Debates of Sept. 26th, 2014

The Environment

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

It needs to be very clear that there were two reviews taking place here, one by DFO, and one by the Province of Quebec. The Quebec court decision has nothing to do with the review conducted by DFO; Quebec conducts its own reviews under its own laws.

DFO conducted its review and delivered an authorization based on scientific expertise and under the strictest conditions. It did provide the results of that review to the Province of Quebec, but the province is responsible for conducting its own review and defending its results.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is wrong. Part of the Superior Court's decision had to do with the lack of documentation from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. For the seismic surveys in Cacouna last spring, there was a real study from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, drafted by six experts on marine mammals. What this government is trying to pass off as scientific advice about drilling in Cacouna is a two-and-a-half-page opinion drafted by a single scientist, a single biologist, which looked at a period in the summer, when the drilling is taking place in the fall.

Why is the parliamentary secretary trying to pass off a study—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I think I have been clear that the Province of Quebec had its own responsibilities, under its own laws, to conduct a review and reach a conclusion. We did our own review, and we are quite prepared to defend it based on scientific evidence.

The NDP knows this, but chooses to muddy the water, if I can use that expression, because it suits its anti-development ideology.

Foreign Affairs

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, ISIL continues to terrorize the people of Iraq and Syria, particularly those who reject ISIL's twisted interpretation of Islam. Religious minorities remain at risk, such as Christians, Yazidis, Shia, and the Syrians. In July, ISIL destroyed Jonah's tomb, a venerated site of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Earlier this week, we learned that ISIL had struck again, this time destroying an Armenian church in Syria and a memorial to the Armenian genocide.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs please comment on this developing situation?

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights]

Mr. Speaker, our government deplores ISIL's destruction of the Armenian Holy Martyrs church, in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, as well as the Museum of the Holy Martyrs. This is yet another example of ISIL's contempt for religious freedom and human dignity. ISIL attacks are indiscriminate, targeting Christians, Shia, Yazidis, Sunni Muslims, and their places of worship. Canada continues to condemn this terrorist group, which has a distorted and warped message of Islam and has murdered thousands of innocents.

Veterans Affairs

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in response to a question on the order paper, the Department of Justice revealed that the government has spent over half a million dollars on legal fees defending the Equitas lawsuit. This is over half a million dollars that has been spent denying that a social covenant exists with Canadian veterans, which is a stark contrast to the covenant that the Conservatives signed with NATO just last month when they acknowledged that it does exist.

The Conservatives have spent over a half a million dollars to date. Will they tell us how much more they will spend denying the social covenant, or will they finally drop their defence of the lawsuit?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Equitas lawsuit wants to throw out the new veterans charter completely, which is not something that a single reputable veterans group has called for. Furthermore, these costs reflect employee salaries of the Department of Justice spread across all departments.

I would encourage the member opposite and the Liberal Party to stop playing politics when it comes to Canada's veterans and to start supporting the initiatives put forward by our government.

Health

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 50% of people in the Lower Laurentians do not have access to a family doctor.

I took part in several meetings in the region to talk about underfunding in the health sector. All of the participants agreed that by cutting the $36 billion federal transfer, the Conservative government will just make things worse.

Do the Conservatives realize that their short-sighted cuts will make it harder for the people of Rivière-des-Mille-Îles to get the health care they are entitled to?

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, it is our hope that every Canadian family has a family doctor.

We have been making immense investments in Canada's health care system; in fact, they have reached historic high. Most notably I am very pleased to announce that Canada's has the highest number of physicians working than ever before. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, last year Canada had the most physicians per capita in our history, with over 77,000.

Doctors educated abroad represent over 25% of the doctors who entered the workforce in Canada in 2013. The word is out: Canada is one of the top destinations to practise medicine.

Justice

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers were outraged to discover that Guy Turcotte was released pending his second trial.

In 2011, he was found not criminally responsible for stabbing his two children in cold blood. In response to that verdict, our government passed the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act to protect law-abiding citizens and our communities.

Can the parliamentary secretary tell the House what the government is doing to make sure that criminals get the punishment they deserve?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our thoughts are with Ms. Gaston at this difficult time.

To remedy the Liberals' legacy of injustice, our government is currently reviewing the bail-granting system. We will continue to take action to protect Canadians. We have already eliminated house arrest for serious crimes such as sexual assault and kidnapping.

We have brought in tougher penalties for the importation, production and sale of the date rape drug, and we have eliminated the faint hope clause, which allowed murderers to get parole. Our government is making sure that criminals stay in jail.

International Trade

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while Canada and the European Union are holding a summit to celebrate the fact that negotiations have come to a close, Quebec's cheesemakers are not celebrating.

Every time the cheesemakers raise legitimate concerns, the government says it is holding consultations. However, everyone knows that milk producers will lose $300 million a year because of this agreement.

Will the government finally take action instead of holding consultations and acknowledge that milk producers and cheesemakers will lose income? That is what it did with the fishers in Newfoundland a year ago and with the auto sector in Ontario before the free trade agreement with South Korea was even settled.

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

Mr. Speaker, our government has always defended Canada's supply management system, and with this agreement, we are continuing to do so.

The three pillars of our national supply management system remain intact. We will monitor the potential impact of this historic agreement on dairy producers' income, and if the level of production is adversely affected, we will help the producers financially.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Brent Rathgeber, Independent, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act promised that more grain would be moved and that backlogs would be eliminated.

However, CN has been fined $100,000 per week, proving that in actuality the punitive measures are not moving more grain, only raising revenue for the government.

When will the Minister of Transport acknowledge that the problems with the supply chain are much more complicated than simply blaming the railroads?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member can note that not only did we announce that act, we brought it into place in order to ensure that on an emergency basis we are moving grain, the incredible crop that we had last year. We are moving it as quickly as we possibly can through the rail system.

At the same time, I announced a review of the Canada Transportation Act. That is exactly what we are attempting to do. Through the group of people led by David Emerson, it will look at future opportunities and challenges, have lots of stakeholder interaction, and make sure we have the appropriate policy framework moving forward.

Public Safety

[Sana Hassainia, Independent, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in March 2012, the Conservative government increased the fees for record suspension applications from $150 to $631, with the proviso that applications would be processed in less than a year.

Oddly, the $631 applications are being processed in less than a year, but a number of applications made before this fee increase still have not been processed despite the 20 or so additional employees who were hired to clear the backlog. Some cases, including a few in my riding, have been dragging on for more than four years. That is unacceptable.

How much longer will Canadians who paid $150, the rate in effect when they filed their applications, be treated as second class?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. These cases are assessed on an individual basis through two mechanisms.

For the formerly used mechanism, which is subject to delays, it is possible to go online to look up the status of the case. Also, if people want faster service, they can use the new system in place, where the timeframes are prescribed by law.

Statements During Oral Questions

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to unconditionally and unreservedly apologize to the House for my behaviour the other day. Clearly, I allowed the passion and the anger with something I read get in the way of appropriately answering the question by the Leader of the Opposition. For that I apologize to you, to the entire House, and to my constituents. I am fairly certain there will be other opportunities in the House where I will be answering other questions that you do not appreciate. I do not think it will be the last time that I will get up and answer a question that does not effectively respond to the question.

Despite what people think about kids in short pants, this was my response and I take full responsibility. I apologize to the Leader of the Opposition, to you, Mr. Speaker, and to all my colleagues.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table in both official languages the 17th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. The committee advises that pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the subcommittee on private members' business met to consider the order of the second reading of Senate public bills and recommends that the items listed therein, which it has determined should not be designated non-votable, be considered by the House.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the report is deemed adopted.

Missing and Abducted Nigerian Girls

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first I want to acknowledge the apology by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and thank him for doing that.

I have a petition from constituents and people from right across the country who are very seized with the issue of the missing and abducted Nigerian girls. They are calling on the government, and in fact the whole global community, to sustain the political attention to this very important issue.

They are calling on the Government of Canada to increase its investment in safe, quality education for all children in order to see that schools everywhere are free from violence and intimidation.

Criminal Code

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from Canadians who recognize that the Supreme Court struck down certain laws with respect to prostitution.

The petitioners do not want our country to be lawless with respect to prostitution and human trafficking and are calling on the House of Commons to legislate that it be a criminal offence to purchase sex with a woman, man or child.

Canada Post

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House to present petitions signed by many of my constituents, particularly in Flin Flon and Thompson, who are opposing the cuts to our postal service, particularly the plan to eliminate home-to-home delivery.

Home-to-home delivery is a critical service for all Canadians. It is especially important in our northern and remote communities where the climate is often unforgiving. We know it will have a particular impact on seniors, young families, and people with disabilities.

The petitioners are asking on behalf of their communities for Canada Post to reconsider its decision and to keep home-to-home delivery and save our Canada Post.

Impaired Driving

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition that represents thousands of people from British Columbia.

The petition highlights that sadly, Kassandra Kaulius was killed by a drunk driver. A group of people who have also lost loved ones to impaired drivers, called Families For Justice, believe that the current impaired driving laws are much too lenient in Canada. They are calling for new mandatory minimum sentencing for people who have been convicted for impaired driving causing death.