Debates of March 23rd, 2015

Semaine de la Francophonie

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the week of March 20 to 28 is the Semaine de la Francophonie.

This past year Canada played a significant and multi-faceted role in the Francophonie, as demonstrated by its leadership and important achievements in a number of files including maternal, newborn and child health, child marriage, underage marriage, forced marriage and the fight against Ebola.

Furthermore, for the first time in Canada's history, the Francophonie elected a Canadian, Michaëlle Jean, as the secretary-general of the Francophonie. Ms. Jean's appointment, announced at the 15th Sommet de la Francophonie held in Dakar, Senegal, garnered a great deal of attention and bears witness to the positive influence of Canada in the francophone world.

I invite all my colleagues to participate in the various activities that will take place across Canada during the Semaine de la Francophonie, which will celebrate our rich francophone heritage.

Canadian Centre for Product Validation

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

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Centre for Product Validation is a project worthy of our support. With only two such centres in the world, the proposal from Fanshawe College fills a niche with a made-in-Canada solution whereby potential products are tested and expert researchers suggest improvements. This business initiative will expand economic growth in London and create jobs. Economic impacts include the potential expansion of existing manufacturing in the region, attraction of new business, and job creation as a result of increased competitiveness.

In addition, the centre would provide access to the workforce for skilled graduates with experience in industry product testing.

The Canadian Centre for Product Validation would be a most welcome boost to a region devastated by factory closures and the loss of well-paying jobs.

The London business community is squarely behind the proposal, and I support Fanshawe College in this most worthy endeavour.

New Democratic Party of Canada

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, constituents in my riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River are concerned that the NDP leader has still not reimbursed Canadian taxpayers for the $3 million the New Democrats used for parliamentary offices outside of Ottawa. This is a violation of the rules of the House of Commons. Now he is saying that he does not see this money coming out of the pockets of the 68 NDP members who misspent these funds; instead, he expects the taxpayers to pay.

It is time for the NDP leader to do the right thing and repay taxpayers immediately. The New Democrats made inappropriate use of taxpayer funds to run party offices, and their March 31 deadline is fast approaching. When will the leader of the NDP take responsibility and pay back the taxpayers of Canada?

St. Patrick's Home of Ottawa

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate St. Patrick's Home on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. From its very modest beginnings, St. Patrick's Home of Ottawa has played a foundational role in the city of Ottawa. It is recognized as a leader in high-quality residential care.

Starting in 1865, with just 10 children and four seniors cared for by the Grey Sisters of the Cross, St. Patrick's Home of Ottawa has always been rooted in the tradition of care and compassion. Now, 150 years later, it has opened a brand new 288-bed facility, which is an important addition when we consider that by 2017, close to one in five Canadians will be over the age of 60.

I thank the thousands of volunteers, donors, fundraisers, and staff who have touched the lives of countless residents and families.

It is said that the extent to which a community looks out for each other is the hallmark of a civilized society. In this regard, St. Patrick's Home exemplifies the very best of what Canadians can be.

Public Safety

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, jihadi terrorists have declared war on us. This is a fact, and it is impossible to dispute.

Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, a spokesman for ISIL, praised terror attacks in Canada. ISIL has specifically targeted Canada, urging supporters to attack disbelieving Canadians in any manner and vowing that we should not feel secure even in our homes.

Despite this clear and obvious declaration of war against Canada, the New Democrats still do not get it. According to the Canadian Press, the member for St. John's East and NDP defence critic said that the fact that ISIL has declared war on Canada is “preposterous as a notion.”

The only thing that is preposterous is the NDP's continued blindness to the threat that ISIL represents. ISIL represents a real threat to Canada. This is why we are not sitting on the sidelines, as the NDP and the Liberals would have us do. We are a proud member of the international coalition fighting ISIL, and that will not change.

Multiculturalism

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, mere weeks since the Prime Minister attempted to score political points by linking mosques to terrorism, Conservative MPs are taking their cue from his divisive rhetoric and making outrageous and intolerant statements.

The member for New Brunswick Southwest said, “it makes no sense to pay ‘whities’ to stay home while we bring in brown people to work in these jobs.”

The member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound said that Muslim women should “stay the hell where you came from.”

The member for Calgary—Nose Hill hid behind parliamentary immunity to question the head of one of Canada's leading Muslim Canadian organization about defamatory statements made by the Prime Minister's spokesman.

These members of the Conservative caucus are blunt in their divisive language. They are reinforcing the very same message we hear from the current Prime Minister—a message of division, anger, and intolerance. This is an approach that Canadians will reject by electing an NDP government, led by a prime minister of principle and dignity and acceptance this October.

Service Medals

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House today to celebrate a very important constituent in my riding of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley. Mr. Roy Morrison from Truro Heights enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 17.

In 1943, he was assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Command 90 Squadron and flew 35 bombing missions over Germany, as a combat tail gunner under fire. Throughout the war, Roy served his country with dignity and respect. After the war was over, he was only recently awarded the medallions and medals that he so rightly deserved for decades.

I congratulate Roy on finally receiving his medals. His service to this country and his protection of peace and democracy worldwide will never be forgotten.

Public Safety

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have used every divisive fearmongering tactic available to try to convince Canadians their overreaching Bill C-51 is necessary, but Canadians know better. They know this just is not true. Canadians have even taken to the streets across Canada, saying loudly and clearly that Bill C-51 is an attack on our freedoms and it will not keep us any safer.

Why is the minister refusing to listen to the concerns of Canadians?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the anti-terrorism bill is targeting terrorists, not lawful protesters who are specifically excluded from the bill.

I invite the member to listen to the witness who will appear in the committee tonight. I understand the committee will hear the daughter of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent.

I hope the member will understand that Canadians need to be protected against the international jihadi terrorists.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while the minister is asking people to listen, we would ask him to listen to the Canadian Bar Association, which has serious concerns about the bill. In fact, it has called it ill-considered. It goes on to say that this bill brings the entire charter into jeopardy, undermines the rule of law, and goes against the fundamental role of judges as the protectors of Canada's constitutional rights.

Why is the minister refusing to listen to expert testimony, ignoring our nation's lawyers and continuing to ram this dangerous bill through the House?

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

Mr. Speaker, despite the hyperbole and the hyperventilating, we are doing no such thing. We are listening to experts. We are listening to many experts, including the Bar Association, but let us be clear on the role of judges here. There is no greater authority than to involve the judges, to preview some of the applications that are made with words.

By the way, members of the Bar Association here and around the country would know that judges do this every day in the exercise of their authority.

That is exactly what I would ask the hon. member and members of the Bar Association to revisit.

National Defence

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians will not accept a measure that makes something illegal that ought not to be.

Conservatives have been blatantly misleading Canadians about Canada's role in Iraq. Now they indicate they will be extended and expanding Canada's involvement in the Iraq war, and widening Canada's role with bombings in Syria.

Can the government confirm it will be tabling a motion in the House either today or tomorrow and will the motion expand Canada's combat efforts into Syria?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I can confirm what the Prime Minister said last week, that the government intends to table a motion seeking the concurrence of this House in an extension, an expansion, of the Canadian security mission against the genocidal terrorist organization ISIL that has declared war on Canada and is at least partly responsible for inspiring terrorist attacks here on our own soil last year and is attempting to engage in ethnic cleansing against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria.

Canadians believe that we should not sit on the sidelines. When it comes to defending our security and international security and opposing genocide, we have a role to play, and that is exactly what the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces are doing.

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a right to know whether the scope of our military mission in Iraq will be expanded beyond training and support for the Kurdish forces and when that will happen. Our soldiers are already on the front line and are under fire from Islamic State militants.

I repeat: can the government confirm it will be tabling a motion in the House today or tomorrow? Will this motion expand Canada's combat efforts into Syria?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that the government will soon table a motion to extend the security mission against the so-called Islamic State, because it poses a threat to international security and our security. This terrorist group has made threats against Canadians and is responsible for inspiring the terrorist attacks on Canadian soil last year.

Canadians do not sit on the sidelines when it comes to important missions to defend our security and international security. We have a duty to take action and we will continue to take action.

Public Safety

[Nycole Turmel, NDP, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Quebec has joined the growing chorus against Bill C-51, criticizing the federal government's unilateral approach and the impact Bill C-51 will have on Quebeckers' fundamental rights. The federal government has a responsibility to consult the provinces on such fundamental issues.

Will the Conservatives agree to our request to hear from three Quebec ministers in committee, namely the ministers of justice, public security and Canadian intergovernmental affairs?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I have already had the opportunity to meet with my Quebec counterpart, Minister Lise Thériault, and talk to her about the measures—the balanced bill—that we want to put in place to protect Canadians from the terrorist threat.

We are going to continue working not only with the provinces, but also with police forces. That is one reason why it is so important to share information. I assured her that the federal government would share information with the provincial and municipal police forces to protect Canadians from the terrorist threat.

Employment

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over the past 15 months, job growth has dropped to the lowest it has been in nearly 40 years. Last year, the number of temporary jobs grew by 2.3%, while the number of permanent jobs grew by only 0.1%. Where are the permanent jobs and what is the government doing to improve its record when it comes to creating good jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, the only plan the Liberal Party has for jobs is to increase taxes. The companies that hire and the workers who do the work know that the budget will not balance itself.

Our job creation plan has already created 1.2 million new jobs, 85% of which are full-time positions. We are cutting taxes for job creators and workers. It worked before. We have the best job creation record in the G7, and we are going to continue in that direction.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the government's record is 15 months of substandard job creation, the longest streak of job mediocrity in four decades. The late Jim Flaherty said in his budget plans that building infrastructure is the most cost-effective way to drive jobs and growth. He also said income splitting for the wealthy is too costly and unfair, and it does nothing for growth.

Will the Conservatives listen to Mr. Flaherty's words, cancel income splitting for the wealthy, and replace that $1.5 billion that they have chopped from build Canada for municipalities?

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

Mr. Speaker, since we came to government, we have continually cut taxes for Canadians, whether it was cutting the GST not once but twice, whether it was introducing income splitting for pensioners or whether it was introducing tax cuts for businesses and job creators.

Now we are cutting taxes for families with kids. Every single family with children under the age of 18 will benefit, whether it is our income-splitting measures which will help two million families, as the PBO said, or it is our universal child care benefit.

They want to raise taxes and they want to spend money, they want to drive our economy into the ground. We are going to support Canadian families.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the million jobs the Conservatives brag about were three and four and five years ago. Last year's job numbers were down from the year before, and the year before was also down from the year before that.

Now retail is in trouble. Manufacturing just lost 20,000 more jobs. The energy sector is negative.

From the G20 globally to Premier Wall in Saskatchewan and Mayor Nenshi in Calgary, the prescription is more investment in infrastructure. Will the government put the money back into build Canada and drive more jobs and growth right now?

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

Mr. Speaker, the worst thing we could do for jobs is to follow the Liberal plan to increase taxes, which is the only thing the Liberals have offered. That would make it more difficult for business owners and families, both of whom know that the Liberal leader is completely out to lunch when he says that the budget will balance itself.

We have balanced the budget here, and we are helping families and small businesses balance their budgets by lowering their tax burden. That is why we have 1.2 million net new jobs; 85% full-time, two-thirds in high-wage sectors. We are getting it done for jobs.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. I will ask for a little order at the far end of the chamber. It is increasingly difficult to hear the minister.

The hon. member for Alfred-Pellan.