Debates of Nov. 25th, 2016

Ethics

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, this kind of fundraising activity is completely normal and all political parties do it. That is also what the Chief Electoral Officer himself has said.

My colleague knows very well that we have always followed all fundraising rules. These events are open to thousands of Canadians across the country. The same is true for all political parties.

Housing

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned the details of the plan for the future Maison de Radio-Canada.

In 2009, a agreement was reached between Radio-Canada and the City of Montreal. They agreed that 20% of the construction would include social and community housing on this site. However, the developer that is buying the current tower and some of the land is not a signatory to the agreement.

How is the minister responsible for social housing going to ensure that this agreement is upheld and when will the construction of this new social housing begin?

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister has always said that Radio-Canada had a social and historic responsibility to Montreal and to its neighbourhood. Radio-Canada acknowledged that. She also hoped that the more modern and green new facilities would be able to meet our digital realities for years to come.

As the project unfolds, we hope that the crown corporation will engage in an open process with its neighbourhood, its employees, and Canadians in general. We will follow the developments of this project with great interest.

Seniors

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last night I had a telephone town hall with the residents of my riding of Essex. In Essex there is a crisis, with one in 11 seniors living in poverty. Some of them are living on one meal a day and are having to choose between paying for their prescription drugs, hydro bills, or food. Our seniors worked hard to build the society we all enjoy today. Now our country owes them a debt of responsibility. The Liberal government needs to do more for our seniors. They deserve to be able to age with dignity. What is the government doing to lift seniors out of poverty?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes the hard work of seniors who helped build our country. They deserve to retire in dignity.

It is why we restored the age of eligibility of OAS and GIS to 65 from 67, a very wrong-headed move by the previous government. We have raised the guaranteed income supplement for 900,000 low-income seniors, and invested over $200 million in senior housing.

Make no mistake, our government is there for seniors, now and tomorrow.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada 2020, a Liberal think tank associated with Liberal lobbyists and good friends of the Liberal Prime Minister, recently introduced a donor agreement to prevent accusations of cash for access for events it holds with Liberal ministers.

It is really sad that the Liberals' actions make such agreements necessary. In light of this revelation, why can the Prime Minister not see that even his friends are embarrassed by his fundraising techniques and fear for their own reputations?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the aisle knows very well that at all times political parties are raising money. They do so according to Canadian law.

He knows very well that only Canadian citizens can contribute to these fundraising events. He also knows that all donations of over $200 are proactively disclosed by the election authorities. He also knows, or should know, that the Liberal Party follows all of the election rules, and that is what removes even the suggestion of a conflict of interest.

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

Mr. Speaker, for weeks now, we have demanded that the Liberals stop peddling cabinet access to their friends and lobbyists.

Fresh off his trip to visit old family friends in Cuba, we learned that the Prime Minister was cosying up to Chinese Communist Party officials who attended a cash for access fundraiser in May. These same officials then made a large payment to the Trudeau Foundation.

Has this Prime Minister no shame? I know he admires dictatorships from Havana to Beijing, but this goes too far. Will he stop selling influence to foreign powers?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague can manufacture outrage as much as he wants.

He knows very well that only Canadian citizens can make donations to political parties in Canada. Those are rules that all political parties follow.

He knows that the Trudeau Foundation is an independent foundation. He knows that that particular donation to which he made reference began in January 2014. He knows that very well.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what he is not saying is when the cheque was written.

This government is trying to defend the indefensible. It is hiding behind a law written for all parliamentarians to claim that it is obeying the law. We are all familiar with the saying that just because it is legal does not mean it is ethical.

The Minister of Justice invited lawyers to a cocktail party. If they are ambitious they will attend, because when she appoints judges she will think of the Liberal Party's friends.

Will this government respect the House and stop the intimidation with its political fundraising?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, the government is proud of enhancing the transparency of judicial appointments.

My Conservative colleague claims that our judicial appointments are not made in an open and transparent manner. However, he knows very well that that is not true.

We changed the process in order to increase transparency and to make outstanding Canadians eligible for appointment. We are proud of that.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have my doubts about what my colleague just said.

I could go on with the long list of ministers who take donors hostage. Worse still is the fact that the Prime Minister himself is involved in this sketchy kind of fundraising, the very same Prime Minister who told his ministers not to get involved in this kind of thing.

They should really walk the talk. This is serious. This government has no ethics and could not care less about rules.

Will the Liberals stop holding these sketchy fundraising events?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, if my colleague wants to talk about lack of ethics and sketchy fundraising activities, maybe he should think about what his government did when it appointed people like Mike Duffy, Irving Gerstein, and Pamela Wallin to the Senate specifically to do fundraising for the Conservative Party at taxpayers' expense. That is something our government will never do.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in response to a question about the Liberals spending over $23,000 on an external public relations consultant for Kathleen Wynne, for her trip to Israel, the foreign affairs minister said these services are available to anyone.

Seriously, anyone can get a free $23,000 PR guy funded by the Liberals? No wonder they have no hope of balancing this budget.

Why will the minister not simply admit that Kathleen Wynne got the money because she is a Liberal?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is a service that is available to any province of any political orientation, of course.

However, since my colleague is asking the question about what this trip gave to Canada: 44 commercial agreements; $118 million; 200 jobs in Ontario. Other provinces have benefited from the same service. Is the member opposite suggesting we should not help our provinces access foreign commercial markets?

Israel has benefited from this visit. Is the member opposite suggesting we weaken ties with Israel?

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what the member is suggesting is that the federal government not pay Ontario's bills.

Yesterday, I asked the foreign affairs minister about the federal Liberals paying a private public relations firm $23,000 for Kathleen Wynne's recent trip to Israel. He said, “The amount of money he speaks about is an amount of money that was available to anyone....”

What a ridiculous answer. That money is not available to anyone unless their circle of friends includes the Prime Minister, Gerald Butts, and Katie Telford.

Canadian taxpayers want to know why the federal Liberals paid for Kathleen Wynne's public relations bills.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I guess my colleague was sleeping when I just spoke, so I will repeat myself.

This is a service available to any province, and we do not look at the political affiliation of the province. That is ridiculous as a statement. He would be unable to substantiate it.

Did he not hear me describe 44 commercial agreements; $118 million; 200 jobs in Ontario; stronger links with Israel? If he has a problem with that, I want to know why.

Pensions

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for two weeks now, the NDP has been asking the Liberals to fix their flawed CPP expansion bill, Bill C-26.

After refusing to address it last night, Liberal MPs once again prevented us from fixing it.

The Liberals also refused to answer why the dropout provisions were not included in the first place. Did the minister not realize the impact this would have on women and people living with disabilities?

If the Liberal government truly recognizes this problem, then why is it forcing through a flawed bill?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud to work in partnership with provinces to have a historic agreement to expand the Canada pension plan, which would improve retirement outcomes, including for women and those with disabilities, in our country. We are aware that more could be done with respect to the dropout provisions, and we have stated that very clearly to the member. However, in order to make changes to the plan, we need agreement from the provinces.

Our intent is to pass the bill, as is; however, the Minister of Finance will then raise the dropout provisions at the next provincial and territorial finance ministers' meeting in December, in the context of the triennial review of the Canada pension plan.

The Environment

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, real leadership would be fixing it now.

One hundred and thirty first nations, the Province of British Columbia, and the Union of BC Municipalities all said no to the northern gateway pipeline. A Federal Court overturned the Conservative approval and the Liberals made multiple promises to stop it. It sounds like an easy promise to keep, even for the Liberals.

However, they are waffling on other promises to protect our coasts.

Would the Liberals commit today to introduce legislation to permanently ban crude oil tankers on B.C.'s north coast, yes or no?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands the importance of the energy sector to our economy and to the livelihoods of Canadians. We have been clear that natural resources projects must go forward in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The government's final decision on each major resource project will be informed by facts and evidence, including public consultation and the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples.

Each major resource project has to be judged on its own merits, in order to determine if it is in the overall Canadian best interests.

Softwood Lumber

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my constituents and forestry workers deserve to know what their future will be now that the United States trade representative is planning to launch trade action against Canada. Albertans cannot afford another drastic hit. There is no time to waste, too many jobs are at stake.

Why will the minister not do her job, and ensure stability and predictability for forestry workers, or does she just not care about Albertans' livelihood?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member that it was the previous government, his party, that let the treaty expire and failed to reinitiate negotiations with our American partners.

We are prepared for any eventuality on this file. We understand that there may be a complaint lodged in front of the department of commerce by the American industry. We will defend at every step of the way in front of tribunals our Canadian workers, our Canadian forestry industry. We have never lost. We are confident moving forward. In the meantime, we will continue to negotiate a good settlement for Canada.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is a load of blah, blah, blah.

Now we know why the Liberal government was never serious about renewing the softwood lumber agreement. How do we know? The opening salvo of a new trade war with the United States was fired today.

The Minister of International Trade had 387 days to defend Canada's forestry workers, but she failed. Now thousands of families in the regions are worried about being caught in the crossfire of this trade war.

The Prime Minister's seduction strategy is not working. When will the government start fighting for Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are doing. We are fighting for the interests of Canadian softwood lumber workers and producers.

That is exactly why we have not yet reached an agreement. The United States' offer was not acceptable. We are continuing to work for the industry and the workers. In the meantime, we will put up a fight in court. We have never lost, and we will continue to work toward an agreement that is good for the country.