Debates of April 30th, 2014

Privacy

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there is actually legislation to exculpate the companies that provide the information. The Prime Minister is trying to make it easier for the telecommunications companies to provide that information.

Is the Prime Minister trying to say to Canadians that this invasion of one million Canadians' privacy was justified by search warrant? I just want to make sure that we all understand that that is indeed what the Prime Minister is trying to convince us of.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, I do not accept the premise of that question.

What we do say is that privacy laws are respected by the government. Law enforcement and other investigative agencies always seek warrants when they are required to do so. There is independent surveillance, independent oversight to make sure that these laws are respected.

I should point out the proposals in the digital privacy bill before Parliament require organizations to tell Canadians if their personal information has been lost or stolen, to impose fines of up to $100,000 on those who deliberately break the rules, place stricter limits on the type of personal information that can be disclosed, and many other reforms.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this has nothing whatsoever to do with information that is lost or stolen.

As for the premise of the question, it was based on what the Prime Minister just said himself, that there were warrants in all these cases. I ask him again to confirm what he was saying, that this is based on warrants.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, telecommunications companies obviously do co-operate with law enforcement and other authorities from time to time in various investigations and surveillance.

When information is required to be handed over according to a warrant, our law enforcement agencies do that. As I said, there is independent oversight to ensure that is done.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what information is the government seeking, and why?

Which telecommunications companies are handing over that information, and which are refusing to do it?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the issues in question would be those of investigative authorities, ranging from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency, and others.

It is not the government that requests information. It is independent law enforcement agencies that do that. The government is not involved in those investigations, rather there is independent oversight on those matters.

Employment

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government's mismanagement of the temporary foreign worker program has driven down wages and exploited the vulnerable.

They actually doubled the intake in manufacturing, even in places like London, Sarnia, Windsor, and Hamilton, where tens of thousands of Canadians have lost their jobs.

Has the Prime Minister now ordered his jobs minister to implement a significant reduction in the program's intake?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if we are talking about job creation, there have been 1.1 million net new jobs created in this country since the end of the recession.

There is, from time to time, as we know, demand for temporary foreign workers. In fact, those demands regularly come from the Liberal Party. In spite of those growing demands for that from the Liberal Party, the government has brought in reforms over the past few years that have reduced the application intake by 30%, and as we know, the minister is taking further strong action to ensure that Canadians always get jobs that they are available for.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, five years ago, Sheila Fraser warned the government about the integrity of the temporary foreign worker program and the poor quality of its labour market opinions. Instead, it ignored her and has instead massively increased the intake of the program, even in places like London, Sarnia, Windsor, and Hamilton, that have been hit by job losses.

Has the Prime Minister now ordered his jobs minister to implement a significant reduction in the program's intake?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, of course, the opposite is true. In the intervening period, the government has taken a number of actions to reform the program and to restrict abuse, measures that have all been opposed by the Liberal Party that created the program and continues to inundate the minister with requests for more temporary foreign workers. The reason we have done these things is to ensure Canadians get those jobs.

We have seen an increase, obviously, in Canadians getting jobs, 1.1 million new jobs. That is why the Canadian middle class is doing so well.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the number of temporary foreign workers in Quebec has increased by nearly 25,000 since 2008. However, there are also 36,000 more unemployed workers in Quebec than there were in 2008.

Will the Prime Minister now demand that his Minister of Employment and Social Development take back control of this mismanaged program?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, since 2011, this government has passed measures to reduce application intake for temporary foreign workers and has successfully reduced that intake by 30%, despite the Liberal Party's opposition and the fact that Liberal MPs are asking for more temporary foreign workers. Even the member for Papineau, the leader of the Liberal Party, is making such demands.

It is the Conservative Party that is making sure that Canadians always have the best chance of getting jobs.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister would have us believe that his government is trying to curtail abuse of the temporary foreign worker program. In that case, we have just one question for him.

If he wants to have more control over this program, which he knows has been abused as a result of his minister's mismanagement and incompetence, why is he cutting the jobs of 56 inspectors whose role it is to monitor the temporary foreign worker program?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservative Party is reforming the program, NDP members are asking for more temporary foreign workers in their ridings. In fact, the NDP has made more requests for additional temporary foreign workers than any other party in the House. That is why we made changes, and there has been a significant drop in application intake. Contrary to what the member is saying, the reality is that we have increased the number of inspections.

Democratic Reform

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Canada Elections has asked the Prime Minister to give him the power to compel witnesses to testify in investigations of electoral fraud. This is a power the commissioner himself says that he needs.

Why is the Prime Minister refusing? Why is the Prime Minister soft on crime when it comes to investigating electoral fraud in Canada?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the investigative powers that are actually increased in this particular bill are consistent with those in other law enforcement situations, where, in some situations, one must obviously get a court order to get certain information. That is how our legal system works.

Of course, as I have said repeatedly, we do not agree with the NDP's position. It is an extreme position, not supported by Canadians, that people should be able to vote even if they have no intention of providing any identification or any evidence of who they are. It is not supported by Canadians. It is not consistent with this bill.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the only stories of fraud are from his colleague from Mississauga—Streetsville, who shared some utter nonsense here in the Parliament of Canada.

Since the Prime Minister claims to want to stop fraud, I have just one question for him. The Chief Electoral Officer says that the voter identification card is even more reliable than a driver's licence.

Why does the Prime Minister want to prohibit the use of the voter identification card?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the fraudulent allegations and the robocall scandal manufactured by the NDP, it was noted recently that it was another case of electoral fraud on the part of the NDP.

There are 39 acceptable pieces of ID under the act. If a citizen has the right to vote, he or she has several ways to prove identification in order to do so.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, according to Canada's director general of elections, the voter identification card is actually more reliable than a driver's licence for the information it contains. The voter identification card is the only piece of identification issued by the Government of Canada that contains an address. Why is the Prime Minister so pigheaded about this? Why will he not allow this to continue to be used?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

I think I have asked members to avoid using terms like that in the past.

If the right hon. member wants to respond, the Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, of course, everybody involved in elections knows how easy it is to obtain multiple and inaccurate voter identification cards. That is obviously the reason why, in order to prove identification, we have 39 other pieces of identification. As members know, there are alternative arrangements that have been made available by the minister for those who need to prove their address.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, 64% of young people—two out of three—did not vote.

In the latest election in Quebec, the CEO introduced a program to bring ballot boxes to campuses, and this was a success.

Why does the Prime Minister want to prevent Canada's Chief Electoral Officer from taking ballot boxes to CEGEP, college and university campuses across Canada, when two-thirds of young people did not vote in the last election?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said many times, when people do not vote, it is usually because they do not know exactly why or how to vote or how many identification options they have in order to vote.

We want Elections Canada to focus its efforts and activities on that problem.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, hard-working Canadians are losing their jobs in favour of temporary workers who are paid less and are treated poorly. Conservatives keep promising to fix the mess they have made, yet it only gets worse.

Will the minister acknowledge the severity of the problem and agree to an immediate independent audit?