House of Commons Hansard #192 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was isil.
Joe Oliver ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, Canadians should stay tuned for the budget.
The NDP believes in policies that would deliberately weaken Canadian industry. In contrast, under our government, Canada has created more jobs than any other G7 country. Proportionally speaking, we have created nearly 20% more jobs than our closest competitor.
If they had the opportunity, the New Democrats would go back to their old high-tax, high-spending agenda.
Nycole Turmel NDP Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are improvising on more than just the budget.
Over the weekend, the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Tom Lawson, had to help the Minister of National Defence out of some very hot water by correcting the minister's comments.
Can the minister confirm that he agrees with his Chief of Defence Staff that Canada and the United States are not the only members of the coalition who are using precision guided munitions in Syria?
Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism
No, Mr. Speaker. I completely agree with the General.
However, the hon. member is wrong because the United States and Canada will be the only allied countries using precision guided munitions to strike targets dynamically. That is a very important asset.
That is one of the reasons why the United States encouraged Canada to broaden the scope of its military mission against the genocidal terrorist organization known as the Islamic State, namely so that we can hit these dynamic targets using our precision guided munitions, which are among the best in the world.
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, the minister may be new to this portfolio, but he is not new to politics.
This is about our military being involved in a war. The minister told the media repeatedly that Canada was the only allied country, other than the U.S., with precision-guided weapons for use in Syria. The Chief of the Defence Staff then had to make a public statement to correct the minister.
Will the Minister of National Defence now apologize for his hyperbole, and start telling Canadians the true facts about our involvement in the Iraq war?
Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the member for St. John's East is incorrect.
The statement of the Chief of the Defence Staff confirmed what I said, which was based on the advice I received from the military indicating that currently only the United States is using precision-guided munitions of this nature against ISIL targets. The Royal Canadian Air Force, I am advised by the Chief of the Defence Staff and the military, has amongst the best, most advanced precision-guided munitions in the world that can hit dynamic targets, and that only the United States is currently using against the genocidal terrorist organization.
It is regrettable, however, that the NDP wants Canada to sit on the sidelines in the fight against this genocidal—
National DefenceOral Questions
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, the minister, as usual, chooses to be over the top on providing the facts to the Canadian people.
Canadian pilots will, according to the government, be carrying out bombing runs in Syria, and they will face many challenges, including the 131 active surface-to-air missile sites controlled by the Government of Syria.
Given that the Assad regime is both murderous and untrustworthy, could the minister provide assurances to the House and to Canadians that Canadian Armed Forces pilots will not be targeted by the Syrian regime?
Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism
Mr. Speaker, obviously, there is an inherent risk involved in any military deployment or operation. Having said that, the advice I have received consistently from our military is that the Syrian military does not have radar coverage in that part of Syria. Indeed, we have observed that hundreds, if not thousands, of sorties against ISIL have been flown by the United States and other allies in operations against the genocidal terrorist organization, the so-called Islamic State, in eastern Syria. We are not aware of any efforts to challenge them. Neither ISIL nor the Syrian state has challenged any of those flights.
Our assessment is that the risk is no greater flying in that part of Syria than it has been in Iraq to date.
Marc Garneau Liberal Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, a recent survey of business leaders suggests that they are feeling less optimistic than ever since the end of the recession. Close to 40% of them are expecting the economy to decline in the next year, compared to 3% last year.
Expectations are tanking under this government's reign. We are seeing the poorest economic growth of the past 80 years. What did the minister do? He postponed the budget and disappeared. Will we be seeing a budget the week of April 20?
Joe Oliver ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that the Liberal finance critic said the Liberals believed Canadians were okay with paying more and more taxes. We do not need any lessons from the Liberals, who cut provincial transfers and to this day have not explained where the $40 billion of taxpayers' money went.
Our Conservative government is the only government that people can trust when it comes to creating jobs.
Ralph Goodale Liberal Wascana, SK
Mr. Speaker, the government's record on economic growth is the worst in 80 years. All of the chartered banks, the Conference Board, the IMF and the OECD have all chopped their forecast yet again. Now the Bank of Canada says that economic growth in the country is atrocious and requires “considerable monetary stimulus to avoid falling back into recession”.
Will the finance minister do what his own department says is the most cost effective thing to drive immediate growth, which is invest in more municipal infrastructure right now? Will he do that?
Joe Oliver ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the governor's comments related to the impact of the drop in oil on the oil industry and the economy, yet the Liberals are advocating policies that would deliberately weaken the Canadian oil economy.
Under our government, we have the strongest job record in the entire G7. With respect to infrastructure, we have the largest and longest infrastructure program in the history of Canada, with $75 billion over the 10 years and $53 billion to the provinces and municipalities. We are very proud of what we are doing in this field.
Ralph Goodale Liberal Wascana, SK
Mr. Speaker, with a great big $5 billion hole in it right now. The Conservatives live in a time warp over there. The jobs they brag about were three, four and five years ago, not recently. Last year, new jobs were barely 121,000. That was down 3.5% from the year before, and the year before was down 60% from the year before that. They are steadily creating fewer jobs, not more, and they are going in exactly the opposite direction from the Bank of Canada.
Will the minister stop undermining Governor Poloz and reinvest in municipal infrastructure right now?
Joe Oliver ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, it seems that the member opposite does not listen very well. We talked about the largest and longest infrastructure program in the history of Canada, much more than the Liberals even thought about. That is a party that believes that increasing taxes and increasing expenditures is the road to growth. In fact, it is the road to economic decline.
We do not take any lessons from the Liberals, who created a $40 billion slush fund and now want to introduce a carbon tax, a tax on everything, which will kill jobs and undermine our economy.
Rosane Doré Lefebvre NDP Alfred-Pellan, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' Bill C-51 reveals their obsession with spying, particularly on activists who do not subscribe to their ideology.
Veterans' groups, first nations associations and doctors campaigning for care for refugees have been spied on by this government on the pretext that they are threats to national security. Bill C-51 will make that even easier for the Conservatives.
Why would the minister want to spy on Canadians involved in legal activities?
Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, I have confidence that the committee will improve the bill with reasonable amendments that will make it better and provide greater protection for Canadians.
I would like to quote a former Supreme Court justice, John Major, who said that better information sharing could have prevented the Air India tragedy.
We have to take concrete measures. Sharing information is part of that. Protests are not subject to that information sharing.
Rosane Doré Lefebvre NDP Alfred-Pellan, QC
Mr. Speaker, 45 of the 48 witnesses who appeared before the committee proposed amending the bill or scrapping it altogether and going back to the drawing board. I truly hope that the Conservatives have decided to do the right thing and support the NDP's amendments.
Intelligence agencies are producing more and more investigation reports. The Government Operations Centre received reports on more than 160 lawful events and demonstrations between May 2014 and February 2015. Virtually none of those activities presented a potential risk to national security. Bill C-51 will not help matters.
Why is the minister wasting taxpayers' money to monitor the activities of groups that pose no risk to national security?
Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, the Government Operations Centre plays a vital, critical role for our country because it monitors events that could have catastrophic consequences, such as floods, earthquakes and fires. It was created in 2004 and is responsible for coordinating all government operations. Clearly, Bill C-51 does not cover those activities
Still, I would like to invite my colleague to avoid looking for excuses for not putting effective mechanisms in place to protect Canadians.
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives may want to appear like they have been listening when it comes to Bill C-51, but the three weak amendments they have had to bring forward to their own bill do not even come close to dealing with its fundamental flaws.
Bill C-51 is still dangerously vague and overreaching, and it still ignores proven measures that work to combat terrorism.
When Canadians hear that security services are monitoring protesting veterans and disability advocates, they are right to wonder whether it makes any sense to give these agencies wider powers with no new oversight.
Why does the minister continue to insist that more oversight is not needed when it clearly is?
Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
It is amazing to hear, Mr. Speaker, the NDP using excuses not to support a bill that has common sense measures to protect Canadians against the terrorist threat we face, a terrorist threat we have seen in Ottawa, we have seen in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in Copenhagen, in Paris, in Sydney.
This is a serious matter. I count on the committee to come up with good proposals and amendments that would strengthen the bill, strengthen our protection, our right, but, more important, keep us safe from the terrorist threat we now face.
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, we are waiting for official reports on both those incidents in October.
It is not just Bill C-51 where the Conservatives are falling short on protecting public safety. Global News investigators have raised questions about whether RCMP officers lacked the tools and training needed to respond to the attack on RCMP members in New Brunswick, which cost three lives.
The RCMP has been forced to reallocate resources and to move 600 officers from organized and financial crimes to respond to national security threats, a situation the RCMP commissioner called unsustainable.
Now the Conservatives are asking the RCMP to do even more, while they cut its budget for a third year in a row. Does the minister think the situation is acceptable?
Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, while we have increased the budget or the RCMP by one-third, we did not get the support of the opposition.
Keeping our streets and communities safe is our priority. While training and procurement are matters that fall under the direct review of the RCMP, our government supports Canada's law enforcement agencies with legislative tools such as Bill C-51, which the NDP are not willing to give to our RCMP officers, and resources.
Will the New Democrats stand up for the RCMP? Where is the NDP when talking of public safety and security?
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Mr. Speaker, another company is paying the price for the Conservatives' incompetence. Future Shop is closing its 131 stores across the country and 1,500 employees are being laid off. That is in addition to the tens of thousands of people who have already lost their jobs under the Conservatives' watch. A number of workers learned they would have to look for a new job when they arrived at work to find the doors locked on Saturday morning.
How do the Conservatives explain their inaction to the families of Future Shop employees?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, obviously, we will help all the employees affected by this decision. We will help connect them with available jobs.
Fortunately, in the meantime, we have an economy that has created more than 1.2 million jobs; more than 85% of those jobs are full time and two-thirds are in well-paying industries. It is tax cuts that helped build our economy.
The NDP and the Liberals want to raise taxes. That will kill jobs and hurt families. We will not let them do that.
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is not just the job losses at Future Shop that have us concerned. The Governor of the Bank of Canada is painting a gloomy picture of our economy.
The economic results for the first quarter of 2015 will look “atrocious”. Stephen Poloz is calling on the Conservatives to take action, but we are still waiting for their budget. In the meantime, France suspects a major Canadian bank of facilitating tax evasion.
When will the Conservatives take action and revitalize the economy by fighting tax evasion?
