Debates of March 26th, 2015

Canada Revenue Agency

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, that is total nonsense.

The member knows very well that CRA audits occur at arm's length. They are conducted free of any political interference or political motivation. The CRA charities directorate acts independently. The rules regarding charities and political activities are long standing; and without question, charities must respect the law.

The only political interference here is the political lobbying by the member opposite.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is not true.

The conclusions of the study by the University of Victoria's Environmental Law Centre are clear. The agency is currently conducting 44 investigations into the political activities of environmental groups and anti-poverty organizations such as the David Suzuki Foundation, Canada Without Poverty and Équiterre.

Will the government stop this witch hunt and ask the Auditor General to look into the CRA's activities?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, there is nonsense and there is more nonsense.

Let us take a look at what CRA actually does. CRA audits 1% of the charitable sector every year. This means, on average, that only 0.4% of all charities end up having their status revoked, for cause, in a given year.

Let us look at the other facts here. There is $14.24 billion in tax receipts for charities, and 86,000 charities across the country. Does that member believe that we should not look at any of these charities, or is she just defending the charities of her choice?

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, the time for excuses is over.

The Government of Quebec is tabling its budget today, and so is the Government of Alberta. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are continuing to ask Canadians to wait to find out where public funds will be invested.

We need measures now to help seniors who are living in poverty. We need measures now to help families that cannot afford child care.

My question is this: when will the government deliver a budget that makes families and the middle class a priority?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, we are keeping a close watch on what is happening in the provinces.

As members know, our government's priority continues to be job creation, long-term prosperity and working in partnership with the provinces.

We will have an excellent budget. The Minister of Finance works on it every day.

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

Mr. Speaker, the news out of Alberta today is that somehow, despite low oil prices, the government managed to actually table a budget, and that is in a province that is much more impacted by low oil prices than here in the federal government.

Here in Ottawa, it seems that the Minister of Finance has enrolled in the witness protection program, and the federal budget is still just a gleam in the Prime Minister's eye. Yet Canadian seniors living in poverty need answers, Canadian parents needing affordable child care need a plan, and the increasing number of Canadians who are out of a job need some hope.

When is the Minister of Finance going to show up and do his job? When are we finally going to see a federal budget?

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

Mr. Speaker, the NDP names seniors who are on hard times. The only plan by the NDP and Liberals is to raise their taxes.

They talk about parents who are in need of child care. The NDP and Liberals only offer them higher taxes and ending the universal child care benefit that is actually helping parents.

They mentioned Canadians who are out of work. The only plan by the NDP and Liberals is to raise taxes on those who might hire people.

We will not be introducing a budget to raise taxes the way the NDP and Liberals would propose. Instead we will continue our long-standing record of lowering taxes for families and job creators, which has created 1.2 million jobs, and we are just getting started.

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada and the TD Bank have been clear. We are facing the worst job growth in the past 40 years, and the unemployment rate is going to continue to rise.

The Minister of Finance of Canada would rather sit back and watch as Quebec and Alberta table their budgets today instead of tabling his own. The Conservatives are hamstrung and have no plan. They do not have a budget, and they do not have any solutions.

What is the Conservative government waiting for? When will it demonstrate leadership, work with the provinces and finally table a budget in the House?

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

Mr. Speaker, taxpayers understand what the leader of the Liberal party does not: the budget is not going to balance itself. Families have to balance their budgets by earning a good salary without punitive taxes.

That is why we cut taxes for families and introduced a child care benefit of almost $2,000 for each child under the age of six and $720 for those aged 6 to 17.

The Liberals want to take away all of those benefits. We are not going to let that happen.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's economy was weak before falling oil prices, and it has flatlined since. We need a budget now to kick-start the economy and to help Canada's struggling middle class, but the Minister of Finance is saying he cannot do it because of oil prices.

Alberta is far more dependent on oil prices than Canada, yet it is actually delivering a budget today. If Alberta can deliver a budget, why can this Minister of Finance not? Why can he not even tell us the date of a federal budget? Why can he not answer budget questions in the House?

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

Mr. Speaker, he has answered the call of Canadians by lowering their taxes and putting more money directly in their pockets. That is why our recent low-tax plan for families will allow parents to split their income to reduce the family tax burden by up to $2,000. The Liberals want to take that money away and raise taxes. We are giving, through the fall update, $2,000 per preschooler and $720 for each child 6 through 17. That is money directly in the pockets of parents, which the Liberals would take away.

Parents understand that budgets do not balance themselves. Conservative low-tax plans do.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that budgets do not write themselves. They actually require a finance minister who shows up, does his job, writes budgets, responds to questions on budgets in this House, and creates jobs and growth for Canadian families.

TD reports today that precarious employment is worse than it was before the recession. We now have the Bank of Canada, the PBO, CIBC, and TD telling us that Canada's job market is weak.

When will the Conservatives deliver a budget with a plan for jobs and growth? Why can the Minister of Finance not answer budget questions in this House?

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

Mr. Speaker, since the recession, our economy has created 1.2 million net new jobs, 85% of which are full time, and two-thirds of them are in high-wage industries. After tax and inflation, take-home pay is up by 10%. That is the result of a low-tax plan that encourages hiring and lets the workers who get hired keep more of what they earn.

The Liberals' only plan is to let the budget balance itself and raise taxes on Canadian families. That is why the Canadian people have entrusted us with the responsibility of the economy and that is why we are delivering.

Health

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Roy Romanow, the former chair of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, told us that our health care system has reached a turning point.

The Conservatives' inaction is leading us straight towards privatization of the system and an increase in costs. That is in addition to their cuts in transfers to the provinces. Our health care system needs leadership.

When will the Conservatives sit down with the provinces to ensure that our universal health care system is sustainable?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I speak to the provinces on an ongoing basis. I have sat down with them twice now in the last two years to talk about the health care system, and we have a lot of common interest in actually working on the issue of innovation in the health care system.

We already provide from the federal government $40 billion annually in terms of stable and predictable funding. That is health transfer increases of almost 70%.

A lot of health ministers, including me, are focused on health innovation and finding better ways to make that money work in a more sustainable way and a more cost-effective way.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that the government's failure of leadership and lack of vision is putting our cherished public health care system at great peril.

The Conservatives have failed to address important challenges like the high cost of prescription drugs. They have unilaterally slashed funding, and they have taken no steps toward the next generation of health care, like taking action on pharmacare or home care.

When will the Prime Minister sit down with the provinces and territories to work on strengthening our public health care system together?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I just had a conversation with the Minister of Health from British Columbia, and we talked about the need to work together on a pharmaceutical strategy.

The bottom line is that Canadians pay some of the highest costs for drugs in the world because we are purchasing separately and it is a divide-and-conquer situation.

We are working with the provinces. They are already doing a lot of bulk purchasing, but we would actually like to be at the table. We have started to work with them on that and we think we can save hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, to the system.

Employment Insurance

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, both the current and former minister of employment and social development have nothing but praise for the parliamentary secretary for his “important work” in producing a report on employment insurance processing.

People in Atlantic Canada are keen to read this wonderful work, because under the government, they have been struggling with longer and longer wait times to receive their EI benefits.

Unfortunately, the government has not made this work available to Canadians. When will the minister release the report? Will he table it in the House here today?

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

As I mentioned, Mr. Speaker, my parliamentary secretary has done great work on behalf of his constituents and all Canadians.

The reality is that the majority of EI claims are now processed within 28 days of making the claim. Two-third are now fully or partially automated. We have increased efficiency in this area by 42% over the last decade. We are also hiring more staff during the peak seasons for employment insurance.

More important, our economy has created 1.2 million net new jobs as a result of our low-tax plan, giving people who are on employment insurance an opportunity to get off and get into a job.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the victims of the massive cuts to the employment insurance system keep piling up.

Numerous studies and people have confirmed that the Conservatives' reform is very harmful to seasonal workers. The current employment insurance system is not adapted to the reality facing business owners and workers in the agricultural, tourism and forestry sectors in Quebec and New Brunswick.

Instead of simply making things harder for employers and seasonal workers, will the minister finally take action to promote economic activity in the regions affected?

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

Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats keep spreading fear about our reforms. All of their statements and warnings are obviously false. None of that has actually happened. We are trying to create jobs. That is why we have 1.2 million new jobs, 85% of which are full time and two-thirds of which are in well-paid industries. We will continue to lower taxes and increase job opportunities for all Canadians.

Status of Women

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

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the House debated and voted at second reading on Bill S-7, the zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices act. While our Conservative government is taking a strong stance against harmful barbaric practices, the opposition members fail to stand up and take action.

Could the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration please explain to this House how important this piece of legislation is to protect women and girls in Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hon. member for Kildonan—St. Paul for her excellent work on these issues and on human trafficking. She is a leader.

With Bill S-7, this government is taking action to ensure that no woman or girl in Canada is a victim of early or forced marriage, polygamy or so-called honour-based violence. We are showing zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices because violence against women and girls is always wrong. It is never okay, even when some falsely defend it in the name of tradition or culture.

Sadly, that is exactly what the opposition members have been doing. The New Democrats spoke strongly against this bill in this House. The Liberals refused to call this violence “barbaric”. They have avoided a recorded—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Ottawa Centre.

Foreign Affairs

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, how about some action on murdered and missing aboriginal women?

Mr. Fahmy's passport went missing after it was seized by Egyptian authorities and now his life is in limbo without proper identification. Recently, I brought this to the attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and yesterday Egyptian authorities paved the way for the Canadian embassy in Cairo to issue a new passport to Mr. Fahmy. This would allow him to move on with his life.

The question is this. What steps has the Canadian government taken to issue Mr. Fahmy a new passport?