Debates of Dec. 11th, 2014

Canadian Wheat Board

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, this is not a political process, as we said when we put that bill forward in October 2011. This is following the timeline and following the outline that was prescribed within that.

The directors at the Wheat Board have decided to expedite to bring stability to what it is offering western Canadian farmers predominately, but it has increased its footprint across Canada with the purchase of Mission Terminal and loading facilities in Quebec. Should that come to fruition in the coming months or in the couple of years that they have in that timeline, bringing that stability would be a wonderful thing,.

As to bonuses and so on, that is certainly in the purview of the Wheat Board, not mine.

National Defence

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Poland's defence minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, says that there has been unprecedented activity by Russia's navy and air force in the Baltic Sea region in recent days.

He also says that this is evidence of Russia's testing and probing of NATO and that this does not in any way help to build good relations and trust.

Given this spike in activity, would the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence please update this House on Canada's contribution to NATO's Ukrainian assurance measures?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Etobicoke Centre for his great support for Ukraine.

There has indeed been increased activity in the Baltic Sea region by Russian forces, and our CF-18 pilots continue to witness it first-hand. Yesterday morning, two CF-18 Hornets based in Lithuania were scrambled to respond to non-NATO aircraft off the Baltic coast and intercepted a Russian transport aircraft and a Russian surveillance plane.

This time, however, these Russian planes had an escort: four Russian MiG-31 Foxhound fighter jets. Our CF-18s shadowed this Russian formation for approximately an hour.

Let there be no mistake: Canada continues to stand with our NATO allies in the face of Russian military aggression.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister showed up at the UPA convention empty-handed. He also created uncertainty among farmers and cheese producers by saying that if they suffer any losses as a result of the Canada-European Union trade agreement, they would be compensated. In Brussels, when the Prime Minister promised compensation, there was no “if” or “maybe”.

The uncertainty this government is creating is affecting investments. Cheese producers simply want to know exactly how the government is going to evaluate losses.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate and thank the parliamentary secretary. While at the UPA convention, he represented the government very well and defended our cheese producers and the dairy industry in general, because over here, we keep our word.

We signed an agreement and people in the dairy industry will be compensated. They were very pleased to hear that from the parliamentary secretary. We are there for our farmers, and we will continue to stand up for them.

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

Mr. Speaker, if that is a promise, let us see the details in writing.

I would remind Conservatives that they also promised to compensate Newfoundland and Labrador for giving up rules that protect our fish processing jobs. What happened to that promise?

Tomorrow, the premier is coming to Ottawa to meet with the Prime Minister to find out what happened. Will the Prime Minister agree to honour the terms of the commitment he made, or will this be a replay of the foot-dragging, promise-breaking, disrespect, and contempt that Conservatives showed to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with the Atlantic accord?

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, the member should better inform himself on this file. The fund was created to compensate for anticipated losses from the removal of minimum processing requirements. The fund was never intended as a blank cheque that would give the industry in Newfoundland and Labrador an unfair advantage over other Atlantic provinces.

The Canada-European Union trade agreement represents an unprecedented opportunity for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and it would be a shame for anything to interfere with that. We have been very clear from the start that the MPR fund was to compensate for demonstrated losses.

Canada Post

[Isabelle Morin, NDP, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Lachine post office, which is in my riding, was one of the first post offices to close as a result of the Conservatives' cuts.

When the government announced that there would be no more door-to-door mail delivery, citizens' complaints ballooned. People with reduced mobility, seniors, hundreds of municipalities and all Canadians want this service.

Will the Conservatives finally listen to Canadians for once and keep door-to-door mail delivery?

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

Mr. Speaker, I remind the member that the decision with respect to home delivery is that of Canada Post, an independent arm's length crown corporation. It did so as part of its five-point plan in response to the fact that it delivered 1.2 billion fewer letters in 2013 when compared to 2006.

I remind the member that, as it does this, two-thirds of Canadians currently do not have door-to-door delivery. Canada Post, in terms of balancing its finances, has a responsibility to do so. We expect it to do so without being a burden to taxpayers.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last year, one hour after the Canada Post announcement, the Minister of Transport announced in a press release that she agreed with the decision. Thus, it is not true that the corporation is at arm's length.

It has been one year since the Conservatives decided to disregard the well-being of Canadians by eliminating home mail delivery. While other countries such as Germany are retooling their postal services by adding banking services, Canada and the Conservatives are attacking a service that Canadians appreciate.

One year after this tragic announcement, have the Conservatives finally heard the people's justifiable anger?

Do they understand that this has a direct impact on municipalities and people with reduced mobility?

Do they understand that Canada Post is profitable?

Will they keep home mail delivery?

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

Mr. Speaker, again, this is another message brought to us by CUPW. I am sure it wrote that for the member opposite.

Let us be clear. Canada Post has posted three consecutive years of losses. That is primarily because it is delivering a significant amount less mail than it was only years ago, 1.2 billion fewer letters. It has a responsibility under law to operate in a way that is financially sustainable. It has taken action with respect to a five-point plan. We expect it to do that without being a burden to taxpayers.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, according to the Prime Minister, it is crazy to keep his Copenhagen promises and regulate the oil and gas industry at any price per barrel.

What is even more crazy is to blow off presidents Obama and Holland and Prime Minister Cameron and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It is crazy to blow off the Lima climate change conference. It is crazy to embarrass his minister. Mind you, she does a pretty good job of it all by herself.

Why not just keep this crazy train going, and actually regulate the oil and gas industry?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister said, Canada would not take unilateral action and impose taxes and monetary penalties on the oil and gas sector.

Let us take a look at the Liberals' record. When they were in power, they signed on to the Kyoto accord without any plan, without any details, and we saw greenhouse gases go up 30%.

We are working with our partners in the United States so that we take a North American solution to this. We have always said we would like to work together with the United States, and we are going to do it without a job-killing carbon tax.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the government's failure to champion strong environmental policies is damaging our economy and killing jobs.

Its neo-Conservative ideology is hindering the ability of our exporters to get their products to market. When the Prime Minister broke his promise to regulate greenhouse gases, he once again damaged the petroleum sector.

What kind of crazy economics is that?

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

Mr. Speaker, what would be crazy is the Liberals' plan.

As I said earlier, they would take unilateral action to impose taxes and monetary penalties on the oil and gas sector. They would act unilaterally to impose a job-killing carbon tax. They would gamble with 275,000 jobs.

We are not going to do that. We are going to support hard-working Canadians because we believe on this side that we are the only party that can be trusted to lower greenhouse gas emissions while growing the economy.

That is real leadership.

Public Safety

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the $687 million in cuts to public safety are having a serious impact on Canadians' safety. The Conservative government is getting ready to abolish the intensive supervision program for offenders at high risk of reoffending. We are talking about preventing sex offenders, bikers and mobsters from being released back into society without strict supervision.

The program is to come to an end on December 31, which is completely unacceptable. This is a program that has proven to be very effective.

Will the minister recognize his mistake and reconsider his decision?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, it would have been nice to have the NDP's support when we increased police resources by one-third in consecutive budgets. We did the same for the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. We have increased the number of Canada Border Services Agency officers by nearly 26%.

The Conservatives are eager to get a Christmas present from the NDP and have them support us when the time comes to invest in improving Canadians' safety.

Status of Women

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

Mr. Speaker, despite the answer from the Minister of Status of Women yesterday, the reality is that the government's so-called action plan to end violence against aboriginal women ignores women living in northern communities.

Inuit women are 11 times more likely to be victims of violent crimes, 11 times. Does the minister agree that it is not just about supporting victims, and that more needs to be done to address the causes of violence in northern communities?

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, this government has been acting and doing a significant number of things to make sure we are standing up for victims and punishing criminals.

Let me list some: a victims bill of rights act, a DNA-based missing persons index, new laws to protect victims and make sure that those who are being harassed know that those who are harassing them will be put behind bars, a new bill on zero tolerance for barbaric practices, our Safe Streets and Communities Act.

Our government is acting for northern Canadians and Canadians across the country. Why are they not supporting us in doing so?

National Defence

[Bradley Trost, Conservative, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the government continues to provide regular updates to Canadians in this House on Operation Impact and the ongoing efforts of our forces to confront and degrade the military capabilities of the terrorist group ISIL.

Unlike the previous Liberal government who sent armed forces to Afghanistan without a debate or vote in Parliament, this government put forward a motion, which clearly defines the motives, parameters, and goals of Canada's contribution to fight ISIL.

As we come to the end of this parliamentary sitting, could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence please, once again, update the House on Operation Impact?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Saskatoon—Humboldt is correct. Our government has facilitated multiple technical briefings from the military for Canadians on the mission in Iraq. We have also made numerous statements in this House regarding our air strikes.

In that tradition, I can confirm that yesterday our CF-18s dropped a bomb on an ISIL vehicle checkpoint about 250 kilometres to the southwest of Mosul.

Unlike the Liberals, who did not even bother consulting Parliament when they sent our armed forces to Afghanistan, our government has been open and transparent with Canadians.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, we know the government has done nothing with the Cohen commission report. We know it has devastated fish habitat protection and scientific research on the west coast. We also know the importance that Justice Cohen placed on the migratory paths of the Fraser River sockeye.

Is the government going to allow the expansion of aquaculture facilities in the migratory path of the sockeye, or will it wait until the crucial research being done by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is completed?

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

Mr. Speaker, B.C. salmon is very important to our government, as it is to all British Columbians. When my parliamentary secretary first proposed the motion calling for a judicial inquiry into the decline of the Fraser River sockeye back in 2004, it was the Liberals that teamed up with the Bloc Québecois to vote it down.

I am very happy to report that the Fraser River sockeye returns are very strong this year. The final end season run for Fraser sockeye was nearly 20 million fish. We have introduced several measures that are consistent with recommendations from Justice Cohen.

CBC/Radio-Canada

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when we can relate to the news, when it talks about who we are and what is happening in our communities, that makes for an interesting newscast.

Today we heard that regional newscasts will be cut in half. In the Saguenay, Rimouski, Fredericton and Calgary, newscasts will be cut from one hour to 30 minutes. The government is slowly killing our public broadcaster, literally. We are talking about CBC/Radio-Canada's mandate here.

How can the minister stand by while the regions lose half of their regional newscasts? Why is she treating us like second-class citizens?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not the case. The CBC is solely responsible for its day-to-day operations, including decisions with respect to programming and with respect to human resource management.

Our government respects the CBC's independence as an arm's-length crown corporation. It would be nice to hear, before Christmas, the NDP agree with us on that point.