House of Commons Hansard #101 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was housing.
Chrystia Freeland LiberalMinister of International Trade
Mr. Speaker, after question period, I will have the honour of tabling the signed agreement in the House and will introduce the bill to implement CETA. This is a historic moment for Canada, and I hope all members will put aside partisanship and support this progressive trade agreement that will create jobs and growth for the middle class.
With CETA, Canada is setting the international standard for 21st century trade agreements.
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order. One would think it is Valentine's Day or something. Let us now all calm down and listen to the hon. member for Bow River.
Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB
Mr. Speaker, ranchers in southern Alberta are reeling from a recent outbreak of bovine tuberculosis, and there is no resolution in sight. CFIA has been on the ground investigating, but there is no clear answer on how long it will be before the quarantines are lifted. In difficult economic times, ranchers need to know when they can get their cattle to market. They get one payday a year.
What will the Minister of Health do to ensure that there are enough inspectors on the ground to get answers as soon as possible, to limit the economic losses for these farm families?
Jean-Claude Poissant LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to protecting the health of Canadian families and of animals.
To meet that commitment our department is investigating the matter. As a control measure we have restricted the movement of all animals that could be affected. In all cases of reportable disease, the objective is to minimize the impact on our producers while respecting our domestic and international obligations.
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
Mr. Speaker, more than 30 ranch families in southern Alberta are facing devastating news: they cannot sell their cattle. This could not have happened at a worse possible time. They have fall contracts, but this quarantine is preventing them from selling their calves. Ranch families in southern Alberta are facing more than $5 million in losses, but this will reverberate throughout the industry. Processing plants, feedlots, and trucking companies in southern Alberta will all feel the impact.
Time is of the essence on this issue. What action is the minister taking to help the cattle ranchers in southern Alberta?
Jean-Claude Poissant LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
As I just stated, as a control measure we are restricting the movement of all animals that could be affected. In all cases of reportable disease, the objective is to minimize the impact on our producers while respecting our domestic and international obligations.
We are taking appropriate action to protect the health of Canadians and Canadian livestock, while retaining access to our international markets.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, last week the minister said there was a “strong business case” for closing the Vegreville case processing centre, but no one was consulted, not local staff, nor administrators, nor town leaders, nor residents.
When asked directly if a full cost analysis was done, senior department officials said no. Therefore, obviously the minister cannot claim a business case without even a cost analysis.
What can possibly be the minister's excuse for devastating the people in Vegreville?
John McCallum LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the lease was coming up on the building. There was a great deal of work to be done, and the department made a very strong business case for moving the operation to Edmonton. I can mention that the union was on side with this. All employees will retain jobs in Edmonton should they wish.
This government has a responsibility to spend taxpayers money wisely. I can assure members of the House, who will agree, that it is our duty to make immigration more efficient and to reduce the processing times, and that is what this does.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals should stop saying that they are not causing job losses because this edict is deliberately killing jobs in Vegreville. I hope the minister will join me in town, speak directly with the people who will be hurt the most, look them in their eyes and tell them why he approves this action.
The minister should save these rural Alberta jobs. Will he stop this political removal of jobs from Vegreville to a Liberal-held city riding?
John McCallum LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, from the point of view of the business case, there was a strong case for moving to Edmonton. Large numbers of people were retiring. The department was having trouble hiring people. In fact, it is projected that this move will increase the total jobs in Alberta, not reduce the number of jobs, and we will have a more efficient immigration system, which will reduce processing times and serve Canadians better.
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, last week, we learned that the federal government asked the Credit Suisse investment firm to advise it on the benefits of privatizing Canadian airports.
Since Credit Suisse already invests in infrastructure such as airports, we have a good idea of what its recommendations will be. Not only are the Liberals letting a fox into the henhouse, they are leaving the door wide open. The Liberals never, and I mean never, mentioned privatizing infrastructure during the election campaign.
Under what mandate does the minister think he has the right to privatize Canadian infrastructure in this way?
Marc Garneau LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we did not give ourselves a mandate.
One of the sixty recommendations set out in the report on the Canada Transportation Act raised this issue.
We are currently analyzing the situation. No decisions have been made and, if a decision is made, it will be in the best interests of travellers, airports, and our airlines.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
The fact is, Mr. Speaker, that the Liberals have no mandate from Canadians to privatize, none. However, the Prime Minister's advisory council on economic issues recommends a Canadian infrastructure bank that will privatize the revenues of infrastructure. How can we get revenue from highways, bridges and waterworks? From tolls and user fees, of course.
The Liberals promised small deficits to invest in infrastructure. How can they justify bringing along massive deficits while privatizing infrastructure?
Amarjeet Sohi LiberalMinister of Infrastructure and Communities
Mr. Speaker, we committed to investing more than $120 billion into infrastructure, supporting municipalities and provinces. We are engaging with both the municipalities and provinces as well as territories. We will continue to engage with the private sector to build more infrastructure on behalf of Canadians.
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond Centre, BC
Mr. Speaker, our small businesses are hurting. CFIB's October report shows that 61% of small businesses state that higher taxes and regulations are the most significant barriers to allowing innovation and growth in their businesses. Yet, the Liberals continue to raise taxes through both the CPP and their new carbon tax.
When will the Liberals stop punishing small businesses with high taxes and more regulation?
Navdeep Bains LiberalMinister of Innovation
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for raising innovation, because that is a key component of our government's economic agenda.
Innovation is so critical for small business, which is why we are focusing on small businesses to make sure we invest in people and give them the skills and training they need to compete in a digital world. We are also focusing on emerging technologies and platforms that will allow them to be part of global supply chains. We are focusing on the small businesses to grow, to be more export oriented.
This is our economic plan on how we grow the economy and create jobs.
Peter Van Loan Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal hidden agenda of higher taxes continues to unfold. In the last election, the Liberals did not tell families about new higher taxes on children's hockey games, piano lessons, small businesses, and student text books, but then families were hit with exactly these tax hikes. Now the heritage minister has told us that she is looking at all scenarios for a new tax on the Internet.
Why does the minister want to tax hard-working, cash-strapped Canadians families just to give that money to her well-heeled friends in what she calls the entertainment ecosystem.
Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I would like to set the record straight on taxes. We lowered taxes for nine million Canadians. For the nine million Canadians with lower taxes, the average individual has $330 less taxes this year, and the average family has $540 less taxes this year.
We lowered taxes for nine million Canadians. This is something we are doing to help middle-class Canadians do well.
Ted Falk Conservative Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, we thought the Liberals disliked tax credits after they cancelled the text book tax credit for students, the arts tax credit for families with kids in dance, and the sports tax credit for families with kids in sports. However, we recently learned that the Minister of Canadian Heritage was creating a new tax credit for friends hosting talk shows. Apparently, the Liberals only dislike tax credits when they help hard-working families, but they like it when it helps their Liberal elites.
Could the minister tell the House how much this retroactive tax credit for talk shows will cost hard-working Canadians?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, our Canadian content creation sector is strong, and our Canadian artists and productions have succeeded on the world stage. We are committed to supporting them.
We are in the midst of public consultations right now to make sure we hear all the voices of Canadians when it comes to how to support Canadian content and how we make sure we can export it. Of course, we are listening to a variety of ideas, but our main objective is to ensure we have the strongest content industry in the world, and we are working on this.
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order, please. A minimal amount of respect requires that we listen when the other side is speaking and we listen to each other. We take our turn, we listen to their turn, and we get our turn again, etc. That is how it works here.
Let us try and settle down and listen to the member for Miramichi—Grand Lake.
Pat Finnigan Liberal Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Mr. Speaker, trade is essential to creating new markets for Canada's agricultural products. It also creates excellent opportunities and helps ensure economic growth for our farmers and their families.
Our government understands the importance of creating new markets for our agriculture products, while also protecting our local interests.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food tell us about the positive impact that CETA will have on our agricultural sector?