Debates of Nov. 22nd, 2017

Canada Revenue Agency

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, what I can promise is that we have been working hard on this for the past two years. I agree with all of the Auditor General's recommendations. The former Conservative government chose to cut services for Canadians by decreasing funding for call centres. That was done under the former minister of national revenue, Ms. Findlay. The Conservatives cut the number of agents in the call centres, reduced business hours, and even lowered service standards.

Natural Resources

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, with the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk road, and the commemoration of the Alaska Highway, growth and the potential of the north has never been higher. Infrastructure investments mean growth of industry at a time when our communities are expanding and diversifying.

Fuelling this growth are clean technology projects in energy, mining, and forestry sectors. By helping reduce greenhouse gases and improving environmental outcomes, we have committed to smart, sustainable management of our natural resources.

Could the minister update the House on the importance of the clean growth program and promoting clean technologies?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Yukon for his boundless optimism and his dedication to advancing sustainable development in our northern communities. Canada's clean growth economy starts with a sustainable and competitive resources sector. That is why this week we launched our new $155-million clean growth program to fund clean technology projects in the forestry, mining, and energy sectors, helping to reduce emissions and improve environmental outcomes. Our smart investments make our country a global leader in the transition to a low-carbon economy and a cleaner future.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, the government promised strict measures, like the ones Australia has taken, to stop jihadists from returning to Canada. The safety and security of Canadians is the top priority for us.

Yesterday, the minister refused to give us information on these traitors because he said that he did not want to give away operational details. Does anyone really believe that a basic question can compromise operations?

Here is a simple question. Are these murderers under 24-hour surveillance, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to have the hon. member's opinion, but I am even more glad to have the RCMP, CSIS, and CBSA among the best security intelligence and law enforcement expertise in the world. Their work is highly respected and highly sought after, including in the international coalition against Daesh in Syria and Iraq. They are charged with identifying and stopping all terror threats of all kinds against Canada and Canadians, and they do that job as well as or better than anyone else in the world.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to hear the minister mention the CSIS report, because I have a report here that states, in the last paragraph, that these people return to countries like Canada and that they wait for orders to carry out a terrorist attack.

Now, the government is taking care of these people, as though they were small children who need to be coddled.

We want to know whether these people are under 24-hour surveillance before something happens and it is too late.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman can be absolutely assured that our forces are doing exactly the job they need to do. Approximately 60 terror travellers returned to Canada under the previous Conservative government. Not a single one of them was charged by the previous Conservative government. In fact, the previous Conservative government cut $1 billion from the security services of Canadians.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, radicalized ISIS terrorists are returning to Canada right now under the Liberal government, and it has admitted that it does not have any capacity to monitor or assess the risks to our national security or public safety. Many Canadians are asking why the Liberal government is not following the lead of our allies and refusing entry, or more. Instead, it is throwing out the welcome mat. Canada cannot and must not become a safe haven for terrorists.

To the minister, how many terrorists who have already returned to Canada under their watch are under 24-hour surveillance?

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

Mr. Speaker, the innuendo and insinuation in the hon. member's question is simply completely false. In this country we have the RCMP, CSIS, CBSA, and other security services that do a superlative job, and anyone who needs to be under surveillance is indeed under surveillance.

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

Mr. Speaker, of course the public safety minister has taken away the powers from all those police agencies. Two Canadians travel to Iraq. One goes to fight ISIS with the Canadian Armed Forces, the other decides to join the death cult as a terrorist. Both come back to Canada. The Canadian soldier is injured while serving our country, and the Liberals cut his pay. The ISIS terrorist, on the other hand, also comes back to Canada, but is offered taxpayer-funded reintegration training by the Liberals.

Why is the Prime Minister cutting the pay for our injured troops while funding support services for ISIS terrorists?

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

Mr. Speaker, the only cutting of the Canadian Armed Forces that was done was by the previous government of billions of dollars.

Under our new defence policy, we are investing in our people. In chapter 1, we are looking after people, increasing their pay, increasing their benefits, and, more importantly, for any deployed personnel on an international named operation, it will be tax-free. We are going to be making sure that we look after our forces.

We are making sure that we are going to be looking after Canadian Armed Forces members.

Indigenous Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, there is more bad news on the inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women. Following its interim report, which blamed Liberal interference for slow progress of the inquiry, there have been eight resignations and firings.

The Prime Minister said he would review the report and pay attention to its recommendations, but nothing has changed. The Liberals have broken their promise to families to do everything in their power to help this vital inquiry succeed.

When will the Liberals finally put words into action and bring this national tragedy to an end?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ending this ongoing national tragedy, and to ensuring that the commission has all the support it needs to succeed.

We have heard, and take very seriously, the concerns raised about how existing government policy and processes were impeding the work. A working group has been created to provide effective back-office support to the commission to ensure it is able to do its work effectively.

Our government remains fully committed to ensuring that families get the answers they have been waiting for.

Taxation

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we keep getting told in this chamber that nothing has changed, and people are still eligible for their disability tax credit.

However, we receive calls every day at our constituency offices about new rules that are rendering people living with type 1 diabetes, autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and developmental disorders ineligible for the disability tax credit, despite having receiving it for years.

Families are desperate for help. When will the government stop making excuses and fix this problem?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, no changes have been made to the eligibility criteria for the disability tax credit or the tax credit for people with diabetes.

For 10 years, the previous Conservative government made cuts to scientific research. Last year, our government invested $41 million in research into diabetes and $5 billion into mental health services for more than 500,000 young Canadians under 25.

We are making this credit more accessible. We have simplified the forms and are allowing specialized nurse practitioners to fill out the forms if the applicants do not have a doctor.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, getting through to a real person at the CRA is notoriously difficult, unless of course someone is a personal friend and fundraiser for the Prime Minister. In that case, he just picks up the phone for them.

The Auditor General reports that 64% of calls were blocked, given the busy signal, or told to call back and disconnected. The government is raising taxes on diabetics, small businesses, and middle-class families, and it will not even pick up the phone to answer questions.

Why does the government only answer questions for wealthy Liberal insiders and hang up on everyone else?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, we have an action plan for improving the quality of services the agency provides to Canadians. We have no lessons to learn from the Conservatives, who chose to make cuts to the call centres year after year.

While the number of calls were increasing, they reduced the number of agents at the centres, the opening hours, and the standards of service. Instead of making cuts, we have chosen to make investments. We will continue to take tangible measures to provide Canadians with the best service.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance is unfairly adding to Canadian entrepreneurs' tax burden.

The Minister of Finance is telling our disappointed entrepreneurs to call him, but the Auditor General indicated that more than 29 million Canadian entrepreneurs did not have their calls returned. That represents almost half of the people who called the minister.

I want to ask the Minister of Finance a simple question: when will he pick up the phone and answer the calls of concerned entrepreneurs?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat that I agree with all of the Auditor General's recommendations. The former Conservative government decided to cut services, cut staff, and to cut the evaluation of the quality of services. That happened under former national revenue minister, Ms. Findlay.

Instead of making cuts, we have chosen to reinvest $50 million over the next four years. We are taking real action to ensure that Canadians have the services they are entitled to expect.

International Trade

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in July, our American friends released detailed documents on their NAFTA priorities, including considerable detail on rules of origin for autos and other goods. They updated this document a few days ago. In August, Canada did not really release a detailed plan, but the minister gave a speech with considerable detail on the War of 1812. Today, Scotiabank is predicting the failure of NAFTA. When will the minister step away from the dinner parties and her progressive talking points and start fighting for the two million jobs that rely on NAFTA?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the member opposite and all Canadians that at the NAFTA negotiating table we are fighting very hard, and in a very smart, fact-based way, for the Canadian national interest. We made good progress on some of the technical chapters in the Mexico round. However, I must tell members that significant differences remain on some of the key issues, such as rules of origin and chapter 19. I want to say to Canadians that we will always stand for the national interest.

Infrastructure

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government is making unprecedented investments in infrastructure of $186 billion over 12 years. We know that these investments are essential. We also know that we have to be innovative.

I would like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities to update this House on the progress of the Canada infrastructure bank and its leadership team.

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is focused on investing in public infrastructure to create long-term economic growth and build strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities. We have appointed 10 outstanding Canadians to the board of the infrastructure bank. These appointments will help us mobilize pension funds and institutional investors to build more public infrastructure that Canadian communities need, and create jobs for the middle class.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, for months we have pushed the government to take leadership on the Rohingya issue, the greatest humanitarian crisis facing the world today. There are 600,000 Rohingya who have been forced out of Myanmar.

The United Nations has determined that it is ethnic cleansing. Today, the U.S. government declared the Myanmar military operation to be ethnic cleansing. Our foreign affairs minister has said that this “looks...like ethnic cleansing”.

With this kind of international consensus, when is the government going to do something substantive to hold the Myanmar regime responsible for these horrendous atrocities?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for raising this very grave issue. This absolutely is ethnic cleansing, and the responsibility falls squarely on Myanmar's military leadership and civilian government. These are crimes against humanity.

In Da Nang, the Prime Minister and I raised the treatment of the Rohingya directly with Aung San Suu Kyi. Our special envoy has visited Myanmar and Bangladesh to see first-hand what is happening.

This is an urgent issue and Canada is absolutely seized of it.