Debates of Oct. 25th, 2018

Carbon Pricing

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, farmers are upset that this government has brought on another tax that their international competitors do not have. While the member for Regina—Wascana claims that farmers will be exempt, the reality is their costs on fertilizer, fuel, parts and transportation will increase due to the carbon tax. The reality is they are being taxed and deceived by the Liberal government.

Why will the minister or the Liberal government not admit that this is not an environment plan but just another tax?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, why will the Conservatives not admit that climate change is real and that there is a cost that Canadians are paying right now, that it should not be free to pollute and that Canadians deserve to see a plan? If they have a plan, they should make it transparent and show us how they are going to do what they voted for.

The Conservatives voted for the Paris Agreement. They voted to support our international obligations, but we have seen nothing. They have no plan for the environment. They have no plan for the economy.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, when agriculture manufacturers like Honeybee Manufacturing in my own hometown keep their companies in rural areas, they face extra costs to be there, especially around transportation.

These plants are the heart of our communities. They allow young families and local businesses to prosper. The Liberals are dumping a tax on them that raises the price of everything, of fuel, transportation, heating and groceries. The cost of the Liberal carbon tax will be the death of small rural communities.

Will the Prime Minister finally give small companies like Honeybee the same exemption he is giving to large corporate emitters?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, we just had a report from the United Nations a couple of weeks ago. Do my colleagues know what they talked about? They talked about the cost of inaction on climate change in the trillions of dollars. Canadians across the country are paying the cost right now. For those living in Saskatchewan or Manitoba, there have been extreme floods and droughts. For those living in Ontario or Quebec, there has been extreme heat that has literally killed people. There have been forest fires in B.C.

Climate change is real. We need to take action. We need to do it in a way that makes life affordable, that grows the economy. We are doing both. The Conservatives have no plan.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would ask the member for Yorkton—Melville not to interrupt when she does not have the floor. She has not been recognized.

Order. The hon. member for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte.

[Alex Nuttall, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's new carbon tax that the Liberals are calling a plan is nothing more than a complicated shell game. However, their games are not just affecting employers like Moore Packaging in Barrie. They are affecting the 300 employees and their families that will be hit with this tax.

The Liberals are telling these people when they take their money, somehow they will get more back. We know this is nothing more than a new way to pay for reckless spending. When will the Liberals admit that this tax is a tax?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting that the member on the opposite side was the same member who supported Patrick Brown and Patrick Brown supported putting a price on pollution. Let us be clear. We know that we need to take action on climate change. We need to make life more affordable. We are giving families more money that they will pay—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. It applies to both sides. Order.

The hon. Minister of the Environment.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think it pretty much stands there. The member opposite will flip-flop depending on the issue. However, we cannot flip-flop on climate change. We have to be serious. We have a plan: tackle climate change and grow our economy.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, freedom, equality, justice and peace are Canadian values. We have a deal with the Saudis that enables them to wage war, silence dissidents and harm innocent civilians, a deal signed by the Conservatives and upheld by the Liberals. Canadians do not want to be complicit with Saudi Arabia's war crimes.

The government has a responsibility to fundamental human rights and an absolute obligation to stand up for Canadian workers. What is the Liberal plan for protecting workers and their families in light of this mess?

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs), Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we strongly condemn the horrible murder of Jamal Khashoggi and are deeply concerned by reports on the participation of Saudi officials.

We strongly demand and expect that Canadian arms exports are used in a way that fully respects human rights. That is why our government is committed to a stronger and more rigorous arms export system and to the Arms Trade Treaty, which contrasts completely with the members opposite.

As the Prime Minister has said today, we are actively reviewing existing export permits to Saudi Arabia.

The Environment

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we hope you are going to defend human rights seriously.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member is an experienced member and he knows that he is to direct his comments to the Chair. When you say “you” or “your”, you are referring to the Speaker. I do not think he meant to refer to the Chair.

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as the old saying goes, a good marriage is one made between a blind person and a deaf one. The Liberals and Conservatives are a match made in heaven when it comes to all this pipeline business.

On the one hand, we have a Prime Minister who refuses to listen to IPCC scientists. On the other, we have a Leader of the Opposition who refuses to see that the future of our planet is at stake. One swears he will resurrect energy east, and the other is leaving the door wide open to that, but neither one has any plans to protect the environment.

Are the 40 Liberal MPs from Quebec ready to promise they will never resurrect energy east, or are they refusing—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. Minister of Environment.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I was so pleased to be with the Prime Minister to announce that polluting will no longer be free in Canada.

We are standing with the people of Quebec, who know that we have to tackle climate change, that we have to put a price on pollution, and that we can grow our economy. We will keep working with them.

I was very pleased to get a call from my Quebec counterpart today. We talked about how we are going to keep working together to fight climate change and create good jobs for Quebeckers.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, I asked the Minister of National Defence on what date James Cudmore was offered a job in his office and the minister told me he would get back to me. His office called mine the next day and told me what date James Cudmore started in his office. That was not the question I asked, so I will ask it again. I know now that he does know the answer and I know he can speak about it because he already has.

On what date was the former CBC reporter offered a job as the director of policy in the office of the Minister of National Defence?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member once again is pursuing a line of questioning that relates very directly to a matter that is outstanding before the courts.

As has been explained repeatedly in the House, when there is a matter such as that which is sub judice, it is not only inappropriate for ministers to respond, but it is inappropriate for the question to be placed, which could impinge upon an outstanding court proceeding.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is that government that has said that James Cudmore's hiring is related to Vice-Admiral Mark Norman's court case and it is the Minister of National Defence who has already spoken about this.

On November 20, Cudmore was a CBC reporter writing about shipbuilding contracts. By January 12, 2016, he was a Liberal employee working for the Liberal Minister of National Defence. He did not just get there on January 12 by accident. He was offered the job prior to that date.

The minister knows the answer. He has already spoken about it. Therefore, will the Minister of National Defence keep his word to me and tell me what date Mr. James Cudmore was offered a job?

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

Mr. Speaker, legal proceedings are conducted in courts of law. In the particular case referred to, the prosecution is very ably represented by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. The defence counsel is obviously very adroit and a very accomplished professional. They have the rules of court. They have the laws of evidence. They have the normal procedures to follow. It is in a court of law, not on the floor of the House of Commons, that these matters should be prosecuted.

I would note that hon. members opposite do not have any mandate from either side in the issue to raise the issue here.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are allowed to know when CBC journalist James Cudmore was hired. We can say it here: he was hired on January 12. However, when we ask when he was offered the job, that remains a secret.

What do the Liberals have to hide?

Shipyard workers want to know why the other Canadian shipyards have billions of dollars and Davie has nothing.

What are the Liberals hiding?

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

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. gentleman is a very good friend of the much beloved Peter Van Loan. Mr. Van Loan would advise him, in the very words he used in the House, “It is deemed improper for a Member, in posing a question, or a Minister in responding to a question, to comment on any matter that is sub judice.” Those are the words of Peter Van Loan, on May 11, 2015, and they apply equally well today.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, do you know what Peter Van Loan would say today? He would say that it is scandalous that the Liberals are secretly preventing a shipyard from getting contracts. He would ask what the President of the Treasury Board was doing with Irving, which has plenty of money, when the biggest shipyard in Quebec has no contracts or just crumbs. Irving racked up more than $60 billion in contracts. He would say, “You should be ashamed. What do you have to hide?”