Debates of Feb. 4th, 2016

Regional Economic Development

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport's earlier response regarding funding for the Port of Québec was vague to say the least.

The port is not the only organization in Quebec City waiting for news from this government. There is also the National Optics Institute, which is a very important institute that generates jobs. Nearly 4,000 jobs have been generated by this centre for development and applied research.

If the port has to wait, will the NOI, which needs its funding by March 31, get a positive response from this government?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the great work done by this institute. It does great work to commercialize innovative ideas to market to help SMEs. We have had a productive conversation with it, and we will provide it with a timely response in regard to funding.

We understand the importance of growing the economy. We understand the importance of innovation and creating jobs, and we will continue to work with that institute and other institutes across the country.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, words are nice, but firm commitments are needed. The port and the National Optics Institute are not the only ones with needs. Université Laval also needs funding for the Institut nordique du Québec.

The Liberal Party has yet to follow through on its commitments. The people of Quebec City want answers. The Liberals' track record in Quebec City in the first 100 days is zero plus zero, which equals zero.

When will the government follow through on its commitments to the people of Quebec City?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, our number one priority is the economy. We will make investments in aerospace, automotive, by-products, biopharmaceuticals, business services, chemicals and plastics, digital media, financial services, food and beverage, media devices, mining industries, oil and gas, renewable energy, retail, and software.

I can go on and on, but the bottom line is that we will grow the economy and create jobs.

Justice

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians learned today that it is upwards of 3,000 indigenous people, who suffered abuse in residential schools, who have had their claims denied because of a technicality.

It was the Department of Justice that came up with this loophole, and argued against these victims in court. This is contrary to the spirit of reconciliation and a violation of the residential schools agreement.

Will the Minister of Justice instruct her officials to back down? Will she also apologize for this tactic and provide the compensation these survivors are entitled to?

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member across the way for the question and certainly the passion he expresses with respect to indigenous people.

Without question, I share that same passion, as does our government, to ensure that we implement the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement in a timely and fair way. As the Minister of Justice, I take very seriously my commitment to follow through with our commitments in the election to ensure that we are compliant with the charter and to ensure that there is fairness.

I have instructed my hard-working and dedicated officials to come up with options to remedy this situation, working with the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The member for Outremont.

International Trade

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for her answer, but she said “in a timely...way”. Does she not think these victims have already waited enough?

Yesterday, the government signed the trans-Pacific partnership, which will add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of the public drug insurance plan, according to a recently published study.

My question for the government is simple. Does it plan on compensating the provinces for the increased costs of their public drug insurance plans, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Outremont for his question.

Parliament will have an opportunity to study the TPP by means of a parliamentary committee, and there will be consultations with Canadians. We will certainly examine the impact on various sectors, and we will look not only at the challenges, but also at the solutions should we decide to ratify the agreement.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government signed the trans-Pacific partnership, which the Conservatives negotiated in secret, without conducting an economic impact study. Canadian innovators and creators are afraid of losing billions of dollars by giving the United States the upper hand on intellectual property. The founder of BlackBerry even called the agreement “the worst thing in policy that Canada's ever done”.

Why is the Prime Minister bent on signing an agreement that we know will hurt jobs and innovation in Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Outremont for his question.

We will study the impact of the TPP. That is what we have been doing by holding consultations since October 19, as we did during the election campaign, and that is what we will continue to do by means of the Standing Committee on International Trade here in Parliament. The important thing is whether we ratify the agreement. Signing it does not mean much; ratifying it does. We will make that decision after we study the agreement.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the member often sign deals that he does not agree with?

After promising openness and accountability, the Liberals signed onto a trade deal negotiated in secret with no economic impact study—he just admitted it: he wants to do the study after signing—and no mandate from Canadians to sign.

Now that they have signed, further changes are impossible. Since they are gambling with Canadian jobs, perhaps it was appropriate that they signed it in a casino.

Will the government admit that it just signed away any possibility of making changes to the wrongheaded Conservative trade deal?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is true that the previous government negotiated this accord in secret, but it is also true that the hon. member for Outremont decided not to support the agreement without even having read it.

We promised the Canadian public during the election that we would study the agreement and we would look at all aspects of the agreement in depth, and that is precisely what we have done and what we are going to continue to do.

Finance

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, at the first finance committee meeting today, on our suggestion, it was agreed that we do some pre-budget consultations, bringing in witnesses from across Canada.

A suggestion was made as well that the Minister of Finance appear at the committee.

My question for the minister is this. Will he take the invitation and appear before the committee for pre-budget consultations?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her question. I can say that I have done an enormous number of pre-budget consultations across this country, in actuality from coast to coast.

We have seen people from all sectors of the economy. I have listened more than any minister of finance has ever listened in the history of this country. We have 3,500 budget submissions.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I found that really funny. It is going to be hard after that. It is kind of weird.

One of the things I did note in committee today, in all fairness, is that we do not want pre-budget consultations at the committee to hold up the budget. Canadians want a budget. They want a plan. They want to know what is going on.

My question to the Minister of Finance is pretty simple. Does he feel he has the ability to actually make a decision and tell us when the budget will be?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her question. I would like to remind her what happened last year when the budget was actually announced far after the traditional season.

This year we are working to listen to Canadians as best we can. We have heard from thousands upon thousands of Canadians. We have had 3,500 submissions. We owe it to Canadians to actually go through those submissions. We are doing so.

We will get to the budget as expeditiously as we can, recognizing our challenging economic environment.

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

Mr. Speaker, we want to know what the Minister of Finance has to say.

Today the House is debating an opposition motion that stems from the “Fiscal Monitor” put out by the Department of Finance, which clearly indicates that the Conservative government left a surplus. However, members of this government continue to deny the truth.

Will the Minister of Finance set an example and stand up here to tell the House that he has confidence in his own officials? Will he acknowledge that his government inherited a $1-billion surplus?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the only people who believe that the previous Conservative government left a surplus are the Conservatives themselves.

Canadians will not be fooled. Make no mistake, the Government of Canada is going to run a deficit for the 2015-16 fiscal year, a deficit that will result from the previous government's measures and inaction. That is a fact.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians support infrastructure investments, but few Canadians support the unnecessary deficits that result from Liberals funding their pet projects.

We know that as deficits increase, confidence in the government's ability to manage decreases. There is every indication that the government is going to post a deficit of more than $20 billion.

Will the Minister of Finance tell the House that that is not the case? How large will the Liberal deficit be?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is particularly ironic that members from a party that inherited a $13 billion surplus from a Liberal government in 2006 and then added $150 billion in debt to Canadians are talking to us about this. On top of that, they did it while creating the lowest rate of growth since the Great Depression, maybe because they spent the money on things like gazebos.

We have a different plan. We are going to spend on productive assets that can help our country to do better in the future.

Taxation

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that after campaigning on a tax increase for the province's well-heeled citizens and then raising their taxes, the Liberal government in New Brunswick is realizing that this is not working and that the government coffers are bare. You cannot create wealth by raising everyone's taxes.

Why is this government being so stubborn? Why is the Minister of Finance bent on raising Canadians' taxes?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say how much I appreciate the question from the hon. member, because it provides me with an opportunity to remind all the people here that we actually lowered taxes on nine million Canadians. As of January 1 this year, nine million Canadians have more money in their pockets.

It is true that we raised taxes on a very small proportion of Canadians, whom perhaps the hon. member is talking about. We recognize that we have helped the vast majority of people in this country.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, middle-class Canadians need Liberal governments to get out of the way and not raise their taxes. That is simple. If it keeps raising taxes, there will be less revenue and fewer jobs.

When will the finance minister realize that taxing Canadians is not a solution for prosperity in this country?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians elected a new government on October 19. They recognized that we had a plan. We had a plan to deal with low growth through bringing forward a new approach. We reduced taxes on the middle class, which will stimulate the economy while helping nine million Canadians. We are going to help the most vulnerable people in this country by giving them a Canada child benefit. We are going to stimulate the economy through infrastructure investments that can make a real long-term difference in productivity for this country.