House of Commons Hansard #217 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was scientific.

Topics

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Mike Sullivan NDP York South—Weston, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government has told Karen Talosig and her daughter Jazmine that they are not welcome in Canada because Jazmine is deaf.

Even though the BC Provincial School for the Deaf said that it has a spot for Jazmine, and the Burnaby public school board certified that no special funding is required for her education, to the Conservative government, being deaf apparently disqualifies her from becoming Canadian. That is so wrong.

Will the minister do the right thing and grant permanent residency to Karen and Jazmine?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Richmond Hill Ontario

Conservative

Costas Menegakis ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, a letter was sent to Mrs. Talosig, in which we invited her to respond to the concerns that were raised about her daughter. Mrs. Talosig has 60 days to respond and address the concerns raised by these officials. This is an opportunity for Mrs. Talosig to explain how she will mitigate the extra costs to the provincial health care system because of a medically inadmissible dependant.

Until visa officials hear back from Mrs. Talosig on this, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further, as the final decision is yet to be made.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe NDP Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC

Mr. Speaker, the 3,200 Haitians who are being threatened with deportation have only a few days left to regularize their status and apply for permanent residence.

A number of those individuals have not yet been able to apply. That is what we have heard from organizations like Maison d'Haïti in Montreal.

Quebec's immigration minister and the mayor of Montreal are asking for a three-month deferral. It is not complicated, it would not cost anything and there is no risk.

Why, then, is the minister insisting on refusing this simple request, which would help hundreds of families?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Richmond Hill Ontario

Conservative

Costas Menegakis ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the fairest and most generous immigration systems in the world. We extended this generosity to the Haitian community for over a decade, allowing them to stay in Canada because of the unsafe conditions in their country.

We worked closely with the Haitian communities in Montreal and Toronto over the past few months, encouraging all Haitians who want to stay in Canada to begin the application process.

TaxationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, our government has lowered taxes and enhanced voluntary options so that Canadians can save more of their hard-earned money.

In contrast, the Liberals and the NDP want to hike taxes and hike CPP payroll taxes. Canadians know what this means. It will mean killing jobs and Canadians keeping less of their hard-earned money.

Would the Minister of Finance please tell the House what other voluntary options he would consider?

TaxationOral Questions

May 26th, 2015 / 2:45 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Conservative

Joe Oliver ConservativeMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, our government understands that Canadians want low taxes and the freedom to make their own financial decisions. Building on our record of creating options for Canadians to save, like the tax-free savings account, I am pleased to inform the House that we are open to giving Canadians the option to voluntarily contribute more to the Canada pension plan to supplement their current CPP retirement savings.

What we will not do is reach into the pockets of middle-class Canadians with a mandatory payroll tax like the Liberals and NDP would do.

Champlain BridgeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Hoang Mai NDP Brossard—La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, two-thirds of the Champlain Bridge beams are in extremely poor condition. Seven central beams received the worst possible rating. The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited report is damning.

The Conservative and Liberal governments dragged their heels on this, and now the bridge is deteriorating before our eyes. People are very worried and want to see all of the reports.

Will the minister be transparent and tell us how it got to this point?

Champlain BridgeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean Québec

Conservative

Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Infrastructure

Mr. Speaker, users' safety is certainly very important to us. We have given The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated all of the money needed to do the work. We had a vote in 2009; the NDP voted against. There was a vote in 2010; the New Democrats voted against. There was a vote in 2011; they voted against. They did so again in 2014. Then they come and say that safety is important. Seriously.

Champlain BridgeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Outremont Québec

NDP

Thomas Mulcair NDPLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, what we want to know—

Champlain BridgeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Champlain BridgeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Champlain BridgeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC

Mr. Speaker, will 2015 see this minister and this Conservative government take responsibility for their mismanagement, incompetence, and failure to ensure proper maintenance of the Champlain Bridge, and for the risks the public is taking as a result?

Champlain BridgeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean Québec

Conservative

Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Infrastructure

Mr. Speaker, scaring the public with inaccurate information is this party's modus operandi. We have been working hard since we got here and will continue to work hard and spend the necessary money.

I want to commend The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated on maintaining the bridges in Montreal, including the Jacques-Cartier, Champlain, and Mercier bridges. That corporation does excellent work and is responsible for bridge maintenance. It does a good job of it and the new bridge will be built three years ahead of schedule. We are working hard.

Canada PostOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are angry over service cuts to Canada Post. People in Hamilton are protesting at a future Canada Post community mailbox site. Last week in London, residents spoke out at a community meeting angry because they were never consulted. A 94-year-old woman called my office, upset about having to wade through four pages of complicated red tape and get a doctor's note just to get her mail delivered.

When will the minister stop defending Canada Post and start defending Canadians?

Canada PostOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Essex Ontario

Conservative

Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the member will know that in 2014 Canada Post delivered 1.4 billion fewer letters than it did in 2006 and that two-thirds of Canadians currently do not have door-to-door mail delivery.

Canada Post must of course balance its finances without being a burden to taxpayers.

The NDP's plan for Canada Post would cost taxpayers a half a billion dollars a year, which means it would raise taxes on every single Canadian. We will not do that. We are keeping taxes low on this side of the House.

Canada PostOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, last year, Canada Post made a $194-million profit. We can afford door-to-door delivery in our country.

Canada Post's decision to end door-to-door mail delivery is drawing the ire of more and more Canadians.

At a meeting of the Union des municipalités du Québec, the Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs had to respond to angry municipal officials. What he said was that he would ask Canada Post some questions. He is two years late.

When will the Conservatives start listening to Canadians, and when will they get to work on restoring home mail delivery, which Canadians are entitled to?

Canada PostOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Essex Ontario

Conservative

Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, that member is spiking the proverbial football. Canada Post did not have to make a $1.3 billion special payment to a pension plan. The member can tell that to the retirees. Canada Post has structural problems. Letter mail is declining at staggering rates. It has a plan to address that, and the member should let Canada Post get on with delivering on that.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC

Mr. Speaker, the current government is refusing to let the 15-year-old daughter of a Filipino live-in caregiver join her mother in B.C. It says a deaf child would be an excessive burden on the state. Really?

Many deaf persons in Canada are educated, high-performing members of society. The BC Provincial School for the Deaf says the child is proficient in American sign language and it is no more cost to educate her than any other child. Is the government's new discriminatory immigration policy that deaf persons need not apply?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Richmond Hill Ontario

Conservative

Costas Menegakis ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, it is shameful that the Liberal member opposite chooses to play politics with immigration cases. It is exceptionally much worse for them to be asking me about a case where a final decision is yet to be made. Independent and highly trained officers make decisions based on Canada's immigration laws.

InfrastructureOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister announced an infrastructure vanity slush fund widely described as a partisan pre-election stunt. He should be ashamed of himself. Not only does the program have totally different rules for every region of the country, but timelines are intentionally rigged so that the Conservatives can announce winning projects just before the federal election campaign begins.

Can the Prime Minister explain how it has come to this, how he has fallen so very far? With so many real needs for infrastructure investment in Canada, when will he stop playing silly partisan games with our tax dollars?

InfrastructureOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean Québec

Conservative

Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Infrastructure

Mr. Speaker, the 150th anniversary will be in 2017. If we want to have a project done before that date, we have to start the process and that is what we are doing now. In addition to our support for the 150th anniversary of the country, we will support renovations, expansions and improvements on existing community infrastructure. These new investments will support the implementation of projects all across the country, and we are proud of that.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Raymond Côté NDP Beauport—Limoilou, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Port of Trois-Rivières must submit its expansion proposal to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for assessment, but the Port of Québec will be conducting its own assessment of a similar project using its own criteria.

The consequences of expanding the port facilities are a source of concern for residents who spend their time washing patios and windows. Mario Girard would like the work to get under way quickly.

Will the people of Quebec City have the right to a real public, independent assessment process, or is this a done deal?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Essex Ontario

Conservative

Jeff Watson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, of course the Port of Quebec, as the member will know, is an independent, arm's-length organization that is responsible for its operational decisions. I know the member would like to make all of these decisions on the floor of the House of Commons, but that is what the agencies do. We expect, of course, that the Port of Quebec, like any port, would be in consultation with the communities that it is a part of.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC

Mr. Speaker, the government brags about being a law and order government. However, it has shut down a number of border crossings, including one back home in Franklin Centre.

Since 2012, the Canada Border Services Agency has lost more than 1,000 positions. The government has replaced border officers with cameras. Now we have learned that border officers do not have all the tools they need to keep us safe. That is pretty bad for a government that claims to be combatting terrorism.

Will the minister take action? The people back home deserve answers, and they have been waiting a long time.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Lévis—Bellechasse Québec

Conservative

Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question. I would like to reassure her that we have increased the number of front-line Canada Border Services Agency officers by 26%. These officers do an excellent job of protecting the longest international border in the world.

We have a major capital plan for all of our border crossings. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the agency, because today it arrested two more people on the most wanted list. The officers are doing an excellent job and I salute them.