Debates of May 17th, 2017

Health

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by acknowledging, along with all members in the House, that autism spectrum disorder is a cause of lifelong concerns for people who are affected by it, including their families. We are all recognizing the need to advance further opportunities for recognizing these disorders and providing treatment.

That is why we have put significant resources behind research. In fact, we have funded research in the order of $40 million over the last five years for autism spectrum disorder. We are continuing to work on surveillance. We are continuing to work with provinces and territories to provide the resources they need.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that sounds like a no to me, so I will try this again. The Canadian Autism Partnership Working Group, along with a team of amazing self-advocates in the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance, worked for almost two years on this. They are requesting $3.8 million per year, a dime per Canadian, a dime, to fund a partnership that will meaningfully improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Canadians.

Will the Liberal government commit today to funding the Canadian Autism Partnership?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as we speak about the matter of autism spectrum disorder, I want to acknowledge the tremendous work of the member. He is one of many stakeholders across this country who work very hard. One of the best ways that the federal government can support advancements in autism spectrum disorder is to support research, and we have done so in a significant way.

We have also supported the provinces and territories which bear the responsibility for the delivery of treatment services. I am also working alongside the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities. She is about to develop accessibility legislation that will have a real impact on people who experience autism spectrum disorder. We will work with all partners to support—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

Indigenous Affairs

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a headline in today's Globe and Mail reads, “Bungled start to missing, murdered inquiry is insulting to Indigenous people”.

Just yesterday, the Native Women's Association of Canada gave it a failing grade, and said that the intake process is cruel and unusual. The association has gone so far as to recommend that it be boycotted until the intake process is fixed.

The Prime Minister has said there is no relationship more important to him. This inquiry was a cornerstone of his campaign pledge. It is Wednesday, will he stand up and tell us what he is going to do to fix the mess?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ending the ongoing national tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

The terms of reference of the inquiry make clear that the families should and must be at the centre. I have read the letter from the families. They are making heartfelt suggestions and asking important questions.

I am looking forward to hearing the commission's response. I was pleased to see last evening when Waneek Horn-Miller responded to say that the commission can do better.

Our government has also taken immediate action on the root causes, with investments in women's shelters, housing, education, and reforms to the child welfare system.

Drugs and Pharmaceuticals

[John Oliver, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are paying too much for prescription drugs. We have the second highest per capita spending for pharmaceuticals in the OECD.

The government took quick action last year by joining the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance to leverage better prices with the collective buying power of the provinces and territories. It is saving taxpayers $700 million per year, but it is not enough.

Can the minister give the House an update on the steps she is taking to lower prescription drug prices in Canada?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, the Prime Minister asked me to work to make sure that prescription medications are accessible, affordable, and appropriately prescribed.

To that end, I was very pleased yesterday to announce consultations and a proposed suite of regulations for the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. This is the most significant suite of regulatory changes for this board in more than 20 years. It will have a real impact on the cost of prescription medications in this country. All Canadians will save money. I encourage people to participate in this discussion.

Public Services and Procurement

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for the past year, the Prime Minister has refused to acknowledge his responsibility in the Phoenix fiasco.

The Prime Minister laid off 250 compensation experts between February and April 2016 as he was launching the Phoenix pay system. This means that the Liberals are responsible not only for launching the system on February 24, 2016, but also for cutting the number of experts, which has caused delays and compensation errors.

Will the Liberals stop deflecting blame and finally take responsibility?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, they really have no shame.

The party opposite laid off 700 compensation advisers and, in order to post a false surplus, recorded $70 million in non-existent savings. They left us with a system that is a disgrace and that we have to spend a lot of money to fix so that it meets our expectations. That is what we are going to do. The other side of the House has no shame.

Food Labelling

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote the Prime Minister, who said, ”I am hearing consumers say loud and clear that they want to know more about what they are putting in their bodies.... We are working with them.” That is exactly what he said on Radio-Canada when he was asked what he thought of the fact that 80% of the population supports mandatory GMO labelling, not to mention that the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party put forward a resolution about this during its 2016 convention. This evening, we will be voting on whether to honour the desire for transparency expressed repeatedly by the Prime Minister, his party, and the majority of Canadians.

Will the Prime Minister walk the talk and support my bill this evening?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that Canada has one of the safest food systems in the world. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and I work along with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure that.

We are a government that believes in science. If there is any need to indicate on the basis of an analysis of any particular food that there is a reason to put a label on it, we make sure that happens. We know that GMO products are safe. They are all tested in this country. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and I are pleased to continue to make sure that is the case.

National Parks

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Rouge national urban park is central to my riding, and with the passage of Bill C-18, the House of Commons is closer than ever to seeing it fully realized.

Could the Minister of Environment and Climate Change please give the House an update on the steps our government is taking to complete the Rouge national urban park?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Scarborough—Rouge Park for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the Rouge national urban park.

The Minister of Transport and I have announced a significant step toward the completion of Rouge national urban park with the transfer of Transport Canada lands to Parks Canada. With this transfer, Parks Canada now owns and manages more than half of the lands identified for the land assembly as Canada's first national urban park nears completion.

Should Bill C-18 pass the Senate, ensuring the same protection for Rouge as there is for every other national park in Canada, I am confident we will be able to complete the park as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lakeland.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last month employees at the Vegreville case processing centre were given their options for when the Liberals close the office.

The minister and other Liberal MPs claim that the closure is to save money, but the employees in Vegreville consistently exceed departmental targets and outperform other offices. They unquestionably provide good value for taxpayers.

Since it is Wednesday, will the Prime Minister ask the minister to reverse his predecessor's mistake and keep these rural jobs in Vegreville?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware that this move will have an impact on employees and their families. We will continue to do everything we can to minimize that impact. People currently working at the centre will be able to keep their jobs at the new office, which will be about 100 kilometres away.

I myself have met with members of the community to discuss this matter. I understand that their concerns are real. We will keep the lines of communication open so that we can continue to discuss the Vegreville centre with them.

Natural Resources

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the National Energy Board expert panel that reported this week included prominent industry people, such as Brenda Kenny of the Canadian Pipeline Association and Hélène Lauzon of the Quebec Business Council on the Environment. The report was damning.

This is an agency that has no credibility whatsoever, and needs to be massively overhauled. Coupled with the expert panel on environmental assessment, it is clear that the bogus process upon which Kinder Morgan was subjected to a sham of a review does not have any credibility.

Will the government reconsider approving a pipeline that should never have been approved?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows that when we took office, there were a number of major infrastructure projects under review. We established a set of principles that would govern how they would be reviewed, and one of the important ones was that no proponent would be asked to go back to square one, which I am sure members of the House would agree is fair.

We knew and announced at the time that this would be an interim step leading to a longer term reform of environmental assessment in Canada, a reform and a process that is now well under way.

Commissioner of Official Languages

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order with respect to the nomination of Madeleine Meilleur as an officer of Parliament, the Official Languages Commissioner, and in particular with respect to the motion the government has now put on notice to confirm her nomination.

As a matter of law, the Official Languages Commissioner can only be appointed if two statutory requirements are satisfied, as set out in section 49 of the enabling act, which states:

The Governor in Council shall, by commission under the Great Seal, appoint a Commissioner of Official Languages for Canada after consultation with the leader of every recognized party in the Senate and House of Commons and approval of the appointment by resolution of the Senate and House of Commons.

Therefore, there must be consultation with leaders of the Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party. Second, only after valid consultation has occurred, a resolution must be moved and passed in this place.

Canadian courts have made clear that when the use of the term “consultation” appears in a statute, it connotes much more than notification, yet notification was all that was offered in advance of this appointment announcement to the leader of the New Democratic Party and, I understand, to the leader of the Conservative Party.

Our leader was sent a letter that announced the nomination, and invited a reply within a few days. Having sent that reply, indicating our profound disagreement with the nomination, there has been no offer of further discussion from the government to resolve these concerns.

The courts have upheld, in the case of Lavigne, that the Official Languages Commissioner is appointed under a quasi constitutional statute. This is an officer of Parliament responsible to this place, and not to the government of the day.

Mr. Speaker, simply to provide information, as in the present case, does not constitute the statutory precondition of consultation. Therefore, in our submission, the motion to nominate Ms. Meilleur should not be voted upon until the statutory requirement of true consultation has occurred.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to briefly weigh in on this important issue, and express the official opposition's disappointment in the process as well.

Subsection 49(1) of the Official Languages Act says:

The Governor in Council shall, by commission under the Great Seal, appoint a Commissioner of Official Languages for Canada after consultation with the leader of every recognized party in the Senate and House of Commons and approval of the appointment by resolution of the Senate and House of Commons.

The Leader of the Opposition received a letter from the Prime Minister on May 8. The letter of consultation, that mockingly pretended to be in accordance with the aforementioned subsection of the Official Languages Act, stated that the Prime Minister was nominating Madeleine Meilleur as the next Commissioner of Official Languages.

That was the extent of the consultation process. The Leader of the Opposition wrote back to the Prime Minister stating her concerns about the name of the person proposed for the position. This individual served as a provincial Liberal cabinet minister for 13 years until June 2016.

We strongly believe that officers of Parliament must be beyond any reproach, and perception that they may be susceptible to political influence or partisan interests. With the Prime Minister first nomination for the position of an officer of Parliament, he proposed a partisan Liberal nominee, who has donated almost $5,000 to the Liberal Party of Canada, and who donated to a personal campaign for leader of the Liberal Party.

As you are very aware, Mr. Speaker, there are a number of vacancies to fill for other officers of Parliament. This is a very troubling precedent, and we are concerned that the Prime Minister will propose other partisan Liberals to fill these positions.

We would also like to point out that at the federal level, there are restrictions on interaction between former ministers and institutions for which they had interactions or responsibility. Under the Conflict of Interest Act, former federal ministers have a two-year cooling off period where they are restricted on any dealings with the institutions for which they were responsible.

We recognize that the act would not have a direct bearing on this situation, but it is inappropriate that a former Liberal partisan provincial minister of francophone affairs would be put in charge of an institution for which she would have significant dealings, less than one year after her resignation.

The official opposition does not agree with this appointment, and has communicated with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's response to the official opposition's objection was to put on notice today a motion that states:

That, in accordance with subsection 49(1) of the Official Languages Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. 31, and pursuant to Standing Order 111.1(2), the House approve the appointment of Madeleine Meilleur as Commissioner of Official Languages, for a term of seven years.

We believe this is insulting and unacceptable. The nomination process should be halted here and now until a proper consultation process is allowed to take place.

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, with your permission, we will be providing a written elaboration on our motion forthwith.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Let me thank the hon. member for Victoria and the opposition House leader for their interventions. Obviously, I look forward to the written submission from the hon. member for Victoria, and of course will review this and the oral submissions, and come back in due course with a ruling.

The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands is rising on a point of order.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in an attempt to be helpful, I return to the problems with observing and honouring Standing Orders 16 and 18, which make it against the rules of this place to interrupt people when they are speaking or to speak disrespectfully. The use of the term “heckling” is no longer adequate. Heckling suggests occasional interruptions by individual members who yell something out.

I do feel for those members of the opposition parties who are not participating. Clearly, many people on these benches are caught up in what appears to be a roar of derision and rudeness from their colleagues. Not every member of the opposition is participating, but they are lost in what becomes a sort of amorphous blob of rage, like some sort of non-human creature craving raw meat. I do not know what can be done, but I urge my colleagues to look at the Standing Orders, and try to observe them.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her point of order, and her attempt to help the Speaker. Clearly, members know, I believe, the Speaker is not empowered to comment on the quality of either questions or answers, or things that are said here. However, we do have Standing Orders, which the Speaker attempts to enforce, and asks members to follow. I thank the member for her intervention in this regard.