Debates of April 29th, 2015

The Budget

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake about this. This government has brought forward a budget that is a low-tax budget that will build this economy and create jobs. On the $42,000 that the member talks about, the member and his party want to take away all measures from that individual because they believe they are the wealthy of Canada. Half of all tax-free savings accounts are held by those who earn under $42,000. They believe they are the Canadian wealthy. They want to tax high-income Canadians. We will not let it happen.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the only time that member has ever been right was last week when he stood in this House and screamed, “Shame on the government”.

The government's failures on tax policy show incompetence, but its failure on first nations health care show contempt and neglect. First nations communities in Ontario and Manitoba lack basic health services from their federal government. There is no guaranteed access to clinical care. There are major health and safety problems at nursing stations. Only 1 out of 45 nurses evaluated had been given proper training courses.

This is the responsibility of the federal government. Why such neglect for first nations communities?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that Health Canada is well on its way to addressing all of the issues that the Auditor General has raised.

Our number one priority is ensuring aboriginals on first nations reserves have access to health care providers. We are ensuring that we have nurses on reserve. We are encouraging more practitioners, whether they be nurses or doctors, to work on first nations reserves, so we are giving them Canada student loan forgiveness.

We also have a new recruitment and retention strategy that has been very successful. We have over 250 applications. No matter what, if anyone is sick, we will, of course, use our emergency—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. I want to let other members know that we have moved on.

Some members seem to be carrying on conversations from the previous line of questioning. If they need to do so, they can exit the chamber to do that, but not while other members have the floor.

The hon. member for Beauséjour.

Ethics

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Mike Duffy himself was so concerned about not complying with the constitutional requirements for being a senator for Prince Edward Island that he asked the Prime Minister to appoint him as a senator for Ontario. That makes sense, since Mr. Duffy had been living in Ottawa for 40 years.

Is the Prime Minister so out of touch with reality that he thought he could ignore the Constitution and appoint Mike Duffy as a senator for Prince Edward Island and then claim to be surprised that Senator Duffy had been living in Ottawa for 40 years?

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

Mr. Speaker, the NDP and the Liberals are trying to make a victim out of Mike Duffy. We know why they are doing this.

The NDP, of course, has to answer for the fact that 68 of its members illegally used the resources of this House, pretending that it was hiring people in its Ottawa offices but sending them to Montreal, against the rules of this House.

The Liberals and the NDP together account for almost $45 million in illegal House of Commons and taxpayers' resources. They promised to pay it back. They never did. They are in front of the courts. Both parties want to create a coalition.

My gosh—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Beauséjour.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, even Mike Duffy himself was so concerned about not meeting the constitutional residency requirements to be a senator from Prince Edward Island that he asked the Prime Minister to appoint him from Ontario. It makes sense since Mr. Duffy has lived in Ottawa for over 40 years.

Is the Prime Minister so out of touch that he thought he could bypass the Constitution, appoint Mike Duffy from Prince Edward Island, just for the chance to get up and feign indignation that he recently discovered that Mike Duffy has lived in Ottawa for 40 years?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the constitutional practice on this has been clear for almost 150 years.

At the same time, when we were fighting very hard in order to bring accountability to the Senate, it was the NDP and the Liberals who were trying to make victims out of these people. Disgraced former Liberal Senator Mac Harb, who represented Ottawa with that member of Parliament in this House before becoming a senator, is accused of taking $240,000 of taxpayers' resources. Liberals have to answer for that.

Of course, we cannot forget the senator from Puerto Vallarta who was appointed by Prime Minister Trudeau. Can the House imagine the coalition that we would have, that pretend leader and deputy prime minister who is the leader of the opposition—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Kings—Hants.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, exams are almost done and students are struggling to find summer work. The Conservatives think that promoting themselves through government advertising is actually more important than helping young people find summer jobs.

The Conservatives have slashed the number of positions created by the Canada summer jobs program by more than half. Meanwhile, the cost of just one ad during the NHL playoffs could help pay for 30 summer jobs.

When will the Conservatives stop wasting tax dollars on these ads and start helping more students find summer work?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are creating jobs through tax cuts, training and trade. We are advertising these benefits to Canadian families and Canadian youth.

In fact, Nina Widmer learned about the grants that we are providing for apprentices. She always wanted to be a stone mason and with that grant she was able to get accredited with her red seal. She has now won the national skills competition, is graduating debt-free, and is on her way to starting her very own masonry company.

The Liberals do not want Nina and others to know about the apprenticeship grant because they would take it away.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been very skittish about clarifying whether or not Mike Duffy acted as a conduit between Enbridge and his office. We know that both the Prime Minister and his chief of staff were in direct communication with Duffy about Enbridge. Enbridge is now saying it thought these exchanges with Duffy were inappropriate and warned the Prime Minister's Office.

Will the Prime Minister confirm whether or not Enbridge did speak to him and whether or not he took any steps to tell Duffy that this supposed case of reverse lobbying was inappropriate? What steps did the Prime Minister take?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously, I reject most of that question, but these are matters that are before the court. I am not going to comment on evidence that is before the court.

However, I have been accused of being too partisan, but last night when I got home to my condominium apartment in Ottawa Centre, how excited I was to get the 2015 tax tip for families from my member of Parliament here in Ottawa, chock full of 14 pages of tax savings for the people of Canada thanks to this government.

I want to thank the NDP member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre for highlighting all of these great tax savings that we have done on this side of the House. I hope he will continue to vote for them in the next budget. Congratulations.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. It's such a nice moment, let's not spoil it.

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague might believe that the House of Commons is the place to act out a farce. We believe it is a place to express what Canadians—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Here is the thing, Mr. Speaker. If Enbridge did indeed—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay has the floor. Members need to come to order, so we can hear the question.

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Here is the thing. If Enbridge did indeed warn the Prime Minister, then why was the Prime Minister asking Mike Duffy for a briefing on Enbridge on February 17, 2012?

Three days later, when Duffy sent Nigel Wright a note that was also sent to Enbridge executives, what was in that note?

Why was the Prime Minister still speaking with Duffy about Enbridge on April 4, 2012, if these negotiations had indeed been red-flagged with his office as inappropriate?

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

Mr. Speaker, I completely reject that question. As I said, we are not going to comment on a matter before the courts. It is Mr. Duffy's actions that are before the court.

I do not think it is a farce to talk about the tax cuts that this government has brought in, as highlighted by the member for Ottawa Centre. He highlighted things like the apprentice tax credit, income-splitting and the universal child care benefit. It was 14 pages of tax cuts that this government had brought in and he was taking credit for it.

Unfortunately, the member for Ottawa Centre voted against all of those, but good news for the people of Ottawa Centre, in a few days that 14-page guide is going to be 16, 17 and 18 pages of even more tax savings.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's silence on those meetings is really troubling. The Prime Minister's former chief of staff had ties to Enbridge. Mr. Duffy was talking to Enbridge, and the Prime Minister met with Mr. Duffy to discuss Enbridge, and yet we get nothing from across the aisle: radio silence, as if nothing had happened.

Do the Prime Minister and his team have something to hide regarding their role and the senator's role in the Enbridge file?