Debates of Dec. 8th, 2014

Veterans

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have closed nine regional veterans offices, gutted the department and fired front-line staff that helped veterans access disability, health and pension services. To make matters worse, the Conservatives doled out bonuses to senior officials for making those devastating cuts. Unbelievably, the minister stands in this place and says that he is proud of the cuts.

Our veterans deserve better. Will the Prime Minister stop making excuses, respect our veterans and fire that minister?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as an example of the efficiencies we have created, we have transferred service delivery to some 600 Service Canada offices, closed a few offices and relocated them to Service Canada offices in the very same building.

Over the past 21 weeks, there have been 475 visits to those offices. To put that in perspective, it equates to 22 visits a week when averaged across the entire eight locations, or three per day across the entire network. Some offices get no traffic at all.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the only reason that I, as a Dutch foreign Canadian, get to stand on Canadian soil is because 5,700 Canadians and our allies are laying beneath Dutch soil.

When we send our heroes off to war, they expect to be cared for, and their families, when they come back injured, either physically or mentally. Yet, the government is spending thousands of dollars on lawyers defending the argument that there is no moral or social contract to care for our veteran community.

My question to the minister is very simple. Yes or no, do you or do you not believe, through you Mr. Speaker, that you have a fiduciary, legal, moral or social obligation to our veterans?

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I did mention last week that just because a member says “through you, Mr. Speaker” but continues to use the second person, it is still inappropriate.

I will give the hon. Minister of Veterans Affairs an opportunity to respond.

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think that caring for our veterans is an exclusive entitlement of that member or anyone else for that matter. We all care deeply about our veterans, their sacrifice, their contribution and what they mean to us as a Canadian society.

It would be imprudent for me to enter into a matter that is presently being dealt with before the courts. The beginning of all of this started in 2006, and I do not think I should infuse myself into it at this time.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, we are still waiting for the final signature of the Canada-European Union economic agreement. The longer it takes to finalize the agreement, the greater the chances that detractors could cause it to fail. That is what the NDP leader tried to do this weekend at a conference in Paris.

The government seems incapable of finalizing the agreement. Why the paralysis?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I reject the premise of that question. However, it is really sad that the leader of the NDP was in France, undermining our job creating trade agreement with Europe.

As reported by Le Devoir, the NDP leader said “Europe must not be bound by this agreement”. This statement comes just weeks after the NDP voted against the Canada-EU trade agreement.

Canadians from coast to coast to coast are supportive of this agreement because they understand that increased trade creates jobs. Despite all the smoke and mirrors, the NDP remains fundamentally opposed to trade and investment.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, government delays in finalizing CETA are putting the agreement at risk. Last month, France's national assembly and senate both passed non-binding anti-CETA motions. This weekend, the leader of the NDP poured fuel on the fire, attacking this essential agreement at a socialist conference in Paris.

Could the minister tell the House exactly what the government is doing to get this deal done, and when this much ballyhooed agreement will finally be completed?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows that we are working hard to bring this agreement into force.

It is not the first time the NDP has gone abroad to advocate against Canadian interests. It did it last week in Paris. Members may recall not long ago that the NDP leader was in the United States, bashing Canadians, speaking out against the Keystone XL pipeline, and encouraging Americans not to do business with Canada.

The actions of the leader of the NDP are shameful and he should apologize for this appalling lack of judgement.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, under the CETA agreement, the Conservative government committed $280 million to a federal investment fund to Newfoundland and Labrador to properly offset the loss of revenue in the fishery. Now the feds are pulling back. The Conservatives are dancing around this commitment and they have signed no agreement.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians supported the CETA trade agreement and they took the government at its word. Where is the $280 million in compensation that you promised Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Again, I will just remind the member to avoid using the second person, and to ask questions through the Chair.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue and for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member already knows that the Canada-European Union trade agreement is by far the most ambitious trade agreement ever. CETA will bring benefits to every region of our country by opening new markets for Canadian businesses and creating new jobs for Canadian workers.

Like Canada, the EU is committed to bringing CETA into force as quickly as possible so workers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, including Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, can benefit from increased trade, opportunities and job creation.

National Defence

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, just two months ago, the Conservatives brought a motion allowing for potential military operations in Syria. DND officials were working “feverishly” to clear away legal hurdles to combat in Syria. Now the minister has announced that Canada will not operate outside of Iraq at this time. It seems the legal case for intervention in Syria could not be made.

Will the minister confirm that this is the case and clarify whether Syria is off the table for good, or just for now?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member and, indeed, the entire House that the operations we are doing in Iraq are well defined by the motion that the House passed just a couple of weeks ago. We have been clear that our mission does not involve ground troops and that we will continue to only function in the fashion defined by the motion accepted by Parliament.

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a reason that most of our allies decided not to carry out air strikes in Syria.

Let me set the record straight. The Prime Minister said that if Canada had clear support from the government, it would proceed with strikes against the Islamic State in Syria.

However, now the Minister of Defence is telling us that he has no plans to take action in Syria.

What exactly does that mean? Bashar al-Assad said no?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is resolved to ensure that Canada does its part to confront and degrade ISIL and its capability to commit mass atrocities. The terrorist group ISIL represents not only a serious threat to the region, but to Canada as well. It has issued calls for targeted attacks against several countries, including Canada.

The current mission is a six-month deployment. The clock on this deployment began after the vote in Parliament, which expressed the support of the House for this mission. Any extension of the current mission or changes in the deployment will be brought before the House for debate.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the humanitarian crisis in Syria is getting worse, and aid is drying up. The UN Refugee Agency has identified 380,000 Syrians as in need of resettlement.

Tomorrow, the international community will gather at a conference in Geneva with the goal of resettling 100,000 refugees by the end of 2016. Will Canada make a strong commitment to take in more refugees?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we have already made the strongest commitment on a per capita basis, of any nation, to taking refugees from both Syria and Iraq. We are proud of that. The numbers continue to grow, and they will be growing strongly into 2015.

What we are not happy about is that we in this government sit in the House every day and face an opposition that refuses to to lift a finger in terms of military action to help the millions of people displaced by this conflict, the millions of people who have been forced to cross borders, forced to flee for their very lives. That is not going to help refugees in Iraq and Syria. That is why Canada—

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us start by respecting the little commitments that have been made.

The Secretary General of Amnesty International is wondering why just 163 of the 2,343 private sponsorship applications for refugees have been processed so far. He has not been able to get an answer because he has not been able to talk to the minister about the crisis.

What is the government doing to speed up processing of applications from Syrian refugees?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we are wondering why Amnesty International and the opposition are not congratulating us on having resettled 22,000 refugees in Canada since the beginning of these crises in Iraq and Syria. That is a record.

The opposition still has a hard time even saying the word “Iraq”, and yet more refugees have fled Iraq in the past two years than have fled from neighbouring countries and Syria or have been internally displaced in Iraq.

Once again, we are wondering why the NDP and the Liberals do not want to do anything in terms of military action.

Public Safety

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are extremely concerned about the threat posed by terrorism.

Yesterday, the radical terrorist organization known as the Islamic State issued a propaganda video including a Canadian who has travelled overseas to engage in terrorist activities. This individual commanded all those who live in Canada to either pack their bags and travel to Islamic state or to follow the example of the terrorist who attacked Canada in late October.

Could the Minister of Public Safety please update the House on what our Conservative government is doing to protect Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, terrorism is a real threat, and Canadians must remain vigilant.

That is why we joined a coalition to fight terrorism and drive out barbarism here and abroad. We remain firmly committed to ensuring that entire populations can live in safety.

We will also continue to implement measures here in Canada. We plan to introduce new legislation to keep Canadians safe.

Correctional Service of Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, the government clearly learned nothing from Ashley Smith's tragic death. Other deaths also could have been prevented.

Edward Christopher Snowshoe, who was 24 and also struggling with mental health issues, took his own life after 162 consecutive days in solitary confinement. That is nearly six months in solitary.

When will the minister finally take action and provide better mental health care in our prisons in order to prevent other tragedies like this one?

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

Mr. Speaker, we look forward to receiving the recommendations of the Correctional Service of Canada arising from the report on the tragic death of this young woman. We have already put several measures in place to address mental health issues in our prisons.

At the same time, we are ensuring that dangerous people remain behind bars. We believe that people with mental health problems should not be in prison. They should be in psychiatric hospitals. That is why we are working with the provincial authorities in this regard.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us try this again.

Edward Snowshoe needed treatment for depression. Instead, he was left in solitary confinement for 162 days, and then he finally took his own life. The Correctional Investigator has repeatedly warned of the danger of the overuse of solitary confinement. I do not know what recommendations the minister is waiting for.

Instead of making sure that people get the treatment they need, Conservative ideology leaves them stuck in solitary confinement. How many more incidents like this do we have to have before the Conservatives finally listen to the Correctional Investigator and put an end to this practice?