Debates of Sept. 25th, 2014

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, let us go right through the Conservative spin. They are facing the reality of a job market that is not meeting people's needs.

The Conference Board shows that there is a serious and growing income gap between older workers and younger workers. Under this Conservative government, it is getting harder for older workers to retire and more difficult for younger workers to get into the market in the first place, so why do we not do one positive thing? Let us give Canadians a raise. Let us raise the federal minimum wage, as the NDP has suggested, and give a break for once to Canadians who are working hard and working full time but living below the poverty line.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows that the economy of Canada is the economy that is envied by most countries around the world. Over 1.1 million net new jobs have been created in this country since the deepest part of the recession. Overwhelmingly, the majority of those are in the private sector and are full-time jobs.

He talks about youth. We have invested $330 million per year through the youth employment strategy. We have supported more paid internships for recent post-secondary graduates. We understand the importance of skill development to—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for York West.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister took off his rose-coloured glasses and admitted to The Wall Street Journal that Canada's jobs numbers flattened. No kidding.

There are 240,000 fewer youth jobs than before the recession and 112,000 private sector jobs vanished last month alone, but all he has to offer is a tax credit that would create a perverse incentive to fire people.

The Liberal EI plan would create more than 176,000 jobs.

Will the Prime Minister admit that his tired old economic ideas are exactly what flattened the job market?

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, our small business job credit will lower EI tax premiums by 15%. It will save small businesses $550 million. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said that this credit will create up to 25,000 person-years of employment.

While we are lowering payroll taxes for 90% of businesses, the Liberals are supporting a 45-day work year. The Liberals should never run on their record on EI. They are the ones who stole the $60 billion—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Wascana.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's story on jobs got demolished yesterday by The Wall Street Journal. In fact, only 99,000 new Canadian jobs were created in all of 2013, just 5% of them full time, and through the last 12 months only 15,000 new full-time jobs were created in this whole country.

According to the OECD, Canada is not first on jobs but 16th, behind the U.S., the U.K., and 13 others, so why not try to help by eliminating EI taxes on new Canadian jobs? Why not—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of State.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, again, both the IMF and the OECD countries have forecast Canada to be one of the strongest-growing G7 economies in the year ahead. Part of that is because they understand that we have job creation measures, and the future looks bright here in Canada.

The member for Wascana was wrong yesterday. I thank him for his apology to this House yesterday. He was wrong yesterday and he is wrong again today. The small business job credit will be an incentive toward hiring. We know that it is these measures that are going to move our economy—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Wascana.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my, they are a titch sensitive.

For young Canadians, the job market is dismal. Their unemployment is stuck at over 13%. There are 240,000 fewer jobs for young Canadians today than before the recession. Families worry about not affording post-secondary education. In 40% of empty-nester families, their adult kids have moved back home because they cannot afford to make a go of it on their own, and the Conference Board of Canada has now said that this younger generation may not do as well as their parents.

Does the government even get it that there is a problem?

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leader and the Liberal Party have yet to understand how small business works. The Liberals have no idea, but let me quote someone who does get it. Dan Kelly, of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said this of the EI business job credit in the Conservative plan: “It's a big, big deal for small business.”

Under the action that our government has taken, Canada will continue to have one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in the G7. In fact, since 2006, our government has helped 2.1 million youth obtain skills, training, and jobs.

Health

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if unchecked, Ebola could kill hundreds of thousands of people in the upcoming months. Today, at a high-level meeting at the United Nations, President Obama said that we have to move fast to make a difference.

We have 1,000 vaccines that have been waiting for over six weeks to move. Is that moving fast? I do not think so. When will the vaccines be shipped?

My second question is this: will the government deploy DART to help save lives?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians should be very proud that Canada is at the forefront of the response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. In fact, I will be in Washington tomorrow at the White House for an emergency meeting on Ebola with the global health security initiative partners.

With respect to the member's question on the issue of the vaccine, Canada has very generously donated 1,000 doses of this vaccine, which was developed in Canada by Public Health Agency researchers, to the WHO. It is now in the hands of the WHO as to when and how it will be deployed. We are seeking its advice on that.

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

Mr. Speaker, according to the WHO, 1.4 million people could contract Ebola by January 2015 if nothing is done. The international community and organizations such as Doctors Without Borders Canada are calling on Canada to do more and to send medical resources to Africa. We must act now on the ground.

Apart from the announced funding, what resources will actually be sent to fight this deadly virus on the ground?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is already at the forefront, and has been for months, in the fight against Ebola in West Africa. We have done a great deal of things, whether it is the experimental vaccine that was developed by Canada which was donated to the WHO, or teams of medical experts on the ground working with our highly specialized mobile lab diagnosing dozens of cases every day. We have sent over essential protective equipment.

This morning we did more. We announced another $30 million in support. That is going to improve treatment, work on prevention, control, and improved health care on the ground.

Citizenship and Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, thousands of immigrants are being detained in deplorable conditions. According to the Red Cross, in 2012, approximately 4,000 immigrants were held in Canadian prisons alongside dangerous criminals. They are sometimes put three to a cell and even have to sleep on the floor. What is worse, children of immigrants, who are also detained, are not treated well and mental health resources are quite simply inadequate.

Will the minister do the right thing and implement the Red Cross recommendations?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of our asylum system, which is fair and equitable. We are also very proud of the reforms that we have put in place recently, which have produced very positive results for Canadian taxpayers. There has been a 90% drop in asylum claims from democratic, affluent countries in the European Union and North America. We are confident that the conditions in the detention centres we are using meet the highest international standards.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, what we are talking about here is the Red Cross having to remind the Minister of Public Safety of his legal responsibility for the well-being of immigration and refugee detainees. We are talking about more than 291 minors detained in deplorable facilities. These are children who are already traumatized and lacking the physical and mental support they need. We are talking about families, too often separated for lack of appropriate accommodation.

Will the Minister of Public Safety take his responsibilities seriously and make sure the Red Cross recommendations on the treatment of detainees are fully implemented?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada has a fair and extremely generous asylum system. We are proud of the reforms brought in by this government, which have resulted in a reduction by 90% of asylum claims from safe, democratic, relatively affluent countries in the European Union and North America, so that we can concentrate those resources on people who really need them.

We are absolutely clear that the conditions in detention centres across Canada meet the highest international standards.

International Development

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the past couple of days global leaders have been meeting in New York at the UN General Assembly.

The well-being of mothers and children in the developing world is of great interest to my constituents in Oakville. As noted by Melinda Gates:

Under [the Prime Minister's] leadership...Canada has earned a global reputation for driving the agenda when it comes to women and children.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister please give the House an update on Canada's recent efforts at the UN General Assembly?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this week the Prime Minister has continued to galvanize global leaders and global attention to Canada's most important development initiative, that of saving the lives of children and mothers in the developing world. Both the Prime Minister and the Minister of International Development are in New York working to ensure this remains a global priority and to help build on the very successful summit, Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm's Reach, which was held in Toronto.

Because of the leadership of the Canadian government, and because of the specific leadership of our Prime Minister, we are making serious achievements and helping to reach these millennium development goals.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the United States has been asking for a reciprocal payment protection program for American producers for years, but the Minister of Agriculture has failed to act. Now the Americans are threatening to revoke protections for Canadian farmers. This would be a disaster for producers and for consumers.

Will the government keep the commitment it made in 2011 under the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council to protect Canadian producers and consumers from being gouged when the Americans close the border?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, no one is talking about closing the border. I am not sure why the member would want to go to that extent.

He knows there are effective consultations going on with our American counterparts. I know that the Canadian Horticultural Council, under the able leadership of Keith Kuhl, has been briefed constantly on this. The bankruptcy laws in Canada are under discussion, and we look forward to that report coming out very soon.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the American government is threatening to revoke the preferential status granted to Canadian fresh fruit and vegetable producers if we do not implement a payment protection system. Once again, our farmers are paying the price for the minister's inability to work with our most important economic partner. We are talking about a $1.6 billion industry.

How does the minister intend to address this looming crisis?