Debates of Nov. 28th, 2017

Government Services and Procurement

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the report of the Liberal dominated Standing Committee on National Defence is clear: the Royal Canadian Navy is vulnerable and does not have a resupply capability on the the high seas. Costs are skyrocketing and delivery times are getting longer. Not one vessel has been delivered. The Liberal government is incapable of providing a delivery date.

What are the Liberals waiting for to immediately award the contract for the Obélix to the Lévis shipyard, as we did with the Astérix? This is about national security.

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

Mr. Speaker, the navy is in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization since peacetime in history. As part of the national shipbuilding strategy and under new defence policy, our government is acquiring fleet support ships to permanently replace the Protecteur class auxiliary oiler replenishment vessels. The project will deliver two vessels that will provide core replenishment, sealift capabilities, and support to our operations offshore.

This government is committed to building new ships for the navy and to maintain Canada's naval capabilities over the long term.

Employment

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that Canadians have the skill and experience needed to work in today's economy. There are many well educated students graduating, but the common concern I hear from those in London North Centre is that they are unable to get their feet into the workforce without any work experience. This is a large gap that we must act to fill so as to ensure graduating students are successful.

Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development please explain what he is doing to ensure that our graduates are ready for the workforce?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his support for education and students.

As the member well knows, our government supports lifelong learning. We support work-integrated learning, which is why we invested $221 million to create more workplace opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and in business programs.

This investment will create 10,000 paid internships for Canadian students from coast to coast to coast. This is about creating good-quality jobs for students for today and tomorrow.

Canadian Heritage

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on the front lawn of this building is a $5.6 million example of the Liberals' outlandish abuse of taxpayers' dollars.

The Prime Minister commissioned this arena, and it will be open for a very short period of time. The public is only going to have access for 45 minutes, which, quite frankly, is going to be a bit of a relief, because according to the rules, all one is allowed to do is go around, around, and around.

How can the Prime Minister justify this expense that will be on the backs of our grandchildren and children?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to announce last week that the Canada 150 rink will be open through the 40th anniversary of Winterlude and until the end of February. This will be a great legacy project, a first in front of Parliament Hill. Afterward, the rink will be given to a community in need. There will be hockey, ringette, sledge hockey for children and adult men and women, and many other activities. Thousands of Canadians will enjoy the delights of this great rink.

I invite my colleague to put on her skates. It will be a pleasure for me to go and skate with her.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I would remind colleagues we are not on a rink here.

The hon. member for Trois-Rivières.

Housing

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' promises, several hundred pyrrhotite victims have not been compensated. Furthermore, several hundred more do not even have a hope of obtaining compensation. They are caught in a grey area as they do not qualify for assistance because the federal standards for aggregates used in concrete are vague.

Since the entire Mauricie community has been asking for this standard to be reviewed for years, how can the government revise the building code and refuse to review the standard for pyrrhotite content in concrete?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He will remember that in the Trudeau government's first budget we included $30 million for the victims, $10 million a year—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The member may be referring to the Government of Canada, but I do not believe that he is referring to another era, and we must not use the name of other members in this place.

The hon. Minister of International Trade has the floor.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to remind members that it was the current Minister of Finance who put $30 million in the first federal budget for compensation for pyrrhotite victims in Mauricie. When we speak with the victims, it is obvious that they are aware that the government is acting in their best interests.

International Trade

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Surrey—Newton has many small and medium-sized businesses that trade with India every day.

BI Pure Water, a Surrey-based business that focuses on clean tech, was part of the trade mission led by the Minister of International Trade to India earlier this month. Businesses like this benefit greatly from trade missions where they meet with companies to build stronger relationships.

I ask the minister to update the House on his—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. minister.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Surrey—Newton for the great work he is doing in his riding. We had 175 participants, 85 small and medium-sized businesses, and 300 meetings over five days in five cities. I was honoured to lead this historic mission, the biggest Canadian trade mission to India.

During our mission, Canadian companies got to showcase their talents and expertise in various sectors like innovation and clean tech, while making numerous new connections. We will continue to have an ambitious trade agenda and make trade work for people.

Canadian Heritage

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with $5.6 million how many outdoor skating rinks could we renew across Canada to get young children and their families to skate for the next 25 years?

Instead of fuelling this Prime Minister's boundless egocentrism, why did this Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage not consider investing all that money into several skating rinks. Instead of skating on just one temporary outdoor rink to the tune of $5.6 million for the sake of a photo op on New Year's Eve—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I announced that the Canada 150 skating rink will remain open until the end of February for the 40th anniversary of Winterlude. This great legacy project, a skating rink in front of Parliament, is a first and the skating rink will be donated to a community in need, as my colleague said.

There will be hockey games, ringuette, and sledge hockey for young and old, men and women alike. Thousands of people are expected in front of Parliament. I hope that my colleague will join me for the Canada 150 celebrations.

Public Services and Procurement

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government supported our motion that deplores the loss of 800 jobs at the Davie shipyard, but it is not doing anything more. Quebec's labour minister has said that someone needs to wake up and make sure that the shipyard gets what it is entitled to. Forty Quebec Liberals are asleep at the switch on the other side of the House. It is all well and good to deplore the loss of 800 jobs, but it seems all the government is doing is shedding crocodile tears. This week, another 350 jobs will be lost.

Does the government care? Is it going to do something?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize the excellent work of Davie employees. Over the past few weeks, our government has been in contact with Davie shipyard executives and the unions. The company has presented a bid, and we are in discussions.

Since 2011, the government has invested over $7 billion in the Canadian shipbuilding industry, including $717 million in Quebec, as part of the national shipbuilding strategy.

[Michel Boudrias, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while other shipyards in Canada are unable to turn out a ship, Davie delivers the goods. Yesterday, the Minister of National Defence said he had already ordered two more supply ships to meet the navy's needs. The problem is that Seaspan cannot start building them until 2023 and cannot deliver them until 2027. It will take 10 years to get the ships that Davie could build and deliver by 2019.

Why is the government refusing to award contracts to Davie when this is the only sensible solution?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, the navy is currently in the midst of the most comprehensive fleet modernization in its peacetime history. Work is under way on the two joint supply ships that Seaspan is building. Because of some of the delays, the interim ship was required, and we thank Davie for its tremendous work in filling this interim capability gap.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Al Hawkins, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour from the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador; and the Honourable Randy Delorey, Minister of Health and Wellness and Minister of Gaelic Affairs from the Province of Nova Scotia.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!