, stolen by Stalin's evil regime.

We must speak out in Canada and around the world to support historical truths of mankind's failings, or revisionist historians, deniers of the Holodomor, will educate the world with their version of the truth.

Today we remember the victims of the Holodomor, that dark side of humanity, and by remembering we help the world guard against those who would repeat such genocide.

JCI World Congress

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today I am extremely pleased to rise in the House to express my staunch support for Quebec City's bid to host the biggest world congress of junior chambers of commerce, the famous JCI World Congress 2016.

This will be a huge gathering of young business people with over 3,500 delegates from over 100 countries and economic spinoffs amounting to over $15 million. In addition, it would be a fantastic opportunity for Quebec and Canada to raise their profile, as well as for our tourism industry and our passionate young entrepreneurs.

I would like to congratulate the event organizers on their amazing work: Jean-Simon Deschênes, François Bégin, Pierre-Yves Dubois, Louis-Philippe Sutton, Patrick Roberge, Alexandre Meca, Geneviève Doyle and the many volunteers and sponsors.

Femmes Alpha, an organization I belong to that promotes women in leadership roles, also supported Quebec City's bid.

I salute my youth chamber and, like them, I too have my puck.

Ukraine

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the start of the Euromaidan protests, a popular, grassroots rejection of former Ukrainian President Yanukovych and his refusal to sign the EU-Ukraine association agreement.

Thousands of people gathered in Kyiv's Independence Square on Friday to commemorate and honour those who died protecting the rights of Ukrainian citizens. President Poroshenko also signed a decree recognizing the Heavenly Hundred as heroes of Ukraine.

Russia's response to last year's events has also been significant, including military occupation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and an active role in destabilizing eastern Ukraine by supplying soldiers and heavy arms to the Kremlin's proxy militias in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Our government continues to stand with Ukraine in the face of its current challenges. Whether it takes five months or fifty years to liberate it, we will never, ever recognize the illegal Russian occupation of any Ukrainian territory.

I say to President Putin: Crimea is Ukraine, Luhansk is Ukraine, Donetsk is Ukraine.

Our Prime Minister made it clear to Putin at the G20, “You need to get out of Ukraine”.

Agriculture

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my office has been inundated by petitions signed by many hundreds of my constituents in support of farmers' seed rights and against the economic strategies of many GMO corporations. These petitions are circulated by the good people at the Big Carrot Natural Food Market, located in Toronto—Danforth.

The Big Carrot plays a key role in mobilizing Torontonians to support family farms, promote food safety and food security, and arrest the deepening market domination of agri-business megacorporations.

The NDP is standing with these constituents in opposing the Conservatives' omnibus bill, Bill C-18. The NDP tabled 16 amendments to improve this bill. We sought to ensure that farmers' rights to save, reuse, exchange, and sell seeds were protected to level the playing field between seed breeders and farmers, and to protect farmers from abusive litigation by GMO seed companies.

However, every amendment was rejected by the governing Conservatives. It is time for the government to start listening to concerned Canadians and to all stakeholders.

Pat Quinn

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of Canada's hockey greats, Mr. Pat Quinn, who, sadly, passed away last night. Pat Quinn spent more than four decades in the NHL as a player, coach, and general manager.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Pat “The Big Irishman” Quinn played parts of nine NHL seasons as a defenceman with Toronto, Vancouver, and Atlanta. His true hockey greatness, however, shone brightest as an executive, and most notably behind the bench. Quinn won two Jack Adams Awards for NHL coach of the year, with the Flyers in 1989 and with the Canucks in 1992.

However, what I remember most is seeing him behind the bench when Canada won its first gold medal in 50 years at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. He also helped Canada bring home an under-18 gold medal, World Juniors gold, and even the World Cup gold in 2004.

I would like to offer my condolences to his wife Sandra, to the rest of his family, to his friends, and of course to all those whose lives were impacted by him, both on and off the ice. He will be missed.

Adoption Awareness

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Sadly, there are 30,000 Canadian children and youth in foster care awaiting adoption. Canada is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that all children have a right to a safe and permanent living situation. Despite the numbers and despite our international obligations, we have done little as a nation to raise that awareness. We need to do more.

Let us consider that over 60% of runaways in Canada come from the fostering system. Of those who age out, over half of the girls turn to prostitution and the boys to crime. Many of these vulnerable youth are taken or simply seduced by human traffickers or simply go missing. This is personal to me, because my son Ian is an adopted child. Recently he graduated from Cornell, and he is now doing post-doctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh.

This House needs to do everything it can to encourage adoption and to provide resources to ensure that Canada's children, like Ian, have a fair shot at life.

Veterans Affairs

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday our government was proud to announce $200 million in new and expanded mental health initiatives for veterans, serving military members, and their families. Thanks to this investment, a new major operational stress injury clinic will be established in Halifax, and additional satellite clinics will be opened in St. John's, Chicoutimi, Pembroke, Brockville, Kelowna, Victoria, and Montreal South.

Mary Deacon, the chair of Bell's Let's Talk mental health initiative, said:

We commend the work being done by the departments of National Defence and Veterans' Affairs to support the men and women who face mental illness as a result of their service to the country, including this latest commitment of an additional $200 million.

We are proud of our continued investment to improve the lives of soldiers and veterans and their families. Facilities such as the ones we are supporting will have front-line mental health professionals and experts to ensure that those who have served and continue to serve our country in uniform have the support they need and deserve.

People can count on our Conservative government to always stand up for our veterans and our armed forces.

Child Poverty

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on this day 25 years ago, Ed Broadbent—the leader of the NDP at the time—moved a motion to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. That motion was unanimously adopted. Nearly 15 years after the failure to achieve that goal, the situation remains troubling.

It is especially troubling that the Prime Minister does not seem to care at all about this issue. On top of having described that motion as the height of stupidity, he also would rather save money at the expense of our veterans and first nations peoples by diverting money that was meant for them.

Veterans Affairs has returned $1.1 billion to the public treasury and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs has returned $712 million, all while the Prime Minister enjoys an expensive trip to the far north, which cost taxpayers $768,000. Now we can clearly see the Prime Minister's real priorities.

In 2015, the first NDP government will commit to honouring the 1989 resolution to eliminate child poverty.

Taxation

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand in the House today and say that every single family with children under 18 of my riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River will benefit from our government's new measures to assist Canadian families.

Only our Conservative government understands that Canadian families know best how to spend their hard-earned money. Under our plan, every family with children will benefit from the enhanced universal child care benefit to the tune of almost $2,000 for every child under six and $720 per year for every child between six and 17 years of age. Likewise, the family tax cut will result in over $1,100 for the average Canadian family.

What do the Liberals and NDP promise? Less money in Canadians' pockets and more money in the pockets of bureaucrats. The Liberal leader even said that he could convince Canadians to accept a new tax hike and promised to reverse our tax relief.

Although the Liberals would make life more expensive for hard-working Canadians, our Conservative government delivers on our promises, and we are proud to be the only party that stands up for Canadian families.

Veterans Affairs

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after Conservatives failed to deliver over $1 billion in promised funding to help veterans, and just before a potentially scathing new report from the Auditor General, the minister pops up and recycles an old announcement.

Does the minister really think that recycling old commitments is suddenly going to make up for years of neglecting our injured vets and soldiers?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our government consistently increases support for Canadian veterans.

Yesterday we continued that by increasing mental health support for those in the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans, and their families. Our veterans' mental health is something our government takes very seriously, and we will continue to improve on those services.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister closes regional offices to save money, denies benefits to veterans to save money, denies services to veterans to save money, and yet hundreds of millions of dollars that was earmarked for veterans was going unspent every year.

Will the minister cut the excuses and explain how not spending that $1.1 billion makes our veterans any healthier?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the assertion made in that question is absolutely false.

All governments always ensure statutory funding is fully funded to ensure there is no shortfall. This is completely normal practice.

Veterans Affairs expenditures have increased from $2.7 billion when the Liberals were in government to $3.5 billion last year.

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for years, the Conservatives denied that there was an urgent need to deal with the mental health of our soldiers and veterans.

Instead of providing soldiers and veterans with services, the Conservatives closed offices and tried to save more than $1 billion at their expense. It took a scathing report by the Auditor General and a public relations crisis for the government to finally do something about this.

Does the minister really think that he can buy veterans' silence with $200 million?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we announced new mental health support for Canadian Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and their families.

We are investing in a major new operational stress injury clinic in Halifax. We are also opening new satellite locations across the country and expanding the current facility in the greater Toronto area.

Our government is committed to Canada's veterans, armed forces members, and their families as we continue to work on their behalf.

Health

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago the Canadian government approved the sale of thalidomide as a safe drug for use in pregnancy.

Many Canadian families suffered tragic consequences as a result of that decision. The remaining thalidomide survivors are now dealing with immense pain and suffering. For decades, they have struggled alone, but it should not have to be that way.

Will the government do the right thing and support the NDP motion to provide immediate compensation to the survivors?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, this tragic event from the 1960s reminds us how seriously we need to take drug safety. Nothing can ever undo the pain and suffering inflicted.

Canada now has one of the safest drug systems in the world, recently strengthened even further with the passage of Vanessa's law. We are happy to review any policy proposals and add to conversations had earlier this year with Health Canada officials.

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more than 50 years after the tragedy, a hundred or so Canadian victims of thalidomide are waiting for compensation.

At the time, the Canadian government delayed pulling the drug off the shelves, and hundreds of Canadians died or became disabled. It is high time to correct this injustice.

The question now is: will the government support our motion and support the thalidomide survivors or not?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, Health Canada has learned from this tragedy and has made improvements that have reduced the risk of this kind of terrible event from occurring again, including an overhaul of Canada's drug regulatory framework.

Again I will repeat that we are happy to review any policy proposals and add to conversations had earlier this year with Health Canada officials.

Veterans

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

Mr. Speaker, despite our soldiers' pleas, the Conservatives closed nine veterans' service centres this year. They preferred to spend $743 million on partisan propaganda. Although there have been 160 military suicides in the past decade, the Conservatives preferred to keep $1.1 billion that was allocated to veterans.

Today, the day before the Auditor General is set to release a report, they are making a last-minute promise to allocate $200 million over six years to help veterans with mental health issues.

Why should our veterans believe this government?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our government has consistently increased support for Canadian veterans. Yesterday, we continued that by increasing mental health support for those in the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans, and their families.

Our veterans' mental health is something our government takes very seriously, and we will continue to improve on those services.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the parliamentary secretary admitted that Veterans Affairs sent $1.13 billion back to the treasury, instead of spending it on veterans. This weekend, the minister contradicted his parliamentary secretary, saying that the money is recycled into veterans programs, but all we ever see are self-serving TV ads.

Now facing a mounting backlash, and on the eve of the Auditor General's report, the Conservatives have announced inadequate funding for veterans and their families, a fraction of the $1.13 billion.

Can the minister tell us now, of this $200 million announcement, how much do they plan to lapse?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the assertion made in that question is absolutely false. All governments always ensure that statutory funding is fully funded to ensure that there is no shortfall. This is a completely normal practice. As proof, in the last year of the Liberal government, Veterans Affairs lapsed $111 million in one year under a much smaller budget.

The simple fact is that Veterans Affairs expenditures have increased under our government, and that party voted against it.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, do you know what they could have done with that billion dollars? They could have easily kept all of the nine veterans offices open. They could have hired enough case workers so that veterans do not have to wait to access services. In the face of 160 military suicides in the last decade, they could have hired more mental health professionals. They could have provided the funds to ensure dignified funerals for all veterans.

Now, it is too little, too late. Why do they make veterans beg for the services they need and deserve?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is no secret that Canadians still remember that it was under the Liberal government that our men and women suffered the decade of darkness.

When it comes to standing up for Canada's veterans and men and women in uniform, our government has a strong record. That is exactly why our government has spent over $30 billion since taking office. That is $5 billion in additional funding.

We will continue to stand up for Canada's veterans on this side of the House.