Debates of May 19th, 2017

Consular Affairs

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Speaker, privacy has been out the window for the last 13 months.

The family and the Changs deserve a lot better from the government. They have been making application after application. Talking about this is a trade issue not a consular issue. They constantly get this consular issue dribble that really gets no results.

This is now a matter of timing. One week from today, John Chang faces a closed court in Shanghai that will decide his fate. He has had three visits in the past 13 months from consular officials. That is just not good enough. Canadians deserve and expect a lot better than this from their government when they get in trouble—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs)]

Madam Speaker, Canadians know very well the track record of this government and of our Prime Minister when defending Canadians abroad. We will never turn our backs on Canadians when they need our help abroad.

We are very active on this file and we will not stop until we resolve this matter.

Public Services and Procurement

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Madam Speaker, the Phoenix fiasco at its core is a scandal about the government not paying its employees. If this were any other workplace, this would have been solved months ago, but instead, the Liberal government's main response is to blame the Conservatives. It was the Liberal government that authorized the implementation of Phoenix and it was the Liberal government that refuses to put in place a permanent solution.

While workers are not getting paid, I would ask the government, has the government been paying IBM on time?

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

Madam Speaker, this government is deploying all of the resources it has at its disposal, both human and financial, in support of fixing these problems that were left to us by the Conservatives.

I can assure the hon. member that in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and right across this country, there are hundreds of public servants, hundreds of people working today at this very moment, on resolving these problems which we are all very eager to resolve.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Madam Speaker, this week I found out that employees at Drummond Institution received a letter asking them to pay back the emergency pay advances they received during the Phoenix pay system crisis.

The employees do not take issue with having to pay back the advances, but the disappointing and shocking thing is the very tight deadline for repayment, not to mention the fact that most of them are still owed money because of the Phoenix fiasco.

Can the government take responsibility and show some empathy to its employees who are victims in this scandal?

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

Madam Speaker, I can tell you that this government takes very seriously the problems with the Phoenix pay system, which we inherited from the opposition party.

We are using every financial and human resource possible from one end of the country to the other and across Quebec, including my riding, Gatineau.

I thank the public servants working on the system for their work, and I can assure every one of Canada's public servants that, in the end, we will have a pay system that lives up to our expectations.

Taxation

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Madam Speaker, Canada has the third highest beer tax in the world, yet the Liberals' budget contains an escalator tax on beer sales. Thanks to this poorly thought-out scheme to fleece Canadians, every year on April 1 the cost of beer would automatically increase. This tax would hurt consumers, brewers, and many other spinoff industries in Canada.

Will the Liberals cancel this ill-thought-out permanently increasing tax hike on beer?

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

Madam Speaker, our government believes that everyone in Canada should pay his or her fair share of taxes.

Budget 2017 proposes to increase taxes on alcohol products. It would be the first increase, I might add, in over 30 years. The 2% increase amounts to about 5¢ per 24 bottles of beer. The inflationary adjustment would provide alcohol producers with greater certainty in the future and follow similar steps taken by many of the provinces.

Canadian Heritage

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Madam Speaker, the Liberal war on history continues. Groups celebrating our history on the 150th anniversary of Confederation have been told they cannot. The Annapolis Valley project showcasing the region's contribution to Canada's founding has been told no by Ottawa. Instead, Canada 150 funds of half a million dollars went to former Liberal cabinet minister Ken Dryden for his project, a TV show modestly called “We Are Canada”, described as “just tedious TV” by The Globe and Mail. It was helpfully broadcast on the taxpayer-funded CBC.

Why is the Liberal government taking money from community groups and giving it to former Liberal politicians?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Madam Speaker, we are extremely proud of everything we are doing in line with Canada 150. We believe in the importance of our four themes: youth, environment, reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and diversity and inclusion. We want Canadians to be able to celebrate across the country. We want to make sure that all regions are adequately represented. Of course, we are making sure that this process is non-partisan. Ultimately, this is a year to celebrate, so let us celebrate Canada 150 all together.

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals always find a way to take care of their friends. As we have seen this week, no former Liberal cabinet minister is ever left behind. When I commented that it was inappropriate for the CBC to receive Canada 150 funding on top of its annual billion dollars from the taxpayers, the CBC's taxpayer-funded lobbyist corrected me. The Canada 150 money went to Ken Dryden, not the CBC. In fact, the CBC paid even more tax dollars to the former Liberal minister's project.

Why is it that the only history that can make it past the Liberal war on history is someone's past history as a Liberal minister?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Madam Speaker, as I already mentioned, we have four important themes in the context of Canada 150, and one of them is engaging with young people. We Are Canada was reviewed by my department and recommended as it met the eligibility criteria as a Canada 150 community project.

I invite all members of this House to participate in Canada 150 projects, because this is a great year for Canada.

Tourism Industry

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, this summer, as we celebrate Canada 150, the national capital region prides itself on welcoming tourists from across Canada and around the world. Be it the National Arts Centre, the National Gallery, restaurants, music festivals, or museums, there is so much to see and do.

The tourism industry supports over 13,000 jobs in our region. Will the Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Tourism please give the House an update on what our government is doing to support tourism in the national capital region and across the country?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Tourism]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend, the member for Ottawa West—Nepean, for her passion and her excellent work in the tourism industry.

Canada's rural and urban communities have much to share with the world. Last week, the Minister of Small Business and Tourism announced Canada's new vision. This is our pan-Canadian approach to improving tourism marketing, making it easier to get here, and developing new experiences, such as indigenous tourism, LGBTQ tourism, culinary tourism, and so much more.

Canada's tourism industry is vital to our economy. It supports more than 1.7 million jobs and thousands of small businesses. I encourage everyone to explore not only—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order. The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

National Defence

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Defence would have us believe that the Royal Canadian Air Force does not have the resources to fulfill both its NATO and its NORAD commitments.

As it turns out, in 2017, six CF-18s were sent to Iceland for two months for a NATO mission. They were then sent to Romania for even longer.

If there really is a capability gap, how can Canada spare six jets for such a long time? Was the Minister of National Defence the architect of the capability gap?

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, that is why we are looking at the possibility of acquiring an interim fleet of 18 Super Hornet fighters to supplement the CF-18 fleet until the permanent replacements arrive.

With these measures, Canadians can rest assured that our short- and long-term defence needs will always be met.

Public Safety

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—Saint-Lambert, QC]

Madam Speaker, this week is National Safe Driving Week. As my colleagues probably already know, impaired driving is a serious crime that injures and kills thousands of Canadians every year. In 2015, the police reported 72,000 incidents of impaired driving, 3,000 of which were drug-related.

Could the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice explain what our government is doing to address this serious issue of impaired driving and to make our roads safer for all Canadians?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Brossard—Saint-Lambert for her question and her efforts in supporting this cause.

We are proud to have introduced Bill C-46, which will make Canada a world leader in the fight against alcohol- and drug-impaired driving. The proposed legislation will reform the entire impaired-driving regime in the Criminal Code. It will strengthen existing drug- and alcohol-impaired driving laws by creating new offences and by making the law more efficient to enforce, simpler, and more coherent for all Canadians.

For this year's national safe driving week, I encourage all members of this House to work with our government—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Beauport—Limoilou.

Taxation

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

Madam Speaker, since the Liberal government took office, the people of Beauport—Limoilou have been plagued with tax hikes, the cancellation of tax credits for family activities, extra payroll taxes, and new taxes on various consumer goods.

Yesterday, the Liberal government confirmed that it will be imposing a carbon tax on all the provinces. By 2022, gas prices at the pump will increase by 12¢, which is really going to drive up the cost of groceries.

Will the Liberals put a stop to this situation before it escalates any further, or is this just the beginning?

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

Madam Speaker, our government is committed to growing the economy and supporting the middle class and those working hard to join it.

The first thing that our government did was lower taxes for the middle class. We were surprised to see that the party opposite voted against that measure. We also raised taxes for the wealthy, and surprisingly the party opposite also voted against that. We implemented the Canada child benefit, which the party opposite once again voted against.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Speaker, although the government keeps telling us that it is working very hard to combat tax avoidance, we learned that $231 billion dollars were sheltered last year in the tax havens of Barbados, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands. Nothing is too good for profiteers.

Is the government satisfied with its strategy to crack down on tax havens even though no tax was paid on 231,000 million dollars?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Madam Speaker, our government is fully committed to combatting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. We know that we must work hard to ensure that our tax system is fair and responsive to all Canadians. That is why our government has made unprecedented investments in the Canada Revenue Agency. In our first budget, we invested $444 million, in addition to $524 million in budget 2017. This is to ensure that our actions are showing tangible results. Last year our offshore and domestic audit activities enabled us to recoup $13 billion.

We will continue to work for Canadians. That is what Canadians expect.