Debates of March 27th, 2014

Employment and Social Development

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, apparently, the Conservatives still do not have an answer. What will they do next, consult psychic JoJo Savard?

The Parliamentary Budget Officer believes that the government is going in the wrong direction by relying on information from Kijiji. It is simple. The government cannot use information gleaned from online classified ads to prove that there is a shortage of specialized labour.

How can the Minister of Employment and Social Development have the audacity to contradict the Parliamentary Budget Officer with regard to the supposed labour shortage when the minister himself admits that he does not know what is happening on the labour market?

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

Mr. Speaker, I said no such thing. I said that no one has a perfect knowledge of what is happening on the labour market.

I said that we know certain things. We know that there is no general labour shortage on the national labour market. However, it seems that there is a labour shortage in some specialized occupations in certain regions.

All of Canada's business organizations agree that that is the reality, and this issue must be taken seriously. That is why we are making unprecedented investments in labour market training in Canada.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last fall, when the Conservatives introduced grain by rail legislation, they rejected all proposed amendments by farmers. Their new legislation to address the grain crisis has been described by the Saskatchewan government and many farmers as “deficient” and disappointing.

This time when their legislation goes to committee, will the government members commit to listening to farmers' good advice and accept amendments and improvements?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, let me say that yesterday the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister of Transport, under the leadership of our Prime Minister, delivered important legislation that is decisive in the way that it challenges the rail transportation system to deliver grain to the ports. It would establish minimum volume requirements for grain movements, strengthen contracts between producers and shippers, and it would increase inter-switching limits to create more rail competition.

This is a good piece of legislation for our Canadian farmers, and I ask the opposition to support it.

Infrastructure

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, next Tuesday, the annual budget for the building Canada infrastructure fund will be cut by nearly 90%, putting a hard brake on economic growth for the middle class.

My question is not for the infrastructure minister to rehash budget talking points from seven years ago. My question is for the finance minister: Will he reverse this 90% cut to the government's core infrastructure program?

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to have forgotten how the budget and the estimates process works around here. Here are the facts. Over the next decade, we have over $53 billion to invest in infrastructure. This includes the gas tax fund, at $2 billion a year. This includes almost $6 billion from the original building Canada fund, which we will continue to invest over the coming year. Last is the new building Canada fund, to which provinces and municipalities will submit invoices. Those expenses will be reflected in subsequent estimates.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, next Tuesday, the building Canada fund will lose nearly 90% of its funding. This will have a huge impact on economic growth in the middle class and on major projects, such as the expansion of the Henri VI highway.

My question is not for the Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs, who will give us a seven-year-old answer. It is for the Minister of Finance.

Will he reverse the decision to cut 90% of the funding for the government's primary infrastructure program?

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, under that $10 billion provincial and territorial infrastructure fund, applications will be accepted starting this Monday, March 31, fulfilling our government's commitment.

Here are some of the categories that will be eligible: highways and major roads; public transit; disaster mitigation infrastructure; and innovation infrastructure, which our post-secondary sector is particularly pleased about.

These investments will improve our quality of life and enhance our economic—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Newton—North Delta.

Employment and Social Development

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, finding himself in a hole, the Minister of Employment and Social Development just keeps on digging. Yesterday, the minister said “...none of us know exactly what is going on in the labour market of today”.

Conservatives used these manufactured labour market data to justify major changes to the temporary foreign worker program. When exactly did the government stop using factual evidence to set labour policies? When did it start relying on gut feelings and whatever it found on Kijiji?

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

I am afraid to disappoint the member by saying that we never have, Mr. Speaker.

In all of my speeches and comments on the issue of labour market information, I have said the following: that our LMI system is inadequate, we need better information; that the Statistics Canada data does not support the contention of general labour shortages; that if there were general labour shortages, as some business organizations claim, then wage rates would have gone up faster than inflation since the global downturn, and they have not. However, we cannot ignore the data being supplied by many industry organizations and sector councils, which indicate very acute skills shortages in particular regions and sectors.

Those are the facts reflected by the New Democrats, who come over here asking me to bring temporary foreign workers into their ridings every single day.

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let me make it clear. First the minister admitted that he does not know what is going on in the labour market. Then he said that he thinks economists should spend less time actually looking at facts and more time going out for coffee and meeting people.

When will the minister cast aside his ideological blinders and accept the factually correct data from economists, experts, and the PBO?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have said no such thing. I said yesterday in the interview, which the member distorts, as I have said every day in this position, that we do not have a general labour shortage in Canada. If we did, it would be reflected in higher wages, salaries, and benefits, which is not the evidence.

I have stood up in front of business groups and said that if employers want to keep complaining about a general skills shortage, then they should be reflecting that by increasing salaries, wages, benefits, and investments in training.

The president of the B.C. Federation of Labour stood up and called me an honorary member of the union fraternity for that comment.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

There they go with their big union bosses again, Mr. Speaker.

Let us get this straight. The minister spends months trying to justify regressive Conservative policies by citing labour market data, and then he says explicitly, and here is the quote: “none of us know exactly what is going on in the labour market of today”.

My question is for the Minister of Finance.

On budget day, his predecessor said that Canada's job vacancy rate was rising at an alarming rate right now. Experts, economists, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and Statistics Canada have all contradicted this claim. Does the new Minister of Finance stand by the statements of the previous finance minister?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I have said is that everyone involved in the debate on the labour market should have enough humility to recognize that none of us knows exactly what is happening in the labour market.

However, we do know this, and I will continue with the quote: “...there is no general labour shortage” in Canada, but there is all of the evidence to suggest that there are some sectoral and regional skills gaps. That is the reality.

I wish the NDP would realize that it is in all of our interests to dig deep on this and realize that we need a better training and education system that helps to prepare young Canadians for the jobs of the future. That is why recently we had a successful mission to Europe with employers and unions on exactly that point.

Finance

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I see someone else got promoted to the finance portfolio. I welcome my friend from Calgary to the file.

It is clear the Conservative government uses made-up facts and hides reports to justify its regressive policies. A story in the press today reveals an internal report by Finance Canada on income splitting. This scheme will cost billions, and the vast majority of families, 85%, will see no benefit whatsoever.

When are the Conservatives going to release this vital report to Canadians, and has the Minister of Finance even read it?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member again for the welcome.

As the Prime Minister said, income splitting was a good policy for Canadian seniors, and it will be a good policy for families. Once the budget is balanced next year, the government is committed to greater tax relief for Canadian families.

As a result of our low-tax plan, the average family is paying $3,400 less than in previous years. Shamefully, the NDP has voted against each and every one of these measures.

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

Mr. Speaker, we now understand a little better why the former finance minister was clearly hesitating about income splitting. We now know that the Department of Finance—his department—is in possession of a 300-page report on the fiscal impact of this measure, which it refuses to make public. We know that two independent studies have stated that the fiscal impact of this measure would be at least $3 billion. As the saying goes, all things come in threes.

Will the Minister of Finance commit to releasing the report he has on income splitting?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what I said. Income splitting is a good policy for Canadian seniors and will be a good policy for Canadian families. As a result of our low-tax plan, the average CAnadian family is paying nearly $3,400 less in taxes in 2014.

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

Mr. Speaker, the question has to do with his department's report on income splitting. If it is a good measure, this report should say so. If the report says so, he should be able to release it. It is as simple as that. If they do not want to make it public, the report must contradict their claim that it is a positive measure. However, two other reports specifically state that 85% of families will not benefit from income splitting. I have a specific question for the Minister of Finance.

When will he release the department's report on income splitting?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

I will examine all of the reports submitted on this subject, but I must say that our government is focusing on what is important to Canadians: jobs and economic growth. Although the world's economy remains fragile, especially in the United States and Europe, our economic policies have helped protect Canada. More than one million net new jobs have been created since July 2009. Those are the facts. I do not know why the NDP chooses to ignore them.

Democratic Reform

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Harry Neufeld's report is misused constantly by the democratic reform minister to justify Bill C-23's flawed measures.

Mr. Neufeld testified today that none of the remedies his report proposed have ever been mentioned by the minister, let alone included in the bill. He also said that his report is being wrongly interpreted and unfairly invoked by the minister. He said, “At no point in the report do I link vouching with fraudulent voting”.

When will the minister stop distorting the Neufeld report?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Neufeld is entitled to author recommendations. He is not entitled to author the law. That is left to parliamentarians. At no time did I ever claim to agree with his recommendations. I do not agree with them. That is why they are not in the bill.

I do agree with the facts that are found in the report, which find 50,000 irregularities linked to vouching in the last election. We deal with that problem by ending the process of vouching and by making the reasonable request that people bring one of 39 forms of identification that will demonstrate their address and their identity.

[Alexandrine Latendresse, NDP, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning we had the opportunity to hear from Harry Neufeld on Bill C-23. He oversaw elections in Canada and around the world for over 33 years.

The Minister of State for Democratic Reform has distorted Mr. Neufeld's report to justify much of this bill. However, Mr. Neufeld confirmed unequivocally that the Minister of State for Democratic Reform has misinterpreted his report. He gave several examples of how his conclusions have been used maliciously.

How many other reports has the minister misinterpreted?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, none, obviously. According to the Neufeld report, there were over 50,000 irregularities linked to vouching. That is one of the reasons we decided to put an end to that practice, which is not viable.

However, Canadians can choose from 39 forms of identification to demonstrate their address and their identity. Showing a photograph is not necessary. There are many options, and we will require Elections Canada to inform voters about the pieces of identification needed.