Debates of April 1st, 2015

National Defence

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, one thing is certain: when the Conservatives finally agree to table a budget, they will help themselves to $7.5 million of taxpayers' money for partisan advertising. That is the truth about their public spending.

What we will not know on budget day is the cost of the Prime Minister's war in Iraq, because he is going to hide that.

If thePrime Minister is so proud of his war in Iraq, why does he intend to hide the true cost?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government has already announced the cost and the Minister of National Defence has already announced the cost.

When we talk about the budget, I can assure the hon. member that the government will not only bring forward a budget, but we will make sure Canadians are well aware of the contents of that budget and how those measures impact them. We will make sure they are aware of the doubling of the children's fitness tax credit, of the increase of the child care expense deduction, of the new family tax cut, and of the enhancement of the universal child care benefit.

I know that the NDP would like to take all those things away and raise people's taxes, but we will make sure they are aware of them and they benefit from them.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, where the Prime Minister would take billions of dollars from the middle class to give it to the richest 15%, damn right we are going to reverse that.

The Minister of National Defence is misleading Canadians about why our troops are there. The Chief of the Defence Staff is contradicting the minister's claim that Canada has to attack Syria because other countries do not have smart bombs. General Lawson has just confirmed that several of the countries bombing in Iraq and Syria actually do have the same weapons, and they have used them.

Why are Conservatives again misleading Canadians about this war?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. The NDP would take money away from 100% of Canadian families and give it to bureaucrats, lobbyists, and advocates. That is not what this government supports. Canadians will not let them do it.

In terms of the second question, the Chief of the Defence Staff has already addressed this particular issue. Let me be very clear about the government's position. We will assist our partners around the world in making sure that the so-called Islamic State does not have a safe haven in either Iraq or Syria from which it can launch terrorist attacks against this country. We are committed to making sure that risk and threat to Canadians is degraded.

Employment

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the middle class needs a plan for jobs and growth. As the economy struggles, the government has not delivered. Unemployment is stubbornly high, and 20,000 young people lost full-time jobs just last month.

Why is the Prime Minister cutting $9 million from the youth employment strategy this year?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government has an enviable employment record because we are pursuing a low-tax plan for jobs and growth.

What they want to do on that side is raise taxes on Canadian families. Somehow, they think that would help the middle class, that it would somehow help the middle class to take away the children's fitness tax credit, to take away income splitting from Canadian families and pensioners, and to take away the enhancement of the universal child care benefit.

These are good measures for middle-class families. That is why the Canadian middle class, unlike the middle class in most countries, has had good growth over the past few years. We continue to be committed to moving forward.

Government Advertising

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister cut $9 million from programs that help young people find work, but he is spending $7.5 million on a new round of partisan government advertising. He has the wrong priorities.

When will the Prime Minister understand that taxpayer funds should be used to help Canadians, not the Conservative Party?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, is the Liberal Party actually asking me about taxpayer dollars? We are still trying to find 40 million of those dollars.

The right priority is to put money into the pockets of Canadians. The wrong priority is the Liberal Party's position against the family tax cut; its position against tax breaks for seniors; its position against the universal child care benefit; its position against the Canada job grant, against the Canada apprenticeship loan, against the apprenticeship grants, and against help for sectors. Those are the wrong priorities.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Prime Minister likes to control things, but he does not get to write the Liberal platform.

The Canadian economy needs growth—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Papineau has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian economy needs growth, jobs and help for young people. The Conservative government's priority is to chop $9 million from the youth employment strategy in order to buy $7.5 million worth of partisan ads.

When will the Prime Minister finally understand that taxpayers' money is there to help Canadians, not the Conservative Party?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can hardly believe that the Liberal Party is asking a question about advertising expenses after the theft of $40 million.

When it comes to the Liberal platform, I would just say that somebody has to write it.

In all seriousness, when the Liberals do get around to writing a platform down there, they do not get to run away from their record; and their record against benefits for families and the middle class is crystal clear and Canadians are going to learn about it.

Ethics

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is kind of hard to follow.

We recently learned that no fewer than 40 senators are now under investigation by the Auditor General. The Senate has essentially become an all-you-can-eat buffet where Liberal and Conservative cronies feast at taxpayers' expense.

Conservative Pamela Wallin is accused of fraud with respect to her personal travel. Conservative Mike Duffy is accused of breach of trust and corruption, and Liberal Mac Harb is also accused of fraud. People are sick and tired of being taken for a ride.

When will the Senate be abolished?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Senate invited the Auditor General in to audit all expenses of senators, and of course we hope that all senators are co-operating with him.

The member mentioned 40 senators. I know there are some 67 NDP members of Parliament who have been found guilty of misusing House of Commons resources. I know the member over there actually owes the Canadian taxpayer $122,000 for illegal offices in parts of the country where the NDP has no members.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. Even for a Wednesday, this is getting quite loud. I will ask members to come to order. I am having great difficulty hearing the questions and the answers.

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about a Conservative kangaroo court; we are talking about hand-picked Conservative senators facing real court. Now this is an important issue because the Auditor General has identified 40 more senators with dodgy expenses. However, the Prime Minister's lead hand in the Senate said it is going to be up to those 40 to decide whether or not they should reimburse the money; but with Duffy, Brazeau, and Wallin facing breach of trust and fraud, that does not cut it.

Will the Prime Minister promise to turn the audit over to the RCMP, so we can determine if any other of these senators should be up on charges?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, again, the Auditor General was actually invited in by the Senate, and of course we eagerly await the report he will be presenting.

At the same time, we hope he assists us because, as we know, the Leader of the Opposition owes $400,000 to the taxpayers of Canada for illegal offices and for illegal mailings. The gentleman beside him owes $122,000, and 66 other members of that caucus owe the remaining $2.4 million. Hopefully they will get on top of that and repay the taxpayers the money they owe them.

Access to Information

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what day is this? Oh yes, it is April Fool's Day. Most of us face it once a year, but for others it is every time they get up to explain the inexplicable, in their defence of the corruption in the Senate.

Now let us move from this culture of corruption to the culture of secrecy. Yesterday, the President of the Treasury Board tried to blow up the Information Commissioner's report by claiming he has released a record number of documents. The commissioner does not buy it. Here is what she said about him: “The volume of pages disclosed...is not a sign of a transparent government”, particularly this government.

When will the minister stop with the phony statistics and explain the culture of secrecy that has developed under his watch?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am dealing with facts; he is dealing with rhetoric. The facts of the matter are that there has been an increase of disposal of access to information requests in the affirmative by 36% over the term of our government. That is our record, six million pages. He may dismiss that, but we are the most open and transparent government in the history of this country, and we are darn proud of it.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, what the minister refuses to say is that responses to information requests are of poor quality and very late.

The Information Commissioner was clear: “Although the Act was intended to shine a light on government decisions, it has become a shield against transparency and has encouraged a culture of delay.”

In 2006, the Conservatives promised Canadians more transparency and a reform of the act.

Is the minister not ashamed of breaking his own promises and maintaining a culture of delay?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, our record is clear.

In 2013-14, our government processed nearly 59,000 access to information requests, which represents a 9% increase over the previous year and a 36% increase over the previous two years.

Our record is clear. We are proud of having a government that has made processing access to information requests a priority.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of temporary foreign workers have to quit their jobs and leave the country because their work visas are expiring.

Nobody knows how many workers will have to go back home. Nobody knows how many of them got a reprieve or why. Nobody has assessed the consequences of these departures for businesses.

Will the minister finally do something about this and fix the countless serious problems that his government has caused?

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the temporary foreign worker program is just that: temporary.

Employers and foreign workers have been aware of the four-year limit since 2011, when this policy was announced.

The real question is this: what is the NDP's position? Today it is saying we should keep the door wide open to a huge number of temporary foreign workers. A few weeks ago, however, it was saying that we did not introduce our reforms soon enough.

The NDP's wishy-washiness on this issue and all immigration policies is worrisome.