Debates of Oct. 3rd, 2017

Marijuana

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

Mr. Speaker, in fact there have been extensive consultations under way over the last number of months with respect to reforming pardons. That work is well advanced. Very shortly, the results of those consultations will be published so that all Canadians can see what was said. Those consultations will inform legislation that we will put before the House to correct some of the egregious mistakes made by the previous government.

Veterans Affairs

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, through the Invictus Games, we saw the power of adaptive sport on physical rehabilitation, but we all know that mental health and wellness go hand in hand. The perseverance of these brave men and women who took off their Armed Forces uniforms and found the strength and determination to put on a jersey and compete with representatives of 16 other countries impressed upon us all the importance of coming together to support our veterans and Canadian Armed Forces members. Can the Minister of Veterans Affairs tell us what the government is doing to address the invisible injuries of our men and women and their families?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, “You have done it,” Prince Harry said to the athletes. “You are Invictus”. The Latin word from which these games take their name means unconquered, and that unconquerable spirit was written on the face of every athlete we saw at these games. They flew our flag higher and they lit up the world. When they put their hand up, we will be there to help. There are 4,000 mental health professionals, a network of OSI clinics, and their brothers and sisters waiting to help them.

Taxation

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this week I held round tables to discuss the Liberals' proposed tax changes. Jennifer was brought to tears sharing her story. The family business that her parents started 37 years ago is now going to face a transfer tax that will destroy her dream of taking over that family business. The Liberals want to make Jennifer's parents pay a higher percentage in tax than the finance minister's own family business. Will the finance minister listen to Canadians like Jennifer and extend the consultation period?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of our consultations has been to listen to people like Jennifer, to make sure that we understand what the issues might be when moving forward with a tax system that will create a better incentive for people to invest in their active business at the same time as not encouraging wealthy Canadians to take advantage of things that may be there only for them and not for the middle class. That is what we are trying to achieve. I can assure members that we are going to listen to people like Jennifer so we get this right. We did not intend to change the ability of people to transfer businesses from one generation to the next. We intend to make sure that the tax system is fairer, and we are going to get it right.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has called small business owners tax cheats. The Prime Minister implied that these hard-working Canadians are cheating on their taxes. The Liberals announced the most dramatic changes to the Income Tax Act in the dead of summer when farmers were busy with their crops and getting ready for harvest, and when parents were on vacation with their children and then getting them ready to go back to school. Now, the consultation has been bungled in every possible way. The minister has expressed zero regret. Will he do the right thing and extend the consultation, yes or no?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide clarity for the record. We have always said that the system that we have today is legitimate. It has been a system that has been around for a long time. However, it is creating incentives for wealthy Canadians to incorporate to get advantages that are not available to middle-class Canadians. That is a system that is not right for the long term.

Finding a way to make that right while continuing to encourage people to invest in their businesses, to create growth and jobs, that is the balance we are seeking to achieve. We believe we can achieve it. Listening to Canadians is an important part of that enabling us to get it right, enabling us to have a strong economy with a fairer—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we met with representatives from the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec this morning.

The consultations now at an end, the federation is sounding the alarm. It is asking the Minister of Finance to extend the consultations in order to carefully assess the impact of the proposed measures and submit an economic impact study. The minister is unable to tell us how his reform will affect SMEs across the country.

Is the minister going to wait until our SMEs pack up and leave the country or will he extend the consultation period?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we know that a fair tax system has a major impact on the confidence of Canadians across the country. At the same time, it is very important to encourage small business owners to invest in their businesses. Those two things are very important.

Over the past 75 days, we have listened and we have heard many things. We will consider the opinions and points of view we heard and use them to build a fairer system for the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals just are not interested in talking to Canadians about their unfair tax plan. Mitchell writes: “I wrote to the government first to [the Prime Minister] then they pass me off to [the finance minister]. Now I've responded to the email that they sent to [the minister] and I've got nothing back.”

Mitchell has built a company up from the ground that now employs 12 people, including new Canadians. The Liberals are proposing to take his hard-earned money to pay for their reckless spending.

When entrepreneurs and job creators like Mitchell call and write, why are the Liberals so unwilling to listen?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to say that when people like Mitchell write and people phone in, we are listening. We have been taking the time to listen to make sure that we get their perspectives. We know that having a system that works, that is fair for all Canadians, is important. We know that the tax system is complex and that we need to consider the perspectives of Mitchell and others across the country. We will do that as we move forward with a system that encourages investment and make sure that it is fair. That is our commitment to Canadians and we are looking forward to telling them more in the near future.

Indigenous Affairs

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the Native Women's Association of Canada has yet again been shut out of the first ministers meeting by the government. They asked to be included, and shutting them out speaks volumes to the government's lack of respect for indigenous women's voices. The self-proclaimed feminist Prime Minister promised a nation-to-nation relationship with all indigenous people, so why has the Native Women's Association been barred from today's first ministers meeting? Have indigenous women's voices not been silenced for long enough?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government believes that meaningful engagement is key to advancing reconciliation and to renewing our relationship with indigenous people in Canada. Today's meeting included the representatives of the rights holders in this country. The Prime Minister has agreed to meet with the Native Women's Association at least annually and they will be included in the meeting of the indigenous ministers later this year in November.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals can hardly speak about reconciliation when they decide to exclude the indigenous women from our national conversation.

Yesterday, the minister could not explain why government lawyers asked the court to award the compensation that residential school survivors were unjustly denied. I have a simple question for the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.

Now that she has all of the information, will she ask her Justice colleague to stop challenging survivors in court?

Who told this government to withhold information about a child predator?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring justice for the victims of this dark chapter in our history. The independent assessment process under the settlement agreement was approved by the supervising courts. It contains all procedural protections necessary for the fair determination of claims.

Canada seeks fairness for all claimants under the independent assessment process. We are not challenging individual claimants or their outcomes. Canada is seeking the court's guidance in order to ensure fairness for all claimants and parties to the settlement agreement.

Natural Resources

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians heard yesterday that the Liberals' anti-energy agenda was putting projects like energy east at risk. New rules, delays, and a lack of certainty are making energy workers nervous. Just last month, 350 families at General Electric in Peterborough, a factory operating since 1892, have lost their jobs as a result of new regulatory hurdles and mounting uncertainty, uncertainty the Liberals alone have caused.

When will the Liberals realize their risky delays are affecting real Canadians with real jobs?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, in January of 2016, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change set out interim principles that would guide those projects under review. The same principles that were established then still are in effect today, as energy east goes through the National Energy Board process. Then, as now, the rules are the same.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a world leader in responsible resource development. For instance, Alberta was the first jurisdiction in North America to regulate emissions, and has the strongest regulatory system in the world. Instead of celebrating Canadian energy, the Liberals keep adding roadblocks at the very worst time, all while importing oil from countries like Algeria and Venezuela.

I asked the minister last week, and I will ask him again. Will the Liberals apply their upstream and downstream emissions tests as a condition to foreign oil imports?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the member says that we do not care about energy workers in Alberta. How about 3,000 jobs for the NOVA Gas pipeline? How about 7,000 jobs for the Line 3 replacement project? How about the15,440 jobs for the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline? We support Keystone XL, another 6,400 jobs. That is more jobs created by this government in the energy sector in less than two years than 10 years by the Harper administration.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on the issue I actually asked about, let us talk about foreign oil imports.

Last week, the UN Human Rights Council met to talk about the growing oppression of a dictator, who is brutally cracking down on public activism and starving his people. The commissioner even said that crimes against humanity may have been committed. Where is that? It is in Venezuela. However, the Liberals are prioritizing foreign oil from Venezuela, while stopping environmentally and socially responsible Canadian oil and gas.

When will the minister stop putting foreign oil ahead of Canadian energy?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we prioritize. We are prioritizing the creation of good jobs for Canadians, particularly in western Canada. We are prioritizing environmental stewardship. We are prioritizing important engagement with indigenous peoples. Those are the three pillars of responsible development in Canada: job creation, environmental stewardship, and meaningful consultation with indigenous peoples.

If the Harper government would have been loyal to those principles, more pipelines would have been built.

Rail Transportation

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-49 is going to introduce important modernization to the Canada Transportation Act, including the air passenger's bill of rights, and new opportunities for shippers across Canada to gain access to competitive rail rates.

The bill also provides for the introduction of video and voice recorders in locomotives. Labour groups are concerned this could be used by railways to violate workers' privacy and discipline them for non-safety related issues.

Could the Minister of Transport reassure us that this will not be the case?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure Canadians that worker privacy is of paramount importance to this government. We are also responsible for improving railway safety, something that needs to be addressed constantly.

The use of the recorders is intended solely for safety purposes. It is something the Transportation Safety Board has been asking us to do for many years. I want to reassure Canadians that we will never use these recorders for monitoring employee performance or for managing that performance.

Canadian Heritage

[David Sweet, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many people worked hard for years to establish the National Holocaust Monument, including the Hon. Tim Uppal. Last week, the Prime Minister inaugurated it with a plaque of his own. However, his plaque fails to mention anti-Semitism or the Jewish people by name.

How could the Prime Minister permit such a glaring omission of reference to anti-Semitism and the fact that the millions of men, women, and children who were murdered were overwhelmingly Jewish? If we are going to stamp out hatred toward Jews, it is important to get history right.

Will the Prime Minister commit to correcting this profoundly obvious omission?