Debates of Nov. 16th, 2016

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, the United States is our biggest trading partner and NAFTA has been a huge success over the past 20 years. It is clear that with time, treaties occasionally need to be tweaked. We are prepared to do that in good faith. It is a normal part of the process. Other treaties are within the minister's mandate letter for tweaking, including the free trade agreements with Israel and Chile. This is a normal part of the process. NAFTA has been tweaked already over the past 20 years. We will continue to negotiate in good faith.

Infrastructure

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the devil is in the details and because the infrastructure minister fears the devil, he avoids the details altogether.

Of his new infrastructure bank, he said:

Obviously there are a lot of questions about the design of the bank, the governance....

He had better figure it out. Some $35 billion in tax dollars are at risk. If the minister responsible does not have a clue how it will work, billionaire foreign bankers will eat him and our tax dollars for lunch.

Who is protecting taxpayers?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, actually, this government is doing something the previous government never even dreamed or thought of doing. We are doing something that is going to be extremely important for this country, and we are going to get the details right. What this will do is to leverage private sector funding to build infrastructure in this country, which is something the previous government did not do. It will create jobs. It will be good for the economy.

The private sector wants to get involved. What is so difficult to understand about that?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is the Liberal logic: we create an infrastructure bank, we take away $15 billion that was earmarked for municipalities, and we add the condition that only projects over $100 million will be approved, knowing full well that only 1% of the projects are over $100 million and therefore out of reach for small and medium-sized municipalities. This is just like the Liberal Party's cocktail fundraisers, which are intended for the wealthiest 0.01%.

Is anyone over on that side of the House going to stand up for Canada's regions?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, yes, I am going to stand up and remind my colleague that in our economic statement this fall, we set aside $2 billion for rural communities. On top of that, we are making significant investments in infrastructure.

This infrastructure bank will enable us to increase our infrastructure investments in number and in scope. Canadians want modern infrastructure. This creates jobs and helps keep our economy competitive.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in their platform, the Liberals argued that the government would use its strong credit rating and leading lending authority to meet municipalities' infrastructure needs. Mayors assumed that a government bank would lend at a lower rate to help facilitate the building of infrastructure. Yet now we find out that private investors are expecting a return in the range of 7% to 9%, which can only come through tolls and user fees.

When did the Liberals say they would line their Bay Street and Wall Street friends' pockets with tolls and user fees?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I do want to talk about something the hon. member said, and that is our credit rating. It is the best in the G7. That is a fact. That is good news.

I also want to say again that we have committed to an unprecedented investment in infrastructure of $182 billion over the next 12 years. This is something that our municipalities across the country have been asking for for a very long time.

We are the government that is acting on that. This is a solid plan for green, public transit, and social infrastructure. Canadians are very pleased with our decision to invest in infrastructure.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals would have us believe that private-sector money is going to fall from the sky without any strings attached.

During the election campaign, the Liberals said, “Interest rates are at historic lows, our current infrastructure is aging rapidly....Now is the time to invest.”

The last time the government borrowed money, last month, the interest rate was very low, 1.3%. The private investors who are going to invest in this bank are looking for a 7% to 9% return on their investment. In other words, Canadians are being asked to pay five times as much in order to line the pockets of Liberal cronies on Wall Street and Bay Street. Why?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where my colleague is getting those numbers. I will say that we are investing $182 billion in infrastructure over the next 12 years.

According to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, our infrastructure deficit is between $600 billion and $1,000 billion. We need to invest in infrastructure. The government is going to do a lot, but we also want to leverage this bank in order to create other investments in infrastructure. It is the right thing to do.

Indigenous Affairs

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, for more than a year I have been asking the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs both personally and in the House to release the KPMG financial audit on behalf of the Blood Tribe in Alberta. I keep getting the same non-answer. She makes claims about transparency but refuses to be transparent.

What does someone actually have to do to get an answer from the minister? What hoops do my constituents have to jump through before the minister will take action?

Can the minister do the right thing and provide Kainai Nation with the financial audit results today?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I hope that any member of the Kainai Nation who wants that information would approach my department and we will get it for them.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the message that I have been getting from a minister of the crown is that it is okay to tell first nations' leadership that it is fine to break the law. The minister makes it sound so easy to get this information, that all anyone has to do is to ask. Either the minister is completely oblivious to the stonewalling in her own department or she opposes empowering community members finding out this information.

Why does the minister claim to be all about transparency and yet refuses to let community members get access to the information they need to hold their own leadership accountable?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that the first nation's chief and council are accountable to their members and to my department. If any member wants information, they can approach my department and we will help them get it.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister seems to equate providing basic information to band members as demonizing the leadership. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ministers are expected to post expenses. We have public accounts. The information is readily and easily available. But Charmaine Stick is now being forced to take her leadership to court in order to see the books.

Why is the minister forcing Charmaine to incur court expenses to see the information that should be easily provided to all—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, members of all first nations have the right to see the books of their first nation. These are provided in a variety of ways, on a password-protected website, at town hall meetings, or tabled in a band office.

I cannot deal with something that is before the courts but I do understand that there was a public meeting where the member did see that information.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people do not have to go to a public meeting to see what the minister or her department spends. It is easily accessible. It is easily available to all.

The minister, like me, has been getting hundreds of emails just in the last two days from Canadians who think this is wrong. This is about basic transparency. This is about basic good governance and it should be available to all.

When will the minister start ensuring and empowering first nations communities and enforce the First Nations Financial Transparency Act?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear that the First Nations Financial Transparency Act did not work because it was imposed top-down and it accidentally penalized first nations businesses to predatory practices by competitors.

It is extraordinarily important that members have access to the statements, as do we, but it is not appropriate for these to be transparent to the whole world. This is a relationship between first nations and their membership.

Pensions

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after two days of our raising the issue in the House, it is obvious that the Liberals forgot to consider the needs of women and people living with disabilities in their legislation to expand the Canada pension plan. Stakeholders and union leaders agree that Bill C-26 is flawed because of the omission of the drop-out provision for these groups. It is a simple fix. We are proposing changes and asking for the current government's support.

Instead of rushing this expansion into law, will the government take the time to fix it by accepting our proposed amendments and make this right for all Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, all members of the House, including our new colleague from Medicine Hat, are honoured and pleased to take part in this important debate, which signals a historic change in the way that the CPP will assist not only Canadians of this generation, but also Canadians of future generations. We can be proud because this will lead to a more inclusive society, with greater growth both now and in the future.

Automotive Industry

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is not “all members”, because the Liberals have excluded women and persons with disabilities by their own purpose and intent.

The Liberals and Conservatives' trade and economic policies have driven the Canadian auto industry from second to tenth in the world, costing tens of thousands of jobs. For more than a year, the Liberals have copied the Harper Conservatives at the expense of workers in Canada, with zero results. The Liberals now have a bailout from the auto workers and Unifor who, unlike the government, successfully negotiated a billion dollars' worth of new investment in Canada.

The workers have done their job. When will the minister do his? If he is looking for jobs, they are right here. He just has to come and get them.

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I am so glad that the member opposite now understands our government's priority when it comes to good quality Canadian jobs. This is a priority for us. That is why in the budget we extended the automotive innovation fund to attract investments into Canada, particularly in the auto sector, to create jobs. We have been engaged with the auto sector, we have been engaged with the unions, and we have seen positive results because of that. Most recently, GM Canada expanded its engineering and software development in Canada and plans to open a new software centre, creating 1,000 new engineering and high-tech positions. That is creating jobs.

Status of Women

[Karen Ludwig, Liberal, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Mr. Speaker, next year Canada will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. During the year, we will be celebrating our history, our achievements, and our common values, which include gender equality.

Can the Minister of Status of Women inform the House how our government will promote equality in 2017?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from New Brunswick Southwest for her question. Gender equality is a priority for our government.

To mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, I launched a call for proposals to bring together 150 women leaders, advocates, and feminist organizations to engage them in local projects to advance gender equality.

We understand the importance of advocacy, making real progress toward equality, and leaving a lasting legacy for future generations.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, Africa is considered to be one of the most dangerous and unstable regions in the world. A report published this week shows that terrorist groups have obtained a wide range of heavy weapons from government stockpiles throughout Africa. All the defence minister has told Canadians is that conflicts are very complex.

Will the minister finally be honest with Canadians and tell us where our troops are going, will they be in combat, and how long will they be there?