Debates of Jan. 30th, 2015

Energy East Pipeline

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the National Energy Board's public hearing process, which is too rigid, too restrictive and too short.

As a result of the Conservatives' mismanagement and the changes they have made, today we have a completely inadequate consultation process for the energy east pipeline that does nothing to inspire public trust.

Fortunately, initiatives such as the one taken by the Autray RCM are making up for the government's shortcomings. The municipalities of Berthierville, Lanoraie, Lavaltrie, Saint-Gabriel and Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, to name a few, commissioned the first independent environmental study done in Quebec on the energy east pipeline. The report was released on Wednesday and was prepared by the independent firms J. Harvey Consultants and ÉCOgestion-solutions.

I congratulate the officials in those municipalities. By commissioning this report, they are showing that they are concerned about the safety and well-being of their constituents. Moreover, the findings of this report apply to almost all the municipalities that the pipeline will go through, which means that the Autray RCM is helping other municipal officials in Quebec and Canada.

Ekjot Swagh

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great sadness for the tragic loss of a bright young man, Ekjot Swagh, who passed away this past weekend.

Ekjot was a world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a well-decorated fighter renowned both internationally and in Brampton.

He learned many of his fighting skills locally, joining the wrestling team at Heart Lake Secondary School and the DoggPound Mixed Martial Arts Club.

He became a world champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and received an invitation to train with some of the best coaches at one of the world's top training centres in San Diego. During his fights he had a reputation as a fierce grappler and a skilled technical fighter. He was renowned as having a humble spirit and an astounding sense of sportsmanship.

This great fighter's life was tragically cut short when a rare arterial disease took his life last weekend in his sleep.

We keep Ekjot and his family in our thoughts and prayers as the entire community mourns this great loss.

Mental Health

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to highlight the great work being done on the issue of mental health in my riding of Don Valley West.

We have a number of national organizations and centres of excellence making great contributions in this area.

One of these is Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, which is developing the future of care for people suffering from brain-related diseases, such as PTSD, dementia, and others. Sunnybrook is also home to the largest veterans centre in Canada, with nearly 500 beds. It is establishing a brain sciences centre to transform the way illnesses are detected, prevented, and treated.

Other centres doing great work include the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute's Lyndhurst Centre, the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf, the CNIB, and the Canadian March of Dimes.

I would like to thank each of these organizations for their tremendous work and wish them continued success in 2015.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Speaker, this weekend the board of the Native Communications Society of the Northwest Territories meets to decide whether to shut down a northern institution that provides daily Dene language programs through the Northwest Territories.

NCS is in this position because of a fight over funding with the Conservative government, which caused their station to lay off most of its staff in July, cut all local programming, and limit broadcasts to preset music. This is jeopardizing radio station CKLB, which has been on the air for 30 years.

I have also heard that the Inuvialuit Communications Society came close to shutting down due to funding delays and that the Aboriginal Voices Radio Network has had funding problems as well.

The two objectives of Heritage Canada funding for aboriginal radio are to ensure availability of significant amount of radio and television programming and to contribute to the protection and enhancement of aboriginal languages and cultures.

Aboriginal media give a voice to Canada's first peoples to tell their stories and preserve their language and cultures. Petty funding delays endanger this vital fabric of Canada.

Will the minister get this together immediately?

Taxation

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, our government pledged that we would balance the budget, and we will.

Now we are in a position to help Canadian families balance their budgets also. That is why our family tax cut plan will give 100% of families with kids an average of more than $1,100 per year to spend on their priorities.

When this is partnered with the expansion of the universal child care benefit, families in British Columbia and across Canada will receive nearly $2,000 per year for every child under six and $720 per year for every child between the age of six and seventeen.

The Liberals and the NDP have said that they will take this money away from moms and dads to pay for expensive and burdensome programs through big government instead. We cannot let this happen.

The Liberal leader seems content to push a typical Liberal tax-and-spend agenda at the expense of Canadian families. Only our Conservative government can be trusted to keep their money where it belongs: in their pockets.

Jordan's Principle

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, February 2 will be the 10th anniversary of the death of Jordan River Anderson. Jordan never got to live in a family home, spending his whole life in hospital because governments could not agree on who should pay for his care.

His story inspired Jordan's principle, the simple idea that when a first nations child needs services, the government will provide them as needed and figure out who should pay for them later. In the 10 years since his death, the House voted unanimously to support Jordan's principle. We all agree that the most vulnerable children should not be left waiting while someone argues over the bill.

However, implementation proves elusive. Policy decisions by the Conservative government have narrowed the principle until only a few circumstances qualify. In April 2013, the Federal Court decision found the federal government narrowing Jordan's principle to apply only to children with complex medical needs and multiple service providers to be unlawful.

Internal federal documents show that children on reserve continue to be routinely denied or delayed receipt of vital health, education, and social services available to all other children. When will the federal government ensure that Jordan's principle applies to all first nations children and all government services?

Public Safety

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I was shocked to hear that the Liberal member for York West said that it was our Conservative government's strong stand against this barbaric self-proclaimed terrorist caliphate known as ISIL that has increased the threat of terrorist attacks in Canada.

ISIL has been threatening Canada and other western countries since well before the campaign against it began. We must work with our allies to stop this terrorist threat.

It is time to stop trying to justify violent terrorism. Yesterday the Liberal leader had an opportunity to denounce these comments from his own MPs, but he stood by them.

Violent jihadists oppose everything about our society and our values. They hate pluralism, tolerance, and the freedom of others. We should condemn it instead of trying to justify it.

Injured Pakistani Schoolchildren

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

Mr. Speaker, on December 16, 2014, 132 Pakistani schoolchildren were massacred by the Taliban, and many more were injured. Of course, we all condemn this act unreservedly.

Khalid Usman, chair of Canadians of Pakistani Origin, has been working with the mayor of Markham and other community leaders to arrange vigils for the victims of this terrible crime. However, there is more that could be done. Many of these young victims have been left terribly disfigured by this attack and are unable to afford the cosmetic surgery they so desperately need. Mr. Usman and the Pakistani Canadian community want to bring some of the children to Canada for treatment.

The Pakistani community in Canada is currently raising funds to help pay for these procedures and for travel to Canada. However, consistent with Canada's humanitarian traditions, the federal government can help by ensuring that these families get their visas in a timely manner, and it should also consider further assistance.

Taxation

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while Canada's economy is better than many, we are still on the road to recovery.

Yesterday the Liberal leader was with the Premier of Ontario, who is a staunch supporter of the implementation of a carbon tax. It is no surprise, considering that the Liberal leader has expressed his support in the past for a carbon tax.

This type of fiscal irresponsibility would raise the cost of everything and hike taxes on all Canadian families. Introducing a carbon tax would be detrimental on the road to economic recovery.

Our government believes in the importance of a strong economy and refuses to weigh it down with another tax on Canadian families. Bringing in a job-killing carbon tax is reckless. Our Conservative government is lowering taxes for all Canadian families. We will never punish Canadians with a job-killing carbon tax.

Manufacturing Industry

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when the NDP asked about 400,000 Canadians losing their jobs because the Conservatives failed the manufacturing sector, the member for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam rose in his place and denied it was true. He has an entire department to help him, yet the Minister of Industry never even bothered to check his facts. He used an inaccurate media story to mislead people about the number of manufacturing jobs lost under the Conservatives' watch.

After noticing his mistake, the journalist who wrote the story graciously corrected it. He offered an apology. Not so for the Conservative minister: he has yet to apologize for his Twitter tirade based on make-believe numbers.

Canadians deserve better than an industry minister telling 400,000 out-of-work Canadians that they do not exist. They deserve a government led by the leader of the NDP, an honest government ready to take concrete steps to kick-start manufacturing and get Canadians back to work.

Public Safety

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberal member for York West suggested that if ISIL is coming here, it is because the Prime Minister put us in that position.

Let us be clear. It is the terrorist jihadis of ISIL who declared war on Canada and our allies, not the other way around. The terrorist attacks that took the lives of two of our armed forces members are definitive proof that our nation is at risk, and we must defend ourselves. This is precisely why we are not standing on the sidelines and letting others do the heavy lifting. That may be the Liberal way, but it is not the Canadian way.

When asked about his colleague's suggestion that if Canada should be attacked again it will be because we asked for it, the Liberal leader had no answer. All he could say was, “...I'm not going to get into a discussion of tactics and perspectives”.

The Liberal leader has proven that he has neither the resolve nor the determination to stand up to this threat. Thankfully, Canadians can count on our Prime Minister and our government to keep them safe.

Intergovernmental Affairs

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, first ministers are gathering a stone's throw from Parliament Hill to discuss the most pressing issues facing our country. They will discuss critical issues like how to tackle the infrastructure deficit that has left communities with gridlock and crumbling roads and bridges. Premiers will talk about inadequate water supplies and the affordable housing crisis, but the Prime Minister stubbornly refuses to come to the table.

How can the Conservatives justify that their response to these challenges is simply not showing up?

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, in actual fact, our Conservative government is making record investments in infrastructure. The new building Canada plan has been open for business since last March. In less than a year, projects representing almost $5 billion have already been approved. These infrastructure projects are renewing infrastructure. They are creating jobs and prosperity. They are enhancing our growth and productivity.

Health

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, they did not give us an answer as to why the Prime Minister is refusing to show up.

The first ministers are also going to talk about improving access to health care, just as a new report shows that in every province, Canadian seniors are waiting longer for medical care than the international average.

Federal leadership could help here, but only if they are at the table. Why are the Conservatives refusing to engage the premiers on the critical issue of timely access to health care?

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

Mr. Speaker, transfers to the provinces for health care will reach a record high of $40 billion by the end of the decade. Our government has invested to reduce waiting times for all Canadians. When it comes to things like radiation treatment, we are on target and are meeting those wait times at 97%.

We have also recruited additional physicians. There are more physicians per capita now than ever in Canadian history. We have also made sure that we are recruiting physicians into northern outlying communities by coming up with creative solutions, like waiving tuition and so on. We are taking concrete action.

Public Safety

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is still not responding to the question. Why is the Prime Minister refusing to show up at the meetings with the premiers?

The premiers will also be discussing the latest case of the government quietly downloading costs onto the provinces. The Conservatives' decision to slash disaster assistance funding was made with no consultation and will leave the provinces responsible for paying almost three times more.

Why have the Conservatives refused to work with the provinces on disaster relief? Why are they leaving Canadian communities without federal help in times of crisis?

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

Mr. Speaker, while the provinces and territories are responsible for disaster maintenance, our Conservative government will continue to support them by paying up to 90% of the response recovery costs for significant natural disasters.

The reality is that this program has not been indexed to inflation since the 1970s. Our government is making a modest adjustment to ensure that costs are balanced fairly across Canada, with the federal government still covering up to 90% of most of these disasters.

Intergovernmental Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, provincial premiers are meeting in Ottawa today to talk about the economic crisis our country is facing and job insecurity. The need to reinvest in our infrastructure and funding for health care will also be on the agenda.

The federal government has an important role to play here, as it unilaterally cut $36 billion from provincial transfers.

Why is the Prime Minister boycotting the meeting of the Council of the Federation when it is discussing issues that are important to Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, as you know, as I said yesterday, the Prime Minister has held over 300 meetings and calls with our provincial partners. The members of this cabinet and the members of Parliament on this side of the House frequently meet with our counterparts. I know that the GTA caucus, for instance, just met with the mayor of Toronto.

We are continuing to increase investments and transfers to provincial partners, unlike the Liberals, and we are doing that while balancing the budget and cutting taxes for Canadian families. That is the right direction to go, and we will continue on that path.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, shirking one's responsibilities is not showing leadership.

Speaking of leadership, our leader presented a credible and responsible plan this week to stimulate job creation in the manufacturing sector and small business. We have lost 400,000 jobs in this sector, and this cannot continue. Our plan has tangible solutions to stimulate innovation and modernize businesses.

When will the government support manufacturers that invest in research and development and create good jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, my opposition colleague spoke about her party's plan.

Its plan is one that we adopted back when we came to power in 2006 and reduced corporate taxes. Lowering taxes for small businesses is something new for the NDP.

That is what we are doing. We are lowering taxes for all business owners so that they have money in their pockets and their coffers and they can invest that money. Business owners create wealth, not government spending.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are counting on high oil prices.

Their forecasts have completely missed the mark, and they are preparing Canadians for more cuts. However, they still seem to have billions of dollars to put toward income splitting, which benefits only 15% of families. The Conservatives are making things up as they go along.

How can they justify this unaffordable tax break?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is what Canadian families can count on. They can count on this Conservative government to ensure that they have more money in their pockets, as opposed to the Liberals, who would not only end income splitting for almost two million families in Canada but would also end income splitting for our pensioners. The Liberals would raise taxes. They would create big bureaucracies.

We are going to fulfill our commitment to Canadians to keep their taxes low, balance the budget, and follow through on income splitting and our expansion and increase of the universal child care benefit.

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

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is wrong and the Prime Minister was wrong when he said that the government was not in the business of raising taxes. Indeed, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance tabled a document setting out $4.5 billion in tax hikes. Yesterday that same parliamentary secretary described this tax hike as “absolutely ridiculous”. How can the parliamentary secretary describe the tax hike as ridiculous, when he was the one who signed and tabled it in this House?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, under our Conservative government, the tax burden on Canadians is at its lowest level in more than 50 years. On average, Canadian families are paying $3,400 less in taxes each year than they did under the Liberals. In addition, every family with children in Canada will stand to benefit from the latest tax breaks, including the increase and expansion of the universal child care benefit to nearly $2,000 per year for every child under six and $720 per year for every child between the ages of six and 17.

The Liberals would take these benefits away and would increase taxes on Canadian families.