Debates of May 4th, 2017

Finance

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I already answered that question. Our plan is to strengthen the position of the parliamentary budget officer so that he can properly serve Parliament. He will have a meaningful mandate and be called upon to consider the economic and financial impacts of the issues submitted to him.

As I also said, our government welcomes suggestions on ways to improve the bill. We are open to amendments to ensure we accomplish the objective of an effective and independent parliamentary budget officer. We appreciate all of the work that he does.

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

Mr. Speaker, the 308-page omnibus bill bears the signature of the Minister of Finance. My question is for him.

How is it that this man, a dignified, honourable man who has always been steadfast, is now doing the Liberal government's dirty work?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the parliamentary budget officer, this government believes—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. I can hear the question. I need to hear the answer. I need to know if the minister says something unparliamentary, after all, or inappropriate or the other side.

Let us hear the hon. leader of the government in the House.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I was just trying to say, we believe that when it comes to the important work the parliamentary budget officer does, the office should have its independence. It should have more effectiveness and more independence, and that is why we have introduced legislation to make this happen. We are open to amendments and we welcome them.

When it comes to the member's referral to omnibus legislation, what we are proposing is to ensure there is not an abuse of omnibus legislation, like was the case under the Stephen Harper Conservative government.

We are saying we can improve the way this place works. Let us have that conversation.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in order to achieve this greater independence from the parliamentary budget officer, the Liberals have given the Speaker of the Senate veto power over his work plan. Who appoints the Speaker of the Senate? According to section 34 of the Constitution, it is the Prime Minister. Therefore, by independence, the Prime Minister means that the parliamentary budget officer will have to get prior approval to do his work from someone who is hand-picked by the Prime Minister. Is that the member's definition of independence?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, what is clear is that the member understands the intent of this government in that we believe the parliamentary budget officer should have independence so he can serve Parliament in the best way possible. We believe we can improve the way and the resources to that office. As I have also said, we are open to amendments. We welcome constructive feedback. It is a very different approach than the previous government, obviously.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the approach of the previous Conservative government was to set up the parliamentary budget officer in a fashion that was independent, one of the reasons of which was to allow him or her to examine political party platforms before elections were called to determine if they were in fact costed properly.

We know there has been a very severe problem with the Liberal costing in its last platform. In fact, it is about a $25 billion problem. Could it be that the Liberals are trying to shut down the independence of the parliamentary budget officer before their next political platform can be costed?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, we thank the parliamentary budget officer for his analysis of the provisions of Bill C-44. We look forward to working with him and others to improve the bill to ensure we accomplish the objective of having an effective and independent parliamentary budget officer.

Our government is committed to providing greater independence to the parliamentary budget officer, and this is the overriding intent of the legislation recently introduced in the House of Commons. We believe that it should be an officer who reports to Parliament, unlike the previous government, which felt that he should report to the Library of Parliament.

Softwood Lumber

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been almost two weeks since the U.S. decided to apply duties of up to 24% on Canadian softwood lumber. It has been six months since President Trump's election and 18 months since the Liberals came to office, and the Liberals failed to see this coming. They failed to come up with a concrete plan to deal with this emerging crisis and to help the hundreds of thousands of families impacted.

Can the minister confirm that she walked away from negotiations with Obama, thinking she could get a better deal with Trump?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, the previous Conservative government allowed the agreement to expire and did nothing to initiate negotiations.

We are now facing the fifth softwood lumber dispute, and our workers and producers have never been found in the wrong. We disagree strongly with the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty. The American accusations are baseless and unfounded. We continue to raise this important issue with the U.S., as the Prime Minister did with the President just last week.

Public Safety

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that communities in Quebec and Ontario have been dealing with flooding over the past few days. Some people have had to leave their homes and they know that they are going to have to deal with the damage when they return. There is a direct link between the flooding and climate change, and we know that these events will occur more often over the next few years.

Can the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness tell us how he will work with the provinces to help these people?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the current situation has been monitored from the very beginning by the Government Operations Centre. We have indicated to all the provincial governments that we are on standby, ready to assist as required, and if a provincial government should make a request for assistance from the Government of Canada, we will respond very, very quickly.

In terms of the future in dealing with climate change, I advise the hon. member to examine very carefully the budget, because it includes $2.6 billion for this very purpose.

Regional Economic Development

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, northern Ontario is a vast region with communities of all sizes scattered throughout the area. Promoting economic development is a challenge in this region. However, northern Ontario has many advantages and considerable potential.

There is a large potential to be unlocked in the region with the many emerging innovative ideas and companies from the region. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development let us know what steps he has taken to promote local regional economic development in northern Ontario?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sudbury for his question.

He and his colleagues from the region are staunch supporters of northern Ontario.

I was excited to be in northern Ontario to announce an increase of $25 million for FedNor. Along with the launch of this, we also put forward the prosperity and growth strategy for northern Ontario. This will help the community; this will help indigenous communities; this will help diversify the economy; and, in particular, this will help small businesses grow and scale up, which will create good-quality jobs in northern Ontario.

Softwood Lumber

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it has been 11 days since the crippling tariffs have been levied on our small and medium producers. On this side of the House, we are hearing from concerned producers, manufacturers, and fearful forestry workers. The minister says we should expect job losses. This is unacceptable, and Canadians deserve better.

What is the minister doing to reassure the over one million Canadians who depend on the forestry industry for their livelihoods, and what is the plan for our communities that depend on forestry?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the government has been working for many months across many departments in the Government of Canada and, just as importantly, with all of the ministers from the provinces. We know that it is our first responsibility to help the workers who might be displaced, the producers whose companies are at risk, and the communities that will be affected. Not only is it important to look at the short term, but also the long term, and we are also very active on that front, by an expansion of export markets and diversification. We are very focused on this issue.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Department of Commerce levelled a direct attack on our forestry producers last month with new tariffs on softwood lumber. According to Michael Froman, the former U.S. trade representative, the Liberal government had an opportunity to sign an agreement last year with an offer from the Obama administration, but it chose to wait, thinking it would get a better deal with the Trump government.

What is up now?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's forestry industry supports hundreds of thousands of good, middle-class jobs. We strongly oppose the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to impose an unfair, punitive tax. Their accusations are unfounded. We will continue to bring the matter up with the United States, just as the Prime Minister did with the U.S. President.

The coalition never offered conditions that Canada could accept. We want a good agreement, not just any agreement.

Taxation

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world provided they have a level playing field, yet these same manufacturers are at a tipping point as their energy costs and taxes skyrocket while under President Trump their American competitors will pay lower taxes and electricity costs.

Instead of helping businesses, the Liberals are increasing taxes on them and strangling them with red tape. Why is the Prime Minister chasing Canada's manufacturing jobs out of Canada with a massive carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, we understand that we need to take action to tackle climate change and we need to create good jobs. That is exactly what we are doing. We are making polluters pay and at the same time attracting investment in our innovative industries.

I was just in California, and I was very pleased to meet with venture capitalists, private equity firms, investors, and innovators who are looking at Canada as a great place to invest. The party opposite may not care about creating jobs, but that is exactly what we are focused on.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, why is the minister in California when she should be in Calgary?

The Prime Minister should be listening to Jocelyn Bamford of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers, who said that we are standing on a beach with a tidal wave called cap-and-trade barrelling down upon us, and our government still doesn't realize that this tsunami will destroy manufacturing in Ontario. She said that businesses are terrified of what the federal government is doing and that “government is supposed to help us, but its policies are causing us to consider moving our growth to other jurisdictions.”

What is up—

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

Mr. Speaker, I was actually very pleased to be in Calgary just a month ago talking to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. There were 300 people there to listen to how we are planning to create jobs, grow our economy, and innovate.

I was in California because I am as much a minister of economy as I am a minister of environment. I am attracting investment so that we can create good jobs for companies like CarbonCure Technologies Inc. from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, which has new processes that will take the carbon dioxide that we do not want, inject it into cement—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.