Debates of June 15th, 2015

Robert Kenny

[Keith Ashfield, Conservative, Fredericton, NB]

Mr. Speaker, it is with heavy heart that I rise in this House today to pay tribute to a dedicated, respected, and endearing community leader from Fredericton.

Robert “Bob” Kenny passed away on June 6 at the age of 72. Bob spent countless hours championing community-led initiatives and serving on various boards throughout Fredericton and New Brunswick.

While his passing leaves a hole in our community, the inspiration and vision he left behind speaks to his legacy of community service, selflessness, and a passion for bettering the lives of those around him.

In 2012, I had the privilege of presenting Bob with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his exceptional contribution to our community.

On behalf of all Frederictonians and New Brunswickers, we thank him for his truly exceptional contribution to our great community.

I ask all members to join me in sending Bob's wife Joan, and his daughters Brigette, Natalie, and Mary Ellen, our most sincere condolences.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

[Isabelle Morin, NDP, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

Unfortunately, elder abuse is a reality that is quite prevalent and that affects a significant segment of our population. We must remain vigilant and watchful, and we must do everything we can to combat this injustice.

Today is the perfect opportunity to express our solidarity with all those who have been victims of abuse in the past and to express our commitment to ensuring that our seniors can have a better quality of life and live with dignity, one of the most fundamental rights.

It is both disturbing and tragic that elder abuse, be it physical, psychological, sexual or financial, remains mostly underestimated and ignored by societies across the world. At the same time, there is increasing evidence indicating that elder abuse is an important public health and societal problem. Canada is not an exception. Canadian seniors are vulnerable to elder abuse, and it is happening in communities across the country.

Let us pay close attention to this serious issue and take responsibility to better protect our seniors and ensure they age with dignity and security.

Member for Edmonton East

[Peter Goldring, Conservative, Edmonton East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, 18 years ago I entered this arena we reverently call the House of Commons, commoners serving together for the betterment of all.

As I reflect upon our party's promises in 1997, I find it to be significant to compare the outcomes of today: veterans' issues resolved; the homeless helped; the military strengthened; effective foreign development aid; criminal justice improved; taxes lowered; the long gun registry cancelled; the GST cut twice; Turks and Caicos a work in progress; and, Canada's unity greatly improved upon.

I depart this chamber in the fact that the promises made are all promises that were kept. We have made Canada a better place for our children's children, for my grandchildren, Katelin, Alexandra, and Eleanor.

May this august chamber of commoners continue its good work, further showing that Canadians too are caring citizens of the world, for the world.

Member for Elgin—Middlesex—London

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I prepare to leave this place after more than a decade of serving the people of Elgin—Middlesex—London, all I can say is what a ride.

I thank the voters of Elgin—Middlesex—London who kept sending me back to this place, and for their trust and kind words over the years.

I thank my wife Geri and my children, Adam, Kate and Neil, for helping me be strong and for sharing me with so many others.

The shining dedication of my team, Karen, JoAnna, Kimberly, Cathy, Kaylie and Jena, and many more before them, has made me look brighter.

I thank the friends I have accumulated in this place from all parties and all parts of Canada for the many memories that will last me a lifetime.

At what became my other home here, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, I will miss Marie-France Renaud, Andre and all of the members, and the egg salad sandwiches of course.

When my grandson Elliot asks Bubba about Parliament, I will tell him that I am happy I had this great opportunity. I made no enemies and I will truly miss my friends.

Graduating Classes

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I stand with pride today to congratulate the graduating classes of Princess Margaret, Tamanawis, Panorama Ridge, Frank Hurt, Delview, North Delta, Seaquam and Burnsview secondary schools in Surrey, Newton and North Delta. As a teacher, I am delighted to know that these young people have worked diligently to achieve their goals. I wish them a lifetime of continued success.

I would encourage all levels of government to invest generously in quality public education. It is a cornerstone of our democracy, and our kids are worth it as they are our future.

I also congratulate and commend the parents, guardians and teachers who have supported these students throughout their journey

I know I speak for everyone in Surrey when I say that our graduating classes have done a great job and we hope they enjoy their well-earned summer. They have made us very proud.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is working hard for all Canadian families.

We recently brought in the family tax cut and the universal child care benefit, which will benefit all families with children, since they will be able to save money and spend it on their priorities.

The Liberal leader has a different plan for Canadian families. He wants to eliminate the family tax cut that our government implemented and replace it with another tax on families. That is unacceptable.

Canadians do not want that and they will reject these plans based on tax hikes. We reject them as well.

Remembrance Day

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by once again thanking the great people of Scarborough Southwest for their support in 2011. It has been an honour and a privilege to represent them in the House for the past four years.

My bill, Bill C-597, which would make Remembrance Day a legal holiday, is finally back from committee after 205 days and studied by two parliamentary committees. The bill would add exactly one word to the Holidays Act. No new changes were made to the bill during this committee odyssey.

This Friday, my bill will be back before the House. Now we can finish the great work that began last November when the bill passed second reading 258 to 2.

This Friday, let us end the 41st Parliament on a high note and elevate Remembrance Day to the same status as Canada Day and Victoria Day by passing Bill C-597, making Remembrance Day a legal holiday.

Taxation

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the middle class of York Centre rejects the Liberal leader's plan to impose a mandatory $1,000 tax hike. By promising to bring to Ottawa the Ontario Liberal plan to hike payroll taxes on every employee and employer, the Liberals would force businesses to cut jobs.

According to Meridian Credit Union, the majority of small business owners believe the Ontario registered pension plan “would be their greatest challenge ever faced”.

Instead of reckless, high spend-and-tax plans, which the Liberals and the NDP propose, our government believes in helping hard-working Canadian middle-class families prosper. Therefore, we have reduced taxes to the tune of $6,600 this year for a typical family of four. We have doubled the tax-free savings account so Canadians can save more tax free. However, the Liberal leader would shut these accounts down and raise taxes.

Now is not the time for risky tax hikes and untested leadership.

National Defence

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government has spent almost a decade promoting a false record on national defence while the reality is it has failed the Canadian Armed Forces on so many fronts.

Recently, I launched a national campaign to bust five Conservative defence myths. For example, the Conservatives claim the men and women in uniform are a priority; they boast the best equipment will be provided; they say funding is stable and increasing over 20 years; they pretend northern sovereignty is a priority; and they argue only the Conservatives can be trusted on defence.

That is not so. The reality is the opposite. Too many forces members, veterans and their families suffer from serious neglect. So many major procurements have been delayed or cancelled that the military must raid museums and search eBay to to find obsolete parts. The Prime Minister has cut and clawed back billions of dollars to spend on election year tax cuts for wealthy Canadians.

Sadly, the government cannot be trusted on defence. On its watch, the Canadian Armed Forces' well-being and capability are in serious jeopardy and Canadians look forward to an end—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Okanagan—Coquihalla.

Public Safety

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Allan Schoenborn, who admitted to killing his three children in Merritt, British Columbia, will be allowed day passes out of the psychiatric hospital where he is currently confined.

Our thoughts continue to be with Darcie Clarke and her family at this time. We are disappointed with the decision by the B.C. Review Board.

Our Conservative government has taken concrete steps to protect Canadians and put victims first. We have strengthened our country's not criminally responsible laws by ensuring that public safety is the paramount consideration and creating a high-risk offender status for violent not criminally responsible individuals. We will continue to stand up for Canadians.

Ethics

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2005, a member said here in the House that he had had enough of this culture of entitlement where taxpayers' money is used for partisan purposes. Who was that member? It was none other than the Prime Minister himself, who at that time, promised more accountability.

However, once he took office, he did exactly the opposite, and now, just before an election, the Prime Minister is redoubling his efforts. In particular, he is going to increase advertising for his two-year old infrastructure program. Is that a coincidence? No. The Prime Minister is doing the same thing as his Liberal predecessors and is misusing taxpayers' money to campaign by conducting more polls and trying to validate his questionable policies. If he got out there and talked to people on the street, he would know right away what Canadians think of the Conservatives. When it comes to corruption, the Conservatives and the Liberals are exactly the same. The student has surpassed the teacher.

In October, Canadians will have a chance to get rid of these old, worn-out parties and finally elect the first NDP government in Ottawa, the only party that will stand up for their interests.

Ukraine

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, recently I travelled with the Prime Minister to Ukraine, meeting with President Poroshenko and discussing Canada's strong support for Ukraine in combatting Putin's aggression.

The Prime Minister is clear that Canada recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and Canada will never recognize Putin's illegal occupation of any Ukrainian territory. Putin must withdraw his troops and weapons from Ukraine and cease his material support to his proxies. Canada will always stand with the people of Ukraine.

The House has an opportunity to demonstrate that support today by joining the International Council in Support of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Echo weekly newspaper, the League of Ukrainian Canadians, the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women and the Ucrainica Research Institute at a reception in Room 238S after question period for the release of a unique publication entitled Holodomor: the Ukrainian Genocide 1932-33. The book raises public awareness of the Holodomor, a famine genocide perpetrated by Stalin.

I hope all members will make an effort to participate this afternoon.

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General identified 30 more senators who are guilty of fraudulent spending. However, it is important to point out that the report does not include any senators who had already paid back their fraudulent expenses before the investigation began.

How many senators did the Prime Minister's Office protect in that way by telling them to use the Duffy technique, namely, to repay their expenses before the investigation began?

How many others did the Prime Minister protect?

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

Mr. Speaker, as members know, I have said on a number of occasions that it was the Senate that actually invited in the Auditor General to review their expenses. We expect them to work with and co-operate with that process.

At the same time, the Leader of the Opposition and 67 other members of his party owe the Canadian taxpayers $2.7 million. The Leader of the Opposition himself, personally owes $400,000 to the taxpayers of Canada. I hope he will do the right thing and repay that money.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian taxpayers will have to spend another $25 million because senators are refusing to walk a few extra steps to their offices.

Conservative and Liberal senators have no problem whatsoever travelling all over the country at taxpayers' expense, but they cannot walk a few extra metres.

Will the Prime Minister intervene and tell these corrupt senators that he is not going to waste another $25 million in taxpayers' money because they are too lazy to walk?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, we expect the Senate to agree to have its offices in a building that will offer the best value for money for taxpayers.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is a full 90 metres, so that does mean $270,000 of taxpayers' money per senator's step, just so she can help with her calculations.

At least four senators named by the Prime Minister have now been caught lying about where they live. The Prime Minister does not care what provinces they actually lived in; he was only interested in using them as shills and fundraisers for the Conservative Party. In fact, the Prime Minister once said that senators “don't represent anybody but the prime minister who appoints them”.

Why did the Prime Minister appoint this bunch to represent him?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is completely delusional if he thinks that Canadians will ever give him the opportunity to serve on this side of the House while he refuses to respect the fact that he owes them $2.7 million.

If Canadians cannot trust him to ethically manage his own office budget, there is no way they will ever trust him to ethically manage the budget of the entire country. I certainly hope it will not take 17 years for him to do the right thing.

International Development

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister and I are each meeting with Bono and representatives of the ONE campaign to talk about millennium development goals and how we can work together to fight the kind of gut-wrenching poverty that, thankfully, most Canadians will never see.

However, while the Prime Minister is talking about fighting poverty, leaked government documents show that he has abandoned the next round of UN development goals before they have even been adopted.

Will the Prime Minister confirm that he hid the truth from our G7 partners last week, and that his promises to fight extreme poverty around the world are only for show?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of International Development and Minister for La Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, we are very happy to welcome a good philanthropist like Bono here because we are happy to have good partnerships with people like him.

We have taken a leadership role in addressing the health challenges faced by women, newborns, and children in the world's poorest countries.

Canadians are expecting results. Under our Prime Minister's initiative on maternal, newborn, and child health, we will help to save the lives of 1.3 million children and newborns, as well as more than 60,000 women.

Our humanitarian assistance has increased 62%. We are there for people in need. We pay what we pledge. This is what Canadians expect from its government.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the Conservatives are once again saying one thing in public and another thing in private.

Meanwhile, the living conditions in aboriginal communities across Canada are absolutely deplorable, and some residents in the north are digging through garbage to find food.

How can we expect the wealthy in African or Middle Eastern countries to do their part to help their fellow citizens when our own Prime Minister here in Canada refuses to do the same?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, for anyone who wants the truth, the facts show that no Canadian government has done as much for northern Canada as this Conservative government.

All of our investments in the north, such as the new research centre and the program to help people access good-quality food, have been successful. We will continue to work with people in the north to ensure that they continue to prosper.

Public Safety

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Information Commissioner has taken the government to court over its illegal destruction of records. These records were and still are the subject of a live, unresolved access to information request.

Documents filed in court make three points. First, the destruction of these documents was indeed illegal. Second, both the RCMP and the public safety minister were fully aware of that illegality. Third, the minister's office pressured the RCMP to break the law and cover it up.

Who in the minister's office counselled that illegal behaviour?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. It is this government that has ended the wasteful and ineffective long-gun registry. We reject any claim that the RCMP did anything wrong by following the express will of Parliament to destroy the data from the long-gun registry.

It was still possible to access outdated data from the long gun registry. We are fixing that loophole.

We will stand up for law-abiding citizens and stop treating them as second-class citizens in this country.