Debates of May 28th, 2015

Member for Calgary—Nose Hill

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, “famous last words” is a well-known phrase. I will soon leave this place after two decades. What words come to mind?

It has been an honour and a privilege to serve. I have met amazing people, people who are smart, hard-working, and dedicated to Canada. Many will be lifelong friends.

The opportunity to make even a small contribution to building this great nation is humbling. We all owe so much to our families. They have sacrificed normal togetherness for this.

I give heartfelt thanks to the people who supported me, and to those who did not support me but put up with me kindly anyway.

Finally, at the end of the day, it is not about the blue team or the orange team or the red or the green; it is about our country and its wonderful people. It is about giving them the best, most secure, and brightest future possible.

I pass the torch. May it be held high.

God bless Canada.

Violence Against Women

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday this House had the opportunity to take a substantive leap forward toward ending violence against women. Sadly, all Conservative members but one chose to vote against my motion to create a national action plan to end violence against women. In doing so, they sent a clear message, a shameful message, to the women they represent: “Your safety is not a priority for this government. Your equality does not matter to this government. Your rights are not something that this government is willing to stand up for.”

Why is ending violence against women a partisan issue?

For the NDP, this is about answering the call made by women in our ridings and across the country, including the voices of the most vulnerable: indigenous women, racialized women, disabled women, LGBTTQ women, and refugee and immigrant women.

We will continue to fight for them. We will continue to fight for a national action plan, even when their Conservative representatives do not.

Agriculture Producers in Alberta

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday I hosted a round table at the Innisfail Auction Mart in my Red Deer riding to address the issues facing local livestock producers.

We had a frank, open discussion about how our government can help central Alberta producers and the agriculture industry as a whole. We were able to discuss the new CETA deal, a deal that would allow unprecedented trading access between Canada and the EU.

One of the many benefits recognized as a result of this deal is that of the EU's more than 9,000 tariff lines, nearly 98% would be duty free for Canadian goods when CETA comes into force.

Optimism was also expressed regarding our recent trade victory at the World Trade Organization regarding U.S. country of origin labelling. We look forward to a quick resolution.

The passion of these participants made me extremely proud of what our central Alberta agriculture producers have done to advance their industry and our goals as a nation. I look forward to hosting many more in the future.

Robert Huskinson

[Gord Brown, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honour the memory of Robert Huskinson, late of Brockville, Ontario, in my riding of Leeds—Grenville.

Bob, as he was known, was the longest-serving council member in that city, serving for 26 consecutive years before retiring in 2006. He passed away May 3, at 77 years of age.

Bob was in municipal politics for the same reason that most of us choose to serve the public. He saw a problem that needed fixing—in this case, a collapsing roof on the community centre while he was coaching minor hockey—and decided to do something about it.

Colleagues and friends have noted that he was always passionate, honest, and a straight shooter who had the good of his community at the heart of everything that he did. He is remembered as a tireless worker for his city.

One person mentioned that he was Brockville's version of Winston Churchill.

On behalf of us all, I offer condolences to his wife Janice; his sons Craig, Rick, and Rob, and their wives; his brother Brian; and his many grandchildren, friends, and supporters.

Relations with the Netherlands

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands to Canada.

Yesterday the people of Ottawa were very proud to welcome them to our city. Ottawa has a long, proud tradition of friendship with the people of the Netherlands, most famously as the home of the Dutch royal family and birthplace of Princess Margriet during the Second World War. It is a pleasure and an honour to welcome the royal family back to Ottawa.

I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate a colleague and a friend.

Earlier this month, our very own member for Sackville—Eastern Shore was appointed by the King of the Netherlands as a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

With this member's strong record of advocacy for veterans and his passionate promotion of relations between Canada and the Netherlands, I am sure all members will join with me in congratulating the member for Sackville—Eastern Shore.

Although the appointment does not come with a formal title, to us he will now always be known as “Sir Buddy”.

Taxation

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian middle-class families know they are better off with this Conservative government. We have introduced the family tax cut and the universal child care benefit to ensure that Canada's middle class remains one of the strongest in the world.

What is worrying is the opposition's schemes to take all this away. The leader of the Liberal Party wants to take away the universal child care benefit, take away income splitting, and take away tax-free savings accounts.

On top of all that, yesterday the Liberal leader announced a major payroll tax hike is in his platform. He said, “We're looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario.”

He is saying he supports a payroll tax hike that would cost someone earning $60,000 a thousand dollars in take-home pay.

The Liberal leader proposes to raise taxes on the middle class. We cut taxes.

Alexie Dallaire-Vincent

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

Mr. Speaker, people in the region of Timmins—James Bay are mourning the death of 22-year-old Alexie Dallaire-Vincent, who was killed underground in a haulage accident at a St. Andrew Goldfields mine in Timmins. Her death marks a terrible milestone as the first woman to die underground in Ontario.

Women have played such an important role in breaking down barriers in mining. They are beginning to take their rightful place in the well-paying jobs on the surface and underground. This transformation is good, and it will continue. What we need to learn from her death is how to ensure that such accidents do not happen again. We have had too many young miners killed recently in the north.

On behalf of Canada's Parliament, I offer my deepest regrets to her husband Travis and her relatives in the Vincent, Dallaire, and Mercier families. Alexie was worth more than all the gold that will ever be dug from that mine. As we mourn her loss, let us organize to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Taxation

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this last month has taught us a lot about what the leader of the Liberal Party is planning for the middle class.

First the Liberal leader said that benefiting all families is not what is fair. Yesterday the Liberal leader announced the next major policy in his platform. Surprise, surprise: it is a massive payroll tax hike on Canadians. He said, “We're looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario.”

Someone earning $60,000 would lose $1,000 in take-home pay because of the Liberal leader's plan. This is in addition to the Liberal leader promising to take away the universal child care benefit that many of my constituents are looking forward to in London North Centre, take away income splitting, and take away tax-free savings accounts.

The Liberal leader's plan is, very simply, tax hikes on the middle class.

Citizenship and Immigration

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have spent decades building a reputation as one of the best countries in the world for newcomers. Canadians are rightly proud of that reputation.

However, we learned yesterday that for the first time Canada has dropped out of the top five countries for immigrant integration. We are failing because the current government has attacked family reunification and citizenship. Wait times to sponsor a spouse or children to this country have skyrocketed, up more than 70% since the government took office. The wait to sponsor parents or grandparents is up a staggering 500%.

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tried to explain his government's terrible track record this week and failed. Instead, he attacked the credibility of his own department's statistics.

All Canadians, both newcomers and those who have been here for generations, deserve far better than this.

Taxation

[Bryan Hayes, Conservative, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can trust only our Conservative government to help families save more of their own money for their priorities. The New Democrats and Liberals have said that their focus is to raise taxes and kill jobs. The leader of the Liberal Party has even said that “benefiting all families is not what is fair.”

He demonstrated this by pledging to scrap our universal child care benefit, scrap income splitting, and take away tax-free savings accounts. He wants to replace our family tax cut with a family tax hike. Yesterday he even announced that he will hit Canadians with a massive new payroll tax. He said, “We're looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario.”

The Liberal leader's plan would cost someone earning $60,000 over $1,000 in take-home pay. The Liberal leader's assault on the middle class is simply unacceptable.

Workers' Rights

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government never misses an opportunity to attack workers, but this time it has gone too far.

The Conservatives want to go back in time to expunge workers' landmark battles for their rights from the record. For example, the Winnipeg general strike exhibit will be removed from the Canadian Museum of History.

On the opposition side, the Liberals are pretty much the same with their questionable attacks against the collectively bargained rights of workers on the Hill. The Liberals believe that workers are not entitled to a union to stand up for their rights, a safe work environment, or compensation for overtime.

The Conservatives and the Liberals are on the same side. They are the same old worn-out parties.

In 2015, workers across Canada will finally be able to choose a government that will stand up for their rights: an NDP government.

Taxation

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have made the choice abundantly clear. Do middle-class families want our low-tax plan or do they want a high-tax, high-debt plan proposed by the leader of the Liberal Party? I think not.

He has stated, “benefiting all families is not what is fair”. He, indeed, wants to make it more unfair by dramatically hiking payroll taxes for all Canadians, so that a family earning $60,000 will pay a whopping $1,000 more in higher taxes. He will make it more unfair by taking away the universal child care benefit, taking away income splitting and taking away tax-free savings accounts.

Being prime minister is not an entry-level job, and the leader of the Liberal Party has proven time and time again that he is clearly not up to the task.

Under our Prime Minister, Canadians can count on more money in their pockets.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, since the Prime Minister still refuses to answer any questions, Canadians learned from the police that the Prime Minister's Office had doctored the report on Senator Mike Duffy's expenses seven times. For example, the PMO erased passages that proved that Senator Duffy's residence was, in fact, in Ottawa.

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

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I do not accept such statements from the NDP.

The reality is that Mr. Duffy is before the courts for his own actions and he will be judged on those actions. The government will continue to co-operate with the Crown and the RCMP in that particular matter.

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

Mr. Speaker, Dean Del Mastro, Michael Sona, Peter Penashue, Saulie Zajdel, these are Conservatives who have been convicted in a real court, with a real judge. This is not to mention the Conservative senators who plead guilty to violating the Elections Act, and all of the other charges still to come shortly.

The Prime Minister's Office has been accused of orchestrating a coverup and whitewashing the Deloitte audit to remove the conclusion that P.E.I. was not Conservative Mike Duffy's primary resident. Will the Prime Minister now confirm that the Prime Minister's Office tampered with this report as part of a backroom deal with Mike Duffy?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, coincidentally, Mr. Duffy is before the courts on his own actions. That is what is before the court. He will be judged according to those actions, and we will continue to assist the Crown in that matter.

It is really rich to hear the House leader of the NDP slight certain Conservatives when we have over 60 NDP members of Parliament improperly taking parliamentary funds for the purposes of financing a political party. This is completely forbidden under the rules. It is almost $3 million worth of taxpayer funds. The NDP should do the right thing and pay it back or face the consequences.

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

Mr. Speaker, and we have 78 Conservative members of Parliament involved in the Duffy diaries, including the Prime Minister's own parliamentary secretary, on page 135, when Mike Duffy campaigned with the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister. I have good advice for all of them. In a real court, they will have to tell the truth.

We have the Prime Minister's Office playing fast and loose with residency rules and then falsifying audits. The Liberals, of course, kept evidence out of the Gomery inquiry. Will the Prime Minister now agree to stop invoking privilege to keep an internal Senate residency audit out of the Duffy trial?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the facts are that none of the individuals the NDP member cites are charged with anything or accused of anything at all. Whereas the reality is that we have 5 dozen, close to 70, NDP members of Parliament who have taken money, explicitly contrary to the rules of the House, nearly $3 million worth of taxpayer money, to use to finance political party operations across the country. This is completely wrong, completely contrary to the rules and completely illegal, and the NDP should pay it back or it will face the consequences.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the housing shortage in first nations is at crisis levels. In communities in northern Manitoba, there are housing shortages of up to hundreds of homes, but the Conservative response, as we saw yesterday, was ideological rhetoric and a failed program.

According to the chair of the government's flagship fund, the program was actually never intended to provide homes for those who needed them most.

Will the minister admit to the government's failed policies and will the government redirect funding immediately to build homes in first nations?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, our government continues to take concrete steps to support first nations in providing safe housing. Every year significant resources are allocated to first nations to help them meet their housing needs, for which they are responsible.

Since 2006, close to 12,000 new homes have been built and there have been renovations to 22,000 existing homes in first nations. We will continue that good work.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about redirecting funding, a $344 million fund to provide much needed housing on first nations beyond the rhetoric that we are hearing from the government.

The Prime Minister's official apology in 2008 regarding residential schools must be more than just lip service. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be reporting its findings next Tuesday, and we will be there. However, the Prime Minister needs to show some leadership. Will he at least attend the event marking the closing of the commission?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the government is delivering on its promises with respect to the agreement that was reached. We will continue our work in close collaboration with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The government will be represented at all of the events held here in Ottawa. We hope the public will also want to take part, because this is another important step in reconciliation between all Canadians and this country's first nations.

Employment

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance is in Germany where he is now advocating an overhaul of Canada's labour laws.

Today's media report states:

[The finance minister] said one way to boost growth was to relax labor laws and make it easier for firms to lay off workers, while acknowledging “that's what gets people demonstrating in the streets”.

Does the Prime Minister agree with his Minister of Finance that making it easier to fire Canadian workers would be good for the Canadian economy?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Of course, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance was saying no such thing. He was talking about the situation in Greece where, because of out of control deficits and out of control spending, we are seeing massive tax hikes, massive layoffs, terrible cuts in services. In fact, it is the very thing the Liberal government did in the 1990s because of its own financial mismanagement.

Now in our country we have balanced budgets, lower taxes and more money is going to the things that people care about.

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

Mr. Speaker, balancing the books and paying down debt is not mismanagement. It is the way we should run an economy. It is not the way the Conservatives run the economy. They have added $150 billion to Canada's national debt.

At a time when the Canadian economy has flatlined, we have a Minister of Finance who actually believes that firing workers is good for growth. We need more jobs, not more job vacancies.

Why would the Prime Minister support a Minister of Finance who actually believes it is good for growth to lay off workers?