Debates of Nov. 25th, 2016

National Defence

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, 240 federal public servants have been forbidden to publicly discuss details of the Liberals politically motivated, sole-sourced Super Hornet purchase, a deal that will cost thousands of jobs and waste billions of taxpayers' dollars.

In fact, this gag order forbids them from discussing the project for the rest of their lives, a move condemned as heavy handed by two former federal procurement chiefs.

Why are the Liberals muzzling public servants, and what are they trying to hide from Canadians?

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

As I said earlier, Mr. Speaker, this is possibly some of the most commercially and security sensitive information in the files of the Government of Canada.

It is therefore not unreasonable that non-disclosure agreements be signed by those very people who are handling that information.

We are determined that this procurement will be handled in the right and proper way, and that the mistakes that were made in the past will not be repeated.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we speak, the Liberal government is making 235 members of the Canadian Armed Forces and public servants involved in replacing our CF-18 fighter jets sign lifetime non-disclosure agreements. That is a first.

I have no intention of wasting my question by asking the Liberals what they have to hide. It is clear that they are just going to repeat, as they just did, that they do not want to disclose the information because it is supposedly commercially sensitive and that they are following the appropriate procedures.

Instead, I would simply like to know whether public servants are being forced to sign these agreements because they did not agree with the government's decision.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said in earlier responses, this is sensitive information. This is critical information. This is information that we simply do not want to have in the wrong hands.

Therefore, non-disclosure is a sine qua non for those who are handling that information. We have asked those who are handling that information to sign non-disclosure agreements, which extend past their employment with the crown, and—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Oakville.

Labour

[John Oliver, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my riding of Oakville is part of the network of auto manufacturers in this country. In fact, the Ford assembly plant in my riding employs approximately 4,500 workers.

They work hard to ensure that the vehicles and equipment assembled are consistent with Canadian safety standards.

Can the minister inform this House on his work with regard to safety of Canadian consumers?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Oakville for his question and for his leadership on our automotive caucus.

Obviously, consumer protection is important to us with respect to road safety.

That is why I introduced Bill S-2 in the Parliament of Canada. It will give us the tools we need and allow us to recall and repair any defects that are discovered in our automobiles and equipment.

This bill is before Parliament, and I hope that all parties will support it when it is comes to the House.

Health

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is facing a crisis in the over-prescription of opioids and with illicit fentanyl and now a wave of street drugs 100 times stronger.

The health minister claims to be using every lever at her disposal, but the only action we have seen from the Liberals was an exclusive conference in Ottawa. The doors were closed to addiction doctors and any expert who may have had a different opinion than the Liberals.

If the minster takes the opioid crisis seriously, why is she not meeting with addiction doctors and those on the front line who work every single day with this tragic crisis?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for raising this issue. The matter of opioids in this country is a serious public health crisis, and we have taken action on this from day one.

I was very pleased early on in my mandate to make sure that naloxone was available to save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives by being available at a non-prescription status. I was also very happy to make sure we got intranasal naloxone into this country and to make sure we got approval for it.

I was very happy to take steps to schedule precursors for illicit fentanyl so that it would not be available. We have taken steps to make sure that supervised consumption sites are available as a harm-reduction measure.

We brought together hundreds of people, in a manner that has never been done before, including addiction specialists and all other stakeholders, to make sure that action is taken on this very serious matter.

Infrastructure

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Infrastructure.

For the last two years, Prince Edward Island has led this country in export growth and is expected to again this year. The premier has tagged Prince Edward Island “Canada's Food Island” for its food and fish exports, but we also export many other products, such as aerospace and other goods. Critical to our export needs in all of Atlantic Canada is quality infrastructure that leads us into those export markets.

My question to the minister is this. Under the new infrastructure fund, will those critical needs be met for Atlantic Canada?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for Malpeque and all of the Atlantic caucus for their advocacy on infrastructure issues in their communities.

After hearing their concerns, and the concerns of the province and the mayors, we made changes to allow 60% of P.E.I.'s roads to be eligible for funding compared to the 1% that were eligible under the previous government. These changes will help us grow the economy, connect to communities, and move goods to market.

Health

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the environment minister announced that she will force the Ottawa Hospital to build at Tunney's, a location the hospital twice studied and rejected.

Reaction has been fast and furious. Former mayor Jim Durrell said it is “appalling...a terrible decision”. Councillor Hubley said that traffic will be a huge problem. The Ottawa Citizen's Kelly Egan said, “The Ottawa Hospital should reject the Tunney's offer”.

Why will the environment minister not get out of the way and let the hospital decide for itself where it will build?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, before coming up with this recommendation, the National Capital Commission did a comparative analysis of 12 potential federal sites using 21 criteria. The Tunney's Pasture site best meets the 21 criteria, and its pre-eminence is supported by the most recent data concerning the long-range plans for urban transportation, demographics, and federal land use in the National Capital Region.

There were 8,000 people consulted on this, which is 7,999 more than the last government consulted.

Softwood Lumber

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the softwood lumber trade war is reigniting and Quebec has reason to be concerned.

In a joint press release with Barack Obama in June, the Prime Minister did not say a word about exempting Quebec from any protectionist agreement. Worse yet, he is okay with a future agreement covering remanufacturers. That is even worse than the bad Conservative agreement that cost us 23,000 jobs in Quebec.

Instead of selling out all the sectors of our industry, will the Prime Minister stand up and defend Quebec's forestry industry?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question and his interest in this industry in Quebec.

From the beginning we have worked with Quebec's industry and its workers to understand their positions and to promote those positions. We are taking into account the distinctions between the industries in Quebec and those in the rest of the country. This is part of our negotiation strategy and we will continue to promote Quebec's interests before the tribunals during the negotiations until we have an agreement.

Housing

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is high time that the federal government got to work. The tax refund we have been waiting on so we can fund housing projects for the homeless in Montreal is two months overdue. Eleven projects that would create 235 new social housing units for the homeless are on hold because the federal government refuses to release the $2 million it promised.

Will the minister guarantee that all projects will be carried out on time?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, like the hon. member, we are concerned about homelessness in our country, and that is why in budget 2016 we announced an additional $112 million for the homelessness partnering strategy over two years. This was a 50% increase, the first increase since 1999.

Our social development minister recently met with provincial and territorial ministers, and homelessness will be a front and centre issue as we develop a national housing strategy.

Ethics

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for $1,500, one can get access to the Prime Minister to further their agenda. Better yet, donations can be made to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

Are dairy and cheese producers going to have to attend a $1,500 Liberal cocktail party?

Is that what anti-poverty groups, forestry sector representatives, and consumer advocacy groups are going to have to do as well?

Are all Quebeckers going to have to pay $1,500 to the Liberals in order to recover the $50 billion in Quebec taxes to serve the interests of Quebec? Is that what has to happen?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government held consultations throughout Quebec on various subjects and various files, including softwood lumber.

I travelled to Amqui two weeks ago. I went to the Saguenay as did the minister. She consulted Quebec industry representatives. The Minister of Agriculture and his parliamentary secretary took similar action with respect to diafiltered milk.

Therefore, it is definitely not true that we are not consulting Quebeckers. That is one of our responsibilities as government.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Mr. Speaker, [member spoke in an indigenous language].

My question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. In 1993, the Canadian government made a commitment to supplement the Nunavut agreement with more detailed legislation on Nunavut fisheries regulations. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. submitted draft Nunavut fisheries regulations to the department in 2013 and presented them again in 2015.

Unfortunately, progress has been slow. Will the minister commit to working collaboratively with NTI to finally develop relevant Nunavut fisheries regulations?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our colleague from Nunavut for the question. I share his view that the fisheries in Nunavut offer an important opportunity for economic development. Our government understands that a sustainable, scientifically based fishery is in the interest of the residents of Nunavut and the interest of Canada.

I am happy to tell him that we are proceeding along the lines of the partnership with NTI, as he just identified. We believe in co-management with our territorial partners. Senior officials met with NTI this week. They have scheduled another meeting for December 9. We are going to work with them to get the job done.

Specific Claims Tribunal Act

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report on the review of the Specific Claims Tribunal Act.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (B) 2016-17: Votes 1b, 5b and 10b under Fisheries and Oceans”.

Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (B) 2016-17: Vote 1b under Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada”.

Syria

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House of Commons a petition calling for action to bring peace in Syria.