Debates of Nov. 22nd, 2016

Emma Pearson

[TJ Harvey, Liberal, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, a family from my community has demonstrated nothing shy of courage and fortitude since the heartbreaking loss of their daughter, Emma, who was taken from them in July 2015 as a tragic result of an alcohol-related motor vehicle incident.

Emma was not only a light in the lives of her family but to everyone she came in contact with, including my children, who speak of her often and fondly remember the time they shared with her at our home.

She loved her comfy jammies, her onesies in particular. A year ago, her proud parents, Kim and Brent Pearson, started a campaign to honour Emma's memory. The mission is to spread the love they have for Emma around to others, one pair of pajamas at a time. Emma's pajamas are being sent to shelters for women and their children, volunteer family services, food banks, and hospitals in her memory.

Moving into the holiday spirit, I invite members to visit #SpreadLoveAround. They can contribute by visiting Emma's Pjs 2nd annual pajama drive on Facebook or donate locally in Emma's name.

Who we are in the end and how we have touched the lives of others is the legacy we leave behind. I believe Emma Pearson would be very proud of her legacy.

Caritas Estrie Candle for Peace Campaign

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

Mr. Speaker, today I want to acknowledge the launch of Caritas Estrie's 34th annual candle for peace campaign. The purpose of the campaign put on by this not-for-profit organization in Sherbrooke is to promote peace in Sherbrooke and the Eastern Townships and encourage sharing with the ultimate goal of ending poverty.

Funds raised will be distributed among several organizations in the region, such as Sercovie, Eastern Townships Scouts, the Journal de rue de Sherbrooke, the Maison des grands-parents, the Résidences Monchénou, the ACEF Estrie, the Maison de la famille, Estrie Aide, and so forth. These organizations provide services directly in their communities to help and support the least fortunate in Sherbrooke and throughout the Eastern Townships.

As honorary chair of the 2016 campaign, I am very proud to rise in the House today to congratulate everyone who is working directly or indirectly on this campaign, but especially to invite the people of Sherbrooke to give generously when they are asked to buy a candle for peace from Caritas Estrie.

Venezuela

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Prime Minister travelled to South America, choosing to stop in Cuba but skipping Venezuela.

Venezuelan opposition leaders are unjustly imprisoned by the Chavista regime of Maduro that receives heavy support from the Castros in Cuba.

Sky-high crime rates, vast corruption, chronic food shortages, and spiralling inflation have Venezuela on the verge of collapse. It is a beautiful country shattered by ruinous socialist economic policies and social engineering on a grand scale.

The Prime Minister has shown zero interest in promoting international human rights. That leaves us to wonder if he took the opportunity, when meeting with the Cuban president, to plead for the release of opposition leaders in Venezuela. The word “democracy” did not pass his lips at any of his public comments while in Cuba. Neither did talk of multi-party elections or calls for Cuba to let up on its harassment of democracy activists and political opposition leaders.

We will never know if this trip was about family nostalgia or a quid pro quo vote by Cuba for Canada's seat on the Security Council.

This was a missed opportunity for Canada to speak up and be counted as a defender of international human rights.

National Housing Day

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is National Housing Day. I am proud to stand in this House and say, for the first time in over a decade, we are poised to deliver a national housing strategy for safe and affordable housing for Canadians everywhere, especially, those in need.

In our government's first budget, we invested $2.3 billion more back into Canada's housing programs, sending a strong message that on housing the federal government is back in the game as a force for better housing.

For the last year, our government has been seeking input from stakeholders from across the country. Today, we released that report detailing just what we heard.

The report, called “Let's Talk Housing”, came from talking to people from every corner of this country, from people with lived experience on the streets and living in precarious housing; the co-op movement; first nations; municipalities; our provincial and territorial partners; and, of course, the builders of housing.

The goal is not just to build housing; the goal is to build stronger neighbourhoods and, through that, stronger communities and, with that, a stronger country.

Let us get on with the job.

Ethics

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the Prime Minister back to the House for the first time since November 2nd. We all know that the Prime Minister likes—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition is aware that members do not draw attention to the presence or absence of other members in the House.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the Prime Minister to the House.

We all know that the Prime Minister would rather hang out with billionaires than answer questions in Parliament. When he is not mingling with them in Sun Valley or Davos, he is hitting them up for Liberal Party donations back home. In May, in fact, Chinese billionaires paid $1,500 for exclusive access to the Prime Minister at a Toronto mansion.

Rubbing elbows with millionaires at these cash for access events does not pass the smell test, and the Prime Minister knows it. Why does he keep doing it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians faced a period of 10 years of lower than needed growth under the previous government. That is why we have committed to engaging positively with the world to draw in investment. I am pleased with the representations we have made in Davos and elsewhere to demonstrate that Canada is a good place to invest.

When we talk about investments like Bell Helicopter in Mirabel with 1,000 more jobs, or the GM research in Markham, or the GE plant down in Niagara Region, we know that drawing in global investment is a great way to grow the economy and create jobs.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is not a coincidence that these billionaires the Prime Minister meets with actually want something from him. One of the guests at the mansion in May wanted government approval for a new bank in Canada—so, an individual pays $1,500 for exclusive access to the Prime Minister and that individual will get final approval for a bank a few months later.

Not only does this event break the Prime Minister's own ethics rules, but it does not pass the smell test. He could stop this right away. Why does he not?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can be reassured that the federal level has some of the toughest rules and laws around political fundraising of any level of government in this country. Indeed, we have always followed those rules and the principles that underlie them.

We also find it peculiar that the opposition members are trying to politicize that particular issue since it was their finance minister who approved that bank before they were booted out of office.

National Defence

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Class act, Mr. Speaker.

The Prime Minister is making a political decision about what fighter jets to buy our pilots. The last time I checked, he is not an expert in fighter jets. He will not be flying them, and it will not be his life on the line.

Instead of telling our fighter pilots what jets they are allowed to have, why does he not let them make the decision?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of a completely botched the procurement process, I am pleased to announce today that we are going to be holding an open competition to replace Canada's aging fighter jet fleet.

The fact that the Conservatives botched that procurement process means that we, right now, have a capability gap. We cannot fulfill our NORAD and NATO obligations. Canadians know we need to, and that is why we are moving ahead with an interim process to give the Canadian Forces the equipment they deserve.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the only gap here is a credibility gap.

A prime minister who does not even think we should use our jets to bomb ISIS is not the person who should be making this decision for our pilots. Our air force deserves to have the best equipment, and it deserves to make the decision at arm's length from any politician.

Will the Prime Minister drop this plan and stop interfering in something he knows nothing about?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I find it the height of irony to get this from members opposite, who demonstrated they had no clue how to get the replacements that our Canadian fighter pilots need.

I will listen to experts. I will listen to the chief of the defence staff, who says we are facing a significant capability gap. We will fix and upgrade our fighters with an open competition, but in the meanwhile we need an interim process to make sure Canada can fulfill its obligations to protect our sovereignty and support our allies.

Justice

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday a judge in Ontario struck down a mandatory one-year prison sentence for a 50-year-old man who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl. This judge thought that one year in jail was too much.

The Prime Minister is already planning to roll back mandatory jail time for all sorts of serious crimes. Can the Prime Minister guarantee Canadians that sexual assault crimes against children will still require mandatory jail time?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, instead of politicizing crime the way the members opposite have, I can confirm that we will always support our judiciary who make responsible, reasonable decisions about the cases before them.

I do not think it should be something that should become a political football.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, it seems that rich businessmen can have access not only to the finance minister but to the Prime Minister himself.

In May this year, 30 billionaires paid $1,500 to gain direct access to the Prime Minister during a Liberal fundraiser event. We also know that, after that, some of the attendees made a big donation to the Trudeau foundation.

Will they continue to hide behind the Conservatives' law, or will the Prime Minister start to respect and enforce his own rules?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians need to know that they can have confidence in the fact that we have some of the strongest rules around political financing in the country, and those rules are always followed.

The fact of the matter is that we need to demonstrate the level of transparency and accountability that we have always shown, and we will continue to.

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

Mr. Speaker, do my colleagues remember the ad that said “There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard”?

Well, I invite them to get out their cheque books because it seems that the entire Liberal cabinet, including the Prime Minister, can be bought. In May, about thirty prominent businessmen, billionaires, bankers, and real estate developers paid $1,500 to attend a private fundraiser with the Prime Minister.

Today, I would like to ask him how he defines “conflict of interest”.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we have some of the strictest political financing regulations in the country, and they are always followed.

Individuals cannot donate more than $1,500 per year to a federal party. This shows that our system enjoys an unparalleled level of confidence compared to those of other levels of government and other governments in the world. Canadians can be proud of the system we have here in Canada.

Indigenous Affairs

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when asked yesterday why the government is still spending half a million dollars fighting Cindy Blackstock and first nations children in court, the government repeated talking points about how it welcomed the ruling from the Human Rights Tribunal.

I want to get the Minister of Justice on record on this issue. As the Attorney General of Canada, how can she justify not complying with this order of the tribunal, and what does she have to say to Cindy Blackstock, who is back at the tribunal today?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that no government has done more to repair the relationship with indigenous Canadians than this one, with $8.4 billion over the next five years in building infrastructure, supporting young people, and supporting indigenous communities.

The fact is that we recognize there is much more to do, but we also have to recognize that it needs to be in concert with the indigenous communities themselves and with municipal and provincial partners, and that is exactly what we are doing.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us put aside the rhetoric and talk about the facts.

Since January, this government has received two compliance orders from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and has spent nearly $500,000 on lawyers' fees to fight Cindy Blackstock after voting in the House to stop fighting indigenous children in court once and for all.

How can the Minister of Justice justify this Conservative-style approach?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we are working very hard to ensure that all Canadian children have the same opportunities to succeed. That means we have to make massive investments in indigenous communities and help youth from indigenous communities succeed.

We still have much more work to do, but by investing $8.4 billion over the coming years, we have started doing the good work that was neglected for far too long by many governments here in the House.

Softwood Lumber

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice in Toronto, the Minister of Finance in the Maritimes, the Minister of Natural Resources, and now the Prime Minister.

If the Liberals put as much effort into signing the softwood lumber deal as they do into fundraising, they would be a lot further ahead on that. Thousands of families and 300,000 workers depend on the softwood lumber deal. However, fundraising appears to be more important to the Liberals than reaching a deal.

Will the Liberals finally settle that agreement?