Debates of Sept. 18th, 2014

Agriculture

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, our government stands with western Canada's hard-working grain farmers and that is why the first monetary penalty under the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act will be imposed on CN Railway for failing to move a minimum amount of grain each week. This first monetary penalty is proof that we meant what we said when we passed the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act. Our government fully defends farmers and shippers.

We remain hopeful that CN and all members of the rail supply chain will choose to be part of the solution.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, despite the Minister of Employment and Social Development's band-aid solutions, problems with the temporary foreign worker program persist. We were told that employers who hired temporary foreign workers would not be allowed to lay off Canadian employees. That is not true. Three months later, the minister is continuing to provide some employers with cheap labour.

Will the minister get the program back on the right track once and for all?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Minister of State (Social Development)]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we have made substantive changes to the temporary foreign worker program because we believe Canadians should always have first crack at those jobs.

That member could ask the business community how these changes have affected it and the fact that it has had to revamp how it will fill those positions. Instead, the opposition continues to ask us for more temporary foreign workers.

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

Mr. Speaker, how can the minister say that he fixed the temporary foreign worker program when some types of temporary foreign workers are still being fast-tracked, labour market opinions are still based on bogus statistics and nothing is being done to improve conditions for temporary foreign workers?

Despite the minister's band-aid solutions, Canadian workers are still being laid off in favour of temporary foreign workers. When will this stop?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Minister of State (Social Development)]

Mr. Speaker, if the member has any information regarding specific employers that have laid off Canadians to replace them with temporary foreign workers, we would like that to be reported.

Here are some of the changes we have made. On top of a major fee increase from $250 to $1,000 per application, we have ensured that employers, for example, with 10 or more employees applying for a new LMIA are subject to a cap of 10% on the proportion of their workforce.

There are a number of changes that we have made. The New Democrats do not support the changes. They are all over the map when it comes to temporary foreign workers. We will not trust them on this one.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are not going to fall for the minister's spin.

The minister is pretending to fix the temporary foreign worker program because applications for labour market opinions have gone down. However, the majority of foreign workers in Canada never needed an LMO, and all the minister did for that side of the program was change the name. The minister did nothing to protect foreign workers from abuse or to protect Canadian workers from layoffs.

Why will the minister not actually fix this program?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Minister of State (Social Development)]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the majority of temporary foreign workers did require an LMO. That has been replaced by the more rigorous LMIA.

I am not sure if the New Democrats are suggesting that we make major changes to the agricultural stream, which is working very well. Instead, we made rigorous changes to the part of the temporary foreign worker program whereby Canadians were not getting jobs or Canadians were being fired to be replaced with temporary foreign workers.

We made those changes June 20, we are implementing them, and we are looking forward to good results.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians feel workers are fed up with the government's failure to defend and protect jobs. In June, the NDP wrote to the minister seeking action on layoffs of Canadian ironworkers at oil sands operations replaced by temporary foreign workers. There has been no reply.

Over the past four months yet more violations have been exposed and more Canadian workers denied jobs. The boilermakers have now joined force with the ironworkers in a call for action on layoffs and worker safety.

When can they finally expect action from the minister?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Minister of State (Social Development)]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that investigations are ongoing and we will ensure that anyone who has abused the temporary foreign worker program is held to the fullest extent of the law and accountability.

The irony is the majority of letters and contacts we get from the opposition on temporary foreign workers ask for more temporary foreign workers in their ridings.

National Defence

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this week armed forces members and all Canadians are saddened by the tragedy of yet another military suicide and our thoughts are with the family.

As well, we are reminded of the failure of the defence minister to do what is needed and what he promised to do, which was to make more mental health support available, rather than to make more excuses, as he is doing today. Penny-pinching and budget cuts are the legacy of that minister. Nine months after promising to make this a priority, 40 mental health positions remain empty.

How can the minister delay this hiring when so many are in need?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to invest in this area, and that is exactly what we have been doing. We have made unprecedented investments in this area. We have now over 400 full-time mental health professionals. We work with the members of our armed forces to ensure they get the assistance they need.

I will make a promise to the House that we will never go back to the way things were under the Liberals. I promise.

Veterans Affairs

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, the minister denied veterans were being abandoned, encouraging them to seek any professional help they needed, but the reality shows those are empty words.

I have heard from a veteran in Charlottetown who did step forward, was told he had PTSD, was told he would get help, was told by the government it would pay until his benefits started so help would be immediate and then it refused to pay. This is why our veterans are driven to despair.

How can the government claim leadership on a mental health issue if it will not even keep its word?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, let me reiterate the fact that no veteran in need of help, or his or her family, is turned away. If we know the issues and the member knows the issue, I would be pleased to look into that specific item.

We are looking after our veterans from coast to coast to coast, and their families. We will continue doing that. We will not use those tragic events and those circumstances to gain political points on the backs of veterans.

Health

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with the Ebola virus spreading beyond Africa and the EV-D68 virus hitting Canada, we cannot help but note that since 2011, the budget of the Public Health Agency of Canada has been reduced by $153 million. Can the minister assure us that the 22% cut to her budget will not jeopardize Canadians' health?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I can reassure the public that the Public Health Agency remains in contact with partners to better understand these recent cases.

Specifically in relation to EV-D68, we are monitoring these cases closely. The member and the public should know that the agency is in close contact with provinces and territories and with U.S. public health officials, and we stand ready to support the provinces and territories with any lab support or guidance that they may need.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is not answering the question. A 22% budget cut for the Public Health Agency and 500 employees laid off across the country is hardly good preparation for emergent health issues now before us.

The fact is that Canadians count on PHAC to protect them from serious pandemics. With EV-D68 now confirmed in Canada and concerns about Ebola in Africa, Canadians have the right to question the priorities of this minister.

Why is the minister decreasing the agency's capacity to deal with public health emergencies?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, there is a reason that Dr. Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health Organization, calls Canada as one of the first countries when there is a public health outbreak around the world. It is because Canada's Public Health Agency has a world-leading record on dealing with pandemics, whether they are here at home, like H1N1, or abroad, like Ebola. Canada is at the forefront of working with the international community to deal with the Ebola issue.

Public Safety

[Wai Young, Conservative, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks Canadians have witnessed atrocities committed by the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State.

Unspeakable acts have been committed in the name of establishing a caliphate, not the least of which was the barbaric execution of three western journalists.

While this has happened, the Liberal leader has mused that taking passports away from homegrown radicals as one method of cracking down on potential terrorist threats is an affront to Canadian values.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness update this House on what our Conservative government is doing to keep Canadians safe from terrorist fighters?

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government has made it a criminal offence to go overseas to engage in terrorism, and we have taken steps to strip the citizenship of those convicted of terrorist offences.

Members can contrast that with the leader of the Liberal Party, who said with regard to the Boston bombing that it was caused by someone being excluded or by exclusion and who goes shopping for votes at a fundamentalist Mosque in Montreal.

While the Liberal member for Kingston and the Islands says Liberals see light and beauty inside every person, specifically citing a terrorist who beheaded three journalists, our Conservative government will make—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Markham—Unionville.

Citizenship and Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, in a move that is symptomatic of the Conservatives' callous disregard of family reunification, they have cut off the entry of spouses into Canada for the rest of the year because they have hit their quota.

Never mind that the spouses have already been waiting an average of 19 months, twice as much as before. Never mind that the government allowed the quota to be exceeded back in 2006-2007.

Why will the minister not simply do the right thing and let these spouses into Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member's statement is once again completely false. His scaremongering is well known in this place and unfortunately across Canada.

We as a government are proud of our record of the highest sustained levels of immigration in Canadian history, including the strongest family reunification numbers in Canadian history. It never happened under the Liberals.

In only three years, over 70,000 parents and grandparents will have been processed to come to this country. That stands in stark contrast to the backlogs, the dysfunctionality, and the lack—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for LaSalle—Émard.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, more than 200 people attended a rally in support of the Fuh-Cham family in Lasalle. The family is facing deportation. Another rally was held yesterday, in Montreal. The family has three children. If they are deported to Cameroon on October 9, they will face great danger, including the circumcision of their two daughters. Will the minister intervene and allow this family to stay in Canada and have their refugee claim reviewed?

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

Mr. Speaker, every asylum seeker benefits from the generosity of our system. There are many avenues of appeal.

However, when those appeals are exhausted, we expect the individuals in question to leave the country.