House of Commons Hansard #219 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was illegal.
John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about a 70% increase for children and spouses, a 500% increase for parents and grandparents, and these are from the department's own numbers. He cannot blame the numbers.
These are increases dating from when the government came to office. He cannot blame a Liberal government that left office nine long years ago. No, he is the one who created this mess. How is he going to clean up his own Conservative-created mess?
Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence and his predecessors have regrettably had to remind Canadians over and over again about a decade of Liberal darkness on defence matters: mismanagement, lack of spending, lack of procurement.
On immigration, we on this side have to remind Canadians now about decades of Liberal mismanagement of our immigration system. We inherited a system with backlogs on every front, and we have reduced every one of those backlogs.
Immigrants are getting to this country, getting approval to come to this country as economic immigrants in weeks. Parents and grandparents are here in larger numbers than ever before, thanks to the—
Kennedy Stewart NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is nice to hear them argue about who was the worst government.
Cities are also paying for Conservative politicking. After abolishing the community infrastructure plan in 2014, the Conservatives are now shamefully rushing through a new program, with tight deadlines, as part of their election campaign.
In British Columbia, communities have less than a month to submit proposals. Yesterday, Derek Corrigan, the mayor of Burnaby, testified in committee and said, “It smacks of politics to me”.
Our municipalities need infrastructure investments. Why are the Conservatives, yet again, putting their partisan interests above everything else?
Peter Braid ConservativeParliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities
Mr. Speaker, this Conservative government will achieve a number of important objectives with the Canada 150 infrastructure program.
We will, of course, celebrate the 150th birthday and the history and heritage of this great nation. We will also provide support to communities across this country to help them renovate existing recreational infrastructure, and we will do all of this by delivering the Canada 150 community infrastructure program.
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet NDP Hochelaga, QC
Mr. Speaker, in their rush to redeem themselves after 10 years of mismanagement, the Conservatives created a new fund for community infrastructure upgrades, right before the election. However, bad habits pop up after 10 years of mismanagement.
The minister, a former mayor, forgot to do his homework. Municipalities in Quebec are the only ones that will not be eligible.
Will the minister sit down with the Government of Quebec and sign an agreement?
Peter Braid ConservativeParliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities
Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government will achieve a number of very important objectives as we deliver the Canada 150 community infrastructure program. We, of course, in Quebec and across this country, want to celebrate our nation's 150th birthday. We will also find opportunities to renovate and expand existing community recreational infrastructure, and that includes some not-for-profit organizations. We are getting the job done.
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
Mr. Speaker, another appointment to the board of the CBC has just been made. The newest member is none other than a former treasurer of—surprise, surprise—the Conservative Party in Nova Scotia. It is pathetic. This is just another one of the Prime Minister's lackeys sent to destroy Radio-Canada and the CBC.
With so many talented people working in the area of culture in this country and our public broadcaster facing so many challenges right now, how can the minister ostensibly responsible for culture in this country defend her appointment process, which is simply shameful and repulsive?
Shelly Glover ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, what I find despicable, frankly, is when any member in this House attacks a Canadian with a record like what Mr. Jeffery has. In fact, Mr. Jeffery is a highly respected chartered accountant with many years of experience, formerly as the director of taxation at Sobeys and senior manager at Deloitte and Touche. He has extensive governance experience with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia, Acadia University, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Halifax. He is also an instructor of various professional development taxation courses.
I would encourage that member to apologize to this fine example of a Canadian.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, it takes a tired, scandal-ridden government to get so touchy about its insider pals.
Pork-barrel patronage seems to have become this Prime Minister's favourite pastime. Let us take the former Conservative Party treasurer of Nova Scotia. Presto, he is now a board member for Radio-Canada. Taking prestigious posts that serve the public interest, they are using them as personal favours to give out to failed candidates, party donors, and pals.
What happened to this Prime Minister? He promised to clean up Ottawa. Instead, he dove head first into the pork trough. What happened to him?
Shelly Glover ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
Once again, Mr. Speaker, I would remind members in this House that we have a duty to honour what we consider to be honourable behaviour towards not only one another but towards Canadians as a whole.
I would repeat that Mr. Jeffery comes to this board with a considerable amount of talent and skill. In fact, the appointments process is done in a transparent way that, frankly, relies on the competencies and skills of those names put forward. As I said earlier, Mr. Jeffery comes with a tremendous amount of skill to provide to this board.
Randy Hoback Conservative Prince Albert, SK
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberal leader announced a payroll tax hike on middle-class Canadians. Can the Minister of State for Finance tell the House the government's position on the mandatory expansion of the Canadian pension plan?
Kevin Sorenson ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, yes, it is true. The Liberal leader said yesterday: “We're looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario”.
For someone earning $60,000 a year, the Liberal leader's policy is an extra $1,000 tax hike. A middle-class family with two income earners would be paying thousands of dollars extra in taxes.
While we are letting Canadians keep more of their money and make the decisions on how they would spend and how they would save for their retirement, the Liberal policy is clearly one of taking more money out of the pockets of Canadians.
Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON
Mr. Speaker, bees play an essential role in pollinating crops such as corn, soybeans, and canola. In fact, one-third of our diet depends on pollinated plants. But for the past decade, bee colonies have been under stress, with higher than average losses. In fact, in the province of Ontario, 58% of the bee population died over the winter of 2013-14.
President Obama has actually announced plans to reduce bee losses in the United States, but here in Canada, the government is doing nothing. Where is the plan?
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure where the member has been. We have actually financed some major significant investments in bee health going forward, but here are a few stats he may have missed.
The country's total number of bee colonies has increased by 136,000 since 2008. Canadian beekeepers are producing almost 26,000 more pounds of honey than five years ago. Honey farm cash receipts have increased by $65,000 per farm since 2008, and in 2012, beekeepers produced 90 million pounds of honey worth $173 million, so those are some pretty good stats.
Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense.
We lost over 25% of our bees last winter. In Quebec alone, losses have doubled in the past 10 years. All of our crops rely on pollination. The problem is that bee populations are shrinking at an alarming rate in North America.
The United States has a plan. The European Union has banned insecticides and pesticides. Even Ontario has reduced the use of those products.
My question is simple: Where is the government's plan to protect the health of our bees?
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the opposition could not be more wrong. They continually are on the wrong side of the issue. Of course, the European Union has a moratorium, not a ban.
As I said, the country's total number of bee colonies has increased by 136,000 hives since 2008. Production of honey has gone up by 90 million pounds, worth some $173 million.
As much as year to year there are variances in bee populations, of course overall we need bees to pollinate our crops. Farmers are the environmentalists on the front lines of this, and there is no way they would intentionally harm those little bees.
Francine Raynault NDP Joliette, QC
Mr. Speaker, during my most recent meeting with the UPA, everyone around the table had the same question on the tip of their tongue. Everyone wanted to know whether supply management was on the negotiating table for the trans-Pacific partnership. We know that the Conservatives were not shy about sacrificing certain parts of our system for the agreement with the European Union.
Can the Conservatives tell us whether supply management is on the negotiating table for the trans-Pacific partnership?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of State (Small Business and Tourism
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform my colleague that we will be signing a free trade agreement very soon, I hope, with the Asia-Pacific countries, as we have done with other countries such as South Korea, while protecting and promoting supply management.
The three pillars of supply management are production control, producer pricing and import control. We have always defended the supply management system.
To my colleague, I would say that in keeping with our practice, we will continue to defend our farmers' interests.
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Mr. Speaker, sacrificing supply management is not the only thing hurting all of our farmers. The Conservatives are also cutting investment in agriculture. That will hurt economic development in our regions, such as Beauharnois—Salaberry.
Many family farms are already having a hard time hiring workers and making ends meet. Now the Conservatives' financial support is disappearing, even though the agri-food sector creates one out of every eight jobs in Canada.
Why are family farms not a priority in the Conservatives' budget?
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the family farm has always been a priority for this government, and 98% of agriculture across this country is still family controlled and family run. We celebrate that. We have a complete suite of business risk programming as well as other programming that helps to incent agriculture to be as efficient and as effective as it possibly can be. We have had two record years in a row of farm-gate returns, which of course, would be decimated by a carbon tax that the NDP would put in.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, let me give the House an example of Conservative incompetence. Members are familiar with the live-in caregiver program, a program that has helped thousands of Canadians throughout all regions of our country. This is true Conservative incompetence: in three months, 750 applicants and a 97% refusal rate. The current Conservative government does not believe in the live-in caregiver program.
My question to the minister is this: Why is it that the government does not recognize the benefits of the live-in caregiver program that has helped so many thousands of Canadians over the last number of years?
Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite has just given us another example of the Liberal legacy of decades of darkness on immigration. There were backlogs in the caregiver program that resulted in caregivers being separated from their families for up to a decade. We have taken action. We are eliminating that backlog—
