Debates of May 4th, 2015

Citizen Voting Act

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at the second reading stage of Bill C-50.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #393

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Public Safety

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, I have risen in this House in the last couple of weeks in regard to the violence taking place in my city of Surrey. We have had 25 shootings in the last eight weeks, and people are very concerned. The parents are concerned, the neighbours are concerned, and the entire community is concerned about the type of violence that is taking place. We have had 25 shootings, and one young person has been killed.

The number one responsibility of the government is to ensure public safety. I have repeatedly asked questions in this House, yet the Conservatives have failed to provide very simple answers as to what the government is going to do to ensure that we have some sort of public safety in the city of Surrey. The government needs to take steps to ensure that people are safe in their homes, at their workplaces, and in their communities, and that does not seem to be happening.

On the one hand, the current government pretends to be tough on crime, yet when it comes to public safety, it is very soft in regard to providing the resources our community needs. Our community needs resources. We need more boots on the ground, and we need additional programs that help prevent our kids from getting into these activities.

I have a bill in this House, a private member's motion, that asks that sustainable and long-term funding be available for gang-prevention programs. Last week I asked the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness a question, and the parliamentary secretary responded to that question. She pointed out that apparently the Conservatives have allocated $2.8 million since 2006.

I would like to know from the minister or the parliamentary secretary the itemized annual amounts for the spending. What departments are involved, and for what amounts? What components are grants or contributions? What is the government's definition of “crime prevention”?

These are the types of questions my community is asking. This is all the stuff that is going backwards, and I want to know what the Conservatives are doing right now to ensure that we have public safety as a top priority. The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness has said it is $3 million. We have heard $2.8 million. Which is it, $2.8 million or $3 million? Can it be itemized over the years?

We are not getting any response from the Conservatives, and they have provided no new initiatives so that my community can look forward to some safety. I am asking very plain and simple questions on behalf of my community. The people in my community are concerned. I am concerned. Can the minister please provide some answers?

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, of course, our Conservative government has taken strong action to keep British Columbians and all Canadians safe. We have passed tough new laws to clean up our streets and put gang members behind bars where they belong. In fact, we have passed over 30 new tough on crime measures, including new prison sentences for drive-by shootings. Shockingly but not surprisingly that very same member, the NDP and the Liberals voted against these common sense measures.

We have also made significant investments in the RCMP to ensure that there are enough front-line police officers in our communities. Contrast this with the previous Liberal government which actually closed down the RCMP training depot because it did not want to pay for new recruits.

Canadians know they can trust our Conservative government to keep them safe, to provide the resources, funding and the measures necessary through legislation. They can also count on us, because we are pleased to approve the request for additional support to the community of Surrey to combat crime. Why? Because Canadians will not tolerate being held hostage in their own communities by thugs and criminals who are members of street gangs.

I do appreciate the member for Surrey North wanting to improve his community. However, I would like to ask that same member why he has not supported a single tough on crime measure that our government has introduced. Here he is standing in the House asking for support, but he has not supported a single measure that we have brought forward. He actually has voted against every single measure that we have brought forward to combat criminals, crime and keep gangsters behind bars. He even voted against making the youth gang prevention fund a permanent program.

The member mentioned funding for crime prevention. We have actually invested $2.8 million in his riding for crime prevention alone. Here we go again; he is standing in this House asking for resources, but he voted against absolutely everything this government has done to help his constituents.

I also agree with the member for Surrey North that crime is a big problem. It is why I am a Conservative member of Parliament, because we are the only party that can be trusted to keep Canadians safe. I would encourage the member to become part of the solution as well.

[Jasbir Sandhu, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I did not hear any answer in that. Instead, the member went on to blame the Liberals nine years ago. This issue has been occurring in the last five or six years.

I asked very simple questions of the member to give me the itemized numbers for the $2.8 million that she talked about. I do have another late show next week, so if the member does not have the numbers today, she can bring the numbers next Wednesday. I will be coming back here and asking for additional resources for my community.

My community needs help now. The Conservative government is failing to deliver. The Conservatives talk about what happened in the last 10 years, but there are shootings going on in my community now. The Conservative government is failing to deliver for the citizens of Surrey.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the NDP is simply not listening to what the government has said. I stood up just a moment ago and told the member that we were pleased to approve the request for additional support to the community of Surrey to combat crime. Those constituents in his riding know that we are the only political party in this House that will provide the necessary funding, the legislative tools, as well as invest in crime prevention.

Again, we have passed 30 tough new laws to clean up our streets and put gang members behind bars where they belong. Those are pieces of legislation that the NDP has voted against. There are significant investments in the RCMP to ensure there are enough front-line police office in communities. In fact, we increased the investments to our national security and the RCMP seven times. That member voted against every single one of them.

Let us get back to what Canadians can expect. They know that with this Conservative government they can expect three things: legislative tools to keep Canadians safe, funding for law enforcement agencies, and funding for crime prevention as well.

Health

[Bruce Hyer, Green, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 1958, Lester Pearson and Tommy Douglas collaborated to develop our world-class universal health care system in which every Canadian, regardless of their status, would receive medical care. At that time, funding for this system was split evenly at fifty-fifty between the federal and provincial governments.

Close to 50 years have passed, and much has changed. The federal government's share of the cost is now less than half of what it was at that time. Over the past decade alone, the cost of Canadian health care has risen by about 50%. This is quite worrying, since the cost of providing health care is growing faster than our economy and our population.

This increase in cost does not seem to be tied to improvements in the quality of treatments that Canadians are receiving. Wait times are as long as ever, and acute care hospitals like the one in Thunder Bay—Superior North have been in gridlock for years

On January 26, the Thunder Bay hospital had nearly 100 more patients than beds. Patients, most of them seniors, were piled almost on top of each other, like cordwood on cots in hallways. What is most worrying is that as Canada's population ages, there seems to be no relief in sight for our health care system.

Canada needs some real leadership that is willing to take responsibility, invest in health care and address the needs of our aging population. The Conservatives have instead decided to offload those responsibilities and their growing costs onto already overburdened provinces.

The Canadian health care system is in need of some serious attention. The last thing it needs now is for the Conservatives to cut and run as they are doing.

It is the most vulnerable members of Canadian society who suffer the most from the government's irresponsibility. Canadians living in rural, northern or aboriginal communities are facing a doctor shortage much worse than the rest of Canada. Our hats go off to rural physicians who struggle to take up the slack, like our own doctor, John Jackson-Hughes, did for 39 years in Nipigon, Ontario, in my riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North, before retiring this week. Even in urban Thunder Bay, one third of our families have no family doctor.

Historically, the federal government's role in health care has been to ensure that these kinds of discrepancies in care do not occur. However, in March, 2014, the Canada health accord was allowed to expire without any sort of plan to renew it or even replace it. Canada is the only country in the G20 without any national health care strategy, and it is starting to show. Canada's global ranking in health care performance is dramatically decreasing, and the government's reckless cuts are only going to further increase that problem.

Canadians can, however, take comfort in the knowledge that Canada is a world leader when it comes to handouts to oil companies. The IMF has pegged the Conservative government's subsidies to fossil fuel companies at $34 billion per year. If that money were directed toward improving the health of Canadians, rather than lining the pockets of some of the wealthiest corporations on earth, we would be well on our way to solving this issue.

Poll after poll shows that Canadians consistently put health care among the issues most important to us. Why does the government place its priorities so far from those of Canadians? It is time for the Conservatives to start listening to Canadians. It is time for a national health care strategy.

Do the Conservatives have any plan to restore the Canadian health care system? If so, we would love to see it.

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address the comments from the hon. member, with respect to health care funding.

Our government is committed to a strong, publicly funded, universally accessible health care system that is there for all Canadians, both today and into the future. That is why we have continued to increase health funding to record levels while, at the time, ensuring that our government's long-term fiscal position is sustainable, in order to continue to support the provision of high-quality health care services that Canadians have come to expect.

In 2015-16, our government will provide $34 billion to provinces and territories in cash support through the Canada health transfer. This ongoing federal investment will continue to increase, surpassing $40 billion by the end of the decade. Even through the economic downturn, we have increased health transfers to the provinces and the territories to unprecedented levels. Combine this with the fact that health spending growth in Canada has actually slowed in recent years, and federal support for health care is even more significant.

In fact, health spending has not exceeded economic growth since 2011. In 2014, provincial and territorial government health spending growth was forecasted to be at 1.9%, which is the lowest rate observed since the mid-1990s. All indications are that this trend of reduced health spending growth will continue into the future.

Notwithstanding, our government has committed to extend the 6% Canada health transfer escalator through 2016-17, providing provinces and territories with additional fiscal room to meet their health care needs as they continue to address their respective priorities. The renewed Canada health transfer will provide provinces and territories with the certainty, stability and additional fiscal flexibility to undertake needed reforms to make the system more effective and sustainable.

Of course, improving health care is about more than just funding levels. It will require innovation to make the most efficient use of available resources. The federal government already plays a key role in supporting health care innovation and improvement, with investments of close $1 billion per year through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. On any given day, we are supporting close to 13,000 researchers across Canada who are working to discover new ways of treating illnesses and delivering health care.

In addition, our government supports pan-Canadian organizations, such as the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, which serve as catalysts for building capacity and sharing innovations across the country. I am pleased to note that economic action plan 2015 would commit $14 million, over two years, for the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement.

Provinces, territories and stakeholders all agree that health care innovation can play a critical role in addressing health care challenges. Given the importance of innovation in health care, in June 2014, we launched the advisory panel on health care innovation to explore how our government can foster innovation, and improve patient care and the sustainability of Canada's health care system. The panel has been asked to identify promising areas of innovation in Canada, and internationally, that have the potential to improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of our health care system. The panel will report back in June 2015, offering its recommendations on how our government can best support needed change.

We are also creating partnerships in order to help the provinces and territories carry out innovative health reforms and deliver tangible results for Canadians.

Clearly, we will continue to ensure that our health care system will endure as a source of national pride.

[Bruce Hyer, Green, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the numbers speak for themselves. Conservatives have only $40 billion for health care per year versus $34 billion in subsidies to fossil fuel companies.

How can the current government consider subsidizing fossil fuel companies, some of the richest companies in the world, to be even remotely as valuable as our universal health care system?

Canadian families and, especially, seniors are feeling the pinch right now. With our aging population, things will only get worse if the current government continues to ignore the need for a national health care strategy.

When will the current government finally start prioritizing health care, and are the rumours true that if the Conservatives get another false majority, we will be seeing more cuts to health care and more privatization of that health care?

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government remains fully committed to a publicly funded, universally accessible health care system that provides health care for all Canadians.

That is why we have continued to increase health funding to record levels. Since our government took office, federal support through the Canada health transfer has increased by nearly 70%. The transfer will continue to increase, reaching over $40 billion by the end of the decade.

Our government also remains the largest investor in Canadian health research. In partnership with the provinces, territories and stakeholders, we will continue to strive to strengthen health care through investments in research and innovation.

To summarize, our government is clearly demonstrating our commitment to the future of Canada's health care system through fair and sustainable health care funding, support for research, and fostering partnerships in the pursuit of an innovation agenda that will further the equality, accessibility, and sustainability of our great health care system.

Quebec Bridge

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House on behalf of Québec, the most beautiful riding, which I am fortunate enough to represent.

As members know, I have brought up a number of topics in the House. Everyone will certainly recall the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre, which I saved after two and a half years of hard work. I pressed the Conservatives and forced them to take action because it did not make any sense to hang the sword of Damocles over the only officially bilingual centre in the country. That is what we must remember. This was obviously a success for me, and getting the Conservatives to reconsider their decision was a success for the NDP. We can now trust that the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre will be there to save lives. That is a big deal.

Of course, I have worked on other files. For example, there is the Quebec City armoury, which I am pleased to know will finally be getting off the ground. This is no easy task, since it burned down in April 2008. It is now May 2015 and we are waiting for the backhoe loader to show up. We know it is coming. The tendering process has started. Little by little the Conservatives are starting to budge, but they keep turning this into a campaign issue, saying that they will take care of it. It has been a long time. We really need to push this.

I would also like to comment on the Quebec Bridge. In the Conservatives' latest budget, there is nothing at all about the Quebec Bridge. About 60% of the bridge is covered with rust. Its integrity is compromised. It is Quebec City's trademark. It is an incredible architectural feat and an icon of our heritage, a symbol of our beautiful city. Unfortunately, the government is slow and is hiding behind CN and the courts. It is doing nothing to protect this infrastructure. People in Quebec City are very worried, of course. They hope the government will respond. People were very sad to see that, unfortunately, there is nothing about it in the budget and nothing for the Port of Québec either. As everyone knows, the Port of Québec has some issues related to health concerns. These concerns have not been addressed. There have been several dust incidents. Nobody knows if the port will be able to upgrade its infrastructure given the needs.

Quebec City is a sort of peninsula jutting out into the St. Lawrence River. Windy weather hits Quebec City hard. We have unbelievable winds. We also have very high tides. As a result of all of these factors, the episodes of dust can cause pollution in my colleague's riding of Limoilou, but also in Old Quebec and even Lévis, on the south shore, which is our Conservative opponents' territory. We must do something about this. Unfortunately, once again, there was nothing in this budget regarding the Port of Québec.

The only thing there was in the most recent budget—and I am going to take credit for it—has to do with the Quebec City tall ships. I hounded the Conservatives non-stop and we finally managed to get something in the budget, an investment. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the details and so I am asking the Conservatives to give us some more information.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague must not have been at school the day they were learning about humility.

It is unbelievable to hear the misinformation that is being spread by the NDP. They are an invisible team of phantom MPs. They appear in the House every once in awhile because they have a whip who forces them to be here and then they disappear again to who knows where.

Since many of my colleague's statements were wrong, I will begin with the Quebec Bridge. Our government has committed funding to repaint the Quebec Bridge. We put money on the table to move forward on this issue. We worked closely with the Province of Quebec, the City of Quebec and the City of Lévis on this. On this side of the House, we work with others. We do not impose our vision on others like the NDP and the Liberal Party do.

While we have delivered the money for the project and we are working with the community, we are calling on CN to come to the table and commit to providing the rest of the funds needed to complete it. I would remind the member that it is CN that owns the bridge, and therefore, it must do its part when it comes to repainting the bridge. It is the simplest thing, but even that seems to go over the heads of the NDP.

I would also like to point out that the only thing the NDP has done in this file is organize a photo contest to pay tribute to the bridge. Yes, that is the only thing that party has done for the bridge. I hope they at least took a nice picture of themselves, to put in an album, to frame and hang on a wall or to put on a milk carton, because people are wondering what happened to the NDP since the last election.

In her question, my colleague said that we are doing nothing for the tall ships. It seems that she has not read the budget. Here is a quote:

We are pretty happy. Ours is the only project in Canada that was mentioned [in the budget]....We are very happy....

I just quoted the mayor of Quebec City, Régis Labeaume. Here is what the president of Rendez-vous naval de Québec had to say:

To have this event specifically named in the budget reassures us that it is important to the Government of Canada.

He also talked about the pressure caused by the deadline and said that he still had until the end of May to sign the agreements for organizing this event.

I will leave the NDP to make its criticisms in its corner.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense. This government, and that member in particular, have no credible arguments.

They have no credible arguments regarding the bridge. Even though they announced that they were allocating money, they are hiding behind CN. They are not taking action. That is money that we will never see in Quebec City.

They are hiding behind CN, saying that their hands are tied because CN is the owner. Get real. Has the government become so bad that it cannot take action when someone else is the owner? I guess it cannot create legislation to protect infrastructure. After all, it is just the Canadian government. It could not possibly get involved in the affairs of multinationals.

I deplore what was said and I am very disappointed in my Canada.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since my colleague does not seem to have understood, I will say it once more. The bridge is owned by CN, and we believe that CN should contribute financially to the project.

We will work with the province, Quebec City and the City of Lévis. We are working with our partners on this file. We are not holding a photo contest to find the absentee members who have dropped off the map since May 2, 2011.

The recent budget also confirms that we will be supporting the Rendez-vous naval de Québec. Tenders were put out at the beginning of the year for the rebuilding of the Quebec City Armoury. We are funding several projects in Quebec City, such as the expansion of the Musée national des beaux-arts, the PEPS project, the construction of the Augustinian Monastery Museum, and the construction of the ice oval.

Being present and being absent are two entirely different things.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:28 p.m.)