Debates of Dec. 13th, 2017

International Trade

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we can say a lot about the fact that local business owners across the country have been under assault by the Liberal government's out-of-touch attack on their ability to create jobs.

We can say a lot about the fact that the top 1% is actually paying less under the government's changes than before.

We can say a heck of a lot about the damage the government is doing to the economy with its erratic behaviour on the trade front. Indeed, recently, the Prime Minister insulted Japan and Australia when he skipped a meeting that would have allowed Canada to sign onto the world's largest trading block.

Could the Prime Minister tell us what he is doing to repair the damage caused by his erratic behaviour?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what Stephen Harper did not understand, what those Conservatives over there continue not to understand, is that it is not just about signing any deal; it is about signing a good deal for Canadians. We saw time and time again that they are just in a rush to try to sign anything to get along, but we know that no deal is better than a bad deal.

We will always stand up for Canadian interests, unlike those Conservatives.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is not only Australia and Japan who are upset with the Prime Minister for his bizarre actions in Asia.

Can the Prime Minister assure us that with his recent behaviour in China, his begging for a free trade agreement at all costs, he has not compromised our position at the NAFTA negotiating table and the millions of jobs today that depend on free trade between Canada, the United States, and Mexico?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives demonstrate that they still do not understand anything about getting a good trade deal for Canadians. Wherever we go around the world, we will be demanding a good deal for Canada. We are not going to follow the Conservative Harper doctrine of “any deal”, and capitulation, as a trade strategy.

We are going to demand good outcomes for Canadians, on the environment, on labour issues, on a broad range of issues, because that is what Canadians elected us to do.

Government Appointments

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when Parliament chooses a new Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner all parties must be consulted. It is a legal obligation. However, we were not consulted. We only received one letter and one name. We know nothing about the other candidates, and the nominee was rushed through committee within one hour.

Instead of a merit-based process, all we have are the Liberals' assurances that they are doing the right thing, but that is not enough. How can they tell us that their nomination was merit-based, and if they want to pursue that line, why do they not release the names of the finalists to the other parties?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of the Lobbying Commissioner and the Official Languages Commissioner, we actually consulted opposition parties last June to see what criteria they were looking for, what their perspective was, and what stakeholders we should be consulting with. We have engaged them in a robust process that will determine, and end up with, the right kinds of officers of Parliament.

Once again, if they do not have confidence in the officers of Parliament we have put forward, let them stand up and say so.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, asking us to put forward a few names back in June is not consultation. It is not the commissioner that we do not trust; it is the government's process.

Why is that? Because the selection committee for the new Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner had five members, including the chief of staff of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the chief of staff of the President of the Treasury Board, and two assistant secretaries of the Liberal cabinet.

How can we have any faith that the selection process for the future commissioner was open, transparent, merit-based, and especially impartial, when the selection committee was dominated by Liberal cabinet employees?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I completely disagree with my hon. colleague across the way.

The reality is that seeking suggestions and names for months is part of the consultation process. Asking opposition members for criteria, possible implications, and concerns is precisely how we were able to choose the right officers of Parliament. That is precisely the process we followed, and we will have excellent officers of Parliament as a result.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the new Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has just barely been nominated and he is already in hot water.

First, we learned that the work that he did on two case files when he held a similar position in the past was criticized, but even more importantly, he is refusing to confirm whether he will pursue the investigations into the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister himself that are currently under way.

I thought we usually hired an investigator to get to the bottom of a crime, not to cover the offender's tracks.

Is wiping the slate clean and starting fresh the Liberals' new way of dealing with crises?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that everything is always about partisanship for the members of the opposition. However, we expect any conflict of interest and ethics commissioner and any officer of Parliament to fulfill their duties with care and integrity. We have immense respect for the approach of relying on evidence and examining all the facts before making a decision.

Ethics

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us try to sum up the Liberal ethical violations of just this past year.

The Prime Minister breaks the law by taking a private helicopter to a billionaire's island, but who has not done that too? The finance minister secretly holds on to millions of dollars in shares in a numbered company, but I say, “Let ye cast the first stone”. Now the Liberal House leader, whose job it has been to defend the ethical violations of the finance minister and the Prime Minister, was put in charge of hiring a new ethics commissioner. Irony is dead over there.

My question for the Prime Minister is this. Exactly how many ethical violations and investigations is it going to take before the Liberals realize that the rules apply to them too?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we come to the end of this year, one cannot help but feel bad for the members of the opposition, because of the results we have gotten as a government. The job creation numbers, 441,000 new jobs, the best in 18 years; the growing economy; the help for the middle class; and the positive outcomes leave the opposition with nothing to do but to fling accusations and throw mud. That is not what Canadians want. That is not what Canadians deserve. I hope they will be getting better than that in the coming year.

Taxation

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said he would lower taxes for the middle class, but he actually raised taxes on public transit, children's sports and arts activities, camping, and even beer and wine. In fact, 80% of middle-class Canadians are paying more taxes, and the wealthiest Canadians are paying $1 billion less. The only word to describe this is incompetence.

When is the Prime Minister going to stop making life easier for his rich friends and harder for everyone else?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, Conservatives are demonstrating that they do not understand how to help Canadians. The statistics he is referring to do not take into account the Canada child benefit. This benefit gives more money to nine out of 10 families. It has lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and is helping Canadian families immensely. It is one of the elements that led to the economic growth we are seeing now.

The Conservatives would have preferred to keep their own benefit, which gave money to millionaires every month. We are giving money to families who actually need it.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is rich millionaire friends who are getting the benefits of the government's policy. However, the incompetence extends to so many other areas.

It has been two years, and the Prime Minister has broken two key promises of his campaign. First, he said he would run modest deficits. Now we know that his out of control spending is costing taxpayers over $100 billion. Second, he said he would balance the budget in 2019. Now his government is telling us it does not even know when the budget will be balanced. The Prime Minister cannot even read a balance sheet. How can Canadians have any confidence in anything else he is doing?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in order to chase their goal of balancing the budget at all costs, they created the Phoenix fiasco, they nickel and dimed our veterans, and they continued to cut services for Canadians across the board.

We made a different decision than they did. We told Canadians that we would run deficits, so we could grow the economy and put more money in the pockets of Canadians who needed it. That is exactly what we have done, and that is working for Canadians.

Public Services and Procurement

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about Phoenix. Let us talk about the Liberal decision to ignore a third-party report that said the system was not ready, and yet they rushed ahead for political reasons. It was their choice to press the start button. They have had two years to fix it. Two years, and they have done nothing. Meanwhile, families across the country are suffering because of the government's lack of action and incompetence.

When will the Prime Minister take responsibility for his decision and stop trying to blame other people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite actually just laid it out. The problem was that they fired 700 people in order to book the savings they were counting on so they could magically balance the budget just in time for the election, to try to save their skins from their terrible economic performance over the past 10 years.

We did not create the Phoenix problem, but we are going to fix it.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, they started the Phoenix program before it was ready, ignoring the advice of a third-party report. They have had two years to fix it, and no one believes they are going to do anything about it. It is going to take a Conservative government to clean up their mess.

The incompetence is everywhere. The Liberals campaigned on a new process to replace our fighter jets. They then abandoned that process and said they would sole source Super Hornets. Now, they are searching the reduced-for-quick-sale bin for used fighters from Australia. Will the Prime Minister take responsibility and admit we are never going to get new jets?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the men and women of our military deserve the equipment they need to fulfill their responsibilities and deliver on their commitments.

For 10 years, the previous Conservative government was unable to give the men and women of our forces the equipment they needed. It completely botched the process. That is why we were proud to launch a full, open competition yesterday to replace our fleet of aging fighter jets, not with 65 jets like the Conservatives spoke about but 88 jets, to ensure our military can fulfill the roles we expect it to.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. If members do not like what someone is saying, they should keep in mind that their turn on their side will come and they should wait for that. We had Santa Claus visiting earlier in fact, and he told me that he did not like to hear all this heckling. He will reinforce that, I am sure. I am a good friend of his. He is here to confirm that.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, nobody is buying the Prime Minister's revisionist history. Let us take a look at the record: strategic airlift craft, Hercules tactical airlift craft, Chinook helicopters, upgraded Aurora surveillance planes, and modernized Halifax-class frigates for our navy. That is just a partial list of the Conservative government's success on the procurement file.

What do we have in contrast? We have a fabricated credibility gap, which is having us search Kijiji in Australia for used fighter jets. This is a disgrace to our men and women in the armed forces.

When will the Prime Minister just take the blame for his own incompetence?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know you are trying to invoke Santa Claus to help them out, but let us not forget that the Conservatives like coal.

We take very seriously the responsibility we have to ensure that the men and women of our armed forces actually have the opportunity to do their jobs safely and with the right equipment. We take that extremely seriously after the Conservatives botched the process for 10 years.

Veterans Affairs

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been taking it seriously for two years and nothing has happened. Maybe it is time they start taking it super seriously and we might actually get some results.

The incompetence extends even further. Canadian veterans are in limbo amid a backlog of applications for disability benefits. I know the Prime Minister will get up two years into his mandate and try to find other people to blame. However, let us remember that this is happening under his watch and as a direct result of his decision.

When will the Prime Minister stop blaming others and stand with our brave men and women in uniform?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Over the past two years, Mr. Speaker, we have invested in hundreds of millions of dollars for veterans. We have improved the benefits they receive. We have reopened veteran service offices that were closed.

We are ensuring that we live up to the sacred obligation we owe to our veterans and to their families. This is work we take very seriously and it is work we are delivering on.