Debates of Sept. 22nd, 2017

Foreign Affairs

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, recently released documents showed that Global Affairs, diplomats, and our allies were confused by the decision to appoint the Hon. Stéphane Dion as Canada's ambassador to the EU and Canada's ambassador to Germany, a country within the EU. Confusion, hundreds of documents, and months of that have shown that the decision was ill-conceived, and Canada has been looked on poorly by our allies.

Canadians know that it is not easy for Mr. Dion to set priorities. Will the minister inform the House whether his priority will be the ambassador to the EU or ambassador to Germany? Which is it?

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that Stéphane Dion has fought long and hard for a better and more just Canada, and he continues to play a key role in advancing Canada's interests abroad in Europe, working with our European partners on this government's progressive international agenda.

Ambassador Dion's role demonstrates Canada's commitment to Europe and to Germany, which is Europe's biggest economy. Ambassador Dion will continue the vital and important work of ensuring that Canada's interests and values are shared in the world.

Infrastructure

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, recently I travelled to Embree, a small town in my riding. If members do not know where that is, it is next to Little Burnt Bay; they cannot miss it. It has a population of around 700 people. I had the honour of announcing close to $300,000 in federal money for its water system.

After years of neglect, I joined the Newfoundland and Labrador government's local MHA, Derek Bennett, to bring the residents an announcement for their drinking water system, which has been a need now for 12 to 15 years.

These are the types of investments we are doing, not just for the larger centres but the smallest communities as well. Could the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities please comment on that and other small communities across the country?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, our government is proud to be investing in communities of all sizes, including $2 billion dedicated funding for small communities. Last month, we announced more than $11 million for 77 projects in communities across Newfoundland and Labrador to provide clean water, and recreational and cultural amenities.

We will continue to work with our partners to make these investments to build strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities.

Government Appointments

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

Mr. Speaker, the committee overseeing the appointment process for the next official languages commissioner is currently evaluating the applications received. At this point, the official opposition has not yet been consulted. The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes has stated that it is concerned and will wait to see what happens.

Will the next commissioner be non-partisan, or will he or she be a Liberal Party donor? How many people have applied? When is the deadline for the evaluation process? Can the government enlighten us on the process that is under way?

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his new role as official languages critic.

Our two official languages are at the heart of Canada's history and identity. They are a priority for us. With regard to appointments, our government is committed to a process that is rigorous, open, and transparent, and to finding the best candidate for each position.

The role of Commissioner of Official Languages is very important. We are confident that the nominee will have all the required qualifications.

Child Care

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, developing Canada's early learning and child care system is one of the most crucial investments a government can make. I am pleased that shortly before the House rose in June, our government announced a historic framework agreement with the provinces and territories on early learning and child care. The agreement builds on investments announced previously in budgets 2016 and 2017 that support and create more child care spots across the country. Could the government advise the House on the progress in implementing the framework with the provinces and territories to improve the lives of Canadian children?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, as a former page of the House of Commons myself, I would like to begin by welcoming the new cohort of pages that we are lucky to have here with us.

I thank the member for Willowdale for his hard work on behalf of his constituents. Our plan will give Canadian children the best possible start in life and provide support to families who need it most. We have now signed agreements with Ontario, P.E.I., New Brunswick, and Nunavut. We are working very hard to achieve similar outcomes with other provincial and territorial partners. With each agreement we are getting closer to achieving our goal of affordable, high-quality, and fully-inclusive child care for all Canadian children and families.

Democratic Reform

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that the Liberal survey on electoral reform, MyDemocracy.ca, was a privacy nightmare. The Privacy Commissioner reports that the website automatically disclosed IP addresses, web activities, opinions, and lifestyle data from the 360,000 participants without their consent, to third parties such as Facebook. For months we asked the Liberals about this issue and they said that everything was just peachy. Were they lying to Canadians or was this just their usual incompetence?

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, our government takes the protection of the personal privacy of Canadians extremely seriously, which is why we proactively reached out to the Privacy Commissioner to answer any questions he might have had. We thank him for his very thorough report and we accept those recommendations unconditionally. MyDemocracy.ca engaged Canadians in a national conversation in which individual responses that were received online remained anonymous. Paragraph 43 of the summary of investigation notes that the Privacy Commissioner “found no evidence that individual responses to the MyDemocracy survey questions were disclosed to third parties.” We will continue to protect and uphold the privacy of Canadians as we move forward.

Dairy Industry

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, thanks to this free trade agreement, 17,000 tonnes of European cheese is flooding into our country to compete directly with cheeses made by our own producers, who have been abandoned by the federal government.

After promising to compensate our producers for their losses, all the government has done is offer them a feeble modernization program that ran out of money within seven days. The Quebec government is now calling on the federal government to do its job.

Will the government commit to meeting the Quebec government's demands and making the program improvements that dairy producers are calling for?

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada started accepting applications for the program on August 22, 2017.

The dairy industry welcomed this program. In fact, its reaction was so positive that the program stopped taking applications on August 29, 2017, probably because all of the funds had been allocated for phase one. Sometime in the next few months, the government will announce when it will start accepting applications for phase two.

Canadian Heritage

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage will be unveiling her Canadian cultural policy next Thursday, and there is every indication that it will be at odds with Quebec's needs.

If Ottawa does not want to tax Netflix, Quebec will. European states and Quebec will step up in the new digital environment to protect their culture, their artists, and their authors. Canada, in contrast, is counting on the free market, which will do nothing to protect Quebec culture.

If the Minister of Canadian Heritage is not interested in protecting and promoting culture, then what exactly is her role?

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, essentially, what we want is to make sure that our artists have the support they need.

That is what our government is doing. We have allocated $22 million to Telefilm Canada, $13.5 million to the National Film Board, and $550 million to the Canada Council for the Arts. Those are tangible actions that support our artists without further taxing the middle class.

Infrastructure and Communities

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

Mr. Speaker, Quebec is asking the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities to do his job.

His job is to take the taxes we pay and to automatically transfer them to Quebec so that we can build our roads, schools, and hospitals. It is not to set conditions and conduct negotiations that slow everything down. It is not his job to create a bank to privatize our infrastructure.

When it comes right down to it, the minister's job is to do as little harm as possible, but is he capable of doing that?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud that yesterday all the provincial and territorial ministers came together to talk about the historic investments we are making in infrastructure. In the case of Quebec, we have approved 424 projects, with a federal investment of $1.6 billion. We are approving $1.28 billion for the REM project in Montreal. These are top priorities for the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal. We will continue to work in partnership with the province to deliver on the commitments we have made.

Indigenous Affairs

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Qujannamiik uqaqti, Mr. Speaker.

My question is for the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs. Since last fall, I have visited 23 of Nunavut's 25 communities. I had the opportunity to talk to many of my constituents face to face. What I heard unanimously were concerns about the nutrition north program. Since the release of the “What we heard” report five months ago, people in my riding have been patiently waiting for the changes recommended in the report. Can the minister inform the House when Nunavummiut can finally expect these changes to be implemented?

Qujannamiik uqaqti.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague agrees with us that the program for northerners and the struggles they have in trying to feed their families are completely unacceptable. That is why our government has expanded the program to include 37 other communities. We have also invested $65 million a year over the next five years.

Most importantly, we know that the previous program failed northerners. We intend to get it right this time. We are hoping that we will be able to launch the new initiatives under nutrition north that are culturally sensitive to the people who need the program.

Species at Risk Act

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-363, An Act to amend the Species at Risk Act (amendment of the List).

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today to introduce my bill that would amend the Species at Risk Act, or SARA, to close a loophole that allowed governments to completely ignore scientific advice regarding the status of our most vulnerable species.

Under SARA, that advice comes from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, or COSEWIC. The act would give the Minister of Environment nine months to make a decision whether to list or not.

Unfortunately, the former government felt there was enough ambiguity in the act to say that the clock began ticking only when the minister told cabinet of COSEWIC's advice. During the former Conservative majority government, COSEWIC assessed 82 species as requiring protection. The government did not make a decision on any of those species—not one.

My bill would simply amend the act to clearly start the clock when COSEWIC sends its letter of advice to the minister. I hope the government will support this bill and return the Species at Risk Act to its original intent and force.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Business of the House

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and I think you will find agreement for the following motion. I move:

That the hours of sitting and the order of business of the House on Monday, October 2, 2017, shall be those provided in the Standing Orders for a Wednesday.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)