Debates of Sept. 16th, 2014

Royal Canadian Air Force World War II Memorial

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House about the unveiling of the Royal Canadian Air Force World War II memorial in my constituency of Brandon—Souris.

Last week, veterans and community members alike gathered on the grounds of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum to partake in the solemn ceremony that paid tribute to the over 19,000 airmen and airwomen who died while in service to the Commonwealth during World War II. They answered the call on behalf of our nation when we needed them most. They brought glory to themselves and Canada while fighting to make this world a better place. Now their names, etched in granite, will stand as a lasting reminder of their sacrifice for their country.

I also want to highlight and thank all the volunteers and donors who made this memorial possible. In particular, I want to pay tribute to Archie Londry, the memorial chair and visionary of the project and honorary fundraising chair, Reg Forbes.

Now, together and forever more, everyone who visits the RCAF memorial will remember our nation's heroes of the skies.

Burlington Flood Relief

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on August 4, parts of the city of Burlington received 191 millimetres of rain in just a few hours. This is almost double the amount of rain Hurricane Hazel dumped on the city many decades ago. Over 3,000 homes were flooded with either rainwater or sewage, including my own basement. Many of the victims of the flood had little or no insurance to cover this type of disaster.

The outreach by neighbours to those affected by the flood has been overwhelming. Their generous support has come in all forms, from food and clothing to toys for children; from financial donations at public events to opening homes for the use of laundry facilities.

We do live in a caring community, but there is more to do. The Burlington Community Foundation has set a goal of raising $2 million dollars to help flood victims in the most need. This fund may be matched by the Ontario disaster relief fund. I ask the residents of Burlington to continue to come together to support the BCF flood relief program.

I thank the residents of Burlington for the caring and compassion they have shown for their neighbours.

Ukraine

[Alexandrine Latendresse, NDP, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the situation in the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk is a challenge for the western world. Even so, the friendship between Canada and Ukraine remains steadfast. Canada fully supports the Ukrainian people's desire for peace and democracy.

On behalf of all my colleagues, I would like to extend a warm welcome to President Poroshenko, who is visiting our great country for the first time.

[Member spoke in Ukrainian.]

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, will visit Canada tomorrow. He will be warmly greeted by Canadians and in particular by those of Ukrainian heritage, as he will address all of Canada from this House.

What President Poroshenko will find is that Canadians stand alongside the Ukrainian people in support of the right to freedom and self-determination, free from the intimidation of Vladimir Putin.

Yesterday our Prime Minister reminded Canadians that since the Putin regime invaded Ukraine, Canada has led the way in seeking the political and economic isolation of Russia. There is no ambiguity as to where Canada stands. We will never recognize the illegal occupation of Crimea or any other inch of Ukraine's sovereign territory. In support of Ukraine, we have sent financial assistance, military supplies, and our armed forces to reassure our NATO allies in eastern Europe.

Canada is a loyal friend and recognizes that Ukrainian immigrants helped build and shape our nation. Canada will work hard to ensure that we help Ukraine build a new future and become prosperous as only free and democratic societies can.

Slava Ukraini.

Celebration of the Saint-François Brotherhood

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on September 14, hundreds of people gathered for the 7th annual celebration of the Fraternité de Saint-François in the Saint-Noël-Chabanel parish in my riding.

Residents eagerly await this annual celebration that brings together the many cultural communities in the eastern part of Laval.

Over 40 countries were represented during the parade of flags. The event also included music, a talent show, booths for artisans and local organizations, and the blessing of school backpacks.

Many people worked hard to make this event possible. I would like to thank Father Gérald Dionne, the Fabre council of the Knights of Columbus and the entire organizing committee. Your dedication makes the celebration of the Fraternité de Saint-François a huge success every year.

In Saint-François, our diversity is part of our wealth. Let us continue to celebrate it and show our pride in it every day.

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Liberal leader, who would reverse seniors' pension income-splitting and believes that supporting the NDP's federal minimum wage proposal is relief for middle-class Canadians, our Conservative government helps Canadians keep more of their hard-earned dollars.

Unlike the Liberal leader's proposals, we have taken real action to put more money back into the pockets of seniors and all other Canadians by cutting the GST; introducing pension income-splitting; creating tax free savings accounts, allowing more than nine million Canadians to save tax-free; and introducing the pooled registered pension plan to help small businesses and the self-employed save for their retirements.

However, we are not stopping there. We recently announced the small business hiring credit, which will lower EI payroll taxes and save small businesses over $550 million, and there is a further rate cut planned for 2017, bringing rates down by a total of 22% compared to 2014 levels.

We continue to stand up for seniors and small business owners, while the Liberal leader's proposals show that he is clearly in over his head.

Co-opertive Housing

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking the people of Trinity—Spadina for granting me the privilege of serving them in the House of Commons. They have sent me here with a clear mandate to fight for a national housing program. In particular, they want co-op housing programs protected. This program is an internationally celebrated and respected housing strategy. However, as CMHC mortgage agreements expire, not only are co-op housing communities being plunged into a made-in-Ottawa housing crisis but at the same time, the federal program that provides subsidies to lower-income co-op residents is being eliminated.

At a very real, human level, this means that seniors who have lived in co-ops for years, paying market rents, who have invested volunteer hours building these communities, seniors who depend on rent subsidies as they hit retirement age and go on fixed incomes, now risk being evicted because the subsidy program is disappearing.

The Co-op Housing Federation of Toronto and Canada is calling on the government to re-assert its responsibility in this area, to renew the mortgage agreements, and to continue to provide rent-geared-to-income subsidies for co-ops.

We should be building housing, not getting rid of it. We should be supporting Canadians, not deserting them.

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Liberals are in over their heads on matters of national security. We now know that the Liberal leader went pandering for votes at a radical fundamentalist mosque that has recruited people for al Qaeda. We also know that the Liberal leader opposes taking passports from individuals who have gone overseas to engage in acts of terrorism, saying that stripping passports is an affront to Canadian values.

Yesterday the member for Kingston and the Islands went even further than his deeply out-of-touch leader when he took to Twitter to say that Liberals see light and beauty inside every person.

First the Liberals refuse to condemn female genital mutilation as a barbaric practice, and now they see light and beauty where the rest of the world sees evil, particularly in the face of three western journalists being barbarically beheaded. Can the leader of the Liberal Party point to any barbaric evil group or practice he is actually opposed to?

Employment

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP stands up for workers. That is why the first motion put forward by the NDP this session is to raise the minimum wage federally to $15 an hour. This will mean money in the pockets of many thousands of Canadians who work in industries like transport, banking and communications.

The Liberals removed the federal minimum wage in the 1990s and workers face continued uncertainty. As Jerry Dias, head of Unifor, said:

Too many workers today are forced into low-paid, part-time and precarious jobs. The kind of leadership [the Leader of the Opposition] is showing on this issue will help improve their situation.

The Prime Minister's only solution to this is just to shrug his shoulders, but this is a chance for the federal government to really show leadership and set an example by increasing standards for workers in all jurisdictions right across the country.

The time for leadership is now.

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

[Stella Ambler, Conservative, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, unsurprisingly, the Liberal leader spent his summer avoiding answering the tough questions. While Canadians count on our Prime Minister's strong leadership to protect our democracy and freedom, the leader of the third party continues to count China's basic dictatorship as his favourite government.

While our party works hard and makes tough decisions to bring Canadians a balanced budget next year to deliver hard-working families further tax cuts, the Liberal leader tries to tell Canadians that the budget will somehow magically balance itself. Maybe by making marijuana legal and available for sale in stores, just like alcohol and cigarettes, none of us will need to be concerned about how budgets actually work. We just need to trust the expertise of the Liberals' top economic adviser, the Prince of Pot.

All of this does not just show poor judgment; it shows a leader in over his head. That is why Canadians know we are better off with this Prime Minister.

Foreign Affairs

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister said that there are currently several dozen Canadian soldiers in Iraq. The Prime Minister knows the exact number. On an issue as important as Iraq, Canadians deserve for their Prime Minister to be completely open and honest with them. I am going to ask him the same question as I did yesterday, but this time I expect a real answer. How many members of the Canadian Forces will be sent to Iraq?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I checked with the Chief of the Defence Staff, and the number of soldiers we are in the process of deploying is 69.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is the same person who, in 2003, wanted Canada to be involved in Iraq. He is finally getting his wish.

However, in 2006, the Prime Minister promised to “make Parliament responsible for the commitment of Canadian Forces to foreign operations”, no exceptions. In 2007, he said, “any future military deployment must be supported by a majority of parliamentarians”, no conditions: all foreign operations, any future deployment, not just combat missions.

The Prime Minister promised a vote on all future military deployment. Why is the Prime Minister breaking his word?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, the government's position on that over the past eight years has been very consistent.

However, I would point out that when the Leader of the Opposition makes the comparison between what the United States is doing today and what the United States did in 2003, there is no comparison.

President Obama was very opposed to the 2003 war. Obviously today he is launching a counterterrorism operation, not simply because millions of people in that region are in danger, but because there are very real threats that present themselves to all countries, including both the United States and Canada.

We are very fortunate that we have men and women in uniform who are prepared to undertake these missions to protect us.

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is nice for the Prime Minister to reference another NATO leader. The fact is that it was he who promised Canadians a vote and a debate in Parliament, no one else.

According to RCMP documentation, the Prime Minister knew that his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, personally assisted Mike Duffy in repaying his expenses.

The Prime Minister still has not explained what he really knew about this personal assistance. If he is called to testify in the trial of his senator, Mike Duffy, will the Prime Minister try to hide behind his parliamentary privilege or will he testify?

Is he going to hide behind parliamentary privilege, or is he going to testify?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if we read the investigator's report, there is absolutely no reason to suggest that I would do that.

What I would say for the leader of the NDP, if anyone were to ask me about the inappropriate use of public funds, I would certainly suggest him as an expert witness.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it was the RCMP that concluded, just this summer, that the $90,000 paid to Mike Duffy in the Prime Minister's Office was “bribery of a judicial officer”. It was a bribe, and at least 13 Conservative officers were involved.

The real question for the Prime Minister, who likes to give lessons on ethics and morals, is why did he not fire any of those other 13 Conservatives involved in the bribery of a judicial officer?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, the lesson is if we live in a glass house, we should not throw stones.

The RCMP concluded no such thing, but as an increasing number of investigators will conclude, the leader of the NDP and many people of his party have themselves misused public funds. He will have to ask why he is not firing himself.

Champlain Bridge

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Arthur Porter, Mike Duffy, Patrick Brazeau, why is it that so many of the Prime Minister's buddies wind up with handcuffs? I do not know.

It has been over a year since the Conservatives received a study showing that if they impose a toll on the new Champlain Bridge, there will be a dramatic increase in traffic on the other bridges in Montreal. According to the study, this will result in a lower quality of life for families, decreased productivity for businesses and more environmental pollution.

Why did the Conservatives hide the study on the Champlain Bridge and why are they refusing to follow the recommendations?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a contract process. I am encouraged to see that studies have been done in every area associated with this bridge.

I would like to once again congratulate the Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs for the great work he has done on this new bridge, which is a wonderful asset for the greater Montreal area.

Employment Insurance

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative EI plan has a fundamental flaw. Just when our economy needs jobs and growth, the Conservatives offer incentives to stay small and actually fire workers. Why not fix this and instead encourage companies to grow and actually hire more Canadians?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the leader of the Liberal Party tried to argue that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business supported this bizarre interpretation of the tax cuts recently announced by the Minister of Finance. The CFIB said that this was not the case.

However, that is not the only thing that the Liberal Party said yesterday. The Liberal Party's leader said that the Liberal Party would reverse income splitting. I would point out that income splitting has been of great benefit for the pensioners of our country. We strongly support it and we will fight anybody who wants to take that away.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, actually the CFIB said last week that no one was going to hire a new person for a few hundred dollars. Economic experts from the Universities of Calgary, Laval and B.C. have all said that the Conservative EI plan is a disincentive to growth.

Why does the Prime Minister not instead offer an EI premium exemption for every new worker that Canadian businesses actually hire? That is how we create jobs and stimulate growth.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, let me read what the Canadian Federation of Independent Business actually said:

This announcement is fantastic news for Canada’s entrepreneurs and their employees, and as such, can only be a positive for the Canadian economy.

Furthermore, the CFIB said this about the bizarre accusation made by the Liberal leader:

—a small business owner doesn’t have time to research the eligibility requirements and then carefully manage their payroll to receive a few hundred dollars over two years.

The CFIB is strongly supportive of what we are doing and strongly opposed to the premium hikes proposed by the Liberal Party.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a fundamental flaw in the Conservatives' employment insurance plan. They are offering companies $2,000 to fire employees but only $200 to hire them.

Instead, the government should be offering companies an exemption if they create jobs. That is how to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.