House of Commons Hansard #152 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was public.
Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, our government takes the privacy of law-abiding Canadians very seriously. In the meantime, we are always looking at ways in which we can make sure that our law enforcement agencies have the tools that they need to protect Canadians.
I hope that when we do so, we can count on the support of the opposition.
Rosane Doré Lefebvre NDP Alfred-Pellan, QC
Mr. Speaker, we knew that the government is not exactly the paragon of transparency, but frankly, we had no idea how bad it was.
Telecommunications companies want to disclose how many times they share subscriber information with the police, but the government is stopping them, supposedly for security reasons.
Why is the minister preventing telecom companies from finally being transparent?
Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, our government takes the privacy of Canadians very seriously. That is why we expect law enforcement agencies to obey the laws that are in place.
At the same time, I would also like to say that we expect the opposition to support the measures we add to Canada's legislation to enhance the safety of Canadians.
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Speaker, recently released documents reveal that hundreds of cases of sexual assault, harassment and violence have been reported within the the cadet program, which is funded by the federal government. Despite the disclosures, investigations often go nowhere and the aggressors are rarely charged.
Was the minister aware of those reports? What steps have been taken to investigate?
Kellie Leitch ConservativeMinister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women
Mr. Speaker, violence against women and girls, and against any Canadian, is simply unacceptable in our society, and it will not be tolerated. The Government of Canada has been committed to ending such violence and supporting victims.
Whether it be with our Safe Streets and Communities Act or whether it be with our new legislation to uphold the rights of victims, this government is very focused on making sure that we support victims and put those who should be behind bars where they belong—behind bars. We encourage the opposition to get on board and make sure that we are putting criminals in their place and supporting victims.
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about gravely serious allegations of a pattern of sexual assault, abuse, and harassment spanning four decades. This involves young people between 12 and 18 participating in the cadet program on Canadian Forces bases, and it includes cases involving Canadian Forces personnel.
We have a solemn responsibility to protect these young people. How long has the Minister of National Defence been aware of these allegations, and what action is he taking to deal with this horrific situation?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, we take any allegations like that with the utmost seriousness. Allegations of sexual harassment in the military, whether with cadets or anywhere else within our armed forces, are truly disturbing, and we will act on them.
CDS will investigate and look at any allegations in this area, because this is completely unacceptable to all Canadians.
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
Mr. Speaker, la Francophonie is the most important organization in the world when it comes to promoting the French language and culture, and it plays a vital role to promote economic improvement and human rights.
Like many Canadians, I was very pleased to learn that the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean was chosen as secretary general of this prestigious organization.
Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages inform the House of the weekend activities at the summit?
Shelly Glover ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, this was a great weekend for Canada as one of our own was chosen to head up the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. We are delighted that a woman was elected to lead this organization for the first time.
The Quebec premier noted that our Prime Minister campaigned hard to help Ms. Jean's bid for the position.
We wish Michaëlle Jean much success, and we look forward to working with her to promote the French language and Canada's cultural diversity to the entire world.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, Conservatives' economic mismanagement has had grave consequences for Ontario. As good jobs have disappeared, nearly 400,000 Ontarians have been forced to rely on food banks every month. They are doing this just to put food on the table. Most shockingly, the number of Ontario families forced to walk into a food bank for the first time ever rose 20% over the last year.
Counting on food banks to feed families is not a good economic strategy. Why have the Conservatives allowed this to happen?
Candice Bergen ConservativeMinister of State (Social Development)
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts.
Under our Conservative government, we have seen a major reduction in child poverty from a high of 18% under the Liberals to 8.5% in 2011. In fact, nearly 1.4 million fewer Canadians are living in poverty under this government.
One of the reasons for that is the universal child care benefit. It is putting money directly in the hands of Canadian families.
David Morley said:
...“[This] kept money in circulation ... money goes to poorer families, and that tends to be spent on children and then it kept money circulating in the economy as well.
That kind of investment in children is so important.”
We agree with that.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, nearly 400,000 Ontarians are using food banks every month, which is all we need to know about the Conservative's economic record. This says it all.
Conservatives have let hundreds of thousands of good jobs disappear while the number of precarious jobs has increased, and 1.7 million jobs in Ontario are considered insecure. Now we have a situation in which people who are working full time need to use food banks.
Where is the government's action plan to reduce food bank use and poverty in Ontario?
Kevin Sorenson ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, our government is responding to social needs. We have increased social transfers to the provinces.
Ontario will receive $19.2 billion in federal transfers this year, an increase of 76% over the old Liberal government, with almost $2 billion through equalization, $12.3 billion through Canada health, and $4.8 billion through the Canada social transfer.
Those are transfers that help people, reduce poverty, and help find jobs.
Nycole Turmel NDP Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, when the government announced a change in direction for the homelessness partnering strategy, we knew it would mean fewer resources and more work for community organizations.
In my riding of Hull—Aylmer, a group of non-profit organizations submitted a request and Service Canada asked that the project start date be pushed to December 1. Today is December 1, and the group has yet to receive a response.
Can the minister tell us why Service Canada cannot even meet its own deadlines?
Candice Bergen ConservativeMinister of State (Social Development)
Mr. Speaker, that member is absolutely wrong. We have renewed and increased our investment in homelessness with our homelessness partnering strategy and our focus on Housing First. I am sorry that the NDP do not agree with Housing First. It is an evidenced-based model for addressing homelessness.
If the member would like to have specific information about a specific project, question period is not the time to ask about it. Come to me. We can talk about it when we have more than 35 seconds to answer a question.
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC
Mr. Speaker, it would be nice to get some real answers during question period, for once.
Community groups are worried about the change in direction for the homelessness partnering strategy. When asked, the minister herself confirmed that all of the money would be spent during phase two of the HPS. However, the projects must be completed by March 31, 2015, and many have not yet received the money.
Are the Conservatives trying to save money at the expense of the homeless yet again?
Candice Bergen ConservativeMinister of State (Social Development)
Mr. Speaker, all of that money is there. I told the member that I would explain the way this process worked to her. She did not bother coming to my office. She is not interested in real explanations, because she does not want to know the answer.
The funding is there for the homelessness partnering strategy. It is all there. We are funding it throughout the country. We are expecting great results through our Housing First initiative.
If the member is truly interested, I would be very happy to meet with you.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I remind the hon. member to address her comments to the Chair and not directly to colleagues.
The hon. member for St. Paul's.
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Mr. Speaker, last week the Auditor General severely criticized the complete lack of transparency in Nutrition North and reported that it is not even designed to make food more accessible or affordable. This is what northerners have been saying since the beginning.
Northerners are fed up with the shameless government talking points calling this program a success. Will the government finally commit to working collaboratively with northerners to design a transparent program that will help them feed their families?
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, the department will implement the Auditor General's recommendations in order to build upon the effectiveness of this program, which has already provided beneficial results for those communities, and we will continue in that direction.
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Mr. Speaker, the minister should know that the Auditor General said that the program was not effective; it is abject failure.
Rather than fixing it, ministers continue to defend the indefensible. Recent footage of residents in Rankin Inlet scavenging for food at the dump did not prompt the Minister of the Environment, their MP, to acknowledge the problem. Instead, she savagely attacked the community's deputy mayor for pointing it out.
Rather than suing community leaders, will the government finally deal with the reality that people in northern Canada cannot afford to feed their families?
Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, those allegations are completely false. If the member has any evidence of that, I would encourage her to produce that evidence so I can deal with it in the House. However, they are absolutely false.
What I can say about the food mail program is that under the Liberal government, no one knew for 30 years there was even a food subsidy going to the North. It was a Liberal decision to have the program fund an airline. The people in the north were the first. The last thing on their minds was to subsidize an airline and to subsidize a community in Quebec, Val-d'Or. There was nothing designed to support—
Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Mr. Speaker, according to the Coalition d'aide aux victimes de la pyrrhotite, there are apparently 10 new cases of pyrrhotite a week, and 4,000 people in the Mauricie region are affected.
Their properties are losing value, which is causing health and debt problems. There are even cases of suicide. Victims are calling on all elected officials for support.
What will the Conservative government do? Will it respond?
Ed Holder ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology)
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows full well, the pyrrhotite problem falls under provincial jurisdiction.
The Government of Quebec has launched a provincial program to provide financial support to owners who are struggling with pyrrhotite damage.
I encourage anyone affected by this issue to contact the Société d'habitation du Québec.