Debates of May 1st, 2014

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister refuses to answer questions about the temporary foreign worker program. He refuses to provide the most basic breakdowns and statistics around labour market opinions and these workers, yet he tries to make Canadians believe that everything is okay. It is not.

Conservative mismanagement has made a complete mess of this program. When will the minister listen to out-of-work Canadians, impose the sensible moratorium the NDP proposed, and launch an immediate program-wide audit of this program?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's preamble is false. I agreed at committee this morning to furnish her with whatever statistical information she requires.

In terms of the New Democrats' incoherence on this issue, as on all economic issues, on the one hand they say they want to put a moratorium on the admission of low-skilled temporary foreign workers and on the other hand they say they do not really want to put a moratorium on low-skilled agricultural workers.

They want us to crack down on the program, but they want it wide open for foreign musicians and for people coming to the computer gaming industry. For whatever industry seems to lobby them, suddenly they lobby me. It is bizarre.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government had plenty of indications that there were problems with the temporary foreign worker program. The Liberal exotic dancers scandal broke in 2004. There was the 2009 auditor general's report. Since September 2012, we have been regularly pointing out flaws in the program here in the House.

The government claims that it acted to fix the program. However, the program is driving down wages and creating unemployment.

Why is the government refusing to launch an independent investigation of this program?

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

Mr. Speaker, investigations are conducted by independent officials as a result of new powers granted to them last year by legislation. I would like to thank the member once again for pointing out problems with the program that handed out visas to nude dancers when the Liberals were last in power. We terminated that program. The Liberal government had issued 600 visas to exotic dancers. That was appalling. We cancelled that program.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government is trying to pin the temporary foreign worker program fiasco on a few employers who would abuse it.

However, the Conservatives cannot wash their hands of this matter so easily. They are the ones who threw the door wide open to unskilled workers. They are the ones who issue labour market opinions and they are the ones responsible for ensuring that there are enough inspectors. It is time to regain control of this program and to ask the Auditor General to investigate.

When will the minister do his job?

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

Every day the NDP's hypocrisy is on display. If a minister asks the Auditor General to do something, there is criticism from the opposition.

We will respect the Auditor General's independence. If he wants to do something, the government will co-operate. Almost all organizations and businesses have criticized the government for tightening the rules of the temporary foreign worker program. They say that it is already very difficult to find workers in Canada. That is proof of the success of our reforms to date.

Privacy

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to the soothing words of the Prime Minister, yesterday the member for Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière said that he was concerned about the massive transfer of Canadians' private information to the government. He said:

It is worrisome. Today, we were surprised to see how many requests there were. We will look at what we can do to protect people's privacy.

Does the minister think it is worrisome? Does he share his Conservative colleague's concern? If it is worrisome, why not support the Liberal motion for the Standing Committee on Access to Information to study this worrisome issue?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the committee can do what it wants and ask whomever it wants to appear as a witness before the committee.

However, our government introduced Bill S-4 to protect Canadians' private personal electronic information. That is why we introduced the bill, and here is what the Privacy Commissioner had to say about it:

I welcome [the] proposals [in this bill, which contains] some very positive developments for the privacy rights of Canadians....

That is what we are doing.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, with 1.2 million requests for personal data on Canadians, the minister fails to take immediate action.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Malpeque has the floor.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

As I said, Mr. Speaker, the minister failed to take immediate action on this serious matter.

The Privacy Commissioner's report clearly shows that there is massive surveillance being imposed on Canadians by agencies of the current government. Canadians' privacy is certainly being compromised.

Yesterday the Prime Minister basically said take it or leave it. His parliamentary secretary said that he was willing to work with opposition parties. Could we get a clear answer? Will the government support our motion for transparency?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite does not believe in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, if he thinks it is inadequate, he was the solicitor general when the legislation was passed.

We have gone further forward to protect the privacy of Canadians. We are moving forward. Bill S-4 puts in place new protections for Canadians.

The Privacy Commissioner herself said about our legislation that she welcomes the proposals in this bill. She said this bill contains “very positive developments for the privacy rights of—”

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Malpeque has the floor now.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, what the government will not do to avoid giving an answer.

Let us get to the specifics. Canadians feel they cannot trust the Conservative government and they know their personal data is being spied upon.

Can the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness inform Canadians which of the agencies he is responsible for—RCMP, CSIS, the Canada Border Services Agency—issued warrants? How many were issued and how many were spied upon without warrants?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. There seem to be a lot of members trying to answer the question before it was finished being put. I am sure the Minister of Industry does not need the help.

The hon. Minister of Industry now has the floor, and I will ask other ministers to allow him to do so.

The hon. Minister of Industry.

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is an interesting approach to a parliamentary debate tactic to say that Canadians cannot trust the legislation that he in fact proposed for Canadians and that Canadians should not trust him because his legislation was so flawed.

We, of course, protect the privacy of Canadians. We are empowering the Privacy Commissioner with new tools to further protect Canadians online. Bill S-4, the digital privacy act, goes further than the Liberal Party ever endeavoured to go and further than the NDP has ever proposed to go in further protecting the privacy of Canadians online.

When the parliamentary committee considers this legislation, of course it can compel witnesses, and we are happy to hear what—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Terrebonne—Blainville.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has no qualms about accessing, without warrants, the personal information of one million Canadians provided by telecommunication companies.

The government's new digital privacy bill will not solve the problem. Canadians are no longer just afraid that their personal information will be lost or stolen. They now have good reason to fear that they are being spied on by their own government.

Why do the Conservatives feel that they can access the personal information of Canadians without a warrant?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case at all. We are talking about a piece of legislation from 2001. It was passed in the House of Commons in 1999 and implemented in 2001. There is nothing new about it.

With Bill S-4, we are implementing new measures to better protect the interests of individuals.

If this particular colleague of ours does not like this legislation, then I just have to wonder why she said, when we introduced the bill, “We have been pushing for these measures and I'm happy to see them introduced”.

That is what she herself said when we put the bill forward.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, now that the government's wide-open snooping on the online activities of Canadians has been exposed, the Conservatives are saying that it only happens in cases of immediate terrorist or violent threat, yet the Privacy Commissioner tells us that it happens 1.2 million times a year.

That means every 27 seconds, someone from a government agency calls a telecom and demands information on Canadians.

We know the proclivity for paranoia on the government side, but are there that many threats? Come on. Why is the government allowing open season on law-abiding Canadians who are on the Internet?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP is coming very close to setting the indoor record for missing the point here.

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, section 7, spells out very clearly the parameters of this law. Beyond that, Bill S-4, our new legislation, the digital privacy act, further protects Canadians' privacy.

That is what the Privacy Commissioner said when she said that this bill contains “...some very positive developments for the privacy rights of Canadians”.

The NDP critic on this issue said, “We have been pushing for these measures and I'm happy to see them introduced”. That is the NDP position on our bill.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, a new study from the OECD confirms what Canadians already knew. Income inequality in Canada is spiralling out of control.

The OECD says:

Without concerted policy action, the gap between the rich and the poor is likely to grow even wider in the years ahead.

However, not only are Conservatives failing to act and close this gap, they are actually presenting budgets and writing policies to make this problem even worse.

Why is the government failing to ensure that all Canadians benefit from our nation's economic growth, and not just a select few?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the OECD study does not take into account tax measures or government transfers.

Taking these into account, average income is up 10% since 2006, with the highest income growth among low-income Canadians.

Under this Conservative government, Canadians in all income groups are better off. We will continue with our low-tax plan, unlike the tax-and-spend Liberals and NDP, whose high-tax, high-spending agenda will threaten jobs and set working Canadians back.