Debates of March 10th, 2017

World Social Work Day

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Mr. Speaker, World Social Work Day is an opportunity for the community of social workers to further educate their peers and to strengthen the resolve of social workers in order to advance social justice issues at the local, provincial, and international level.

As a former social worker involved in helping victims and their families, I am delighted to draw attention to this noble profession.

Every day, social workers make important contributions to society by addressing problems that are global in scope and that require complex responses from all levels of government. At its core, the profession focuses on strengthening communities so that the people within them can form strong social networks that enable improved health outcomes and more satisfying lives.

To conclude, protecting and upholding human rights and social justice are the fundamental objectives of social work. Let us take this opportunity to recognize the important work of social workers in Canada and around the world.

Holi

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, happy Holi. Holi is the Hindu festival of colours and a celebration of spring that occurs on the last full moon of winter. Originating in India and Nepal, Holi is now celebrated throughout the world. Holi's message of peace and compassion brings together people from many different communities. This centuries-old agricultural festival bids farewell to the winter season and welcomes the season of rebirth that is spring. It is a time of personal reflection and forgiveness.

As Canadians, we admire the contributions Hindus have made to our country. As the member of Parliament for Markham—Unionville, I wish all Canadians celebrating Holi a joyous festival.

Holi Mubarak. Happy Phagwa. Happy Holi.

Frederiction Constituency Youth Council

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Fredericton is full of educated, engaged, and entrepreneurial youth who care deeply about the social, economic, and environmental progress of Canada. The 18 members of the Fredericton Constituency Youth Council best exemplify this desire to build a more inclusive and prosperous country for all.

The Youth Council's three working groups work closely with local leaders and stakeholders and conduct in-depth research in three areas vital to the advancement of our country.

I look forward, in April, to receiving their recommendations on how best to address youth homelessness in Canada, how to enhance economic and social inclusion for newcomer refugees, and how to increase access to mental health supports for vulnerable youth, including those within the LGBTQ2 community.

My government colleagues can expect some solid and well-thought-out recommendations from these young leaders, and I am looking forward to the debate in this House after we receive these recommendations.

City of Toronto Refugees

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Toronto has long been a sanctuary city. In 1847, the city had a population of only 20,000 people, but in that same year, across the ocean, Ireland was gripped by famine. The Great Hunger, as it is known, killed millions and sent millions more abroad in search of not just a better life, but in fact of life itself. In just one summer, Toronto more than doubled in size, as 38,000 desperate souls arrived in the city without notice.

On the shores of Lake Ontario, despair was not met by fear but by compassion. Refugees were brought to the city. A public health system sprung to life almost overnight, and even though we had few doctors and nurses, many gave their lives in the service of trying to save these refugees, so that they could live their lives and prosper in Ontario. This extraordinary response is now memorialized along the shores of Lake Ontario by Island Park. This fall, a second park will be opened in Toronto to memorialize the health workers who gave their lives.

This St. Patrick's Day, be sure to raise a glass, but also remember the brave and compassionate response of Toronto to refugees.

Benefits for Veterans

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, recently a veteran by the name of of Richard Clements, of Summerland, British Columbia, came by my office and asked if I might share a few words on his behalf.

Dick will be turning 90 this year, and he wanted to publicly thank Veterans Affairs and the great staff there who have helped him over the years. Dick also asked that I pass on his thanks for programs like the Canada pension plan, old age security, and guaranteed income supplement. He made a special mention of the assistance that the war veterans allowance has provided for him, as well as the veterans independence program. Of course, Mr. Clements passed on a special thanks to the many Canadian Legions across Canada for the important work that they do.

Mr. Clements is a vibrant and healthy 90-year-old veteran, and he credits many of these programs and organizations for what he call his “healthy and aging success”.

On a personal note, sometimes in this place, we get consumed with those things that go wrong. It can be overlooked that successive generations of parliamentarians have debated and passed many of these programs that indeed are making a positive influence on people's lives.

I ask the House to join me in thanking Richard Clements for his service to our great country.

Vimy Ridge

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Vimy Ridge was a defining moment in Canada's 150 year history. I would like to share a touching story about a constituent of mine in Mississauga Centre and his connection to Vimy.

This April, Charles Geen will be travelling to France to attend the 100th anniversary ceremony at Vimy Ridge. Six members of Charles's family served in World War I; three were soldiers, and the other three were nurses. One of his grandfather's cousins, Lieutenant David Forneri, was killed at Vimy on March 1, 1917. His body was never found, thus his name is engraved on the majestic Vimy Memorial.

I want to wish Charles a fantastic trip and offer my gratitude to him and his family for their service. His father, John Geen, and the rest of us, are looking forward to seeing pictures from his special trip.

As we celebrate the success of Canada, we must never forget the lessons of the past.

International Women's Day

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to this year's International Women's Day.

I have been blessed with a number of strong female role models in my life: my mother, Brenda; my three sisters, Rebecca, Jessica, and Tessa; my wife, Janelle; as well as many female friends and colleagues throughout the years in my work in the community sector and the NDP.

In my brief time on the Hill, the amazing women in our caucus have already helped me to be a better MP, and I look forward to continuing to learn from their examples. This week, I had the honour of sharing my seat with an inspiring young woman from Elmwood—Transcona, Shania Pruden. She did us proud by speaking with earnest passion to the struggles faced by young indigenous women in Canada.

It boggles my mind that these founts of talent, these role models, these leaders, can all expect to get paid 15% to 20% less for the work they do simply because they are women.

I say to the government: Do not wait. Bring in fair pay equity legislation now.

Residents of Southern Manitoba

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, this week on the prairies, March came in like a lion, with a blizzard that dumped heaps of snow and was accompanied with 90-kilometre winds. Once again, Westman residents stepped up to the plate and helped those in need. They are truly the unsung heroes of this ordeal.

I have heard remarkable stories about people who ventured into the blizzard to rescue those who were stranded in their cars, like the young couple from New Jersey who were saved by a Souris farmer who drove his tractor to reach them, or the tireless efforts of the volunteer firefighters in the RM of Whitehead who helped those trapped on Highway 1 and set up the emergency shelter in Alexander to provide food and a place to warm up.

I thank each and every one of those volunteers who opened their homes to strangers, to those who cleaned up the roads and highways, to the municipal staff, the RCMP, and the other first responders for all of their efforts.

Through floods, blizzards, and tragedies, Manitobans always rise to the occasion.

I thank them once again.

Canadian Agricultural Safety Week

[Karen McCrimmon, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, next week is Canadian Agricultural Safety Week in Canada.

My riding of Kanata—Carleton includes the fantastic farmers of West Carleton, from Panmure to Kinburn to Carp to Fitzroy Harbour. Unlike other occupations, a lot of farms are family-run operations, when the home becomes an industrial work site.

Canadian Agricultural Safety Week is an annual public awareness campaign focused on the importance of maintaining safe farming practices. I encourage everyone to check out the agricultural safety website for great information. It is designed to help farmers adopt sound safety practices.

We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our hard-working farmers. Their work is critical to our survival and prosperity, and doing it safely is fundamental.

I want to say a special thanks to all the farmers of West Carleton. As I have said on a number of occasions, if we like to eat, we should thank a farmer.

Taxation

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister criticized a possible new U.S. border tax, saying that he is concerned with anything that creates impediments at the border. In his words, extra tariffs are new taxes.

However, it is actually this Prime Minister who is putting a new tax on all Canadians in the form of a carbon tax, which will do more to hamstring Canadian trade and competitiveness than any American border tax. Just ask Alberta and Ontario.

When will the Prime Minister realize that it is his carbon tax that Canadian job creators are so worried about?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, this government is committed to creating a more innovative economy that reduces emissions, protects the environment, and creates good-paying middle-class jobs.

Pricing carbon pollution will reduce emissions and provide certainty and predictability to businesses. Pricing pollution will drive innovation and clean growth. It will boost the economy and make Canada more competitive in the global market.

After 10 years of inaction on the part of the previous government, this government is taking action to address climate change, and to do so in a manner that will create good middle-class jobs.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, if that were accurate, the Liberals would release the numbers.

Canadians are worried about the Prime Minister's plan to impose a carbon tax, while refusing to say just how much this tax will cost them. The Prime Minister is not being transparent on the carbon tax, and now he will not tell Canadians how much they are going to have to pay for his out-of-control spending.

Canadians are worried that he is hiding his real agenda. Will the Liberals tell Canadians today whether they are planning on axing income splitting for seniors in this upcoming budget?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government has made a commitment to helping seniors within this country. It is our government that reversed the age of retirement from 67 to 65.

We have also put in place an increase in the guaranteed income supplement for low-income seniors, and we have made an increase of 10%. That is substantial for seniors, because it is, on average, $1,000 more a month.

Our government is committed to helping seniors, and we are going to continue to do so.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it was a simple yes or no question that the Liberals refuse to answer.

This reckless tax-and-spend Prime Minister will deliver a budget that will leave us with a maxed-out credit card, decades of deficit, and a huge debt that can only be financed through higher taxes.

We all know that budgets actually do not balance themselves. Canadians need to know, does the Prime Minister believe that the budget should be balanced? If so, when does he plan to do it?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again I am pleased to rise in this House today to talk about the work that our government is doing. We are going to continue to do smart investments with our economy, to help our middle-class Canadians, and to help our economy prosper.

Good news: the job numbers are out today. We have seen over the past six months that over 220,000 jobs have been created. New jobs. Furthermore, most of those jobs are full time, so we can see that is evidence that our plan is working. We are going to continue to make the needed investments in budget 2017.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member forgot to mention that 80% of those jobs are part time, whereas when we formed the government 80% of the jobs were full time. That is what it means to create wealth and jobs.

The fact of the matter is that the next budget will be tabled on March 22, which is just around the corner. Canadians are concerned, and rightly so. Let us remember what the Liberals said. They said that they would run small deficits, but now they are running astronomical deficits. They said that they would lower taxes for Canadians, but the opposite is true. They also said that they would help small business owners, but they have done exactly the opposite by imposing additional tax burdens on them.

Why would Canadians trust the Liberals?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to once again rise in the House today to speak about the wonderful things that our government is doing.

Once again, we are going to keep investing in the economy to help the middle class and those in need. Here is some good news. According to the numbers that came out today, over 220,000 new jobs were created in Canada over the past six months. What is more, most of these jobs are full-time jobs. That is the best job growth our country has seen in the past 10 years.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to talk facts and figures, no problem.

For 10 weeks, the Minister of Finance sat on a report by his own officials. It said that, if the government does not change course, the national debt will reach $1.5 trillion in 2050 and the budget will not be balanced until 2055, which is 36 years later than the Liberals projected.

Why would Canadians trust people who hide such important information?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House to tell Canadians that our plan is working.

Today we saw that our 16 months of work paid off with the creation of 220,000 new jobs in Canada, almost all of them full-time.

Anyone can see that our plan is working. We will continue to make the necessary investments in budget 2017.

Canada — U.S. Relations

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when we were questioning the government yesterday about Canadians being turned away at the border, we were told that these persons should communicate with American authorities. In other words, the government is washing its hands of the issue, which is completely unacceptable. Instead, it should take a stand and work to guarantee the rights of Canadian citizens.

Can the minister confirm that he will discuss specific cases of Canadians turned away at the border without a valid reason with his American counterpart, and ensure that there will be no further impact on Canadians who want to visit the United States?

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

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is there are over 400,000 people who move back and forth across the Canada–U.S. border every single day. This is the largest, most successful border relationship in the history of the world. We work every day to ensure that Canadians will continue to enjoy the benefits of that enormous relationship, where they will be respected and treated in the manner that any Canadian citizen has a right to expect.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, recently 19 individuals crossed the border into Manitoba during a blizzard, including a pregnant woman and a toddler. The Liberal government continues to claim that the current situation is somehow the status quo, but I can say that people running across farmers' fields across the border in a blizzard is not the status quo. To make matters worse, the Prime Minister has not even answered the Premier of Manitoba's letter asking for help. During the meeting today with President Trump's official, would the Liberals point out that the U.S. no longer fits Canada's own description of a safe country for refugees?

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

Mr. Speaker, in fact, with respect to the asylum system in our country and in the United States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which is the authority in the world on this topic, has said that the safe third country arrangement is fully valid and without reason to change. In terms of dealing with the border crossings that are happening irregularly at places like Emerson and Lacolle, both the CBSA and the RCMP have made the appropriate arrangements to ensure that they can protect the health and safety of Canadians and the asylum seekers.

Government Accountability

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

There we have it, Mr. Speaker, Liberal ministers getting up and saying it is status quo; every one of them except for the finance minister, who is hinting that Trump's presidency is changing everything including the budget. Therefore, instead of flowing the funds for their promises on mental health and home care, the Liberals have cynically been using that money to force provinces onto the Harper plan. As Liberal promises collapse left and right, Canadians are wondering if they will ever get the things they really need, like a national pharmacare plan.

Is the Liberal government going to take responsibility for backtracking on its promises, or is it just going to blame it on Trump?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, how wonderful to have an opportunity to announce today in this House that we have in fact come to a new agreement with three additional provinces: Alberta, Ontario, et la province de Québec.

I am very pleased, because this is excellent news for the three provinces. We are going to improve health care and we going to support the provinces to ensure that Canadians have access to the health care they need.