House of Commons Hansard #221 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was consumers.
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, Burlington has more seniors per capita than any other community in the GTA. Burlingtonians and all Canadians deserve to have a strong and secure retirement so that they can enjoy their next chapter after their working lives.
Could the minister for employment please inform the House on the actions our government has taken to help Canadians with their retirement?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, last week the Liberal leader said, “We’re looking at an expansion and a mandatory expansion of the CPP of the type that Kathleen Wynne put forward in Ontario.”
The Kathleen Wynne plan is the federal Liberal plan. The numbers that the Ontario government has published suggest that a worker earning just $60,000 a year would face a $1,000 pay cut, but his employer, a small business, would also have to match that $1,000 tax increase, which according to the CFIB would lead to layoffs and further wage cuts.
This would send reverberations throughout the entire economy. That is why we will never support it.
Louis Plamondon Bloc Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, QC
Mr. Speaker, this morning, more than 300 workers took part in a demonstration to protest the hiring of foreign workers at the new Jean Coutu Group distribution centre in Varennes. The problem is simple: these Austrian workers are doing work on the construction site that is usually done by industrial mechanics from Quebec. The labour market impact assessment in this case is problematic or non-existent, unless the foreign workers obtained entrepreneur visas in order to get around the law.
Can the Minister of Employment and Social Development tell us whether these workers are here under the temporary foreign worker program or the entrepreneur visa program, and whether he intends to address this matter quickly?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank the hon. member for letting me know that he was going to ask this question.
We believe that every job in Quebec should be offered to Quebeckers first and that a temporary foreign worker should never push out a Canadian worker. That is why my department is currently reviewing this case. As soon as I have all the information, I will share it with the hon. member.
Sana Hassainia Independent Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website indicates that the average processing time for the renewal of a permanent resident card is 65 days. Why is it that 100 working days after submitting an application, it still has not been processed?
The work of a permanent resident in my riding requires him to travel outside Canada. This person could lose his job because Citizenship and Immigration Canada's processing times are too long and their procedures are interminable.
When he had still not obtained his card after five months, he had to submit an urgent application, but he heard nothing for eight days. That is unacceptable. Can this government explain what good this urgent processing service is?
Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I have to point out that it is practically irresponsible to raise such a question in the House rather than raising it in private. We cannot comment on individual cases. The member opposite should call the minister responsible if she wants everyone to be treated fairly.
We have been able to reduce backlogs everywhere, but there are some cases that are more complicated. They should be dealt with privately and not publicly in the House.
Sana Hassainia Independent Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Mr. Speaker, I understand what my hon. colleague is trying to say, but I brought up one of my constituents as an example of the general issue with wait times, not to address the specific case.
In the case of an urgent application, the website for Citizenship and Immigration Canada clearly states that it will contact applicants within two business days to inform them of whether it can speed up the application. It can be worrisome to not have heard anything after more than eight days when you have an upcoming business trip.
How can this taxpayer do his job?
This urgent processing system is clearly not working. When will this government take people's requests seriously, especially urgent ones? Will we have to create a second, third or fourth system to process urgent applications that have not yet been processed?
Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the members who truly care about their constituents' situations immediately contact the ministers or departments responsible to get results. That has always been our objective on this side. We do not set out to play politics with the individual cases of people who are obviously facing urgent situations abroad. We would like to help the hon. member, but in order to do so we need detailed information, which we have yet to receive.
Scott Andrews Independent Avalon, NL
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are at a loss to understand why the Government of Canada would rather risk losing a trade challenge and compensating the European Union than assist the Newfoundland and Labrador government through the promised fisheries investment fund.
Could the Minister of International Trade inform the House if his department has investigated the potential cost relating to compensating European interests, and what are those estimated costs?
Ed Fast ConservativeMinister of International Trade
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that our government remains committed to working out the details of an MPR fund with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The fund was always intended to compensate hard-working Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for actual losses arising out of the removal of MPRs. It makes sense. It was never intended to be a blank cheque that could be used to disadvantage the maritime provinces. Why will the member not stand up for the Atlantic provinces?
Federal officials remain open to receiving proposals from their provincial counterparts on how to implement the MPR fund. As yet, we have not received such a proposal.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Canadian Forces Day is an opportunity for Canadians across the country to recognize the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make on our behalf.
I am pleased to draw the attention of members to the presence in our gallery of nine members of the Canadian Forces, who are participating in Canadian Armed Forces Day today.
Petty Officer 1st Class Stephan Handerek; Master Seaman Andrew W.M. Brown; Corporal Jason A. Funnell; Sergeant Kyle Parker; Captain Joey A. Baker; Corporal Trevor R. Madge; Master Corporal Seth J. Van Loon; Sergeant Sophie S.M.C. Martel; and Sergeant David D.J.P. Roy-Lamontagne.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of former students and youth ambassadors participating in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Notice of MotionWays and MeansRoutine Proceedings
Madawaska—Restigouche New Brunswick
Conservative
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I wish to table a notice of ways and means motion to introduce an act to give effect to the Déline Final Self-Government Agreement and to make related and consequential amendments to other acts.
Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I ask that an order of the day be designated for the consideration of the motion.
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, I also have the honour to table, in both official languages, the the Déline Final Self-Government Agreement and the Déline Tax Treatment Agreement.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of CanadaRoutine Proceedings
Madawaska—Restigouche New Brunswick
Conservative
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand before you to reaffirm our government’s commitment to advancing reconciliation with aboriginal people who suffered from the residential school system.
This week marks the closing event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This event marks a significant milestone in the successful implementation of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, and in meeting the goal of moving towards healing, reconciliation and resolution of the sad legacy of the residential school system in Canada.
Today, to all former students who have come forward to speak about their experiences, to all who have shown extraordinary courage and resilience, to their families, and to everyone who has suffered from the impacts of this very dark chapter in our history, I would like to offer a statement of reconciliation.
The strength, determination, and resilience they and many former students I have met shared in discussing their experiences and in talking about the legacy of the Indian residential schools is admirable. These qualities are necessary to ensure that Canadians have a greater understanding of the long-standing harms caused by the Indian residential school system for aboriginal people across Canada.
On June 11, 2008, the Prime Minister apologized on behalf of the Government of Canada, and all Canadians, for the forcible removal of aboriginal children from their homes and communities to attend Indian residential schools.
In this historic apology, the Prime Minister recognized that there is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential school system to ever prevail again.
The apology affirmed Canada’s commitment to joining aboriginal peoples on a journey of healing towards reconciliation.
The commission was mandated with a unique opportunity to educate all Canadians on the Indian residential schools to forge a new relationship between aboriginal peoples and other Canadians. While this is the commission's closing event, the work to heal the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians must continue.
On this day, let us commit to taking one more step together to rebuild the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians. This renewed relationship requires sharing the truth.
Compiled through the work of the commission, the historical record of Indian residential schools made possible by the thousands of individuals who courageously came forward to tell their stories is an achievement of national significance. This profound and lasting record will help Canadians toward renewed relationships based on understanding and respect.
Reconciliation is a goal that will take the commitment of multiple generations, and the Government of Canada understands the importance of transforming how it works with aboriginal people and shifting attitudes and perceptions among all Canadians.
Reconciliation is an active process that requires ongoing engagement. The government looks forward to continuing dialogue with all Canadians, aboriginal and non-aboriginal alike, about advancing reconciliation.
To that end, Canada is committed to working toward reconciliation, building on the Prime Minister's historic 2008 apology to former students of Indian residential schools, their families and communities. This will be achieved by acknowledging, learning from and addressing past wrongs, being responsive to aboriginal peoples' expressed needs and priorities, actively engaging Canadians in reconciliation efforts, and commemorating the significant contributions of aboriginal peoples and cultures to Canadian society.
The stained glass window installed in the Centre Block of Parliament is a poignant reminder of the true meaning of reconciliation, not only for the members of Parliament who enter through the door above which it sits, but for all Canadians.
I am confident that we will be able to continue healing as a nation, building on the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is in this spirit that Canada pledges that it will continue its efforts to advance reconciliation.
To that end, Canada is committed to working towards reconciliation.
Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC
Mr. Speaker, meegwetch. As I always do when I rise in this House, in this august place, I want to first acknowledge that this House sits on unceded, unsurrendered Algonquin territory of the Anishnabeg. In fact, in the spirit of true reconciliation, we should consider making that acknowledgement the norm whenever we rise in this House.
Allow me to thank the minister for his statement today and, with equal importance, express my gratitude to the minister for his participation in the Walk for Reconciliation yesterday afternoon, meegwetch.
As a survivor of the residential school system, I especially want to acknowledge and welcome to Ottawa the many fellow survivors who will be in town this week along with their families and friends. I pay homage to my fellow survivors. Very few Canadians realize that since our days in residential school, the TRC events for many of us are the only moments we get together again or the only moments we see one another again to share our stories, to say something that many members may take for granted: we are still here; we made it.
Members will have guessed that as a survivor it is with great anticipation that I await the release of the commission's report tomorrow, and I want to take this opportunity to thank Justice Sinclair, Commissioner Wilson and Commissioner Littlechild for their hard work and commitment to this cause.
After the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples almost 20 years ago, our common history will provide us with yet another moment to restore harmony among the peoples of this land that we now call Canada. Tomorrow is that moment. Let us pause for a moment tomorrow and reflect on the way forward. History will have given us yet another occasion. Canadians want change. Canadians want us to seize the moment. Change and reconciliation go together.
As a survivor, I can appreciate the fundamental importance of the moment we are about to experience tomorrow. Let us all collectively seize it, and collectively commit to genuine change in our relations with the first peoples of this country. Let us set out to do what 148 years of successive governments have not managed to achieve, and that is reconciliation.
Reconciliation is about healing relationships, building trust and working out our differences. It is about redress and respect for the rights of all. Reconciliation means a meaningful commitment to change, to honesty, and engaging and reconceptualizing relationships to create a future of peace, a future of justice and a future of renewed hope for all of us. I suggest that it is not possible to conceive of reconciliation in the absence of justice. Many segments of Canadian society have been honestly willing to engage in a dialogue to obtain truth, dignity and, above all, reconciliation.
Today, and into our shared future, we must continue the difficult work of building honourable relations, a fair society and a real dialogue to which the justice and the commissioners have invited us.
The adoption of the TRC report, important though it is, would not in itself change the everyday lives of women, men and children whose experiences it honours and gives witness to. No. For this, we need the political and constitutional commitment of not only the governments but the support and goodwill of the public, of all Canadians, to create and implement substantial and meaningful changes in co-operation, in partnership, with indigenous peoples themselves. We are all in this together.
Change is what Canadians want, and it happens that, along with my colleagues, I have come here to do exactly that: to bring that change.
Meegwetch.
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou for his reminder that we must always acknowledge when we speak in the House that we are speaking on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin people.
It is an honour to speak here on the eve of the release of the much-anticipated report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is important to reflect upon the broader intent of the apology which created it, to create healing and reconciliation and build a renewed relationship on a foundation of trust and partnership. These aspirations were reflected in the words of the apology, but have sadly found no expression in the ongoing paternalistic policies of the government.
After the Prime Minister stood in the House in 2008 and delivered the residential school apology on behalf of all Canadians, there was a groundswell of goodwill from aboriginal people from coast to coast to coast. On that day, the Prime Minister did the right thing and should be credited for that important step toward reconciliation. However, there was a disappointing lack of follow-up after that seminal milestone but still a great deal of optimism when he promised to reset the relationship during the 2012 Crown-First Nations Gathering.
Unfortunately, and sadly, his actions and those of his government since that important symbolic gesture have failed to live up to the hopeful spirit of the apology. In fact, far from supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its important work, it was disappointing that the government withheld crucial documents and actually fought the commission in court to obstruct its progress. Further, I am saddened that the antagonistic approach of the government toward aboriginal people, and its refusal to deal with appalling gaps in outcomes and deplorable living conditions for far too many, has further eroded the already fragile trust of aboriginal people.
Put simply, the government has damaged the honour of the Crown and squandered the tremendous opportunity of apology to foster more positive relationships with first nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. Canada needs a new nation-to-nation relationship with aboriginal communities based on the spirit of partnership, respect, and co-operation for mutual benefit. These were the principles at the core of our original relationship, reflected in documents like the Royal Proclamation of 1763.
It will be essential to educate and work with all Canadians to understand the truth about the historic and ongoing pain, achieve true reconciliation, and move toward a future based upon the realization of the original, respectful, and collaborative nation-to-nation partnership with all aboriginal communities. Honouring and reinforcing the spirit and intent of that original relationship, while recognizing and implementing the rights that flow from it, are not only the responsibility of elected politicians but of every Canadian.
The apology means nothing if Canadians do not understand why it was necessary and do not understand the devastating multi-generational impacts that colonization and specifically the residential school system have had on aboriginal peoples. Tomorrow, the TRC report will be an important step in establishing the truth of what happened, but we must all commit to carrying on the important work of reconciliation going forward.
We thank Commissioners Sinclair, Wilson, and Littlechild for their painstaking and heart-wrenching work. The release of this report will represent another seminal opportunity for the Government of Canada to honour both the words and the spirit of the apology. Meaningful reconciliation will not come until we live up to our past promises and ensure the equality of opportunity necessary to create a prosperous shared future.
It is time to rebuild our relationship with first nations, Inuit, and Métis in Canada on a foundation of inherent and treaty rights. It is important that we ensure we have the healing for the survivors and their families and begin that process of reconciliation as a responsibility of all Canadians. It is rooted in the principles of the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The minister mentioned the stained glass window installed in the Centre Block as a poignant reminder of the true meaning of reconciliation, not only for members of Parliament but for all Canadians. I believe that will not be enough. May all MPs, as they enter this building under artist Christi Belcourt's beautiful stained glass window commemorating the 2008 apology, be reminded every day of each of our responsibilities. May they be reminded of our responsibilities to engage all Canadians in the essential work of reconciliation so that indigenous and non-indigenous people in Canada can go forward in a good way, in the words of the commission, “For the child taken, for the parent left behind”.
In closing, I would like to thank the minister for walking with us yesterday in the Walk for Reconciliation, and for being there at the opening of the commission hearings this morning. However, I have to ask the minister why he has chosen to make a statement of reconciliation before the commission report is released.
Canadians expect the Prime Minister of Canada to respond in a timely manner to the recommendations in that report with concrete action.
Matthew Dubé NDP Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, considering that a vote will be held this evening on this very issue, I am pleased to present a petition signed by hundreds of Canadians regarding the tax on feminine hygiene products, which unfairly targets women. This measure is supported by the people of Chambly—Borduas. I look forward to this evening's vote, which will be a victory for women.
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Mr. Speaker, Ebola continues to affect communities in Guinea and Sierra Leone. We must work to support the push toward zero cases.
The petitioners call upon the government to provide funding for the economic and health system recovery of Ebola-affected countries as well as to help meet their food needs.
Rathika Sitsabaiesan NDP Scarborough—Rouge River, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present petitions on behalf of thousands of Canadians across the country with respect to the unfair and gender-specific discriminatory tax on feminine hygiene products and what has been known across the country as the “tampon tax”.
The petitioners are requesting that the tax, GST specifically, on feminine hygiene products, be removed, as the burden is disproportionate on women in this country.
I would like at this moment to also give my personal thanks on behalf of women across this country to the New Democrats, as well as to the member for London—Fanshawe, for being a champion of this cause. I am very excited that we will be able to vote on this tonight.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, the Punjab assembly in India unanimously passed a resolution calling upon the Canadian Parliament to apologize for the Komagata Maru incident. The incident was a dark moment in Canada's past, when, in 1914, 352 passengers aboard a steamship were denied entry into Canada based upon discriminatory immigration policy.
The petitioners are calling for the Government of Canada to provide a formal apology on the floor of the House of Commons for the Komagata Maru incident in 1914.
Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague earlier, I rise today proudly presenting a petition from people from different parts of Canada, British Columbia and Toronto primarily, asking that the menstrual hygiene products tax be eliminated, reduced to zero. In doing so, I want to thank the New Democratic Party, and particularly the member for London—Fanshawe, for her efforts in this regard.
Adam Vaughan Liberal Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition signed by citizens of the city of Toronto, in particular along the waterfront, who are urging the federal government to honour the tripartite agreement which governs the island airport. The tripartite agreement guarantees to residents of the city that no jets will be used on the island airport.
The petitioners ask the federal government to respect the agreement that has been signed by the City, the port authority, and the federal government to not allow commercial jets to land on the airport, to not reconfigure the waterfront, and to respect the wishes of the City of Toronto in this regard.