Debates of Jan. 26th, 2016

Air Transportation

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. It allows me to repeat that we took an undertaking during the last election to the people of Toronto, who care about the development of their waterfront, that we would not reopen the tripartite agreement. We have kept that promise and we are very proud of it.

National Defence

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence said in November that Canadians need not fear ISIS, but since his comments we have had ISIS-inspired jihadist attacks in Paris; in Istanbul; in Beirut; in Jakarta, where one Canadian was killed; and in Burkina Faso, where six Canadians were murdered by terrorists.

Does the Prime Minister agree with his defence minister that ISIS is not a threat to Canadians?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, the threat of ISIL is real. However, as leaders of the nation, we need to give confidence to our Canadians that our institution, our security services, will protect them. That is exactly what we are going to be doing.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to ISIS, the Prime Minister does not back his own words on diversity with action. One of the greatest threats on the planet to cultural and religious freedom, to the rights of women, to the rights of gays and lesbians, is the Islamic State.

It is one thing to give speeches on diversity from a Swiss ski resort. It is another to fight for the people whose lives are threatened by terrorists and murderers in Iraq and Syria. How can the Prime Minister say that he cares about diversity but then leave the fight for others?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, with the plan we are preparing, Canada will be stronger to support our coalition to fight this terrorist group, the so-called Islamic State. We will do it with pride and courage, as Canada must do everywhere in the world when it is the time to fight terrorism.

Natural Resources

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are pleased to see that the Prime Minister acted on the recommendation we made yesterday and went to visit his old Liberal pal this morning. We hope that the Prime Minister talked about the economy and the pipeline project that will create 3,000 jobs and generate $1 billion in spinoffs.

The Prime Minister is the member for Papineau, which is in Montreal. There are Quebeckers in this government. Is this government committed to standing up for Quebec's economy and proposing and promoting this project, which is good for the economies of Quebec and Canada?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we will defend the economic interests of all Canadians, whether they live in Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Quebec, or Newfoundland.

The building of major infrastructure projects is very important to the Canadian economy as we look at ways of moving our natural resources sustainably to tidewater. This is the message we have been giving to Canadians, regardless of the region in which they live.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the government realize that this project will supply both of the oil refineries that we have in Quebec? Does this government also realize that this project could help Quebec's petrochemical industry? I am talking about 70,000 good, well-paying jobs in Quebec.

Will the government commit to standing up for Quebec's economy?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we are aware of how important the natural resource sector is in Canada to creating jobs. We also know that at the moment there are particular regions in the country that are hurting because of job losses because of commodity prices, particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and as my colleague has just said, also in New Brunswick. We are also aware that major projects are good for the country, but they must carry the confidence of Canadians.

Indigenous Affairs

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal issued a scathing decision confirming the systemic discrimination against first nations children and families that continues to this day.

Will the Prime Minister act immediately to right this wrong by instructing government lawyers not to appeal today's decision, and will he commit to the necessary funding in the budget so that we can begin to reverse this history of discrimination, colonialism, and racism in Canadian institutions?

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, we want to acknowledge the decision of the tribunal today, and acknowledge the leadership and advocacy of Cindy Blackstock, the Assembly of First Nations, and indigenous peoples.

It is a 180-page document. Certainly, we will take careful reading of it, but understand and recognize, there will likely not be any reason why we would seek judicial review of this decision.

We can and must do better. We will renovate the child welfare system in this country.

The Environment

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, likely? There is no reason to appeal this decision.

Today as well, the environment commissioner of Canada lambasted the current regulatory system for pipelines. During the campaign, the Liberal leader made a very clear commitment to overhaul the environmental assessment process. He promised that new regulations would apply to “existing projects as well” and that the entire assessment process of current projects would have to be “redone”.

Are the Liberals going to respect that very clear promise to change the rules and make sure these assessments are redone?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to answer my first question as representative of the residents of Ottawa Centre.

We are committed to rebuilding the trust of Canadians in the environmental assessment process, trust that was lost under the previous Conservative government. As part of that, we will be informing our decisions through consultations with Canadians. We will be basing our decisions on evidence and science, in consultation with indigenous people, and with input from the public. We will also be considering the impact of climate change.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister did not answer the question. Rebuilding trust begins with keeping promises.

That is not what was promised during the election. Not once, but twice during the election campaign the Liberal leader promised that all environmental audits and assessments of Canada's pipelines would have to be redone from scratch. It was never a question of patching up a thing or two.

Will they keep their promise and redo the environmental assessments or not?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, one of the commitments we made as a government is to rebuild the trust of Canadians in the environmental assessment process. That is the only responsible way to bring our resources to market in the 20th century. That is what we will do.

Employment Insurance

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

They are trying to change the subject again.

The promise made during the election campaign was that the environmental assessments for Kinder Morgan and energy east would be redone. The government is also backing away from that.

Another commitment made was to help those people most in need. Do my colleagues know that only one-third of Canadians are eligible for employment insurance when they lose their jobs? Conservatives failed to reduce the threshold to 360 hours.

Will the Liberals address this critical situation and guarantee access to employment insurance?

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to be able to respond and indicate to the House and all Canadians that we are in an active review of employment insurance standards, and will maintain and honour our commitments during the elections.

Foreign Affairs

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the UN recently put out a report that found that ISIS was holding close to 3,500 people, mainly from the minority Yazidi community, in captivity as slaves. ISIS is responsible for nearly 18,000 deaths and the displacement of over three million Iraqis alone. Previous governments have acted on the United Nations responsibility to protect, yet we see no plan at all from the government to stop the genocide in Syria and Iraq.

Why is the Prime Minister outsourcing Canada's obligation to protect the innocent?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague that we will be doing the opposite. We will fight very strongly against the so-called Islamic State with determination for the reasons he just mentioned. We will deal in a more effective way than has been done in the past. We will work with the coalition to be sure that Canada will add to the coalition and will not duplicate. We will be strong and we will be resolute in supporting our allies.

National Defence

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence said of our allies in a radio interview, “Of course they want to keep our CF-18s there”.

Our allies want us to leave our CF-18s in the fight against ISIS. Canadians want us to leave our fighter jets in the fight. Why are the only people who want us to stop bombing ISIS the Prime Minister and ISIS?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, one of the most important things when dealing with a conflict like this is to get a good assessment of what is happening on the ground. As a result of the Conservatives' not having a good assessment of the situation, we can see why we are actually in this mess. That is why I am taking the time to do a thorough assessment and making sure that we get this right and that we have the appropriate capability that is going to make it more effective. I have done this in the past and will do this again.

Foreign Affairs

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is a report today that indicates that when the Prime Minister met with Vladimir Putin in Turkey they both expressed a desire to normalize relations, but that is not what we heard from the Prime Minister when he reported to Canadians in the aftermath of that meeting. Now we hear Russia's foreign minister wants Canada to ease up on its unwavering support for the people of Ukraine.

Why is the Government of Canada turning its back on the people of Ukraine? Why is the Prime Minister playing footsie with Putin?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada will always be there for Ukraine. We do not accept the interference and invasion by Russia in Ukraine. We will find the most effective way to say that to the Government of Russia.

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been reported that Bombardier was trying to do business in Iran despite the fact that Canada has strict sanctions in place.

There are legitimate reasons for these sanctions, such as threats to Israel's existence and Iran's support of terrorism.

Does Bombardier know something that the rest of Canada does not? Has the government already lifted sanctions against Iran?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that the United Nations has asked the countries involved to lift the sanctions imposed under the agreement to ensure that Iran does not use nuclear capabilities for military reasons.

Canada will therefore lift these sanctions, but will continue to mistrust a regime that must not obtain nuclear weapons, poses a threat to human rights, and is not a friend of our allies, Israel in particular.

Therefore, we will comply with the United Nations' request with our eyes open.