Debates of March 13th, 2015

Ethics

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the reason we created the enabling accessibility fund is to help people with disabilities have the same access to community centres, churches, synagogues, mosques, and recreational centres every other Canadian enjoys, and that is why we have been proud to fund wheelchair ramps, special elevators, and a whole host of other projects that help disabled people across the country.

We have also brought in the registered disability savings fund so that parents can set aside money for their disabled children's futures, and I am happy to say that both of those programs have been an enormous success.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, this week we heard the racist views of the member for New Brunswick Southwest on the economic role of “whities” and “brown people”. The member spewing this racism is the Prime Minister's former director of communications. Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and kick him out of the Conservative caucus, or is there a place for racism within the government?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Multiculturalism)]

Mr. Speaker, the member has apologized, but who has not apologized is the Liberal leader for his comments earlier this week. In fact, regarding his speech, B'nai Brith has said, “Such language is divisive and only does a disservice to Canadians interested in dealing with pressing issues of the day”.

When will the leader of the Liberal Party stand up and apologize for his comments earlier this week?

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, so the standard of accountability within the government can be reduced to 140 characters on social media.

The member for New Brunswick Southwest has shared his racist views on suitable jobs for “whities” and “brown people”. This is not an isolated incident. The same member has also referred to first nations as Canada's teepee republic.

Will the Prime Minister remove the member from his caucus, or do Conservatives condone racism?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Multiculturalism)]

Mr. Speaker, the member has apologized, but we are still waiting for the apology from the Liberal leader for his comments earlier this week.

B'nai Brith Canada also said, regarding the Liberal leader, that he “is the latest in a long [line] of politicians who fall into the trap of drawing highly-inappropriate[ly] and offensive Nazi-era comparisons by using the term ‘none is too many’ haphazardly”.

The Liberal leader should apologize for his speech given earlier this week.

Canadian Heritage

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the CRTC announced that it was lowering the Canadian-content quotas for television, knowing full well the impact that that regulation has on the entire television industry.

This decision will undermine the creation of local programming. What is more, it shows the Conservatives' complete disregard for the new digital reality in the media. A report was already sounding the alarm on digital issues in 2011.

Why did this government ignore the repeated testimony of the creators of our cultural sovereignty?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's television, film, and digital media industry contributes nearly 125,000 jobs to the Canadian economy. That is why we proudly created the Canada media fund in 2009 to help with the creation of quality by Canadians for Canadians.

Our government has worked tirelessly to better serve Canadians, bringing them better consumer choice in television while protecting Canadian jobs. We have always been clear: Canadians should not have to pay for the channels they do not want. They should get the ones they choose.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, that is irrelevant. I am sorry, but that is not what we are talking about.

By reducing the space reserved for broadcasting Canadian content, the CRTC is making a dramatic change to the public policies that were put in place to support creation here in Canada. He is talking about jobs, but we are talking about culture.

The result is that producers and creators are being put at risk. Our television programming will reflect who we are less and less.

Is the minister aware that although talking about jobs for Canadians may be part of her role, her main priority should be to protect and promote the diversity of our cultural sovereignty here in Canada?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the member is well aware of the rapidly changing media environment, to which no industry is immune in our country.

We are carefully reviewing the decision, but to come back to the main point, we created the Canada media fund specifically to assist Canadians in the industry. When we look at the 125,000 jobs that come out of that industry, it is because they understand, they know, they create, and they produce, all with Canadian content, and it is for Canadians. We should let them make the decisions in terms of how we drive forward in the industry.

Rail Transportation

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there has been another train derailment resulting in an oil spill, this time in Manitoba. That is on top of the three accidents that occurred in northern Ontario in just one month.

With the Lac-Mégantic tragedy still fresh in our minds, the government is telling us that the tank cars that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada does not feel are safe enough will not be phased out until 2023.

How does the minister intend to reassure Canadians when we will have to live with unsafe tank cars for another eight years?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would have expected the member to be excited about the news that there are solid new tank car standards in the country. They include thicker steel. They include top fitting protection, better protection on the valve, and of course, full head shields, among other important features.

Those are proposed standards, obviously, and that is a commitment we are moving forward on to ensure, among all the measures we have taken to support rail safety, such as better oversight, more inspectors, and all those actions, that Canadians remain safe.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been six days since the Gogama train derailment. I visited the crash site and saw the horror of the devastation.

The communities of Gogama and the Mattagami First Nation are concerned about the environment and their safety. Citizens have been told that for trains with more than 20 cars their speed will be reduced from 80 kilometres to 48 kilometres an hour from Capreol to Hornepayne.

Could the minister confirm that the speed reduction will be permanent?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are obviously very concerned about the number of incidents that have taken place in the area of Gogama. We do not yet know the cause of the derailments, but expect that the company should and will fully co-operate with the Transportation Safety Board in its investigations.

In the meantime, we continue to take a number of very important actions to increase rail safety. We have brought forward new legislation that I hope the member will support as it comes before the House, which will hold railways to account and give inspectors the ability to actually order specific fixes on their problems.

Veterans Affairs

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there have been reports in the media that the government is making changes to the benefits provided to reservists in the Canadian Forces. Could the government tell us exactly what those changes are?

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

Mr. Speaker, today's announcement is about respect for reservists.

With this announcement, part-time veteran reservists will receive the same minimum level of income as armed forces veterans through the earnings loss benefit.

Our measures now comply with the recommendations made by the Veterans Ombudsman and the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. This new initiative is further evidence of our Conservative government's commitment to ensuring that our veterans and their families are treated with care, compassion and respect.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report on the temporary foreign worker program yesterday.

The Conservatives' data collection system is a mess. We cannot even get a simple answer to this question. Do employers really need to hire foreign workers or are there local Canadians available to do the job? How could the Conservatives mismanage a program so badly that there is no way of even telling if foreign workers are needed?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, we have formed the program to ensure that Canadians come first for Canadian jobs. We have required that employers sign an attestation that no Canadian will be either put out of work or out of hours if a temporary foreign worker is hired. We have required employers do extra outreach to hire underemployed groups within the Canadian labour force, such as aboriginals, new Canadians and young Canadians. We have brought in tough new fines and even jail time for those who break these and other rules.

We are working hard to create more jobs through lower taxes and ensuring Canadians come first for those jobs.

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

Mr. Speaker, is the minister contradicting the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report? The report clearly says that they do not have the information they need to make such claims.

The Conservatives did such a poor job of managing the temporary foreign worker program that employers started to use this program for purposes other than those intended, namely to fill positions at the bottom of the wage scale and avoid recruiting local workers.

Will the minister finally overhaul this program and find ways to confirm that the program actually works?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, we have already reformed the program to ensure that Canadians come first for Canadian jobs. These changes include requiring the employer to prove that no Canadian will lose either a job or hours of work if a temporary foreign worker is brought in. We put limits on the percentage of positions that can be filled by temporary foreign workers. We will continue in this direction.

Forestry Industry

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and the other resource-rich regions in Quebec, the forestry industry is struggling. Mills need investments and jobs are precarious. Modernizing the industry is the key, but the Conservative government is not doing enough to build the forestry industry of the future.

Will the government immediately renew the forest sector research and development initiative previously offered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and replenish funding for the investments in forest industry transformation program? According to the Forest Products Association of Canada, the industry needs $500 million over six years.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, we have given more support to the forestry sector than any other government in the history of Canada. We are investing in innovation, but the NDP rejected our plan. Our focus on innovation, energy efficiency and market expansion has paid off remarkably for the forestry sector.

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

Mr. Speaker, the NDP has launched a study of the forestry sector at the natural resources committee, one that is so important to so many communities in northern Ontario and across the country.

We have lost more than 100,000 forestry jobs under the Conservatives' watch. Many forestry towns are in crisis. The government support for industry transformation is drying up.

Will the minister commit to ensuring there is new support for forestry in the upcoming budget?

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, we have and we will continue, and he will continue to vote against it.

In northwestern Ontario alone we have seen no less than five or six mills either open for the first time or reopen. People are getting jobs in this sector. Woodland operators are back to work.

All the member does, and the NDP members from northern Ontario do, is vote against every one of these initiatives. People who work in the forest sector know that, and they will hold them accountable for it.

Veterans Affairs

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today we find out that Canadian veterans injured before 2006 will see their benefits clawed back under the government's new retirement income security benefits plan. When the minister was asked if he would fix this problem, he reportedly said, “we are not looking into that at this time”.

Will the government reverse this clawback and ensure that no veteran loses a single penny under this new plan?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member's assertion is false. The retirement income security benefit will provide financial stability to veterans who are moderately to seriously injured, and to their families. Our government will also streamline the multiple monthly financial benefits into a pension system for our most seriously injured veterans.

I thank the veterans ombudsman and other veteran groups for their input on this issue, which will provide security to veterans and to their families.