Debates of Jan. 30th, 2015

Housing

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

Mr. Speaker, mayors across Canada have been absolutely clear. Thousands of Canadians across the country are languishing on housing wait lists which are getting longer because of government inaction.

In Toronto, 92,000 people are waiting for affordable shelter. Renewing the housing agreements is only sustaining the status quo, and it is absolutely unacceptable. It is in inaction.

To make matters worse, co-op housing residents are not only being told they are not getting their agreements renewed, they are actually having their rents jacked by the government. It is unacceptable. While it does that, the government is handing out billions to well-housed and affluent Canadians.

When the Minister of Finance presents his budget, we want him to immediately fund and renew the housing agreements. We want him to cut the funding for income splitting.

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

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately that member is absolutely making things up, and that is very disappointing.

Here is what our government has done. We have renewed agreements. The member might not like them, but the provinces love them. Let me repeat what Ted McMeekin, Ontario's minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said:

The renewed partnership between Canada and Ontario will help improve access to safe, suitable affordable housing,

British Columbia minister Rich Coleman said:

The extension of this agreement will help us to create more housing options for British Columbians. Over the next five years, this funding will help build new affordable housing, enhance our rental assistance programs and support partnerships that will contribute...

Citizenship and Immigration

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the minister says that he maintained health care for refugees, he is playing with words. The fact is that he cut health care coverage for asylum seekers—people who have not completed the process but who will eventually become refugees. We are talking about basic care for sick children currently living in Canada. That is unforgivable. Instead of spending $1.4 million on legal costs in cases against these vulnerable people, why will the government not simply provide that health care and ease their suffering?

[Chungsen Leung, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, we are very happy with our reform of the asylum system, which is working much better than in the past.

It is incomprehensible to us that the opposition wants to give health care to failed and fraudulent asylum seekers. If that is what the opposition has asked for, we will continue to protect the interest of the health care system for Canadians.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is because of the minister's policy that hospital admissions for refugee children doubled, pregnant women went without health care, and diabetics had to live without basic medication. Yet the minister had the gall to stand in the House yesterday and falsely claim that he has done nothing but support the health of refugees. He has spent more than $1.4 million fighting to keep his repulsive policies.

How can the minister justify using the hard-earned tax dollars of Canadians to fight against a basic Canadian value?

[Chungsen Leung, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian health care is for Canadians and those refugees that we accepted. It is not for those who are failed refugee applicants or fraudulent ones.

We stand on this side of the House to protect our health care system and taxpayers' money.

Access to Information

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are just poor managers. They are paying private consultants over $200 an hour to process access to information requests, when public servants could do the work at a fraction of the cost. It would be one thing if the consultants were getting the job done, but they are not. The system is slower and less functional than ever before.

Could the minister explain why so much money is being wasted, with such poor results?

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, our government treats taxpayers' money with the utmost respect. Sometimes professional services are needed to acquire special expertise or to meet unexpected fluctuations in workload. In some cases, the government contracts with private sector companies to deliver or improve services without maintaining an expensive government bureaucracy. Professional services contracting means the government is only paying people when there is work to be done.

To that member's question, professional services costs are down $200 million since 2010-11, and temporary help services are also down $11 million since last year and $75 million since 2010-11.

I hope that answers the member's concern.

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since the Conservatives have been in power, Health Canada has spent millions responding to access to information requests. We now know that the steadily rising costs are due primarily to the use of external consultants who command top dollar.

Instead of letting professional public servants do the work, the department is hiring private firms for $250 an hour. That is obscene.

When will the Conservatives understand that their culture of secrecy is clogging our access to information system?

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board]

Again, Mr. Speaker, our government treats taxpayers' dollars with the utmost respect. Professional services costs are down $200 million since 2010-11, and temporary help services costs are down $11 million since last year and by $75 million since 2010-11.

In 2013-14, our government set a number of records for openness and transparency. This government processed a record number of access to information requests, released a record number of materials, and had an improved turnaround time.

We are investing where investment is needed to make sure that Canadians have better access than they have ever received before.

Health

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is a disturbing report out of Markham today about a marijuana grow op that is being allowed to operate beside, of all places, a grade school. Parents are being forced to deal with their kids literally coming home reeking of pot because of this grow op. Our Conservative government has made these home grow ops illegal, but the courts are being used to let them continue, causing risk to health and safety.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister please tell us what our government is doing to fight this?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me say quite clearly that this case is completely unacceptable. We have moved quickly to try to end these grow ops in our communities, but the courts are fighting us every step of the way. What is incredible is that there are still some people who are defending this moulding rot in our communities.

Let me quote what the leader of the Liberal Party had to say:

...our worries are that the current hypercontrolled approach around medical marijuana that actually removes from individuals the capacity to grow their own is not going in the right direction....

We don't need to be all nanny state about it.....

My constituents and I do not believe that it is acceptable for kids to come home smelling of pot, and we will make sure they do not.

Transportation

[Jean Rousseau, NDP, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Sherbrooke airport could be an important economic development tool for the region if it could accommodate commercial flights.

Our region is a major centre of innovation and research with Bishop's University, the university medical centre and the Mont Mégantic observatory. Our innovative businesses and even the manufacturing industry would benefit from better access to the rest of the world.

We have been talking about this project for years, even decades. Residents and officials have made it a priority, but the Conservatives refuse to budge.

Why are the Conservatives neglecting job creation and economic development in the Eastern Townships?

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that Canada's aviation security system supports economic growth. If screening has to be carried out at non-designated airports or if it is not required for security purposes, another source of funding must be established.

The minister asked her officials to develop a mechanism whereby non-designated, low-risk airports are able to obtain security screening services on a cost-recovery basis.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of cost recovery, in 2013, the Minister of Transport promised to look into the possibility of establishing such a mechanism in order to allow non-designated, low-risk airports, such as the Sherbrooke airport, to obtain security screening services.

Her people have been working on this for a year and a half.

I would like to know where the department is at in terms of developing such a mechanism.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, the minister sought from her officials to establish a mechanism. The member will know that, under the existing mechanism, it is the air transport security fee that currently funds the existing designated airports. There are some technical details to work out, obviously, as we are looking at this question. We thank the member for his input with respect to raising this matter and the process that we are under. The minister will report in due course.

Agriculture and Agri-food

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

Mr. Speaker, current fruit and vegetable producers are uniquely vulnerable against lost payments because, when a client goes bankrupt, they cannot just demand their product back. However, Conservatives' stubbornness has left them completely without protection. Conservatives have refused to introduce a payment protection program here in Canada, and as a result, the United States withdrew the protection it had extended to Canadians under its own program.

Why are Conservatives refusing to protect farmers with such an easy, simple solution?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that our government understands the vulnerability of Canada's fresh produce industry and its contribution to our economy. That is why we introduced clear legislation to provide a single dispute resolution body that would help reduce issues of non-payment faced by the fresh produce industry.

We consulted widely on Canada's bankruptcy and insolvency laws, and we will share the results with Parliament in the near future. The fresh produce industry and other stakeholders will be able to participate in the parliamentary review process, and our government is committed to supporting Canadian producers and exporters and will continue to look at this issue.

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

Mr. Speaker, when Groupe Épicia declared bankruptcy this month, it owed vegetable producers $3.5 million. That is a lot of money for vegetable producers, who have no guarantee that they will get their money back since they still do not have a payment protection program.

For a long time now, the Fresh Produce Alliance has been calling for a program similar to the one that the Americans created to protect payments owed to farmers.

When will the government finally listen to farmers and bring in a simple measure such as this?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, we are listening to producers, and as part of Canada's economic action plan, we brought in clear legislation to provide fresh produce sellers with a single dispute resolution body, a clear promise we made to our horticultural sector. These changes will allow industry to manage its own system of effective trading rules.

Meanwhile, we continue to expand our markets for fresh fruit and vegetable growers beyond the U.S.A. to new markets such as Europe and Asia. I expect when we do that we will get full support from the member.

International Trade

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, five years ago, the government set up a bogus corporate social responsibility office to deflect criticism of its own inaction. It was mandated to fail. During its long and illustrious history, it handled a total of six files. When the counsellor bailed from boredom, the government decided not replace her. Now instead of wasting a million dollars a year, the government only wastes $180,000 a year. Is this what the government calls “respect for taxpayers' money”?

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, that claim is completely false. Following the departure of the former CSR counsellor, the office continued to deliver on the mandate of CSR counsellor workshops and regular meetings with industry, academia, and civil society.

The search process to find a new counsellor is under way, with interviews scheduled for February. During the 13 years the Liberals were in power, they never had a CSR policy. It was this government that introduced this very important strategy.

Government Spending

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

It is yet another false claim by the members of the opposition, Mr. Speaker.

If it only stopped there: $700,000 to sue veterans, which makes the lawyers pretty happy; $7 million in partisan ads during sports events, while members who are watching sports events go to the loo; $162,000 for a Toronto party, yet again to announce the CETA agreement—we cannot say Toronto is not a place to party; another $1.4 million for lawyers to fight refugees over their health care entitlements. No wonder the government is having trouble balancing the budget.

Is this just party time for Conservative lawyers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what is truly depressing. It is the legacy that was left behind by the Liberal Party: $40 million that we still have not been able to find; $50 billion worth of health care and education cuts by that party, a party whose only policy right now that it has put forward in front of Canadians is increased taxes and increased debt.

This is what we are doing. We are cutting taxes for families and doing it while balancing the budget. We have increased transfers to our provincial partners. Unlike the Liberals, we are going to continue to cut taxes, not hike them; and we are going to balance the budget, not run high deficits and leave that legacy for our kids.

Northern Development

[Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, NDP, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the reality for too many northerners is seeing their seniors scrounging for food in garbage cans and being unable to feed their children nutritious food at a reasonable cost.

The Conservative solution is to continue to sing the praises of the nutrition north program, while everyone else, including the Auditor General, agrees that it has failed. Why are the Conservatives not acting immediately to address this crisis?