Debates of Jan. 27th, 2016

Foreign Affairs

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue working alongside our allies to ensure that we are behaving in a responsible way in the world.

We know that Iran is a cause for concern because of its incitement to terrorism, its human rights violations, and its nuclear ambitions, which have been put aside for the sake of this historic agreement.

We know that responsible engagement is one way of keeping everyone safe and protected.

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

Mr. Speaker, while the government is snuggling up to Iran, our allies are going in a very different direction. Reports are that France has asked the European Union to consider new sanctions against Iran over the recent ballistic missile tests.

How can the government reduce sanctions at the exact time that our allies are apparently reconsidering and increasing those very sanctions?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work alongside our allies to ensure that we are behaving in a responsible way to move Iran away from its position of violation of human rights, of nuclear ambitions, and indeed of sponsoring terrorism around the world.

It is through responsible, firm engagement that Canada has always had an impact in the world, and that is what we will continue to do in a thoughtful and responsible way.

Canada Post

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, now that the Liberals have been in power for 100 days, Canadians are starting to ask themselves some questions. They are wondering why they are not seeing any of the concrete action promised during the election. Take for example the Liberals' very clear promise about Canada Post. The Prime Minister promised to, and I quote, “save home mail delivery”.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to repeat that promise today or will he admit that he has already broken his word?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, we promised to put a moratorium on the changes made by Canada Post and the previous government. We are working with Canadians and we are going to work with Canada Post in a responsible manner to ensure that Canadians get the services they need and want. We are going to work on this file while showing respect for Canadians and holding consultations, something that the previous government never did.

Pensions

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

It is a little bit like selfies, Mr. Speaker, there are cameras everywhere. We have got a clear tape of that Prime Minister making that promise and not the one he just talked about.

Just for the fun of it, let us read the Liberal Party's platform with regard to another Liberal campaign promise, “A Liberal government will restore the eligibility age to 65 for old age security”. The only problem is, the Liberals said they would do that immediately. There are hundreds of thousands of Canadian seniors living in poverty. The government must send a strong signal that it is serious about tackling this unacceptable inequality in Canada.

A simple question for the Prime Minister: When does he plan to keep this promise to restore OAS to age 65?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I point out that OAS is actually right now at 65 and will continue so for the foreseeable future because of this Liberal government.

On top of that, our commitments were made to reach out to seniors, to support seniors, and we will be doing that as we will put forward in our budget.

We are 100 days into this mandate since the day of the election and we are already extremely pleased with everything we have accomplished to show Canadians the real change they need.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the campaign, the Liberals promised to take action to ensure that Canadians can retire with dignity. Too many Canadian seniors are living in poverty. The retirement age was increased to 67, and that will only make things worse and create greater inequalities in the future. I will try again, since he promised to do this right away. When will the Prime Minister fix the Conservatives' mistake and drop the retirement age to 65 for the future, as he promised to do? Will he do so, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to set the record straight. The Conservative government did promise to change the retirement age to 67, but it did not get a chance to do so. It had planned to do so in 2023, not immediately. We will therefore keep the retirement age at 65 as promised. My dear colleague should get his facts straight before asking a question like that.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the platform also promised to increase benefits under the Canada and Quebec pension plans, but once in government, the Liberals are walking away from their pledge to Canadians hoping to retire in dignity.

The Premier of Ontario said she would scrap her separate pension plan if the feds moved on the CPP, but instead she has now announced that she is moving ahead with it. Did the Prime Minister tell the Premier that he will break his promise even before he has told Canadians about this broken promise?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I am happy to correct the record. Our Minister of Finance sat down with all finance ministers across the country to talk exactly about enhancing the CPP, as we have made that commitment.

Ontario had a firm commitment to move forward with that, and it is doing it at the same time as it is working with us to ensure that we are able to enhance the CPP. Our finance minister and finance ministers across the country are working on that very hard.

Foreign Affairs

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we now know that Bombardier is sniffing out deals and trying to sell its aircraft in Iran.

We also know that some of Bombardier's senior managers met with government representatives, including the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

I have a simple question. Can the government assure the House that Bombardier, or any other company, was not told that the sanctions would be lifted before it became known publicly? Did the Liberals talk to companies in secret to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order.

The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we talked openly about this issue during the election campaign.

The Prime Minister committed to re-engaging with Iran, and we will keep that promise alongside our allies. We will do so with our eyes open, as the Prime Minister said.

Here is a question for my hon. colleague. Why is he working for Airbus rather than for Bombardier?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleague that I am the member for Beauce. I work for the people of Beauce and for all Canadians, and I am proud of that.

As a country active on the international stage, we have policy positions. I would like to know why this government is renouncing its policy position on Iran and why it is dropping sanctions against Iran. Iran has not changed. Iran violates the human rights of its own citizens, punishes religious minorities and sponsors terrorism.

Why are the Liberals changing their position and supporting a state that finances terrorism?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Prime Minister gave a very good answer to that question.

However, the issue is this: if Canada were the only country to maintain sanctions against Iran while the others drop most of theirs, Iran would barely notice, but the impact on Canadian industry would be huge.

I would ask the Conservatives to stop working for European and American industries and start working for Canadian industry.

They should work for Canadian industry for a change.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is what Putin's foreign minister said in regard to Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea. “We have nothing to give back. We are not holding any talks with anyone on returning Crimea. Crimea is a territory of the Russian Federation....”

Why is the Minister of Foreign Affairs considering lifting sanctions on Putin's regime, given Russia's blatant disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our government will strongly support Ukraine. Our government will always be against, and criticize, the Russian invasion and interference in Ukraine, and we will communicate that very clearly to the Government of Russia. We will do it, and I will be pleased to do it, because we owe so much to our friendship with Ukraine.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Putin's regime has invaded and illegally occupied sovereign Ukrainian territory. That is a fact. Now our foreign affairs minister is cozying up to the Putin regime. Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs please explain why he is abandoning our Ukrainian friends? Why is he giving in to Russian aggression?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I already answered this question, and said it very clearly to President Putin.

The question is, at the worst time of the Cold War Canada was speaking to Russia. Today, the United States is speaking to Russia. Europe is speaking to Russia. Japan is speaking to Russia. Would he say that all these countries are letting Ukraine down? In what way would it help Ukraine if Canada never speaks to Russia, even about the Arctic?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, the sanctions imposed against Russia by our Conservative government have been very effective, so effective in fact that the foreign minister of Russia is appealing now for the normalization of relations between Canada and Putin's regime.

Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us today if his government intends to drop sanctions against Russia in the middle of the night, as it did with Iran?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is certainly able to keep the pressure on Russia and to engage Russia when it is in our common interest. We are able to do it because our foreign policy will stop being ideological and irrational, and will be effective for our allies and for Canadians.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week, Dafna Meir, a 38-year-old Israeli mother, was stabbed to death in her home in front of her three children. This week, 23-year-old Shlomit Krigman was stabbed to death while visiting her grandparents.

The U.S. State Department has condemned the wave of deadly attacks against Israeli civilians, driven by the Palestinian leadership. However, yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that a suggestion that he condemn the incitement was partisan politics.

Could he explain this unfortunate remark?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague misinterpreted what I said. I said the opposite. I said that we condemned the violence against Israeli people. We always will. To suggest that we are not doing it is partisan.

Indigenous Affairs

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal delivered a historic ruling, finding that the federal government practised systematic discrimination against indigenous children. It is time to implement that ruling and rectify this injustice.

My question is simple and is for the Minister of Finance. Will the budget include the funding necessary to put an end to that discrimination?