Debates of Sept. 19th, 2016

Indigenous Affairs

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to reviewing child and family services on reserves and partnering with first nations to reform those services. We are working with first nations communities, key organizations, front-line service providers and other stakeholders to create better systems that will reduce the number of children placed and ensure a truly child-centred approach.

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

Mr. Speaker, the current government has ignored two compliance orders by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to end systemic racist discrimination against indigenous children. That Minister of Health was asked to end the systemic denials of emergency orthodontic surgery that run at denial rates of 99%. Instead, she has decided to spend more money fighting these families in court than the surgeries would cost.

We are talking about a moral and legal obligation to children. Can the minister explain why she would rather spend the money on lawyers than on responding to the emergency needs of indigenous children who are being denied their rights?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite is well aware, we do have a non-insured health benefits program that is available to first nations and Inuit families. These features of care are provided on the basis of medically necessary needs, including, of course, orthodontic care.

I am pleased that the member continues to work with us to seek ways that the program can be improved, as all good programs can be. We will find ways to make sure that the care is there for the people who need it.

The Environment

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government is intent on imposing job-killing carbon taxes on the provinces. Its message is, “Either you do this, or we will force you to”. So much for sunny ways.

Carbon taxes raise the price of everything, from filling up the gas tank to buying groceries to heating homes, and they kill jobs. Why is the current government so intent on raising the price of everything and killing jobs through its carbon tax?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, 80% of Canadians live in a jurisdiction where there is a price on carbon. I am very proud of the leadership of the Alberta government that brought in a price on carbon, because it recognizes that it is the best way to reduce pollution and also to foster innovation. That is why we have energy companies that are saying, “Please, put a price on carbon, because we will innovate, we will create good jobs, and we will position ourselves for the future”.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the only people the minister is consulting in Alberta are NDP politicians, who did not even mention a carbon tax in their election campaign. We are going through the toughest recession we have had in decades, and the worst possible thing is to hike prices and impose new taxes on everything.

Brad Wall understands that. He is opposed to the current government's top-down, do-it-or-else approach to federalism.

Will the current government stop killing jobs and making a bad situation worse in Alberta? Will the Liberals stop their carbon tax plan?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I will continue talking with the provinces and territories, with business leaders, with indigenous leaders, and with labour, including labour groups in Alberta, because we know we need to tackle climate change, and we need to grow our economy.

I am very surprised by the member opposite, who I thought would believe in free market economics and would understand that carbon pricing is a market mechanism that is the best way to reduce carbon pollution and innovate, but perhaps he does not believe in climate change, and that might be the problem.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are declaring all out war on the provinces that do not want to go along with their carbon tax scheme. They are not even willing to do their own work. Yesterday we saw paid PMO officials attacking Brad Wall, the most popular premier in Canada.

Is this the best the Liberals can do on climate change, using unelected staff to attack a premier for defending his province's interests?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that we are working with all provinces and territories to reduce emissions and also grow our economy.

All of the premiers stepped up with the Prime Minister in the Vancouver declaration and said that they were committed to meeting our international obligations, so that is what we are doing. We are going to continue working with the provinces and territories so that we have a credible plan, so we reduce our emissions, so we grow our economy, and we make a better world for our kids.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are threatening the provinces and Canadians with new climate taxes. The Liberals have been clear: they do not get things their way, they are just going to slap on more taxes, including fuel taxes. Higher fuel taxes punish rural Canadians and agriculture more than anyone else.

This is the start of Canadians paying more for everything. Why are the Liberals so viciously targeting rural people and agriculture with their new climate taxation fixation?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I have not thought of a good rhyme yet, but I will try.

We are committed to taking action on climate change. We recognize that it is the thing we need to do. Take the example of B.C. It has a carbon tax. It is revenue neutral; it gives money back to the consumers. But what does it do? It is a market mechanism that reduces what we do not want. We do not want carbon pollution; we want less, so we innovate, businesses innovate, and we position ourselves for a cleaner future, because we want to create good jobs and we want to grow the economy.

Public Safety

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning we learned of allegations that implicate both CSIS and the RCMP in the report of three Canadians being tortured in Syria between 2001 and 2004. Seemingly even the Canadian ambassador was involved. These are very serious allegations against two of our security agencies and the reputation of our country.

How does the government explain these troubling allegations, and is it going to investigate?

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

Mr. Speaker, the allegations, to a very large extent, have been examined by two very important commissions, Iacobucci and O'Connor. Those commissions made important recommendations. Some of those recommendations have been implemented.

One key one was not implemented by the previous government, and that was the need for a parliamentary mechanism to provide review and scrutiny of all of the security and police agencies and all of their activities in Canada. We have introduced legislation to do exactly that in Bill C-22, and we look forward to that legislation being passed expeditiously.

Foreign Affairs

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a number of reports have revealed massive problems with Canada's arms exports program. We already know that Canadian weapons exported to Saudi Arabia have been used in Yemen.

Now we learn that weapons manufactured by Streit Group have been sold to countries like Libya and Sudan, despite Canadian sanctions. The Liberals have already rejected our proposal to create a parliamentary committee to study arms exports.

Will the Liberals reconsider their position and give parliamentarians the right to look—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to strengthening Canada's export controls, something the former government failed to do. We will provide more rigour and transparency. We are acceding to the Arms Trade Treaty. Currently we are consulting with NGOs and industry and look forward to input from our parliamentary colleagues at committee and in the House as we bring the legislation forward.

Health

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, millions of Canadians suffer from arthritis, a disease that affects seniors in particular.

With that in mind, what measures are this government and the Minister of Health taking to help arthritis sufferers and prevent new cases?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

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

Arthritis is a disease that affects too many Canadians. Those who have it face a variety of difficult symptoms. We are continuing to invest $46 million in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to learn more about chronic inflamation and develop better prevention and treatment options.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, when our troops are deployed on dangerous missions Canadians deserve to know the details. The Prime Minister missed another opportunity to be open and transparent with Canadians. Rather than tabling his African mission in the House, the Prime Minister went to the UN instead. The Prime Minister is playing political games in hopes of getting a seat on the UN Security Council and is shamefully using our troops as pawns.

Will the Prime Minister start respecting Parliament and bring this dangerous UN mission to the House for a full debate and a vote, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government has been transparent right from the beginning. In my mandate letter, it is clearly stated we will be involved with peace operations. When I went on my fact-finding mission, I tried to make all my observations known. As we get more information, I look forward to having a healthy debate.

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

What about the vote, Mr. Speaker?

This summer, the Minister of National Defence admitted peacekeeping no longer exists, yet in the Speech from the Throne, the Liberals promised to “renew Canada’s commitment to United Nations peacekeeping”. However, distinguished General Roméo Dallaire has said that there will be more Canadian casualties on the sub-Saharan mission.

Will the Prime Minister admit that he misled Canadians by promising to do peacekeeping when he knew that our troops would be placed in harm's way on the UN mission in Africa?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians, and the world, are proud of the great work that all our men and women in uniform have done on operations with the United Nations and NATO and on all of the missions that have been done all over the world. We can be very proud of the work we will do. However, we cannot put the cart before the horse. We are doing our due diligence to get all the necessary information and when we do, we will make sure that we present it to Canadians and to the House.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence had to go to Africa to find out that peacekeeping no longer exists. The losses suffered by the peacekeepers should be a clear indication that we are talking about an extremely dangerous mission. General Roméo Dallaire has said that the risk of casualties is far greater than before. Our soldiers will be standing targets.

Will the government be open and hold a debate and a vote on this matter here in Parliament instead of at the UN?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am no stranger to conflict. One of the reasons I wanted to actually get on the ground was that I like to get into the countries and find out for myself. That was one of the reasons I took retired General Roméo Dallaire and Madam Justice Louise Arbour with me, to get a full perspective and to get the interpretation from their own minds while we were actually talking to the leadership of those countries, talking to the international organizations. However, a lot of work needs to be done. We have a whole-of-government effort we want to bring to the table, plus we want to bring the whole of government from other countries, ensuring that we make a meaningful contribution to the world.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Parliament needs to know what type of high-risk mission the government is committing Canadians to.

The Liberals are getting ready to send our soldiers to danger zones and claiming that it is a peacekeeping mission. Our soldiers will be standing targets of armed factions whose sole objective is to kill foreign nationals on their land, as Roméo Dallaire has said.

In light of that fact, will the government hold a debate and a vote on this matter in Parliament or not?