Debates of Nov. 28th, 2014

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister made a statement. She was troubled when she heard about the recent reports about families in Rankin Inlet struggling to find food, so she followed up with her constituents to address these concerns. She also contacted the senior administrative officer in Rankin Inlet to learn more about these concerns and reports. At no time did she speak to the deputy mayor during this phone conversation, and at no time did she or her office request an apology from anyone in the hamlet.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives really have no shame. They are the ones who made a mess of the nutrition north Canada program.

Despite the $60 million that has been invested, the cost of food in the north has not gone down. The result is that dozens of people are having to scavenge in the dump to feed themselves.

The Minister of the Environment wants those who spoke out about the situation to apologize? She cannot be serious. She should apologize for the failure of this program. Are the Conservatives actually capable of coming up with a program that works?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the allegations are false. The truth is that the results of our government's actions are very clear. Nutrition North Canada has shipped a total of 61 million kilograms of nutritious and perishable food to northern communities since 2011.

The minister remains committed to working on behalf of her constituents to improve the program. For example, last week, the government announced an additional investment of $11 million in 2014-15 to improve the program.

Veterans

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in response to the Auditor General's scathing report, the Conservatives tried to mislead veterans and their families. They said that the $200 million that they promised for veterans would be spent over a period of six years. However, we now know that the money will be spent over a period of 50 years. Fifty years. How can the government defend such subterfuge?

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

Mr. Speaker, we take not only the mental health of our veterans very seriously, but also members of the Canadian Armed Forces and members of their families. This is why we announced an investment last Sunday of eight new additional operational stress injury clinics, the major one being in Halifax and the other satellite offices right across the country.

This is in addition to 13 operational stress injury clinics that we have already implemented since taking office. Under the Liberals, there were only four. There will now be 25.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in its own press release, the government spoke of “providing an additional investment of approximately $200 million over the next six years”, when, in fact, the investment is over 50 years.

We know the government is ashamed of this paltry $200 million over 50 years attempt to mislead the veterans. Why else would the website announcing the program have disappeared from the Internet? How can the government explain these actions?

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

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are investing millions of dollars in veterans' benefits, services and mental health is because on this side of the House we take the issue of mental health services very seriously when it comes to our veterans. This is exactly why we are putting more operational stress injury clinics right across the country, more health care professionals, more places for veterans and still-serving members to get help. We are expanding the treatments right across the country.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we can clearly see how much this matters to the government. The veterans affairs minister has not answered a single question, not one, all week. Once they got caught trying to deliberately mislead veterans, the Conservatives deleted the website announcing the program and the minister's office went silent.

How can Canadians and veterans trust anything the government says when it clearly will say anything to try and stop the damage?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course, we all know the record of the opposition when it comes to standing up for Canada's veterans. Any initiative our government brings forward to help Canada's veterans the opposition has opposed.

We will continue to invest when it comes to veterans' benefits and services. This is exactly the reason why last week we announced eight new operational stress injury clinics right across the country, so there would be more places for veterans and their families to get the help they need.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when Canada's veterans were asked to serve, they did so without hesitation. However, when they need our help, the Conservative government just walks away.

The Auditor General was clear. Canadian veterans are not getting access to necessary mental health services in a timely manner. Apparently the minister thinks it is okay to take 50 years to fix the problem.

Why are Conservatives trying to paper over their failure to support our veterans rather than fixing the problems?

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

Mr. Speaker, we thank the Auditor General for his report. I want to point out the Auditor General has recognized that Veterans Affairs does, indeed, have a robust health strategy in place. We have put in place mental health support and have provided rehabilitation to our veterans in a timely manner. At the same time, the Auditor General did point out that there were some unnecessary delays, which the department and our government are working to address.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member makes it sound like it is some kind of detail in the Auditor General report that the Conservatives just have to kind of fix. That is not the case at all. That report was a scathing indictment of the lack of care and compassion and services needed by our veterans. It is time they address the issues raised in the report, and do it honestly and properly, starting with an apology to our veterans.

Where is the minister? Why is he not here apologizing?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite can yell and scream all he wants, but I am sure that what Canadian veterans and Canadians would like him to do is to start standing up for Canada's veterans, especially when it comes to standing up and voting in favour of the initiatives that our government brings forward, such as the eight new clinics that were announced just last Sunday, which will help not only veterans but also still-serving members and members of their families.

Our government has a strong record. On this side of the House we will continue to stand up for Canada's veterans.

[Ryan Cleary, NDP, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. This is a minister who, rather than fixing the disgraceful record of his government on caring for veterans, chose instead to mislead Canadians about the mental health care they can expect to receive. He has literally run away from veterans and their families, while those who have served our country face a mental health crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Why are the Conservatives more interested in covering up their shameful treatment of Canada's veterans than in actually helping our veterans?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General clearly said that Veterans Affairs has put in place important mental health supports. Access to mental health support under the rehabilitation program is timely.

At the same time, we accept all recommendations put forward by the Auditor General, including where he suggested that there are some unnecessary delays in the paperwork and the application process. We will address that. The department is already working on those initiatives.

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' attitude towards our veterans is unacceptable.

On Sunday, the minister announced with great fanfare a $200 million mental health program for veterans. Great news.

However, today we learned that this program spans a period of 50 years. Fifty years. Once again, our veterans are being sold a bill of goods by this government.

Why does the minister not understand that our veterans need mental health care now, and not in 50 years?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are responding not only to the needs of today's veterans, but also to the needs of veterans in the future. As I mentioned, there were only four operational stress injury clinics when our government took office. We have already put in place 13 operational stress injury clinics across the country. Just last Sunday we announced eight additional satellite offices across this country, the major one being in Halifax.

We will continue to stand up for Canada's veterans.

Northern Development

[Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, NDP, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, instead of accepting the Auditor General's findings that the nutrition north program is a failure, and instead of helping people in her own riding, the Minister of the Environment demanded an apology from authorities in Rankin Inlet, who revealed that 50 to 100 people are scavenging for food. She should be ashamed.

Will the government acknowledge that it has failed to deal with this crisis and will it commit to changing its program to help people in the north, who are struggling with exorbitant prices?

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the government wants northerners, like all Canadians, to have access to quality, nutritious food. That is why we created the Nutrition North program. The member knows that.

The results are clear. Since the program began, shipments of healthy foods to our north have increased by 25% and savings for families have been $110 on average. We are increasing funding. We are improving this program to make sure that all Canadians have access to healthy food.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, nearly 100 people in the north are being forced to rummage through garbage for food to survive. Food prices are outrageous. Some fresh foods cost 10 times what they do in the south.

Instead of reaching out and moving heaven and earth to resolve the situation, all their MP is doing is making intimidating phone calls. That is unacceptable.

Can the government tell us when it learned that people in Rankin Inlet were going to the landfill to find food and what it has done to deal with this crisis?

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, it is rather quite shameful that the member for Churchill is using unfounded, untrue personal attacks when she should be talking about the importance of the Nutrition North program, which has provided areas like hers with a 25% increase in shipments of healthy food. An average family of four has seen their grocery bill go down. That is why we created the program. We committed new funding just this week. Ongoing improvements are in place. This is an important program and not the time for unfounded attacks.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, what is truly shameful is that people in my part of the country continue to go hungry because Nutrition North is not working for them, just as it is not working for northern people across our country.

As for the people of Rankin Inlet, they deserve more than intimidation and empty rhetoric from the current government.

We should be doing everything we can to ensure that no one in the north has to go to the dump to get food. We need to get to the bottom of the demand that the minister made to Rankin Inlet officials.

When did she ask her office to apologize to them? Was this a directive from the PMO? Do they truly believe that is how northern people deserve to be treated?

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my previous response, the member knows that the program is working. The Auditor General said that it can be improved, and we will see improvements that ensure that retailers are a part of a solution for northern families. But already we are seeing a net benefit of over $100 per family. This week an additional $11.3 million was added to the program.

This is the time to make sure that northerners know about the program and that we work with retailers to make sure that it is having an impact. It is not the time for shameful attacks.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about a respectful relationship, we mean respect, dialogue, and reconciliation. Clearly, the Minister of the Environment does not share this definition.

We have asked a number of simple questions.

Once again, when was the minister aware that 40 to 100 of her constituents had to resort to a landfill to feed themselves? Why was there no immediate action? When was the decision made to attempt to strong-arm the officials in Rankin Inlet, rather than reaching out a helping hand to help them out?

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as the parliamentary secretary indicated earlier, those reports are untrue. The minister, as the member for Nunavut, is constantly in touch with her community on all reports.

In fact, in contrast to the rhetoric being thrown around by some of those members, northern Canada has the strongest member in cabinet in its history. There is no stronger champion for the north, some one delivering results, not petty and shameful attacks.