Debates of June 9th, 2014

The Environment

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of that question is ridiculous. Canadians across the country have applauded the announcement we made to launch the national conservation plan. It promotes our government's strong legacy of conservation work and includes new investments to secure ecologically sensitive lands and conserve marine and coastal areas. It helps to connect Canadians to nature in urban areas.

This was a commitment we made in the 2013 Speech from the Throne, and I am proud to be part of a government that keeps its promises and listens to Canadians.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian refugee settlement groups are calling on the Conservative government to do its part in response to the humanitarian crisis we are seeing in Syria as a result of the civil war. The settlement groups, under the leadership of the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance, wrote to the minister last week to confirm that they have the infrastructure and staff needed to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees. They are calling for immediate action.

When will the government respond to the call of the United Nations, which is trying to relocate 100,000 Syrian refugees?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the response of the Government of Canada and Canada as a whole to the crisis in Syria. We are the fourth-largest financial donor, and Canada has already offered protection to more than 1,100 Syrians. We are especially proud of Quebec's contribution. Private sponsorship in Quebec has been particularly strong. Further to the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with whom we discussed—

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Davenport.

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, according to the UN, over 2.8 million Syrians are seeking refugee protection. The Canadian Immigration Settlement Sector Alliance has called on the government to take in more refugees. It says that Canada is uniquely positioned to do more and to accept more.

Now, the minister has so far dragged his feet, but he has the opportunity to finally listen to experts, acknowledge that he has mishandled refugee protection, and agree to reassess Canada's role in Syrian aid.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians who have been following this crisis know that Canada has been at the forefront of the international response. We are the fourth-largest donor to the humanitarian response and other forms of response to meet the needs of those 2.7 million refugees.

We are deeply concerned that this is the largest refugee crisis the world in now facing. That is why Canada has already offered protection to over 1,100 Syrians through our asylum system and our refugee resettlement programs.

Further to the very productive recent visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and dignitaries, we plan to do more. Canada continues to resettle one in ten refugees worldwide.

Veterans Affairs

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, June 6, Canadians paused to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. As a nation, we honoured those Canadians who bravely landed on the heavily defended shores of Normandy, and with great vision and perseverance, forever changed the course of history.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs inform this House on how our government remembered this very important date?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I was honoured to return to the shores of France alongside our Prime Minister, Minister of Veterans Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and other parliamentarians to express our endless gratitude and to pledge that we will never forget those who served.

It was a great privilege and humbling experience to stand alongside almost 100 veterans of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy on Juno Beach to honour those who served and to remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Lest we forget.

The Environment

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Downsview Park is 77,572 acres of green space, boasting a lake, 60,000 trees, and walking paths, all between Keele, Sheppard, and Allen roads and Wilson Avenue. Put another way, Downsview Park is a one-of-a-kind jewel within Toronto. Despite this, I rise to sound the alarm on what appears to be a Canada Lands Company plan to transform Canada's largest urban park into a paradise for developers.

Will the minister, today, commit that Downsview will remain green, and that the government will preserve Downsview Park green for our children and our grandchildren?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes and values Downsview Park as an important community asset within the GTA. As we have indicated many times, there is no plan and no intention to sell the parkland at Downsview Park. We are going to keep that and make sure that it is available for the residents of the area.

Tourism

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week is Tourism Week in Canada.

Unfortunately, instead of investing in promoting Canadian tourism, the minister would rather brag about cutting 20% of the Canadian Tourism Commission's budget, and the results are disastrous. The tourism industry is struggling to cope with the consequences of those cuts and the botched EI reform.

During Tourism Week, will the minister fix his mistakes and invest in the tourism industry, which creates jobs across the country?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I have been wanting to rise in the House to answer questions about the tourism industry for a long time now.

There is so much good news in Canada's tourism industry that the member has forgotten it. The annual Rendez-vous Canada event was held in Vancouver two weeks ago, and all the players in our tourism industry were in attendance. Tourism in Canada is alive and well and is an engine of economic growth for many small businesses in this industry. The government will continue to support them.

Democratic Reform

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Toronto Star has wrongly reported that the fair elections act will allow people to vote by having someone vouch for who they are. This is clearly a factual error, because the fair elections act ends identity vouching altogether.

Can the Minister of State for Democratic Reform remind the House of the new requirement that every voter present a physical piece of ID before voting?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, the Toronto Star's factual error was in stating that voters can, “....continue to prove their identity through the vouching system at the ballot box”. That is a clear factual error. In the next election, it will be impossible to have someone identify anyone through a form of vouching. Anyone who shows up without a physical piece of ID will not be permitted to vote.

The good news is that Canadians overwhelmingly support our decision to require ID: 89% of Canadians believe that voters should have ID when they vote. We agree with them. It is fair. That is the fair elections act.

Privacy

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry's telecommunications bill will simply make it easier for companies and the government to intrude into the lives of ordinary people.

Just imagine: companies will be allowed to share their clients' personal information with other organizations without a warrant and without having to inform the individual in question.

Why are the Conservatives giving telecommunications companies carte blanche when it comes to surveillance? Why are they not protecting Canadians' personal information?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not the case. We are talking about Bill S-4.

Again, if my colleague is opposed to the bill, she ought to tell her colleague who is responsible for telecommunications policy, her colleague from Terrebonne—Blainville, who said, “We have been pushing for these measures and I am happy to see them introduced.... Overall, these are good first steps.”

That was the NDP position when we tabled the bill, because the digital privacy act does exactly, in substance, what the NDP asks for us to do rhetorically, which is to protect the privacy of Canadians online and protect their transactions, so that when their information is violated or if their information has been stolen, they are immediately notified, and if they are not, there is punishment. The Privacy Commissioner is empowered.

Bill S-4 goes a great way to protect Canadians online, and the NDP should know that.

Employment Insurance

[Jean-François Fortin, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for more than a year Service Canada has been picking on the workers at the Eastern Quebec Seafoods plant in Matane.

After abruptly ending an agreement that had been in effect since 1996, a known and approved agreement, Ottawa is now treating these employees like fraudsters and has asked them to repay thousands of dollars in legitimate benefits. In a display of extreme obstinacy, the Employment Insurance Commission wants to appeal the decision of the Social Security Tribunal, which just ruled in favour of the workers.

What is the government waiting for to intervene and ensure that this harassment of workers who have acted in good faith stops once and for all?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not familiar with this particular file, but I will look into it and provide the honourable member with the facts.

[Jean-François Fortin, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the workers at the Eastern Quebec Seafoods plant deserve better than platitudes from the minister. They deserve that the government stop treating them with disdain. They have already had to defend themselves once against Service Canada's unreasonable demands, and they won their case before the Employment Insurance Board of Referees. They then had to defend themselves a second time on the same matter, and they just won their case before the Social Security Tribunal.

How many more times will the honest workers of Matane have to defend themselves against Service Canada's bad faith before the minister takes real action and stops Service Canada from harassing them?

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

Mr. Speaker, the professional public servants at Service Canada are not acting in bad faith. They are acting in good faith. The rules are there to support unemployed workers who have lost their job through no fault of their own. Clearly, cases can be appealed before the Social Security Tribunal.

However, I will look into this particular case and share my findings with the hon. member.

The Environment

[Bruce Hyer, Green, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, two of Canada's greatest challenges are rising CO₂ and growing poverty. The Conservative government has not addressed either one.

Proposed by the Citizens Climate Lobby, carbon fee and dividend would address both by setting a fee on carbon to curb our petrol addictions and putting that money straight back into the pockets of each and every Canadian.

Will the Minister of Finance please consider carbon fee and dividend?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to say that our approach is working. Thanks to our actions, carbon emissions will go down close to 130 megatonnes from what they would have been under the Liberals.

What do the other parties want? They want a $20-billion carbon tax. Let us look at what this would do to hard-working Canadian families. This would be a tax on electricity, transportation, heating for their homes, clothes, groceries, and the list goes on. Canadians do not want more taxes. They do not want a $20-billion carbon tax.

We are going to continue with our approach.

The House resumed from June 5 consideration of Bill C-31, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures, as reported (with amendment) from the committee.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Pursuant to an order made on Tuesday, May 27, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded divisions on the motions at report stage of Bill C-31.

Call in the members.

[And the bells having rung:]