Debates of May 27th, 2014

Employment

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

We are not finished yet, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, the Minister of Employment claimed that the data in a study on temporary foreign workers were out of date, whereas in reality, the study was on the last 18 months of Conservative rule. He claimed that the problems with wages were limited to live-in caregivers and agricultural workers, but that is wrong.

Instead of attacking the messenger, the minister would do well to examine his conscience and come to us with a complete reform, not just a patch job, as the Liberals so often did before the Conservatives.

When are they going to repair the damage that they themselves caused?

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

Mr. Speaker, the figures show that what I said yesterday is perfectly correct. In fact, 99% of the cases she is referring to were in the seasonal agricultural workers program and the live-in caregiver program.

In the other 1% of cases, the going wage was the minimum wage. That means that officials made the right decisions, according to the rules. However, we are tightening the rules to make sure that Canadians come first in our labour market and that there will be serious consequences for employers who do not comply with the rules.

Government Appointments

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, after sabotaging and then killing the Public Appointments Commission, the Conservatives have yet again been caught in more pork patronage. Today's accountability report shows that John Lynn, the hand-picked head of Enterprise Cape Breton of the Minister of Justice, was stuffing the Crown corporation with Conservative friends.

Mr. Lynn's actions were incompatible with the trust that the Government of Canada and the public has placed in him as Chief Executive Officer.

When will the Minister of Justice and a Conservative senior minister for Nova Scotia come clean in his role in this?

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, meanwhile New Democrats are busy using taxpayers dollars for election purposes to staff partisan offices. When will they be accountable for their own actions?

We take accountability on this side. I have taken steps to terminate Mr. Lynn's employment. I accept the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's findings, and ECBC has already implemented his recommendation.

Infrastructure

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative infrastructure promises are crumbling faster than Canada's roads and bridges. The building Canada fund has been chopped this year by nearly 90%. To add to this, the government is now forcing provinces to do a further review of municipal applications, creating more red tape and delaying projects until the next federal election, just in time for the photo op.

Will the Prime Minister reverse the 90% cut, streamline the process, and get shovels into the ground now?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, as a former mayor, I know that with the former Liberal government, there were no shovels in the ground. There are shovels in the ground. Here we are in power, and we will continue to work on that.

That is completely false. Completely false. I can tell members that there will be shovels in the ground this summer, because the former plan will continue to roll, and we have a new plan ready for business.

We already announced yesterday, in Edmonton, an LRT project, a really good one. We will continue to do so.

Employment

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, three years ago, the immigration department set up a blacklist for companies abusing temporary foreign workers, a good idea in theory. But guess how many companies have been blacklisted so far? Zero.

We could have all the legislative powers in the world, but if we do not do anything with these powers, we do not achieve anything. Will the Conservatives finally commit to regular inspections of the workplace?

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

Mr. Speaker, as evidence of how we are constantly trying to improve this program, we recognized that the blacklist put in place three years ago was not meeting its objective, because it was entirely prospective, so we brought in a new blacklist based on legislative authorities last year, which now allows us to make decisions retrospectively and for employers currently abusing the program.

What is the interesting thing? The Liberal Party voted against those new powers. The Liberal Party voted against cracking down on abusive employers, and the Liberal Party has inundated us with requests to overturn decisions not to bring in TFWs.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud that the Liberals have voted against the government on this program, because it has made such a monumental mess out of it.

As for cancelling that program, the website today says it still exists. The website today says no employers are on the list. It is obvious that it is under the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. It is his department. Why does he do nothing to enforce the rules? Why does he have nobody inspecting companies to detect such abuse?

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

Mr. Speaker, I remember back in the day, in opposition, a critic actually used to try to know his file. He would try to research the facts. The member is absolutely wrong.

The blacklist deals with employers applying for labour market opinions from Service Canada, which is an ESD agency. I am pleased to say that since December last, we have put in place a meaningful blacklist. We are now adding abusive employers to it.

I regret that the Liberal Party opposed it, and I regret that its high-water mark in the administration of the TFW program was Strippergate.

Employment Insurance

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, premiers in Atlantic Canada understand their region. They know what their economies need to grow and flourish. They are unanimous that the changes the federal government made to EI without any consultation are damaging to our region's economy.

Why are the Conservatives so allergic to working with the provinces, and why will they not sit down with them now and agree to fix the problems they have created with these changes?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course we work closely with provinces on matters of joint jurisdiction. The employment insurance program is an area of federal jurisdiction. We administer the program to ensure that it is there for Canadians when they lose their jobs through no fault of their own and they cannot find employment at their skill level in their local area.

We made some modest changes last year to remind folks that they do have an obligation to actively search for available work at their skill level in their local area. The report shows clearly that there was not a negative impact on local workers in Atlantic Canada.

Government Appointments

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the integrity commissioner has confirmed that the Conservatives used the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation to make partisan appointments. They hired four Conservatives without a competition, including the Minister of Justice's former chief of staff.

It is always the same thing with the Liberals and Conservatives: they give jobs at crown corporations to their buddies and they cut employment insurance for regular people.

When will the Minister of Justice give an explanation for the appointment of his former chief of staff?

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in accountability. I have already mentioned to the hon. member's colleagues that we have taken steps to terminate Mr. Lynn's employment.

On the other hand, what does the NDP have to say about its using taxpayers' dollars for election purposes to staff partisan offices? When will they take accountability for their own actions?

Employment Insurance

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just a big corporation, like the Conservatives.

Yesterday, the Atlantic premiers once again denounced the employment insurance reform. The Conservatives do not care about the Atlantic provinces or people in Atlantic Canada. They made changes to EI without consulting the public or the businesses that need seasonal workers and are now deprived of skilled workers. In the meantime, the hiring of temporary foreign workers has exploded.

When will the Conservatives start implementing policies to help the people of New Brunswick, and when will they cancel the EI reform, which hurts workers?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is the member who said last year that the minor changes made to the EI program would eliminate all benefits for seasonal workers. He said these changes would spell the end of our communities. He was absolutely wrong.

The figures show that the changes were very minor and they encouraged some people to more actively look for work in their region. We need to reduce employers' dependence on temporary foreign workers. That is why we will continue to manage the EI program to ensure that it is available for the unemployed workers who need it.

Government Appointments

[Ryan Cleary, NDP, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives seem to think that the best way to deal with out-of-control patronage at Enterprise Cape Breton is to fire the guy who got the patronage in the first place, but nowhere do Conservatives take responsibility for the pork patronage.

Do Conservatives really expect Canadians to believe that hiring well-connected Conservatives was all John Lynn's idea? It is time for some accountability. The minister has said that it is time to terminate Mr. Lynn's appointment, so I have a simple question. What severance package, what amount of severance, can Mr. Lynn expect?

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already mentioned twice to the hon. member's colleagues—he should listen to his colleague's questions in question period, by the way—we accept the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner's findings, and ECBC has already implemented his recommendations. In fact, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner acknowledges in his report that ECBC has already taken action and implemented a new recruitment and selection process, a policy that clearly incorporates fairness and transparency in the staffing process.

Consumer Protection

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadians save, spend, and invest their money, they should be assured that their interests come first. That is why our government has taken significant action to protect Canadian consumers, including imposing a mandatory 21-day interest-free grace period on credit cards, banning unsolicited credit card cheques, and introducing new requirements for prepaid credit cards.

Could the Minister of Finance please update the House on our government's latest in promoting our consumer-first agenda?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Provencher for asking the question. I am very happy to announce an agreement with Canada's eight largest chartered banks to expand no-cost banking services for more than seven million Canadians. This will help vulnerable and low-income Canadians gain access to essential banking services at a reasonable cost.

Our government puts consumers first. Just today, the parliamentary budgetary office confirmed that we have delivered more than $30 billion in tax relief to Canadians.

The Budget

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, many experts in many fields have told us that the Conservatives' last budget bill was flawed and that it hurt Canadian companies.

This time, dozens of chambers of commerce, companies such as Giant Tiger, and industrial groups have called for the changes to the Trade-marks Act to be removed from the government's budget bill. No one is in a better position to understand the actual impact of the Conservatives' whims.

Will the minister listen to the business community and remove the changes to the Trade-marks Act from his budget bill?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the changes to trademark are very important for small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.

What we are doing in Bill C-31 is enacting three international protocols that protect the interests of small businesses on the international scene. These three treaties will allow Canadians who work in the IT sector and those who are dependent on their intellectual property on the world stage not to have to hire 50 and 60 lawyers around the world but to hire one.

When a patent is registered in Canada, it will be recognized on the world stage so that Canadians who are investing in intellectual property will be protected on a global level, not just a Canadian level.

I understand that the Canadian Bar Association does not like it, but it is because it is good for small business.

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

Mr. Speaker, let us expand that list with people who know something about small business a little, like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, or about export, like the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, who joined the Canadian Bar Association in raising concerns about these dramatic changes to trademark policy.

I know the Minister of Finance will not get up and defend his own budget act, because he knows how bad it is, so he will pass it over to someone else. I wonder if he has listened at all to the member for Lanark—Carleton, who of course sits on the family business board of Giant Tiger, who also wrote this minister, arguing against the changes to trademark.

Will he at least listen to his Conservative colleagues if not listening to Canadian businesses?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, these changes absolutely benefit small businesses.

These treaties, by the way, were signed back in 2001. It is our government that is taking action to implement them. They protect the interests of small businesses.

It is true there are those, of course, in the Canadian Bar Association, others who represent lawyers and patent lawyers, who want to be able to charge small businesses $3,500 to $5,000 to register patents in 20, 40, 50 countries around the world.

We stand with small businesses. We stand with those businesses that are dependent on intellectual property so that they can have their patents registered in Canada and recognized on the global level so that they can move forward and engage and be successful on the international scene.

International Development

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister once claimed that accountability will be the key to the Muskoka initiative, but as with so many aspects of the Conservatives' G8 summit, accountability is missing. Experts have found that the Canadian government has failed to live up to the accountability standards the Prime Minister has demanded from the rest of the world.

The department says that information will not be available for years. How can Canada expect accountability from other countries when it will not even practice it itself?