Debates of Oct. 16th, 2018

Donald Macdonald

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and remember the Honourable Donald Macdonald, who died Sunday in Toronto.

Elected in 1962, he served as the MP for Rosedale until 1978, the president of the Privy Council, House leader, and minister of national defence, minister of energy, mines and resources, and minister of finance.

Donald Macdonald was a public servant in the noblest sense. He chaired the royal commission that led to the free trade agreement with the United States, and served as high commissioner to the United Kingdom. I met him when I was president of the Young Liberals at the University of Toronto. Not only did he take time to listen to young people, but he enjoyed spending time with them.

Donald Macdonald, “Thumper” to some, was a giant in every sense of the word, towering above us in graciousness, intelligence, wisdom and wit.

Our thoughts are with his daughters Sonja, Althea, Nikki and Leigh, and his wife Adrian, whose love and care for Donald were as boundless as his were for her.

May he rest in peace.

Marine Day on the Hill

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is marine day on the Hill. Today, members of the Chamber of Marine Commerce are hosting a celebration of the marine sector and championing inland and coastal shipping.

The contributions of the marine sector are undeniable and a large part of Canada's successful economy. This year, ship traffic is up, helping move goods to market, reducing congestion on highways and making a smaller carbon footprint.

How much of a contribution does the marine mode make to Canada? It creates 181,000 jobs, handles 185,000 metric tons of cargo, contributes almost $26 billion in economic activity and generates about $3 billion in tax revenue for the federal government. Indeed, the marine sector in Canada is a major part of our economy. Today, we celebrate this contribution.

I invite all members to attend the reception tonight at 6:00 p.m. in the Wellington Building.

Canadian Finals Rodeo

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am excited to announce that Red Deer's inaugural Canadian Finals Rodeo will take place at Westerner Park from October 30 to November 4.

Central Alberta is a natural home for the CFR, and the whole community is looking forward to welcoming these amazing athletes, along with their families and spectators, to Red Deer.

Right on the heels of this rodeo will be the always excellent agri-trade exposition that will take place from November 7 to 9.

As always, I would like to acknowledge the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce and the Westerner Exposition Association, who have been the driving force behind agri-trade in this, its 35th year, and are excited partners on the new CFR venture.

I invite all hon. members to come to Red Deer's Westerner Park in the next few weeks to see some of the best rodeo athletes and stock in Canada, as well as cutting-edge agriculture equipment and techniques that showcase why Canada's farmers continue to be world leaders in their industry.

Fostering, Empowering, Advocating Together

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Jessica Reid, co-founder of FEAT, Fostering, Empowering, Advocating Together. Located in my riding, FEAT was founded in 2011 to support the needs of the over 50,000 children in Ontario who have a parent in the criminal justice system.

The multifaceted impact of parental incarceration on children can be devastating. These children are faced with many challenges, including family instability, economic insecurity, as well as compromised self-esteem, trust and sense of security. FEAT is there to help.

On Saturday, October 6, Jessica began an 11-day walking marathon of over 400 kilometres, from Queen's Park to Parliament Hill. The goals of “Feet for FEAT” are to increase the awareness of the needs of these children as well as to raise funds for FEAT's family visitation program, which supports children and helps maintain healthy relationships with the imprisoned parents.

I welcome Jessica to Ottawa and congratulate her on her accomplishments.

World Food Day

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, much divides us in this place but there is one thing that unites us all. We all need healthy food to thrive. Today is World Food Day. It is a day when we can think about the food we eat, how it is produced and how we can ensure that everyone has access to the food they need.

The Danforth Multifaith Community will be holding a walk on October 21 in honour of the national “Chew On This!” anti-hunger campaign, which aims to educate Canadians about food and food security.

Last night, we debated the IPCC report in this place. One of the things the report highlighted was the impact our food choices and our food waste that we generated had on climate change.

Today, on World Food Day, we can all think about how we impact the environment with our food. We can thank a farmer for making that food and we can think about our world food sources and how we can protect them.

International Trade

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government continues to defend the indefensible by repeating that the agreement signed with Mexico and the United States is a good agreement for our country when that is clearly not the case.

As a member from Quebec, I believe the Liberal government failed in its duty, which was to negotiate the elimination of the surtaxes on steel and aluminum. As a result, our Canadian products will remain less competitive than those of the American industries.

It is completely unacceptable that the government signed this agreement when President Trump only imposed those surtaxes on our products to force Canada to open negotiations on milk. The Liberal government agreed to open those negotiations without imposing any conditions, and thus agreed to allow the United States to maintain its surtaxes on steel and aluminum. In my opinion, this agreement demonstrates the Liberals' incompetence—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for London North Centre.

Western University

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Minister of Science and Sport accompanied me to Western University for the grand opening of its new engineering building, for which I had the honour to announce, on behalf of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, a contribution of $22.5 million in September 2016 under the post-secondary institutions strategic investment fund.

As an alumni and former faculty member of Western, it was remarkable to see a building open that would inspire students and faculty alike to learn, innovate and advance. An added surprise was when Western Chancellor Jack Cowin and his wife Sharon donated $5 million and named the building in honour of the outgoing president, Dr. Amit Chakma.

Dr. Chakma has accomplished much in his role, including drastically increasing international student enrolment, significantly increasing—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

60th Anniversary of the Gault Nature Reserve

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

Mr. Speaker, today I want to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of the Gault Nature Reserve in Mont-Saint-Hilaire. Bequeathed to McGill University by Brigadier Andrew Hamilton Gault to protect and conserve nature and the mountain, this reserve is central to the natural heritage of my riding.

The Mont-Saint-Hilaire Nature Centre was founded in 1972 with a mission of education and conservation, and in 1978, the Gault Estate was designated the first Canadian biosphere reserve as part of the UNESCO program.

I want to acknowledge the tireless work of the dedicated employees and volunteers of the Mont-Saint-Hilaire Nature Centre and the McGill University team, which helps advance research and conservation.

On the 60th anniversary of the nature reserve, I hope that the public will continue to support and celebrate the critical work being done to protect our environment. The reserve depends on it, and so does the planet.

Long live the Gault Nature Reserve. Happy 60th anniversary.

International Trade

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this summer, my Conservative colleagues and I launched the defend local jobs tour, travelling across the country to hear from workers and businesses impacted by steel and aluminum tariffs. I met with over 150 stakeholders at 26 different events in several provinces. What I heard was very concerning.

Businesses said that they were cutting back orders. Others said that they were laying people off. Zero businesses I talked to said that they had received support from the government, despite $2 billion dollars being promised.

Let us be clear. The Prime Minister backed down to Donald Trump and signed an agreement that Trump wanted him to sign. To top it all off, steel and aluminium tariffs are still in place. So are softwood lumber tariffs, which now seem permanent.

This is a major failure on the part of the government and the Prime Minister. This must be the first time in history of free trade deals that there are actually more tariffs after the deal is done than before negotiations started.

Latin American Heritage Month

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, ah ya yay. As we know, this month is the first time we are recognizing October as Latin American Heritage Month at the national level: Excellente. It is about time. We have the whole month to celebrate the magical stories, culture, traditions and contributions of the many Canadians with Latin American backgrounds that we are so blessed to have in Canada.

As the daughter of a Mexican Canadian and the MP for a riding with a growing Latin American community, this month is extra special for me.

This month, let us find a way to celebrate Latin America, whether by listening to a song by Selena Gomez, Shakira or Marc Anthony; watching football with Lionel Messi; reading a little Gabriel Garcia Márquez; dancing to cumbia music; or adding a little picante to our tacito or empanada. Also, do not forget tonight's celebration, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at John A. Macdonald, with over 700 attendees, amazing entertainment, food and, of course, a very special guest.

Gracias, señor presidente. Olé.

Public Safety

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, British terrorist Jihadi Jack, a U.K. citizen, who may or may not have ever set foot in Canada, reportedly received help from a government representative. The Liberals proactively reached out to him to help him come to Canada.

Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we condemn the horrific and cowardly acts of Daesh and take the threats posed by travelling extremists seriously. It is a Criminal Code offence to travel abroad to engage in terrorist activity. Law enforcement pursues investigations and lays criminal charges when there is evidence to support them. We also have a full range of counterterrorism tools, such as surveillance, monitoring, intelligence gathering, lawful information sharing and revocations of passports.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he still fails to answer the question. Jihadi Jack is a U.K. citizen. The government proactively reached out to try to bring this individual, who has fought with a terrorist organization, back to Canada. It took it upon itself to reach out to bring this individual to Canada. Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we condemn the horrific and cowardly acts of Daesh and take with the utmost seriousness the threats posed by travelling extremists and returnees.

It is a Criminal Code offence to travel abroad to engage in terrorist activity. Canadian law enforcement actively pursues investigations and lays criminal charges when there is evidence to support them. We also have a full range of counterterrorism tools, such as surveillance and monitoring, intelligence gathering, lawful information sharing, peace bonds, revocations of passports and legally authorized threat reduction measures.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the question was not which tools the previous Conservative government gave to our security agencies; the question was why was the government proactively reaching out to a known terrorist fighter?

This individual is a British citizen. It is unclear if he has ever spent any time in Canada. The government has reached out to try to bring him to Canada. He has an opportunity now to explain why.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite well knows, any government and all Canadians are united in wanting to keep Canadians safe and doing everything we need to protect Canada and our communities. We respect the work of our intelligence agencies and of our security officials. We work with them to continue to ensure Canadians are safe.

We will not play politics with this. We will continue to focus on keeping Canadians safe because that is what Canadians expect.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has an opportunity to explain to Canadians why his government is taking it upon itself to invite a British citizen who has fought with ISIS to Canada. Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is once again trying to distort and create political crises where there simply are none. We take extremely seriously, as any government would, the safety and the security of Canadians. We will continue to work with our intelligence agencies and with our security officers to ensure Canadians are safe, and continue to demonstrate that we understand how important it is to keep Canadians safe.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there is no distortion here. It is well documented. The government's official reached out to a known ISIS fighter, an ISIS fighter who is British. This terrorist has now received services from the government, with the aim of bringing him to Canada. All we would like is for the Prime Minister to explain why.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what we see here is the Conservatives yet again grasping at straws to try to scare Canadians, to try to make Canadians feel unsafe.

Well, Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, I can tell you that Canadians can have the utmost confidence in the work of our intelligence agencies and our security officers in doing everything necessary to keep Canadians safe, to uphold our laws and our values and to demonstrate that the politics of fear have no place in our country.

Climate Change

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the IPCC report is clear: unprecedented action is needed to fight climate change and try to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change has said that she recognizes that “Every country in the world needs to take action, and then we need to be more ambitious about the action we are willing to take.”

However, the Liberals have no intention of being more ambitious. They are maintaining the same targets as the Conservatives and are clearly going to miss them, according to the government's latest performance report on climate change.

Why are the Liberals telling others to do more when they have no intention of doing more themselves?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are committed to reaching our targets by 2030, and we know that our work will not end there.

We are putting a price on pollution, we are phasing out carbon-based pollutants, we are investing in public transit and we are doing more to protect our environment. The Conservatives, meanwhile, have no plan to tackle climate change and no intention of developing one. Unfortunately, the NDP continues to pit the environment and the economy against one another.

We will continue to work to build a more secure future for our children and grandchildren.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have some news for the Prime Minister. Climate change is hurting our economy. Our inaction is hurting our economy.

We are seeing a growing number of extreme weather events. There are droughts in eastern Quebec and the Prairies; endless heat waves in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa; and forest fires in British Columbia unlike anything we have seen before.

The Liberals claim to be doing more, but they have no intention of changing their plan.

Could the Prime Minister at least follow through on one promise he made in 2015 to eliminate the $3.5 billion in subsidies to the oil and gas sector?