Debates of Dec. 7th, 2015

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Labour Relations

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask for the consent of the House to allow the member for Mirabel to speak to the minister's statement.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

There is no unanimous consent.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association respecting its participation in the fourth part of the 2015 ordinary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, held in Strasbourg, France, from September 28 to October 2, 2015.

Appointment of Assistant Deputy Speaker

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I am now prepared to propose to the House a candidate for the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker and deputy chair of committees of the whole.

Pursuant to Standing Order 8, I propose Mrs. Carol Hughes for the position of Assistant Deputy Speaker and deputy chair of committees of the whole.

The motion is deemed moved and seconded. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)

Taxation

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to table a conventional paper petition to the Government of Canada regarding the tax-free savings account.

The petitioners note that about half of Canadians currently have tax-free savings accounts. That is a high level of participation given that the program only began in 2009. Of those TFSA holders who have taken advantage of the current $10,000 limit, 60% earn $60,000 or less per year, which demonstrates that this current TFSA limit is not for the rich only.

The petitioners ask that the Minister of Finance leave the tax-free savings account limit at $10,000 annually to ensure fairness for all working Canadians.

As well, here is some technological breaking news. I am delighted to also sponsor the tax-free savings account on a brand new Parliament of Canada e-petitions website, which I invite all Canadians to visit, look over, and support as they may choose. The website address is petitions.parl.gc.ca.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I thank the hon. member for bringing attention to the new process of electronic petitions.

The hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon.

Citizenship and Immigration

[David Tilson, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from a number of residents in my riding who are concerned about the Liberal refugee settlement plan. Canada has a long and proud tradition of being an open and welcoming society for immigrants and refugees from around the world. However, notwithstanding Canadians' openness and generosity, citizens of Canada have expressed legitimate security concerns over the resettlement of refugees emanating from the Syrian conflict.

Whereas the Liberal promise to settle an arbitrary number of refugees by an arbitrary date was made during the heightened political atmosphere of an election campaign; and whereas recognized experts in resettlement procedures have raised serious security concerns regarding the Liberal refugee settlement plan; and whereas it is incumbent upon the federal government to exercise its primary duty to protect the safety and well-being of Canadians; the petitioners are asking that all members of Parliament have a clear and open debate and vote on a binding motion with respect to the Liberal refugee settlement plan through an emergency debate in Parliament.

The House resumed consideration of the motion for an address to His Excellency the Governor General in reply to his speech at the opening of the session, of the amendment, and of the amendment to the amendment.

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I wish to inform the House that, because of the ministerial statement, government orders will be extended by 14 minutes.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker, hon. members of Parliament, and all Canadians.

I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Yorkton—Melville. I want to acknowledge my colleague and congratulate her on her election.

I want to start by congratulating all the members of the House on their wins and on their dedication, which is so important to keeping the democratic institutions that make up our political system alive and well.

I am honoured and extremely proud to rise here for the first time to address all Canadians, and in particular Quebeckers in Beauport—Limoilou. Because of them, I have the unbelievable privilege of being a member of this very important parliamentary institution.

If I am here today, it is also thanks to some important people in my life. First, there are my parents, without whom none of this would have been possible. They are the ones who, throughout my childhood, guided me, taught me, and most importantly, loved me. Then, there is my wife Pascale, who has been by my side for 11 years now and supports me in all of my incredible adventures, including politics. Finally, my daughter, Victoria Clarke, reminds me every day of what is important in this life here on earth. I would like to thank all of those who are dear to my heart, including my brother and my sister.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank all of our ancestors who built a country based on the principles of the rule of law and political freedom.

Canada, as a whole, is part of my identity. In fact, my parents are from opposite ends of the country. My mother is a French Canadian from Beauport, Quebec, and my father is an English Canadian from Victoria, British Columbia. Canada's duality, an undeniable part of our common history and our political past and present, is alive and well in me and is always driving me.

I do not want to boast, but I have believed from a very young age that having this personal characteristic meant that I had an inescapable duty to participate in Canada's political community.

That is why, since my teen years, my sole purpose has been to serve my country and my fellow citizens. This burning desire, coupled with an iron will, compelled me to become actively involved in Canadian politics at 18 and to join the Canadian Armed Forces at 24.

In recent years, I have been an active member of the Conservative Party of Canada, I have served as a member of the 6th Field Artillery Regiment in Lévis, I have worked with charities in my community, and, to better understand the significance of these activities, Canada's history, and our political system, I earned a master's in political science.

I applied for and received my discharge from the Canadian Armed Forces on November 11, Remembrance Day. On my father's side, fathers and sons have served in the Canadian Armed Forces since the 1890s. My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father, my brother and I are all veterans.

That is why the privilege of being named the official opposition critic for veterans affairs is so deeply symbolic to me: it is linked to a long-standing, deeply rooted family tradition.

On that point, I want to thank our party leader for the trust she has placed in me. Our leader and all veterans in this country can rest assured that I take this role very seriously. I will remain politically invested every day, and I will work as hard as I have to in order to hold this government to account when it comes to veterans.

I would also like to present to the House my priorities as the member for Beauport—Limoilou. My team and I have three main objectives we want to achieve. We call them the three Ps: pursue, promote, and participate.

The first objective is about pursuing the economic revitalization of our riding. More specifically, it is about focusing on the development of these main arteries: d'Estimauville, Canardières and des Capucins, 1st Avenue, 3rd Avenue and Seigneuriale.

The second objective is to promote the flow of ongoing investments in local infrastructure.

The third objective is to participate in nurturing the personal growth of newcomers and those most in need by reaching out to them, by knocking on doors throughout my term, in order to meet their needs and, more importantly, overcome the feeling of social exclusion.

Last summer, the previous Conservative government announced its support for a very important project for my riding and the entire greater Quebec City region. I am talking about the Beauport 2020 plan to almost double the area of the port of Québec's wharves. This makes sense because the port of Québec is a strategic transshipment point between the industrial and agricultural heart of North America and the world. The port is open to navigation year-round and is one of the largest ports in Canada in terms of tonnage and economic spinoffs. Consequently, I would hope that the new government will stay the course on this crucially important project and ensure that it is completed in accordance with the strictest environmental criteria around.

On another note, I think nothing illustrates the ideal of serving one's country better than donning a military uniform and confronting the dangers that face any free society. We have courageous veterans who did just that for our country and our freedom during the 20th century in various places around the world, and more recently in Afghanistan. Today, in Canada, we have more than 700,000 veterans. If we include their family members, we are talking about millions of individuals. They all have served and serve Canada in their own way.

What amazed me the most when I met with veterans in recent years, was the unwavering passion with which they spoke about serving their country and ensuring a better future for all of us, including the MPs in this House.

I was stunned that there was only one sentence about veterans in the Speech from the Throne that opened the 42nd Parliament on Friday. However, the Liberal government has used other communications tools to announce measures that will generate significant annual deficits in the coming years, even if the Canadian economy does well in the global economic context.

The government is proposing to post deficit after deficit, have Canada go into debt in a period of economic prosperity, increase taxes and thereby discourage consumption and economic growth. This will inevitably lead to a significant slowdown in job creation.

Furthermore, the government is proposing to create new measures and to improve others for veterans, which is a very good thing. However, that is where we part ways, because the Conservatives want to finance these measures with the money generated by a healthy economy and not by running deficits in future years.

Where is the long-term vitality of these measures? How can they be permanent if the government is incurring national debt to pay for them? How can the government be sure that these new measures will be sustainable in the long term when they are incurring a deficit to pay for them? Will it do so by raising taxes for Canadians and businesses?

My friends, this is a Liberal smokescreen designed to make Canadians believe that all of the new measures that have been proposed will be implemented. They will not be, at least not permanently. Veterans will be the first to doubt the Liberals' proposals, which I will refer to as the Liberal smokescreen from now on.

We, on the other hand, were and still are in favour of measures for veterans that are sustainable in the long term, measures that are not funded by incurring continuing deficits. In that respect, the previous Conservative government focused on the long-term sustainability of essential services for veterans. That is why we made major cuts to the department's bureaucratic red tape in order to make the department more productive. This measure also made it possible to make necessary cuts to spending and especially to bring about welcome improvements in services to veterans.

Our first priority has always been to ensure that programs and measures for veterans are sustainable in the long term, while maintaining a strong economy based on balanced budgets and, of course, continued tax cuts.

The holiday season is approaching. Soon, we will all gather with our families to celebrate, but also to remember the many sacrifices that our veterans made and are still making today. It is thanks to them that I am here today.

In closing, I would like to say that there is no doubt in my mind that everyone here only wants what is best for veterans. In that respect, when it comes to working for the well-being of veterans, the government will always find in me an ally.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have promised an increase of $80 million a year for veterans' education benefits. What are my colleague's concerns about the viability of this promise?

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question and I want to congratulate her once again on her election.

Like my colleague from Yorkton—Melville, I am comfortable with the new measures put forward. However, our concern is that these measures cannot become permanent because of the deficits announced by the new government. That is what is dangerous for veterans. They need long-term measures, not election-time measures.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the member on his election to the House of Commons.

I would like to talk about one of the topics that came up most often during the campaign. I am talking about Canada Post, which I brought up earlier with another member. The Conservatives were the ones who decided to put an end to home delivery, a decision that affects all Canadians. This decision has already had an impact on a number of communities across Canada.

Sherbrooke would soon have been affected by this decision. Does my colleague think that home delivery is important in his community? Is he in favour of cutting Canada Post services? Will he applaud the new government if it keeps its word and does not put an end to home delivery, but instead decides to restore it?

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, and I congratulate him on being re-elected.

I will reiterate what we said throughout the campaign. Canada Post is a public corporation that makes its own operational decisions. The previous Conservative government expressed concerns about decisions affecting mailboxes in ridings. I would say to my colleague that it is up to the current Liberal government to talk to the corporation to see what the priorities are and figure out how to reverse the decision.

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate our new member of Parliament for Beauport—Limoilou and also thank him for his service. As a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, he has done outstanding service for the country.

In that vein, I would like to ask him, in reflection of the throne speech, his thoughts with respect to where we should be going as a nation with respect to veterans. In my riding of Simcoe--Grey literally thousands of individuals have retired from the Canadian Armed Forces, from Base Borden and otherwise. They have done outstanding service for our country as has the member.

What does he see from our perspective as the opposition moving forward with respect to veterans affairs?

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question, and I congratulate her on being elected.

As I said, we believe that, on the whole and in principle, the measures are laudable. When I talk to veterans, including family members and fellow members of the armed forces, they all want to see a model that prioritizes open-ended measures. The opposition, the Conservative Party and veterans want viable, long-term measures that they can count on now and for the rest of their lives, not electioneering.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to be here today, representing the constituents of Yorkton—Melville in the 42nd Parliament of Canada. I am humbled and grateful for the confidence that they have placed in me.

I want to thank all of those who gave sacrificially of their time, talents, and treasures to support me through an open nomination in my election campaign.

I also want to thank Elections Canada for the stellar job it did in dealing with the challenges of new boundaries, new polls, new rules, and the magnificent turnout of Canadians at the advance polls on Thanksgiving weekend and on October 19.

I am thankful for my Christian faith that is the plumb line for how I seek to live and serve others, while also leaning very heavily on God's grace, love, and continual patience with me.

My husband, our parents, children, and grandchildren are committed to ensuring that I do not live in an Ottawa bubble.

The previous member of Parliament for Yorkton—Melville, Mr. Gary Breitkreutz, served both his riding and his country selflessly for 22 years. His tireless work to end the long-gun registry that failed to protect Canadians while penalizing law-abiding citizens was a resounding answer to the call of Canadians across the country for real change. His integrity, commitment to God, family, and his country is the example I hope to emulate. As I have said often to those who ask, I cannot fill his shoes, but I will definitely walk the same path.

As I travelled through the 43,272 square kilometres of my riding, hosting meet-and-greets, door knocking, and main-streeting in 24 unique communities, I fell in love with our wide, creative skies, rolling fields, valleys, lakes, rivers, timberland, the wildlife, fresh air, and the warm, hospitable people.

Along with the rest of Saskatchewan, the riding of Yorkton—Melville is the bedrock of strong economic growth in Canada. We have world-class agriculture and agrifood producers, yet the growers in my riding were not even mentioned in the Speech from the Throne. Already, it appears that the government does not value our farmers. The government has placed the TPP on the back burner when it is vital to opening up significant markets for our producers to be able to compete on an ever-expanding world stage.

Yorkton—Melville's potash, timber and energy resources, our small and medium businesses, our innovators and manufactures all know that the Liberal carbon taxes and payroll taxes would hurt the productivity of the very people and industries from which true growth and prosperity come.

Greatly increased federal debt is the only promise we are sure of and even that the Liberal government has failed to define or cap.

The government said it would lift Canada out of debt and balance the books in 2019. The only thing its looming federal debt can guarantee is higher taxes for today's families and a higher debt burden left for our young people and their future children.

My riding of Yorkton—Melville is home to one of the highest percentages of seniors in Canada, wonderful people who have invested their lives in their communities and families and played a significant part in making Canada the strong and vibrant country it is recognized to be all over the world. Yet, they, too, are taken for granted by the throne speech. As history repeats itself, the unnecessary Liberal debt will once again mean an increase in costs in providing essential safety nets that only a healthy, stable economy can provide.

The hon. member for Sturgeon River—Parkland, the leader of the official opposition, entrusted me with the position of deputy critic for Veterans Affairs, and I am pleased to already be working alongside the shadow cabinet Veterans Affairs critic, the hon. member for Beauport—Limoilou.

How fitting that my first responsibility and privilege was to lay a wreath on Remembrance Day in my hometown of Esterhazy, Saskatchewan. That evening, I also attended the Yorkton Legion banquet to honour our veterans by bringing greetings on behalf of the Government of Canada. At that time, before being given this mandate, I assured them that they had my deepest gratitude, my prayers, my heart, and my ear.

I was pleased to hear that the government will do more to support veterans and their families. However, this single sentence in the throne speech gives no indication as to which of the 15 Liberal campaign promises made to Canada's veterans will be brought before the House or, in fact, made a government priority.

I acknowledge that there is still much to do to improve the new veterans charter.

The minister is likely aware that under the last minority Liberal government, in 2005, the then minister of veterans affairs was in the process of bringing about the new veterans charter to better meet the needs of the next generation of young veterans when it appeared that government would fall. Realizing that all the work done would be lost, that minister and the leadership on both sides of the House met and agreed that it was too important for the future service to our veterans to not bring the new veterans charter into being.

All sides worked together, and as a result the first, second and third readings took place in a matter of seven minutes and were unanimously passed by the House. The Senate then met with the stakeholders and after a 12-hour meeting, the bill passed that same evening. The next day, it received royal assent. This was a historic event of which we can all be very proud. Shortly afterwards, the government fell and the new Conservative government began the task of implementing a challenging new direction for Veterans Affairs.

Many initiatives and significant funds have been allocated to the new veterans charter and the transformation agenda, which is the strategic plan of the department intended to help anticipate the changes related to the decline in the number of traditional veterans and a greater focus on younger veterans of modern day conflicts. One was the implementation of improved mental health services for our veterans by creating a network of 25-plus front-line mental health clinics across Canada, and 31 integrated personnel support centres. The challenge has been to find enough qualified health services individuals to meet the need.

I applaud the current Liberal government's desire to continue to fully implement these recommendations on mental health services for veterans.

As well, under the previous Conservative government, the minister brought Veterans Affairs into relationship and consultation with injured soldiers while they were still under the Department of National Defence, encouraging an overlapping of services to better meet the needs of our wounded soldiers while waiting in limbo to know if they would continue their services or be discharged. I look forward to the current government improving even more upon this co-operative environment, strengthening partnership between National Defence and VAC.

However, as I met with veterans in communities throughout my riding over the past year, I heard the same concerns voiced over and over again. Now it seems that these concerns are about to come to pass, concerns for the needs of our armed forces under the new Liberal government.

My veterans recall the destruction of support for our special forces, ill-equipped combat troops sent to Afghanistan in green rather than dessert fatigues as a result of the previous Liberal government's massive cuts to the Department of National Defence.

The veterans of Yorkton—Melville will be watching closely to see if the Liberal promises made will be promises kept. My question on their behalf is this. What will those promises cost Canadians and will the Liberals ensure that they will not be implemented on the backs of our current armed forces?

If there is one thing I am confident in, it is that veterans of Canada care very deeply about our future veterans, the men and women serving our country now. Our Canadian rights and freedoms, our Canadian privileges and responsibilities, all come from a price paid by those willing to face death and life-altering trauma and tragedy.

The veterans serve our country, and they deserve appreciation, respect and to be understood. They and their families deserve to be cared for.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by congratulating the new member to the House. I very much look forward to working with her in the next four years, as with others.

I can certainly assure the member that when it comes to veterans, I believe each and every one of us on all sides of the House have an utmost appreciation and a debt of gratitude for every man and woman who puts on a uniform on behalf of our country.

I am very pleased to hear the sentiments, desires and commitment the member has put forward to ensure that we can make a sincere difference in the lives of the men and women who put on a uniform to defend us.

As the budget and opportunities for extra support come forward, will the member have the confidence to stand in support?

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member as well.

This is a file that is so important across our country, especially in the circumstances that our entire world finds itself in. The care for these people who invest so much in our safety has to be paramount.

I look forward to hearing what the budget brings forward and reviewing it with my colleagues. My hope and desire is that this is something on which we will be able to work together.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on her election to the House.

I have a question regarding something she touched on at the beginning of her speech. It has to do with protecting all farmers across Canada, and particularly those in my region, the Eastern Townships. Farmers are very worried about the trans-Pacific partnership, which was negotiated by her government and opened up the supply management system for the first time. The day the negotiations ended and it was announced that an agreement had been reached, a compensation package for farmers was also announced.

Does my colleague really believe that an agreement that was negotiated and culminated with an announcement that the agreement had been reached and that farmers would be compensated is a good agreement for the Canadian economy as a whole, when losses are predicted for one sector of our economy and compensation had to be announced the very same day?

It it really a good deal for Canada?

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question, and I congratulate him as well.

Free trade is very important to my riding, as well, and to the people who are involved in agriculture there. We have the challenge in this country of being very large, having large regions, and having needs right across the country. The responsibility of a federal government is to do what is best overall for Canada. Unfortunately, at times, one region will succeed where another one possibly may not, so I was pleased to see that compensation placed in there right away to ensure that those who are going to find it hard to make this transition have the support they need to be able to do the things that they need to do in business to become successful.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to congratulate the new member on her election. I actually worked with her predecessor on various committees. He did great work, and I am sure she will offer as much, if not more, in terms of eloquence and sincerity. I felt that her speech was excellent.

She did raise some points. The previous Liberal government implemented the new veterans charter. There was not a lot of discussion. In fact, as she noted in her speech, it sped through all stages in the House rather quickly. My concern is that we have also heard talk in the Speech from the Throne about a leaner military, and very little information is coming from the government side as to what that means.

Again, I am concerned that a previous Liberal government implemented a new system for our veterans without proper parliamentary oversight or committee review, and it seems that the new Liberal government is not giving us the transparency that it portends to offer. I would like to ask the member if she is also concerned about a lack of process and, perhaps, what some of the ramifications of that may be.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, yes, I am concerned. That is a thread that went throughout what I had to say. We all want to see the lives of our veterans taken care of, and those of their families as well. However, the process we have faced to date has been challenging in that it is a huge file with a huge number of responsibilities that require systematic organization so that veterans are served in the best way possible. There is an extensive amount of red tape that has really frustrated a lot of them.

I do look forward to challenging and encouraging the government in anything it does put forward, to not be piecemeal but to produce something that will end up being profitable for our veterans in the long term.