Debates of Dec. 2nd, 2014

Housing

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Minister of State (Social Development)]

Mr. Speaker, the absolute fact is all of the funding under the HPS program is available for Quebec.

As proposals come in, and as I explained to the member, there is a joint committee made up of Quebec officials and federal officials who make those decisions. Due diligence is taken to ensure that those programs and projects fit within the parameters. I would be happy to meet with her again to look at that specific project.

Again, the evidence is in that Housing First works. We have recommitted our investment and we will keep focusing on getting real results, not putting money into activists, like the NDP would like us to do.

Northern Development

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, reports of Inuit eating from landfill sites in Rankin Inlet, reports of hunger in remote Arctic communities, the Auditor General's damning report on the Nutrition North food subsidy program, and homelessness all add up to the complete neglect of Canada's northern and Arctic residents.

All the while, the minister for the Arctic threatens lawsuits and reads the daily newspaper. When will the abuse and neglect of the Inuit people stop?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the well-being of Nunavummiut and the families there is a top priority, and has always been my top priority. As an Inuk born and raised in Canada's north, I know how important access to healthy food is in our communities for our children and our families.

Developing healthy communities has been and continues to be a top priority.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, northerners are fed up with the environment minister's litany of denial. The people of Rankin Inlet are scrounging through the dump for food.

Does she think APTN hired actors to do this? Is she denying that she contacted the hamlet office demanding an apology to the Conservative Party and an endorsement of Nutrition North Canada? Is she denying that her office threatened to sue officials from Rankin Inlet?

Will the minister just put down her newspaper and do something for northerners unable to feed their families?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the well-being of Nunavummiut has always been and continues to be a priority of mine.

The allegations by the deputy mayor of Rankin Inlet regarding an apology are completely false. As an Inuk born and raised in Canada's north, I know how important it is for northerners to have access to healthy food for our children and for our families, whether that be food we buy from the store or access to country food, like seal, polar bear, whales, and so forth.

I will continue to stand up for northerners, and the food issue continues to be a priority.

Science and Technology

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative cuts to science continue to take their toll. Their cancellation of the major resource support program has put in jeopardy a national science facility here in Ottawa.

The Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility is one of the most advanced spectrometers in the world. It has been used by hundreds of researchers for wide-ranging discoveries, including vision and carbon dioxide storage.

We invested nearly $12 million to build it. Are the Conservatives really so short-sighted that they will let it die for want of $200,000?

[Ed Holder, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, our government, as this member knows, has made record investments in science, technology, and innovation, and creates jobs and opportunities and improves the lives of Canadians.

He should know that the National Research Council has come to an agreement with the University of Ottawa to ensure that research continues at the Ultrahigh-Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility for Solids over the short term. The University of Ottawa plans to transfer the research to a new facility soon. He would want to know that.

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have cut $1.7 billion from science funding over the past five years. The figures speak for themselves. The National Ultrahigh-field NMR Facility for Solids in Ottawa is another research centre that is at risk of being shut down as a result of the Conservatives' blind cuts.

This facility was built in 2005 and it still needs $200,000 to cover its annual operating costs. If this facility shuts down less than 10 years after it opened, $12 million will have been wasted. Why are the Conservatives such bad managers?

[Ed Holder, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, our government has made record investments in science, technology and innovation, which have helped create jobs and opportunities and have improved the lives of Canadians.

The National Research Council came to an agreement with the University of Ottawa to ensure that research will continue in the short term at the National Ultrahigh-field NMR Facility for Solids.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are concerned about the protection of our national security. Too often, the collective instinct is to under-react to these threats. While I do not believe that the government should overreact, I believe that a full response to these threats is necessary.

Last night, the NDP voted to block the protection of Canada from terrorists act from proceeding, despite the need to give security agencies the tools they need to do their job.

Could the Minister of Public Safety please update the House on the progress of this important legislation?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed to learn that NDP members did not support this common-sense legislation to empower our national security agencies, but I should not be surprised since they opposed the Combating Terrorism Act.

How could anyone be opposed to a measure that clarifies the powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and ensures that an accused has access to a fair and just process under all Canadian laws?

I thank my Conservatives colleagues who fortunately stand tall to keep our country safe.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, when we debated the cluster munitions bill in committee, the government suggested that investing in companies that produce cluster munitions would be considered aiding and abetting the production of these devastating weapons.

Is the government aware of a recent report by a Dutch organization called PAX, which lists two prominent Canadian financial institutions that appear to have made investments in companies producing cluster munitions? What is it prepared to do if this report is true?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights]

Mr. Speaker, our government is proud to have participated actively in the negotiations on the Convention on Cluster Munitions. We were one of the first countries to have signed on to the convention in 2008.

Our legislation fully implements Canada's commitment to the convention. It strikes a good balance between humanitarian obligations and preserving our national security and interests.

Our bill prohibits the use, deployment, possession, movement, import and export of cluster munitions, and assistance in these activities.

Status of Women

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Minister of Justice said this about December 6, the 25th anniversary of the tragedy of Polytechnique. He said that “...we may never understand what occurred, why this happened, why these women were singled out”.

We know why this happened. We know why these women were singled out. It is because they were women. That is what Marc Lepine wrote in a manifesto.

Is there anything that the minister would like to correct in his previous statement?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course they were singled out because they were women. That was exactly the point of expressing misunderstanding among anyone out there who would possibly suggest that women and girls should ever be targeted, should ever be subject to violence. That is the emphasis. We want to bring people together around stopping and putting every effort into avoiding violence, or anything that would ever put women and girls at risk.

To try to make this a partisan issue on such a day is deeply disappointing from the member.

International Development

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, like many Canadians, my constituents are concerned about the well-being of newborns, children, and new mothers in the developing world.

I was proud last weekend to see a Canadian woman, Michaëlle Jean, elected as the secretary-general of la Francophonie. I was also proud to see our Prime Minister's continued leadership in the fight to save the lives of mothers and children in the developing world.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development update this House on the announcement the Prime Minister made in Dakar, Senegal?

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Mr. Speaker, it was a great weekend for Canada as one of our own was elected to lead la Francophonie. It was also an opportunity to highlight our government's continued leadership on maternal, newborn, and child health.

On the margins of la Francophonie summit, the Prime Minister announced an enormously important contribution that will enable the immunization of an additional 300 million children, and it aims to save the lives of up to six million.

This announcement signals Canada's continued leadership in global efforts to improve the lives and the health of moms and babies.

Public Safety

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice has just asked us if there is anything he could do to avoid putting women at greater risk.

Actually, there is something that the government could do to avoid putting women or girls at risk. It could withdraw Bill C-42 that is before the House, because it would make exactly the type of assault weapon used by Marc Lepine easier to transport and easier to have in Canada. The Ruger in question should be banned instead of being easier to get and transport in Canada.

Will he withdraw Bill C-42, if he is sincere about having better protection for women in this country?

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

Mr. Speaker, I invite the opposition member to get his act together and to support a bill that would require mandatory training for anyone who wants to own or acquire a weapon, that combats domestic violence and that strengthens the standards regarding the import of illegal weapons.

We will continue to implement effective measures and standards, and we will protect Canadians. I urge the opposition member to support us.

The Environment

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Finance said that the National Energy Board alone would determine if the west-east pipeline project is safe for Canada's environment and Canadians.

In Quebec, we are not counting on the board. We are counting on the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement. That is the organization that is responsible for the environmental and safety assessments of this pipeline. It will take into consideration whether Quebeckers feel the project is acceptable and the repercussions in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Will the Minister of Finance stop aligning himself with pipeline lobbyists and commit to respecting Quebec's environmental process?

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

Mr. Speaker, unlike the opposition, we will not take a stance before the review is completed.

It is up to the National Energy Board to listen to those who are directly affected and have relevant information or knowledge in that area. We base our decisions on science and facts.

We have been clear. Projects will be studied only if they are safe for Canadians and will not harm the environment.

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

That is the end of oral questions for today.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday the member for Hamilton Centre got up in the House and said that I had lied when I told my dear friend that we would beat him in the Grey Cup.

Now that we have beaten him, can he get up and apologize to me, as I did not lie in the House?

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is a sad day for those of us in Hamilton, and an even sadder one for me at this moment.

I think we can all reflect back on the Speaker's ruling at that time, when he said that this matter, given that it was in the future, would be resolved over the weekend, and it was, although not necessarily in the way that we in Hamilton would have liked it to have been resolved.

It is with a heavy heart but with a sense of national Canadian spirit that I congratulate our competitors on winning the Grey Cup, but make no mistake: “Oskee Wee Wee”. We will be there next year.

The House resumed consideration of Bill C-43, A Second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures, as reported (with amendment) from the committee, and of the motions in Group No. 1.