Order, please.
The hon. member for Malpeque.
House of Commons Hansard #224 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was northerners.
House of Commons Hansard #224 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was northerners.
EthicsOral Questions
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
Mr. Speaker, today, one year after the Moncton tragedy, it is time to remember. It is also time for the minister to accept his responsibility.
Front-line officers are now speaking out. They fear for their safety. Members still, a year later, do not have proper rifles or training. The government made cuts in budget 2012 and requested kickbacks from budget 2013, in both cases shorting RCMP funding.
Why does the minister continue to leave rank and file RCMP members without the proper equipment and training to do their jobs, putting their lives at risk?
Roxanne James ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, today is the day that we remember and honour the three fallen RCMP officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. We also take the time to send our thoughts and our prayers. We continue to send them and continue to think of the families and the community affected by that horrific event.
The member opposite is asking about questions pertaining to the OPP report with regard to the report on the October 22 terror attack on the Hill. Opposition members claim that any type of budget cut to the RCMP was a factor in that incident, which is completely false. In fact, I would like to point out for the member that the parliamentary expenditures operation budget has increased by more than five times what it was in 2007.
John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will be at the G7 meeting in Germany this week. Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Cameron and President Obama see this as the most important meeting prior to Paris to talk about GHG emissions. The Prime Minister has set a GHG target, which everyone knows is a press release masquerading as a target. The G7 leaders know that this is just simply a deceptive and delusional plan.
Why embarrass us, once again, on the international stage to deceive the world's most important leaders? Why not just admit that the last 10 years have been a colossal Conservative failure?
Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, may I remind that member and that party that their Kyoto agreement was written on the back of a napkin.
The plan that Canada has put forward to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, a reduction of 225 megatonnes, is a fair and ambitious target for Canada and in line with international industrialized countries. We will continue to take action. We have announced three new sectors that we are going to regulate methane: the oil and gas sector, the fertilizer sector and the energy sector. We will do that without introducing a job-killing carbon tax.
Laurin Liu NDP Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC
Mr. Speaker, farmers in my riding, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, are not the only ones who rely on supply management. All farmers across Quebec and Canada have built their business model around this system. However, members in the Conservative caucus do not seem to have a problem with abolishing it.
Can the minister opposite guarantee that the Conservative government will not touch supply management in the trans-Pacific partnership negotiations?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of State (Small Business and Tourism
Mr. Speaker, since 2006, our government has signed free trade agreements with more than 37 countries. We never tampered with the supply management system when we signed all of these agreements. Future agreements will be no different. We will continue to maintain supply management and all other industrial sectors, since this agreement is important. Canadian producers and exporters will have access to more than 800 million consumers without any tariffs or quotas.
It is important to sign this agreement, which will benefit all industrial sectors.
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Mr. Speaker, no matter how much the minister tries to reassure us, members of his caucus have no problem talking about abolishing supply management. We do not know what the minister's colleagues are telling him in caucus, just like we do not know what is going on at the trans-Pacific partnership negotiating table.
Farmers in Mirabel know that they can count on the NDP to protect supply management. Can they count on this government?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of State (Small Business and Tourism
Mr. Speaker, farmers in Mirabel, Beauce and all across Canada, milk producers, cheese producers, and egg and poultry producers can count on this government to protect supply management, as it has done in the past when it signed other free trade agreements.
Lawrence Toet Conservative Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government has balanced its budget while helping families balance theirs. All families with children in Elmwood—Transcona are benefiting from the family tax cut and universal child care benefit, and do not want to give the Liberals the chance to take it away.
Could the Minister of State for Finance please update the House on the government's efforts to keep taxes at historic lows?
Kevin Sorenson ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, under the strong leadership of our Prime Minister, a typical family of four will save a whopping $6,600 this year, but the Liberals and the NDP want to take that money out of their pockets. They want to raise taxes.
The Liberal leader wants to impose a mandatory $1,000-a-year job-killing payroll tax hike on middle-class workers. We will not let the Liberals get away with their reckless high-tax, high-spend agenda. Canadians know they are better off with this Conservative government.
Yvonne Jones Liberal Labrador, NL
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government has failed northerners when it comes to nutrition north. It has failed to provide affordable, nutritious food to northern remote families. The Auditor General clearly reported that the minister and his department failed to ensure that food subsidies were being passed along to northern residents who needed it.
Why have the Conservatives taken no steps to fix this crisis and why is food security in the north not a priority for Conservatives?
Mark Strahl ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, we have taken action. We have invested additional funds into nutrition north Canada. We have accepted the Auditor General's recommendations.
However, we have changed the program from the old food mail program under the Liberal Party. We believe that nutritious, perishable foods that improve the health of northerners should be what we subsidize. Liberal members believe in subsidizing snowmobile parts, tires, cans of Coke and chips. We are focusing on healthy foods for the north and we are getting the job done.
Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe NDP Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government suspended visa applications for people from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, countries affected by the Ebola virus, in a move that was harshly criticized from the outset. The World Health Organization said that this measure is ineffective in stopping the spread of the virus.
The government lifted this visa suspension for Liberia last month. When will it do the same for Guinea and Sierra Leone?
Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, we lifted the suspension on visa processing for one of the countries affected by the Ebola virus when the World Health Organization indicated that the crisis was over in that country. We are awaiting a similar result in the other countries before taking action because we are committed to protecting Canadians.
Why are the hon. member and her party still opposed to biometrics, cancelling passports, revoking citizenship from terrorists and all the other measures we are taking to keep Canadians safe?
Blake Richards Conservative Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, 2014 was a record year for the tourism industry in Canada, with many destinations showing growth. Overall, tourism revenues grew by 4.7%, reaching nearly $89 billion last year.
It being Tourism Week in Canada, could the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism please update the House on all the recent initiatives our government has undertaken to further grow tourism in Canada?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of State (Small Business and Tourism
Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank the member for Wild Rose for his leadership as the chair of the parliamentary tourism caucus.
The Prime Minister announced an additional $30 million over three years to Destination Canada for it to reach out to more visitors from the United States. This funding will be matched by the provincial tourism organizations, by the territorial organizations and also by the private sector. We will be able to reach more visitors from the U.S. to come to our country.
Jean-François Fortin Forces et Démocratie Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, with support from the Government of Quebec and the mayor of Montreal, the public health authority just submitted an exemption application to Health Canada in order to set up supervised injection sites in the city. This will help addicts, reduce the number of people who inject drugs on the street and reduce the number of syringes that are left in parks where children play. The only thing the project needs now is approval from Health Canada.
Can the Minister of Health guarantee that her government will not derail the project, as it tried to do in the case of InSite in Vancouver?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, what we are talking about is an exemption for illegal street heroin to be injected in a site. Therefore, we have put forward legislation that will be moving through the Senate very shortly to ensure that neighbourhoods, where the mayor of Montreal might like to put a heroin injection site, actually have a say on whether they want a heroin injection site. It is an illegal drug. In addition, I want to know from the mayor of Montreal what kind of drug prevention and drug treatment services he has available for those who are addicted.
Maria Mourani Independent Ahuntsic, QC
Mr. Speaker, in 2004 the Canada Revenue Agency launched an investigation of COOP Plus and COOP Harmonie Plus. In 2008, more than 300 members of these co-operatives received notices of assessment. Approximately 270 of them were assessed after years of harassment, while another 30 or so went to the Tax Court of Canada. On December 12, 2014, they all won their cases.
In the interest of fairness, will the Minister of National Revenue ask the Canada Revenue Agency to review the files of those assessed?
Gerald Keddy ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture
Mr. Speaker, we have a very fair tax system in Canada. When the auditors choose to audit any individuals or any company in Canada, that audit is carried out in a professional manner.
In this case, the individuals were found to be in compliance, and they should be satisfied with that result.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Mr. Speaker, there was good news for Canadians this week.
As members will remember, on Monday the NDP moved a motion to eliminate pay-to-pay fees, which really add up for consumers. We are asking the government to implement what Parliament just adopted. Today, we are debating the nutrition north Canada program. That is extremely important, and we hope to secure the government's support.
There are some other bits of good news from the last week. The Alberta strong, stable, NDP majority government had its first full week. In its first week, it has put in place $100 million in education funding. It has put in place a breakfast program for poor Albertan kids. It has been looking to raise the minimum wage and taking action on climate change. That is in the first week of action. Compared with this old, tired government, it is quite a contrast.
I am also pleased to announce, as members know, that the election starts 100 days from today. In 100 days, Canadians will be casting their judgment on the government, and we will be working hard to make sure Canadians know that they can elect a new NDP government on October 19.
Since the government only has two weeks left in its agenda, two weeks before the end, I would like to ask my colleague the government House leader this. What are they going to do with the first of those last weeks before the end of the current government?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, our government, of course, continues on its commitment to help out families, not just by lowering the costs they pay for products and services but, most important, by lowering taxes that they are required to pay to the government and providing more money in their pockets to help them make ends meet. We think that is one of the most meaningful things we can do as a government: help Canadians succeed and meet their aspirations and dreams for a brighter future.
This afternoon will be dedicated to today’s NDP’s opposition day motion.
Tomorrow, we will wrap up the third reading debate on Bill S-6, the Yukon and Nunavut regulatory improvement act. This will be the sixth day of debate for that particular piece of legislation, which would support economic development north of 60 while ensuring the preservation of the environment.
Monday shall be the eighth allotted day when we will debate another NDP opposition day motion. Regrettably, I have noticed that the NDP leader has never taken me up on my suggestion that he allow the House an extended debate on one of their proposals, under Standing Order 81(16)(a). As a result, next week, we will have the 88th time-allocated opposition day of this Parliament.
That evening, as required by the Standing Orders, we will debate the main estimates. Then, we will consider an appropriations bill, the supplementary estimates, followed by a second appropriations bill.
Tuesday morning, we will consider Bill S-2, the incorporation by reference in regulations act, at report stage. This legislation will help streamline regulations and ensure that important safety rules keep up with evolving developments and standards.
In the afternoon, we will take up Bill C-59, economic action plan 2015, No. 1, at report stage, in anticipation that it will be reported back to the House tomorrow.
This package of essential measures—such as the family tax cut, enhancements to the universal child care benefit, and a reduction to the small business income tax—is an important priority for our Conservative government and I think, more important, a priority for Canadian families.
Since the budget was delivered this spring, however, the Liberal leader has let us and all Canadians in on his economic plans.
First, we learned he thinks that “benefiting every single family is not...fair”.
Then, he topped it off when he told Canadians that the Liberals are looking at a mandatory expansion of the Canada pension plan. That would mean a $1,000 tax hike for a typical earner and for that earner's employer, and that $1,000 tax increase on two sides would be a significant potential impairment and drag on our economy. Certainly, it would be a huge drag on the personal finances of Canadian families.
On Wednesday, we will return to Bill C-59, if additional time is needed.
Thursday morning, we will consider Bill C-35, which is the justice for animals in service act, Quanto's law, at report stage and, ideally, third reading.
This is an important bill, which would ensure appropriate criminal penalties for killing or harming police animals and other service animals—dogs, horses, and so on—and speedy consideration of it would be favourable because that would allow it to pass and make it to the Senate for its consideration this spring.
I would remind the House the bill has already received four days of second reading debate and was in the justice committee for over five months.
That afternoon, we will again consider Bill S-2, and I hope it will be at third reading.
Next Friday, we will return to Bill S-7, the zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices act, at report stage. The House will recall that we are debating the opposition's amendments to gut the bill of its entire contents—contents that demonstrate our Conservative government's commitment to end violence against women and girls.
The House resumed consideration of the motion.
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the Northwest Territories for bringing forward this motion on behalf of all of us who represent the north.
We are here to raise awareness of and demand action on the shameful fact that the people who I and many of us represent are going hungry. They cannot afford to keep healthy food on their family's table. Elders and kids have no food in this country, Canada. I fundamentally believe that Canadians are simply not okay with that fact.
I want to begin by giving a quick snapshot of what the people in my own riding of Churchill are dealing with on any given day. John Robert Throassie from Tadoule Lake said, “You go to the Northern Store with $200 and you'll be lucky if you get one week of supplies”.
A constituent from Tadoule Lake shared with me that a four-litre jug of milk is $15. Darryl Beardy from York Landing, which has been excluded from nutrition north, said that a four-litre jug of milk is $12. Julie-Anne Saunders reported to me that, at one time, strawberries in the Northern Store in York Landing were almost $13, and ground beef was $14.
This has been a historic week for Canada. Our Truth and Reconciliation Commission has come to a close and has given us all a clear mandate. Justice Murray Sinclair said it best when he said:
Reconciliation is not an aboriginal problem—it is a Canadian problem. It involves all of us.
He spoke directly to the leaders in Canada and the government and asked us to take up the spirit in actions of reconciliation in all we do.
The commission has given us a road map with 94 recommendations that clearly define what the government's role should be in making our broken country whole again. For our part, New Democrats are fully committed to following these recommendations.
I want to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations in the context of nutrition north, because when indigenous peoples are going hungry in the north and the government does not take action to address it, there can be no reconciliation. The TRC report said:
We believe that in order to redress the legacy of residential schools and to move towards more respectful and healthy relationships, the Government of Canada, in meaningful consultation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, must recognize and address the broader context of the child-welfare crisis. This includes matters of child poverty, housing, water, sanitation, food security, family violence, addictions, and educational inequities.
More succinctly, the formidable indigenous performer, musician Tanya Tagaq tweeted on Tuesday:
#MyReconciliationIncludes the ending of the food crisis in Nunavut. Subsidize the shipping costs.
We have heard it from indigenous leaders; we have heard it from the government's own Auditor General; and I personally hear it constantly on the ground in the communities that I have the honour of representing. Northerners cannot access affordable healthy food where they are. People are going hungry. People are getting sick. The need is urgent, and we cannot wait any longer for action.
I want to acknowledge the work of Leesee Papatsie, a creator of the “Feeding My Family” Facebook page, who is known as a hero in many communities that I represent. She said:
The Inuit never protested. Traditionally, for the Inuit to survive, everybody had to get along and we didn’t create friction. But if we don’t start saying something about high costs, then people will think it’s okay.
She said their children are going hungry.
My riding in northern Manitoba includes 14 communities that are eligible for nutrition north. They are Bloodvein, Berens River, God's Lake Narrows, God's River, Garden Hill, Lac Brochet, Little Grand Rapids, Poplar River, Oxford House, Red Sucker Lake, Shamattawa, St Theresa Point, Waasagomach, and Pauingassi
In response to numerous complaints about the effectiveness of nutrition north from my own constituents, along with six of my colleagues, I wrote a letter to the Auditor General asking for a wide ranging financial and operational audit of the program. The Auditor General agreed, and in 2014, a damning report was released that found huge gaps and a general lack of accountability in the management of the program.
No wonder people in the communities I represent are calling for action. They know the program is not working.
I also acknowledge communities like Churchill and Pukatawagan that, yes, have a railway but are still remote, and people cannot afford healthy food to feed their families.
I have been advocating for the program to be fixed, and for some time, my requests have been met with an infuriating lack of action on the part of the minister and his staff, who admit freely to me that the problems and inequities that exist within the program are there, but they are in no hurry whatsoever to fix them.
I repeat, people are going hungry in our north. Elders cannot afford food. Parents cannot afford to buy healthy food for their children. Parents who cannot afford food for their kids cannot wait for the federal government to choose to prioritize the issue; they need it fixed now.
My colleagues and I are brought here today by the serious health needs of the people we represent. What could be more fundamental than addressing third-world food shortages?
One of the worst issues we are facing in the north is that some communities, which by all accounts are the most northern and face the greatest levels of food insecurity, are excluded entirely from nutrition north, and there is no credible reason. There are indigenous communities in my riding that urgently need to be included in the program, because even a program that is not working as it should is better than no program at all.
The communities are York Landing, Brochet, and Tadoule Lake, which is the farthest north first nation in northern Manitoba. They must be included immediately in the program. We also recognize that there are other communities, as I mentioned, that need to be considered and included.
Time is up for the current government. What we are saying today is that the government has to step up and immediately contribute the funds necessary to include these excluded communities. It is an easy and straightforward step in the right direction. Children are going hungry.
We have crunched preliminary numbers and approximately $7.5 million would be needed to include the excluded communities. We can do this today and simultaneously commit the House to look critically at the nutrition north program from the ground up, and do the work necessary to make food security a reality for northerners. We need to go back to the table and fix this broken program
I want to read into the record the words of one of my constituents, Sheila Marie Beardy from Pukatawagan, who said:
I live in an isolated First Nation of Pukatawagan, Manitoba, where the only means of travel in the summer is by plane or train (twice a week) and in the winter we do have a winter road for 3 months and the high cost of living is ridiculous! We only have 1 store which is called the Northern Store.... Many of our Community Members struggle due to the high cost of living in our Community....
I also think of the northerners who are making a difference every single day trying to establish food security, food sovereignty, in their communities. I think of the work that is being done currently in Garden Hill by Darcy Wood and Shaun Loney, working with local young people and people in Garden Hill to establish community gardens. I think of the work of Diana DeLaronde-Colombe in Wabowden, who for years has been working to establish greenhouses and raise chickens on a small scale in communities in our north. I think of the late Oscar Lathlin and leaders in our provincial government who fought to establish some ability to support food security in our north.
However, the role we need to see here is the one played by the federal government. We in the NDP understand that food security for northern indigenous peoples means more than just nutrition north. We need to address the food crisis in the north and work together for sustainable, indigenous, and northern-led solutions.
In conclusion, I stand in the House to ask the Conservative government to stop taking the north for granted. Stop using northerners for photo ops. I ask the Conservatives to respect the north and stand with northerners to put an end to the food insecurity they and we face.