Debates of Oct. 28th, 2016

Employment

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Madam Speaker, I can assure the member across the way that we are very concerned about the downsizing and the loss of jobs, particularly for women and indigenous people, often the last to come into a workplace and usually the first out. The good news is that we have enhanced job banks so that there is better matching with new opportunities for individuals. Overall in Canada at this time, we have 44,000 unemployed scientists in STEM because of the commodities downturn—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Oshawa.

Transport

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Transport should ensure that Canada's transportation system creates long-term jobs and infrastructure.

The Pickering airport has the support of local chambers of commerce, boards of trades, and the highest-ranking locally elected officials, who represent over 1.5 million Canadians.

The minister received the Polonsky report on the airport in June. When will he release it, and when will he meet with local representatives so we can move forward and create the 40,000 new jobs my region needs?

[Kate Young, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that important question.

The Pickering airport, of course, is a subject that has been around for many years. The transport ministry continues to look at this issue, and we will come up with a solution as time allows.

Taxation

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Madam Speaker, every summer Canadians enjoy the outdoors using the many services provided by campgrounds across the country. Unfortunately, yet again, the Liberals are showing total disregard toward small businesses. They have ended the review of active versus passive business-income rules that would have allowed small businesses like campgrounds to access the small business tax rate. Instead, the CRA is handing them huge new tax bills.

Will the Liberals reverse this poor decision and actually start helping small-business owners instead of overtaxing them?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Madam Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that all Canadians pay their fair share.

We will continue to support small and medium-sized enterprises across Canada because we recognize the critical role they play in our economy. I want to point out that we have not changed the tax rules and that the same provisions on source of income still apply.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Madam Speaker, the Liberal government's war on small business does not end with only campgrounds. There are many small businesses, small family businesses, mom-and-pop operations, that are also being unjustly punished by the Liberals.

The Liberals not only broke their campaign promise of a small-business tax cut, they cancelled the review of the misapplication of passive income, when the amount of work involved is anything but passive.

Where do the Liberals get off deciding that some businesses are too small to be small businesses?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Madam Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency analyzes every situation on a case-by-case basis by verifying eligibility and the small business deduction and it will continue to do so.

We are consulting our partners and the government has not proposed any changes to the current rules. We will continue to work with small and medium-sized enterprises in Canada to ensure that they understand the tax rules that apply to them.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, live-in care workers are providing an enormously valuable and much-needed service for Canadians. They leave their families behind to come to take care of Canadian families.

If one is good enough to work here, then one is good enough to stay. Next week the minister will announce an increase in immigration levels. Will he provide an immediate pathway to permanent residence for live-in care workers, and in the meantime, will he crack down on the obscenely long backlogs in processing live-in care workers' family reunification?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, I am very aware of the great contributions made by caregivers, partly because my own mother has benefited from one who has done a wonderful job.

I understand that processing times are too long. However, we have admitted the second-highest number in some time, 20,000 to 22,000 in 2016, and we are making progress in reducing these processing times for caregivers.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, that is cold comfort to live-in care workers.

Just so the minister knows, for live-in care workers, the average processing time is 51 months. That is four and a half years, and this is in addition to fulfilling their two-year work requirement. In comparison, for other economic categories, processing time is only six months.

How can the minister justify this gross discrepancy in the treatment of live-in care workers, and will he immediately eliminate this obscene backlog?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, it is in the nature of backlogs that they cannot be eliminated immediately. It does take time.

The central promise we made in the election campaign was to radically reduce the processing time for immediate family reunification. We are making progress, but it does not happen overnight.

We will be announcing a substantial reduction in processing time for families. I am hoping that over the same period, we can make substantial progress in the case of caregivers.

National Defence

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

Madam Speaker, the defence minister completed a fact-finding mission to Africa, and ministers have been attending peacekeeping conferences. The Prime Minister has already blindly committed 600 Canadian soldiers to the United Nations, yet still no details for Canadians. As defence critic, the member for Vancouver Quadra said, “It is essential that Canadians [know] the specific nature of the mission...specific activities our forces will be engaged in, and the expected duration of the deployment”.

Will the defence minister finally tell Canadians these essential details, or will the Liberals keep hiding behind their curtain of secrecy?

[John McKay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, Canada will increase its support to UN peace operations. The minister has toured five countries, along with former senator Roméo Dallaire and Justice Arbour. We are going into this with our eyes wide open. The minister has been on four deployments himself. No decisions have been made about specific deployments to countries. We hope the decision will be made before the end of the year.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Speaker, on the matter of the mission in Iraq, the Minister of Transport said in the House on September 16, 2014:

...it is important for us to get as much information as we can from the government on what possibly can happen and how this mission can evolve.

Clearly, this policy ceased to apply once he was in government. We are informed after the fact and get only crumbs of information.

When will the government be transparent with Canadians?

[John McKay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, we have always been open and up front with Canadians about the risks involved. We will not share information that would put soldiers in harm's way.

I take note that the minister briefed the critics himself, personally. He has made himself available to the media. Three weeks ago, the Department of National Defence and I gave a briefing for everyone.

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

Madam Speaker, when are the Liberals going to take the muzzles off the generals?

Recently, everyone has seen social media images of Canadian troops at the frontline in the fight against ISIS. We asked the Liberals about Canada's role, and they responded by saying that there has been no change in the mission. That directly contradicts General Dawe, who said earlier this month, “The mission has changed.... It's gone from a more defensive posture to a more offensive one”. Defensive to offensive; that is a big change.

Why are the Liberals misleading Canadians about the role of our troops in the battle for Mosul? When will they lift this cone of silence?

[John McKay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, the mission is train, assist, and advise, and that mission has not changed.

Speaking of generals, for the sake of the hon. member I will quote U.S. Lieutenant-General Townsend, commander of the Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, who recently told the media, “the enemy's listening to this broadcast.... So, I'm not going to talk about timelines.... And I'm not going to go into great detail about what [our soldiers] do”.

That is the position of our minister as well.

The Senate

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Madam Speaker, I was so pleased to hear yesterday that the Prime Minister has recommended three notable Manitobans for appointment to the Senate. They will join many other proud Manitobans who are parliamentarians, and we are so happy to have them here.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions speak to how all Canadians can apply to become senators?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Madam Speaker, for the first time, the Senate is open. There is a merit-based process. Canadians from across the country can apply, and we are seeing the results of that new system. The nine individuals who were appointed, five women and four men, are people of extraordinary accomplishment. They come not only from Manitoba but from across this country. They have done so much and will contribute incredibly to our parliamentary system and do justice to this place and the other.

I look forward to working with them. I look forward to their appointment--

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.

Regional Economic Development

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals are determined to centralize power and ignore the regional diversity of our country. Prior to the election of the Liberals, Canadians could expect real leadership from their regional ministers, skilled ministers who were very familiar with the unique characteristics of the regions and provinces for which they were responsible.

Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development tell us what he really knows about Quebec's economic priorities?

I would also like to know how many times the minister has travelled east of Montreal.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Madam Speaker, I am very surprised by the comments of my colleague opposite when we know that, in 2011, the Conservative Party made changes to employment insurance and was prepared to shut down the Atlantic and Gaspé regions and merge them with other areas.

Public Safety

[Neil Ellis, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Madam Speaker, in September, the Ministers of Public Safety and Justice launched the online portion of the government's consultations about our national security framework.

Hon. members have been encouraged to seek the views of their constituents on the subject. Last week, the public safety committee travelled the country, listening to Canadians.

Can the Minister of Public Safety please update the House on the status of the consultations, and can he tell us how the public input will inform the government's approach?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to report that we have received over 9,500 responses from individuals in the online consultation, which will remain open until December 1, as well as over 9,300 bulk submissions. All of this is in addition to the hundreds of Canadians who have participated in the consultations in person or before the standing committee.

We have already begun implementing several of the national security commitments that we made at the time of the election. The advice coming from the public will help us determine what more should be done to keep Canada safe and to safeguard our precious rights and freedoms.