Debates of Dec. 12th, 2017

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, I think the only one who believes what the defence minister is saying is the defence minister himself. No one else believes him. The situation is clear. We are going to spend $500 million on a bunch of old Australian clunkers to fill a fictional capability gap that the minister invented and that is completely false. Furthermore, we have learned that the tender process is going to begin in 2025, whereas the Prime Minister himself said we would have our planes by 2021. I do not want to hear him answer that we did nothing. We did plenty for the Canadian Forces, including the Galaxy aircraft, the Cyclones, the ships, and the Asterix. The Conservative government worked hard for the Canadian Forces. Those folks over there are skating around in circles.

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

Mr. Speaker, there is a capability gap and we are talking about other capability gaps. There is one with supply ships. If a capability gap is not fixed, it turns into a capability loss, and that is exactly what happened with the previous government with our joint supply ships and did not replace them properly. With our new defence policy, a fully funded defence policy, we are going to make sure that our men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces are well looked after.

Public Services and Procurement

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Boisvert retired from the CRA in April 2016. On June 15 of that year, she got a paycheque by mistake, and now she is being told to pay back the gross amount even though deductions were taken. She has taken steps to resolve the matter, but the full gross amount is being withheld from her severance pay. My office has been trying to reach someone since February to clean up this Phoenix mess, which comes on top of so many others, but nobody even acknowledges our communications.

When will the minister help Ms. Boisvert and admit that her pay system is broken beyond repair?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are doing our best to make things better for public servants who are suffering because of Phoenix. People not getting paid is unacceptable. We have procedures in place to help public servants. If the member gives me the individual's name, we will do our best to fix the problem.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix pay system has been a disaster for Parks Canada employees. Even while working hard to help Canadians celebrate Canada 150, they found themselves going months without proper paycheques. Adding even more injury to this insult, these workers have been without a contract since 2014.

When will the government fix this Phoenix fiasco for our public servants, and when will it show Parks Canada employees respect by bringing a fair offer to the bargaining table?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have tremendous respect for the important work done by our hard-working public servants. We have actually re-established a culture of respect for our public servants. When we formed government, all collective bargaining agreements had expired with Canadian public servants. Some had been expired for four years. We negotiated in good faith, to the point that today 90% of public servants in Canada have collective bargaining agreements. That has been done in good faith with our public servants, and we will continue to work hard to serve Canadians with our world-class public service.

Veterans Affairs

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period the Prime Minister claimed that his minister had actually apologized to a disabled veteran's wife who was insulted by the minister. Now that turns out to simply not be true. The CBC is reporting that, in fact, he is attacking her for speaking out against him and has not apologized.

I want to give the Prime Minister an opportunity to correct the record. Will he admit that his minister has not apologized, and will he start showing Kim Davis the respect that she deserves?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government takes very seriously the responsibility of responding to Canadians' concerns and helping our veterans and helping Canadians with disabilities, and we will continue to.

The minister responded to those particular allegations and he apologized for earlier ones.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, instead of apologizing, the office of the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities used Facebook screenshots to discredit a citizen.

Let us review the facts. The minister insulted thalidomide victims. He was condescending toward a young mom. He was rude to the wife of a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder by telling her that she chose to marry him.

When did blaming the victim become the norm for this government? When will the minister show some compassion? When will he take responsibility for what he did and show that he is worthy of his title?

[Kent Hehr, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to improving the lives of veterans and their families.

We are aware of the concerns of Ms. Davis. That is why we have improved financial security. That is why we have improved the front-line services. That is why we have opened offices. That is why we have improved caregiver benefits.

I am working on meeting with as many Canadians as we can to improve their lives. I am also working on myself to improve interaction on a go forward basis.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear about what has happened here.

First, the minister said the Liberals have no duty to a disabled veteran's wife. Then, his staff tried to shame and discredit her when she spoke out by sending to the media multiple screen shots of her personal Facebook posts in a veterans support group. Instead of being compassionate, the minister launched a taxpayer-funded political attack on a veteran's wife.

Why did the minister order his staff to publicly humiliate Kim Davis instead of telling them to do their jobs and help veterans and their families? Why is the PM okay with it?

[Kent Hehr, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities]

Mr. Speaker, I met with Kim Davis some two years ago, and I thanked her and her husband for their tremendous service to our country. I went to the fact that our government was increasing financial security, that our government was opening offices, that our government was improving their lives, that our government was going to improve the outcome of the caregiver benefit. These were a result of direct conversation with veterans and their families.

I too remember specifically thanking Ms. Davis, particularly for her and her family's service to country. I told her that we would work as hard as we could to benefit both her and her family.

Human Rights

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last Sunday was International Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.

Could the hon. Minister of Justice please update the House on the very important work she is doing to promote and protect human rights in Canada?

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, this week, along with my colleagues the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Canadian Heritage, I had the honour to host the first summit on human rights with my colleagues from the provinces and territories, the first summit in almost 30 years.

Meeting with civil society and indigenous leaders, we discussed how we can work together to ensure that Canada continues to comply with its international human rights obligations, as well as to ensure that we remain a leader in the world with respect to human rights.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, women who have undergone female genital mutilation suffer infections, difficult urination and childbirth, pain during intercourse, and more. Raising awareness of FGM is a core part of the fight against it. This is why it is listed in Canada's citizenship guide as a practice that Canada does not tolerate. No one can put nuance around the violent removal of a woman's clitoris, and if they try to, we should not listen to them.

Will the minister end his consultations and decide today that warnings about FGM belong in Canada's citizenship guide?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member opposite that FGM is an abhorrent practice. It is against the laws of Canada. I can assure members of this House that the new guide will reflect Canada's diversity and laws, including the laws on gender-based violence. It will highlight and include, in a better way than the previous government, visible minorities, LGBTQ2 communities, the contributions of women, francophone communities, and indigenous peoples. We will listen to the experts. We will produce and introduce a non-partisan guide, unlike the previous government.

Public Services and Procurement

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in Essex, my office has been busy trying to help the many people who have not been paid because of the Phoenix pay system debacle. In one case, an employee was hired in 2015, and has worked so hard for the government that she has been promoted twice. Not only does she have more responsibility and a heavier workload, she has also not been properly compensated in over two years and is owed over $12,000 in back pay. It is disgraceful. The Liberals keep telling my office that the case is under third-party escalation, but there have been no changes and absolutely no help for this woman.

When will this minister stop blaming the Conservatives and fix this shameful mess the Liberals have made?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are completely committed to resolving Phoenix. Fixing this is my number one priority. Make no mistake, this was mishandled from the beginning when it was treated like a cost-cutting measure instead of the complex business transformation initiative that it should have been treated as. We are getting to the bottom of the technological, governance, and policy mishaps that happened because of the decisions made by the previous government, and I can assure everyone that we are on top of this.

Indigenous Affairs

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the 10th anniversary since the motion on Jordan's principle was unanimously passed in this House. It highlighted the need for a child-first principle when it came to jurisdictional disputes involving the care of first nations children. The previous government completely ignored this motion, failed to take action, and in doing so, first nations children continued to be forgotten.

Can the hon. Minister of Indigenous Services please update this House as to what is being done on Jordan's principle.

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago today in this House, a motion was passed in honour of Jordan River Anderson, a first nations child who was denied access to care because of jurisdictional disputes. After almost a decade of inaction, we are making sure that no first nations child goes through what Jordan did. To this date, I am pleased to report that we have approved 29,000 requests for care, an approval rate of over 99%. We will make sure that every first nations child has access to the care they need.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, many reports suggests there are up to 100,000 Canadians on the no-fly list. The Liberal government is silent on the actual number of innocent Canadians who are impacted by this. Canadians, including children, on the no fly-list face repeated travel hassles despite being cleared time and again by federal agencies. After two years, we have a lot of Liberal promises but little action.

Will this minister finally commit to a real, immediate, and fair redress system so that parents can travel with their children this Christmas?

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

Mr. Speaker, the research reports today are highly speculative, but the point is simply this. We are dealing with a flawed system that was implemented about 10 years ago by the previous government, and we are trying very hard to fix that system. It requires new legislation, new regulations, and a new computer system built from the ground up. The first step, the legal authority, is contained in Bill C-59, and I am sure that all members of Parliament will want to vote for this legislation.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, although we are in the middle of the busy holiday shopping season, sales are going to be down for some merchants this year.

As everyone knows, more and more people are shopping online. When it comes to shops, all merchants are subject to the same rules; online, however, that is not the case. Quebec businesses have to pay taxes, but foreign companies do not. If this continues, all of our shops are going to die off.

Why is the Canadian government working against local businesses?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear that e-commerce is critical to our economy. Overall, we are investing in small businesses. That is why we reduced the tax rate for small businesses.

We are making sure that we are also investing in innovation to create opportunities for small businesses to grow in scale, so they can provide more opportunities and more jobs. That is why the unemployment rate has dropped from 7% to 6.4%. That is why over 600,000 jobs have been created. We are focused on job creation and growth, and better outcomes for consumers.

Canadian Heritage

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 72% of Quebeckers, the Government of Quebec, our artists, our producers, the union, and management are all opposed to the special treatment of Netflix by the Minister of Canadian Heritage quite simply because this precedent is a threat to our culture.

However, as we saw at yesterday's meeting with the Minister of Finance, no one from anywhere else in Canada wanted to address the issue.

Is the Minister of Canadian Heritage jeopardizing our distinct culture in the name of the Canadian consensus?