Debates of May 15th, 2014

Citizenship and Immigration

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, 100 years ago, 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus from India set out across the Pacific looking to build a better life in Canada. After seven weeks of arduous journey, they arrived in Vancouver. After two months of near starvation in harbour, they were forced to return at gunpoint.

When they arrived back in India, many were arrested, imprisoned, or killed. The Komagata Maru stands as a severe stain on Canada's history. Why, 100 years later, does the Government of Canada still refuse to apologize for the Komagata Maru?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Multiculturalism)]

Mr. Speaker, the tragic events of the Komagata Maru were a regrettable chapter in Canada's history. That is why the Prime Minister was the first prime minister to officially apologize for what happened to the passengers of the Komagata Maru on behalf of all Canadians.

Our Conservative government worked with the Khalsa Diwan Society to build the Komagata Maru monument in Vancouver, and we have funded other projects to educate Canadians about what happened to the Komagata Maru; and thanks to the member for Brampton—Springdale, there was a stamp released to commemorate the Komagata Maru just last week.

Justice

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is why an apology in a park is not enough. If it is sincere, apologize as the Government of Canada.

Was the Minister of Justice aware that the Prime Minister's Office asked Marc Nadon to resign and rejoin the Quebec bar before being appointed to the Supreme Court?

[Robert Goguen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, the process that was followed was an open and democratic process, which was followed by all three parties. The Prime Minister obtained independent legal advice, prior to the appointment, from Justice Binnie. This opinion was supported by Justice Charron and also by the eminent constitutionalist Peter Hogg.

We followed a proper process, and we will stand by the court's ruling on this matter.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, they say they will respect the court's decision, thus the answer to the next question should be simple. We have tried to get an answer on a number of occasions.

Can the Minister of Justice guarantee that the Conservatives will not use the same tactics to try to appoint another Federal Court judge to the Supreme Court?

[Robert Goguen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, we followed a well established procedure and we will respect the Supreme Court's decision. Procedures are in place and we respect the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Court's decision.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, once again, they are refusing to say that they are not going to use some trick to do that.

When families cannot get access to a primary care doctor or proper medication, they often end up in the emergency room because they have nowhere else to go. When people do not have health coverage, they have to go to the emergency room. There is no other choice.

In the two years since Conservatives cut health care coverage for refugees, hospital emergency admission rates for refugee children in Canada have doubled, in particular at Sick Kids in Toronto. These are children in need of care, not getting the help they need, so they wind up in emergency. How can Conservatives defend this heartless decision?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear about who will receive and who will not receive the interim federal health care program following our reform of the asylum system. Refugees will continue to receive this absolutely essential program. Those who will not receive it are failed refugee claimants, fraudulent claimants, bogus claimants, and indeed, the 10 million visitors who come to Canada every year. They do not qualify for provincial or territorial health care. If the Wynne government in Ontario or the Leader of the Opposition want to reverse those decisions, they will have to be accountable to taxpayers.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the Conservatives do not think it is their problem to look after their neighbours' sick children. We believe that we have an obligation as human beings and that all sick children have a right to care, regardless of their country of origin.

Is it really the position of the Conservatives to refuse to help their neighbours' children?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, is it really the position of the Leader of the Opposition that anyone who comes to Canada—and 10 million people come a year—should receive provincial health care? Is that his position? That is new. That is on top of the $20 million in new carbon taxes. That is on top of tens of thousands of dollars in new taxes.

That is unaffordable. That is not the responsibility of the federal government. That is the responsibility of the provinces. We will continue to protect refugees.

Employment

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian workers and employers still have no clarity on how the government is proposing to fix its broken temporary foreign worker program.

Will the minister explain, specifically, what elements of this program he believes are broken and need to be changed?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been clear that we will further tighten the program to prevent abuse of it and also to prevent distortions of the Canadian labour market. There may be some aspects of the program which are distorting the Canadian labour market.

What we will not do is listen to the leader of the Liberal Party who lobbied for us to overturn a negative decision by a Canadian public servant because he wanted to bring in a foreign worker to one of his favourite restaurants. We certainly will not listen to the Liberals who last week voted to expand the moratorium to all low-skilled streams, but two days ago he asked us to lift the moratorium for Quebec. There is no consistency and no coherence in the Liberal Party.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Speaking of consistency and coherence, Mr. Speaker, it is that minister who, since 2008, had been in charge of this program, which is a complete mess.

Our plan starts with a reduction in temporary foreign worker intake and a boost to pathways to citizenship. Will we be seeing these proposals in the changes the government has promised are coming shortly this time?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the changes that this government has made, and especially those made by my colleague, the Minister of Employment and Social Development, when he was in this portfolio, we have fewer backlogs, we have faster immigration in our country and last year, we had 44,000 temporary workers who became immigrants to our country. That is five or six times the last number that the Liberals ever gave us.

We are on the right path. We are going to get the job market and the immigration system right for Canadians and for our economy.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, employers and Canadians who are looking for jobs are still unhappy with the temporary foreign worker program mismanaged by the government.

Can the minister clarify which aspects of his program are broken and assure us that, this time, the proper changes will be made?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the additional reforms will rectify the goal of the program and the situations that are problematic for Canada's labour market.

However, we will not take the advice of the member for Papineau, who wanted to bring a temporary foreign worker into his riding, to his favourite restaurant, and we will not take his advice about expanding the moratorium to all temporary workers, but lifting it for Quebec. There is no coherence in the Liberal Party.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we saw today, the Conservatives will stop at nothing when it comes to making vicious attacks on law-abiding Canadians.

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration slammed Negendra Selliah, an immigration consultant, claiming that he had been banned for committing fraud. The problem is that the minister fabricated the whole thing. He did not tell the truth. He reluctantly apologized but refuses to do anything about it. That is unacceptable.

Why does the minister think it is his job to lie and make unwarranted and unfounded attacks on citizens?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, that was a statement issued by my department that never should have been issued. I apologized to Mr. Selliah. We will continue to work with immigration consultants across Canada to regulate their profession better than ever before.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration publicly calls out a professional consultant as a fraudster, which is not true, and then when he is forced to retract he says that it is up to him to rebuild his own reputation. Political character assassination of their enemies is the hallmark of the Prime Minister's government.

What is the minister going to do about taking responsibility and making it up to this man whom he has unfairly attacked?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it was a statement put out by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration in error. As soon as it had been put out, in error, it was retracted. I have publicly apologized, unreservedly, to Mr. Selliah, and still the NDP does not accept a public apology.

Will the New Democrats apologize for having misused taxpayer money in Montreal and elsewhere? We are still waiting.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, let us move on, then, from their imaginary bogeyman—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay has the floor, and I will ask members to come to order.

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

Mr. Speaker, like I said, let us talk about real criminal acts to see how proud those members are.

The Prime Minister hired a convicted fraud artist, swept him through all the security checks and made him his chief adviser. Mr. Carson then used his cushy insider status with his friends in the Liberal Party and the Conservatives to engage in lobbying. This is not about a private individual; this is about a Conservative insider.

When was the Prime Minister informed that his former chief adviser was involved in a potentially illegal lobbying scheme? Why can the Conservatives not just answer that simple question?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, while I have the floor, I want to congratulate the member for Kitchener Centre, who today tried to extract some accountability from the Leader of the Opposition with respect to some $3 million worth of taxpayer money that was probably potentially illegally used to promote the NDP against the rules of the House of Commons.