House of Commons Hansard #40 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was banks.

Topics

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

Tony Clement Conservative Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON

He is going to blow.

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK

Stand back, he is going to blow.

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

An hon. member

Breathe.

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin

Order. I cannot hear the member speaking.

Please continue.

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Mr. Speaker, it is pretty hard to breathe when they want to take everything away from the Atlantic. It is pretty hard to breathe when we have members of Parliament who do not listen to the interests of New Brunswick. It is pretty hard to breathe when we see the Atlantic going down the tubes.

My question is to the minister. When is she going to get up for the interests of New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada?

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Halton Ontario

Conservative

Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that my response will be founded more on fact than it will be founded on emotion, but what I will tell the member is that CN has offered up for sale that portion of the line that the hon. member has indicated is up for discontinuance. It is up for private sector cooperation. It is also there for the province or the municipalities to purchase the line. If there is passenger and freight service on that line, I am sure somebody will step up and take advantage of the opportunity.

TaxationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

Joan Crockatt Conservative Calgary Centre, AB

Mr. Speaker, this is an amazing country. We have charitable organizations at work providing crucial support to our communities. In my own city of Calgary, I am proud to say there are 2,200 registered charities, and they provide important things like support for individuals, like helping new immigrants to resettle, like providing sports programs for our kids.

Now, charities cannot continue their work without donations. Will the Minister of National Revenue please tell us what this government is doing to promote donations from generous Canadians?

TaxationOral Questions

3 p.m.

Delta—Richmond East B.C.

Conservative

Kerry-Lynne Findlay ConservativeMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Calgary Centre for the opportunity to recognize the good work of Canadian charities.

In economic action plan 2013, this government proudly introduced the first-time donor super credit. This provides an extra 25% to first-time donors in addition to existing federal and provincial credits. In 2012 tax relief from charitable donations was over $2.9 billion. We want to see that number grow so that Canadian charities can continue to provide the very welcomed support for our communities.

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

3 p.m.

Liberal

Ralph Goodale Liberal Wascana, SK

Mr. Speaker, reports say a pro-democracy demonstrator in Ukraine was quite literally crucified at the hands of the Yanukovych regime.

The world needs to be more emphatic in its outrage. Canadian visa restrictions on unnamed officials who may not seek to come to Canada anyway are probably not sufficient. Are tough personal sanctions targeted precisely at Yanukovych and his henchmen being developed? What work has been done so far with the U.S. and other allies to devise a plan to freeze their assets and prevent their foreign travel?

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

3 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, obviously we are watching with horror what we see going across Ukraine. We are deeply concerned about the actions of the senior leadership in this regard. That is why the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration placed visa restrictions and visa bans on a number of senior officials who we believe hold some responsibility for these actions.

I can tell the member opposite that we are working closely with the United States and with the European Union and others on what our next steps will be to crack down on the deplorable actions that we see taking place in Ukraine.

EmploymentOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Mr. Speaker, two organizations in my riding, Carrefour jeunesse emploi and the Community Futures Development Corporation, are facing lengthy processing times for their applications to the skills link program.

It seems to be a common issue across Quebec. Projects could be in jeopardy, and our youth will suffer the consequences.

Will the Minister of Employment clean up his department so that young people in Berthier—Maskinongé and elsewhere can access the labour market?

EmploymentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Calgary Southeast Alberta

Conservative

Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism

Mr. Speaker, our government has made unprecedented investments in job training and in job training for youth across our country in particular. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on this. I am not up on each of the thousands of applications for funding, but I will talk to my officials.

Public SafetyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Conservative

John Carmichael Conservative Don Valley West, ON

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Bell Canada reported that the information of over 20,000 users was compromised in a cyberattack. As more and more day-to-day activities of Canadians migrate online, it becomes more important than ever to secure information online. Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety please tell this House what the government is doing to keep Canadians safe online?

Public SafetyOral Questions

3 p.m.

Scarborough Centre Ontario

Conservative

Roxanne James ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, it was our government that brought in Canada's first cybersecurity strategy. Canadians should know that the previous Liberal government took no action on this file. In fact, they then proceeded to vote against this initiative with the help of their NDP buddies.

Our government takes cybersecurity extremely seriously and operates on the advice of security experts. In fact, our government recently made significant investments of $245 million in our cybersecurity strategy designed to protect consumers and defend against electronic threats, hacking, and cyberespionage.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe NDP Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' irresponsible cuts to health care for refugees are endangering not only asylum seekers with serious illnesses, but also pregnant women and children.

The situation is such a big problem that doctors were forced to dispute these changes in court, and the provinces decided to take on the costs for humanitarian reasons.

Will the minister finally listen to his partners and reverse these dangerous and inhumane cuts?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Ajax—Pickering Ontario

Conservative

Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to listen to the Canadian taxpayers and voters who were very passionate in calling for a reform of our asylum system and who are very happy to see an 87% decrease in refugee claims from safe countries. That is a good outcome.

We have never prohibited refugees with refugee status from receiving generous health care benefits, but fraudulent claimants should not benefit from the generosity of Canadian taxpayers.

EthicsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Bloc

Jean-François Fortin Bloc Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC

Mr. Speaker, last Friday, the government quietly announced that Conrad Black was being removed from the Privy Council, but it remained completely silent about another problem appointment to a select group that, in theory, is supposed to advise the Prime Minister.

Arthur Porter, the former president of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, who still refuses to be held accountable on charges of fraud, is still a member of the Privy Council.

I would remind members that he was appointed by the Prime Minister himself, with the support of the NDP and the Liberals.

When will the Prime Minister kick Arthur Porter out of the Privy Council?

EthicsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Oak Ridges—Markham Ontario

Conservative

Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, of course I addressed this on Friday. Proceedings are under way, and it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Green

Bruce Hyer Green Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, I joined the northwestern Ontario veterans to mourn the closure of the Thunder Bay veterans office. Thunder Bay—Superior North and everyone in my riding stand firmly behind our veterans and against this reckless decision, but Conservatives closed eight Canadian centres on Friday.

In northwestern Ontario alone, over 2,000 veterans will find themselves without support. Will the minister reverse this awful decision, or will he resign for his shameful treatment of our veterans?

Veterans AffairsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Brampton—Springdale Ontario

Conservative

Parm Gill ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs

Mr. Speaker, our government has created 600 additional new points of service across this great nation. The member opposite mentioned Thunder Bay. I can assure him that the Service Canada office is within only four kilometres of the district office that was there. We will make sure that we have a fully trained VAC employee present, along with Service Canada employees, to assist veterans in need.

Air TransportationOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Independent

Brent Rathgeber Independent Edmonton—St. Albert, AB

Mr. Speaker, last September an 18-year-old man attempted to board an international flight out of the Edmonton International Airport with a homemade explosive device. The device was discovered and was suspected to contain narcotics, but when the drug tests came back negative, CATSA actually attempted to return the bomb to the passenger, who did not want it.

The RCMP was not informed of this event for several days, and the Minister of Transport was not made aware until several months later. Can the Minister of Transport please explain to the House what remedial actions have been taken and what additional training has been provided to her Keystone security cops to ensure the safety of the air travelling public?

Air TransportationOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Halton Ontario

Conservative

Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, the safety of Canadians and the travelling public is always going to be our first priority. Indeed, just to fix some of the facts that were misquoted in the question, first of all, I was made aware of the incident when the RCMP was made aware of it, as was my staff, in September. We immediately directed officials to talk to CATSA to review its procedures and processes to ensure that this kind of thing does not happen again.

Obviously, it has gone through the court process and the individual has been charged, but the reality is that he should never have been allowed to get on the plane, and we have corrected that with CATSA.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin

I would like to draw the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of a delegation from Yukon, led by the Hon. Darrell Pasloski, the Premier. The delegation includes the following ministers: the Hon. Elaine Taylor, the Hon. Brad Cathers, the Hon. Wade Istchenko, and the Hon. Scott Kent.

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!