Debates of Dec. 9th, 2014

Citizenship and Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a tragedy that the NDP terms 22,000 Syrians and Iraqis resettled in this country in recent years as “doing nothing”.

Is he really going to stand up in this Christmas season and say to Canadians that they have done nothing by being more generous than any country in the world? Is he going to stand up, face 50 million plus refugees and the internally displaced millions who fled their homes to save their very lives in Iraq and Syria, and say that he and his party will do absolutely nothing to save them from ISIL's brutality, to work together with our allies against terrorism?

Agriculture and Agri-food

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign in my riding of Yellowhead, farmers came to me time and time again saying that they did not understand the policies of the Liberals and the NDP. They are stuck in the past holding on to antiquated ideas: grain monopolies that prohibit marketing freedom. I am proud to say to them that our government stands for the western Canadian grain sector.

Could the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food please tell this House the latest measures our government is taking to modernize the grain sector?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank and congratulate my colleague from Yellowhead for that question. He is absolutely right. No one in western Canada understands what these guys mean when they talk agriculture policy. They really do not have any.

Today our government took another step in modernizing Canada's grain industry with the introduction of Bill C-48. This legislation would enhance producer protections and improve grain quality and safety assurances to our customers around the world. It would also modernize the Canadian Grain Commission to make it more responsive to the needs of farmers in this great era of marketing freedom. Of course, the opposition's only policy would be to take that away.

The Environment

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that he would not regulate GHG emissions from the oil and gas sector.

Will the Prime Minister confirm that he is in fact breaking his promise to regulate the oil and gas sector?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government has been pursuing a sector by sector regulatory approach. We have integrated our regulations in the transport sector with the United States. In the electricity sector, we have been ahead of and gone much further than the United States.

I have been very clear in terms of regulating the oil and gas sector. It is something we would like to do but that we must do on an integrated basis in a continental economy.

Frankly, under the current circumstances of the oil and gas sector, it would be crazy economic policy to do unilateral penalties on that sector. We are clearly not going to do it.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, back in 2007, the Prime Minister promised in the House to “...bring in a national system of regulations for the control of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution”.

Now, as countries from around the world act, including the largest emitters act, such as China and the U.S., this Prime Minister and government are letting Canadians down.

Will the Prime Minister live up to his promise?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

In fact, Mr. Speaker, nobody in the world is regulating their oil and gas sector. I would be delighted if they did. Canada would be there with them. However, we will not impose unilateral penalties.

Let me be very clear on the difference with this side of the House. Our commitment to Canadians is that we will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while preserving, protecting, and growing Canadian jobs.

That is our commitment. That is what we will continue to do. We will not kill jobs and we will not impose the carbon tax the opposition wants to put on Canadians.

Veterans

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives cannot just leave $1 billion on the table when our veterans do not even have access to the care and services they were promised. Nor should they close nine regional centres and fire 1,000 people who provide care and services to veterans while at the same time they give managers bonuses.

Will the Prime Minister finally realize that veterans have lost confidence in this minister, who refuses to admit his mistakes?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, in fact there are back office positions in almost every segment of Veterans Affairs Canada.

A few examples of the efficiencies that we have created include stopping asking veterans to show their receipts for all kinds of transactions that had to be processed. That saved 100 hundred positions. In the disability branch program, 12 photocopy and processing clerks were reduced when we moved to digitized records.

We make no apologies for the reductions in bureaucratic waste of taxpayers' dollars and turning those into benefits for veterans and their families.

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

Mr. Speaker, when young men and women from Canada go off to war, they and their families need to know that their government and country will care for them in the event they become physically disabled, mentally challenged, or make the ultimate sacrifice.

Yesterday, I asked the Minister of Veterans Affairs, does the government have a sacred obligation to care for them? He would not answer it.

My question is directly for the Prime Minister of Canada. Does the Prime Minister of Canada believe that the government has a judicial, legal, moral, and social obligation to care for the heroes of our country?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our record shows that we care deeply about the welfare and well-being of our veterans and their families. Under the leadership of this Prime Minister, our government has made substantial improvements to the new veterans charter and the supports available for veterans.

The government does not comment on matters before the courts, except to say that this matter deals exclusively with something that all parties agreed to under the previous government.

Public Safety

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to ask but fail to receive answers from the Minister of Public Safety on why agencies under his authority are failing to act to protect Canadians from known terrorists who have returned home to Canada. The minister confirmed that they violated the law. This definitely is not about a lack of laws. It is about a lack of government resolve to enforce the law.

Why is the government failing to act to keep Canadians safe from such terrorists returning home to Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that has passed the Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act. I am proud to be sitting in the House with members who support more measures.

What will the opposition do? Will it be a part of this journey to fight terrorists, to fight those travelling fighters? Is the opposition ready to provide the tools to our law enforcement and national security agencies?

On this side of the House we are protecting Canadians.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment must be very pleased with herself. Yesterday, her own department contradicted her assertion that we are on target to meet our 2020 commitments. Last week, the senior diplomat in the world chastised Canada for its failure to show leadership on climate change. Today, we learned that Canada is 58th out of 61 countries on climate change progress. Thank goodness for Saudi Arabia and Iran, otherwise we would be dead last.

If we are only 2% of the problem, why is it that we are only 0% of the solution?

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

That is ridiculous, Mr. Speaker.

Under the Liberals, greenhouse gas emissions rose 30%. Our government is reducing emissions while supporting economic growth and job creation, and we are achieving this without damaging the economy like the Liberals and the NDP would do with their job-killing carbon tax.

In 2012, greenhouse gas emissions were 5.1% lower than in 2005, while the economy grew 10.6% during the same period. Canada's 2020 greenhouse gas emissions are projected to be 130 megatonnes lower than they would have been under the Liberals.

Intergovernmental Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is coming to Ottawa because the Conservatives are backing away from a promise they made to our province. The Conservatives committed to $280 million in compensation after they bargained away our minimum processing requirements in CETA negotiations. They have since been trying to break that promise. What is the deal now? The fishery fund was announced more than two years ago with money that was to be spent on research and marketing.

Is the $280 million on the table for Newfoundland and Labrador, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government remains committed to working out the details of the MPR fund with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. This minimum processing requirement fund was to compensate for anticipated losses from the removal of minimum processing requirements. It was never intended as a blank cheque that would give Newfoundland and Labrador an unfair advantage over other maritime provinces.

We remain open to receiving proposals from our provincial counterparts on how to implement the minimum processing requirement fund.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Liberals who said that at some point we needed to see what it is we are supporting, the NDP is taking the responsible approach of waiting for all the details, including promised compensation, before approving this deal.

As our leader said, we support free trade agreements that reduce tariffs and eliminate obstacles to trade. However, even European investors are against the investor state dispute settlement mechanism. Furthermore, the European Union and the United States have already agreed to set aside this mechanism even before they begin negotiations.

In that case, why are the Conservatives going to so much trouble to impose such a mechanism?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as with all of our free trade agreements, in CETA we have arrived at a good balance, promoting Canada's interests on the world stage and opening up new markets for Canada's exporters and investors.

This trade agreement with the European Union is expected to create 80,000 new jobs in Canada. That is an additional $12 billion worth of economic activity in our country.

We are standing up for Canadians. We will take no lessons from the NDP.

Taxation

[Pat Perkins, Conservative, Whitby—Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, constituents in my riding of Whitby—Oshawa know that only our Conservative government will help Canadian families by putting their money back where it belongs—in their pockets.

Can the Minister of Employment please update the House on the various measures our government has put in place to help families from coast to coast to coast?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me join all of our colleagues in welcoming the hon. member for Whitby—Oshawa to the House of Commons. We know that the member was elected by the hard-working voters of Whitby—Oshawa in part to deliver the family tax cut, the tax cut that will benefit 100% of Canadian families with kids under the age of 18. Two-thirds of its benefits will go to low- and modest-income families.

In fact, did members know that a single parent making $50,000 with two kids will see $1,000 in relief and benefits, and families earning less than $30,000 will see $1,200 in benefits—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Markham—Unionville.

Citizenship and Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, today the United Nations asked countries to commit to taking 100,000 more refugees from Syria, not Iraq, and Canada's commitment was zero. Nothing at all beyond the pathetic 1,300 that we have already committed to.

My question is why has the government reneged on the long-standing commitment of Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments to provide refuge to the oppressed of the world?

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

Mr. Speaker, it says a lot about the hon. member and the party that he represents that he would turn the 22,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees settled in recent years in this country pathetic.

Canada has done more than its part. Canada will continue to do more. What would save millions of more lives in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere is coordinated action with Arab and NATO allies to oppose ISIL terrorism, to to make this winter safer for millions of people who had to leave their houses and are running to save their very lives. That is what this government has been prepared to do.

We still cannot understand why the Liberal Party—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order.

The hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île.