Debates of Sept. 25th, 2017

Justice

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice is warning that it desperately needs more judges. Just last week, B.C. courts were forced to shut down because of the government's indecision. What is the problem with the government? Why did it not make these judicial appointments? It had all summer to do it, and now we have a situation of Ontario desperately needing 12 more judges. There are 57 vacancies.

I have a solution for the Liberals. If they cannot get the job done, turn it over to us and we will make the appointments. How about that?

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, to reiterate, I take the appointment of Superior Court justices incredibly seriously. Our government has taken significant steps to make the process for the appointment of judges open and transparent, with a focus on embracing diversity.

To date, I have been pleased to appoint 109 Superior Court justices across the country, including 22 deputy judges in the territories. I will continue to ensure that we appoint very meritorious candidates to fill the remaining vacancies across the country.

Social Development

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the minister responsible for seniors about an issue that occurred in the past month. Some seniors living separately for no reason of their own seem to be being denied their GIS benefits.

Can the minister tell the House what action he has taken to ensure our seniors get all the benefits they deserve?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Long Range Mountains for her remarkable work on behalf of seniors.

Our government recognizes Canadian seniors' contributions to building our country and is committed to improving the lives of our seniors.

I would like to thank members on all sides of the House who brought this matter to my attention. I have tasked my officials to correct the rules and to contact affected seniors to review their applications.

Our government is keen to improve the lives of seniors, and we will continue to do that.

Foreign Affairs

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have been raising the plight of the Rohingya people for over a year, and we have not been getting answers from the government. The Prime Minister was asked directly about this in the spring but did not agree to take the needed action at that time. Unlike many world leaders, the Prime Minister declined to discuss this ongoing ethnic cleansing in a speech to the UN, despite the escalation.

What, if anything, has the government's much-trumpeted Office of Human Rights, Freedoms and Inclusion been doing to help Rohingya people?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we are absolutely seized by the urgent question of the persecution of the Rohingya. Based on reports from the region, this is ethnic cleansing, and it is important for Canada to condemn it in the strongest possible terms and to act. It is important particularly to call on the military leadership to cease this horror.

The Prime Minister has spoken directly with Aung San Suu Kyi about this. I have spoken to Kofi Annan. At the UN last week we were working closely with allies such as Indonesia and Turkey on—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Trois-Rivières.

Housing

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, we learned that it will take at least a year to find out the results of the appeal filed by pyrrhotite victims regarding their initial lawsuit. As you can imagine, things will take even longer for upcoming trials, if that is even possible, given all of the victims who are caught in the grey area and are still without recourse.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the government is dragging its feet or refusing to do anything to establish a scientific standard on the presence of pyrrhotite.

When will the government finally do something to help the families who are caught in the grey area?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for once again raising the issue of pyrrhotite, which is very important in the Mauricie region.

As our colleague said, as soon as we took office, we implemented important measures to keep one of our promises and to ensure that the families affected by the situation are treated respectfully and their concerns are addressed in a timely manner.

We are pleased that things have improved since then, and we continue to listen, so that our government can continue to make Canadian families and their housing conditions a priority.

Government Appointments

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today as a Franco-Ontarian.

The Minister of Justice introduced significant reforms to the judicial appointment process. Her reform promotes diversity, gender balance, and bilingualism. I am pleased to see that five of the eight judges who were appointed in eastern Ontario are perfectly bilingual.

Minister, could you inform the House of the steps our government has taken to strengthen the bilingual capacity of our courts?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I must remind the hon. member, and possibly the assistants who write his questions, to address his comments to the Chair.

The hon. Minister of Justice.

[Jody Wilson-Raybould, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that the critical reforms to the judicial appointments process have led to increased bilingual capacity. As mentioned, five out of the eight judges in northeastern Ontario are fluently bilingual.

To build on these reforms, today our government is launching an action plan to enhance the bilingual capacity of Canada's superior courts. This multi-faceted approach will ensure that we move forward so individuals can have a hearing before a judge in both official languages.

Justice

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals abandoned the court of law to offer a $10.5 million settlement payoff to Omar Khadr, a confessed terrorist. The Liberals chose not to defend Omar Khadr's outrageous claim. They just wanted it all to go away. Then the Liberals tried to hide this extravagant, outrageous payoff from Canadians and Americans.

Did the cabinet follow this deceitful course while knowing of Mr. Khadr's victims' outstanding court order claims against him?

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

Mr. Speaker, sadly, this was a case of the rights of a Canadian in jail being violated by Canadian government officials. A settlement in this case was court supervised and based upon the hard facts, the law, the constitution, and two unequivocal rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada, and the decision was taken. Rights are not optional. Violating them is costly. There was no chance of winning the civil lawsuit. As much as $40 million could have been lost, and a settlement in this case saved taxpayers millions of dollars.

International Trade

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as a result of a barrage of tweets from Donald Trump, our supply management system is now being targeted by U.S. lobby groups.

In Quebec, we are proud of our farming model of family-owned farms. The Liberals already abandoned our dairy farmers during negotiations with Europe. They had better not do the same with NAFTA.

Will the minister make a solemn commitment to keep the supply management system precisely as it is, with no changes?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my hon. colleague that this government is the government that will protect supply management and this is the party that fought to put it in place. This is also the government that put the innovation package together to make sure that supply management in the dairy sector in the country thrived.

I can assure my hon. colleague that this government has and will continue to support supply management.

Foreign Affairs

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been inconsistent and has had very little positive impact on human rights and democracy. A direct attack has been made on Catalonia, and he has said nothing.

How can he justify his silence? What is he waiting for? When will he call on the Spanish government to order under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that both Canada and Spain signed and ratified?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada enjoys friendly relations with Spain. The issue of Catalonia falls squarely under Spanish domestic affairs. We hope that the country's internal debates come to a harmonious and respectful end in accordance with its constitutional framework.

Taxation

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

I had eight town halls recently in my riding and, not surprisingly, heard from many constituents on their concerns about the proposed tax changes. One young doctor made a point that I have not heard from others.

If we look at the demographics of how many doctors are near retirement and how they have structured their income and practice around the tax laws as they have been for decades, his fear is that we might have an unintended consequence of tax changes in a doctor shortage, as many doctors near retirement might decide to retire early.

Could we phase-in tax changes or grandfather certain professions?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that getting to a fair tax system, a system that does not encourage people to incorporate so they pay a lower tax rate than middle-class Canadians, requires understanding the specifics of different cases. I appreciate the member bringing forward this idea. We are certainly listening to people to make sure we get this right.

We are making sure that, as move forward, we grandfather existing amounts, which is important. We are also making sure to consider how to best move forward in a way that is going to get to our objective, while considering the ongoing goal of investing in our economy.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by campers who stayed at the Busy Beaver Campground in Hilton Township, Ontario, located on the historic St. Joseph Island in the riding of Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing.

The petitioners call on the government to ensure that campgrounds with fewer than five full-time employees will continue to be recognized and taxed as small businesses. As John Ivison of the National Post so aptly pointed out, higher taxes are resulting in lower revenues.

Why are we increasing taxes on campgrounds by 33% anyway, just to put them out of business?

Motor Vehicle Safety Act

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions to table.

The first is signed by 100 constituents in my riding regarding the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. I have to thank Tim Reed for getting these signatures on the petition.

What is basically being called for is equal treatment for American plated vehicles owned by Canadians so they receive the same treatment as Canadian plated vehicles in the United States.

Religious Freedom

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the next petition is on Bill C-51, regarding religious freedoms. There are 43 signatures on it.

The petitioners ask that the government not remove section 176 of the Criminal Code, which would eliminate protection for members of the clergy and faith assemblies.

The third petition I am tabling today is on behalf of 36 petitioners. The petitioners have grave concerns about Motion No. 103 that was passed in the last session.

Falun Gong

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, finally, I am tabling my final petition signed by 128 petitioners.

The petitioners call the attention of the government to the treatment of Falun Gong followers in China. Specifically, they ask for three things: to establish measures to stop the Chinese regime mass killing of innocent people for organ harvesting; for the Government of Canada to take every opportunity to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners; and to urge the Chinese authorities to bring former leader Jiang Zemin to justice.

Navigation Protection Act

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first petition is from a number of people in the wider London community. The petitioners are concerned about the fact that the Conservative government stripped environmental regulations that covered the Navigable Waters Protection Act, leaving hundreds and thousands of rivers and lakes vulnerable. In my community, the Thames River is an ecological jewel, and we want it to be protected. Unfortunately, the Liberal government has failed to reinstate the Environmental Protection Act.

The petitioners therefore call upon the government to support my bill, Bill C-355, which would commit the government to prioritize the protection of the Thames River, and certainly other rivers and lakes, by amending the Navigation Protection act.