Debates of Dec. 12th, 2017

Public Services and Procurement

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

Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix file is a complete shambles. One in two public servants is affected, which is half of the public service. Students, pensioners, executives, family members, no one is immune.

These people are not statistics. Actual people are losing their homes and experiencing tremendous financial strain. Public servants and unions have been speaking out about the system for two years now, but nothing much has been done to fix this fiasco.

Is the government waiting for all public servants to be affected before it takes action and finds a solution?

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

Mr. Speaker, resolving this situation is my top priority. It is unacceptable that people are not being paid. We are doing everything we can and leaving no stone unturned. We are doing things that the previous government did not do.

[Erin Weir, NDP, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Christmas is a time to help those less fortunate, and our federal public servants traditionally give generously to charity through payroll deductions. However, with the Phoenix boondoggle, federal employees are nervous to enrol for deductions that can lead to more errors. Last year, payroll deductions for charity fell significantly.

The Liberals' inaction is not only affecting our public servants, it is also hurting our charities. How much has the ongoing Phoenix mess cost charities this year?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the member that resolving this is my top priority. We understand the difficult position we have put public servants and their families in, and we are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that we resolve this as quickly as possible. In the meantime, public service employees have access to emergency pay services. They have access to their managers, and they are doing whatever they can. The public servants at Miramichi are working hard to resolve this for their colleagues.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, two million families in Canada have jobs that rely on trade with the United States and Mexico. The Liberals' priorities for NAFTA announced this summer did not even mention the auto industry, the softwood lumber industry, and thousands of jobs in the agricultural sector. These sectors were ignored completely until midway through the rounds in the fall. With NAFTA on the brink of failure, how is the government now changing its strategy to protect these jobs dependent on trade?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we are not changing our strategy one iota, because we entered the negotiations with a clear plan, and that plan is to defend the Canadian national interest with fact-based arguments. To defend the auto sector and to defend the natural resources sector, we are at the table this week in Washington putting forward fact-based arguments. We will always stand for the national interest and for Canadian values.

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

Mr. Speaker, the only clear plan we can see from the government is NAFTA failing. The only clear plan we see on TPP is Japan, Australia, and other countries furious with us. The only plan we see on China is a Hail Mary pass from that Prime Minister that came up many yards short.

When will the Prime Minister remove himself from Canada's trade file, get out of the way of the minister, and start standing up for the jobs that depend on trade?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud and privileged to work closely with our fine Prime Minister and our outstanding trade negotiators on this crucial issue. I would like to remind the member opposite that it was our government and our team that brought home CETA, the biggest trade deal Canada has done in two decades. We did that by working hard and by being tough where necessary, and that is the approach we are taking with NAFTA.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Order. I have heard a lot today from the member for Abbotsford, although he has not had the floor. I would ask him to try to restrain himself. I know there are subjects that are very dear to his heart, but I know he knows the rules, and I know he will want to contain himself, despite his enthusiasm.

The hon. member for Beauport—Limoilou.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, all free trade in Canada, including CETA, is an accomplishment of the former Conservative government.

The Liberal government is racking up failure after failure on international trade. NAFTA is falling apart, the trans-Pacific partnership is not being taken seriously since the Liberals do not even bother to attend important meetings, and while we still wait for a softwood lumber agreement, our industry has been penalized with countervailing duties for over a year now.

Will the Liberals stop behaving like amateurs and take action once and for all on all of these issues?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to once again talk about our approach to international trade, particularly where NAFTA is concerned.

We have the best negotiators in the world, and I am very proud of their work. The national interest is Canada's top priority, and we will defend our national interest and our values at the negotiating table.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister failed to get a deal on softwood lumber when he had a chance to with President Obama. He put TPP in jeopardy by failing to show up for a meeting, which was a slap in the face to our trading partners. Despite giving the Chinese free reign on purchasing Canadian companies, he still could not get a deal done with them. The current Liberal government has made mistake after mistake on trade. How can Canadians trust this Prime Minister to protect their interests?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, do you know why Canadians can trust us? Canadians can trust us, first and foremost, because Canada has the best professional negotiators in the world on trade, and I am proud to work alongside them.

Canadians can trust us because we are 100% committed to defending the national interests in trade negotiations; first and foremost, in the NAFTA trade negotiations.

I would like to say for the Conservatives that capitulation is not a negotiating strategy.

Public Services and Procurement

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the lack of communication between the Liberals and public servants on Phoenix is extremely frustrating. In my riding, I currently have about 30 open cases to resolve Phoenix issues, and someone is even owed $30,000 in back pay. Many have serious concerns with the year end approaching, and it is especially chaotic for public service pensioners who are retiring before their pay issues are ever resolved.

Will the Liberals address these glaring concerns and help Canadians suffering under this horrible system?

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the difficult position our public servants and their families are in, and we are putting in place a number of measures to help them along the way. First, there are emergency pay services they have access to. We are improving technology. We are working on our governance. We are improving our policies. We are taking steps, and had they been taken in the first place, we would not be in this position.

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, last week, representatives from PSAC met with MPs from all parties to highlight the many problems public servants continue to face. The Auditor General has confirmed that Phoenix is a disaster, with no end in sight.

Where is the government's plan? We know it appreciates them, but where is the plan?

With the holidays and tax season approaching, many public servants will be in for another period of uncertainty and stress. Will the government commit to, at least, covering the tax implication for Phoenix errors for all public servants?

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

Mr. Speaker, we appreciate that, as the holidays approach and as the year end approaches, it puts our public servants in an incredibly difficult position, given the realities of Phoenix.

We are working on improving the technology. We are working on our governance. We are taking the steps necessary both to resolve it in the short term and also to have a state-of-the-art pay system in the long term.

We are doing what we can, and quite frankly, we are working very closely with the unions, because this problem will be solved by public servants for public servants.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Internet is not a luxury but a necessity in today's world. While it is important to invest in infrastructure and support access to Internet service, we also need to maintain equal access to information provided to it. We need net neutrality.

Just this past weekend, the member from Beauce said we needed less net neutrality and the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka said he disagreed. It seems the official opposition cannot take a position.

Could the minister clearly reiterate the government's position on net neutrality in Canada?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if the leader of the official opposition could provide clarification on what its position is, because the member for Beauce, who is the official innovation critic said one thing and the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka says he disagrees with him.

Let me be clear. Our government stands to support net neutrality. We support an open Internet. We support the CRTC framework for net neutrality, because we know an open Internet is critical for our economy and our democracy.

National Defence

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we do not have lap dogs on this side. We have people who think.

Speaking of really important issues, the Liberals are buying rusted-out fighter jets from Australia, even though the defence minister actually said they would never buy used planes. We know these eighties-era jets are rusted out because a 2012 Australian report said corrosion was so bad that the number of active flying days had to be cut.

This is not a bucket of bolts. This is a bucket of rusted-out bolts. Why are they going back on their word?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I stated before, I appreciate the member's enthusiasm for providing for the Canadian Armed Forces, but if this were true, they would have solved this problem a long time ago.

Today, along with my colleagues, I was very proud to stand up and announce the start of the competition. It is a full, open competition to replace our fighter fleet with 88 fighter aircraft, not 65, as the previous government had put out.

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the government promised that it would have new fighter jets in our country by 2021. Now the announcement today is that we will not see them until at least 2025. That was the Liberals' promise. It had nothing to do with the previous government; that was their promise.

Why do they not move ahead immediately to have a real procurement, so we can get some real fighter jets, instead of this bucket of bolts from Australia?

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

Mr. Speaker, today is a good day for Canada. We announced that, for the first time in 30 years, we are going to make a significant investment in the Royal Canadian Air Force. First of all, we announced the start of the process for a full fleet replacement that will have fighter jets in place between 2025 and 2030, and in the meantime, we are supplementing our existing fleet with an interim CF-18 purchase from Australia.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!