Debates of April 23rd, 2015

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, we understand why it was so important to the Prime Minister to have Mike Duffy on the Hill. He was one of the best and hardest-working Conservative senators. Nevertheless, today he is before the courts. He should never have been appointed as a senator for Prince Edward Island. Mr. Duffy was not even living there and did not even have a PEI driver's licence or health card.

Why was the Prime Minister so hell-bent on appointing Mike Duffy as a senator for a province where he did not even live, in violation of such clear rules?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times, the constitutional practice on this has been clear for nearly 150 years.

What is also clear is that it is against the rules of the House to use taxpayers' money for partisan purposes. Nevertheless, 68 New Democrats are accused of doing just that.

The Leader of the Opposition owes some $400,000. The member for Scarborough Southwest transferred money meant for his riding through Ottawa to an illegal office in Montreal—

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Halifax.

The Environment

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of the Environment had the nerve to state, all evidence to the contrary, that her government has done more than any other to protect the environment. However, greenhouse gas emissions keep going up, and she does not have a plan.

Is the minister really that out of touch with reality, or is she just toeing the Conservative line? Does she think we should make our grandchildren pay?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, our budget outlines the action we are taking to address climate change and protect our environment. We have invested significantly to support initiatives that reduce emissions and improve air quality for Canadians, and we will be investing $1 billion in transit annually.

Our government has reduced emissions, lowered taxes for middle-class Canadians, and balanced the budget. What do the NDP and the Liberals want to do? They want to raise taxes for middle-class families, throw Canada back into a deficit, and pursue job-killing carbon taxes and pricing schemes. Their position is totally irresponsible.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, if the minister really thinks that this is the most environmentally friendly budget ever, then she obviously has not read it.

Let me help her out. There is no money for climate change and clean air. There is no money for energy efficiency. There is no money for renewables, and the money that is in there does not get rolled out until after the election.

The environmental problems that Canada is facing are real, like climate change. Does the minister really think that the government's environmental failure is a problem for our grandchildren to solve?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, our government's record is clear, and we have a plan that is working. We have reduced emissions while growing the economy and creating well-paid jobs for Canadians. We will continue to implement a responsible sector-by-sector regulatory approach that is aligned with the U.S. to ensure that Canada's economic competitiveness is protected.

Our government is also the first one in Canadian history to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a net basis. Compare this to the NDP and the Liberals who, on the other hand, want higher taxes on middle-class families, higher taxes on middle-class seniors, and high taxes on middle-class consumers. That is irresponsible. We are not going there.

The Budget

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative budget would put economic and environmental burdens on future generations, including a burden of runaway income inequality. The Conservative budget is full of measures now to give more money to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. With income splitting, doubling TFSAs, and stock option loopholes, they went all out when it comes to rewarding their wealthy insider pals. However, Toronto families looking for affordable child care get nothing.

Why does the minister believe that working families should pay more to reward the wealthy?

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

Mr. Speaker, our low-tax plan for families gives money to 100% of households that have children. It does this through the family tax cut, which will save up to $2,000 for couples, and through the increased universal child care benefit, which will give $2,000 per child under 6 and $720 for each child age 6 through 17.

The NDP and Liberals would take that money away to spend on endless bureaucracies and wasteful programs that Canadians do not want and do not need.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case.

In its budget, the Conservative government clearly indicated that its priority is helping the wealthy and handing out tax giveaways to CEOs. The NDP has different priorities. Instead of helping those who do not need help, we want to help middle-class families that are working harder than ever and having a hard time making ends meet.

Why is the minister so determined to help the wealthy?

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

Mr. Speaker, the NDP and the Liberals think that anyone with a job, a pension or savings is wealthy. Since doubling the TFSA limit will help people who earn $60,000 per year, the NDP thinks that means those people are too rich.

The NDP and the Liberals want to raise taxes for those people, but we will cut their taxes.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative budget told millions of Canadians that they simply do not matter. If they are first nations people seeking basic equality, to Conservatives, they do not matter. If they are students struggling to pay for school, to Conservatives, they just do not matter. If they are families desperately seeking child care, they simply must not be in the Conservative target group; but for the well off and the well connected, Conservatives are dropping billions of dollars into their laps.

How can the finance minister justify burdening our children and our grandchildren with his unfair and expensive election promises?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is the NDP and the Liberals who are telling Canadian taxpayers they do not matter. If people are one of the 11 million Canadians who contribute to the tax-free savings account, the NDP says they do not matter. If they are one of the millions of Canadians with incomes below $60,000 and have maxed out their tax-free savings account, according to the NDP, they do not matter. If they are one of the four million families who benefit from the Prime Minister's increase in the universal child care benefit, the NDP says they do not matter.

The NDP members want to take that money away from all of those people because they think they matter more than taxpayers.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to get the finance minister to actually answer a question. If we had a nickel for every time we actually tried to get the finance minister to answer a question and show up to work, the Conservatives could have actually balanced the budget—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. I trust the hon. member was not alluding to the presence here or absence of a minister. I encourage him to keep that in mind.

The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley has about 20 seconds left to put his question.

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

It is entirely hypothetical, Mr. Speaker. On that side, they believe in a $2.5 billion income-splitting scheme for the wealthy, tax loopholes for CEOs, and a massive corporate tax giveaway to the largest and wealthiest corporations. However, on this side, New Democrats believe in affordable child care, a livable minimum wage for Canadians, and real action to fight climate change.

How can Conservatives justify making future generations pay for their bad mistakes?

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

Mr. Speaker, New Democrats talk about a livable wage and then in the same sentence talk about their plan for a job-killing carbon tax. The reality is that, with their $21 billion carbon tax and with the tax increases proposed by their friends in the Liberal Party, they would not only cut the take-home wages of Canadians, but they would kill the jobs of those very same Canadians.

On this side, we have lowered taxes by the most in 25 years for small businesses, which are the engine of job creation. When they hire those hard-working Canadians, their employees will be able to take more home because taxes are at their lowest level in half a century.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadian seniors are speaking out against this Conservative budget. Minnie Piercey, president of the North Sydney Senior Citizens and Pensioners Club in Cape Breton, had this to say:

To tell you the truth, there's nothing in it for me, and there's nothing in it for poor seniors.... It helps the rich seniors, not the poor, and around here I don't think there's many rich seniors.

What do the Conservatives have to say to Minnie and the thousands of other Canadian seniors who get nothing out of this budget?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I have to say is this. The budget will bring in a home renovation tax credit so that our seniors can make the adjustments so that they can stay in their very own homes. That includes wheelchair ramps and elevators that might help someone who is wheelchair-bound stay in the home. It will allow seniors to keep their RRIFs tax free for a longer period of time. When they do pull that money out of their RRIF, they can put it into a larger tax-free savings account. That is a nest egg that will allow them to keep more of their savings. That is money directly in the pockets of middle-class seniors, money the Liberals would take away with their planned tax increases.

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in response to a journalist's question, the Minister of Finance let the cat out of the bag: he said he would let our grandchildren worry about these problems.

It is obvious what the Conservatives' strategy will be for the upcoming election: to favour the rich and dump any problems onto future generations. We in the Liberal Party care about the economy, health, the environment and aboriginal women.

Do the Conservatives believe that we should dump all of those problems onto our grandchildren?

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

Mr. Speaker, who is going to benefit from the higher contribution limit for tax-free savings accounts? People who are already maximizing their contributions. The data show that it is people with incomes of $60,000 or less who maximize their contributions. It is these people, people who earn $60,000 or less, who will benefit from this tax cut.

The Liberals want to raise taxes on those people and the middle class. We will not let them do that.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, when oil prices fell and middle-class workers lost their jobs, the Minister of Finance froze and went into hiding. Now we have seen his budget, and there is still no plan for jobs. Today we learned that EI claims in Alberta went up by 30% in February, and that is the second month in a row that EI claims in Alberta have grown by more than 20%.

People across Canada are losing their jobs. Why will the Conservatives not take action? Why are they failing to give Canadians a real plan for jobs and growth?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a real plan, and it is the low-tax plan for jobs and growth.

While the NDP and the Liberals would raise taxes on job creators, our plan is tax cuts, training, and trade. For example, we announced in this budget that we will be bringing in the biggest tax cut in Canadian history for small businesses that create jobs. That means that promising young people will have more opportunities to work for growing small businesses right across the country.

The Liberal leader admitted that he would reverse this tax reduction on small businesses. He is wrong.

Rail Transportation

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pictures of the railway tracks owned by Central Maine & Quebec Railway in the Lac-Mégantic area were released yesterday. Their state is cause for concern.

Elected officials in Lac-Mégantic are worried. The mayor, Colette Roy Laroche, even asked the government to inspect every last inch of the railway to make sure that it is safe and, if necessary, to ensure that repairs are done.

Will the minister accept this request and finally remedy this worrisome situation?