Debates of April 2nd, 2015

Stephenville Under-12 Female Hockey Team

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievement of a team of under-12 female hockey players from Stephenville in my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's.

Two years ago, they decided they wanted to play hockey. They had limited skating experience and holding a hockey stick was not something with which they were familiar, but they were determined. That first year, they played in the provincials and, while they ranked 16th out of the 16 teams entered and came away without a win, everyone who witnessed them was blown away by their team spirit.

Last year, with some experience under their belt, their play improved and they ranked 6th out of the 19 teams that competed, which brings us to this year. They played in three tournaments before taking part again in the provincials, which included 20 teams. This same group of girls who lost every game they played two years ago showed this year what commitment and determination can do. They went undefeated in every tournament in which they participated, winning the title of provincial champions in their category.

I ask all members of the House to join me in congratulating them and thanking the coaches who helped guide them to their newfound success.

Pope John Paul II Day

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the first Pope John Paul II Day in Canada.

We will forever celebrate and honour Saint John Paul Il on April 2 each year. Pope John Paul lI was a champion of freedom and human rights. His legacy goes far beyond his role as pope. He was vital in promoting international understanding and peace-building. He was a bridge-builder between faiths and a champion of youth.

He was central to defeating Communism in Europe and has left a profound and lasting impact on the world. I had the honour to meet him and to help bring World Youth Day to Canada in 2002, a memory I will always carry with me.

I would like to thank my colleague from Mississauga East—Cooksville for introducing the bill and for allowing me the honour to second it.

Today, April 2, also marks the 95th birthday of my father, Lieutenant-Colonel Zdzislaw Opitz, a soldier of General Wladyslaw Anders' 2nd Polish Corps and a gulag survivor. I wish my dad sto lat today.

Passover

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the federal caucus of the New Democratic Party, I wish to extend warmest wishes to members of the Jewish community as they gather to celebrate Passover with songs, wine, and a meal shared with family and friends.

Families will gather to retell the powerful story of the exodus of the Jewish people out of slavery and celebrate the victory of freedom, faith, and hope over oppression, persecution, and hate.

As families and friends gather together across the country at their Seder tables to share the story of their rich culture, faith, and traditions, it is also a time to reflect on the many blessings we have here in Canada and to remember those around the world who are still struggling to find the peace and security we enjoy at home.

On behalf of Canada's New Democrats, we offer our best wishes for a happy holiday to families celebrating Passover across the country and around the world. Chag pesach sameach.

Brampton United Achievers' Club

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend was the 19th annual Celebrity Chefs: Men Who Can Cook event to be held in my home town of Brampton. This is an event that brings together both professional and amateur chefs to compete for the title of Best Celebrity Chef.

In the past three years I have always enjoyed competing but have never even come close to winning. Sometimes it is just the participation that counts.

The United Achievers' Club raises funds for great causes in our city. Funds raised from that event will provide scholarships for young people in our community, and the balance of the funds will go into sickle-cell research at the Brampton Civic Hospital.

Please join me in thanking and celebrating the United Achievers' Club of Brampton for all the good work they do in our community.

National Dental Hygienists Week

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Speaker, next week is National Dental Hygienists Week.

In Canada, 59% of Canadian children and 96% of adults have experienced cavities, and 21% of Canadian adults have experienced periodontal issues.

Research shows a direct link between oral health and overall health and well-being. For example, periodontal disease has been linked to a number of serious illnesses, including lung disease, diabetes, and heart disease.

Dental hygiene is the sixth-largest registered health profession in Canada, with 26,800 registered dental hygienists working in a variety of settings.

Greater awareness of proper oral health practices and regular visits to a dental professional are paramount in ensuring Canadians lead healthier and happier lives.

Promoting the importance of the issues and celebrating the successes of the profession as well as the contributions of dental hygienists will lead to increased public awareness. Members should make their appointments today.

Refugee Rights Day

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Refugee Rights Day, let us remember the courage of those who come to Canada to give their families peace and security.

Let us also remember Canada's humanitarian duties toward asylum seekers. Over the past few years, the Conservative government has made some disappointing decisions in that regard.

This year, the government promised to bring in 10,000 more Syrian refugees over the next three years. We will see if it can keep its own promises.

When we know that the government has only now reached its 2013 objectives of just 1,300 refugees two years later than promised, we have reason to be concerned.

On this Refugee Rights Day, the NDP urges the Conservative minister to present to us a credible plan to meet his promise to reach refugee targets.

Ebola Vaccine

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has been at the forefront of the Ebola response since the earliest days of the outbreak in West Africa. Canadian health care workers remain on the ground assisting with international aid efforts, and Canadian scientists have discovered one of the most promising Ebola vaccines in the world.

We are supporting unprecedented clinical trials all over the world to ensure this vaccine can be deployed as quickly as possible, and I am very pleased to report that the most recent results are in. According to The New England Journal of Medicine, Canada's vaccine has proven to be both safe and effective in a phase 1 clinical trial and is closer than ever to being widely deployed to stamp out the remainder of this current outbreak and prevent others from ever occurring.

We should all be proud of our Canadian scientists and their work to develop this crucial vaccine that is bringing the world ever closer to ending this outbreak and protecting the health and safety of the global community.

Violence Against Women

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today across Canada people are coming together to call for justice for Cindy Gladue. By doing so, they are calling for justice for all missing and murdered indigenous women.

Lauren Crazybull, an activist from Alberta, said it well:

Cindy's case is so visibly unjust. Our community doesn't want to wait for another case to happen or another woman to go missing or be found murdered. This is our breaking point.

People and systems have tried to dehumanize Cindy Gladue, but today's calls for justice honour her memory. Like never before, communities are speaking out and standing up against systems' failures to address the high rates of violence faced by indigenous women in Canada.

Today thousands are gathered to send a direct message: no more missing and murdered indigenous women. Today they and we are calling for justice for Cindy Gladue and for all missing and murdered indigenous women.

Child Care

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that the family tax cut and enhanced universal child care benefit will put more money in the pockets of every Canadian family with children. The PBO also confirmed that these benefits will help low-income families the most.

Sadly, the New Democrats and the Liberals disagree with our approach. Instead, they have insulted millions of Canadian families by claiming that unless they use a licensed daycare space, they are not providing child care for their children and they do not deserve support. That is completely false.

It is clear that the New Democrats and the Liberals are so blinded by their ideology that they simply do not understand what Canadian families need. What families need is more support from the government for their choices, not less support and higher taxes, as the opposition wants. Our Conservative plan supports every single family with children because we trust moms and dads with their child care choices.

Canada Pension Plan

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow will mark the 50th anniversary of the Canada pension plan, which, along with the Quebec pension plan, was created to ensure that all working Canadians had the opportunity to retire with dignity. It sounds like common sense today, but at the time it took extraordinary vision, diplomacy, and the persistence of Prime Minister Lester Pearson to get it done.

However, in the 1990s the plan's future was in doubt, and major renovations were required to save it. Former finance minister Paul Martin Jr. built the business case, the social consensus, and the national momentum to rejuvenate the plan. As a footnote, the plan received strong support across Canada, except for the provincial NDP governments in B.C. and Saskatchewan, and our current Prime Minister and his federal Reform Party voted against it as well.

The CPP was a historic accomplishment. However, retirement income insecurity is a growing fact of life for far too many Canadians. All this is to say that Canada is once again in need of a government that will honour Lester Pearson's ambition to ensure a fair, efficient, and adequate system of retirement income for all Canadians.

Taxation

[Pat Perkins, Conservative, Whitby—Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is focused on the priorities of Canadian families. That is why we have introduced the family tax cut and the universal child care benefit, which will put more money in the pockets of every Canadian family. This is in stark contrast to the NDP and the Liberal plan to raise taxes for all Canadians and take away both the family tax cut and the expansion of the universal child care benefit.

Just this week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that our plan will benefit 100% of Canadian families with children under the age of 18. Canadians know they can count on our Conservative government to ensure that we give money back to the real child care experts. Their names are Mom and Dad.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, despite all the criticism we have heard regarding the lack of oversight and the erosion of our freedoms, the Conservatives are ploughing ahead and will pass Bill C-51, which jeopardizes our rights. The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness even wanted to celebrate by attending an event featuring a draw for a rifle. How mean-spirited.

The Liberals, meanwhile, are trying to find some backbone, which they will not find any time soon. Clearly, you have no backbone when you say you are against a bill, but you plan to vote for it anyway, because of the polls and the upcoming election. Even the Bloc members have finally seen the light. They have changed their minds and plan to vote against the bill.

All of the opposition parties, except the third party, agree and will vote against the bill. All of the progressives are now behind the only party, the only leader who is showing some fortitude and resisting the Conservatives' pressure, the only one who has been standing up and defending our rights and freedoms from the beginning, the next prime minister of Canada, the leader of the NDP.

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday evening the anti-terrorism act, 2015, was passed by the public safety committee. This is thanks to the hard work of our Conservative members. If the Liberals and the NDP had their way, our national security agencies would be deprived of important tools and resources.

The New Democrats introduced dozens of amendments that were needless. In fact, they even had to withdraw one because they had not taken the time to understand the practical impact. Not to be outdone, the Liberals voted to allow free reign for terrorist travellers to get on aircraft with law-abiding Canadians.

Clearly, only our Conservative government can be trusted to keep Canadians safe from terrorists.

Finance

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, first the Prime Minister cannot deliver a budget on time, even though all the provinces can. Then we learn that the first item in the budget is $7.5 million to promote the budget and the Conservative Party. Then the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance both flee the nation's capital to avoid answering questions.

We know the budget will take billions from the middle class and give it to the wealthiest few. Is that why the Prime Minister will not answer questions about his budget because he is balancing it on the backs of the middle class?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is important that Canadians from all regions of Canada are aware of our recently announced tax relief and benefits for Canadian families and know how to access them, important tax breaks, such as the doubling of the children's fitness tax credit, the increase to the child care expense deduction, the new family tax cut and the enhancement of the universal child care benefit.

It is our government's responsibility to inform Canadians how to access these important tax breaks before the opposition tries to take them away.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the Conservatives chose Canada Goose to make their announcement about the budget date. Remember who suggested serving Canada goose to the hungry homeless? It was none other than Camembert Conservative Nancy Ruth. Of course, this budget will only make the income gap worse.

Jim Flaherty, Preston Manning and the parliamentary budget office all said that the Prime Minister's idea of taking billions from the middle class to give it to the wealthiest few was atrocious. His own speech writer said that it was socialism for the wealthy. Which is it, let them eat Camembert or let them eat goose?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased that we will be introducing a low-tax budget that will increase benefits to families, consistent with what we have done since we came to government.

Not only are we creating jobs and economic stability for the country, we have faith in Canadian families, we have faith in Canadian seniors, we have faith in Canadian businesses and we are showing that faith by putting money in their pockets. We will continue with that. We will not follow the NDP high-tax plan.

Employment

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of thousands of good jobs in the manufacturing sector have been lost under the Conservatives' watch since they came to power. In the past few months, tens of thousands more jobs have been lost in the retail sector. Just last weekend, 1,500 jobs were lost at Future Shop. There is a reason why the Governor of the Bank of Canada is forecasting atrocious quarterly results. That was the word he used: “atrocious“. That is the Conservatives' record.

Instead of complaining about the temperature of the Camembert on their first-class flights, when are the Conservatives going to help the middle class?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are helping the middle class by putting money directly into families' pockets.

This week, the leader of the NDP said that families whose children do not attend government day care, have no child care costs. He thinks that families who keep their children at home, or send them to relatives or neighbours have no child care costs. He should apologize to those families.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, some members of the Senate are apparently cheesed off.

While Canadians worry about paying for child care, Conservative and Liberal senators are worried about the appropriate temperature for serving Camembert. Senator Ruth is telling us that Canadians just do not understand how hard it is for her to “fly around the world to get here to Ottawa”. Get this, she lives in Toronto, so why are we being stuck with her flights?

Does the government really believe it is appropriate that taxpayers get stuck with the bill for these globe trotting aristocratic senators?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have answered that question a number of times.

Yesterday, I found out that the member for Scarborough Southwest in Toronto owes the taxpayers $144,000 for an office in Montreal. As opposed to having his staff work in his office in Scarborough, he sent his staff to Montreal, and owes the taxpayer $144,000. I hope he will do the right thing and repay that $144,000.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, please. Before I go back to the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay, I would remind all hon. members that questions ought to relate to the administration of the government and answers ought to be directed back toward the question.

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

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

Exactly, Mr. Speaker, this is Parliament. We are dealing with the business of government and the member is acting like a shopkeeper in a Monty Python cheese shop sketch.

While we are talking about it, we have one senator with $250,000 in bogus claims and another with $100,000. We are talking about taxpayer accountability.

Next week Mike Duffy goes on trial on charges of accepting a bribe that no one is charged with giving him. The bribe involved the Prime Minister's lawyer and chief of staff. Therefore, we ask the Prime Minister to clarify for Canadians how this can be. Will the Prime Minister agree to speak at the trial?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we have said on a number of occasions, we will continue to provide all the assistance that is needed by the Crown in order to prosecute Mr. Duffy. He is accused of taking illegal expenses and if he is found guilty of that, he should face the full extent of the law.

The only leader in the House who will be testifying in front of a court is the Leader of the Opposition, who owes $400,000 to the people of Canada for illegal office expenses. He can bring 67 other members of the NDP with him when they explain to Canadians how they will repay the $3 million they owe them in illegal expenses.

Employment

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to TD Bank, the unemployment rate will be 7% by year-end. Unfortunately, many Canadians are simply abandoning their job search. If the number of Canadians looking for work was the same as it was at the start of the economic crisis, the unemployment rate would be 9%.

The government should invest in infrastructure right now, not in five years. The government's priority is to give tax breaks to the wealthiest, such as the Prime Minister's family.

When will this government stimulate growth and employment?