Debates of Feb. 19th, 2016

The Economy

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, according to the recent report from the National Bank of Canada, the Liberals are on track to add $90 billion to Canada's debt.

In Manitoba, we have witnessed how runaway NDP deficits destroyed our province's credit rating while Premier Selinger raised taxes and drove away business. The tax-and-spend policies of the NDP in Manitoba did not work, so can the Minister of Finance tell us why the new Liberal government wants to burden Canadians by repeating the terrible NDP mistakes?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question.

On October 19, Canadians made a very clear choice: they chose growth. In December, we started to follow through on our plan by lowering taxes for the middle class, a measure that is benefiting more than nine million Canadians.

In the upcoming budget, we will continue with the Canada child benefit, which will help nine out of 10 families and lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. In addition to that, our infrastructure program will promote economic growth across the country.

On October 19, Canadians made a clear choice. They chose growth.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, harassment within the RCMP is once again making headlines.

Things are supposedly under control, but the problem is clearly systemic. Furthermore, the RCMP seems incapable of handling its internal complaints in a fair manner. There is no respect for victims, allegations are not taken seriously, and punishments are laughable.

When will the government demand that the RCMP take things seriously?

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

Harassment is a serious issue that is unacceptable within the RCMP or within any other organization.

I want to inform the House that two members of the RCMP have been suspended in connection with this issue.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, harassment in any workplace is a serious issue. It must be dealt with fairly and immediately, but according to new reports, complaints about things like bullying and sexual touching were raised by former RCMP employees in 2014 and 2015 but were too often ignored. When fault was found, the penalties were just not credible.

The RCMP investigating itself is just not working. Will the minister agree to take this on directly and order a full, independent review of harassment in the RCMP?

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I reiterate that we are concerned about harassment and we are working with RCMP officials to ensure that the RCMP provides a workplace free from harassment and sexual violence.

Finance

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, innovative companies not only in British Columbia but right across this country rely on stock options to keep smart young Canadians working right here at home. If we do not keep our taxes competitive, these young people will simply go elsewhere.

Shopify is a Canadian innovation success story, and we know that the CEO and many other CEOs have called on the Liberals to abandon their misguided plan to tax stock options.

Will the Minister of Finance listen to the people who are actually creating the good jobs for these young people and cancel this misguided tax hike?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity actually to visit Shopify. It is an incredible Canadian success story, and what is encouraging is that they have a government that is really committed to a comprehensive innovation agenda, an agenda that will create opportunities for companies like Shopify to expand and go into operation.

We have heard their concerns around stock options. We are engaged with them. More important, they are very excited about the fact that this government is going to be putting forward an innovation agenda that will really help companies grow and succeed here and be competitive globally as well.

Air Transportation

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians need jobs. Bombardier has the potential to create much needed jobs if the Toronto Island airport is allowed to expand. However, the Minister of Transport has overruled the decision not only of Toronto City Council but of the Toronto port authority. He has blocked the expansion of the Toronto Island airport.

Why is the Minister of Transport blocking Bombardier from creating jobs for Canadians and preventing the expansion of the Toronto Island airport?

[Kate Young, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for that question. I will reiterate that, as announced on November 12, 2015, the Government of Canada will not re-open the tripartite agreement between the federal government, the City of Toronto, and Ports Toronto. All three parties of the tripartite agreement must concur on any amendments.

Public Services and Procurement

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

Mr. Speaker, it has been the same old story from this government for months. We even heard the story this morning: a plan for this, a plan for that.

The only plan we can see is a plan to mess things up. This week we learned from public servants at Public Services and Procurement Canada that the Liberals' plan was to have tugboats and fireboats built outside Canada.

Can the minister tell us why these boats should not be built here, in Canada, by Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to investing in the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard to ensure that they are able to operate as a true blue-water force while also growing our economy and creating jobs.

To support our electoral commitment to be more transparent and open, we will be providing regular updates to Parliament and the public on the progress of the shipbuilding strategy.

We are always looking for opportunities to increase the efficiency of procurement processes so we can save time and money.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Public Services and Procurement recently stated that the new ships for the Royal Canadian Navy do not have to be built in Canada.

Minister after minister, even today, has stood in this House and told us they have a plan, a plan to grow the economy and create jobs through infrastructure spending. Yet when they have the opportunity to do so, the first thing they do is look to send the jobs overseas instead of supporting our shipbuilding sector.

Will the minister tell us why the Liberals would rather farm out jobs to foreign countries than create the high-paying jobs here in Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, a renewed federal fleet is a key enabler of important government priorities, including our sovereignty, preserving our fish stocks, monitoring the impact of climate change, and supporting the Canadian economy by creating jobs.

To date, more than 300 Canadian companies have received work as a result of the shipbuilding strategy. The vessels will be built in Canada. It is estimated that the shipbuilding strategy will create up to 15,000 jobs and more than $2 billion in annual economic benefits over the next 30 years.

Telecommunications

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

Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing that everyone can agree on and that makes everyone angry, it is the lack of competition for wireless carriers.

Yesterday, the CRTC refused to give small players access to the infrastructure they need to grow and develop. This means that there will be less competition, when more would certainly have been easier on Canadians' wallets.

Can the minister tell us what he plans to do to ensure more competition, which will allow for broader coverage and lower prices?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the question. As he knows, the CRTC is an arm's-length administrative tribunal that regulates and supervises broadcasting and telecommunications in the public interest.

However, for me, the telecommunications sector is an essential platform for innovation, particularly in this digital economy. That is why we continue to support competition, choice, and availability of services. We want to make sure we continue to foster a strong investment climate to make sure we have greater competition and better choice for consumers.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that will not bring down cell phone prices. Canadians pay some of the highest cell phone bills in the world, yet the previous government failed to make any progress, and the Liberals have shown no interest.

Yesterday the CRTC denied an appeal to spark real competition in the wireless sector by allowing new small players into the market.

What action are Liberals going to take to stop Canadians from getting gouged? Will the minister step in to review this proposal?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we remain engaged with consumers. We remain engaged with the companies that have brought forward this proposal. We want to make sure that we create an environment for them to be able to provide their services.

As I said, with respect to the CRTC, it is an independent tribunal and it will make its own decisions, but we want to promote competition, we want to promote choice, and we will continue to make sure we advance this file as part of our overall innovation agenda that will allow an opportunity for better choices for consumers.

Government Accountability

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this government's openness and transparency is refreshing after a decade of deceit and denial by the previous government. In fact, important financial information on numerous federal programs was kept hidden by the previous government, even when requested by the parliamentary budget officer.

Can the President of the Treasury Board inform the House of the actions he is taking to ensure that the PBO finally receives the information that has long been requested?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sydney—Victoria for his work on this file and for that tough question.

The Conservatives refused to disclose information about their 2012 budget cuts to Canadians and to the parliamentary budget officer. Our government has released this information because government information belongs to Canadians. Our government will continue to be open and transparent with Canadians because we believe it is the right thing for a government to do, as we believe in open-by-default government.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, I feel obligated to remind the Liberals of how barbaric ISIS terrorists are. This week they publicly beheaded a 15-year-old boy for listening to pop music. The U.S. State Department reported that ISIS used mustard gas in a deadly attack against Iraq's Kurdish peshmerga. The new Liberal plan puts our troops at increased risk and ignores the immediate security needs of innocent civilians.

Now that our CF-18s can no longer take out ISIS from the air, will the Prime Minister be using reason to stop ISIS from carrying out these atrocities?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with hon. member opposite about the atrocities that ISIL is committing, but I would also remind him that with an enemy like this that commits these atrocities, we cannot take it out from the air. It can only be done on the ground. This is the reason we are tripling our training capacity and doubling our intelligence, so that we can actually work as part of a coalition and defeat ISIS finally.

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

Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister is speaking in the House on the government's motion on the ISIS mission, the defence minister quietly issued a press release saying our CF-18s dropped their last bombs on Monday and were headed home. In his press release, the Minister of National Defence did not even thank or acknowledge the invaluable contributions made by Canada's fighter jets. This comes before the House has even had a chance to vote on the motion.

The Prime Minister promised a debate and a vote, knowing full well he would blatantly ignore the democratic will of Parliament. Why is the government more interested in retreat than debate?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, in the announcement, we stated that the bombing campaign by the CF-18s would end on February 22, but that the exact decision would be made by the Chief of the Defence Staff and the coalition. That decision was made for Monday.

Also, the member opposite knows I actually made the announcement during the debate when the member opposite was standing right here in front of me. In that statement, I actually commended the great work of our CF-18 pilots at that time, and the press release was sent out after that.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the families of soldiers well remember the 2002 friendly fire incident when U.S. jets fired on Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, killing four of them. Our CF-18s would have known they were Canadian boots on the ground, and now we are back to relying on other countries for air cover.

What did the minister mean yesterday when he said that our special forces in Iraq needed anti-armour? Did he withdraw the CF-18s before putting necessary protection in place for our soldiers on the ground?