Debates of May 12th, 2017

Infrastructure

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have not denied that the projects funded through their privatization bank would result in user fees and tolls placed on Canadians. They have not denied that the projects will cost more and will result in significant delays. Will the government deny today that if offered the choice, Canadians would choose not to have user fees on infrastructure?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, this is an important question to be asked. Indeed the infrastructure bank is an effort to leverage private capital in projects where we see fit. Again, let me remind the hon. member that these projects are put forward to us and these are projects that we will, through the infrastructure bank, examine and make the right choices for Canadians. By engaging private capital in these projects, our investments will go further and free up more funding for the record investments we are making in things of importance to the member opposite, such as social housing, disaster mitigation, women's shelters, and the like.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I guess he did not answer because Canadians were not offered that choice.

All week we have been asking specific questions about the secret Liberal infrastructure brought to us by BlackRock, and all week the Liberals have avoided clear answers, just like today. Instead they have responded with very tightly crafted talking points.

Here is my question for the Liberals: Is the government using any messaging given to it by BlackRock, yes or no?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, we value the expertise that those in the private sector can offer and thank those people who have been giving us this input. If we are going to offer options to the private sector, we indeed need to consult these people and get their input and feedback as we put our best foot forward in how to leverage that private capital.

It bears reminding the member that the session with BlackRock lasted only a few hours, but we spent hundreds of hours consulting on the infrastructure bank, including with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, provinces, territories, academics, engineers, construction firms, and more.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is really sad. We are trying to get clear answers, but the government keeps feeding us the same old meaningless lines.

We know that BlackRock had a big say in the creation of this bank. Just imagine the minister asking BlackRock to green-light his speech for the much talked about meeting in Toronto last November.

Did BlackRock sign off on the minister's talking points too?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, this bears repeating.

The session with BlackRock last fall lasted only a few hours, but we spent hundreds of hours consulting stakeholders such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, the provinces and territories, indigenous peoples, academics, engineers, construction firms, and more.

For those in the private sector, this consultation process is an extremely important part of making decisions about investments that will be leveraged to mobilize more infrastructure money to improve the lives of Canadians and Quebeckers.

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

Mr. Speaker, it certainly sounds as if someone else wrote that.

In the debate yesterday on our motion calling for an in-depth study of the infrastructure bank, the government indicated that it had no intention of doing one. However, the report commissioned by the government recommended an in-depth study. We are talking about a bank that will be responsible for $35 billion of public funds.

Since the bank will be responsible for taxpayers' money, does the government not think that this kind of investment deserves a more in-depth study?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, in-depth studies require consultation with many people, as I said earlier. I will not repeat myself.

We must consult the private sector, which will make those investments. It is worth mentioning that the KPMG report, just one of the reports we saw and examined, stated that the Canada infrastructure bank will accelerate economic development and growth, create major national projects, and ensure quick decision-making, considering the development that Canada needs now and in the future.

Government Expenditures

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

Mr. Speaker, what do the following things have in common: $1 million for refurbishing the Minister of Status of Women's office; $852,000 for furniture for the infrastructure minister; $291,000 for vacations on billionaire island and St. Kitts; and $30,000 for Broadway tickets for rich friends? These are all ways that Liberals have wasted the hard-earned tax dollars of Canadians.

How much more of the taxpayers' money is the Prime Minister going to waste on his rock star lifestyle, his billionaire friends, and his entitled ministers?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government's top priority is to make smart and responsible investments to strengthen the middle class, grow the economy, and prepare—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order. There is too much noise in the House. I am sure that hon. members want to hear the answer of the hon. parliamentary secretary. I cannot hear her at all, so I would ask hon. members to please keep the noise down.

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, we can see there are positive signs that our plan is working. When we look at the job growth over the past year, we see we have created over 250,000 new jobs. When we look at the unemployment rate, since December 2015, we see the unemployment rate has dropped from 7.1% to 6.5%. It is good news, and we are going to continue to move forward.

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

Okay, Mr. Speaker, let us talk about Canadian workers.

Canadians who work hard day after day and watch half their pay disappear into government coffers want their money's worth. Canadian workers and taxpayers hate it when the government wastes their money on worthless stuff. The list that the member for Sarnia—Lambton just read us? Taxpayers will not be happy about that.

Will anyone over there say enough with this nonsense and make it clear that the Government of Canada will be managing the public purse properly from now on?

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

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleague for his question.

Strengthening the middle class will ensure a good quality of life for hard-working Canadians and better opportunities for their children. In the past year, our government raised taxes on the wealthiest Canadians and lowered them for the middle class. We brought in the Canada child benefit, which has helped nine out of 10 families keep more money in their pockets. We also helped seniors by increasing the guaranteed income supplement. We will keep forging ahead to help Canadians.

Ethics

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday night, the parliamentary secretary to the minister responsible for the Phoenix pay system debacle said on national TV, “Canadians don't need to know”, when asked how many times the Prime Minister has met with the Ethics Commissioner. Canadians do not need to know? That is a line that would make even Kathleen Wynne blush.

Do the Liberals share the parliamentary secretary's view that being accountable to Canadians is only on a need-to-know basis, and when did the Liberals abandon their pledge of openness and transparency?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, that pledge has never been broken. This government believes in accountability and transparency and will act accordingly.

As the Prime Minister has said time and time again, he is happy to answer any questions the commissioner has during the process. I would like to encourage members opposite to remain focused on what is important to Canadians. We know that middle-class Canadians want to see results, and that is something this government is delivering every day.

Finance

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is something else that apparently Canadians do not need to know about.

The minister responsible for carbon taxes blacked out documents on how much carbon taxes will cost Canadian families and businesses. The minister responsible for massive debt and deficits will not tell Canadians when we will return to balanced budgets. The minister responsible for the Liberal billionaire friends and family “in-fraud-structure” scheme will not say how much risk there is to middle-class Canadians. These are sunny ways, indeed.

Will the Liberals just admit that they had no intention of being open and transparent and that pledge was just another empty election promise?

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

I would remind hon. members to use the proper titles of members in the House, the titles of their particular post and/or their riding names.

The hon. parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance.

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that, when we have an economy that works for the middle class, we have a country that works for everyone.

Since coming into office, our government has accomplished a lot of things. We have cut taxes for nine million Canadians, while raising them for the wealthiest one per cent. We have introduced a very generous Canada child benefit program that has lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. We have also put in place an increase in the guaranteed income supplement of 10% for low-income seniors.

We are moving forward to help middle-class Canadians, and we are proud of the work we have done.

Government Appointments

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has chosen a new commissioner of official languages. Apparently, all it takes to get this position is a $5,000 donation to the Liberal Party of Canada, a $500 donation to the Prime Minister's leadership bid, and being a former Liberal minister.

This Liberal government's first appointment could not be more partisan, and that is a shame.

Are being a long-time Liberal and donating to the party the criteria of the Prime Minister's new appointment process?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism)]

Mr. Speaker, our two official languages are an important part of our history and our Canadian identity, and they are important to us.

As far as appointments are concerned, our government is firmly committed to having a strong, open, transparent, and merit-based appointment process to find the best candidate for each position. We are very proud to have appointed a highly qualified Canadian woman under this new process. The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages is very important and we are certain that the person recommended will have all the required qualifications.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week I asked if the Prime Minister would recuse himself from the appointment procedure for the new ethics commissioner, who may inherit the investigation into the Prime Minister's conduct, or whether he would just appoint a good Liberal to help get him off the hook.

Perhaps signalling what is to come, last week he appointed a former provincial Liberal cabinet minister as official languages commissioner. If he likes to reward Liberals, may I suggest the Minister of National Defence as the new ethics commissioner? I hear he might be available soon.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism)]

Mr. Speaker, our two official languages are at the heart of who we are as Canadians, but so is redefining the process by which we select highly qualified Canadians to fulfill important government appointments.

We have revised that process to make it more rigorous, more open, more transparent, and more merit-based for all public appointments. We are proud to have appointed Canadians of the highest quality across all levels of government, thus far, through this process.

The official languages commissioner has a very important role, and we will ensure that the recommended person meets that high qualification standard.

Public Services and Procurement

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after a year and a half of not getting paid properly, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada has been forced to file grievances on behalf of 60,000 workers it represents.

Why is this? It is because the longer the Phoenix pay fiasco drags on, the fewer answers the Liberals provide them. The hard-working men and women in our public service need to know when their pay nightmares will finally end.

Is the government tired of hearing about Phoenix? I am sure public servants are tired of not getting paid.