Debates of Nov. 21st, 2016

Canada Revenue Agency

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his remarks and for touching on my question in his response.

I would like follow up on the tax information exchange agreements that were signed with a number of countries, including the Bahamas. One issue that came to the forefront when the Bahamas leak happened was whether those information exchange agreements can give us the information we want.

That information has to be available and shared reciprocally. The problem is that the agreements are not reciprocal. We give a lot of information. However, it seems that in some countries, information exchange standards are not the same, which means that we receive less information or poorer-quality information than we give.

Does the member think that the tax information exchange agreement with the Bahamas is effective considering the information leak and the fact that the information came to us via journalists?

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his interest in this matter.

I want him to know that the CRA has a number of tax information exchange agreements with various countries, agreements that have been effective for quite some time. It uses that information in the course of its audits, which really helps us stop the people who use these kinds of schemes and those who would attempt to do so.

The member mentioned information obtained by investigative journalists. That information also helps the agency in its work.

I would also like to remind the member that the CRA is determined to manage the information that came to light on the Bahamas, just as it did the information from the Panama papers. Working with our international partners and sharing information among countries helps us effectively combat tax evasion and tax avoidance.

In closing, the additional funding allocated to the Canada Revenue Agency in the latest budget gives the agency the resources to carry out audits and to get the tools it needs to effectively combat tax evasion.

Public Services and Procurement

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Madam Speaker, I must come back to a question that I asked on October 26 about young students who worked at various federal departments during the summer as part of the Canada summer jobs program. Because of the Phoenix pay system, as of October 26 those students still had not been paid. I asked the Minister of Public Services and Procurement when she thought those students would be paid and how many of them were still unpaid. I did not get an answer to my question other than that the Liberals would try to meet the October 31 deadline. We finally learned that they were behind schedule.

I want to remind the Liberals that not receiving one's regular salary is an unacceptable violation of Canada Labour Code rights. The minister promised that the Phoenix pay system backlog would be cleared by October 31, which obviously did not happen.

The Miramichi pay centre raised serious concerns about the Phoenix system that went completely ignored. Last Wednesday, there were still 18,000 cases to be settled. Over all the cases, there is still a delay in expense reimbursements in 200,000 cases. I am talking about accommodation, meals, and travel expenses. This is the equivalent of two months' work on the backlog. That is a lot.

The Minister of Public Services and Procurement was to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, but she changed her mind at the last minute. We hope that she will be able to appear before the committee to provide pertinent information about the situation and real answers about the progress made on managing this problem.

Above all, people want to know when this problem will be solved. What is the minister's deadline for ensuring that all government employees, including students, are compensated fairly?

Students have to deal with many problems every day. In fact, since 1990, the adjusted national average for tuition fees has increased by more than 155%. In Ontario, tuition fees have increased by more than 180%. The average debt for a graduate is $28,000.

According to a survey of 4,500 university students conducted by the Meal Exchange charity, almost 40% of students experience some degree of food insecurity. A further indication of the precarious situation of students is that since 2012 more and more of them have been turning to food banks.

This is cause for much concern. The Liberal government says that it takes the situation of youth seriously, that young people are our future, and that we have to establish the right conditions in order for youth to thrive. However, the government is unable to lead by example and provide youth with adequate compensation.

I would like to know when the minister will fix the situation and how many young people are still not being paid by the current government.

[Leona Alleslev, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, I want to be very clear from the outset that the ongoing public service pay problems are completely unacceptable. I want to also assure the House that our government is as committed as ever to making sure that public servants are being paid for the work they do.

Every pay period, nearly 300,000 public servants from 101 departments and agencies receive more than $500 million in payments through the Phoenix payroll system. Representatives from our department are working hard to ensure that every employee is getting paid what they are owed.

Representatives from my department are working hard to ensure that every employee is getting paid what they are owed. Temporary satellite pay offices were set up this summer to help resolve the pay problems while allowing the ongoing processing of regular transactions. The system is being improved and efforts are being made to streamline the process and increase efficiency.

The steps our government is taking to make an impact in reducing the backlog and improving the system include the following.

For example, we were able to process approximately 100,000 transactions a month in September and October, compared to the 40,000 cases that were processed in May when employees were adjusting to the new system.

Compensation employees are working day and night, seven days a week, to clear the backlog and ensure that each and every Government of Canada employee is paid accurately.

Two weeks ago, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement went to Miramichi to thank the employees for their hard work. While she was there, she delivered a message that we would continue to support them and to keep all satellite offices open as long as needed.

To date, we have ensured that 64,000 employees have had their cases resolved. Currently, there are approximately 18,000 employees with some form of outstanding pay transactions remaining in the backlog.

Most new pay requests are expected to be processed within 20 days. However, we are only meeting our service standards 20% to 30% of the time. Because of this slowdown in processing, the number of transactions in the system has expanded so that we now have more than two months of additional work representing 200,000 transactions. We will progressively return to normal processing over the next few months.

The Government of Canada has established a reimbursement process that will ensure that employees who have received overpayments because of payroll problems are treated fairly. A number of repayment options will be made available to them that will take into account their needs and reduce the associated financial burden as much as possible.

The important thing to remember is that we are committed to helping every employee who is having pay problems. That is a priority for us, and we are taking this situation very seriously.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the information the parliamentary secretary provided, but she did not talk specifically about the students who worked for various departments this summer.

Can she tell us exactly how many young people have not yet been paid by the government's Phoenix system?

It is very difficult to follow up with individuals, such as students, who no longer work for the federal government. How is the government following up with these young people?

The parliamentary secretary talked about current employees, but student employees are a whole different issue. Could she please focus on the students who worked for various departments this summer?

[Leona Alleslev, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, it goes without saying that problems with the public service pay system are unacceptable.

Our priority is ensuring that employees are paid for the work they have done. We are working very hard every day to fix these problems and process employee pay transactions as quickly as possible.

Indigenous Affairs

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak further to a question I asked on September 26 on housing in first nations communities.

During the last Parliament, as the official opposition critic on housing, I visited several first nations communities as part of an organized Canada-wide tour. I was greatly dismayed to see how bad the housing crisis is and the unacceptable conditions in which members of these communities are living.

I saw with my own two eyes the overcrowded housing, covered in mould, that was hastily constructed with materials that are not suitable to the weather conditions and built without taking into consideration the traditional way of life of first nations and the Inuit.

The NDP considers housing to be a basic right. In 1976, Canada ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which obliges nations to take appropriate steps to ensure the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.

Unfortunately, the right to housing has never been entrenched in Canadian law. In the spring, I introduced Bill C-264, which aims to add the right to housing to the Canadian Bill of Rights to ensure that everyone can live with dignity and in security. I hope to one day debate my bill with my colleagues in the House.

Recognizing the right to housing also carries the obligation to take reasonable measures to eliminate barriers to housing and to the full exercise of that right. The federal government has sole responsibility for funding housing on reserve.

A few weeks ago, in response to a request for information from my colleague from Timmins—James Bay, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada had this to say about current housing conditions:

According to a needs assessment study based on the National Household Survey 2006, the housing shortage on reserve is expected to rise to approximately 115,000 units by 2031. Data from the 2009-2011 National Assessment of First Nations Water and Wastewater Systems indicates that 20,000 units need to be built on reserve in order to reduce the average number of persons by household to four people per home (on-reserve average), and 81,000 houses are needed to reduce it to the 2.5 Canadian average. Moreover, as of 2011, almost 41% of households on reserve are dwellings in need of major repair and mould or mildew has been reported in 51% of units.

Despite that information, the government decided to fund the construction of only 300 new units per year in 2016 and 2017; in other words, it only agreed to fund 3% of the 20,000 units needed to address the crisis.

When the minister answers our questions saying that she finds the situation unacceptable, I have to agree. However, she also likes to tell us that her government is making historic investments in first nations. If you look at information from her own department, it is clear that the minister needs to do a lot more to convince me that she is truly committed to addressing this crisis.

As long as the government fails to cough up enough funds to address this unacceptable situation, I think we can hardly describe its investment as historic.

The government is not doing enough to support affordable housing for non-indigenous Canadians, let alone for indigenous Canadians. First nation and Inuit people are not second-class citizens.

When will the minister do what it takes to resolve this situation?

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

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to respond to the question from my hon. colleague. I know that she, along with many of us in this House, realizes the gap in housing faced by indigenous communities. We also realize that it is absolutely unacceptable.

Housing and infrastructure, we know, are fundamental to the needs of indigenous people, just as they are to all people in Canada. We know that they are a critical part of healthy and sustainable communities and the social framework we always talk about in this House for raising people out of poverty and giving them a safe and secure environment.

Coming from an indigenous background, representing a large indigenous riding, and working with indigenous people all my life across Canada, I know that safe and sensible housing is an absolute necessity for basic health and community safety.

It is a major factor in many first nations, Inuit, and Métis regions of Canada in developing strong, economic platforms for their communities and their residents.

The government is listening to indigenous communities, and we have very much been attentive to their concerns, and we have continued to discuss with them solutions. As these solutions are coming forward, we are taking action.

We invested $8.4 billion in budget 2016 to create transformational change for indigenous people over the next five years.

We know that the systemic problems faced by indigenous communities across Canada did not arrive overnight. They were arrived at through years of traumatic experience and colonialism in this country. We also know that we will not resolve all these issues overnight, but we also realize that we have to give it our full attention and our full commitment.

We have provided more than $554 million over two years to address urgent housing needs on reserve. We have not seen such deplorable conditions among first nations people on reserve in Canada as we are seeing today.

We have already allocated $268 million to support the construction, service, and renovation of over 3,000 housing units across first nations. This is part of $829 million in targeted funding for first nations community infrastructure.

In addition, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has already committed $64 million this year to renovate and retrofit over 2,800 homes and has committed $3.7 million for skills and capacity development in 324 first nations communities.

In order for us to make the kind of progress we want to make with indigenous people across Canada, it requires more than commitment and more than planning. It requires tremendous and historic investments, and that is what we have been doing.

We have not only invested in housing for first nations communities at a record level in Canada but have done the same for Inuit housing as well. We launched the first ever Inuit housing program in the country.

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, I understand that this is an important matter for the parliamentary secretary, but I have another question for her. When I asked my question in September, this is the answer I was given:

The 2016 budget includes an investment of more than $554 million over two years for the construction, maintenance, and renovation of 2,007 units. Agreements are already in place for two-thirds of the funding and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the CMHC, is investing in renovating and repairing 2,500 units.

Let us make sense of all these numbers. According to the minister, 20,000 new housing units are needed just to address the current crisis, and this does not include the need for major renovations. They have budgeted for the construction, renovation, and maintenance of only 2,007 units over two years, and are building only 300 new units a year. That is not very significant or historic.

Can the minister commit to building the 20,000 units needed to address the crisis, yes or no?

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Madam Speaker, we are already making progress in solving the problem, and it is not an easy problem to solve.

In the amounts that I quoted, what I omitted to say was that $4.6 billion of this program is carved out just for housing and infrastructure in first nations communities across the country. That includes new housing developments in many first nations communities. We have already started the negotiations around the funding agreements.

It will also include ensuring that we have a five-year component agreement that deals with water and waste water on reserves as well, ensuring that communities have those kinds of services.

What I want to say to the member opposite is that when we look back over the last 10 years, we do not see increases in housing investment for first nations, infrastructure investment for first nations, or other critical, necessary funding. We have never seen these programs in principle for Inuit communities.

It is a great start, and we are going to keep going.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7 p.m.)