Debates of Feb. 3rd, 2015

Foreign Affairs

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the strongest sanctions regimes in the world, which has been coordinated with our allies to target key individuals and entities and to isolate Russia politically and economically.

Russia's ongoing campaign of aggression against Ukraine is disgraceful. It continues to show a shocking willingness to sacrifice civilian lives to achieve its illegitimate goals. We call on Russia to immediately respect a ceasefire, to immediately end its support of these proxies, and to allow peace to return to eastern Ukraine.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the fact remains that Canada's sanctions simply do not match up with our allies'. These three friends of Putin are being protected by the current government. It is strange.

Unfortunately, Canada is also offside with every single one of our allies when it comes to the Arms Trade Treaty. One hundred and thirty countries have signed the treaty. Every single member of NATO, Israel, and Ukraine have all signed the treaty, but not Canada.

Why are the Conservatives keeping company with countries like North Korea, Syria, and Iran when it comes to opposing the Arms Trade Treaty? Why are they keeping company with them?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, signing the Arms Trade Treaty would not improve on how Canada assesses exports of military items. We already have one of the strongest export control systems in the world. The ATT actually brings other countries up to the standards we already have.

There are some concerns about how the treaty affects lawful and responsible firearms owners. As such, we continue to consult various stakeholders and experts on their views.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it would seem that the entire world, except for Canada, recognizes the need to stop weapons from falling into the hands of those who commit war crimes, violate human rights and participate in organized crime.

When will we finally sign the arms trade treaty?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, Canada has some of the strongest export controls in the world. They include the Export and Import Permits Act and the Automatic Firearms Country Control List.

In addition, we rigorously assess all exports of military goods and technology on a case-by-case basis. We believe that the ATT actually brings other countries up to our standards. We will continue to maintain some of the highest standards in the world on these issues.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada could do so much more to send a clear message to Russia. The government claims that it wants to coordinate its efforts with those of the United States, but it is not really doing so, not entirely.

Certain oil barons who have business dealings with Canada have magically disappeared from our sanction list.

What is the point of Canadian sanctions if we spare the people and companies that could really make a difference?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I already addressed the issue of the sanctions, but I can tell members that Canada has been a leader. Everyone knows that. We have been a leader in the global response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and we have been one of Ukraine's strongest supporters.

I can go through a whole list of things we have done. We have provided over $515 million in assistance to Ukraine just in the last year. We have placed sanctions against more than 210 individuals and entities. That is more than our U.S. and EU allies. We have confirmed Ukraine as a development country of focus and as a profile country under our global markets action plan. We have contributed hundreds of observers to help monitor democratic Ukrainian elections. We have provided funds and technical advisers to them. We will continue to work with Ukraine.

Infrastructure

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

Mr. Speaker, the current government has spent $29 million on billboards to advertise new infrastructure spending. One cannot sleep under a billboard. One cannot get drinking water from a billboard. One cannot ride a billboard to get to work, and they make really bad bridges if one is trying to cross a river.

To put this in perspective, $29 million on billboards is more money than the current government is spending on infrastructure, new infrastructure, in Prince Edward Island, one whole province. This is ridiculous. It is unsustainable. Instead of building a strong Canada, the current government buys billboards.

When will the minister cut this advertising budget and spend the money on cities and towns across Canada and build a better Canada for us all?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, our government has introduced the largest and longest infrastructure plan in Canadian history, with $75 billion.

This Prime Minister recently announced new investments in funding to deal with federal infrastructure. We encourage provinces to do the same with respect to their infrastructure. We will respect our partners' competence and jurisdiction.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Except that 75% of this money is postponed until after 2019, Mr. Speaker.

By abolishing the mandatory long form census, the Conservatives compromised the reliability of our official statistics to the point where it is having a negative impact on the economy and good governance. The Institut de la statistique du Québec confirmed that the number of disadvantaged families has been underestimated and that income has been estimated incorrectly. The institute has said that things are such a mess that decisions are being made blindly.

Why are the Conservatives attacking Statistics Canada? Why did they do something so ideological, out-of-touch, harmful and—to use a word that the Prime Minister used today—stupid?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, that is not at all the case. As we did in 2011, we will collect quality statistics in 2016 that our government, the governments of every region of the country, the private sector and our researchers can use to glean useful information about the entire country.

Champlain Bridge

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I get the impression that the minister does not even believe himself.

That being said, will the Prime Minister refute the preposterous rumour that he is opposed to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec partnering with the consortium that was asked to submit a bid for the rehabilitation of the Champlain Bridge, even though the Government of Quebec wants the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to be a major partner?

Does the Prime Minister view the Caisse as a pariah, or does he think that the Conservatives' toll scheme will render the contribution of one of Quebec's flagship institutions irrelevant? Is the Prime Minister really that out of touch?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of our progress on the new bridge over the St. Lawrence, the new Champlain Bridge.

The process has been open and transparent from the beginning. Six consortiums submitted bids to a fully independent selection committee that then selected three consortiums. All partners—be they financial, from the construction sector or from architectural firms—were invited to be part of one of the consortiums.

We have been very thorough about this, and we will deliver a bridge. We waited long enough for the Liberals to do something. We will get the job done.

Veterans Affairs

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the new Minister of Veterans Affairs has an interesting idea of transparency. It seems to involve posting blurry photos of anticipated reports on Twitter. I do not know any World War II veterans who use Twitter or any veterans who like staring at a computer screen to try to make out tiny text.

Perhaps the minister could be transparent and tell us how he is progressing in re-opening the closed Veterans Affairs offices, like the one in Thunder Bay, and if the Conservatives will be stopping their $700,000 lawsuit against veterans.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member is criticizing the minister for having direct contact with veterans, exactly what we want the minister to do. The committee also asked the minister to report to it on January 30, which is exactly what he did.

The member asked what kind of progress we have made. I have examples here. One of the recommendations of the committee was to increase research on mental health, and last November, our government announced new funding to support further research on mental health for veterans.

There was another recommendation to extend psychological counselling to the families of veterans in December. We have extended the number of psychological counselling sessions available to family members of veterans.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our veterans deserve better. They deserve more than an infographic off-handedly posted on Twitter as the minister's response to the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Our veterans expect real measures, but once again, they have been let down. New minister, same old disappointments.

When will the minister make real commitments that will finally help veterans in need?

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

Talking about concrete measures, Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the nine new offices this government is opening under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Veterans Affairs. We are talking about nine clinics that will be focused on mental health. For example, there will be one in Halifax, St. John's, Chicoutimi, Pembroke, Brockville, Kelowna, Victoria, and Montreal, and just last Friday, the minister was in Hamilton announcing a new clinic in Hamilton.

These are real results delivered to our veterans to support them on mental health issues.

Census

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, another bad Conservative decision was the elimination of the long form census, a decision that has hurt municipalities and provinces, which lack data for development planning.

As Statistics Canada prepares its next census, now is the time for the Conservatives to admit that they were wrong and to restore the long form census.

Will they do so?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, in 2016, as was the case in 2011, Statistics Canada will have the money and forms it needs to get access to reliable, important information so that the Government of Canada, as well as all the other governments across Canada, can do their job.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Talk about quality information, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' decision to cancel the mandatory long form census was cynical and irresponsible and they are refusing to bring it back out of sheer stubbornness. Policy-makers, business leaders, city planners, and health officials are all warning that they do not have the detailed census data they need to do their jobs. They need the facts.

What could the minister possibly have against evidence-based policy?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the census in 2016 will yield quality data for the Government of Canada, for all levels of government, for the private sector, and for researchers to make sure that they do have quality data from across this country for planning, for city planning, and Government of Canada planning moving forward.

We received quality data out of the last census. We will have quality data out of the coming census. If my hon. colleague has any doubts about that, I certainly invite her to invite Wayne Smith, the CEO of Stats Canada, to come to the industry committee to spell out to her yet again why Stats Canada has the money and the process necessary to do a quality census for all Canadians.

Justice

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the activities around prostitution are illegal because they are harmful to vulnerable individuals and all of society.

On December 6, our government's response to the Bedford decision, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, came into force. Could the Minister of Justice update the House on the impact it is having on prostitution in Canada?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Kildonan—St. Paul, who is a true champion for women.

This law is having a direct impact on prostitution in Canada. Hamilton police recently rescued a missing 15-year-old girl from exploitation as a prostitute. Her pimp was charged twice under this new law. Durham region's human trafficking unit rescued a 16-year-old and her pimp is now facing charges as well, charges that were not previously available. We are proud of this impact of the new law.

I congratulate our law enforcement members everywhere, who are working hard each and every day to keep our communities and streets safe.

Seniors

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent report from Laval University, the Conservatives' decision to make seniors wait two more years for OAS will significantly increase poverty. The poverty rate among Canadians aged 65 and 66 will go from 6% to 17%. As Canadians, we cannot allow this travesty. Our seniors deserve to live in dignity instead of struggling to survive.

Why are the Conservatives cynically allowing poverty to increase among seniors?

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Minister of State (Seniors)]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to seniors' poverty, our government has a record we can be proud of. Canada has one of the lowest seniors' poverty rates in the world thanks in part to our actions, which include removing thousands of seniors from the tax rolls completely, making significant investment in affordable housing for low-income seniors, and introducing the largest GIS increase in a quarter century.

We will not impose a carbon tax on seniors like the NDP or remove pension income splitting, as the Liberals have committed to doing.

Canadians know they can count on our government to deliver for seniors.