Debates of June 11th, 2014

Employment

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

I must have hit a soft spot, Mr. Speaker.

The Liberals and Conservatives have watched a generation of good middle-class jobs disappear, and they have done nothing to create the next generation of full-time, well-paid jobs. There are 300,000 more people unemployed today than before the recession. What do they do? They cut job market research. They kill tax breaks for small businesses, the real job creators in our country.

Can the Prime Minister tell us why he is killing the small business hiring credit that helps create jobs?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is interesting. This is a time-limited credit that the NDP voted against, not once, but on several occasions.

We have lowered taxes for businesses of all size in this country. We refuse to bring in, not only the job-killing carbon tax, but the 60% hike on EI premiums that the NDP wants to bring in to pay for the 45-day work year. That is why there is not a single small business organization in this country that is ever going to support the NDP.

Public Works and Government Services

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in the words of one of Canada's top defence journalists, David Pugliese, “It appears to be total confusion on the F-35 front in Ottawa these days”. Yet the Prime Minister still seems poised to blindly push ahead with the expensive and risky single engine F-35.

I have a straightforward question to the Prime Minister. Will other companies be allowed to submit bids on the contract to replace Canada's aging F-18s before any decision is made on the F-35?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said, the process for procuring the next generation of fighter aircraft has been going through a multi-step process, including an extensive independent evaluation of the options by experts in the field. That report has just been received by us. It has not yet been reviewed by cabinet, but I assure the hon. member that when we look at it, we will always consider what is in the best long-term interests of the men and women of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, apparently the Prime Minister does not understand that in an open, competitive bidding process one allows the bids before announcing the decision, so that the process works.

Two years ago, the Auditor General reviewed the Conservatives' plan to purchase F-35s and found that the process was a complete mess. We knew that already. The Prime Minister was forced to retreat and dismiss his incompetent minister.

Two years later, he is about to make the same mistakes because he still has not launched an open and transparent bidding process, and this time he cannot blame his incompetent minister.

How much longer do the Canadian Forces have to wait?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government commissioned a panel of independent experts to look at all of the options for replacing our fighter jets.

Cabinet is going to examine that report and it will determine which option is the best for our air force.

The one thing I know for sure is that whatever decision the government takes it will be opposed by the NDP because the NDP always opposes acquisitions of equipment for the men and women in uniform. It is the no-defence party over there, the NDP. Ours is the party that stands for the men and women in uniform.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in December 2012 the Chief of the Defence Staff told the defence committee that the F-35 was not the only plane that met Canada's stealth requirements and that “all options are on the table” to replace our fighters. Therefore, will the Prime Minister commit that the government will only replace our CF-18s through an open, transparent, competitive bidding process?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government has indeed commissioned a panel of independent experts to look at all the available options and also the appropriate process for that. We have just received the report, and I can assure the hon. member that the government will act on the recommendations of experts and always do what is right for the men and women of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The Environment

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the northern gateway pipeline project has failed in its duty to consult with first nations. It has failed to reassure Canadians that the Great Bear rainforest will be protected. It has failed to show those whose jobs and livelihood depend on the Pacific Ocean that a catastrophic spill can be prevented. Therefore, will the Government of Canada do the right thing and say no to the northern gateway pipeline?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the ideological opposition of the Liberal Party to the energy industry, which of course goes back to the days of his father. The reality is there has been a joint review process, a rigorous process, undertaken in terms of environmental assessment. The government has received that report. The government is in the process of examining it and the government will act on the recommendations of experts.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government did not act with due diligence when it comes to the northern gateway pipeline project. Environmental considerations were not adequately assessed and the aboriginal communities that will be affected by the project were not adequately consulted.

Will the Prime Minister say no to this mismanaged pipeline project?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party took that position before even seeing the final recommendations made by the panel of experts who worked on this matter for several months. The panel gave us a report containing recommendations and we are going to consider them before taking action.

National Defence

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, former Liberal defence ministers Bill Graham and David Pratt are calling on Canada to participate in the U.S. missile defence scheme. It was a bad idea in 2005 and it is a bad idea today.

Will the Prime Minister be very clear that he will not drag Canada into the U.S. system for ballistic missile defence?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what I will be very clear on is that this government will always take the appropriate course of action to protect the security of Canadians.

A decision, which was supported by our party some years ago, was made not to participate in that system, given the risks that existed at the time. Those risks have continued to evolve.

The government will continue to examine the facts and will make any decision necessary to protect the security of Canadians.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, is the Prime Minister serious? Does he really want Canada to participate in the American missile defence system? Is that his peace plan, an arms race?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the NDP takes an ideological position against defending Canada. However, protecting Canadians at all times has always been one of the responsibilities of Conservative and Liberal governments.

A decision was made a decade ago. The government will continue to examine the situation before it determines a course of action.

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, today, thousands of Canadians and first nations members are joining the Our Dreams Matter Too walk, calling for better education and health care for first nations children.

This walk is being held as the Conservative government is gearing up to eliminate on-reserve early childhood intervention programs, effective July 1.

This decision, which is pushing families to leave their community to get services, is currently before the Human Rights Tribunal.

Why is the minister targeting the most vulnerable children?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, protecting children living on reserve is a priority for our government. That is why, since 2006, we have used a prevention-based approach to delivering family and child services.

To protect these children, we have increased funding for the family violence prevention program by 38% and we have passed the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act.

In fact, since 2006, our government has invested more than $10 billion to support the primary and secondary education of roughly 117,500 first nations children on reserve. The NDP voted against those measures in every budget.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today marks another anniversary of the residential school apology. Back then the government promised that things would be different and that relationships would be improved, but aboriginal children are not seeing these promised changes.

On July 1, the Conservative government will be cutting early childhood intervention programs, and no replacement will be provided. Government should be investing in aboriginal children, not clawing back badly needed services.

Why is the minister cutting funding from some of our country's most vulnerable children?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the funds are not being cut. It is a falsehood.

Protecting children on reserve is a priority for our government. We believe that the best way to ensure first nations children and families get the support they need is by working with willing partners, including first nations, provinces, and territories, which deliver child and family services. This is what we are doing and will keep on doing.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration took evasive action after being asked about the constitutionality of his immigration bill. He refused to answer the question, but he did manage to make an unrelated reference to the “disgraced ideological former lawyer of the Khadr family”.

Could the minister tell us how his latest smear job is even remotely relevant to the constitutionality of Bill C-24?

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

Mr. Speaker, what is clear is that we were given a strong mandate as a government to reinforce the value of Canadian citizenship, and citizenship is based on allegiance.

Liberals had 13 years to try to sort these issues with backlogs. New Democrats have not had the chance, and if all goes well, they will never have it, but Canadians think it is absolutely legitimate for dual nationals who have committed acts of treason, of terrorism, of espionage to forfeit their Canadian citizenship.

That is a violation of—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Davenport.

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what is clear is that this bill proposes new powers to deport a Canadian-born citizen to a country to which they have no connection. This is nonsensical, and it is most likely unconstitutional.

The hon. member knows there is a public outcry and he knows people are asking to compromise, yet he stubbornly steams ahead, ignoring all criticism.

Why did the government turn down every single suggestion put forward to try to fix this bill?

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

Mr. Speaker, what is clear is that the member opposite is lost in the thicket of his own ideology. There is absolutely no new provision in this bill to deport or to strip the citizenship of Canadian citizens who have only one nationality.

It is offensive for the members opposite to be drawing a false distinction between who are naturalized Canadians and those who are Canadian born. The law applies to them equally, and we will continue to take our advice from lawyers who know the difference between a removal and a revocation, which the lawyer he mentioned clearly does not.