Debates of April 24th, 2015

Veterans Affairs

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, those benefits cut them from a $60,000 pension to a $27,000 pension, and back to $42,000. Why do they not get their full $60,000 pension?

Veterans suffering from latent long-term symptoms of PTSD are also excluded from VAC's new injury award under Bill C-58. Even the Veterans Ombudsman acknowledges it does not go nearly far enough in supporting injured veterans as it will affect only a handful of former service members each year, and none with PTSD.

Why are the Conservatives so stubbornly refusing to present a plan that will honour our sacred obligation to veterans and all their families?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this member really needs to start following the exciting new initiatives that we are delivering for our veterans.

He should be aware that we are expanding and opening nine new mental health injury clinics to support our veterans and their families all across Canada.

I mentioned, in this economic action plan, the family caregiver relief benefit, which provides eligible veterans with a tax-free annual grant of over $7,200 to ensure that the veterans' needs are met. That is going to support the family.

Will this member support our veterans by supporting this economic action plan that has so many excellent measures for our veterans and their families?

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Ontario farmers are worried because avian flu has been confirmed on a second farm in Oxford County, and the quarantine now stretches into the Waterloo Region.

This is the second major outbreak of bird flu in Canada in the last six months at a time when Conservative cuts have decimated the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It has lost 300 employees while 54 positions in animal health remain unfilled.

What is the government's plan to contain the outbreak and protect the poultry industry? Will the Conservatives reverse their destructive cuts to CFIA?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, testing has confirmed that H5 avian influenza is on a number of farms in Ontario.

We are working closely with the province, industry and producers. CFIA has placed the farms under quarantine, and has established appropriate control zones in accordance with international protocols.

CFIA will continue to keep the public informed of developments through its technical briefings.

Employment

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Mario Martinez Diaz came to Canada as a temporary foreign worker. His employer repeatedly broke the contract Diaz had signed before coming, including changing the job description and the wage, but has his employer had his labour market opinion revoked? No. Has his employer been put on the blacklist? No. So much for getting tough on abuse of the program.

Why do the Conservatives always promise reforms and then fall into the same old patterns of neglect when the media spotlight fades?

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

Mr. Speaker, our position on the temporary foreign worker program is that Canadians should always come first for Canadian jobs. That is why we brought in massively increased inspections. We have brought in severe penalties and fines for those who break the terms and conditions of the program. We have capped the number of temporary foreign workers in low-wage sectors that a business of more than 10 employees can have at 10% of the workforce. This ensures that employers will go out and hire Canadians and pay fair wages so that our working people always get ahead.

The Environment

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the North is another file that is suffering because of the Conservatives' incompetence.

Canada is preparing to hand over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council among controversy and accusations that the Minister of the Environment has politicized the council. Let us hope that the United States will be able to repair the damage done by this government.

What does the minister have to say about such accusations that undermine co-operation at the council?

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for La Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, our government is proud of the initiatives we put forward during our chairmanship of the Arctic Council, and we look forward to the meetings in Iqaluit.

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum for co-operation on sustainable development and environmental protection issues. It does not deal with matters related to defence and security, as members know. However, the fact remains that no other government in Canadian history has done more to stand up for our Arctic sovereignty than this Conservative government.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the question is: If the government is so proud, why has it cancelled the planned showcase of Canada's accomplishments when it comes to the Arctic?

In fact, we heard from the minister from Nunavut that it was cancelled because of “...the challenges of everything happening all at once”. The documents show that the meeting was cancelled because of direction from senior levels of the Canadian government.

Can the minister confirm that the meeting was cancelled because the Conservatives expected to be embarrassed by their own failures in the north?

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for La Francophonie]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, the Arctic Council is very important for Canada. Obviously we have a very important role to play. The chairmanship over the last two years was led very ably by our Minister of the Environment.

I would also say that the Arctic Council is an important forum for us to discuss a variety of issues, including Arctic sovereignty and Canada's claims on sovereignty in the Arctic. We are backing that up with strong investments in the Arctic. We are making sure that our voice is heard at the Arctic Council.

The Budget

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the Minister of Finance tabled our government's balanced budget and low-tax plan for jobs and growth. On this side of the House, we believe in helping families and giving them back more of their hard-earned money.

Can the Minister of Employment and Social Development please tell this House what budget 2015 does for Canadian families?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have good news and bad news.

The goods news is that economic action plan 2015 expands and extends the universal child care benefit. For every child under six there is $2,000 and for every child six through 17 there is $720, regardless of the family's income or the child care they choose.

Now the bad news. There are 200,000 Canadian families who have not yet signed up to receive this benefit from our Conservative government. They have exactly one week until the deadline to sign up and receive the first installment of this increased and expanded benefit. I strongly encourage people to go to Canada.ca/taxsavings to get the money that they deserve.

Canada Post

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have made it very clear that they are opposed to the Conservative cuts to our postal service. Yesterday, protesters even followed the Prime Minister to Winnipeg to condemn the cuts to home delivery that so many Canadians rely on.

Canada Post made millions in profits last year, which just underlines how wrong the Conservatives were to cut home delivery. Will they now do the right thing for our communities and halt their reckless cuts to our postal services?

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I will remind the member that Canada Post is an arm's-length Crown corporation, responsible for its own business decisions, especially its five-point plan.

As the member will know, Canada Post delivered 1.4 billion fewer letters last year than in 2006. That trend continues to decline. Two-thirds of Canadians currently do not receive door to door.

Canada Post has made a decision that in order to save daily mail, it will do so according to its five-point plan, and the member should support that.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, two years ago a report commissioned by Canada Post forecast losses of $250 million in 2014.

However, this year, Canada Post posted a profit of $300 million. That is a half-billion-dollar mistake. Canada Post used the report to justify ending door-to-door delivery against the advice of 500 municipalities, including Terrebonne.

Will the minister admit her mistake and put a stop to Canada Post's plans?

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, in 2014, Canada Post delivered 1.4 billion fewer letters than in 2006. Two-thirds of Canadians do not have door-to-door delivery. Canada Post must balance its budget without imposing a burden on Canadian taxpayers, and we would expect nothing less.

[Alexandrine Latendresse, NDP, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government keeps repeating that Canada Post is an organization that makes its own decisions and that the government has nothing to do with it, but that is false. The government has a responsibility to listen to Canadians.

Canada Post based its decision on an erroneous report. More than 500 municipalities are asking it to start over. Seniors, people with reduced mobility and SMEs are losing access to essential services.

When will the minister assume her responsibilities and stop this plan that makes no sense?

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Post is an independent Crown corporation. It operates at arm's-length from the government. It has a CEO and a board of directors. They make the decisions on its operations.

Canada Post has a five-point plan precisely because it is delivering 1.4 billion fewer letter mail pieces in 2014 than in 2006. It has a responsibility to operate well into the future fiscally without being a burden to taxpayers. We expect it to do that.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Philip Toone, NDP, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the lobster-fishing season in the Magdalen Islands is scheduled to begin on May 9.

However, yesterday, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans published contradictory administrative notices that are mandatory for some fishers but not for others. The department is requiring fishers to complete a logbook every time they go out to sea, a logbook that is filled with questions that have nothing to do with species management.

Why will the minister not grant a reprieve to allow for real consultation?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the department is in discussion with the association and the province, and will consult lobster fishers on this matter. We will continue to work with our partners to get agreement on a way forward.

However, increasingly consumers demand traceability of their food products and industry certification demands additional information from the industry.

Ethics

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday at the Mike Duffy trial, it was revealed that an expense claim for makeup services in 2009 was rejected by Senate finance officials as not parliamentary business.

That being the case, could the government explain how makeup services were then paid by the Senate in 2010 through Duffy's slush fund, including those services used by the Prime Minister?

Will the government conduct a broad inquiry to determine what other government or Conservative Party expenses were also forced on to the back of the Senate?

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

Mr. Speaker, these types of expenses are not passed on to taxpayers.

That is an unfortunate question coming from a member who was accused of living expenses that were inappropriate. I do not understand why the Liberals would have him ask this question. They should have the member for York West ask it. No, the member for York West could not have done it. The Kings—Hants promised to pay back $40 million so it could not have been him. Maybe it could be the member for Vancouver Centre. No, the member for Vancouver Centre has illegal campaign debt, so I guess it does fall on him to ask this question.

Hearing the Liberals talk about ethics is like listening to people talk about Sasquatch. We hear a lot about it, but we just never see it.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the transfer of snow crab fishing licences. The New Brunswick Court of Appeal has already ruled in favour of Cyrenus Dugas, a crab fisher from New Brunswick. That decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2013. However, the case is back before the courts once again.

Can the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans follow the example of her predecessor and wait for the outcome of this case before she gets involved in the transfer of that licence to P.E.I. fishers Peter and Adam Gaudet, or will she respect the court of appeal's decision, which was upheld by the Supreme Court?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, this issue has spent considerable time before the courts, and I can assure members that DFO's decision will be guided by court decisions and by DFO policies.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

My apologies. We skipped a slot there, so we will go back to the hon. member for Malpeque.