Debates of June 1st, 2015

Ethics

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have the right to know what is happening in the Prime Minister's Office. While we know that PMO staff doctored a report on senators' expenses at least seven times, the Auditor General is about to release his report on the expenses of 105 senators. Nearly half of all senators are under suspicion of fraud.

Why did the Prime Minister's Office try to hide the truth about the fraud committed by senators appointed by the Prime Minister?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. It was the senators themselves who actually invited the Auditor General in to review their expenses. We expect that all senators will participate and co-operate in this.

At the same time, we know the NDP members have their own problems with respect to 68 members of Parliament who owe $2.7 million back to the taxpayer for illegal offices that they funded in contravention of the rules in this place. In fact, the member for Scarborough Southwest is on the hook for $141,000, and he should do the right thing and repay the taxpayer.

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

Mr. Speaker, one of the sadder elements about this corrosive Senate scandal is the failure of the Prime Minister to show leadership and explain his role in undermining public trust in the Senate. We have learned that the vetting of senators is the sole responsibility of the Prime Minister and yet he refuses to explain what that process is or whether senators even are eligible to sit in the Senate. At the same time his Conservative colleagues in the upper chamber are sitting on a report that speaks to the issue of eligibility rules and whether they were followed.

The Prime Minister promised to clean up Ottawa. Why will he not come clean with Canadians? What is he trying to hide?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I said on a number of occasions, constitutional practice with respect to the appointment of senators has been clear for almost 150 years. What is also clear is that it is inappropriate to use taxpayer resources to fund political party offices.

Now in the officegate scandal hatched out of the Leader of the Opposition's own office, some 68 members of the NDP are now on the hook for $2.7 million. In a very awkward twist, when the member for Burnaby—Douglas was asked last week how he would pay the $170,000 he owed, he said that it was not his debt, that it was the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley's debt because he was the House leader at the time. Therefore, they are busy throwing each other under the bus as opposed to paying.

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

Mr. Speaker, when we see the mighty Prime Minister hiding behind that man, we know why so much of the front bench are getting out of town as fast as they can.

The Prime Minister is neck deep in this scandal. The RCMP named his staffers as being key in the coverup of issues of fraud and breach of trust. His senators tried to whitewash the audit.

We are on the eve of a new Auditor General report that could put 14 senators in jail. Why will the Prime Minister not stop hiding and come clean with Canadians. How many Conservatives need to be indicted before he will tell the truth about what happened with the coverup in his office?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, it was the Senate that invited the Auditor General in to audit its expenses, and it insists that it will co-operate in this.

At the same time, it is also very clear that 68 members of the NDP caucus, unfortunately for taxpayers, will be spending their summer in court, squished into the defendant's box of the court, trying to explain why they refuse to pay back $2.7 million to taxpayers. The NDP has a troubling pattern of abusing taxpayer dollars. It used $2.7 million for offices and $1 million for mail-outs. Just pay it back.

The Economy

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Friday's GDP numbers showed a 0.6% drop over the first quarter of 2015, a performance rightly described as “terrible” by a Bay Street economist.

The Governor of the Bank of Canada's previous remark about an “atrocious” start to the year has sadly been borne out. Most troubling was the 0.2% decline in March, a month which was supposed to show an economic rebound.

When will the Conservatives quit parroting their talking points, face this grim reality, and admit they have no effective plan for jobs and growth?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, this is a further indication of global economic uncertainty—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. Someone's phone is ringing. I do no know where it is coming from, but perhaps a smart young person in the lobby can help so we do not have to listen to it in here.

The hon. Minister of Finance is going to answer the question.

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is another indication of global economic uncertainty, which the G7 ministers of finance and governors of the central banks discussed in Dresden at the G7 meeting.

Since the depths of the recession, we have created over 1.2 million net new jobs. However, the Liberals and the NDP propose to hike payroll taxes, which would kill jobs. 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 their job-killing plan was introduced.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian economy has not just stalled, it is going in reverse. In fact, we are now half-way to a recession.

In response to Canada's bad job numbers, last week TD Bank said “While the headline number was bad, the underlying details were worse”. It points to a deep drop in investment, which is bad for future growth. Meanwhile, the finance minister says that to boost growth, we need to make it easier to fire workers.

How many more jobs does the minister think we need to lose before the Canadian economy can grow? How can the minister and the Conservatives be so out of touch with this slow growth economy and the challenges it is creating?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite understands, I said no such thing.

At the G7 meeting in Dresden, finance ministers and governors of the banks discussed Europe's slow growth. It is especially acute in several countries, which have adopted the type of high-tax and high-deficit policies that the Liberals and NDP are advocating here in Canada.

Our government's low-tax plan for jobs and growth will benefit Canadians right across the country.

Government Advertising

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government has no plan for jobs and growth, except in the advertising sector. It is not surprising that the entire cabinet is seized with developing slogans for partisan government advertising. Now, get this, every department and agency is forces to shill for the Prime Minister's 24 Seven vanity video site. My private member's bill, the elimination of partisan government advertising act, debated this morning, could put a stop to all of this right now.

With scarce taxpayer dollars and so many real needs in Canadian society, when will the government do the right thing, pass the bill and stop wasting millions and millions of dollars on taxpayer funded propaganda?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are informing Canadians of the valuable services and benefits that are available to them. For example, with the family tax cut and benefits, families can receive almost $2,000 for each child under 6, and $720 for kids aged 6 through 17. The Liberals plan to take away that money from parents, and that is why they do not want parents to know about the benefit in the first place.

That will not stop us. We are going to go out and ensure that 100% of families with kids under the age of 18 know that they are entitled to new benefits that will put money directly in their pockets.

Consumer Protection

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Conservatives, people are working harder than ever, and yet they are still living hand to mouth, unable to save any money.

Despite record profits in the billions of dollars, Canadian banks are still not satisfied. Customers are being charged to pay their bills and even to pay their mortgage. It is appalling. Transaction fees are constantly going up. Enough is enough.

Will the Conservatives ever stand up for the middle class and impose a mandatory code of conduct on their friends, the big banks?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands the concerns of Canadians who feel they are not getting their money's worth from bank fees.

That is why we are supporting the opposition motion. Banning the pay-to-pay fees imposed by banks is the kind of measure we plan to include in the mandatory financial consumer protection framework, which we promised to establish in economic action plan 2015.

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the government for supporting this motion, but let us be clear. When the NDP forced the government to ban pay-to-pay fees, the Conservatives made an exception for the banks. As a result, Canadians got their pockets picked to the tune of upwards of $180 million this year alone. We can get the job done now.

I have a simple question for the minister. Will he agree to pass legislation before the summer so no Canadian will ever be charged a pay-to-pay fee again?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have already introduced tough measures to protect Canadians from predatory bank practices, including obtaining commitments from the banks to end pay-to-pay practices for bills in the mail, implementing low-cost bank accounts and expanding no-cost banking options for more than seven million Canadians. We are very proud of our record.

Employment

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives are failing consumers on bank fees and they are also failing on the economy.

When the Governor of the Bank of Canada said that the economy would be “atrocious”, he was talking about zero growth, but the truth is even worse. Under the Conservative economic mismanagement, our economy is actually shrinking, with thousands of Canadians struggling to make ends meet and worried that their jobs might be the next to disappear.

When will the Conservatives drop their tired talking points and start taking action to protect Canadians and create jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals and NDP have only one plan on jobs, and that is to raise taxes on those who create them and the workers who do them. Raising taxes during this fragile global economic time would be a disaster. It would kill jobs and send shockwaves through our economy.

Our approach is the opposite. Through tax cuts, training and trade, our economy has generated 1.2 million net new jobs, 80% of them full time, two-thirds in high-wage sectors. That is the best relative job-creation record in the G7. We will keep cutting taxes and creating jobs.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about past economic performance, but about what is happening today.

When will the Conservatives realize that their economic policies are not working? Even the government's forecasts are way off the mark. It forecast a 1.2% increase in GDP in the first quarter, but it is no surprise that we had a 0.6% decrease instead. The Governor of the Bank of Canada was absolutely right when he predicted that the first quarter would be atrocious.

When will the Conservatives abandon their status quo economic policy and bring forward a real job creation plan?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government is focusing on what is important to Canadians: jobs and economic growth.

More than 1.2 million net new jobs have been created since the recession. Both the IMF and the OECD are forecasting that Canada will have the strongest growth of any G7 country in the years to come.

We know there is an impact from global economic slowdowns.

Pensions

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government has introduced multiple opportunities for Canadians to save more for their retirement. Could the Minister of State for Finance please update the House on our proposed idea for the Canada pension plan?

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Minister of State (Finance)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Don Valley West for the question. He is correct.

The Liberal leader said last week, “We're looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario.” We have already said that for someone earning $60,000, that is an extra tax hike of $1,000. A middle-class family with two incomes would be paying thousands of dollars.

While we are letting middle-class Canadians choose how they spend and save their money, the Liberal and the New Democrat plans are simply another tax hike.