House of Commons Hansard #179 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.
Marc Garneau LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to tell my colleague that we are looking at this issue at this very moment and we will have more to say in due course.
Hélène Laverdière NDP Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, that was a year and a half ago. When he was an ordinary member, the Prime Minister said urgent action was needed to repeal the Conservative regulation that prohibits airlines from allowing a person to board a plane if their appearance does not match the gender on their identification.
After a year and a half in power, the Prime Minister has done nothing on this. The solution is simple; he does not even need to pass legislation. Will the Prime Minister commit today to repealing this discriminatory regulation, a direct affront to the trans community?
Marc Garneau LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as I just indicated, we are looking into this situation at this very moment.
Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC
Mr. Speaker, as a proud Canadian and proud Montrealer, this year is especially important to me. While we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada, today we are also celebrating the 375th anniversary of Montreal. Visitors from Canada and around the world will be coming here to celebrate our culture and our artists.
Can the Minister of Transport tell us how the Canadian government is supporting these initiatives in partnership with Canada 150?
Marc Garneau LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the hon. member for Bourassa for this question and for all the fine work he does to promote Montreal's arts and culture.
Indeed, this is a year of celebrations not just for Canada, but also for Montreal, which is celebrating its 375th anniversary. We are here for Montreal. We are supporting Montreal with an $18-million envelope. We are here to celebrate Montreal's artists and creators, who share their talents across Canada and other countries. Happy anniversary, Montreal.
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Natural Resources received a list of recommendations to modernize the National Energy Board. It is no surprise that those recommendations are another hit on Alberta. We know the Liberals want to phase out Alberta's oil sands and we know they want to abandon our energy sector. That ideology was clear in these recommendations that stated Albertans cannot be trusted to drive Canada's economic engine.
On Wednesday, will the Prime Minister ignore these recommendations and finally be a champion for Canada's energy sector, or will he continue the attack on Alberta by dismantling our economy?
Jim Carr LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House continue to be proud of and impressed with the contribution of Alberta to the Canadian economy, principally in the energy sector.
I was very happy to be in Alberta last week and, along with the provincial government and the private sector, to announce significant investments that will lower the carbon footprint within the oil sands. We know that Alberta has been an essential driver of the Canadian economy and will continue to be.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Mr. Speaker, the latest attack in the Liberals' war against Alberta came from the Prime Minister. His panel recommended that the National Energy Board be moved from Calgary to Ottawa. This would move the NEB away from industry experts, engineers, environmental scientists, and technicians and toward lobbyists and politicians.
Does the Prime Minister really believe that career politicians in Ottawa can make better evidence-based decisions than experts who live on site in Calgary?
Jim Carr LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the hon. member to the House. I know that she will do a terrific job for her constituents, as she has started to do already today.
I want to assure her that the government is well aware of the contributions of Alberta and of Calgary as engines of growth within the energy sector. We know that this is not only a reflection on their past accomplishments, but utter confidence in what they will do in the future, not on behalf of Alberta alone but—
Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Hope, BC
Mr. Speaker, for unemployed energy workers, Liberal talk on approving pipelines is cheap. Not a single shovel has hit the ground to get a single kilometre of new pipeline built under the current government. Now the Liberal-appointed NEB review panel wants to make it even harder to get projects built by doubling review timelines and adding new layers of red tape. When we add the recommendations of the Canadian Environmental Review Panel, it will be next to impossible to get another major project built in this country ever again.
Are the Liberals making it harder to get job-creating energy projects built on purpose, or is it just a result of their gross incompetence?
Jim Carr LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well that the regulatory environment that he recommended and we inherited did not yield any pipeline construction to tidewater, not a single kilometre.
We think that we can do better and that the regulatory system in Canada can be improved. We have asked review panels to consult with Canadians. We will now go out and talk to Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and when we return some months from now, I am confident that the regulatory system will be much better than the one we inherited.
Mark Strahl Conservative Chilliwack—Hope, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been doing a victory lap for months, trumpeting their pipeline approvals as though press releases issued in Ottawa will actually get projects built, but talk is cheap, and unemployed energy workers want to see shovels in the ground.
For a government so intent on chasing the fantasy of social licence, the Liberals have done precious little to cultivate it. The Prime Minister has gone to oil towns like Calgary and Houston to sell the merits of pipeline projects, but if he is truly committed to getting these energy projects built, will he finally have the courage to do the same in Burnaby and Vancouver?
Jim Carr LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, we approved the Trans Mountain expansion because we understand that the diversification of markets for Canadian oil and gas is vital for the future of the Alberta energy economy, and I am sure that all members on the other side of the House would agree with that. We approved—
Jim Carr Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
—the pipeline expansion, and that will create 15,000 jobs, mostly for Albertans but also for British Columbians. We believe it is part of the important strategy of creating jobs while respecting the environment—
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order. The hon. member for Banff—Airdrie has been persistently heckling. I would ask him to restrain himself.
The hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.
Brigitte Sansoucy NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals made big promises about how they were going to fix the problems with the temporary foreign worker program. Unfortunately, the Auditor General's report, which was released yesterday, indicates that the government has failed to properly manage the program. It also clearly shows that the government has allowed the improper use and abuse of the program to continue. That is another broken promise.
When will the government keep its promise and fix the serious, ongoing problems with the temporary foreign worker program?
Rodger Cuzner LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment
Mr. Speaker, this government wants to thank the Auditor General for his study. Certainly, as the member said, for the entirety of the last Parliament, both the Liberals and the NDP pushed the Conservatives to review this program on four different occasions.
I commend John McCallum for calling the Auditor General to put together this study. It identifies that a botched program under the Conservatives has been provided with some recommendations. We have been moving on these recommendations and will continue to work with industry, with labour, and with employers to make sure that Canadians are first on the job, last off—
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister promised to fix the temporary foreign workers program, I guess that was a Liberal promise and not a real one. What about the platform commitment to overhaul Canada's broken refugee system? Massive backlogs, unfair treatment, and lack of resources are threatening the integrity of our system.
Was the promise to “deliver a safe, secure, and humane refugee system” a real promise or just another Liberal promise?
Serge Cormier LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I am proud of our government's commitment to welcoming those fleeing war, terror, and persecution.
There were several parts to the member's question. Our government committed to establishing a sound, fair, and compassionate asylum system. The board recently introduced new measures, including shorter, simpler hearings in order to make the process more efficient, productive, and fair. These measures do not compromise the program's integrity. The board also set up a working group to deal with the existing caseload, which will help eliminate the backlog of refugee claims inherited from the previous government.
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government funded a working group to establish a Canadian Autism Partnership. After two years of work, the Liberals rejected the request of the working group, the self-advocates advisory group, and the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance, which proposed a modest budget of $19 million over five years.
My question is simple, and since it is Wednesday, I wonder if the right hon. Prime Minister might like to answer. Will the Liberals reverse their decision and fund the Canadian Autism Partnership?
