Debates of Feb. 5th, 2015

Regional Economic Development

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that the hon. member travel to Cape Breton and get around a little more, because our government is committed to supporting economic development in Cape Breton and throughout Atlantic Canada. In fact, just in the last year alone we have provided $2.2 million toward the implementation of the Richmond County tourism strategy, $1 million to assist with the operation of the Celtic Colours International Festival, $1.3 million for the expansion of the Sydney boardwalk, $200,000 for the Inverness County Trails Federation in an effort to make the Inverness portion of the Trans-Canada trail, and $105,000 to support Synergy Louisbourg.

I could go on and on, if the member has a supplemental question.

Employment

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the Conservatives keep cutting overall funds for community development, and they are failing to help small businesses that support our communities.

Small businesses are responsible for nearly 80% of new private sector jobs created over the past decade. When the Conservatives handed out tens of billions of dollars to the largest, most profitable corporations, they left our small businesses and their owners behind.

Will the Conservatives support the NDP plan to cut small business taxes, so that they can grow and create the jobs we desperately need?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, of course, we have already lowered taxes for small businesses, and we have put forward this tax relief to help small businesses grow. It is the New Democrats who have voted against it.

The leader of the NDP has twice now come forward and talked about his support for small business, but the fact is that the CFIB has done its assessment of it—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. I think that the members in the opposition may have been a little bit premature there. The hon. Minister of Industry still had about 15 seconds to finish his remarks.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the small problem with that is that it is only the New Democrats who are applauding, because the CFIB says that the NDP leader's plan is stupid and anti-small business. That is what the CFIB says.

They can applaud all they want, but the real leaders understand.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the solution is here, in the NDP.

SMEs are the driving force behind job creation in Canada. They create, they innovate, they export and more importantly, they hire. They could do even more if we would give them the means.

That is why our leader has proposed a plan to help them immediately and permanently. Instead of helping large corporations, which are already profitable, we are proposing lowering taxes for small businesses.

Why do the Conservatives refuse to support the businesses that create good jobs for Canadians?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, our approach definitely helps businesses grow.

People from the manufacturing sector support our budget, our investments, our policies and our approach, in order to build a strong economy in every region of Canada.

When they hear what the NDP is saying, they criticize the party for wanting to raise taxes, undermining consumers and attacking the economic needs of our manufacturing sector. They support our budget and condemn the NDP's approach, because the NDP does not know how to operate in a strong economy.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, over the past two years, the Conservatives have spent $1.6 million on promoting Canadian oil in the United States.

First of all, subsidizing an industry that is already raking in billions of dollars in profits does not make any sense. Second, I cannot help but notice that the Conservatives have not made the same effort for our forestry industry or our manufacturing industry

I think this clearly shows that the Conservatives are putting all their eggs in one basket and are making no effort to diversify our economy.

How can the Conservatives justify this double standard, which is penalizing Canada's workers?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, economic action plan 2014 built on our government's success on the forestry file by focusing on innovation, improving energy efficiency, and protecting it from the threat of pests.

In fact, the energy efficiency report for 2012-13 highlights that reoriented pulp and paper operations have resulted in a 49% decrease in emissions. Our focus on diversifying markets for our forest products has increased softwood lumber exports to China tenfold.

We will continue to take action to create jobs and support forest-dependent communities.

Employment

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, recently, the industry minister had a problem understanding how many manufacturing jobs were lost in Canada because he had read a different figure from the one that exists, in a magazine. Some 400,000 jobs have been lost under their watch.

Now he has a problem quoting the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. Mr. Myers said:

The tax credit the NDP is proposing for R&D related capital expenditures will also help Canadian manufacturers develop, test and commercialize the next generation of...technologies.

The CFIB said that cutting the small tax business rate by nearly 20% will provide a big boost to small business owners across the country and help them create jobs.

Why can the Conservatives not simply get on board? Do they just not like the fact that it is the NDP leader who is doing the work to help small businesses and manufacturing in this country?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it would be wise if the finance critic for the NDP actually read to the bottom of the exact same press release. If he has not, he should read the final paragraph, which says that, in total, the NDP policies would threaten “to erode investment [and] put jobs at risk”.

That is exactly what it said. Mr. Myers said in its entirety the NDP policy does not work. They endorse our approach to creating jobs, supporting the Canadian economy and, moving in the right direction.

There is no question in anybody's mind that the CFIB has supported all of our budgets and it was very clear when it said that the NDP leader's plan for the economy is “dumb” and “anti-small business”.

Government Advertising

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are cutting 90% of infrastructure spending, yet they see no problem with spending $29 million on billboards. The Conservatives are cutting money for infrastructure, they are giving up to $2 billion to the wealthiest Canadian families, and they are unable to table a budget.

They have spent $29 million on billboards, and it is only February. Instead of governing, are the Conservatives already campaigning?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, that is incorrect. This Conservative government is making record investments in infrastructure. These investments are making a real difference in the lives of Canadians. They are creating jobs and prosperity. They are enhancing our growth and productivity.

Not only are we making record investments; we are also keeping taxes low and we will balance the budget this year. This is sound management. This is effective planning and efficiency that the opposition could only dream of.

Infrastructure

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, record investments—I do not quite understand Conservative arithmetic. It is $2 billion one year, $210 million the next year. That is a cut, no matter what way one wants to state it. A cut is a cut. Investing in our infrastructure builds our communities and creates jobs. Winnipeg gets its water from Shoal Lake. There is a need for better access. Millions of dollars are required. The City of Winnipeg understands that. The Province of Manitoba understands that. Ottawa is not even at the table.

Why is the government cutting infrastructure by 90%?

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

Mr. Speaker, saying it louder does not make it correct, as we know. The new building Canada plan has been open for business since March. We look forward to receiving further applications from municipalities. We have not yet received any applications that I am aware of from the City of Winnipeg. What is more, we respect the jurisdiction of municipalities and provinces. It is the responsibility of provinces to prioritize those projects. We look forward to receiving more.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, why would we apply for something if the government is not even making it available? It is from $2 billion to $210 million. It is about bad priorities: tax breaks for the rich and the income-splitting program mean hundreds of millions of dollars going to the wealthiest in Canada, while at the same time Conservatives are cutting back on investing in infrastructure. That is how they are going to help the middle class. Investing in our infrastructure is investing in Canadian communities.

Will the incompetent government recognize its mistake and reverse its decision?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have explained time and time again, the new building Canada plan has been established to support municipalities and provinces. It is a 10-year plan. It is the largest infrastructure investment that any federal government has ever established. It is available today for municipalities to apply, and the gas tax fund is flowing to meet priorities today.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives keep making it harder for skilled workers to immigrate to Canada. As if wait times for family reunification and citizenship were not enough, they have done such a bad job writing the rules for the federal skilled worker program that the Federal Court said that the same application could either pass or fail depending on, any given day, how the rules were interpreted. This is a huge problem.

What is the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration going to do now to fix this mess?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

First, Mr. Speaker, I would remind the House that what the member opposite said is nonsense. It has never been easier to get into Canada as an economic immigrant with the skills, with the education, with the language ability that our growing economy needs.

This gives me the opportunity to mentioned to the House that as of January 1, we have a new system for delivering economic immigration to this country. It is called express entry. It is totally online. We are processing applications in six months.

This is the best system in the world, and Canadians know it.

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague was quoting the Federal Court.

Does the minister realize that at least? Has he looked at that ruling? It is ridiculous. We have long been talking about the unimaginable wait times, but now we are talking about random decisions.

A few days ago, the Federal Court found that the skilled worker program was so ill-conceived that the same qualifications could lead to two completely different outcomes for the same person. This ridiculous situation would make me laugh if it were not so insulting to the skilled workers whose applications are rejected.

Has the minister looked at the court's ruling and will he do something about it? Will he clean up this mess?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians will have a hard time understanding where the hon. member is coming from because the entire world and the whole country are praising the new express entry economic immigration system, which was launched on January 1. The system is totally online for the first time in the history of Canada.

Applications from talented people around the world who want to live in Canada will be processed within six months. Those are the results that Canadians want to see from their immigration system, and that is justified by the prosperity of our—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order.

The hon. member for Saint-Lambert.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, in July 2014, the minister announced additional inspection powers in order to put an end to abuses of the temporary foreign worker program. With his hand on his heart, he told us that abuses would never happen again.

However, today we learned that investigators have not conducted any on-site inspections without a warrant and are relying solely on employers' declarations. That is ridiculous.

When it comes to protecting Canadians' jobs, why is the Minister of Employment all talk and no action once again?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the temporary foreign worker program, the NDP continues to demonstrate remarkable hypocrisy.

In fact, the NDP opposed giving inspection powers to my department's inspectors so that they could conduct investigations without a warrant. Thousands of investigations have been conducted by my department's inspectors since the team was expanded. However, all employers co-operated and we did not need to conduct investigations without a warrant.