Debates of June 5th, 2015

Ethics

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are finally starting to get a better picture of the Conservative and Liberal corruption that has taken hold in the Senate. It is not pretty.

Thirty current and former senators have been caught misusing taxpayer funds. Some cases are serious enough to warrant police investigations. Top-ranking Liberals and Conservatives have been implicated, including the Senate speaker, the leader of the government, and the leader of the Liberal opposition. The Speaker was appointed by the Prime Minister less than a month ago.

It also seems that once they were informed the Auditor General had them in his sights, they actually decided to concoct a whole new appeals process so they could disagree with the auditor's findings. To be clear, senators named in the Auditor General's report have put themselves in charge of creating an appeals process to use on themselves. It is outrageous and it is sad.

For too long Canadians have been asked to look the other way and ignore the rot in the undemocratic and unelected Senate. In October, Canadians can vote for the change they want, and actually get it.

Liberal Party of Canada

[Parm Gill, Conservative, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals only have one plan for the economy, and it is to increase taxes. Recently, the Liberal leader talked about implementing the tax proposed by Kathleen Wynne, Liberal premier of Ontario. That would cost each person earning $60,000 a year $1,000 a year in a tax hike. Small and medium-sized businesses, which are the backbone of our economy, would also be subject to the same $1,000 tax hike per year. That would kill jobs and be very costly for Canadian families.

We are doing the opposite, and we are cutting taxes.

Ethics

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians woke up this morning to new revelations about the Senate corruption scandal.

Appalling details are emerging: thirty violated spending rules, nine referred to the police for investigation; four others already facing charges, including Conservative appointee Mike Duffy, who is now on trial; Conservative and Liberal leaders in the Senate and the Conservative Speaker all implicated.

The Prime Minister appointed the new Senate Speaker less than a month ago. Was he aware at the time that the Speaker was implicated in the Senate corruption scandal?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously, any abuse of taxpayer dollars is completely unacceptable.

It was, of course, the Senate that invited the Auditor General in to review all of their expenses. We understand that they have received the report, and the Senate is responsible for responding to that.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is sure becoming clear why Conservatives and Liberals were so desperate to make up attacks against us in a kangaroo court, but one kangaroo court is not enough for them. It seems that after learning they were named in the report, the Senate Speaker, the Conservative government leader, and the Liberal opposition leader in the Senate actually concocted a whole new appeals process so that they can disagree with the auditor's findings.

Was the Prime Minister aware of this when he appointed Mr. Housakos to be the most powerful person in the Senate?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course, it was the Senate itself that invited the Auditor General in to review all of its expenses.

Again, it is my understanding that the Senate has received this report, and it will be tabled on Tuesday. We eagerly await its response.

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, so Conservatives are just fine with an appeals process that ends with a secret decision at a committee actually chaired by the Senate Speaker himself.

Media reports indicate that some cases could involve hundreds of thousands of dollars and more sitting senators under RCMP investigation.

The unelected, unaccountable, and under-investigation Senate has had its day. When will the Prime Minister stop covering up for Senate scandals and start working with the NDP to get rid of it?

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

Mr. Speaker, this government did bring in a number of potential reforms to the Senate, which included electing senators and term limits for senators.

That was referred to the Supreme Court of Canada, which in its wisdom decided that any changes to the makeup of the Senate had to be done with the unanimous support of all of the provinces.

We are not going to get involved in protracted constitutional negotiations. We are going to continue to be focused on jobs and economic growth.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office continues to be rocked by the Senate scandals.

The Auditor General's report was received yesterday, and there are questions about the expenses of about 30 senators, including the Speaker of the Senate, the Leader of the Government and the Liberal opposition leader. Let us just say that the entire institution has lost its credibility.

How can the Prime Minister still have confidence in the Senate after such revelations?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, any abuse of taxpayer dollars is completely unacceptable.

The Senate invited the Auditor General to review expenses. We have received the report and are waiting for the Senate's response.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's report shows that half of the senators are facing charges regarding claims for inappropriate expenses. The total of these expenses is apparently around $1 million.

Among those identified was Senator Boisvenu, appointed just five years ago by the Prime Minister. The allegations against him are considered serious, and his file will be passed on to the RCMP.

Will the Prime Minister strongly condemn the actions of the Conservative senators he himself appointed?

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

Mr. Speaker, it was the Senate that invited the Auditor General in to examine their expenses.

The senator in question is no longer a member of the Conservative caucus. We have said all along that anybody who is clearly under police investigation needs to step out of this caucus.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, Liberals have a plan for fairness for hard-working Canadian families. We are going to simplify the complex system of child benefit payments into one monthly payment for families that need the help, and we are going to make these payments bigger and tax free. A single mother earning $30,000 per year and raising her four-year-old daughter will get an extra $1,100 per year under our plan. Conservative income splitting will do nothing for her.

Why are the Conservatives fighting so hard to keep that money from single parents who need the help?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals admit that they would get rid of the universal child care benefit, that they would cancel income splitting, that they would get rid of the child tax benefit, and that after they do all of those things, they would still come at least $2 billion short. That $2-billion hole will have to be put on the backs of taxpayers through yet higher taxes.

Then last week, the Liberal leader announced that he would impose a $1,000 payroll tax hike on every single worker earning $60,000 and on the small businesses that employ them.

We will never take that approach. We will continue to lower taxes.

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

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal plan for fairness, every family earning less than $150,000 will get a bigger monthly cheque. For example, a couple struggling to raise three kids on $70,000 per year will get an extra $380 every month from our plan.

Compare that with the Conservatives, who are giving less money to struggling families and more money to the families who do not need the help, the wealthier families.

Why are the Conservatives fighting so hard to keep the money from struggling, middle-class families who need the help the most?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have now admitted that they support Kathleen Wynne's payroll tax. That would raise taxes by at least $1,000 on every single worker, regardless of their income, and it would raise equal amounts of taxes on the small businesses that employ those workers. Those businesses tell us that they would be forced to cut wages and lay people off to pay this new Liberal tax.

We are taking the opposite approach. We have cut taxes for small businesses that create jobs, and we have lowered taxes for families to help them get ahead.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the minister does not want to talk about the Liberals' Canada child benefit, since he knows that under this program, 9 of 10 Canadian families will get bigger cheques. That is what will happen and he cannot deny it. That is what all the experts are saying. The Conservatives deny this, and the minister's bad faith is becoming increasingly evident.

Do the Conservatives not see that a typical family earning $90,000 with two children will receive $2,575 more under the Liberal plan, starting in the first year of a Liberal government, an amount that is indexed and tax free?

Will the minister admit this and stop acting in bad faith?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals already admitted wanting to eliminate the universal child care benefit. They will eliminate income splitting by increasing taxes for families and seniors.

After all that, there would still be a $2 billion hole in their plan, which will force them to increase taxes for families even more.

We are doing the opposite by lowering taxes and giving benefits to all families, regardless of income and regardless of their choice in child care.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as the national chief said, we cannot move toward reconciliation when far too many aboriginal communities are living in desperate conditions.

Despite that, now we have learned that the Conservatives preferred to leave $1 billion just sitting there in the coffers of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs instead of funding essential services like education and access to clean water and housing.

How can the government justify this gross negligence?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Of course, Mr. Speaker, that member knows that is not true. Lapsed funding is not lost funding, and in the last five years, over 97% of what was marked as lapsed funding in the public accounts has been carried forward to future years and spent on a wide range of programs, programs that member and that party voted against.

The delay in spending of these funds is not uncommon, because actually spending this money often involves negotiations with other parties or community votes from first nations memberships.

We will continue to make concrete investments in aboriginal peoples, and we would like the opposition to actually get on board and support that.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the question is this. How can these Conservatives look at themselves in the mirror every day when indigenous peoples live in this country in third world conditions, in mouldy homes and in schools that are falling apart, and without safe drinking water? We find out that the Conservatives have lapsed $1.1 billion returned to their coffers, money that was allocated to them. How can they stand in this House and justify to indigenous peoples in this country this gross negligence?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, of course that member knows that is not true. She knows that 97% of those lapsed funds were spent on aboriginal programming in the following year. She knows that it takes time to negotiate and get community votes for first nations spending. She also knows that she voted against water treatment plants in first nations reserves. She voted against matrimonial property rights for women on reserves. She voted against the Canadian human rights being brought onto reserve.

The New Democrats always vote against aboriginal people when they have the chance here in the House of Commons.

The Environment

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are ignoring our duty to first nations just like they are ignoring our duty to act on climate change. A new UN report slams Canada today for pulling out of our international efforts to fight climate change. The report points out that Conservatives are way off track to meet even their weak 2020 emissions target. Canada is going to show up at the G7 meetings with no credible plan.

For the sake of our international reputation and for the sake of future generations, will the Conservatives finally take the threat of climate change seriously?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada we have seen a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since we started recording and we will continue to take actions.

Canada was the first country in the world to ban traditional coal-fired electricity, which is one of the largest contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. We will continue to take actions. We just recently announced that we are going to move forward to reduce emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030, and we will continue to take a balanced and responsible approach. We announced further actions in three sectors within Canada: reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, reductions of chemical nitrogen fertilizers and regulating emissions from the natural gas sector.

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to fighting climate change, Canada is being increasingly singled out by its international partners because of its failure to act. A UN report published by the Africa Progress Panel highlights Canada's disengagement when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Canada will not be proposing any concrete measures at the upcoming G7 summit.

When will the government stop lagging behind on this issue, which is so crucial to our future generations?