Debates of June 1st, 2017

Softwood Lumber

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised to settle the softwood lumber dispute last year but, now with no deal in sight and massive unfair tariffs imposed by the U.S., their failure has already cost Canadian jobs, and more are on the line. After 18 months of failing Canadians on this file, finally the Liberals are offering support to struggling workers in communities, and it is still not clear if it will be enough.

How quickly will the EI funds be available, and will the minister guarantee that each and every worker who loses their job because of the government's failure will receive support?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question because it is so timely. Just a few hours ago, the government announced $867 million toward the forest industry in Canada. That is a combination of $605 million in loan guarantees offered through the Export Development Corporation and BDC, looking in the longer term to making it easier for the industry to diversify, to encourage them to look for export markets.

We work, by the way, co-operatively with all of the provinces. This is truly a—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Jonquière.

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today we heard an announcement from the government, which has finally decided to move after 10 months of inaction on softwood lumber. It was only after communities took action. Hundreds of workers and their families demonstrated in the streets to make the government understand just how much of an impact U.S. countervailing duties have had on their jobs and the local economy.

The Prime Minister himself said that he wanted to help the middle class, but he waited until there were job losses to act.

When will the money be available, and can this money be used to guarantee deposits?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, much of this investment is available immediately. We have been working for many months, not only across the Government of Canada but across the entire country. The suite of measures that we announced today look, not only in the short term to ensure that workers and communities and producers are protected from these punitive duties, but also the longer term, so that we can sustain such an important industry for all Canadians.

Government Appointments

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader loves to throw around the words “open” and “transparent”, but make no mistake, the Liberal government is anything but. She throws these words around in the hopes that Canadians will buy what she says and not what the government is doing. The Ethics Commissioner is solely responsible to the Parliament of Canada, not to the Liberal Parliament of Canada.

Will the Prime Minister agree that as they search for a new Ethics Commissioner, they will not fall into the same trap that they fell into with the official languages commissioner, and simply recruit from the list of loyal—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. government House leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have said time and again, we have put in place a new open, transparent, and merit-based appointment process. All the conditions needed to apply are available online. If the member has people he would like to suggest, I encourage them to go to the website and apply. This is a process brought forward to ensure that all Canadians can apply, because we believe in the diversity of our country, we believe in gender parity. With this new process, we have made over 140 appointments, and they have all been great appointments.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the position of conflict of interest and ethics commissioner will soon be vacant and we do not know whether the Liberals have even started a clear and transparent process to find a replacement. Transferring the appointment responsibilities from the Prime Minister’s office to the Government House Leader’s office is a thinly veiled ploy.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that the selection criteria for the next conflict of interest and ethics commissioner will be the same ones used to pick the new Commissioner of Official Languages, that is, be in the Liberal family and a generous Liberal donor?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have implemented a new, open, transparent, and merit-based appointment process. Our aim is to identify high-quality candidates who will help to achieve gender parity and truly reflect Canada’s diversity.

We have made over 140 appointments under the new process. Canadians can continue to apply. All positions are posted online.

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

Mr. Speaker, ACOA is the economic development agency for Atlantic Canada, and for decades it has been run by non-partisan senior civil servants. However, that is not good enough for the Prime Minister, because his top priority is rewarding his Liberal friends. The latest Liberal to be rewarded is Francis McGuire, Liberal donor, insider, and cheerleader, who is now the president of ACOA.

Can the Prime Minister not see that this blatant partisan appointment is undermining the credibility of the good work that ACOA does for Atlantic Canadians?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to be the minister responsible for ACOA. As the member mentioned, ACOA is responsible for helping Atlantic Canada realize its economic potential, innovation, growth, and being more competitive. I want to take this opportunity to thank the former president, Paul LeBlanc, for his hard work and leadership, along with 32 outstanding MPs, and for introducing the Atlantic growth strategy.

With regard to Francis McGuire, he is a well-respected individual who has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. I look forward to working with him.

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

Mr. Speaker, Francis McGuire has donated to the Liberal Party a whopping 23 times over the last 10 years, for a total of over $30,000. That is more money than either Gerry, Katie, or the Prime Minister himself have donated to the Liberal Party. We have patronage at official languages, and we have patronage at ACOA, so it begs the question: What is the minimum Liberal donation going to be for the new Ethics Commissioner to even get on its list?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well that we have put in a new process, an open and transparent and merit-based process. With this process, we have appointed over 140 nominations. The work that these people do is important work. We value the public service, and we value Canadians wanting to fill these positions. We are looking at diversity. We are looking at our two official languages. We are looking at many different factors. All position applications are available online. I encourage all Canadians to apply.

National Defence

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that torture and summary executions are immoral and run counter to Canadian and international law. They also alienate potential supporters in the fight against ISIS and produce information that is dangerously unreliable. The Minister of National Defence knows well the ongoing controversy surrounding possible Canadian complicity in torture involving Afghan detainees.

Now that the minister has decided Canadians should be advising and assisting Iraqi forces, in the face of recent evidence of gruesome torture and summary executions, will he now commit to a full investigation of our military co-operation with Iraq?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, National Defence and the government as a whole do not accept torture. Investigations have been done and are being done to protect Canada's reputation and ensure respect for international regulations.

Public Safety

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised to implement a system to fix mistaken identities on the no-fly list, but Canadians are still waiting. There are children on that list. People are having to cancel their trips, and business people are missing out on opportunities because of the list.

What is the government waiting for in finally fixing the no-fly list, and how long are we going to have to wait before it finally puts in place the promised redress system, or is it going to be just another broken promise?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member, and indeed the committee for its work. They have just tabled their recommendations with respect to this item and the national security framework. We certainly appreciate the frustration of law-abiding travellers whose plans were delayed as a result of false positives. We are absolutely committed. I am working on the report that was just tabled to make sure that we get this right.

Softwood Lumber

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's forestry industry is important to all of our rural and urban communities and provides good jobs for Canadians across the country.

Can the Minister of Natural Resources tell the House what the government is doing to help the forestry industry and its workers get through this difficult time and emerge stronger?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Pontiac for giving me an opportunity to update the House on the softwood lumber file.

We just approved an action plan with measures worth over $860 million to strengthen the softwood lumber industry, support workers, expand wood use, and diversify market opportunities for Canadian wood products.

National Defence

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, 13 former Royal Canadian Air Force commanders recommended against an interim purchase of Super Hornets. The Senate committee unanimously recommended that the Liberals abandon their plan to buy Super Hornets, but the Liberals refused to listen to the experts. That is, until their rich friends at Bombardier had a problem with Boeing, and then the Liberals decided that Boeing was not a trusted partner. Is there at least one Liberal willing to stand up for the interests of Canadians rather than their rich Liberal insiders? The defence minister has turned this into a complete disaster. Who is going to clean up his mess?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives left us a fleet that is over 30 years old. They did not take care of this problem. Since we want to properly defend Canadians and North America, as well as ensure global stability, we need to make sure that members of the Canadian Armed Forces are properly equipped and ready to meet all challenges.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would say to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence that it was his minister who was the architect of the misfortunes currently facing the Canadian Forces. He politicized the heck out of the process to replace the CF-18s.

Instead of putting it out to tender, he fabricated a capability gap that does not exist, just to please his friends at Boeing. Now, two years later, Boeing is no longer a friend of the Liberals. Imagine that.

The Royal Canadian Air Force always needs planes.

When will the minister stop putting the interests of the Liberal Party ahead of the interests of the Canadian Forces?

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister always puts the interests of Canadians and the interests of the Canadian Forces first so that our soldiers may be properly equipped and trained to carry out their missions, defend Canada and North America, and ensure global stability with our NATO and NORAD partners.

Consular Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has finally admitted what we knew all along, that the questionable detention of Canadian citizens, John Chang and Allison Lu, by China customs is a trade matter and should have been resolved months ago. Instead, Mr. Chang has been languishing in jail for 15 months, and the Prime Minister has done absolutely nothing to secure his release and safe return. It would take one phone call from the Prime Minister to his new BFFs in Beijing to resolve this. When will the Prime Minister pick up that phone and make the call? It is never too late to do the right thing.