Debates of March 6th, 2014

International Women's Day

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on International Women's Day, we celebrate the strength and courage of women's rights activists worldwide. Around the world, women and men are standing on the front lines of struggles for equal rights, access to abortion and birth control, LGBTQ rights, the right to be educated, and, in too many places, human rights as well.

Here at home, indigenous women and their allies are calling for a national inquiry and national action on missing and murdered indigenous women. Every rally, vigil, march, and round dance, held in honour of indigenous women, demonstrates that there is no stopping the tide of voices demanding justice.

This week, Canadians saw a young, courageous female leader oppose and attack rape culture. Anne-Marie Roy, president of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, gave a voice to those of us who want to put an end to misogyny on our campuses and in our society.

As we celebrate International Women's Day, let us celebrate all these fights for equality. We want to express our solidarity with these young people who are fighting for women's rights, and we want them to know that together we will succeed.

New Democratic Party

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I was surprised to hear the Leader of the Opposition's position yesterday on the possibility that some members of his caucus from Quebec support an openly separatist party.

I hope he will call them to order regarding this inconsistency, especially since the leader of the NDP supports a coalition with the Liberal Party of Canada. Imagine a coalition in which the Liberals, the NDP socialists and then separatists who are afraid to admit it are in charge of our future. Unbelievable.

Canadians want serious, motivated and experienced parliamentarians who have solid, ambitious policies.

Our Conservative government, under the strong leadership of our Prime Minister, provides a guarantee for a united, prosperous country with a clear vision for the future.

Nancy Charest

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it was with great sadness that we learned of the sudden death of Nancy Charest.

A lawyer, tax expert and member of the National Assembly from 2003 to 2007, then the federal Liberal candidate in Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, Nancy was an intelligent, exceptional, energetic and congenial woman with boundless love and pride for her region.

In 2010, I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy during a visit to Mont-Joli to talk about water issues.

We spent the day meeting her constituents and then finished off with a visit to the Maurice Lamontagne Institute research centre. I was immediately struck by her curiosity about the research conducted at the centre.

Nancy always wanted to learn more in order to help her region and promote its interests in Quebec City and Ottawa.

Through her passion and her dedication to the public interest, Nancy Charest was an ambassador unlike any other for the Lower St. Lawrence.

Mining Industry

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to attend the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual conference this past weekend, in Toronto . This is the largest mining conference in the world, with over 25,000 participants representing 125 countries.

The mining sector is vital to the Canadian economy, and it is particularly critical to my home province of Saskatchewan. I was pleased to meet with a wide range of both junior and medium-sized companies, and was proud to relay our government's support for the industry, right from the exploration phase all the way through to production. I was also encouraged to see many of my hon. colleagues in attendance.

Our government is proud to support the mining industry, and it will continue to promote this vital sector of the Canadian economy.

Democratic Reform

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government tried its best today to prevent committee members from hearing testimony from Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand, just like it has been trying to prevent Canadians from having their say on this bill.

It is clear that Conservatives are afraid of consultation. However, that is no surprise after hearing Mr. Mayrand's critique of this unfair bill. He has delivered a point-by-point rebuttal of almost everything that the minister has claimed. Mayrand warned that this bill focuses on voter fraud that does not exist, instead of voter participation, which is a growing problem.

The government refuses to take people at their word and treats law-abiding Canadians like criminals. Meanwhile, Conservatives are happy for millions of dollars to be paid out to political parties without a single receipt.

This bill is an affront to our democracy. New Democrats know it. Canadians know it. In 2015, we will start fixing what is broken in Ottawa.

The Pictou Advocate

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today I was shocked to learn that The Pictou Advocate newspaper, in Pictou, Nova Scotia, recently ran an editorial cartoon featuring the Nazi flag flying over Canada's Parliament.

It was here in this Parliament that members before us sent our soldiers to fight darkness and evil. Our men and women bravely fought for Canada in the Second World War, defending our liberty, freedom, and values. It was here that members from all parties voted to honour the memory of lives so viciously taken by Nazi brutality, sending a strong message that human rights, the rule of law, and human decency will always prevail, and that never again would we allow such atrocities to take place.

The crass and casual use of the Nazi flag flying over Canada's cradle of democracy is not only an insult to our men and women in uniform, it belittles the memory of the victims and the survivors who suffered at the hands of Nazi dictators. We condemn this shameful and cowardly act, and call on The Pictou Advocate to immediately retract the hurtful image and apologize.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, grain farmers and the western provinces are pleading with the federal government to finally act in order to move the millions of tonnes of Canadian grain that are at risk of rotting because there is no transportation available.

There is a desperate need for stricter rules and harsher penalties for rail companies that shirk their duties and take our farmers hostage. The House will break tomorrow for two weeks, and the Conservatives still have not done anything about this.

What are they waiting for? When will they help our farmers and get the grain moving?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Leader of the Opposition is taking a belated interest in our farmers.

For our government, the economy is our top priority, and certainly the agricultural sector and our grain farmers are a very important part of our economy. Farmers need a reliable, efficient, logistics system. We will be taking action to ensure that system meets their needs.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, they do not need a logistics system; they need a government that acts.

Yesterday the Minister of Agriculture said that new legislation to force rail carriers to get—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition has the floor.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of prairie grain farmers are having their livelihood held hostage by the railways.

Yesterday the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food said that new legislation to force rail carriers to get this grain moving again would be brought forward “at the right time and place”.

Would the Minister of Transport, who is responsible for this file, finally act, assume her responsibility for this crisis, and help our prairie farmers get their grain to market?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, I say that the opposition leader is very late to this file. Our government, on the other hand, has been actively engaged with all stakeholders on—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. parliamentary secretary now has the floor.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

That is right, Mr. Speaker. I have the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I am telling the opposition that our government has been actively engaged on this file for a very long time, with all stakeholders in the industry. Farmers know that we will take action.

Democratic Reform

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, over a million Canadian seniors do not have a driver's licence. Many of them use the Elections Canada voter cards as identification.

In fact, the Chief Electoral Officer, who knows better than anyone else, says that the names and addresses on voter cards are more up to date than the information on driver's licences.

Why is the government banning the use of voter cards if they contain fewer errors than driver's licences?

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

Mr. Speaker, people do not need a driver's licence to vote in Canada. In fact, they do not even need photo identification. There are 39 forms of identification allowed.

These include old age security cards, hospital and medical clinic cards, hospital bracelets worn by residents of long-term care facilities, Veterans Affairs Canada health cards, and I could go on. There are many ID forms on that list of 39 that are specifically available to people of retirement age. We would encourage Elections Canada to ensure that those people know about those forms of ID.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's Chief Electoral Office testified today that the unfair elections act proposed by the Conservatives would in fact allow them to dress up campaign advertising as fundraising appeals to get around all existing campaign spending limits in the next election.

Mr. Mayrand said this change would make it “difficult, if not impossible to enforce” spending limits altogether.

This is exactly what we have been saying since day one. The only reason that the Conservatives are doing this is to stack the deck for the next election.

What other reason could there be?

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

Mr. Speaker, point number one, the NDP excluded all fundraising expenses from its own leadership race, a position against which it is arguing right now.

Second, the Chief Electoral Officer is wrong on this point, as well as on other points. The bill we are bringing forward, the fair elections act, would require that all mass-calling scripts and all autodial scripts be kept for a year, so they can be available for investigators to examine them.

Finally, there would be external audits, which would allow the auditor to determine if money was spent on fundraising calls versus other calls.

There would be also a purpose section in this particular provision of the bill.

There are many layers of protection.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has stood in this House, week after week, to make fanciful claims about election irregularities and voter fraud.

Today, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada demolished each and every one of those false arguments before committee. He said there was “no evidence” connecting administrative errors at Elections Canada to any form of electoral fraud whatsoever.

Will the minister finally admit that the only evidence of voter fraud that he has ever had is the fake testimony of the member of Parliament for Mississauga—Streetsville?

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

Mr. Speaker, this gives me occasion to correct the explicit factual error in the CEO's testimony when he said that the errors linked to vouching were strictly record-keeping that would not compromise an election.

This is what page 10 of his own report said:

...the Supreme Court made it clear that such errors in other circumstances could contribute to a court overturning an election.

That sounds pretty serious to me.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the grain crisis in western Canada, the Minister of Transport could act today under section 47 of the Canada Transportation Act to implement an emergency solution.

She could, in addition to that, seek unanimous consent for amendments to service level legislation to define service, to measure performance, and to pay damages to farmers when the railways fail. She could do those things.

Why is the minister failing in her responsibility to western Canadian farmers?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I explained, the economy is the number one priority for our government, and certainly the grain sector plays an active role in the strength of our economy.

Farmers deserve a reliable and efficient logistics system, but a key element of the logistics system is the railway system. The railway system has been performing poorly.

Farmers know that we will take action.

Infrastructure

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we have repeatedly asked the government about its decision to gut funding for the building Canada infrastructure fund at the end of this month.

It is being cut by 87%. This fiscal year, building Canada's budget is running at $1.6 billion. Next fiscal year, starting April 1, the building Canada budget drops to just $210 million. The difference is a cut of 87%.

The government does not deny it. It just talks around it. The question remains. Why is it imposing this huge infrastructure cut on local municipalities at the beginning of next month?