House of Commons Hansard #178 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was rcmp.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
We thank the Office of the Auditor General for its work and welcome its recommendations. Our government has a solid plan to invest in clean growth that will help create middle-class jobs and help Canada transition to a low-carbon economy. We and our G20 partners are committed to progressively eliminating inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. We are on track to reach that target.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
This is exactly the problem, Mr. Speaker. It is only when the government was caught that it tried to act correctly. The Auditor General was very straight this morning, very critical of the actions of the government about green policies. The Auditor General said that their office has a dispute with a government department over their office's right to access the information they need to do their work.
We are talking about transparency and we are talking about the environment. Why is the current government always wrong on those issues?
Ginette Petitpas Taylor LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we thank the Auditor General for his work and we accept his recommendations.
Our government has a strong plan to invest in clean growth that will help create good middle-class jobs and get the country on a path to a low-carbon economy. We have made commitments to our partners in the G20 to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by the year 2025 and we are on track to meeting those targets. Eliminating policy measures that subsidize the production and consumption of fossil fuels is an important step in addressing climate change.
Dianne Lynn Watts Conservative South Surrey—White Rock, BC
Mr. Speaker, since 2009, PPP Canada, a crown corporation, has leveraged over $6 billion for infrastructure from an initial investment of $1.3 billion. An internal report advised that putting the infrastructure bank under an existing body such as PPP Canada would be cost-effective, efficient, and less bureaucratic.
Had the Liberals listened, a $35-billion investment to PPP Canada could leverage nearly $170 billion for transformational infrastructure. Can the minister tell Canadians why he ignored that expert advice?
Amarjeet Sohi LiberalMinister of Infrastructure and Communities
Mr. Speaker, let me quote the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships on the bank: “The Council is optimistic that the bank will play a significant role in attracting more private capital while growing the pipeline of P3 projects across Canada.”
Our goal is to build more infrastructure that Canadian communities need. We will do that in co-operation with our municipalities and provinces, as well as the private sector, to make sure they have the right type of infrastructure that they deserve.
Alain Rayes Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, we have a serious problem. This week the Minister of Finance said that cabinet would ultimately decide which projects would be funded by the infrastructure bank. At committee, however, the Minister of Infrastructure and his officials said that only the projects chosen by the investors, the ones that would be most profitable for them, would be selected.
My question is simple. Who will decide which projects are funded by the infrastructure bank? Will it be the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Infrastructure, or the investors, based on the profits they can make?
Amarjeet Sohi LiberalMinister of Infrastructure and Communities
Mr. Speaker, for the last two weeks, members of the opposition have been criticizing us for being too close to private capital. Now they are saying that we would allow oversight.
We have created the right balance that will allow us to mobilize private capital and build more infrastructure while at same time being accountable to Parliament and making sure the government is there to protect the public interest and ensure projects being built are serving the public interest.
Brigitte Sansoucy NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals keep repeating that they are strongly committed to fully protecting the supply management system, today's report from the Auditor General suggests otherwise. He illustrates the government's failure to protect the supply management system for milk, eggs, and poultry.
Supply management concerns all of us. When will the government put words into action and take concrete measures to protect a system that works and that provides sufficient, reasonably priced, quality local products that we consume every day?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in this House, we have supported and will continue to support supply management. With the duties relief program, when I became Minister of Agriculture , I found out it was a big problem at the border. We addressed that problem, and six import companies have lost their certificates to import products into this country, supply management products. We are working on this issue. It is a big issue. We have continued and will continue to make sure supply management is protected.
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General regularly exposes government negligence and incompetence, and today is no exception. The latest report also reveals that the Liberals refused to give the Auditor General the information he requested. The power to access information is crucial to the AG's independence and is, in fact, protected in law. After being elected on promises of openness and transparency, the Liberals have deliberately stonewalled the Auditor General.
Why is the government undermining the Auditor General, and what exactly is it trying to hide from Canadians?
Ginette Petitpas Taylor LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we want to thank the Auditor General for his report, and we accept his recommendations. Greater openness and transparency in government helps strengthen Canada's truth in public institutions. That is why the government continues to take action to better reflect the values and expectations of Canadians on this important matter.
Going forward, the government will provide budget preparation information and other documents, as defined under existing OICs, to the Auditor General as they become available.
Raj Grewal Liberal Brampton East, ON
Mr. Speaker, air travel is essential to Canada's economic growth and prosperity. Canadians, businesses, and tourists all benefit from a safe and efficient air industry. With recent media reports of denied boardings, lost luggage, and runway delays, the time for action is now.
Can the Minister of Transport please update this House and all Canadians on the steps being taken to protect air travellers in Canada?
Marc Garneau LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. When a Canadian purchases a ticket, sometimes at considerable expense, he or she expects to be treated with fairness and respect. In a sense, a contract has been signed. I was very proud today to table, on behalf of the Government of Canada, new legislation that will ensure that we have passenger rights. People can be assured that, if any of those passenger rights are violated, the passengers will be suitably and properly compensated in a timely manner.
Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Hope, BC
Mr. Speaker, while our competitors in the United States are busy cutting taxes and making it easier to get to yes on energy projects, the Liberal-appointed National Energy Board review panel has recommended layering on even more red tape. It wants to double review timelines to over three years, and make it even harder for job-creating energy projects to be approved in Canada. No amount of additional red tape will turn a pipeline opponent into a pipeline proponent.
Why are the Liberals so intent on making it harder for these job-creating energy projects to proceed?
Jim Carr LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the hon. member will agree that the National Energy Board that we inherited was not perfect, and I am sure he might agree that significant reform would be a good thing for Canada's energy industry. He might also acknowledge that, since this government took power, three pipelines have been approved. We will now take the recommendations that have been given to us by an expert panel of five who have consulted Canadians, and we will review that with the objective in mind of creating the greatest regulator in the world right here in Canada.
Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Hope, BC
Mr. Speaker, the world already thinks we have the best energy regulator in the world.
The Prime Minister revealed his true feelings toward the oil sands when he said he would phase them out, and he revealed his true feelings toward Alberta when he said that Canada was not doing well because Albertans were in charge. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the Liberal-appointed NEB review panel would imply that Calgarians cannot be trusted to independently and professionally evaluate energy projects.
Will the Prime Minister condemn this anti-Alberta recommendation and stop pitting one region of the country against the other?
Jim Carr LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure of being in Calgary last week, and while in Calgary I was announcing projects with the Government of Alberta to incent the industry, which is not only across Canada but around the world, to be innovative and creative. We have all the respect in the world for the entrepreneurship of Albertans. We are working with them as we move gradually to a lower carbon economy.
We wish that the members opposite had as much confidence in the people of Alberta as we do on this side of the House.
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, in the war on terror, Canada most often follows the United States in designation of terrorist entities, such as al-Qaeda or successor groupings. The latest incarnation, Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham, is not on the U.S. list because it absorbed a U.S. sponsored guerrilla body in Syria's multi-dimensional civil war. However, Canada by also not listing this clearly terrorist composite group is creating challenges for prosecution of terrorist funding or recruitment of Canadians by this group. Why will the government not act and designate?
Matt DeCourcey LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows that Canada has a framework around which we designate groups around the world as terrorist organizations. We continue to use that robust framework in all of our designations of terrorist groups, while we continue to work with international allies to rid the world of terrorist organizations and make it safer, specifically for the people of the war-torn country of Syria.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, one of the Broadway tickets that the Prime Minister bought for wealthy bankers and diplomats was for the permanent mission of Venezuela to the UN. The permanent representative at this mission has been a man who was the longest serving cabinet minister under the despot ruler Hugo Chávez, and then he served as foreign affairs minister to the despot Nicolás Maduro.
Could the Prime Minister confirm that the Liberals used Canadian tax dollars to wine and dine this man, while Venezuelans suffer?
Matt DeCourcey LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, our government is well aware of the deteriorating political and economic situation in Venezuela. Just today, I had the opportunity to meet with the wife of the imprisoned political opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez, along with his mother, to talk about the terrible situation in Venezuela.
Canada has been a leader on the international stage, co-sponsoring a resolution at the Organization of American States. We continue to work with our regional allies to call on the Venezuelan government to uphold its international commitments, restore order, and respect democracy in Venezuela.
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health confused Vancouver and British Columbia when it comes to the opioid crisis. Clearly, the member for Vancouver Centre was correct when she said her government is ignoring the west.
However, one thing the minister did get right is the horrifying increase in overdose deaths under her watch. Three thousand Canadians will die in 2017, a 50% increase over last year. Does the minister still think she is making progress?
Jane Philpott LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for raising this issue again in the House. Again, we will talk about the fact that this is an unprecedented national public health crisis. We are working determinedly on all aspects of the crisis. Our response is comprehensive. We have invested money in prevention. We are investing money in treatment. We are scaling up access to all ranges of treatment, including pharmaceutical grade diacetylmorphine. We are making sure we are expanding harm reduction sites, including the passage of Bill C-37 in the House yesterday, to make sure people will have harms reduced. We will continue to work at all levels to save the lives of Canadians.
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order, order. The hon. member for St. Albert—Edmonton is having trouble containing himself. There are often heated discussions in this place, and members know that the rules provide that we are not to interrupt. We need to listen, to hear the questions and the answers.
The hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government claims to want to help young Canadians find jobs and improve their lives, but it has a funny way of showing it. While the youth unemployment rate is stagnant at more than double the national average, the number of precarious jobs is skyrocketing, and according to the Minister of Finance, people better get used to it.
The chair of the expert panel on youth employment tweeted that the panel submitted its report at the end of March. However, the government has still not published it.
My question is simple. When will the government publish this report and take action to create good-quality jobs for young people?