Debates of Oct. 26th, 2018

Natural Resources

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

Madam Speaker, we are very pleased with Bill C-69. Why? Because we listened to indigenous peoples. We listened to business people. We listened to people in the resource sector. We listened to environmentalists, because what did we commit to? We committed to getting our resources to market, but we also committed to rebuilding a trust in how we do environmental assessments.

We have come up with a system that engages indigenous peoples early, that has shorter and tighter timelines as businesses were requesting. It also ensures that we make decisions based on science. We know to get our resources to market in a responsible way we need a proper process. That is exactly what we—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Calgary Midnapore.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, thanks to the Liberals, energy investment in Canada has seen its biggest decline in more than 70 years. Canadian businesses are dying, people are losing their jobs and tens of billions of dollars are going to the U.S. economy instead of ours. The Prime Minister's “no more pipelines” bill will only make it worse. Will the Prime Minister—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

There seems to be a problem with translation.

Before I continue, I notice that I just missed out on one MP, so I will go back and then I will come back to the member.

The hon. member for Calgary Rocky Ridge.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals' “no more pipelines” bill was passed by this House with the shameful support of three Alberta Liberals. However, it is not too late to stop it.

Last week, the Alberta Chamber of Commerce told the finance committee that any pipeline company under Bill C-69 would be foolish to even apply for any type of pipeline, while the Alberta crude differential hit $50 last week.

Will the minister from Alberta do the right thing and kill this bill before it becomes the “no more pipelines” law?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Madam Speaker, once again, I would like to tell the House about the important investment that LNG Canada is making in a pipeline that is going to new markets, that is being built in Kitimat. It is a $40-billion investment, the largest ever private investment. It is going to create 10,000 jobs.

Obviously the Conservatives do not want to talk about that. At the end of the day, the Conservatives failed to bring any new pipelines to new markets in 10 years. We will take no lessons from them.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, thanks to the Liberals, energy investment in Canada has seen its biggest decline in more than 70 years.

Canadian businesses are dying, people are losing their jobs and tens of billions of dollars are going to the U.S. economy instead of ours.

The Prime Minister's “no more pipelines” bill will only make it worse. Will the Prime Minister stand up for Canadian workers, businesses and our economy, and scrap Bill C-69?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Madam Speaker, let me repeat my answer, because obviously my colleague did not listen or did not hear what I had to say with respect to the $40-billion investment. It is the largest investment in Canadian history with respect to our natural resources market.

At the end of the day, Conservatives failed to bring any new pipelines to new markets. We are making sure that we are going to do it in the right way. We are following the Court of Appeal's decision, making sure that we are respecting indigenous peoples and respecting the environment. That is exactly what we intend to do. We will make sure that we get it right.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I just want to remind members that they may not like the answers, but I would ask that they listen so that we can get to the next question in the proper fashion, and also so that I can hear the answer.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Madam Speaker, what the Liberals fail to mention is that the $40-billion project is exempt from their job-killing carbon tax.

Now the Liberals' “no more pipelines” bill, Bill C-69, is a threat to the livelihood of Canadians who depend on the energy sector for employment. New carbon taxes, downstream emissions, regulations and now Bill C-69 will end energy investment in Canada as we know it.

The record is clear. The Liberals have failed to get a pipeline built, and it is time for them to scrap this legislation. Will the Minister of Natural Resources from Alberta do the right thing and kill this bill?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Madam Speaker, after 10 years of inaction under the Harper Conservatives, 99% of the oil, back in 2006, was being brought to and sold to the U.S. markets. In 2015, when they were voted out of office, it was the same thing, 99% of the oil was going to U.S. markets.

We are making sure that we are doing things in the proper way. We are following the court decision to make sure that we bring our oil to new markets.

Public Services and Procurement

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Madam Speaker, after a year and a half of work and several million dollars to try to fix the many problems with the Phoenix pay system, public servants are still not getting paid properly. Several unions have suggested that there are sufficient resources within the system to build an effective system without having to wait for a whole new one.

Solutions are available. Is the government exploring them?

When will the government announce the next step in finding a fair solution for our public servants?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility]

Madam Speaker, there are two ways to move forward regarding the Phoenix pay system. My way is about stabilizing the system for public service employees. Meanwhile, the President of the Treasury Board is taking a different path and working on bringing in a new system. Of course he is working with the unions. We will fix it together.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Madam Speaker, I think people need to hear a more concrete answer in terms of how we will make progress. That is why people doubt that we will make progress in a timely way. It is why civilian members of the RCMP are upset that the government has reversed a previous commitment not to put them on the Phoenix payroll system until it is fixed and instead has created an arbitrary deadline of 2020, where come what may it will put those RCMP members on the payroll system.

Why are the Liberals risking doing material damage to the men and women of the RCMP when the payroll system is not ready to go and will they reverse the decision?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility]

Madam Speaker, I can assure everyone in the House that we are leaving no stone unturned to resolve the issues related to the Phoenix pay system. We are seeing progress. Yes, it is slow.

We have reduced the backlog by 100,000 cases since January of this year. We have reduced the backlog of departments that are within the pay pod system by 21%. In the same time, we have paid out $1.5 billion in back pay with respect to collective agreements that were not negotiated by the previous government.

We are doing everything we can. We have 1,500 people working on this in the pay centre, and we are absolutely committed to getting this done.

Health

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Madam Speaker, the opioid crisis is growing every year. The number of deaths due to overdose are increasing at an alarming rate. In 2016, there were just over 3,000 opioid related deaths in Canada. In 2017, the number jumped to almost 4,000. That is a 33% increase over just one year.

These are preventable deaths. When will we see the real plan from the government to address this very troubling issue?

[John Oliver, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, our government is deeply concerned about the tragic effect of the opioid crisis across the country. To address the crisis, we have responded through significant new federal investments, enacting new legislation and fast-tracking regulatory action. Going forward, we continue to address the crisis by increasing access to treatment, supporting innovative approaches and harm reduction and addressing stigma-related opioid use.

We will continue to work with our stakeholders to bring forward solutions that save lives and turn the tide of this national public health crisis.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Madam Speaker, that answer is not good enough. Sixteen Canadians are dying every day. In fact, more people are dying in Canada each year from the opioid crisis than from homicide, suicide and traffic accidents combined.

The response of the Liberal government has been totally inadequate. It spent four times as much to legalize cannabis as it has trying to prevent and treat opioid addiction. When will the government take meaningful action to eliminate this crisis?

[John Oliver, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, again, our government is incredibly concerned about the opioid crisis and the price it has for Canadians and on families. Building on our actions to date, through budget 2018, we are investing $231 million for additional measures to help address the opioid crisis, including $150 million for emergency treatment funding for provinces and territories. We earmarked $100 million to support the Canadian drug and substance strategy and restored harm reduction as a core pillar. We are approving urgent funding to provinces hardest hit by the crisis.

We will continue to work with the provinces and territories to address this crisis.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Madam Speaker, again, that is totally inadequate. The United States has recognized opioid addiction as a crisis and it has spent 30 times the amount that was just announced. It has focused its efforts to prevent over-prescription and to prevent drugs from coming in its country.

Could the health minister tell the House what actions have been taken to increase treatment capacity for the thousands of Canadians who need it.

[John Oliver, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, as I said, we have earmarked $100 million to support the Canadian drug and substances strategy. Unlike the Conservative government that was hard on crime and punishment, we are treating this as a harm reduction. We are looking for health strategy and science-based interventions to help people who are suffering from dependency on opioids.

We have also addressed the manufacturing. We have required Canadian labelling for all prescription opioids to clarify their recommended dosing, limited the quantity of opioids that should be prescribed for acute pain and have strengthened the warnings to people that this drug could create dependency. Our government supported the passage of the—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Hull—Aylmer.

Social Development

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Madam Speaker, we have known for years that the Conservative Party's idea of helping Canadian families is to send cheques to millionaires.

That is what they did under Stephen Harper and the fact that they voted against the Canada child benefit and indexing that benefit shows that they have not changed one bit.

Could the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development remind the House why the Canada child benefit has been described as the most significant social policy innovation in a generation?

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

Madam Speaker, let me begin by commending the hon. member for Hull—Aylmer on the invaluable support he provides to families in his riding.

Since July 2016, the Canada child benefit has been putting more tax-free money in the hands of nine out of 10 families. Since July 2016, the Canada child benefit has lifted 300,000 children and their 200,000 parents out of poverty. Since July 2018, the Canada child benefit has been indexed, meaning that is has increased with the cost of living.

Our government is committed to helping middle-class families, not just millionaires. Our Canada child benefit is a shining example of that.

Public Services and Procurement

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

Madam Speaker, the Minister of National Defence is contradicting himself. Canada needs two supply ships. It says so in its own defence policy, which was unveiled with great fanfare in 2017.

Why is the Minister of National Defence not awarding the Obelix contract to the Davie shipyard? Why is it abandoning Davie's workers and Quebec's economy?

Davie had 1,500 workers under the Conservative government. Now it has just a handful, barely 100.

When are the Liberals going to take action and protect our national security?