Debates of May 5th, 2015

National Defence

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, reviewing them? The Conservatives should be following them.

While on tour in Iraq and Kuwait, Canadian media signed and respected the directive from DND not to publish images of special forces soldiers for security reasons, but the Prime Minister's Office did not, and posted a series of videos showing the faces of Canadian soldiers.

We gather that these videos have been pulled down for now, but there remains a simple question. Why is the Prime Minister's Office breaking rules intended to protect the safety of our forces just to make promotional videos for the Prime Minister, and who over there will take responsibility for this fiasco?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, we regret this error. These images were taken down and they will not be re-posted.

We are very proud of our members of the special operations forces who are stationed in Erbil, in northern Iraq, aiding and assisting the Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga to ensure we are able to defend that region and protect Canadians from the Islamic State, a death cult with genocidal tendencies.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the parliamentary secretary acknowledged that the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service looked into allegations of prisoner mistreatment in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. According to him, there was no mistreatment.

Now it appears that there was a second investigation, this one by Lieutenant-Colonel Sylvie Beaudry, requested by the provost marshal. Was the minister aware of this second investigation and report, and what were its conclusions?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated yesterday, the government is aware of these investigations. This happened several years ago. They found that there were no grounds for any charges to be laid.

We have always said that we do not approve of any misconduct by military members. However, members of the Canadian Armed Forces consistently demonstrate tremendous professionalism, particularly with respect to protecting and promoting human rights, and working under international law when they are dealing with prisoners of war.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, there needs to be more transparency about these reports if the Conservatives want the public's trust.

There was also troubling news today about a directive by the Department of National Defence that would allow Canadian forces to seek out and share information, even if it could put someone in foreign custody at serious risk of torture. We already know that this directive, which violates Canada's international obligations, is in place for four other Canadian security agencies.

Will the minister immediately disclose the contents of the directives that he has given to the Department of National Defence?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, there is no policy in place as alluded to by the member. We always act with the utmost professionalism and ensure that the Canadian forces have the tools they need.

I just want to remind the member why we are over in Iraq and carrying out combat missions in Syria. It is because we believe that ISIL is a threat to us in Canada. We will co-operate with our coalition partners to ensure that the ethnic and religious minorities that have been targeted by ISIS are no longer submitted to its genocidal threats.

Ethics

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Senate expense scandal is an illustration of this government's mismanagement.

Just as we are learning that 10 or so other senators are under criminal investigation by the RCMP, the crown prosecutor is trying to prevent a Senate report from being submitted as evidence at former senator Duffy's trial—

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order. I believe I have already made a ruling on questions on this issue.

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think you will agree that it is the responsibility of government to ensure transparent accountability in all areas of spending.

This is very concerning, since the Prime Minister himself made a promise to Canadians that he would clean up the backroom culture of corruption in Ottawa, but that has not happened. Now we are seeing that at least 10 other senators who may have been involved in financial misconduct—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway.

International Trade

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, despite Conservative spin, the numbers do not lie.

Canada just posted a $3 billion record trade deficit in March, and this followed a $2 billion deficit in February. Now we see the Conservatives starting to cave in at the TPP table. After being asked to affirm his support for Canada's supply manage sectors, the Prime Minister ducked, dodged and dissembled.

Will the government stand in the House and clearly tell Canadian consumers, farmers and rural communities that it will completely defend Canada's dairy, poultry and egg industries in all trade talks?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, our government continues to promote Canadian interests across all sectors, in all regions of Canada at the TPP negotiating table.

That has never prevented us from actually securing trade agreements that protect our farmers and promote the interests of our farmers. We make no apologies for ensuring that any deal reached must be in Canada's best interest.

As always, we will only sign an agreement that is, indeed, in Canada's best interests.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, we cannot trust this government to stand up for Canadians. Farmers are not the only ones who are worried about the future of supply management in Canada. The agriculture ministers for Quebec and Ontario are asking the Conservatives to commit to defending supply management in the discussions on the trans-Pacific partnership. Will the Conservatives do what Quebec and Ontario are asking and confirm their support for supply management today, in no uncertain terms?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the New Democrats, who do nothing to promote trade, we have reached agreements with over 38 countries since we took office. We have always protected and promoted the supply management system. Poultry, egg and dairy producers are in good stead, and we are going to continue to defend all of Canada's industries.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

In good stead, Mr. Speaker? The Conservatives are saying one thing, but doing another. The Prime Minister's recent statements on the future of supply management are worrisome to Ontario and Quebec. The Prime Minister said that Canada faces “difficult choices” in the trans-Pacific partnership negotiations. He said that Canada cannot, alone, stop a deal from happening if we do not like it.

I have a simple question for the Conservatives. Will they defend supply management, yes or no?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, the past is an indication of the future. In the past, we have signed free trade agreements with many countries, including the European Union and South Korea. We have always made sure to promote the interests of all industrial and agri-food sectors. I would invite the opposition members to support these free trade agreements because we know that freedom brings prosperity to Canada.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives like to brag about the number of trade deals they have done, but in March they presided over the largest trade deficit of $3 billion in Canada's history. That makes, for the first quarter, a trade deficit of $7 billion.

This weakness is especially worrying, given Statistic Canada's recent report that businesses intend to cut R and D spending by 2.6% this year, a worrying indicator for the future. The numbers do not lie.

When will the government stop hiding behind absolutely ludicrous talking points on the TFSA and admit that its economic policies are failing Canadians?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we will put up our record on trade against the Liberal record any day.

The last time the Liberals spoke seriously about trade was in 1993 when they were threatening to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement. Today their idea of trade is to legalize the illegal trade of marijuana.

On this side of the House, we are standing up for law-abiding citizens.

Taxation

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very simple question for the government.

The NDP has already come out against it. Do the Conservatives oppose a tax hike for people who earn $200,000 or more to give back to the middle class, yes or no?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals want to increase the taxes of people who earn less than $60,000 a year.

In fact, two-thirds of people who maxed out their tax-free savings accounts earn less than $60,000 a year. Are we in favour of the Liberal plan to increase their taxes? No, we are absolutely not going to hike the taxes of the middle class.

We are going to cut the taxes of families to help them keep more of their money. We also oppose the Liberal plan to eliminate income splitting for our seniors, because it is irresponsible.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal plan would help the middle class and those Canadians who are working hard to join it. It would include the Canada child benefit, a tax-free monthly benefit that would be bigger, simpler and fairer than the Conservative plan.

Under the Liberal plan, a family with two children and an income of $45,000 would receive $4,000 per year, more than under the Conservatives. Under the Conservative plan, it is the wealthy who get the tax breaks.

Why do the Conservatives not understand that they can do more for the people who need it if they do less for the people who do not?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leader admitted yesterday that even after all of his tax increases, he would have a $2 billion hole in his plan. Even after raising taxes on those people who use tax-free savings accounts, he would have a $2 billion hole. Even after cancelling the Conservative family tax cut and replacing it with a Liberal family tax hike, he would have a $2 billion hole.

We know that with this $2 billion hole, and I think Alex Trebek would agree, under the Liberal tax increase, paycheques of Canadians would truly be in jeopardy.

Public Safety

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, firefighters are the first responders in many terrible situations. It is our duty to help them by providing training to volunteer firefighters and treatment to those suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Despite their promises, the Conservatives and some Liberals voted against the NDP's bill. The bill would have provided volunteer firefighters with protections when they have to take time off work.

Why does the government not care about this problem and why is it abandoning those who protect our lives on a daily basis?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be part of a government that recognized the operational stress injuries of federal employees, including our soldiers.

Representatives of civil society and various fire departments and police forces are on Parliament Hill today. As first responders, these individuals sometimes face considerable challenges.

Obviously, we respect provincial jurisdictions. We will continue to work with our partners, but today, let us take a moment to recognize the significant challenges our first responders face in situations that are sometimes difficult and tragic.

I want to thank them for the important work they do for Canadians.