Debates of March 24th, 2016

Festival of Holi

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the Hindu festival of Holi, known as the festival of colours or the festival of sharing love. This ancient festival is celebrated by Hindu Canadians. It originated in India but is also celebrated in many parts of South Asia, such as Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

This holiday represents the unofficial start of spring and symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. It is celebrated by throwing coloured powders at one another. It is furthermore an opportunity to gather with family and friends to celebrate the importance of love and forgiveness.

Tonight I will be hosting an event at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building to celebrate this joyous occasion. Several hundred people are expected to attend. I have sent invitations to all the members of this House and sincerely hope to see many of them there.

Events in Brussels

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to share with the House how angry I am. The terrorist attacks in Brussels this week make me angry. The killing of unsuspecting, innocent civilians makes me angry. Listening to terrorists pretend to speak in the name of my faith makes me angry. The willingness of some humans to inflict carnage on their fellow humans makes me angry.

However, I also want to say that reading many touching stories of humanity and compassion in the aftermath of such horrific attacks offers me comfort. Hearing many people from different backgrounds rally together and vow to confront such acts offers me comfort. Watching many resist the temptation to succumb to anger and instead offer resolute, thoughtful, and firm responses offers me comfort.

Today we need to open our hearts and extend our hands to Brussels and victims of terrorism everywhere and reassure them that we stand with them.

Jim Hillyer

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize my seatmate, colleague, and friend Jim Hillyer. Ironically, or I guess appropriately, this was Jim's speaking spot when we traded. He wanted to get back to his treatment and to his kids. Ironically, this was his spot.

My wife and I got to be friends with Jim and Livi shortly after they arrived here in 2011, and we arrived as well. We were on trips together. We got to know each other and soon became friends. We both had four children and had a lot of common interests. He was a man of deep conviction and purpose. From daily conversations to Monday night MP hockey, where we knew him as the sniper, he will be missed.

I say today for Livi and his children Nation, Asia, Taylor, and London that we are here for them.

Finally, to Jim from all of us: may you rest in peace, old friend.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I thank the member for that.

The hon. member for Edmonton Centre.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today we all mourn the loss of a dear colleague and friend, the hon. member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner. Fellow Albertans in this House know that Jim was a dedicated and dynamic representative for our province who would always stand up for his constituents, for Albertans, and indeed for all Canadians.

Jim served on seven different committees at different points during his short time here in the Parliament of Canada. For the whole of his five-year term during the 41st Parliament, Jim was a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. We are still building on the work he did there.

Those who knew him know that Jim was a fighter. Although he had to abandon a nomination for provincial election because he was diagnosed with leukemia, his absence from public life was temporary. Jim left only to come back later, this time as a member of Parliament for Lethbridge. Last fall, electors in his new riding of Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner also decided to place their confidence in him.

A dedicated volunteer, a community leader, a loving father of four, Jim Hillyer will be sorely missed by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. To his wife Livi and his four children I would like to offer my deepest condolences.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Stewardship Groups in South Okanagan—West Kootenay

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate to represent the riding of South Okanagan—West Kootenay, a riding full of magnificent mountains and deep valleys. Each of those watersheds has a group of hard-working citizens, almost all of them volunteers, who have dedicated themselves to the task of stewarding the natural world they live in.

These stewardship groups work to protect their watersheds, to maintain the incredible biodiversity found in both the mountains and the valleys, and to ensure that activities in their region are truly sustainable.

Whether they are trying to keep invasive plants out of their grasslands or alien mussels out of their lakes, protecting a spectacular migration of toads, or informing landowners of best practices on living with endangered species, these groups work tirelessly to keep their valleys healthy and rich in natural diversity.

From the Arrow Lakes and Slocan Valley, Christina Lake and the Kettle River, to the deserts of the South Okanagan, I salute the valuable work of stewardship groups in my riding and across Canada.

Autism Awareness

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, April 2 marks World Autism Awareness Day and 18 years since my son Jaden was diagnosed.

Life with Jaden has not exactly been as we planned. He has never made the honour role or attended university or heard his name called at the NHL draft. In no way is this a disappointment. Those were simply not the right plans for Jaden.

To measure his value by IQ or income or goals and assists would be to completely misunderstand who he is. Jaden has a truly rare and beautiful nature, an immeasurable blend of honesty, authenticity, innocence and genuine love. It is an indescribable joy to witness him grow up with a childlike vulnerability and sense of wonder that the rest of us, sadly, lose over time.

Life with Jaden may not be what we had planned, but we do not celebrate any less; we just celebrate different things. It is a lesson learned through experience and one I would not trade for the world.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

It is good to have Jaden here today.

The hon. member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour.

Purple Day

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to stand in this place and help promote awareness of epilepsy by recognizing Purple Day this coming Saturday, March 26.

Thousands of people across Canada will wear purple as they celebrate our nation's leadership in epilepsy awareness.

I am proud to remind this House that it was my very good friend and yours, Mr. Speaker, Cassidy Megan, a young Nova Scotian who founded Purple Day in 2008 at the age of nine to raise international awareness about epilepsy. Canada is now a world leader in this cause, thanks to caring citizens like Cassidy.

I thank my colleagues, many of whom are all too familiar with epilepsy, for their generous support and for wearing purple in the House today.

May we please take a moment to share that pride with our constituents by using the hashtag #purpleday2016.

The Budget

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this budget is a betrayal of the middle class. Families are being asked to return their universal child care cheques, moms and dads are no longer able to claim a tax credit for putting their kids in soccer or dance class, and the tax credit for textbooks or education is gone. Why are middle-class families being stuck with the bill to pay for this Liberal spending spree?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the budget we put forward for Canadians. We are particularly proud that we have been able to live up to our promises to middle-class Canadians. We started on January 1, by reducing taxes for nine million Canadians and putting more money into their pockets each and every paycheque. More importantly, our approach with the Canada child benefit improves the lives of nine out of ten families with children. They will have, on average, $2,300 more per year, including the measures that were taken for families mentioned by the member opposite.

We are very proud of what we have done for families and we know that this is an important first step in helping Canadian families to deal with their challenges.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the budget confirms that the Liberals cannot manage the economy. They told Canadians in the last election that they would run a modest deficit of $10 billion. Now they are borrowing three times what they promised, along with tax increases on the middle class. That is not what Canadians voted for. How can Canadians trust the current government to grow our economy and create jobs when it cannot even keep a simple promise to Canadians?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of low growth, Canadians elected a new government.

They asked us to do two things: to help the middle class, and to grow the economy. We are so proud to start down the path of growing the economy. We are making investments in infrastructure. We are developing an innovation agenda that can make a real difference for this generation and future generations of Canadians so that they will have a better future for themselves and their families.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. As we know, members will sometimes hear things here they may not like or agree with. However, I know we all have the capacity to be professional, listen quietly, show respect, and wait for our turn to have a chance.

Now it is the turn of the hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claimed that his promise to balance the budget in four years was set in stone. However, because of this year's Liberal borrowing, each family across Canada now owes about $3,000 more. With no plan to balance the budget again, that number will only continue to grow. He is already forcing families to stop claiming a tax credit for putting their kids into hockey or art. Which taxes does he plan to increase this year, next year, and the year after that to pay for his spending spree?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her question because it gives me another opportunity to say how proud we are of our budget, a budget that is helping middle-class Canadians across this country. We started by helping nine million Canadians with tax reductions. More importantly, we are moving forward on helping nine out of ten Canadian families with children, with an average of $2,300 more per year. This will help them to lead better lives and deal with the challenges they face in raising their children.

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

Mr. Speaker, Tuesday's budget confirmed our fears. They announced a $10-billion deficit but delivered a $30-billion one.

Canada is back to chronic deficits.

Here is what the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec had to say: “The lack of a plan to balance the budget is worrisome and undermines the government's fiscal strength.”

Can the minister confirm that he has given up on the idea of balancing the budget?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of our budget. A few months ago, Canadians asked us for two things. They wanted us to make things better for the middle class and grow the economy.

We started with our programs to grow the economy. That is our fiscal plan. It is very important to invest now because interest rates are very low and we can take steps that will make things better for future generations. That is our plan. That is the plans Canadians asked for.

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

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the Liberals announced that they would incur a $10-billion deficit because of major investments in infrastructure. This week's budget indicates that the operating deficit for the upcoming year will total $30 billion, but there will be only $2.9 billion in new money for infrastructure.

Can the minister explain why, in light of recurring expenditures, he is only allocating $2.9 billion for new infrastructure after making such big promises?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our investments are important for future generations. It is very important to invest in infrastructure.

We are going to start with a few funds: $11.9 billion over the next decade, plus $2 billion over the next three years for universities and colleges, and an additional $3.4 billion for federal infrastructure. These investments are very important for boosting our growth.

Air Canada

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when Air Canada came to Parliament looking for public investment, the answer was yes. However, Parliament set down in law a very specific condition: maintenance work had to be done in Canada. The courts have repeatedly ruled that Air Canada broke the law. Thousands of Canadian workers lost their jobs.

Today, instead of upholding the rule of law, instead of enforcing this legislation, the government is retroactively changing the law to let the scofflaw Air Canada off the hook. Do they not understand that the foundation of democracy is that the law has to apply equally, even to the well-connected?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the situation has evolved, of course, enormously since 2012. We are delighted that Air Canada has decided to make an investment in purchasing Bombardier aircraft. Not only that, it will be doing the maintenance of those aircraft in Quebec over the next 20 years, as well as participating in setting up a centre of excellence, not only in Quebec but also in Manitoba. It also has an agreement with the Government of Manitoba to create 150 jobs there.

This is good news for the aerospace industry. The member across should be delighted for Canada.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

No, Mr. Speaker, we are not delighted with a Liberal government that believes that the rich and well-connected can get off without obeying the law. No we are not.

The Liberals have gone so far as to change the law retroactively. It is Orwellian. It says that the provisions are deemed never to have come into force and are therefore repealed. They broke the law. Those thousands of workers lost good-paying jobs. Thousands of Canadian families were thrown out in the streets.

How can they live with themselves by letting the rich, the powerful, the well-connected off the hook, to whom the law no longer applies?