Debates of Oct. 5th, 2017

Employment

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, as the job market evolves and changes, young Canadians often need this support to get that first good-paying job. We are investing over $45 million to help over 5,000 youth in British Columbia get the skills they need.

For example, our investment that helps Pathfinder's youth centre work with over 300 youths with mental health challenges will mean they gain skills and confidence along the way, and some valuable work experience with it.

We will keep working hard to ensure all Canadians have the skills they need to prosper.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, senior officials at the Department of Finance have said that they are having trouble finding a solution with regard to the transfer of family farms from one generation to the next.

The Prime Minister is willing to do whatever it takes to fatten government coffers, even if it makes life incredibly difficult for the families who help our country prosper. If the Minister of Agriculture does not want to ensure the survival of family farms, we will.

When will the Liberal government back down on its tax reform and stand up for our farmers?

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, our government knows how important farmers are to our economy, and that is why we want to make sure we get this right.

I have worked on this file. We listened to farmers and met with representatives from the farming community. I can assure you that we will take the industry's opinions into account in our plan for the future.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Dina and Maurice are farmers in my riding. They have planned for years to pass on the family farm to their son. They have a succession plan detailed and put in place, and they have been saving for this.

However, the proposed Liberal tax changes would put this hugely at risk and they think they will lose everything. Their message to the Prime Minister is very simple, “Don't do this. It will wreck Canada.”

Yesterday, senior officials at Finance Canada said that they were “struggling to find another approach” to save the family farm. It seems rather questionable.

Will the Liberals finally admit they have this all wrong and let go of their crazy plan?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure the member that we have consulted Canadians, farmers, fishers, from all across the country, from coast to coast to coast, to make sure we get this right.

One of the principles guiding us as we move forward is we want to make sure that intergenerational transfers of a business or a farm are not impacted by the changes we have put forward, that farmers can continue to employ and remunerate members of their family as they work on the farms.

This government will always be behind family farms and behind our farmers.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers work hard to feed the world. Many gamble off farm earnings, cash out pensions early, and mortgage heavily to invest in their families' enterprises. They are constantly dealing with the volatility and the unpredictability of both markets and Mother Nature.

Unlike the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, these families cannot access million dollar trust funds. Instead, they continually risk all they have to preserve the family farm.

Why are the Liberals willing to put our generational farms at risk for this cheap tax grab?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question and reassure him. We will always defend the family farm model and stand behind our farmers. That is why we want to make sure that we maintain an environment that is conducive to their success and prosperity.

We want to ensure that intergenerational farm transfers, from parents to children, will not be affected by the changes we are making.

All we want, the one and only goal of these proposals, is to introduce some fairness into the tax system in areas where it is lacking.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in their desperation to raise revenues, the Liberals are now raising taxes on the family farm. In addition, it is even worse. Their new tax proposal will make it more expensive for a farmer to sell the farm to his child or a family member than to a multinational corporation. Most Canadians understand the importance of encouraging the next generation on the farm.

Why are the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance so dedicated to protecting their own family fortunes, while waging a war against the family farm?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we will always stand behind our farmers and the family farm model that we are so proud of. We know how much farmers contribute to Canada's prosperity.

As we review the comments we received from Canadians all across this country, our priorities are to ensure that we keep tax rates low so that our farmers can prosper and that intergenerational transfers are not affected by our proposed changes so family members can keep working on the farm and in other businesses. Those are our guiding principles. We stand behind small businesses and farmers.

Employment

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Firestone plant in Woodstock, Ontario has announced it will close its doors in 2018 and relocate to the United States, citing global markets. One hundred and seventy jobs will be lost, jobs that feed, clothe, and house Canadian families and sustain local communities. This is one more in a long line of closures that leaves southwestern Ontario gutted, with ripple effects that will take generations to repair, and still nothing from the government.

Do the Liberals even have a plan to prevent such devastating job losses?

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

Mr. Speaker, our hearts go out to families and workers who are affected by such economic decisions.

On our part, as a government, we are trying to build the economy. We have succeeded in creating over 400,000 jobs in the last year. We are working through various ministries, including the ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and through regional development agencies to create jobs to create long-term employment to make sure this economy continues to grow on behalf of families and workers in southwestern Ontario.

Wine Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the U.S. filed a second complaint with the WTO against Canada over B.C. wine sales. This despite the fact that since 1988, the U.S. share for wine sales in Canada has more than doubled and the Canadian share of the U.S. market hovers just above zero. On top of this, the U.S. is demanding under NAFTA to allow greater access for U.S. wines in all retail channels across Canada.

These heavy-handed trade complaints will damage Canada's wine industry. What is the government doing to protect the Canadian wine sector from these attacks?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is important for us to remind our American partners that the United States also has measures in place to promote and protect its own wine industry, and American wine already does very well in Canada. In fact, the United States is our largest supplier of imported wine. The U.S. complaints to the WTO are unnecessary.

We will continue to work closely with the provinces on this issue, and I have discussed it at length with Premier Horgan. We have a united front.

We will always stand with Canadian workers and industry.

Natural Resources

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Liberals across the country are elated today. Their plan to kill the energy east pipeline has finally worked, but it was not easy. First, they set the project back several years by restarting the hearings. Then they changed the rules of the game at half time. However, they persevered, and today they finally got the result they have always wanted: energy east is dead.

After living his whole life off of the avails of a family fortune created by an oil and gas empire, is the Prime Minister proud of the fact that he has killed this project and the thousands of jobs that go along with it?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right. Some things have changed. What has changed is that there have been three pipelines approved, which has changed the market conditions. What has not changed is the regulatory environment that would have governed this entire process. Exactly the same system that was in place which led to the approval of the Enbridge Line 3 replacement and the Trans Mountain expansion would have been in place for energy east.

Things have changed and things have not changed. Our commitment with the energy sector is unwavering.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadian energy workers woke up to the news that the Liberals had killed yet another energy project, the Liberals were clinking their Champagne glasses and toasting their success at killing the energy east project. However, they are not the only ones celebrating. The dictators and despots from foreign oil capitals, who will continue to send thousands of oil tankers to Canada every year, have just one message for the Liberal government, “Well done my good and faithful servants.”

How does it feel to have sold out Canadian energy workers in order to appease foreign oil dictators and Liberal politicians by killing this project?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, this government has been able to do what the Conservative government could not do, for example, 3,000 jobs for the Nova Gas pipeline; 7,000 jobs for Line 3, 15,000 jobs for the Trans Mountain expansion. We support the Keystone XL pipeline, which is another 6,400 jobs.

This is a very significant job creation enhancement as a result of the regulatory practices that this government has accepted. They are environmental stewardship, indigenous engagement, and economic growth.

They failed; we succeeded.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the news of the devastating cancellation of energy east means the loss of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars for Canada.

After careful consideration, TransCanada came to the same conclusion that this side of the House has known for months, which is that the Liberal government has done everything it can to limit the Canadian energy sector and kill the middle class jobs that it creates.

Will the Prime Minister stop playing political ideological games that are killing the economy and commit to projects that will create jobs for Canadians?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, just this morning, the C.D. Howe Institute is quoted as saying that basic economics, not regulation, ended the energy east pipeline—not regulation.

Why is that the case? It is the case because nothing has changed in the regulatory process. The same rules that applied and that led to the approval of billions of dollars of investment in the energy sector, as well as tens of thousands of jobs, still existed and would have to the energy east pipeline.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on October 25, 2016, this House voted unanimously to provide protection to Yazidi women and children who are escaping genocide by Daesh.

In many communities across Canada, such as London, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto, families are being reunited with friends and loved ones. Our government made a commitment to this House to resettle Yazidi women and children and other survivors of Daesh.

Can the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship please update all Canadians on the government's progress on this important initiative, which was supported by all members of this House?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore for his question.

About a year ago, members of this House unanimously voted to bring survivors of Daesh, including Yazidi women and girls, to safety. Today, I am proud to update the House. Almost 800 Yazidi women and girls and other survivors of Daesh have already arrived and have begun the process of rebuilding their lives with the assistance of private sponsors and community groups all across Canada.

I continue to be amazed by the generosity and compassion extended to this highly vulnerable group by all Canadians.

Natural Resources

[Bob Benzen, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the energy east pipeline has been cancelled, after the Liberals changed the rules for investors mid-process.

Thousands of jobs and billions in revenue hinged on energy east, and those benefits will now evaporate due to the Liberals' mismanagement. The Liberals' failure to champion the energy sector is driving away investment.

Will the minister now stop playing politics with this file and start supporting the Canadian energy sector?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, excuse me, did he say playing politics?

I would be far more comfortable following a regulatory regime that leads to jobs and billions of dollars of investment in the Canadian economy, something that the Harper Conservatives could not do for 10 years.

The member is wrong. The rules did not change, not at the beginning, not in mid-stream, and not at the end.

Taxation

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, with respect, the Prime Minister inherited his wealth, and the Minister of Finance made millions on Bay Street.

It is no wonder Liberals do not understand small business. By not going after big businesses, CEOs, and tax havens, the Liberals are broadcasting that small businesses are the beginning and end of unfairness in our tax system. Small businesses feel targeted because they are being targeted.

When will the Liberals take tax fairness seriously and go after the biggest abusers of our tax system?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that our tax system is unfair in a number of ways and encourages some of the wealthiest Canadians to incorporate so they can access tax benefits that the vast majority of Canadians do not have access to. That is what we want to fix.

We want to do things right, which is why we consulted Canadians from coast to coast. We want to keep tax rates low for our small businesses. We will always stand behind our entrepreneurs and the growth they create in this country.