Debates of May 15th, 2014

Ethics

[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.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. There is a bit of premature applause there. I do not think the parliamentary secretary has finished his answer, but if members on this side of the House want to wait until he is done, they can feel free to applaud at that point.

The hon. parliamentary secretary still has some time left.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, maybe they thought it was like an election. They could just write their name on the ballot somewhere and run for office, but they never had to be there, just like the New Democrats who actually worked in those offices. They apparently worked in Ottawa, but their office was actually there, but it was closed by a fictitious door that the Leader of the Opposition called on. Just pay back the $3 million—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île.

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

Mr. Speaker, unlike others, when it is our turn we answer questions. Out of sight, out of mind does not cut it.

Bruce Carson was personally chosen by the Prime Minister to be part of his inner circle, and we are just now learning the extent of his deceit.

If a company learns that one of its senior employees is a crook, it will investigate and ensure that that does not happen again instead of sweeping the whole thing under the rug.

Have the Conservatives changed the process for vetting the Prime Minister's advisers, or are they waiting once again for the police to show up?

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

Mr. Speaker, out of sight and out of mind is what the NDP members described of their last candidates in the Quebec election. Out of sight and out of mind, just like in their offices. Some $3 million of taxpayer money was used to try to subsidize NDP efforts in a province like Saskatchewan where, the last time I checked, has no members and have not had one for 10 years. I guess the Leader of the Opposition was trying to get away with it for 17 years like in another matter, but he got caught.

Thanks to the member for Kitchener Centre, we are drilling down to this and getting the information. Just pay taxpayers back and do the right thing.

Citizenship and Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, let us now turn to the Conservatives' disastrous management of programs. The Conservatives' cuts to health care for refugees have had the effects we anticipated.

The hospitalization rate of children from refugee families has doubled because parents have been reduced to waiting until the last minute to ask for the help they need when their children are very sick. These are the most vulnerable members of our society and the Conservatives are leaving them to fend for themselves.

Will the Conservatives finally show some humanity, cancel these shameful cuts and restore health care services for refugees?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear on this matter. The interim federal health program is intended for genuine refugees. We are not going to give funding provided by Canadian taxpayers to fraudulent or failed refugee claimants, nor to all the visitors to Canada. They number 10 million per year. We cannot afford it and it is laughable for the NDP to suggest it.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is children who are paying the price for the minister's ideological attack on refugees.

Hospital admissions of refugee children have doubled since the Conservatives' disastrous decision to cut health care for refugees. Desperate parents are waiting until their children are seriously ill before they seek help. The minister's approach is inhumane and it is bad health policy.

Will the minister acknowledge the harm he has caused, apologize and restore health care services for refugees?

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

Mr. Speaker, will the member apologize for her lack of understanding of the refugee system, of the asylum system? She has insisted refugees are not receiving health care from the federal government. Every one is receiving it.

She would have us pay for failed refugee claimants, fraudulent refugee claimants, bogus refugees claimants and, it sounds like, for visitors to Canada. This is a decision the Wynne government has made. This is a decision that some doctors are calling for unilaterally. They will have to account to voters and to taxpayers for those decisions.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. There is an awful lot of heckling going on today. I am going to ask members to refrain from doing that. It is becoming very distracting to the Chair. Members will please come to order.

The hon. member for Vancouver East has the floor.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is no lack of understanding on this side of the House. There are only the children who are being hurt by the minister's crazy policies when it comes to refugees.

The Wellesley Institute warned the government that costs to the health care system would rise as refugees would wait until they were seriously ill before seeking help. Now we see that it was right. Twice as many refugee children have been admitted to hospitals as were admitted before the Conservative cuts. That is the reality.

Why does the government think it is okay to make vulnerable children pay the cost of its shameful and discriminatory attacks on refugees?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member should be ashamed of her comments. Refugees and the children of refugees are receiving the interim federal health care program. We are proud of that record.

The opposition is calling for failed claimants, fraudulent claimants, bogus claimants to receive health care. That is the direction the Wynne government has gone into. That is the direction some doctors have gone, unilaterally, into. We will not support that approach. Many, many voters across this province and the country and many, many taxpayers are asking the same question. Those responsible for those decisions will be held accountable.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, NDP, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for several days, I have been asking the Minister of Justice about the reasons for the disappearances and murders of aboriginal women.

The minister keeps saying that this is no longer the time for talk, that it is the time for action. I agree completely. However, in order to act, we still need to identify the problem. The minister is incapable of answering a simple question: what is the main socio-economic reason leading to the murders and disappearances of these women? With women continuing to go missing and to be murdered, does the minister believe that his measures are effective?

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

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work to reduce violence against women, including aboriginal women.

In the 2014 economic action plan, we allocated an additional $25 million to put a stop to violence in aboriginal communities. We will not find the solution by doing studies but by taking action. We have passed three bills that deal with protection and we will continue to work along those lines.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Justice, when asked if nothing more could be done for 1,200 missing and murdered indigenous women in our country, responded, “what we do not need is haughty, condescending questions from the opposition”.

What families definitely do not need is condescending attitudes from a minister of the Crown, so we dare to ask again. Will the minister and his government respond to the demands of families and Canadians across this country for a national public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women?

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

Mr. Speaker, over time over 40 studies have been conducted yet the violence continues.

Kathy Meyer, whose daughter Angela went missing four years ago, was quoted as saying, “I think inquiries cost a lot of money and I don’t know if anything comes out of them.”

We will put the money toward real solutions in the communities with the aboriginals to try to curb the violence against the women.

Canadian Heritage

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

Mr. Speaker, how does the Minister of Canadian Heritage explain the fact that the Canadian Museum of History has decided, without consulting Canadians at all, that 87% or 26 of the 30 events planned to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Confederation will focus on military events?

Do we need a second Canadian War Museum? Canada's military history needs to be recognized, but is it doing our rich history justice to dedicate over eight of 10 events to our military history?

Why are no events being dedicated to the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage or the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, for example?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, the museums make their own operational decisions.

Let us talk about the 150th anniversary of our country, which will celebrate and commemorate Canada's achievements from coast to coast. It will be a success across the country as a result of the consultations we have held with Canadians. In fact, consultations are still ongoing. We have held at least 20 round tables.

I urge my colleague and his party to hold consultations. They have not held any in their ridings. I therefore urge them to do so and to share with us their constituents' ideas.

National Defence

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after a combined 50 years of service in the navy, Leading Seaman Jeffrey Rissesco and Naval Lieutenant Allen Barkhouse are each being forced to repay $50,000 in housing allowance through no fault of their own.

Last year, the Military Grievances External Review Committee heard Rissesco's case. What did it say? It ordered the military to refund them all the money the government had clawed back, yet his salary continues to be garnisheed.

Will the Conservatives cut through the red tape and accord these military families the respect they deserve?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the facts of this case are extremely troubling. Supporting military families is an important obligation for our government. That is why we have increased funding for the military family resource centres by 25% since 2007.

In relation to this particular case, the Chief of the Defence Staff is currently reviewing this matter and we await his decision.

Foreign Affairs

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the OSCE currently does not intend to send parliamentary observers to Donetsk and Luhansk for the May 25 presidential election in Ukraine. We appreciate the security concerns that motivated this decision, but it is in these two regions where Ukraine sovereignty is at greatest risk and where it is most important to make sure a fair, internationally monitored vote takes place.

Can the minister tell us what the government is doing to ensure there is a senior international presence in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts during this crucial vote?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, obviously we are tremendously concerned with what has gone on in that region, that part of Ukraine. We are concerned with whether there will be a fair vote and, if there is not one, with the claims that Russia inevitably will make as to the legitimacy of the presidential election and the legitimacy of the new president.

We are obviously prepared to work with our allies and we are prepared to work within the OSCE to do everything we can to support a productive election and to support observations in that part of the country.

Having said that, I am particularly concerned about the safety of a number of members who will be travelling there. I know I have talked to the member for Parkdale—High Park and others about this, but we will continue to work with our allies and see what can be done.