Debates of May 9th, 2017

Democratic Republic of Congo

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the attention of the House to the current crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Yesterday the UN estimated that there are 3.7 million displaced people in the DRC, with 100,000 added to that number just last week. Forty mass graves were found in Kasai, where two UN investigators were brutally killed in March. The postponement of the presidential election has led to an increase in violence and instability.

I worked in Congo, where I met the late Étienne Tshisekedi, who, until the end of his days, showed the Congolese people that a peaceful transition of power is possible. I therefore call for the full application of the agreement reached on December 31, an end to the violence, and a transparent, free, and credible election process.

Anti-Semitism

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to the attention of the House the 2016 audit of anti-Semitic incidents made public today. Sadly, this marks the 35th year of the audit, and it is clear that anti-Semitism remains a stain on the honour of Canada.

The year 2016 was the worst year in recent history for anti-Semitism, with 1,728 incidents recorded, a dramatic 26% increase over 2015.

Most troubling is that anti-Semitic culture has become widespread at university campuses. Last year, there were numerous anti-Semitic or neo-Nazi guest speakers invited to campuses, and university staff were suspended for several anti-Jewish social media posts. In one extreme case, the Jewish community at McGill University was told to cancel its Purim celebrations by a BDS activist.

It is disheartening that university campuses, which are supposed to serve as forums for free speech and diversity of beliefs, have succumbed to the poisonous brew of hatred and anti-Semitism.

I want to thank B'nai Brith Canada for this report. I call upon all members to heed its findings and work toward ending anti-Semitism in Canada.

Volunteerism

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak about volunteerism in Canada. It is extremely important to recognize the contributions of volunteers to their community, to their province, and to their country.

Let us take a second to think of the activities we participated in over the last month. The number of volunteers who supported those activities is great.

We have just gone through a period of flooding in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, and volunteers came out and made a difference. Many youth volunteers also helped out. Some 66% of young people do volunteer work in their communities.

In the last couple of weeks, I participated in two evening events recognizing volunteers in Sackville and Waverley. In both areas, over 20 organizations recognized 20 people in each one for their hard work.

Today, I would like to recognize 13 million Canadians who contribute through volunteerism. They total two billion hours—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing.

Robert Manuel

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour the life of Robert Manuel, a veteran of the Korean War, community activist, and long-time resident of Elliot Lake.

Bob initiated recognition for Canadian Peacekeepers Day in Ontario, but is best known for his work to have Vimy Ridge Day acknowledged as a national heritage day in Canada. A week before his passing, he was master of ceremonies as Royal Canadian Legion Branch 561 marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Bob had an impressive string of volunteer contributions, whether with the legion, Korean Veterans Association of Canada, the Navy League of Canada, Chamber of Commerce, The Terry Fox Foundation, and more. Bob always gave his all. His patriotism always shone through, and his neighbours will miss his unique display of the Canadian flag on Canada Day.

I feel fortunate to have known and worked with Bob for over 20 years. He was a special person who was committed to his community. He will be deeply missed by his comrades and family.

I ask all members to join me in honouring Corporal Bob Manuel.

Human Rights

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many hundreds of Falun Dafa supporters assembled in front of Parliament today for the millions in China who have suffered since Jiang Zemin launched a campaign of brutal, deadly persecution of Falun Gong practitioners 18 years ago.

In February, Sun Qian, a Canadian citizen, was arrested and abused for her beliefs. She is only one of the latest victims.

The Liberal government must balance its narrowly focused pursuit of trade and speak up publicly to condemn China's chronic denial of fundamental human rights. Canadians should work toward a day when human rights advocates are no longer considered enemies of the Chinese state, when Chinese television no longer broadcasts confessions obtained through blackmail and torture, when political prisoners are no longer subject to organ harvesting, a day when the tenets of Falun Dafa and Falun Gong can be spoken out loud in Tiananmen Square.

Zhen, Shan, Ren: truthfulness, compassion, tolerance.

Flood Efforts

[Karen McCrimmon, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, like so many Canadians, especially in Ontario and Quebec, I spent this past weekend in Constance Bay, in my riding of Kanata—Carleton, helping with flood efforts.

While it is heartbreaking to see the loss of homes and property, it was so inspiring to see the enormous outpouring of compassion and generosity. At one point on Sunday, we had over 600 volunteers from right across the region eager to load some of the 128,000 sandbags deployed, prepare and deliver food and supplies, or donate the use of their vehicles. Liberals, New Democrats, Greens, Conservatives, all left politics behind, with a single goal in mind: to help their neighbours. We could all learn a lot from them.

We stand with all the people affected, and we will offer all the support we can. For all the volunteers who once again demonstrated the very best of human kindness, I thank them so much.

Infrastructure

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, no one seems to know what the purpose of the Prime Minister's infrastructure bank is.

He says it will be used to build new projects and attract private investment. However, the Liberals have shown that they are incapable of carrying out existing projects, and private investors are already investing in projects across the country. They do not need a government bank.

Can the Prime Minister explain why he is moving ahead with this bogus project?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election, we made a commitment to invest in the infrastructure that Canadians need. We created an investment plan of more than $180 billion, which will result in infrastructure investments right across the country over the next few years.

However, we know that even these historic amounts will not meet all needs. That is why we consulted the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the provinces, unions, and various construction and engineering firms in order to develop a mechanism to respond to infrastructure needs.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the infrastructure bank boondoggle is just another taxpayer-funded Liberal vanity project. I know the Liberals are excited to impress their friends on Bay Street and Wall Street, but it is one thing to buy them tickets to a Broadway show. It is quite another thing to buy them a $35 billion bank.

Has the Prime Minister forgotten that his job is to serve regular working people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of underinvestment in investments in communities across the country, we were pleased to put forward a historic record amount of investment into infrastructure across the country.

We understand that even the $180 billion we are going to be putting toward infrastructure in the coming years is not going to be enough to meet all the needs, which is why we are happy to be working with the FCM, unions, construction, and banks to look at how we can leverage dollars even further to build the kind of infrastructure that is going to help quality of life and economic growth for the middle class and those working hard to join it.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Liberal insiders, investment banks, $35 billion in tax money, and Liberal politicians who have control over how the bank is actually run, what could possibly go wrong?

How can the Prime Minister not see this blatant conflict right in front of him?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, provinces, territories, and municipalities have been asking for a federal government that is a partner to them on building infrastructure after 10 years of a government that was a terrible partner to Canadian municipalities and provinces.

That is why we work with municipalities and provinces, with interest groups, with unions, and with a broad range of Canadians to figure out how we can meet the infrastructure needs of our communities, of our small businesses, and of our growing economy.

We are going to deliver for Canadians what, unfortunately, 10 years of Stephen Harper was unable to.

Canada-U.S. Relations

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has a troubling need to hand out tax dollars to people who do not want it or do not need it.

His night out on Broadway with Ivanka Trump including buying tickets for executives from some of the biggest banks and law firms in North America. Now, these folks have a lot of money. In fact, they usually support the arts themselves. They could easily have paid for their own tickets, and maybe they would have if asked.

Why did the Prime Minister think taxpayers needed to foot their bill?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the United States and Canada share deep ties that go back, through economy and history, and the opportunity to celebrate how we work together and deepen the relationship between our two countries was extremely timely, particularly showcasing Come From Away, which is a success story for the Canadian arts scene, but also to share the story of extraordinary Newfoundlanders who stepped up during a very dark time in our shared North American history.

This is something worth celebrating, something worth highlighting, and a big part of demonstrating the strength of Canada-U.S. friendship.

Foreign Affairs

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we have found out that the government ordered 14 full-sized cardboard cut-outs of the Prime Minister. Now, I would like to give him a chance to explain this, but I am worried his explanation might fall flat. He is not going to be able to just paper over this with his explanation.

Instead of his one-dimensional answers, will the Prime Minister tell us this. Should this idea not have just gone into the recycle bin?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to re-engage on the world stage, and since I spend so much time in the House of Commons—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. It is nice to see members in a good mood, of course, but let us listen to both the questions and the answers.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one of the differences between us and the previous government is we believe in giving our diplomatic missions the independence to make their own decisions and to make their own choices. That is something that matters on the world stage. We trust our diplomats to represent us well around the world and respect the choices they make.

Infrastructure

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal platform says that the so-called infrastructure bank will “...provide loan guarantees...to provinces and municipalities to ensure that the projects are built.” It is funny there is nothing in here about corporations profiting from public infrastructure. They must have left that out by accident.

The Liberals have so far refused to answer this question, but I am sure today the Prime Minister will be crystal clear: will Canadians face user fees or tolls so that rich private corporations can get their cut, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians need a broad range of infrastructure investments across the country in public transit, where they buy tickets; in delivering power lines, for which they pay fees; and in infrastructure, such as roads and bridges that are toll-free. In order to meet the needs of Canada's investments in infrastructure that Canadians and communities need, we are looking at many different ways, including historic investments of $180 billion over the coming years in infrastructure, but we have also looked at how we can push that money even further and create more infrastructure that is going to benefit Canadians.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is from middle-class Prime Minister to middleman Prime Minister in one fell swoop.

Imagine for a moment that the Conservatives were in power and that—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I know that members like to comment once in a while, but they should instead listen and remain calm.

The hon. member for Outremont.