House of Commons Hansard #44 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was election.
Ève Péclet NDP La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, we already know that this bill will pave the way for the return of big money to our electoral system.
One proposal that is a little strange would allow candidates to give more money to themselves, and that amount will be higher than what another Canadian can donate.
How does the minister justify the clause that allows candidates to donate $5,000 to themselves, which is three times the maximum that other people can give?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of State (Democratic Reform)
Mr. Speaker, when we introduced a bill prohibiting the use of other people's names to get around donation limits, the other parties said that this would prevent candidates from launching their own campaigns.
We are therefore going to allow candidates to give themselves enough money to get their campaign off the ground. After that, all donations collected must be under the donation limit.
Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT
Mr. Speaker, in 2002, Conservatives supported the NDP's call to make financial documents from political parties available upon request. They even agreed to our motion to make this happen.
Currently, while local candidates must make every last receipt and claim public, which is good, political parties only have to release summaries. Why do Conservatives not want Canadians to see spending details in their campaigns?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of State (Democratic Reform)
Mr. Speaker, it is quite the contrary. The fair elections act creates new provisions that would require political parties to be subjected to tougher external compliance audits before they can be reimbursed. Furthermore, the CEO has the power to ask parties to provide financial information, and he can also refuse to provide millions of dollars in campaign reimbursements to those same parties until they comply with his request.
Jonathan Genest-Jourdain NDP Manicouagan, QC
Mr. Speaker, when the Minister of State for Democratic Reform runs in the next election, he will have to register all of his expenses and remember to include all receipts.
Why does he think this rule need not apply to the Conservative Party of Canada? What is he trying to hide and why does he want to protect his party?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of State (Democratic Reform)
Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, our bill requires that political parties be subject to independent audits to show that they have obeyed the rules and that every penny is counted. At the same time, the Chief Electoral Officer has the power to ask the parties for more details before they are reimbursed.
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Mr. Speaker, since 2007, wait times for citizenship applicants have doubled from 15 to 31 months, and the department admits it is because of the government's own funding decisions. Now it is tripling the fee to apply to be a citizen. The government is simply punishing those who wish to become Canadians, for its own mistakes. How can the government justify these fee hikes while service standards have dropped so drastically?
Costas Menegakis ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are misleading Canadians again. The citizenship fee has not been updated in 20 years. Now citizenship application fees will be better aligned with the actual cost of processing, relieving the burden on Canadian taxpayers who currently subsidize 80% of the cost.
With our government's changes in the strengthening Canadian citizenship act, citizenship processing times would drop to less than a year. The Liberals had 13 years to make these changes, and they did nothing about it.
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Mr. Speaker, abysmal service levels are not exclusive to immigration. Over at Service Canada, departmental statistics show that the percentage of callers who have been hung up on is the worst they have been in seven years. In fact, 12 million callers were hung up on last year. The government has turned Service Canada into no-service Canada.
My question is for the Minister of Veterans Affairs. Is this the level of service Canada's veterans can now expect?
Candice Bergen ConservativeMinister of State (Social Development)
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that Service Canada is working hard to continually make sure the service is up to the standards Canadians expect. It is there to work hard for Canadians, whether they need it for employment, passports, or veterans affairs services. Service Canada is there.
We want to ensure that it continues to have a high standard, and that it what we are working toward.
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister boasted that there are over 650 points of service for veterans. We have first-hand accounts from veterans that they faced long waits, only to be told to call the 1-800 number to get assistance. Veterans have invited the minister to go with them to Service Canada centres to see the lack of service.
When will the Prime Minister fire his minister and reopen the nine VAC centres? If he does not, we will in 2015.
Parm Gill ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Liberal Party over there. Mr. Speaker—
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Order, please. The member for Scarborough—Agincourt needs to come to order while the parliamentary secretary answers his question.
The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs.
Parm Gill Conservative Brampton—Springdale, ON
Mr. Speaker, we till take no lessons from the Liberal Party over there until the leader of the Liberal Party fires the member for Scarborough—Agincourt for disrespecting veterans on Remembrance Day, for saying that giving money to veterans is like hanging a case of beer in front of a drunk; they go and spend it either trying to buy a house or buying a fast car, or spend it on booze or addiction. That is what the Liberals—
Mike Sullivan NDP York South—Weston, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians in my riding of York South—Weston and across the country are increasingly worried about rail safety. As it turns out, they are right to be concerned. Instead of putting safety first, the minister has let big rail companies cut corners, skip safety inspections, and be exempt from some brake tests. In one case, they went six months without a complete brake test.
Why were these exemptions allowed, and why is the minister refusing to come clean with Canadians?
Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the member will know that Transport Canada, in 2012, did more than 30,000 inspections on rail safety. Our government has invested over $100 million in our rail safety system. We continue to hire more inspectors as we speak, increase fines for companies found to break our regulations, and create a whistleblower protection that requires each railway to have an executive legally responsible for safety. The list goes on.
The member should get on board with this rail safety regime.
Jamie Nicholls NDP Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
Mr. Speaker, the people of Vaudreuil—Soulanges want to see some transparency, not listen to more rhetoric. This is important information.
After what happened in Lac-Mégantic, we expect and are calling for more transparency from the minister.
Transport Canada chose to grant exemptions to rail companies on matters as crucial as brake tests and safety inspections.
Is the minister going to keep withholding information about the number of exemptions granted and which safety regulations were involved?
Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I have the numbers on rail safety inspections. There are some 30,000—a historic level, I would add—on our rail safety system. There are major investments in our rail safety.
Since Lac-Mégantic, as the member referenced that particular tragedy, there have been ongoing actions by the minister, such as new sharing of information with municipality directives, proper classification and better classification of what is travelling by rail, new recommendations to the minister on emergency response action plans for flammable goods, and the list goes on and on. The member should support that.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives refuse to invest in order to save trains in eastern Quebec and New Brunswick. Voting for the right party does not even help. We have not heard a peep from the members for Moncton, Miramichi and Madawaska—Restigouche.
We need to work together to ensure the future of VIA Rail. It is essential to economic development in the east and the rest of Canada.
Are the Conservatives going to stay asleep at the switch or are they going to do something to save the trains?
Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the member will know that this was a business decision made by a private company, CN. There is a regulatory process in place, which the company is currently following. While the discontinuance process is under way, CN is responsible for maintaining its track infrastructure.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, our rail service is collapsing, and the Conservatives are still refusing to act. The railway in New Brunswick is crucial. It is the only direct line for thousands of people in eastern Quebec. It is the only route that links Canada from coast to coast.
Will the minister come to our community and explain to the people why they are losing this service, a service that Canadians are proud of? Shame on the Conservatives.
Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, apparently the member opposite does not know that Halifax is on the coast and the Ocean line continues to run from Halifax to Montreal and to points well beyond that.
When it comes to VIA Rail and support for VIA Rail, we have invested $1 billion since 2007 in capital investments and $275 million across the network in 2013. What did that member say in the House last night? He said he was proud to vote against every dollar of it. Shame on him.
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have read several disturbing reports about heroin emerging as the new drug of choice for addicts in Canada. This potent drug has potentially deadly consequences for addicts and severe impact on the people around them. I am proud to stand with our government's stance on taking heroin out of the hands of addicts and not putting it into their arms.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health please inform the House what the government is doing to keep our streets and communities safe from this threat?
Eve Adams ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, our government has closed loopholes that allowed for the feeding of addiction under the guise of treatment. Treatment should be focused on ending drug use and helping people recover to drug-free lives. While the Liberals and the NDP want to continue providing heroin to people suffering from addiction, our government will support treatment that ends drug use.
Our government is focused on standing with Canadian families and communities against dangerous and illegal drugs.