Debates of Oct. 24th, 2016

1956 Hungarian Revolution

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian revolution.

Courageous Hungarians took to the streets throughout their country, demanding freedom and democracy. By October 31, it appeared the revolution had succeeded with the Kremlin announcing peaceful negotiations. Then, at 5:20 a.m. on November 4, a grim Hungarian Prime Minister Nagy announced a major attack by Soviet forces.

Hungary was viciously crushed by the Kremlin's tanks as an impotent west watched. Mass arrests followed on the orders of Kremlin leader Khrushchev and his Hungarian puppet, Kádár. Thousands were slaughtered. A mass migration of 200,000 surged across the borders into free Europe. In response, Canada provided sanctuary to more than 37,000 Hungarian refugees in less than a year.

Today, let us celebrate that indomitable spirit of the Hungarian Canadians who kept the dream of Hungarian independence alive, and who have contributed so greatly to our country.

Phoenix Pay System

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last week I heard from a Victoria man who serves in our Coast Guard. After long weeks at sea, his backlog of overtime, unpaid because of the government's new Phoenix pay system, had reached $15,000 and prevented him from buying a house.

For him and his shipmates, financial stress worsens the isolation at sea. However, he is far from alone. In fact, some 400 members of our Coast Guard are waiting for thousands of dollars in overtime pay.

Wednesday was payday at the Coast Guard station, and my constituent heard promises that the problems were over. Instead, he was not paid at all.

These workers want to serve Canada but they cannot afford to volunteer. I ask the government to please reach out immediately to Coast Guard workers in B.C. and offer them straight answers about when this burden will finally be lifted from their shoulders.

1956 Hungarian Revolution

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. It was a time of economic hardship, violent purges, and Draconian communist order.

What started as a student march became a spontaneous uprising which took the communist authorities by surprise, prompting the Soviet Union to invade Hungary. It marked the first attempt by a country, a nation in the eastern bloc to revolt against Soviet oppression and achieve national freedom.

In a matter of weeks of violent fighting, the Soviets put a brutal end to the Hungarian Revolution, with 2,500 Hungarians giving their lives in the cause of freedom. In the wake of the uprising, 200,000 refugees escaped Hungary of which more than 37,000 were admitted to Canada.

It was the late Jim Prentice, who in 2010 announced the designation of the Refugees of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution as a national historic event in Canada.

Canada and Hungary share a common love for freedom, and today make common cause in the promotion of liberty and democracy.

Birthday Congratulations

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in 1983, Inspector Baltej Singh Dhillon came to Canada from Malaysia and settled in Surrey.

A few years later, he volunteered with the RCMP as a block watch student and soon after he applied to join the RCMP, but was to choose between service to his country or wearing his turban. He was confused. Faith or career?

Little did he know that it would spark a nationwide debate. We were fearful that Canadians might lose the very symbols that helped define Canadiana, defined who we were, who we wanted to be, and what we were to the world.

Instead, the fact that he was allowed to wear a turban and be a Mountie became Canada's identity and brand. He never felt he was a trailblazer. Nor did he feel as though he was anyone special. For him he was “Baltej Dhillon, regimental number 42848.”

On behalf of myself and all those in the House, I wish Baltej a happy 50th birthday.

International Trade

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week, we watched the Minister of International Trade leave the negotiating table for the economic agreement with Europe. She threw up her hands in despair and abandoned the negotiations. The government is unable to sign major trade agreements such as the trans-Pacific partnership and the softwood lumber agreement.

This is Canada's largest trade deal since NAFTA. Will the Prime Minister ensure that Canada signs the agreement with Europe before it is too late?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has done its job. We negotiated a progressive agreement that will create jobs and growth for middle-class Canadians. It was a hard but necessary task.

The former communications director of the member for Abbotsford said, “For Canada, leaving the table at this stage is the right move because it's up to the EU to negotiate within and come back to Canada with a proposed solution”.

We remain committed to signing—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week, we watched the Minister of International Trade throw her hands up in despair and leave the negotiating table of the economic agreement with Europe. It is the same government that has been unable to sign major trade agreements like the softwood lumber agreement and the TPP.

Will the Prime Minister sign Canada's largest trade deal since NAFTA before it is too late?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member opposite that we have signed the TPP.

As for CETA, that deal was stalled under the previous government, and we got it back on track. It is now supported by 27 and a half out of Europe's 28-member states.

The President of the European Parliament said that it was “Quite clear that the problems on the table are European problems”

Canada has done its job. It is now up to the EU.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is simply incapable of signing major trade deals. The former government was off to a good start, and that effort would have resulted in a signed deal. We are now moving backwards.

Since the Minister of International Trade seems to have thrown in the towel, will the Prime Minister pack his bags, go and meet with the leaders of the European Community, and sign this historic agreement for the future and the welfare of all provinces of Canada?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Conservatives gift-wrapped for us was a decade of slow growth and cynicism.

CETA was stalled under the previous government. It is our progressive changes to the investment chapter that got this agreement back on track. Our hard work with many member states, including France, Germany, Italy, and Austria, has produced results. Now 27 and a half of the 28 EU countries support this agreement. However, as the Europeans themselves admit, the ball is now in their court.

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the deal was gift-wrapped and left on the doorstep for the Liberals to carry in.

The trade minister, at the beginning of her mandate, said, “It’s not my job to persuade anybody that TPP is good”. I guess the same now goes for CETA, as the world witnessed last Friday Canada's trade minister's meltdown as she was throwing in the towel and fleeing the scene of important implementation talks with the EU.

The deal was done and signed in principle, but her Liberal need to placate every opponent of free trade across Europe has caused this mess. If she cannot get a deal with Wallonia, what makes her think she is up to the job of getting a deal with China?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has done its job. We have negotiated a progressive agreement that will create jobs and growth for middle-class Canadians. For Canada, walking away was absolutely necessary. It is up to Europe to solve its problems and come back to Canada with a solution.

As for my visible emotion, I do take this deal very personally. I am all in for Canada when I am at the negotiating table. I was disappointed and sad, but also tough and strong. I think those are the qualities that Canadians expect in their minister.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. Let us try to have it a little quieter. Let us start off the week on a good note where we listen to each other and we make sure that only those who have the floor are speaking.

The hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster.

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canada had done its job up until October 19, 2015. Now the Minister of International Trade has turned her back on not just the EU, but have given up on Canadian jobs when she walked out last Friday. She has failed to deliver now on two vitally important agreements, softwood lumber and now CETA.

Since the Minister of International Trade is incapable or unwilling to do her job and ratify this vital trade deal, will the Prime Minister grab some adult supervision, get on a plane, and go back over to Brussels and get this job done?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, our government has delivered for Canadians on trade time after time. I cannot say the same for the previous government, however.

The only thing the Conservatives delivered when it came to Europe were $100,000 parties, paid for by taxpayers, celebrating a deal that was not even done. CETA was stalled under the previous government, but our progressive changes to the investment chapter got it back on track.

Our government has worked hard. We have done our job. Now it is up to Europe.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's attempt to bully Europe into submission on CETA is not working, and it is unbecoming. Wallonia is not caving into the pressure, and the fact is that millions of Europeans and Canadians share concerns with the agreement and its potential impact on drug prices, dairy producers, and environmental regulations.

This delay is an opportunity to improve the deal. Will the government drop the manufactured deadlines and sit down at the table to fix the problems with this deal?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has done its job. In fact, even the minister-president of Wallonia, Paul Magnette, recognizes that. He said, “Amongst Europeans, discussions were very difficult. That's perhaps the unfortunate paradox in this story. With Canada, things are simpler. We are close to the Canadians. I'm very happy that the part with Canada was concluded and thus the discussions we had together were very useful”.

We have done our job. It is up to Europe now.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Wallonia is not alone in its concern. The region is defending the interests of millions of people who are concerned about the consequences of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms.

The Liberals would have heard the same concerns from Canadians had they held the consultations they promised. Canadians want the agreement to take their interests into account.

Will the minister put Canadians' interests ahead of the Prime Minister's media calendar and improve the agreement?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we negotiated a progressive agreement that will create jobs and growth for the middle class. The provinces, including Quebec, support this agreement.

Last week, the German Vice Chancellor, a social democrat, said, quote, that it provides us with a great opportunity to set fair and good rules for progressive globalization.

Manuel Valls, France's socialist prime minister, said, “It is a good agreement, an exemplary one”.

Is there any agreement the NDP would support?

Labour

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, last weekend, the Minister of Finance told Canadians that they would have to get used to job churn. He said that a few days after the Bank of Canada downgraded its economic outlook for our country.

Job churn is a reality for many Canadians. They deserve a government that shows leadership, not one that tells them to “get used to it”. That is unacceptable.

Will the minister do something about the increasing prevalence of precarious work for Canadians?

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to indicate to the House that it is modern changes because of technology changes, and extremely rapidly, that will make it a new world of work. To address that concern, our government has announced the expert panel on youth employment and made massive investments on skills and training for all Canadians.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, with a non-answer like that, the minister and the government may come to figure out that their jobs are precarious too.

Millennials in Canada are facing a precarious future. Today, I would like to invite the Minister of Finance and the minister for youth, the Prime Minister, to a national forum that we are hosting on the rise of precarious work in the millennial generation this Wednesday on Parliament Hill.

Young Canadians expect more from their national leaders when it comes to dealing with the insecurity they face. Therefore, today I ask the Minister of Finance if he will step up and show leadership to fight against the rise in precarious work for young and all Canadians.

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to indicate that not only have we formed a youth expert panel, but we have invested in skills and training to the tune of $175 million to each and every province and territory in Canada. We have provided more money for the Canada job fund. We have increased innovation. We have built a STEM sector, and continue to do so. We are investing in WIL training, work-integrated learning.

We are working with Canadians to make a successful future for all of us.