Debates of Feb. 26th, 2014

Democratic Reform

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, as I said, the leader of the NDP keeps making inaccurate statements about the Elections Act.

Yesterday, he made inaccurate statements about trying to claim 73% of senators use voter identification cards, and that is not the case. He made the allegation there are no problems with those cards, when in fact problems are identified in one of six cards.

The government has presented before the House of Commons a comprehensive reform of the Elections Act. We encourage all members to examine it. We encourage the NDP members to actually read the bill and find out what is in it before asking their questions.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is not people being allowed to vote for the senators, the problem is senators being allowed to vote.

What changed between the draft rejected by the Conservative caucus and the current bill? What changed the Prime Minister's mind?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, the bill before the House of Commons is a comprehensive one.

I encourage the NDP leader to look at the facts and read this bill, which his party has so far refused to read. There is a debate, and the government and opposition will continue this debate as we work towards comprehensive electoral reform.

Infrastructure

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, economic growth in 2013 was down from the year before, which was down from the year before that, which was down from the year before that. Yet, the government's building Canada infrastructure fund is being cut by 90% this April, with full funding not to be restored until 2019.

With slowing growth, why is the Prime Minister slashing infrastructure funding now?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, speaking about reading things, last year the government presented to Parliament a new building Canada fund, which actually has a record investment over the past decade, strongly supported by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

We are very proud to be doing that. That is an important part of our economic plans going forward, and I would encourage the Liberal Party, if it has absolutely nothing to suggest, to at least vote for the positive things that people support.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is the worst record since R.B. Bennett. It is no wonder that these guys do not understand that adding one point to our growth is $4 billion to the government's bottom line.

The mayors of Canada's largest cities are in Ottawa today, just in time to see the PM slash their infrastructure funding.

How out of touch has the Prime Minister become? With slowing growth and crumbling infrastructure, he thinks that now is the time to slash 90% off an infrastructure program that Canadian communities depend on.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what is out of touch is the Liberal leader, who thinks that a budget will balance itself.

His statement betrays his lack of understanding of the economy and his disconnection from the realities of the Canadian middle class. The reality is that this government, coming out of the recession, has the best growth, the best employment record, the best record on taxes and on debt of any major G7 country, and we are determined to continue to do that.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the only infrastructure these guys seem to have invested in is the lunch delivery infrastructure of the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesdays.

We are starting to see that the Prime Minister has a habit of not following through on his promises, so let us take a look at what he does do.

While the mayors of Canada's biggest cities are in Ottawa today, will the Prime Minister explain why he is making cuts to the infrastructure funding our cities so desperately need?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last year, the government presented an infrastructure plan for the coming decades that totalled $70 billion over ten years. That is a record and it received strong support from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

It is unfortunate that the Liberal Party opposes that program, but it is strongly supported by the Conservative members.

Democratic Reform

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, who is responsible for electoral reform in the Prime Minister's Office?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, under our system of government, cabinet, of course, is collectively responsible for the legislation it presents before the House of Commons. All of us strongly support that legislation, and that legislation is being led very articulately by the Minister of State for Democratic Reform.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, did anyone from the Prime Minister's Office speak with anyone from Conservative Party headquarters about changes to the Elections Act?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Maybe, Mr. Speaker, they even spoke to Osama bin Laden.

The leader of the NDP keeps descending into these conspiracy theories. There is a bill before the House of Commons. The government's proposals are clear. Whether the opposition members agree with them or not, they should at least read them, understand them, and we can have a debate.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, The Conservatives want to increase donations by exactly $300.

How did the Prime Minister arrive at a $300 increase? What is the basis for his decision?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as you well know, the government has put a limit on private donations. At the same time, if we want to eliminate automatic taxpayer transfers to Canadian political parties, we have to ensure that parties are supported and funded by their own supporters.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, did anybody from the Prime Minister's Office or from the Conservative Party use Conservative donor records to determine that the augmentation should be $300?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I really do not know how one would do that.

The bill proposes modest increases in the amount of money people can contribute to political parties and riding associations. We believe these amounts of money are sufficient to allow political parties to finance it themselves while at the same time being in a position where they are not beholden to individual contributors. That is how we selected that particular amount.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the unfair elections act would ban the use of voter cards and vouching as a form of ID. Why?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I have explained and as the Minister of State for Democratic Reform has explained multiple times, a large percentage of voter ID cards contain inaccuracies, one in six. There are 39 other pieces of ID that are allowed that are much more appropriate.

Vouching, the idea of voting without having ID at all, is obviously problematic. The Neufeld report and others have identified the capacity for fraud that it entails. That is obviously not appropriate, which is why we are making these changes.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has had a day to check on this. Is there any evidence that voter cards or vouching have actually been used to commit voter fraud? Has a single case been investigated or prosecuted?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

The answer, Mr. Speaker, is yes, but in any case, the more disturbing issue is that we actually would not know if that were the case. We do know from the data that is available to us that these forms of voting are subject to the potential of widespread irregularity, which is why Canadians expect us to make sure that voting in this country is always valid.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the names and addresses on voter cards come directly from the voters' list. If there is a problem, fix that. Do not get away from using that as a way of identifying oneself.

Seventy-three per cent of seniors living in residences use their Elections Canada voter card as a piece of ID when they vote. Why does the Prime Minister want to make it more difficult for seniors to vote?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I see that the Leader of the Opposition is now changing his incorrect statistics from yesterday.

In the case of seniors who live in residences, they can use identification such as an attestation of residence letter of stay, admission form, statement of benefits, or hospital bracelets in the case of hospital care facilities.

Under the act, not only will Elections Canada frequently establish actual voting booths in these particular residences, it will go room to room to enable people to vote.

There are all kinds of IDs--

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, voters who use vouching to prove their identity in order to vote have to give their name and address.

Does the Prime Minister know many fraudsters who give their name and address?