House of Commons Hansard #87 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cbc.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, today, for the first time since 2004, the Confederacy of Nations is meeting. Fifty first nations delegates from all over over Canada will discuss their concerns about the education act, Bill C-33. They want to sit down with the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development and discuss fair and equitable funding for first nations' education.
Will the minister agree to meet with the Confederacy of Nations?
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, I think members of the House will agree that we should have members condemn, in the strongest terms, the threats of those rogue chiefs who are threatening the security of Canadians, their families, and taxpayers.
I will meet with these people when they unequivocally withdraw their threats to the security of Canadian families, taxpayers, and citizens.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about first nations chiefs from coast to coast to coast who have legitimate concerns about education. If they thought their concerns were being addressed, they would not be requesting this meeting with the minister.
Bill C-33 was supposed to provide first nations' control over education. Instead, it will only serve to extend the reach of the minister.
The Confederacy of Nations wants to talk about real first nations' control of education, where first nations have the necessary resources to provide a modern education for their children. Will the minister meet with these chiefs?
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, again, contrary to the New Democratic Party, I do not believe that these chiefs represent the majority of the chiefs and councils throughout Canada, who I know and have met many times, who care about reconciliation and who care about their children and their education. I do not think this group is representative of the majority of first nations, and I trust that the good, hard-working chiefs will speak up.
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on the Environment spent months conducting three important studies looking at how to conserve urban and other terrestrial ecosystems across Canada. Canadians are losing touch with nature as more and more people live and work in the cities and spend less time outside. Witnesses testified that the Government of Canada should be encouraging and supporting citizens to conserve our natural environment and create protected areas.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment please tell the House where we stand today on the launch of a national conservation plan?
Colin Carrie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Kitchener Centre for the excellent question and for all the great work he has done on this file.
I am proud to say that the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Environment launched the national conservation plan in Fredericton just two hours ago. The plan promotes our government's strong legacy of conservation work and includes new investments to secure ecologically sensitive lands, conserve marine and coastal areas, and help connect Canadians to nature in urban areas.
I am proud to be part of a government that keeps its promises and listens to Canadians.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, hundreds of people in Winnipeg's north end came together at a public meeting. They were quite upset with the Prime Minister in regard to Canada Post. Whether it is rallies, postcards, petitions, or phone calls, people are upset with the fact that they are losing door-to-door delivery. They are upset with the huge postal rate increases. They are seeing an insensitive government dealing with Canada Post not serving Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
My question to the minister is this: Has he given any consideration to the impact on seniors or people with disabilities?
Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, that is from a member whose party said very clearly that there is no crisis at Canada Post, when in fact it delivered a billion fewer letters in 2012 than it did in 2006. In fact, economists at the Conference Board of Canada have said that Canada Post would be losing up to $1 billion per year if it took no action. It did, with its five-point action plan, as the member knows, and we have heard from Canada Post which says that they are taking into consideration the concerns of seniors and others as they implement their five-point plan, but we expect them to operate on a financially self-sustaining basis.
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, Uganda recently imposed harsh criminal sanctions on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Now a cabinet minister has just threatened to shut down all HIV-AIDS education and support work in Uganda, alleging that it is just a cover for promoting homosexuality. This will only exacerbate the regional HIV-AIDS crisis. It is past time for concrete action to oppose the persecution of LGBT Ugandans.
Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs immediately impose targeted sanctions and a visa ban against minister Simon Lokodo and other Ugandan officials who continue to promote hatred against their citizens?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, obviously we share the revulsion that the president of Uganda has signed this mean-spirited, repugnant law into law. We are obviously working with like-minded friends and allies on how best to respond. In 2014, this type of activity and this type of new legislation is completely unacceptable. I share with the member opposite that concrete steps are required to respond to this repugnant act.
Bradley Trost Conservative Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK
Mr. Speaker, we are seeing an increasingly disturbing trend from the official opposition these days. Not only are they making up rules to get taxpayers to pay for their offices, but they are also making up facts about our efforts on francophone immigration. Could the minister set the record straight for the House today?
Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Saskatoon—Humboldt.
The NDP members love to act self-righteously, but reality always catches up to them, and very quickly, at that. The hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst falsely claimed that this year we had reduced services to francophones provided by MAGMA, the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area. Not only is that incorrect, but in fact we have increased services to francophones. Through our roadmap, the organization can provide training in French adapted to the business community, as well as talking circles in French for new immigrants.
The hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst—
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is clear under international law that no one shall be subjected to torture. On this point, the United Nations has called on Canada to bring its ministerial directives in line with the international ban on torture, but the Conservatives have not listened and in fact have refused to sign the optional protocol on torture.
When will the government sign this United Nations agreement and help end torture once and for all?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, obviously Canada has signed the UN convention with respect to torture. There is a supplemental protocol. Obviously, each country has its own internal regime, and obviously Canada internally has a strong and vibrant way to tackle this problem, which is what we are pursuing.
Jean-François Fortin Bloc Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are fed up with the Conservatives' schemes to sneak their legislative agenda through the back door and by preventing debate.
The outgoing president of the Barreau du Québec strongly condemns the repeated abuse of mammoth bills aimed at curtailing democratic debate. She is also concerned about the reasons for reforms, including to employment insurance, deliberately buried among other measures that are hard on the most vulnerable Canadians.
When will the government stop using such opaque, partisan and abusive methods to adopt legislation that has this kind of impact on Canadians?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the premise of that question is entirely wrong. The approach of this government has been to implement legislation, particularly our budget legislation, that delivers on our commitment to create jobs, economic growth, and prosperity. In the same fashion as it has been done for many years, we introduce budget implementation bills that implement the elements of our budget, and the results are clear in the strongest economic growth among any of the major developed economies and over one million net new jobs.
That is the approach the opposition rejects. It is an approach we are delivering on for Canadians for growth and prosperity for the future.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
That concludes question period for today.
The hon. Minister of Employment and Social Development is rising on a point of order.
Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism
Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among all of the parties, and I believe that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent to consider the following motion, supported by the member for Parkdale—High Park and the hon. member for Mount Royal, which I offer on this day as we commemorate the national Holocaust commemoration day.
I move that:
Whereas during the darkest period of Europe's history, the young diplomat Jan Karski joined the Polish underground to resist the increasingly horrific atrocities perpetrated in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War; whereas, scarred by what he witnessed in the Warsaw ghetto and the Izbica Lubelska transit camp, into which he was smuggled during a secret mission, Jan Karski took it upon himself to inform the leaders of the Western world of the desperate plight of Polish Jewry; whereas Jan Karski, at great risk to his own life, gave voice to the voiceless by speaking out for the Jewish victims of HaShoah and stood firmly against evil; whereas this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jan Karski, therefore this House recognizes Jan Karski's heroic actions, compassion for the Jewish people, and enduring commitment to human dignity.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
(Motion agreed to)
It being Thursday, we will now have the Thursday question from the hon. opposition House leader.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Mr. Speaker, we were able to see today how question period will unfold when we form the government in 2015. The question and answer period in committee lasted almost two hours with the leader of the official opposition answering the questions properly.
However, it did not last two full hours, because the Conservative chair shut down the committee saying that the leader of the official opposition had answered all the questions. I think Canadians would rather have a government that answers the questions and is ready for them.
This Thursday, I have two questions. For weeks, we have been asking the Prime Minister to come to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to explain his involvement in the controversial database and robocall scandals.
I now hope that the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons will say that the Prime Minister will finally come to answer the questions. He does not need to come for two hours. I know that the Conservatives get tired after 40 or 45 minutes. However, it would be nice if he at least came to answer the questions in committee.
I hope he will answer my last question in perfect French. Will he join the NDP caucus in wishing the Canadiens hockey team good luck in their next round of playoffs? Will he join us in saying, “Go Habs, go”?