Debates of Nov. 3rd, 2017

Ethics

[Scott Brison, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I believe the hon. member obviously is interested in Bill C-58, our government's landmark legislation to modernize Canada's Access to Information Act. This is really important, because for 30 years governments have talked about modernizing access to information but have not done it. The Conservatives promised it in 2006. They did not do anything. In fact, they were the only government in the history of the British Commonwealth to be found in contempt of Parliament for not providing information. Our government is raising the bar after 10 years of darkness under the Conservatives.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Before we go to the next member who will ask a question, out of respect for that member, I want to remind everyone that he deserves to hear an answer. I will let him ask his question, and I am sure no one will shout out so that he will not be able to hear what comes back. By the same token, when someone is asking a question, I am sure that the hon. minister or the parliamentary secretary will want to hear that question.

The hon. member for St. Albert—Edmonton.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister misled Canadians by hiding his assets from the Ethics Commissioner. He made millions off the company he regulates. He broke the law. Now he is hiding from Canadians his assets in multiple numbered companies.

What does this minister have to hide? Why will he not disclose his assets?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has nothing to hide. He has always worked with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner with the greatest transparency to make sure he is in full compliance with the rules that guide us in the House, and that govern us as ministers, as parliamentary secretaries and as members. He will continue to do so, and that is why he has decided to go further by divesting himself of his shares in Morneau Shepell, placing all of his assets in a blind trust, and donating the difference in value of his assets from the day he was elected to today.

This Minister of Finance has been brilliantly serving Canadians for two years and has managed to accomplish more in those two years than the Conservatives ever did in 10.

Public Services and Procurement

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week we learned that the backlog caused by the Phoenix pay system is getting worse.

The Liberal government announced that, because of this fiasco, it will not be able to honour the new collective agreement implementation dates for over 100,000 public servants. Many of them have already been affected by Phoenix, and now their new collective agreement will be delayed. That is unacceptable.

Will the government at least promise to pay these employees damages and interest retroactively?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, of course we have always worked closely with our federal public service union partners. We respect our federal employees, and we are working to resolve the problems with the Phoenix pay system. We have invested huge sums of money and human resources, we have created satellite pay centres, and we have done much more to solve this problem. We will solve this problem.

[Erin Weir, NDP, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that the Liberals have invested enormous sums in Phoenix, and this week was the one-year anniversary of the government's self-imposed deadline to fix it. However, more than half of public servants are still having pay problems. In fact, 265,000 pay transactions are past due. That is unacceptable. Also, because of the Phoenix delays, the Liberals will not meet deadlines to negotiate new collective agreements with our public servants.

When will the Liberals stop finding excuses and find a solution to the Phoenix boondoggle?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, of course we take these problems very seriously. We have invested and taken a vast number of measures to resolve the problems associated with the Phoenix pay system. Because I know the hon. member shares my belief that we must fix these problems, I am sure he will join me in asking one of these Harper cabinet ministers how they could have left us with such a fiasco. Maybe he will ask the leader of the opposition why these Harper senators now want to slink away from the problem they helped cause.

Taxation

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have had two years to fix it and have done nothing.

Let me read part of a letter that the Minister of Revenue sent to someone with type 1 diabetes who was refused the disability tax credit. The minister wrote:

The CRA...made a change to the questionnaire it sends to medical practitioners. The questionnaire now sets out more clearly the information the CRA needs to determine if an individual meets the DTC criteria.

When I asked about the 80% who were previously approved and are now being rejected, the minister told the House that no change had been made, but in her letter she says a change was made. Which is it?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the House that our government is absolutely committed to ensuring that all Canadians receive the credits and benefits they are entitled to.

We are moving forward with a national disability act that would remove barriers and improve access for all Canadians who live with diabetes. We have made the disability tax credit more accessible than ever before. We have simplified the forms required to apply for the credit. We have added nurse practitioners to complete the applications for their patients. We have just started, and we will continue to focus on supporting the most vulnerable in our country.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we will be talking about access again.

After trying to pull a fast one on small businesses with their tax reform, the Liberals are trying to save themselves a few bucks at the expense of families of people with autism and people with type 1 diabetes. If they really want to find more cash, they should just go look in the Minister of Finance's pockets.

Why did the Minister of National Revenue say that she knew nothing and that nothing had happened? Funnily enough, a letter that she signed shows that she has been ignoring doctors' advice since May.

When will the minister get control of her department, and when will she restore the tax credit for courageous Canadians with incurable diseases?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are the government that has been working extremely hard for the last two years to ensure that the DTC is accessible to Canadians who are entitled to it. We have done so by simplifying the disability tax credit forms, by allowing nurse practitioners to certify the DTC forms, by working with medical practitioners to ensure they have all the resources to assist their patients with the DTC, and by rehiring nurses at the front lines of the review process. We have just started, and let me assure Canadians that we will continue to work hard for the most vulnerable in our country.

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to insulin therapy, the CRA has confirmed that a new direction was given at the beginning of May. This unannounced change has resulted in hundreds of type 1 diabetics receiving less money, amounting to hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars.

As a doctor who has treated patients with diabetes, I am confident in saying that my physician colleagues are better qualified to decide who should be receiving these benefits than CRA bureaucrats.

People are suffering and the minister has the power to make it stop. My simple question is: Will the minister immediately issue a directive to her department to revert back to the April 30 policy?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to assure all Canadians that our government is absolutely committed to ensuring that all Canadians receive the credits and benefits they are entitled to. Let me be clear that the eligibility criteria for the DTC for people with diabetes have not changed.

It is also important to recognize that far too many Canadians are struggling and need help. That is why we are allowing low-income workers to keep more of their hard-earned money from every paycheque by further enhancing the working income tax benefit by an additional $500 million per year, starting in 2019. Helping the most vulnerable in our country is our top priority, and we will continue to deliver for them.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. The hon. member for Simcoe-Grey asked a question. I am sure she was having a hard time hearing the answer, as was I. I just want to remind the hon. members that the hon. member for Simcoe Grey wants to hear the answer.

The hon. member for Simcoe—Grey.

Health

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am also shocked by another revelation. We have a Liberal government that wants to legalize marijuana, and yesterday we learned that the Liberals may be planning to decriminalize all drugs. In my clinic, kids are asking, “Is it okay to do drugs now?”

Young Canadians know drugs are bad for them. The Liberal drug policy is damaging to Canadians, especially to Canadian kids. Could the minister confirm if decriminalizing hard drugs is Liberal policy, and what dangerous drugs are on that list?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. Before I go to the parliamentary secretary, I just want to remind everyone that what I said about hearing the answer also went to hearing the question. It got kind of raucous on both sides. I just want everyone to take a deep breath. I realize it is Friday. Just listen to each other and we will get much further ahead.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, quite frankly, those members are making this up. We are in a national public health crisis. Unlike the members opposite, we are bringing forward solutions to deal with this crisis and responding in a way that is comprehensive, compassionate, and evidence based.

While we have made it very clear that we plan to legalize, strictly regulate, and restrict access to cannabis in a careful way to keep it out of the hands of children and youth and to stop criminals from profiting, we have been equally clear that we are not considering legalizing any other substances.

We will continue to work with our partners to bring forward innovative solutions to battle the opioid crisis and to save lives.

Official Languages

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Official Languages tabled a report yesterday that calls on the government to give the Commissioner of Official Languages greater powers to enforce the law.

That was suggested by our former commissioner, Graham Fraser. It is clear to him and to the committee that we cannot simply rely on the willingness of institutions and Air Canada. The commissioner's current powers are definitely inadequate.

Will the government act on the committee's recommendations for once and strengthen the commissioner's powers?

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, we thank the committee, including the member for Drummond, for the report. We will give it careful consideration.

Our two official languages are at the heart of Canada's history and identity. Air Canada must respect both the letter and the spirit of the Official Languages Act. The application of the Official Languages Act is a priority for our government. We are working with the Minister of Transport to ensure that Air Canada is meeting its obligations under the Official Languages Act. We take this whole issue very seriously.

Canadian Heritage

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage why she did not respond to the letter sent to her by the Quebec ministry of culture on September 3, which asked for more information about the agreement with Netflix and the lack of francophone content. That letter was sent exactly one month ago, and Quebec has still not received any answers.

I have not received any answers either. The minister's press secretary was embarrassed to have to tell journalists later that she would get back to them soon. Come on. Let us be clear. Our cultural industries are in crisis and the government needs to wake up. It is dragging its feet on critical issues, especially where Quebec is concerned.

Is that how the government treats the Quebec ministry of culture?

Is it so hard to answer an email?

Does the government not know how to answer or does it just not care?

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, we hear the concerns of stakeholders in the francophone cultural industry. We want to reassure them and remind them of the historic investments we have made to support our francophone culture.

That is why we invested heavily in arts and culture. We invested over $2.2 billion in the Canada Media Fund to support French-language television, and we invested $675 million in Radio-Canada. These investments are having a real impact on the lives of our artists.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Leona Alleslev, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the former Conservative government implemented a policy called “conditional permanent residency”. This policy required sponsored partners to live with their sponsors for at least two years in order to maintain their status in Canada, forcing those who were experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse to stay silent or risk losing their status. This put vulnerable spouses, especially women, at risk of additional abuse and violence.

Could the minister update the House on what our government is doing to support newcomer women who are being trapped by this Conservative policy?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill for her question.

Our government is deeply committed to gender equality and combatting gender-based violence. The former Conservative government ignored women's rights groups, it ignored experts, and it ignored immigrant women's groups, which denounced the conditional permanent residency as a wrongheaded policy that trapped vulnerable women in abusive relationships. No survivor should ever feel afraid to come forward.

That is why I am proud that on this side of the House we have fully eliminated conditional permanent residency.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the government promised a 600-member peacekeeping mission for the United Nations. It has had three trips to Mali for reconnaissance. It has spent thousands of hours planning for a mission to Mali. It has consulted both France and the U.S. on this mission. However, this week we heard we were only sending some helicopters to Mali.

Will the minister confirm to the House today that Mali has been ruled out for Canada's UN peacekeeping mission?