Debates of March 25th, 2015

National Defence

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, the hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, extraordinary. Living in a Canada where that sort of idiocy passes for argument in the House of Parliament.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. I know that the hon. Leader of the Opposition will want to avoid using terminology like that which can cause a great deal of disorder.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Punjab Legislative Assembly passed a unanimous motion calling on Canada to apologize for the Komagata Maru incident.

The Komagata Maru is a dark moment in Canadian history. The ship was turned away simply because its passengers were from India. Upon returning home, many were arrested or killed.

Will the Prime Minister finally do the right thing, acknowledge this horrific tragedy, and apologize in this House for the Komagata Maru?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP knows that Canada and Canadians have appropriately acknowledged that incident for some time.

I would be remiss if I did not return to the previous exchange, and while I obviously will not repeat the terminology used by the leader of the NDP, if his idea of protecting Canada's national interest is that we do not do everything in our power, legally, militarily, and in terms of co-operation with allies, to defend the interest of this country against the terrorist caliphate, he and I obviously have very different ideas of what the national interest of this country is.

Foreign Affairs

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of Canada thinks he is above international law also. He is not, and Canada is not. That is all we have.

World leaders are taking up the cause of Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian writer who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for creating a pro-democracy blog.

I had the opportunity to meet with Ensaf Haidar, Mr. Badawi's wife, who lives in Sherbrooke with their three children. One cannot help but be moved by her courage.

With so much support for Mr. Badawi, what is keeping the Prime Minister, to whom I wrote about this issue, from doing something to secure this man's release so that he can be reunited with his family here in Canada?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada and I have already indicated that we support Mr. Badawi's release.

Once again, I do want to return to the previous exchange.

If the leader of the NDP is suggesting for a moment that there is any case in the international legal community that stands behind ISIL, he is not only wrong, but the international community has united in opposition to this group. Five dozen members of the United Nations have united to confront this international terrorist organization. Canada is working with them. Canada is working not only with people from our own political family but with liberals and social democrats across the world in taking a strong stand to stay this ruthlessness.

National Defence

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's motion explicitly leaves the door open to expanding our combat operation outside of Iraq and Syria against terrorist entities aligned with ISIL.

Is the Prime Minister considering sending our bombers or special forces into Yemen or Libya or against Boko Haram in sub-Saharan Africa?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

The answer is no, Mr. Speaker, we are not. I thought we were clear on that yesterday, but I am glad to be clear on it again today.

Let me be clear. Where we face organizations, as we do today in Iraq and Syria, that are establishing caliphates, large territorial areas from which they are threatening to launch terrorist attacks against this country, Canada will work with our allies in every single case where that ever occurs to make sure we protect the security of this country.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's motion leaves the door open to expanding our combat mission outside of Iraq and Syria.

Can the Prime Minister assure the House that yesterday's motion will not be used to justify sending military resources to combat the Islamic State elsewhere in the world?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the government's intentions are clear. We are trying to prevent the Islamic State from taking refuge in Syria. We will also continue to combat the Islamic State in Iraq.

This is different from the Liberal party's position, which makes absolutely no sense. The Liberals support another military mission, but not this one. We are clear. We will continue to work with our allies to protect the security of this country.

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the economic news for the middle class is getting worse, not better. Stats Can just said that the past 15 months have been the weakest period of growth it has ever recorded.

There are continued fears of a recession in Alberta, and today, TD forecast that the unemployment rate will rise this year, yet the Prime Minister's only plan remains a tax break for the rich. How will that solve any of these problems?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know very well that we are in a fragile and uncertain global economy, and of course, this country is being impacted by the dramatic fall in oil prices. That is only more reason to stick to the plan that has generated 1.2 million net new jobs since the end of the recession, to lower people's taxes, to make targeted investments in the Canadian economy, and to run a very strong fiscal ship. Nobody in the world, other than the leader of the Liberal Party, believes the solution to any of these problems is to hike taxes on the middle class.

Public Safety

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this week witness after witness has come forward to lay out the critical flaws in Bill C-51.

Last night we heard from retired Supreme Court Justice John Major, who testified that the judicial warrant the Conservatives are fond of calling oversight is simply not oversight. Major said that in order for there to be proper information sharing there needs to be oversight at the back end.

Why is the concept of more powers, more oversight, such a hard concept for the minister to understand?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we know, the international jihadi movement has declared war on Canada and its allies. Canadians are being targeted by jihadi terrorists simply because these terrorists hate our society and the values it represents. Jihadi terrorism is not a human right; it is an act of war.

Regarding oversight, we believe strongly that third-party, non-partisan, independent expert oversight of our national security agencies is a much better model than a political intervention in the process.

There are key powers in the new legislation that are subject to judicial review and judicial authorization. We agree with the Supreme Court that SIRC is the best model for Canadians.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that is just the opposite of what Justice Major told us last night, but I am not asking the minister to take my word for things here. I am asking him to listen to the legions of witnesses opposed to this bad bill.

Even the Internet's Mozilla Foundation has come out swinging against the sweeping provisions of Bill C-51, calling it “an approach to cybersecurity that only serves to undermine user trust, threaten the openness of the Web, and reduce the security of the Internet and its users”.

What is it going to take for the minister to get the message that sacrificing the rights and freedoms of Canadians will not make Canadians safer?

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

Mr. Speaker, if the member would really listen to Justice Major and the Air India commission, he would support the provision in Bill C-51 regarding information sharing.

Bill C-51 is the most important national security legislation since the 9/11 era.... Bill C-51 is designed for the post-9/11 era. It's a new legislation for a new era in terms of security threats.

Who said that? It was Professor Elliot Tepper from Carleton University. Where was the member when the witness said that?

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in committee yesterday, more expert witnesses criticized Bill C-51.

Scott Tod, the Ontario Provincial Police's top anti-terrorism official, cautioned the government. Bill C-51 will give the police force more responsibilities but will not provide additional resources. The police force will therefore have to reallocate resources currently being used to combat organized crime.

What is the minister's plan for making sure that our police officers can continue to do their jobs well?

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

Mr. Speaker, over the past nine years, our government has increased resources allocated to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seven times. In total, the RCMP's budget has gone up by more than a third.

Unfortunately, the New Democrats were unwilling to support us in giving our police forces those resources. We intend to stay the course to ensure that our police forces have the resources and tools they need to combat the terrorist threat. That is why Bill C-51 is on the table.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, police officers are not the only ones concerned about the consequences of Bill C-51.

The Government of Quebec has denounced the fact that Bill C-51 will give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service:

...such vast powers, including the possibility to take certain actions that violate the Charter....

The Conservative majority on the committee refused to allow ministers from Quebec to appear.

Why is the government refusing to hear from those who will have to enforce this deeply flawed legislation?

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

Mr. Speaker, the primary role of any government is to protect its citizens from terrorist threats, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are doing so in co-operation with the provincial and territorial governments. That is why I have had many discussions with Minister Thériault from Quebec, as well as other representatives from the provinces.

We will continue to ensure that polices forces and intelligence services work together to protect Canadians. Our government and the Quebec government are on the same wavelength on this.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a report published today by the Environmental Law Centre of the University of Victoria raises very troubling questions about the so-called political activities audits being undertaken by the Canada Revenue Agency. It analyzes the alarming lack of clarity in the rules governing political activities for charities. It is now clear the government must immediately suspend these audits and fix the broken system.

Will the Conservatives finally put a stop to this and clean up the mess they have created?

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, that member knows full well that CRA audits occur at arm's length from government. They are conducted free of any political interference or motivation. The CRA charities directorate acts independently. The rules regarding charities and political activities are long standing, and charities must respect the law.

It really is shameful that this member continues to politicize a matter that is free of any political interference or motivation.