House of Commons Hansard #203 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ukraine.
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?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered this question, but there is another issue before the House. Why did that member use over $25,000, in violation of the rules of the House, for an office in her riding?
This member owes Canadian taxpayers almost $30,000 because, as opposed to supporting her own constituency with the resources provided to it, she funnelled money to an illegal office in Montreal and she ought to pay it back.
Ève Péclet NDP La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government is supposed to defend the interests of all Canadians, not just the interests of an oil company.
Enbridge is claiming that at no time did it ask Senator Duffy to further its interests with the federal government. Mr. Duffy, however, thought that those meetings were important enough to send a note to the Prime Minister's chief of staff on February 20, 2012.
Did the Prime Minister receive that note? What was the subject of his meeting with Mr. Duffy on April 4, 2012?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, again, I am not going to comment on matters before the court. It is Mr. Duffy's actions that are before the court now.
At the same time, why did the member for Québec, for example, use up to $30,000, in violation of the rules of the House?
The NDP member of Parliament for Quebec redirected resources for her riding from Quebec to an illegal office in Montreal. She was one of 68 members of the NDP caucus who broke the rules, took money meant for their constituents and funnelled it to an illegal office.
They ought to pay it back.
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, there have been serious allegations of sexual misconduct and assault in the military for some time, and a failure to properly address complaints.
The Chief of the Defence Staff initiated an investigation last year after horrible incidents involving sexual assault were revealed in major media reports.
Can the Minister of National Defence confirm that the report of Madam Deschamps will be released tomorrow? If not, when, and will it be made public in its entirety?
James Bezan ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, no one who has chosen to serve Canada as a member of our armed forces should be subjected to this kind of disgusting and unacceptable behaviour. As we have already said, allegations of sexual harassment in the armed forces are truly disturbing.
That is why the Chief of the Defence Staff ordered an external independent review into how the Canadian Armed Forces deals with sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. He has already directed the establishment of the Canadian Armed Forces strategic response team on sexual misconduct to develop a detailed action plan to address the report's recommendations. This action plan, along with the report, will be released soon.
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Auditor General exposed some serious problems at the office of the ombudsman for National Defence, the only office that members of the Canadian Armed Forces can turn to if they have a problem. This is particularly troubling considering the horrible series of incidents of sexual abuse that came to light last year.
It is critical that these allegations be taken seriously and that appropriate action be taken. The investigation is now complete. Can the Minister of National Defence confirm that the entire report will be released tomorrow and that the necessary changes will be made?
James Bezan ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, as I already said, the report and action plan will be released soon.
As to the Auditor General's report, National Defence accepts all the recommendations from the Auditor General's investigation. The lack of accountability for taxpayers' dollars was unacceptable.
Steps have already been taken by the Department of National Defence and the Office of the Ombudsman to strengthen accountability; specific measures, including a new agreement to better manage employees; and processes for better financial accountability.
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Mr. Speaker, we still have not received an answer.
Another area in which the Conservatives have proven incompetent is health care services for aboriginal people. As the Auditor General reported, those services leave much to be desired in remote communities in Manitoba and Ontario. Only one of Health Canada's nurses passed all five mandatory training courses. That is one in 45.
Why are the Conservatives abandoning remote communities in northern Ontario and Manitoba?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, Health Canada supports 734 aboriginal health facilities across the country, including investments of $30 million annually to ensure that those are maintained, and it has just built another five facilities across the country.
However, most importantly, any aboriginal Canadian living on a first nations reserve, even if it is for a routine appointment, has access at all times to emergency transportation and that is available to anyone at all times should there be any concerns on a first nations reserve.
One of the biggest issues is recruitment and retention. We have launched a recruitment and retention campaign for more nurses and it is going well.
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, every year the Conservatives spend billions giving tax credits and making tax loopholes available to the wealthy. This government's tax spending has gone up consistently for the past 10 years. The Auditor General is concerned that the Conservatives are refusing to tell us how much those gifts cost and who they benefit.
Will the Conservatives release the Department of Finance internal reports to shed light on these tax loopholes?
Kevin Sorenson ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, our government believes in keeping taxes low, but we also believe in ensuring that all corporations and Canadians pay their fair share of taxes. That is why, since 2006, we have aggressively moved to close over 85 tax loopholes. The loopholes we are closing amount to billions of dollars annually. That means lower taxes for all Canadians, not just a select few.
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have gone from hiding their finance minister to hiding the facts of their budget. Give them credit. The Conservatives have been focused like a laser on giving away billions to the wealthy and the well connected. We now learn from the Auditor General himself that Conservatives have not even bothered to count all the money going out the door. Conservatives did not have the decency to track all the money or whether any of their programs were actually working. They must be borrowing the accounting manual from the Senate over there.
They say good news sells itself. Is that why Conservatives are having to spend millions more selling their bad budget to Canadians?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, they say one thing here but exactly the opposite in their ridings. They call our tax breaks “giveaways” when they are on Parliament Hill, but the NDP member for Ottawa Centre actually takes credit for them in his tax guide. Here he has the children's fitness tax credit, which he voted against. Here he has pension splitting for seniors. Here he has the pension amount increase. These are not giveaways, as the NDP member for Ottawa Centre understands. These are tax cuts, if only they would actually vote in favour of them when they come back to the House of Commons.
Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC
Mr. Speaker, our young people are wrapping things up at school and are already worried that they will not have a job this summer.
Instead of helping our students, the Conservatives prefer to spend taxpayers' money on partisan ads. What is more, they cut most of the jobs from the Canada summer jobs program.
Dropping just one ad from the National Hockey League playoffs would allow 30 young people to find a job this summer.
Why do the Conservatives keep spending taxpayers' money on partisan ads instead of helping our young people find employment?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals used ads in the sponsorship scandal to give money to their Liberal friends.
We are using ads to inform Canadians of tax cuts and benefit increases. We are running ads to explain the tax cuts for families, which will save them $2,000, and the increase in the universal child care benefit, which will give $2,000 to families for every child under 6 and $720 for every child 6 to 17. We are giving money directly to taxpayers by lowering their taxes.
John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON
Mr. Speaker, Conservatives spent $750 million on self-promotional advertising while clawing back more than $900 million from Environment Canada. Apparently self-promotion is more important than species at risk, or more important than toxic spills in Vancouver, or more important than that elephant in the room, climate change.
Will the current government advertise its $12-million cut for species at risk? Will it advertise its $188-million cut from climate change?
Is it not ironic and tragic that Environment Canada funds are being used to bankroll Conservative Party advertising?
Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, no federal government has done more for the environment than this government in the 2015 budget. The budget is investing funding for federal contaminated sites, public transit, meteorological navigational warning for the Arctic, and the chemicals management plant.
The president of the Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association said:
We see the renewal of the plan as a continuation of Canada's world-leading initiatives...
What would the Liberals do? They would increase taxes on Canadian consumers and middle-class families.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, budgets are about priorities. Tragically, about 25 police and firefighters die in the line of duty, on average, every year. A compensation package for these heroes would be less than half of what the current government is spending on bogus, crappy, partisan ads. Seven million dollars is what we are talking about.
My question for the Prime Minister is, how does he justify wasting 14 million tax dollars?
Roxanne James ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, of course, we will not take any lessons from the third party on support for our police and first responders across this country. In fact, it was the Liberal Party that closed down the RCMP training depot when it was in power, because it refused to pay for new recruits.
In contrast to that, we are supporting law enforcement and security agencies across the country by giving them the tools they need to actually keep Canadians safe, including an investment of $300 million in budget 2015.
Rosane Doré Lefebvre NDP Alfred-Pellan, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General informed us today that only 38% of departments and agencies have submitted their safety plan. These plans became mandatory after the Conservatives passed national safety legislation in 2009. This 38% participation rate is bad enough. Worse yet, these plans were due two years ago.
Before passing another safety bill that will encroach on our rights and freedoms as Canadians, would the Conservatives have the decency to stop mismanaging public safety?
Roxanne James ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, again, the opposition party, the NDP, is off base with these types of questions. It has not supported a single measure this government has brought forward to keep Canadians safe.
In fact, just recently in committee, we had Bill C-51, the anti-terrorism legislation. It is truly unfortunate that such misinformation, either intentional or because of a pure lack of understanding on behalf of the official opposition, has pushed such bad information about that bill, when at the very heart of Bill C-51 is the national security of this country and the protection of all Canadians.
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-51 is so detrimental to our rights and freedoms that thousands of Canadians have come out to protest against this one piece of legislation.
Now Stephen Toope, former dean of law at McGill, former UBC president, and currently the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, has called Bill C-51:
...so badly drafted, so expansive in scope, and so open to abuse that one must wonder how a responsible political leadership could bring it forward.
Will the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness now listen to the chorus of Canadians who are speaking out against Bill C-51 and withdraw this bill immediately?
Roxanne James ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, again, the official opposition has not supported a single measure to keep Canadians safe.
When I talk about the misinformation that has been pushed out by the NDP, whether it is intentional or because of a lack of understanding, it is clear that it is probably the latter, because in committee, in clause by clause, with the very first amendment the member put forward, the officials who were there had to explain to him that he was incorrect.
On this side of the House, we are going to stand up for the security of this country and the safety of all Canadians.
Jasbir Sandhu NDP Surrey North, BC
Mr. Speaker, the violence in Surrey has reached crisis levels, with another shooting last night. This is the 25th shooting in the last eight weeks. People in my community are worried for their safety and the safety of their neighbours.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives' 2015 budget does not even mention the words “crime prevention”, “gangs”, or “Surrey”, for that matter, and Conservative cuts have left the RCMP unable to manage crime databases and forensic services.
Will the Conservatives stop making excuses and make funds available to protect the people in my community?