Debates of May 10th, 2016

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister made choices.

When he went to the White House in Washington, he chose who to bring with him. He chose the president of the Liberal Party and the party's chief fundraiser, but the Minister of Natural Resources, whose job it was to be there, was left behind in Ottawa.

My question is very simple, and it is for the Prime Minister. Can he give me just one good reason why the guy who raises money for his party was there but the Minister of Natural Resources, who works for all Canadians, was not?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, and as the Prime Minister has said repeatedly, we are proud of everything we accomplished in Washington during our historic visit.

I would like to remind my colleague that this is the first time since 1997 that the White House has hosted a state dinner in Canada's honour. A number of individuals were invited by the White House and, as I also told my colleague yesterday, he knows perfectly well that all expenses associated with their presence there were reimbursed.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are not proud of the fact that the Prime Minister chose to take his Liberal Party bagman with him to the White House, rather than ministers who lead important departments, ministers whose duty and responsibility it was to attend.

What happened in Washington is simple. The member for Papineau acted like the leader of the Liberal Party rather than the Prime Minister of all Canadians.

I am giving him one more chance to explain himself. Can he give us even one good argument to justify why his bagman was there, but not the ministers who lead huge departments that are important to all Canadians?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, since this is about ministers who lead important departments and who were part of the delegation, my colleague knows very well that they engaged their American counterparts on many files, including climate change, environment and energy, international security, defence co-operation, the global coalition against ISIL, border co-operation, and trade and commercial relationships.

The delegation had a rather busy schedule, and we are proud of what was accomplished.

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

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Prime Minister's friends and family enjoyed a weekend of VIP access, sipping champagne with the Washington elite.

Meanwhile ministers, like the Minister of Natural Resources, were left off the guest list. We know the guest list was submitted by the Liberals. That is why family members and party executives were part of the delegation.

Why were Liberal insiders and family brought along instead of actual government decision-makers?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I draw my colleague's attention to the answer the Prime Minister just gave in terms of the family members who were invited directly by President Obama in addition to the official delegation. She should reflect on that answer. The Prime Minister gave a very precise answer to her exact question.

The member talks about the delegation. The delegation was comprised of many senior ministers who engaged their American counterparts, as I said, on issues as important to Canadians as climate change, trade, energy, and the environment. We made progress on something as important as pre-clearance.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources sat at home while the Liberal Party bagmen wined and dined with U.S. cabinet ministers. The Minister of Natural Resources sat at home while the Liberal Party president mixed and mingled with the senators.

The government had a chance to use this event to build energy relationships, but it wasted it. Is the reason he brought friends and family instead of the Minister of Natural Resources because the Liberals want to shut down the energy industry?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

What utter nonsense, Mr. Speaker.

Four hundred thousand people move back and forth across the Canada-U.S. border every day and $2.4 billion in trade move back and forth across that border every day. We have to make that border secure and we have to make it efficient for the movement of people and goods. We negotiated and concluded an agreement on pre-clearance, which that party worked on for five years and could not get it done. We finished it.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

That was fun folks now let us settle down. It is not even Wednesday. It is the time of year when we have a lot of school students in the galleries. Let us keep that in mind and show good behaviour.

Let us listen to the hon. member for Edmonton Riverbend.

Disaster Assistance

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we apparently have managed to get under the hon. member's skin in the last few days.

Today I would like to talk about Fort McMurray. It will be a while before the people of Fort McMurray can return to their homes. Despite the disaster, rebuilding plans have already begun, but the Prime Minister has left almost no wiggle room in his fiscal plan to help fund the rebuilding efforts.

Will the Liberals change their infrastructure plan to rebuild Fort McMurray?

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

Mr. Speaker, I was back home in Alberta along with my colleague from Edmonton Centre and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to see first hand and meet with families that had been impacted by these wildfires. We saw the generosity and the compassion of Canadians toward them in helping them and standing shoulder to shoulder with them in this time of need.

We are with Alberta today, we will be with Alberta tomorrow and well into the future as we rebuild Fort McMurray.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

So I guess that means there is no money, Mr. Speaker.

In their latest unethical fundraising email, the Liberals used the devastating fires in Fort McMurray to fundraise for their party. While Canadians across the country have unselfishly given over $60 million to help Albertans, the Liberals are raising money for themselves.

Why is the Prime Minister begging for donations on the backs of Canadians who just lost their homes?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have rallied to this cause with enormous generosity. They have responded to the human needs that are so apparent in Fort McMurray, and they have done so with a great Canadian human spirit.

In addition to that, the Government of Canada is providing support through the Department of National Defence, the RCMP, Transport Canada, the innovation department, Health Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Public Services Canada, the interagency on firefighting, the CRA, employment insurance, and that does not even get to the important question of DFA.

Indigenous Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday and today the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs reiterated her government's intention to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, the government is rather short on details as to what that will look like.

I am pleased to inform you, Mr. Speaker, that the work has already been done. My bill seeks to adopt and implement the declaration. The question therefore is very simple.

Will the government support Bill C-262? A yes or no will suffice, by the way.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, today is a historic day as the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs is speaking in New York at the United Nations, outlining that we will remove any objections that we have had to the United Nations designation of indigenous people.

Our support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a part of advancing our commitment to indigenous—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Timmins--James Bay.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is indeed a historic day because this is the day the government has to implement Jordan's Principle or be found in contempt of the Human Rights Tribunal.

I have just returned from Attawapiskat and I can tell the House how badly needed those resources of Jordan's Principle are to hire child mental health workers and to augment child and family services. The budget came and went with zero dollars for Jordan's Principle, so the Human Rights Tribunal has called the government out.

Will the government meet the deadline of the Human Rights Tribunal and flow the money? If so, when will it start to flow because the children cannot wait any longer?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the work that is going on currently in the community of Attawapiskat is an excellent example of how our government is responding to the principles behind Jordan's Principle in that we are working across jurisdictions.

There is no question of whose responsibility it is. We are all working together. The federal government is working alongside and the provincial government is working alongside first nations leadership to ensure the needs of the community are met in the immediate phase.

We are also working together to ensure that we develop long-term, sustainable solutions for these communities.

Natural Resources

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Fort McMurray are wondering when they can return to their homes, or what is left of them. They want to go back to their jobs if they still have them.

Oil companies have cut production, small businesses have shut down and self-employed contractors are left wondering what is next.

While the premier is meeting with oil companies today to discuss getting production back online, the Minister of Natural Resources is “having conversations in Ottawa”. When will Albertans see real support for energy sector workers?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, over the last 24 hours I have had conversations with the ministers of forestry and energy in the government of Alberta, and I have spoken to several chief executive officers of major oil companies in Fort McMurray.

They all report how satisfied they have been with the co-operation of governments and industry to ensure that people have been returned to their homes safety, and miraculously that is the case. They also report to me that production is now restarting , and they expect it will be done in an orderly and timely way.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, without a doubt, the oil sands companies, workers and all the people around Fort McMurray and across Alberta have done amazing work to support them during this tragedy.

It could be weeks or months before residents of Fort McMurray can get home and get back to work. They have shown they are “Alberta strong”, but that does not pay the bills.

Yesterday, the Minister of Natural Resources said that his government was, “responding to that reality”. Could the minister tell Canadians exactly how the government has responded to the job losses caused by the fire?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we have responded in the first place in the most important of all ways, and that is to guarantee the safety of those who were evacuated from their homes, to minimize damage to infrastructure and to keep an ongoing conversation with those who are running these industries to ensure their infrastructure is protected so that when this tragic incident passes, we will be well-positioned to rebuild the sector, which is in the interest of all members of the House.

Small Business

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the decision of the Liberals to increase the small business tax rate is proving worse and worse. Last week, I asked why the Liberals broke their promise to our small businesses. This broken promise will cost the industry $2.2billion.

Why do the Liberals continue to abandon our hard-working small business owners?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, on January 1, the tax rate for small businesses was reduced. Today the parliamentary budget officer confirmed that the decision to maintain the reduced business tax rate was the right one.

The report confirmed that the previous government's approach would have created just over 1,000 jobs at a cost of almost $2.1 billion to the economy with no growth to the economy.

It is important that we support our small and medium-sized businesses. I am here to ensure they are productive, more innovative and export oriented. We will continue to do the work we are doing.