Debates of May 25th, 2015

The Environment

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, our government has announced a fair and ambitious target for Canada that is in line with other major industrialized countries. Unlike the opposition, we want to take a responsible and balanced sector-by-sector approach to reducing emissions to protect the economy and Canadian jobs. We will do this without forcing a job-killing carbon tax on Canadian families.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this climate target is late and does not deliver Canada's fair share of emissions reductions. To top it off, the Conservatives want to use questionable accounting and offsets to reach the targets, something they used to call “hot air credits”.

Speaking of hot air, Environment Canada has said that the government has little hope of reaching its old target, and without regulations for the oil and gas sector Canada will not reach the new target either. Why are the Conservatives setting Canada up to fail in the global fight against climate change?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, we are playing a leadership role on the international stage. We have helped more than 65 developing countries to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. We are doing our part by contributing to the Green Climate Fund. We are a founding member and major financial contributor to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. We are also addressing short-lived climate pollutants under the chairmanship of the Arctic Council. We will continue to protect our environment while keeping our economy strong.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, credibility matters, as the Conservatives are learning.

According to an RCMP court document, the Prime Minister's Office played a “key role” in altering and falsifying the 2013 audit of Mike Duffy's expenses. Other documents show that the Deloitte audit report was changed a total of seven times to remove criticisms of expense claims, including references to the Ottawa home of Mike Duffy.

Does the Prime Minister deny that his office intervened to falsify the findings of the audit into the expenses of Conservative Senator Mike Duffy?

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, as was highlighted, the Prime Minister's Office participated and provided a great deal of assistance, turning over thousands of documents and ensuring that we assisted the RCMP and the crown in its case against Senator Duffy. As members know, this is before the courts, and we will allow the courts to do their job.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will have to give an answer sooner or later, no matter how much he wants to avoid it.

Canadians learned from the police that the Prime Minister's Office actively helped Senator Tkachuk and Senator Olsen alter the report on Senator Mike Duffy's expenses. They altered it seven times. For example, they erased passages that prove that Senator Duffy's residence was, in fact, in Ottawa.

How does the Prime Minister explain that his office altered such important passages in the Mike Duffy report?

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

Mr. Speaker, again, as I just said, it is quite clear that the Prime Minister's Office provided a great deal of assistance to both the crown and the RCMP in their case against Senator Duffy.

At the same time, I would hope that the opposition would provide that same level of co-operation and assistance to the Canadian taxpayer. As members know, there are some 68 members of the NDP caucus who owe Canadian taxpayers some $2.7 million because they paid for some illegal offices in Montreal. I certainly hope they will do the right thing for Canadian taxpayers and insist on returning that $2.7 million to them.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about kangaroo courts. We are talking about real courts with real police investigating the Conservatives.

The Prime Minister's Office cut a $90,000 cheque to keep Duffy quiet on residency issues and doctored an expense audit to avoid political and legal fallout. The Auditor General has sent 10 new cases of improper Senate spending to the RCMP, and 30 more senators will be forced to pay for improper expense claims. There are 44 cases of apparent abuse of the public trust. That is more than half the Senate. The Prime Minister's Office is involved up to its eyeballs.

Will the Prime Minister stop defending the unelected, unaccountable, and under investigation Senate?

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

Mr. Speaker, as you know, it was the Senate that invited the Auditor General, and of course we expect that the senators will assist the Auditor General in this examination.

However, there are 68 members of the NDP who owe a total of $2.7 million to the Canadian taxpayer. There are another 23 of them who owe $1.1 million back to the Canadian taxpayer. By my count, that is three-quarters of the NDP caucus. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition owes $400,000 to the taxpayers of Canada. It is New Democrats who are in front of the courts. It is they who are refusing to co-operate. It is real money. They should do the right thing for the taxpayer and pay it all back.

Taxation

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian economy is doing very poorly, and everyone can sense it.

We have just returned from a week in our ridings, but the Conservatives do not even seem to have gone back to theirs. More and more Canadians are looking for jobs. The youth unemployment rate is hovering around 15%. Canadians are in debt and they are struggling to make ends meet. They certainly do not have $10,000 to put into a TFSA.

Why do the Conservatives oppose the Liberals' plan to give back to the middle class and stimulate economic growth?

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

Mr. Speaker, our economy has already generated over 1.2 million new jobs, and 80% of them are full-time, 80% are in the private sector and two-thirds are in high-wage sectors.

We are continuing to train our workers, lower taxes for employers and workers, and finalize free trade agreements in order to create good jobs for all Canadians.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, here is the reality of the government's policies: a no-growth economy that has actually been shrinking; poor job creation, down 50% or 60% from two years ago; big job losses at GM, Bombardier, and across the energy sector; job quality at a 25-year low. The recession, which the Conservatives blame for everything, ended six years ago, but there are still 200,000 more jobless Canadians today than before the recession began.

Why is the government so unsuccessful on growth, jobs, and fairness?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have exactly one idea for the economy, and that is to raise taxes. They want to raise taxes on businesses and raise taxes on Canadian workers. We are taking the opposite approach. Our plan for tax cuts, training, and trade has helped create 1.2 million net new jobs, 80% of them full time and two-thirds in high-wage sectors.

The last thing those hard-working Canadians need is a Liberal tax hike, which would hit the middle class, send shockwaves through the economy, and put people out of work.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, when the economy is so weak, the risk of worsening inequality becomes more severe. By everyone from the Parliamentary Budget Officer to the late Jim Flaherty, the government has been warned about disparities getting worse, but still it is giving a $2,000 tax break to those making a quarter of a million dollars, with no break at all for single moms. It insists on paying benefits to the highest 1% of income earners, and that means the typical middle-class family gets $2,500 less.

How is that fair?

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

Mr. Speaker, just about every fact bullet in the member's talking points is wrong. In fact, the Parliamentary Budget Officer looked at the $30 billion in annual tax relief we have provided as of last year and confirmed that the overwhelming majority of benefits went to medium- and low-income Canadians.

Since that time, we have brought forward the family tax cut and benefits, which give up to $2,000 for families through income splitting, and an additional $2,000 for kids under six and $720 for kids six through 17. That puts money directly in the pockets of parents.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is sad to think that one of the biggest scandals involving the Prime Minister's Office is happening just a few metres from here.

Almost half of the members of the Senate are now under investigation for breach of trust or illegitimate expenses. What is more, most of those senators were hand-picked by the Prime Minister.

Is the Prime Minister finally willing to admit that there is a problem in the Senate?

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

Mr. Speaker, she is quite right. Just happening a few feet from here is a big scandal. The scandal is that $2.7 million of taxpayer money was used illegally to support a partisan NDP office in Montreal. In fact, the member, who is only a few feet away from me, owes close to $30,000 to the taxpayers. What the member did was, instead of using money meant for her riding, she funnelled it, illegally, to an office in Montreal that should not have been paid for. Now the NDP is refusing to pay back to taxpayers the $2.7 million it owes. Pay it back.

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

More nonsense, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has broken every promise he ever made on Senate reform, and look where it has got us. The Auditor General's findings will reportedly include Senate trips that did not appear to involve parliamentary business, indications of widespread spending abuses, and 10 new senators potentially under police investigation.

Canadians have had enough. The Prime Minister once said an appointed Senate is a relic of the 19th century. Why is he using this relic for partisan fundraising and to kill democratically passed legislation?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. Any senator who has broken the law should face the severest of consequences. It is this side of the House that has been fighting for that for two years. I contrast that to the opposition, which thinks it is funny to have used $2.7 million of Canadian taxpayer resources, illegally, to support partisan offices in Montreal and in parts of the country where it has no members of Parliament. That is not funny. Canadians work hard for the money they earn, and when they send it to us, they expect it to be used wisely, not for partisan purposes like the NDP did.

Public Safety

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative cuts are forcing the RCMP to make impossible choices when it comes to protecting public safety. Faced with the skyrocketing resource demands of counterterrorism, the RCMP is dismantling Project Condor, its very successful program for finding offenders unlawfully at large. This project recaptured over 600 escaped criminals. We are talking about people convicted of murder, bank robbery, and sexual assault.

Why are the Conservatives putting public safety at risk by ending this program that tracks these people down when they escape?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows full well that the RCMP is responsible for its operational choices and priorities. However, what the member and his colleagues can do is stand up in this House for the additional funding announced by the Prime Minister last week in Montreal. I invite the member to open his copy of the budget to page 325. Then he can invest in the RCMP and do as he should have done the seven times he missed it, which is support our budget for more resources for the RCMP.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if we look at that page, we find that four years from now, the RCMP would still be below where it was in 2012.

The reality is that the Conservatives are all talk when it comes to public safety. They are hoping Canadians will not notice that the programs and resources that actually keep communities safe are disappearing. What is worse, the current government tries to hide its failures. Just take the defence minister's comments that funding de-radicalization programs is “unrealistic” and could be counterproductive. Tell that to our allies who are funding these efforts as a front line against terrorism.

Why is the minister trying to cover up his government's incompetence instead of acting to counter terrorism?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, here is what the NDP has to say about terrorism in this country. Let me quote the member for Brome—Missisquoi:

I am confused about what motivated the government to introduce [the Combating Terrorism Act]...because since 2007 nothing has happened in Canada. The country has not been subject to terrorist attacks.

When will the NDP be serious about terrorism in this country? When will it support our initiative?

We have four pillars, the first one is prevention, and we are standing up to protect Canadians every step of the way.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, apparently the Minister of National Defence believes that it would be counterproductive to allocate federal resources to combat radicalization. Now, in the name of combatting terrorism, the RCMP has to cut Project Condor, which allowed us to track down dangerous fugitives unlawfully at large.

Why is the Conservative government putting an end to Project Condor, which was one of the RCMP's most effective programs?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I have complete confidence that the RCMP will continue to carry out its operations and make strategic choices. That is why budget 2015 allocates additional resources to the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

If my colleague wants to do more than express her half-hearted support, then she should vote in favour of the budget so that the RCMP has the resources it needs to protect us.