Debates of April 1st, 2015

Citizenship and Immigration

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today thousands of people who came to this country looking for a better life are being kicked out, all because the government made a mess of the temporary foreign worker program. Many were on the verge of gaining permanent residency. Many were cheated out of their savings by unscrupulous consultants. Some will go underground, desperate to stay but denied any pathway to citizenship by the current government. Meanwhile, employers are losing employees.

What are the Conservatives going to do to fix the mess they have made?

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

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the temporary foreign worker program is to find employees where a Canadian cannot be found to fill that job.

The member speaking today said this on April 24, 2014:

The bottom line is, there are people living in Canada who are being laid off or having their hours cut to facilitate the use of foreign workers.

Today, they are asking something completely different. The incoherence on the part of the opposition and the member for Newton—North Delta on this file, and in fact on Canada's immigration policies more broadly, is startling.

Child Care

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

Mr. Speaker, not only are the Conservatives incapable of delivering a budget, but they also seem to be unable to assess the budgetary impact of their promises.

Although the Conservatives have promised an enhanced universal child care benefit, we hear that this will be more beneficial to families with no young children. Yes, that is right; the enhancements to the universal child care benefit will be more beneficial to families that have no child care expenses

We in the NDP have a real plan to ensure that every child has a spot in day care for no more than $15 a day.

Why will the minister not model his plan on ours, in order to really and truly help Canadian families?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is not at all what the PBO report said. In fact, it said that all families would benefit from our plan. That is what we have been saying, that all families with children will benefit from our expanded UCCB.

Here is the insult that the opposition is giving to families. It is saying that unless they use a licensed daycare space, they are not actually providing child care for their child. Whether it is a parent at home, whether it is a parent using a private daycare, a family member or a neighbour, there are a host of options that families use. We respect that. We will not tell families how to care for their children, and we reject the opposition's—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a question for the Minister of Finance today. I have a new idea. Maybe we should put a little sign out at the front of Parliament that says, “Lost: one finance minister. Reward: the ability to explain his circumstance to the Canadian public”. While he refuses to show up to work, thousands and thousands of Canadians are losing their jobs—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. I just want to caution the hon. member. He is trying to—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I know. I am just cautioning him to not do indirectly what he is not allowed to do directly. I think he knows what I am talking about.

The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.

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

Mr. Speaker, under the finance minister's watch the Canadian economy is actually shrinking. There has been 15 months of anemic job growth and the minister's only response is a new $7.5 million ad campaign for a budget that does not actually exist. I guess that is the going rate to actually spin out a program to spend $2 billion on the wealthiest 15% of Canadian families.

What is the Conservatives' solution to the thousands and thousands of Canadians who have lost their jobs? Where is their budget?

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

Mr. Speaker, our solution is to put dollars directly in the pockets of moms and dads so that they can meet the expenses that come with being a parent.

Yesterday, the leader of the NDP made despicable and offensive comments about parents who do not necessarily use traditional institutional paid daycare. He said that those parents have no child care expenses and therefore they should not get any money at all. This will come as news to the stay-at-home parents, to those who use a neighbour or a family member, and to the millions of others out there who make other decisions on how to raise their children. He should stand and apologize to them.

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

Mr. Speaker, in the Conservatives' so-called child care plan there is nothing for single parents. Their so-called child care plan diverts 15% to the wealthiest people—

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

You're making this up.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The government will have a chance to respond to the question when the member is finished putting it, not before then. Members need to come to order or we will have to make up the time somewhere else.

The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, the truth seems to have hit some kind of nerve over there. Here is the truth. To the loss of 400,000 manufacturing jobs, the Conservatives' response was a $7.5 million ad campaign. There are 250,000 more Canadians out of work than before the recession, and their response is a $2-billion income-splitting scheme to help the wealthiest 15% of Canadians.

The minister needs to check his facts before he does even further damage to our economy. When is he going to show up to work? When are we finally going to see a budget?

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

Mr. Speaker, there is still time for the NDP to apologize to parents like Trevor. I met Trevor over the weekend. He is from Osgoode. He has five kids. All of them are too old to go to institutional daycare but he struggles every month to save for their future university education. He said that our new universal child care benefit for older children will go directly into their registered education savings plans so that they can have the dream of a university education. Maybe Trevor's plan is not good enough for the NDP leader but it is good enough for us. That is why we are supporting Trevor and millions of other Canadians.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, job creation and the economy are in free fall.

Last year, 191,000 fewer jobs were created than just three years ago. To make matters worse, the economy shrank during three out of the past six months. Instead of doing something about it, the Conservatives keep singing the praises of the Minister of Finance, who keeps failing to show up for work.

At a time when job creation is declining and the economy is moving backward, why is the Conservatives' solution to do nothing?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is the type of question we hear from a party whose leader believes that the budget will balance itself.

Canadians understand that budgets do not balance themselves. That is why they support the idea of improving the universal child care benefit, which gives them $2,000 for every child under 6 and $720 for every child 6 to 17, not to mention the tax cuts for families.

The Liberals are against the idea and want to take away all these benefits and increase taxes for families. We will never let them do that.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, there has been a drop in job creation of 191,000 jobs, and that is because there is no economic growth. We cannot lift the middle class and all those working so hard just to get there without greater growth. We cannot get balanced budgets without greater growth, but the government's growth record is actually the worst of any in 80 years. The Bank of Canada now calls it atrocious, and it is getting worse. All projections are downward.

Why is the government somehow content being atrocious? Where is the plan to fend off another recession?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a low-tax plan, and it is working. Our approach to job creation is tax cuts, trade and training. So far, we have over a million net new jobs to show for this plan, 85% of them full time, two-thirds in high-wage sectors. The Liberals' only plan is to raise taxes and run deficits.

Canadians understand the budget does not balance itself, even if the Liberal leader does not.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, here is the government's record: the economy is shrinking, unemployment is up, TD Bank says it is getting worse, CIBC says job quality is at the lowest ebb in 25 years, BNN is reporting the most pessimistic business outlook since the last recession, and the Bank of Canada says only substantial monetary stimulus is keeping Canada from falling back into recession.

When will the government stop undermining Governor Poloz? Where is the fiscal plan to recover the 191,000 jobs lost by the government in the last two years?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has a one-point plan on jobs: raise taxes on families. We will not let it do that. We have a plan for tax cuts, training and trade, the three t's of job creation. It is working. There are over a million net new jobs, 85% of them full time and two-thirds in high-wage sectors. We are going to continue creating jobs. Our plan is working, and we are going to move forward.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives did everything they could to limit debate on Bill C-51. In the end they did what they wanted and only passed their own amendments.

That is not going to solve the problems with Bill C-51, especially the issue of oversight. In its Report on Plans and Priorities, the Security Intelligence Review Committee states that at this time it is unable to review most of CSIS's activities. That is very serious.

Why are the Conservatives refusing to face the truth and withdraw Bill C-51?

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

Mr. Speaker, what is dramatic and pathetic is to watch the NDP, day after day, week after week, month after month, oppose all the measures that our government puts in place to fight terrorism, which is the main threat to national security.

We are working with our allies—the Americans, the French and the British. As you know, we also have a surveillance organization that is the envy of the world. The Supreme Court recognizes its ability to strike a balance between rights and privacy. Furthermore, its director acknowledges that it has the necessary resources. We will continue to provide our support.

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

Mr. Speaker, with all this chaff, one thing is really clear: the minister just cannot admit he was wrong about Bill C-51. Despite over 90% of witnesses calling for significant changes, yesterday in the public safety committee, the Conservatives refused over 100 reasonable amendments. On top of that, the Security Intelligence Review Committee has again been clear in its report on plans and priorities. SIRC says it can only review “a small number of CSIS activities in any given year”. So much for strong oversight.

SIRC understands the limits of its powers. Why does the minister not?