Debates of Oct. 28th, 2016

Poverty

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Madam Speaker, poverty does not discriminate, neither does the carbon tax. It does not care if an individual is an impoverished single mom or a senior on a fixed income. As long as they eat, drive, turn on the lights, or heat their homes, they pay more.

A Stats Canada official testified to the human resources committee that other things being equal, increased food and fuel costs necessarily increase the poverty rate.

Will the government support my motion for a formal parliamentary study of the impact of the carbon tax on the poorest Canadians?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased with my colleague's interest in the issue of poverty. I urge him to look closely at the impact that the Canada child benefit is having on poverty in Canada.

I also urge him to reconsider his party's opposition to this benefit, which will reduce poverty to levels unheard of in Canada.

The Economy

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

Madam Speaker, today is Friday. The week is almost over, and it has not been a good one for the Canadian economy.

The member for Carleton talked about the employment situation in Canada. The Bank of Canada and the governor have downgraded Canada's economic forecasts and economic growth outlook. CBC/Radio-Canada has reported that, according to an internal Department of Finance briefing note, if the government goes forward with its pension plan, it will have a negative impact on jobs for 20 years.

Let us be good sports and end on a positive note. The parliamentary budget officer said that the former government left a $2.9-billion surplus.

The government could take its lead from the management—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, at the risk of making my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent unhappy, the last thing we would ever do is take our lead from the Conservatives when it comes to the economy. Canada's economic growth was the lowest it has ever been during the 10 years they were in office.

We presented Canadians with a plan for economic growth that includes a historic investment of $120 billion in infrastructure, a plan for innovation, and a plan to grow the Canadian economy. Not only did Canadians approve of our plan, but so did the World Bank. Ms. Lagarde, from the International Monetary Fund, recently said that she hoped that Canada's policies would go viral.

I hope that my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent

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

Madam Speaker, the truth is that the Liberal plan will once again put the Canadian economy at risk. It is built around such poor decisions as imposing the Liberal carbon tax, increasing CPP, which will cost every Canadian $1,000 a year for the next 40 years, and maintaining high corporate taxes.

When will the government understand that policies that increase businesses' tax burden are not conducive to job creation?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent.

I would like to remind him that the first thing this government did was reduce taxes for nine million Canadians. Unfortunately, the Conservatives voted against this measure. That is the first thing we did for Canadians.

I would also remind my colleague that Canada's plan is praised around the world. I hope he will embrace it. This morning, The Economist said that Canada is an example to the world.

Our plan for inclusive growth and investment in families, Canadians, and infrastructure is exactly what is needed to grow the Canadian economy.

Ethics

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, when it comes to ethics, the Prime Minister promised to do better, but now the finance minister is defending his cash for access scheme by saying he is simply following the rules of the Harper government.

When Bev Oda tried that same scheme, she gave the money back, so why has he not given the money back?

No wonder the Ethics Commissioner is calling his behaviour “unsavoury”. If the finance minister does not think what he doing is illegal, will he tell us whether he thinks it is ethical, or is he content to just be unsavoury?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, all members of Parliament and all parties fundraise and we all abide by the exact same rules. Events like these are one part of every party's fundraising and engagement work. It is important for us to recognize that when the rules are followed, no conflicts of interest can exist and we continue to follow all the rules.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, in their document entitled “Open and Accountable Government”, the Liberals state that “there should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, accorded to individuals or organizations because they have made financial contributions to politicians and political parties”.

Imagine. It cost $500 to see the Minister of Justice in Toronto, $1,500 to see the Minister of Finance in Halifax, and it will cost $500 more to see him again in Toronto. It is as plain as day: the Liberals could not care less about their own rules.

Does restoring integrity and confidence remind them of something?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, let me explain to the member that federal politics is subject to some of the strictest political financing legislation and regulations in the country. All members of Parliament and all parties fundraise, and we all abide by the exact same rules. When the rules are followed, no conflicts of interest can exist and we will continue to follow the rules.

Indigenous Affairs

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, the good old Liberals will always be the good old Liberals. They will go on thinking that their government is above the law.

Instead of doing everything in their power to comply with the Human Rights Tribunal's ruling on discrimination against indigenous children, they appointed Mrs. Wesley-Esquimaux, who got things off to an incendiary start by saying that equitable funding for social services for indigenous youth would be like throwing money out the window. That is just plain insulting.

Frankly, does the minister support such statements?

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Madam Speaker, we as the government have been working very hard and taking very concrete steps to address the ruling of the tribunal as it relates to child welfare on reserve in Canada.

We know that we need to overhaul and reform the entire child welfare system. That is what we are committed to do. We are taking the steps to make that happen and we have appointed the right people to do that job.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Speaker, yesterday in response to failing to comply with the legal orders of the tribunal, Liberals announced consultations on first nations child welfare.

Before seeing any documents or findings or talking to child welfare agencies in ridings like mine, the Liberal consultant called more money identified by key expert Cindy Blackstock as throwing it “up in the air like confetti”. This is about delivering for these kids.

Does the minister actually believe Cindy Blackstock wants to throw money up in the air like confetti for these kids?

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Madam Speaker, to truly end discrimination, we have to reform the current broken system that we have with child welfare on reserve in Canada. We recognize that, as a government, and we are committed to making that happen.

We have accepted the rulings of the tribunal council. We have moved immediately to invest more than $600 million into child welfare on reserve this year, and we are going to continue to meet that need and meet those demands.

Employment

[Alex Nuttall, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Madam Speaker, it has been a year and the Liberals still do not have a plan to create jobs, but they sure know how to kill them: a carbon tax that will put a $3.8-billion burden on the backs of manufacturing workers. The Prime Minister said that Ontario should transition away from manufacturing.

What are these people to do when big Liberal government policies kill their jobs?

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

Madam Speaker, I am very surprised that the member opposite does not understand that the environment and the economy go together, and that by taking action on the environment, we are actually building a more sustainable future.

Maybe he would like to listen to Preston Manning who said recently, “To be clear, pricing carbon is a good idea.” It's needed to drive innovation.

I would also like to point out that the New Brunswick committee on climate change said that pricing pollution is a solution.

We are about growing the economy and tackling climate change. We are going to continue moving forward to create good jobs.

International Trade

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

Madam Speaker, as the CETA deal inches to the finish line, driven now by the nine new demands and disclaimers of Wallonia that virtually make Belgium a CETA-free zone, Canada will be forced to take this deal because we were not there.

Is this the culmination of the progressive clauses that the minister was working to insert into an already done deal?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Madam Speaker, our negotiating strategy has been very effective from the get-go. We have been a firm but excellent partner for the Europeans, and our European partners have acknowledged that.

As former prime minister Brian Mulroney said, “I think the prime minister and [Minister of International Trade] are doing what they should do in the circumstances.”

The recent news is all positive. However, we are taking nothing for granted. We are going to continue to work until we get this deal done.

The Economy

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, once again, we see the Prime Minister over-promising and under-delivering.

The Prime Minister claimed that his child care benefit would deliver more to Canadian families, but he hid the fact that the amount will actually shrink from year to year, from now until 2021.

We know the truth at this point in time. The fact is that low-income families can actually expect over $100 less per child per year than under the Conservative plan.

When will the Liberals stop making things so much more difficult for low-income families in Canada?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, again, I am delighted by the interest of the other side in poverty. This morning, I am glad that this gives me the opportunity to signal that the Canadian child benefit is going to reduce poverty for Canadian families, from 11.2% to 6.7%, take the families of 500,000 out of poverty, and, as I mentioned earlier, lead to the largest fall in poverty ever seen in the history of our nation to the lowest level of child poverty ever observed in our history.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Madam Speaker, the facts are the facts. According to the parliamentary budget officer, job creation in Canada is slowing compared to the past five years. The Liberals' plan, which is to take on more debt at the expense of our children and grandchildren and tax Canadian families to the hilt, is simply not working.

When will the Minister of Finance admit that we are headed straight for disaster?

Can the minister forget about $1500-a-ticket cocktail fundraisers for his friends and the Liberal Party and start paying attention to job creation and Canada's public finances?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for yet another opportunity to highlight the fact that, in the Quebec City region, for example, the Canada child benefit will give the families of 200,000 children $200 per month tax free. In the Quebec City region alone, that will lift the families of 10,000 Canadians out of poverty. In addition, the middle-class tax cut will mean a lower tax bill for the families of 300,000 taxpayers while the top 1% pays a little bit more. This is good news for Canada—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Lakeland.