Debates of Oct. 30th, 2018

Privacy

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear, when it comes to privacy and data, that we will continue to make sure that the processes are followed to protect consent and issues of privacy.

What I find very interesting is the members opposite continue to undermine and attack Statistics Canada. They have a long track record against evidence-based decision-making, against facts, against data. What is their problem with good quality data? That is why the first decision point of our government was to reinstate the mandatory long-form census. This was applauded by Canadians from coast to coast to coast, including Conservative ridings. The members opposite should talk to Canadians.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Calgary Signal Hill will come to order.

The hon. member for Edmonton Riverbend.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Speaker, identity theft is not a joke. Millions of families suffer every year. The Prime Minister is putting Canadians' personal information and identity at risk. There is no way to ensure this information will be protected when earlier this year Statistics Canada lost 600 files under his watch. The government has no right to track every financial decision of every Canadian citizen. Will the Liberals cancel this unprecedented and unauthorized surveillance?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear. We understand the importance of protecting individual privacy and data. Again, I fail to understand why the members opposite continue to undermine a statistical agency that is revered by Canadians. Well over 80% of Canadians respect Statistics Canada. It is a great organization that collects relevant information, that helps communities and businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, with appropriate data so they can make informed decisions. What do members have against good quality, reliable data?

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Google and Facebook are reputable organizations too, yet they have had data stolen. The government wants to invade Canadians' privacy.

Considering all the chaos the government has caused over the past three years, how can we possibly trust it?

The Liberal government is planning to access Canadians' personal and financial information without telling them. Our credit card purchases, our cash withdrawals, our bill payments and our deposits belong to us.

When will the Prime Minister stop this unacceptable invasion of Canadian citizens' privacy?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, again, listen to them: “Data has been stolen”.

No data has been stolen. Information has been requested. Statistics Canada makes sure that it follows a process, which is very rigorous and very robust when it comes to making sure it protects privacy and data. It has also engaged the Privacy Commissioner.

Members opposite have a fundamental problem with regards to Statistics Canada. They do not understand the importance of good quality data and of evidence-based policy-making. They have a fundamental ideological problem, and that is very unfortunate.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have 800 pages from just the last two years of times when Canadians' information had been breached by the government. Liberals do not protect data. They lose it, they misuse it and they leak it. Canadians do not trust Liberals when it comes to their information. I would be happy to table those documents after question period.

When will the Prime Minister stop this unauthorized surveillance of Canadians?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. Our government understands the importance of protecting privacy and protecting data. That is why we have engaged in a data and digital consultation process to further build more trust with Canadians when it comes to their data.

Our government understands why it is important to make sure that, in a digital economy when transactions occur online, people have an understanding about privacy, consent, data ownership and data portability. We are taking additional measures to strengthen our privacy legislation as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians just do not trust Liberals with their private information. However, just as importantly, Canadians want to know why the government needs to know who they pay, how much they pay, what they purchase online and what they are giving to their children through e-transfers. Canadians want to know why the government needs to know that and not even tell Canadians they are going to be told about it.

This is Big Brother on steroids. It needs to stop. The Prime Minister has the ability to stop it. Why will he not stop this unauthorized surveillance of Canadians?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, again, all the appropriate processes were followed. Statistics Canada makes routine requests. It has clear, robust provisions in place to protect privacy, to protect data, to make sure it is anonymized. It has clear processes in place.

Members opposite fundamentally have an issue when it comes to data, because they do not believe in the facts. They do not believe in data. They fundamentally do not believe in making sure that we have a mandatory long-form census.

This is where the disagreement occurs: We support good, quality, reliable data, they do not.

Status of Women

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, women have been asking for pay equity legislation for decades. The act the Liberals introduced is a step in the right direction, but it includes none of the pay transparency measures advocates have called for.

Will the pay equity commissioner have the resources she or he needs to do the job well? We still do not know.

The Liberals have been making promises for the past three years, so why is there still so much work to do? Most importantly, why are women going to have to wait another four years for pay equity to become a reality?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was proud to stand in this honourable place with my colleague, the Minister of Status of Women, and the President of the Treasury Board to announce that our government will be moving forward with proactive pay equity legislation. This is fundamental to address the wrongs of unequal pay for work of equal value.

Hundreds of thousands of women will benefit from this action. I am very proud of our government that understands that equity in the workplace is good for all of us.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, women have waited 42 years for the Liberals to keep their promise on pay equity. Meanwhile, the unions fought Canada Post 30 years in court, and women's organizations have worked tirelessly to get us to this point to finally have pay equity legislation in the House.

They worked for decades. Women are done waiting. Do they really have to wait another four years in order to have equal pay?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to effective implementation and enforcement of proactive pay equity in federally regulated workplaces. Our pay equity plan was constructed with consultation from employers; yes, from labour; yes, from experts and advocates. That is why we are so sure that this approach is the right one to take.

We are very proud of introducing this proactive pay equity legislation, the first federal government in the history of this country to take this issue seriously.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Well, Mr. Speaker, they say a gaffe is when someone accidentally tells the truth, and yesterday the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment had such a gaffe. I asked him why his government was exempting large industrial emitters from the carbon tax. He said that if they were forced to pay a tax, we “could potentially have jobs leave and it will do nothing for emissions”, which is exactly what our side has been saying: High taxes drive jobs out of the country, global emissions up and do nothing for the environment.

Now that the Liberals agree, will they exempt all Canadians from their carbon tax?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians across the country expect their government to take action to deal with climate change. That is exactly what our government is doing. We are ensuring a price across Canada on what we do not want, pollution, so we can get more of what we want, lower emissions, new business opportunities and more money in the pockets of Canadians.

The Leader of the Opposition is at Queen's Park today getting his marching orders from Doug Ford on Stephen Harper's failed plan to deal with climate change. Canadians expect better from the leader of the Conservative Party.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. The hon. member for Newmarket—Aurora will come to order, as well as the member for Banff—Airdrie.

The hon. member for Carleton.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, he says now the carbon tax will create business opportunities. Yesterday the parliamentary secretary was saying exactly the opposite. He said that exempting business from the carbon tax was being done because “The point is to keep jobs in Canada so that emitters do not pollute elsewhere.” We have been saying exactly that. The carbon tax will drive business out of the country to places with poorer environmental standards, killing jobs at home and driving global emissions up abroad.

Now that the Liberals agree, will they not axe the tax?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, our plan is clear. We are putting a price on pollution and making life more affordable for Canadians. Climate change is real. Canadians deserve to know their government has a plan to deal with it, something the Conservative Party does not have.

What they do not expect is for the Leader of the Opposition to get ordered around by Premier Ford, who is pushing Stephen Harper's failed agenda of 10 years of doing nothing to deal with climate change. Canadians deserve better.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member is upset that our leader is talking to my premier in my province. However, he should go back to his province for a moment and take a look at the new exemption that his government is giving to the Belledune coal-fired power plant, which will receive a 96% exemption on the emissions from the smokestack on that coal-fired plant.

Could he explain why he is charging more to grandmothers driving to get groceries, but almost nothing to coal-fired plants back in his province?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. I would ask members to contain their excitement.

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment.

[Sean Fraser, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell by the excitement on the other side of the House that the members have missed me dearly.

I am so pleased to answer the question. Our government campaigned on a commitment to protect the environment and grow the economy at the same time. Our plan involves putting a price on pollution, including a price on emitters.

If the hon. member wants to talk about the coal industry, I would like to flag that we are actually phasing out coal by 2030. When the hon. member was actually sitting around the cabinet table under Stephen Harper's government, they did not plan to take this action until 2062. That is 32 years with cleaner air, less childhood asthma and a cleaner environment.

If the hon. member wants to get serious about the environment, I will take this conversation any time.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, he will take the conversation any time, except for the first two questions.

The CBC has written that the Liberal plan will allow 96% of Belledune's greenhouse gas emissions to pass through its giant 168-metre smoke stack for free.

The Liberals say carbon taxes will save the earth. Why are they taking carbon taxes then off their coal-fired plants?

[Sean Fraser, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, again, in the last election, we campaigned on a commitment to protect the environment, grow the economy and help middle-class families. I am pleased to share with the hon. member that our plan to put a price on pollution applies to heavy emitters as well.

Our plan is actually going to leave middle-class families better off. Stephen Harper's former director of policy said so and we have confirmed that. We have come forward with the details on how New Brunswickers and members of other provinces are going to do under our plan.

I look forward to seeing the hon. member campaign in 2019 on a promise to take money from his constituents to make pollution free again.