Debates of May 29th, 2015

The Economy

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, since coming to office, our government has had one of the best job-creation records in the G7, and we are leading in economic growth.

While we are focused on creating jobs, the Liberals are pushing a high-tax, high-debt agenda that will threaten jobs and set working families back. Their leader even said, “We’re looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario”. For people earning $60,000, that means an extra $1,000 of tax that they will have to pay each year.

Employment

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a little less bragging and little more action is what Canadians are looking for.

It is no wonder Conservatives are failing on the economy. The Minister of Finance thinks the answer to our shrinking economy is to weaken labour protections and make it easier to fire workers.

The Prime Minister claimed that he was just talking about Greece, but the minister's office said, no, that he was talking about France. However, mixed-up Conservative excuses are not fooling anyone.

When will Conservatives stop using attacks on workers and their rights as a smokescreen for their economic mismanagement?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance said no such thing. He was talking about the situation in European countries like Greece and France where their liberal policies have resulted in out-of-control deficits and out-of-control spending. As a result, there have been tax hikes, massive layoffs and cuts in services, the same thing the Liberal government did in the 1990s because of its own financial mismanagement.

In contrast, our government has balanced the budget, while giving benefits directly to families and reducing taxes on the middle class. However, the Liberals and the NDP want to take those benefits away and raise taxes on the middle class.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have a nasty habit of attacking the middle class in international forums. In Davos in 2012, the Prime Minister announced that Canadians will have to work an additional two years before they can retire. At a G7 meeting on Wednesday, the Minister of Finance announced that employers need to be able to lay off employees more easily to create jobs. Unbelievable.

Do the Conservatives not understand that in order to have a strong economy we need to create jobs for the middle class?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance said no such thing. As I said, he was talking about the situation in European countries like Greece and France.

Let me tell members what we are doing in Canada. While we are letting middle-class Canadians choose how they want to spend and save their money, the Liberals and the NDP want to raise payroll taxes. The Liberal leader announced that he would dramatically hike payroll taxes on middle-class Canadians. He even said, “We’re looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario”. For people earning $60,000, that means an extra $1,000 in taxes that they will have to pay each year.

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have no one to blame but themselves for the slow demise of the middle class.

Statistics Canada has confirmed that the Conservatives' unbalanced policies are undermining job creation and hurting our economy. Our GDP dropped 0.6% in the first three months of 2015. Canadians are working harder and harder, but they are struggling to make ends meet under the Conservatives.

Will the government get its priorities in order and create jobs for the middle class instead of trying to eliminate jobs?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, this is a further indication of global economic uncertainty and how it is affecting Canada, which is why we must continue with our low-tax plan for jobs and growth, a plan that is working. Since the depths of the recession, over 1.2 million net new jobs have been created. These are overwhelmingly full-time private sector jobs in high-wage industries.

However, the Liberal leader's proposed dramatic payroll tax would kill jobs in Canada. In fact, the CFIB survey of employers in Ontario said that 69% would have to freeze or cut salaries, and 53% would have to lay off workers if this were to happen.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should know that the Reuters' reporter himself confirmed that the finance minister's comments were not related to Greece.

We learned this morning that the Canadian economy shrank during the first quarter of this year. The Minister of Finance is in Europe, and he is saying that we need to cut jobs in order to grow the economy.

My question is simple. How many jobs does the minister think we need to cut in order to grow our economy?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the finance minister said no such thing. The GDP number is a further indication of global economic uncertainty, which is why we must continue with our low-tax plan for jobs and growth, a plan that is working. The Bank of Canada, the OECD and the IMF are all projecting another year of economic growth in Canada.

However, the Liberal leader is proposing a dramatic payroll tax hike that would kill jobs in Canada. As I mentioned, the CFIB survey of employers in Ontario said that 69% would have to freeze or cut salaries, and 53% would have to terminate jobs to cope with the added costs of an increase in the CPP.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, while the finance minister lectures G7 countries on how to get economic growth by firing people, GDP figures here at home destroy his credibility.

Under the current government, Canada's economy shrank in March. It also shrank in February, January, last November and last August. Joblessness is up by 200,000 more than before the recession. Business investment is down. Exports are down. We have suffered 51 months of trade deficits. The government's plan is producing no growth and no jobs. Why does it not change it?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is focused on what matters to Canadians: helping families make ends meet by lowering taxes and protecting and creating jobs. Since coming to office, our government has had one of the best job creation records in the G7, and we are leading in economic growth.

While we are focused on creating jobs, the Liberal leader's only solution is raising taxes. Members do not have to take my word for it, this is what 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”. For people earning $60,000, that means an extra $1,000 in taxes every year that they will have to pay under his scheme.

Pensions

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Well, the Hudak job plan did not work, Mr. Speaker.

In a chronically weak economy, retirement security is a big middle-class issue. Under the Conservative government, three-quarters of those working in the private sector do not have a company pension. The average 35-year old is saving less than half of what his or her parents did. Of those in their 50s, only a third have saved $100,000 or more, and another third, especially in the middle class, have no retirement savings at all.

All of the government's gimmicks have failed. Why does it not work constructively with the provinces on a real plan?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is our Conservative government that has fought for seniors. We have increased the GIS by the largest amount in a quarter century. The opposition members voted against it. We have introduced pension income splitting for seniors. They voted against it.

Economic action plan 2015 introduces even more support for seniors, such as the new home accessibility tax credit, more compassionate care benefits, and lower required RRIF withdrawals. Those members want to raise taxes on seniors. We are putting money back into the pockets of Canadian seniors.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in northern Manitoba has been waiting 12 years for the approval of their treaty land entitlement.

The minister has given no reason for the delay, which is costing the first nation millions of dollars, money that could be spent to improve the lives of their people. They are among 15 first nations in Manitoba that are simply waiting for a signature from the minister.

When will the minister sign the ministerial order for the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, we take the matter of addition to reserve and TLE lands very seriously, as we do improving economic conditions on reserve.

That is why we have continued to invest in on-reserve infrastructure. We have continued to invest in communities across the country. Every time we do, the NDP votes against it. It would be nice to have it on side for once.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, for thousands of residential school survivors, next week's report marks the beginning of reconciliation, not the end.

As former AFN national chief Phil Fontaine said, the Prime Minister's 2008 apology will be meaningless unless he takes action following the commission's report. Will the Prime Minister show that he is prepared to act in good faith by attending the final event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission next week?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the government will be represented at all TRC events. Our government remains committed to a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of Indian residential schools, as acknowledged in the Prime Minister's historic apology on behalf of all Canadians in 2008. There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential school system to ever prevail again.

While the TRC is closing, the work to heal the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians needs to continue. Our government will continue to fulfill its obligations as set out in the Indian residential school settlement agreement.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, our question was about the Prime Minister. This is a national, historic event and we want to hear that the Prime Minister will be in attendance.

As for looking forward, reconciliation means not just saying “sorry” but changing behaviour. Twenty years after the last residential school closed, first nations children receive less funding for education than other Canadian children. They receive less funding for health and for social services.

More children now are in state care than at the height of the residential schools. We cannot promise reconciliation and continue to treat first nations as second-class citizens.

What is the government's plan to make its apology real?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister made an historic apology on behalf of all Canadians in 2008, the government recognized that the Indian residential schools caused great harm and had no place in Canada.

While we cannot undo the past, we can learn from it. We have taken the steps necessary to bring in closure to the legacy of the Indian residential schools. We will continue to promote reconciliation between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians.

[Jonathan Genest-Jourdain, NDP, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' dismal record speaks for itself.

Here are a few of many examples. We have the Conservatives' refusal to properly fund education for aboriginal youth, their refusal to hold a national inquiry on the fate of 1,200 missing or murdered aboriginal women, and, lastly, their completely ineffective housing program. However, in 2008, the Prime Minister personally made a commitment to reconciliation.

Was his official apology for Indian residential schools just hot air?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, it was our Prime Minister and this government that, after decades of waiting, delivered that historic apology on behalf of all Canadians. It was the Prime Minister who did that.

Speaking of shoddy records, the opposition has a lot to answer for because every time we invest on reserve, if we try to give matrimonial property rights to women on reserve, if we try to bring up waste water and water standards on reserve, it is always there to oppose us. Why does the opposition not get on board as we work with first nations to improve conditions on reserve?

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a matter of respect, to never forget all of the children who did not return home.

My colleagues, my leader and I will be attending the closing events of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which start on Sunday. We will be there to hear from survivors and to hear the commission's findings.

My question is very simple. Will the Prime Minister make the first gesture of reconciliation? Will the Prime Minister be there?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister did make the first gesture of reconciliation on the floor of the House of Commons with his apology to residential school survivors, in 2008. We continue to work with first nations across the country, and we will continue to be committed to a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of Indian residential schools. It was the Prime Minister and this government that took that step. We remain committed to that work.

Science and Technology

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is not only muzzling scientists across the country, but it is also imposing unnecessary rules that are paralyzing their research. For example, a Toronto research centre is having to meet absurd conditions in order to get new funding. This is jeopardizing the scientists' careers, the work in progress, and also Canada's reputation in science.

Will the minister of state fix this absurd situation immediately?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian federal departments and agencies produce over 4,000 science publications per year. Our economic action plan 2015 is positioning Canadian science to push the boundaries of knowledge, create jobs, and improve the quality of life of Canadians. In fact, since 2006, we have provided more than $13 billion toward research, development, innovation, infrastructure, and Canadian talent, including $1.5 billion in economic action plan 2015 alone. We only hope that the opposition parties would just once support us in those endeavours.