Debates of May 26th, 2014

Justice

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, consulting is one thing, listening to the consultation results is another.

The secret list of candidates obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that the appointment process was mismanaged by the PMO from start to finish. The process seems biased. The government ignored countless warnings, including that from the Chief Justice, and ran headlong into a legal battle that it knew it could not win, instead of looking for the best eligible judge possible.

Is the Prime Minister committed to selecting the next Supreme Court justices from Quebec from a pool of candidates on which Quebec agrees?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, again, the preamble of the question from my honourable colleague is incorrect. It is completely false.

We followed a process that she herself took part in. In fact, she had good things to say about Justice Nadon.

The hon. member, who was part of the process in fact, called Mr. Justice Nadon a very able jurist. She said he was a great judge, so it is a bit rich for her to stand up now and somehow leave the impression she was not supportive of the name going forward.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will gladly repeat. Yes, very competent but not eligible.

The Globe and Mail article describes the nomination process from the PMO as poorly managed. It was driven by an ideological agenda and was designed to get around the Supreme Court Act and the Constitution. It resulted in a vacancy for Quebec on the Supreme Court for almost a year, which is soon to become two vacancies.

Can the Minister of Justice still tell us if he believes that this was a fair process? Will the government pursue the same agenda for the next nomination, except adding my name always to the process?

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I am just going to let the Minister of Foreign Affairs know that I am going to recognize the Minister of Justice to answer the question.

The hon. Minister of Justice.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I would invite the hon. member to look deep inside herself and ask herself about that process and its fairness because, might I remind her and the House, she was a part of it. I can guarantee her we will be coming forward with the name of a very qualified appointment based on legal expertise, based on ability and merit. If she plays her cards right, she might even be considered.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the temporary foreign worker program saga, the government has been justifying its laissez-faire attitude with claims that there is a shortage of skilled workers.

For example, the Minister of Employment talked about scientists with such cutting-edge skills that they had to be brought in from halfway around the world. Fine, but if we look at the numbers from 2010 to 2014, 15,000 work permits were issued for minimum-wage jobs.

How can the government say that the program is for finding skilled workers when it is really for recruiting minimum-wage workers?

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

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the hon. member is wrong. She is referring to faulty research about the live-in caregiver program, which used to be based on minimum wage. However, we changed the rules two years ago to establish a higher wage for people in that program. We make sure that the average wage is paid to all temporary foreign workers.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government does not even follow its own rules.

According to the rule of the industry's median pay rule, foreign workers paid minimum wage should be the exception rather than the rule. According to some studies, in 97% of the cases, temporary foreign workers should have been paid more than minimum wage.

This clearly shows that the program primarily drives down wages.

How could the minister let this program get so out of control? Why did he tolerate all these abuses before taking action?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, the honourable member is wrong. She is confusing two different things. In fact, she is referring to the seasonal agriculture worker program and the live-in caregiver program. Previously caregivers could be paid the minimum wage, but that was increased to the median wage. Of course temporary agricultural workers are paid the minimum wage. That has always been the case and is in keeping with the rules and the fact that we want to ensure that Canadians always get first crack at jobs.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps promising new rules, but his department is not even following the existing ones. Documents obtained by the Alberta Federation of Labour show thousands of businesses were permitted to hire temporary foreign workers for minimum wage jobs even though most of them failed to comply with the rules. The result is higher unemployment, lower wages for Canadians, and the exploitation of foreign workers.

Will the minister now agree to an independent review of this very broken program?

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

Mr. Speaker, unsurprisingly, the union boss' research to which she refers is entirely wrong. It is based almost completely on the live-in caregiver program and the seasonal agricultural worker program.

The New Democrats, interestingly, were saying that we should ensure continued access to the seasonal agricultural worker program. I would like them to go on the record if it is now their view that we should massively increase wages for that program. Will they tell the farmers of Canada that, or will they just say one thing to us here and another thing to the farmers out in the rest of Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, even when abuses are reported, the Conservatives do not do anything. The minister is refusing to take responsibility for his own mismanagement. From cooks in B.C. to fish plant workers in P.E.I., hairdressers in Ontario, and hotel clerks in Alberta, they are all minimum wage workers all granted by the Conservatives.

If the government is letting companies import cheap labour, why hire a Canadian? Why did the minister allow his department to repeatedly disregard the rules?

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the false research upon which this study is predicated refers to data from several years ago, based primarily on the live-in caregiver program. At the time, it was within the rules to pay at minimum. We have since raised the requirement to a prevailing median wage rate for that program. It was also based on the seasonal agricultural worker program and, yes, the pay levels there are closer to minimum wage rates, because that is the market price.

However, we do require that employers seeking to hire people from abroad pay the prevailing median wage rate, which is typically higher than the starting wage rate in a particular occupation.

National Defence

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, every day, five individuals in the Canadian military become victims of sexual assault. The shocking extent of this abuse broke last month, and the minister promised a review, but only of policy and procedures. However, he has nothing to show for it.

When faced with a similar crisis in Australia, the army chief came out swinging against sexual harassment. He simply demanded that those who cannot respect their colleagues in uniform leave.

When will the minister take the same approach and finally address this crisis?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, these matters, in fact, are being investigated. Just recently, the Ontario Provincial Police has been investigating, and it is getting the co-operation of the Canadian Forces national investigation service.

This is exactly what we can expect. No government has done more for victims in this country than this government. That is what it will continue to do.

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is really too bad that the minister will not even be in committee tomorrow to testify about sexual assault in our armed forces. I do, however, look forward to hearing what the Chief of the Defence Staff has to say to us.

Every day, five members of the Canadian Forces—mostly women—are victims of sexual assault. Instead of addressing this problem head-on, as they are doing in the United States and Australia, the government is trying to sweep this issue under the rug by reducing the number of women in uniform.

When will the Conservatives take a tough-on-crime approach to sexual offences in the army?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, that is completely untrue. I have to point out to her that when the hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake, my parliamentary secretary, introduced a legislation that would toughen the sentencing for sexual assault, kidnapping, and murder, the New Democrats were the first ones on their feet opposing that. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Government Advertising

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have squandered over $600 million to promote themselves, rather than services to the public. Surveys that show that the ads are ineffective have been scrapped by the Conservatives, proving that they are nothing more than a partisan, self-promotion ad, paid for by the taxpayer at the expense of many programs.

Canadians are no fools, and struggling taxpayers want to know why Conservatives are wasting millions on phoney ads, while scrapping very important programs for Canadians.

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, of course, it is the responsibility of any government in Canada to communicate with the public on the excellent programs that will help citizens in their daily lives, and we are no exception to that. Of course, when we spend money on advertising, it actually goes to advertising, unlike the former Liberals.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, it seems clear that the Prime Minister and the justice minister politicized the selection process in order to appoint the judge they thought to be aligned with their Conservative ideology. Frustrated that it did not work, they shamefully blamed the Chief Justice for this debacle, which they themselves caused.

Canada's Supreme Court has been attacked by Canada's executive branch for the first time in Canadian history. Will the Prime Minister finally apologize to the Chief Justice?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, that is more inaccurate editorialization by the member opposite.

The reality is that we appoint judges based on judicial excellence and merit. The member would know, having previously been in government, that the Federal Court eligibility question had always been open, had always, in fact, been available to governments. The hon. member was a part of a government that appointed a judge from the Federal Court, albeit not from Quebec.

We will move forward and ensure that the Supreme Court complement is full, including judges from Quebec.

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, the minister broke the silence and the secrecy of the process that he himself has a duty to protect.

The Prime Minister politicized the selection process in order to appoint the judge he felt was most ideologically Conservative. Frustrated when that did not work, he shamefully blamed the Chief Justice. One sad result of this debacle is that Canada, and Quebec in particular, have been without a justice for nine months.

Will Justice Fish be replaced by the end of June? What process will the government follow? Will he be replaced with an eligible candidate this time?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we plan on appointing a candidate to the Supreme Court soon.

Again, with respect to the eligibility criteria and with respect to the process itself, it was not until members of the opposition began raising this issue on the floor of the House of Commons that we spoke about it at all.

We will respect the process. We will respect the needs of Quebec. We will respect the decision of the Supreme Court, as the Prime Minister has indicated. It is very much our intention to ensure that Quebec has full representation on the Supreme Court of Canada.

Status of Women

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, international leaders and experts are meeting in Toronto to talk about maternal health; however, gender equality and women's autonomy, health and rights must also be part of the discussion. Women who have access to the full range of reproductive health services are healthier, better educated and contribute more to their economies.

Will the summit address women's equality and reproductive choice as a key part of reducing the deaths of women and girls around the world?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of International Development and Minister for La Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, the summit that will be held in Toronto from May 28 to 30 under the leadership of the Prime Minister will be vital to ensuring that we stay on track. A total of 80% of the funds committed as part of the Muskoka initiative have been distributed, and we have seen results. However, we can do more.

Under the Prime Minister's leadership, Canada will again say loud and clear that maternal, newborn and children's health is a top priority.