Debates of Oct. 5th, 2018

Labour Shortage

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

Mr. Speaker, our regions our suffering from a major labour shortage. To help our businesses stay competitive, the people of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier came together to find a solution, which is to form a foreign workers co-operative.

I have made several attempts to involve the offices of the ministers of immigration and labour, but a technicality has kept us from moving forward, and I received a rejection letter from the Minister of Labour. I have asked for a meeting so I could clarify our request to her, since the reasons outlined in her rejection letter were not valid. I want to explain that we are capable of following all the rules to the letter.

As parliamentarians, we have a duty to encourage our wealth creators to be active, involved and empowered. These leaders do not ask for any subsidies or financial aid. All they want is to keep growing their businesses, providing jobs for local residents and creating wealth.

Instead of getting in our SMEs' way, this Liberal government should be encouraging and supporting this kind of initiative.

Flu Season

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, flu season has arrived. While most people recover in a few days, influenza causes more than 12,000 hospitalizations every year and some groups are at a significant risk for influenza-related complications. Groups at high risk include pregnant women, persons with serious health conditions, those 65 years and older, and children below the age of five. If a person does get sick, he or she should remember to stay at home, get lots of rest and avoid contact with other people, except to get medical care.

Right now, an annual flu shot is the most effective way to help prevent the flu. That is why my constituency office will be hosting our third annual flu shot clinic on November 2. I encourage everyone in our community to come down to my office and receive their annual flu shot. It only takes a few minutes and it can help one save several days of lying in bed. Although I have been asked every time I have hosted our flu clinic, no, I will not be the one administering the shots.

Science

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I am speaking in the House today about a young innovator from my riding of Sudbury. Brendon Matusch, a grade 11 student from Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, won the top prize at the 2018 Canada-Wide Science Fair and the 2018 European science fair for young scientists where 135 young scientists from all over the world were competing. Brendon's project is entitled "Development of an Autonomous Vehicle Using Machine Learning". Not only did he win the best project award at the Canada science fair, Matusch won a gold medal, the platinum award for best intermediate project, the excellence award in the intermediate category, the challenge award – innovation in the intermediate category, and the youth can innovate award.

Brendon not only made Sudbury proud; he made the entire country proud. He is an inspiration to us all, to young innovators and all scientists. I hope he keeps up the great work.

Carbon Pricing

[Bob Benzen, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

Mr. Speaker, resistance is growing to the Prime Minister's plan to risk our economy by having a federal carbon tax.

Manitoba is the latest province to say it will no longer tolerate the Liberals' intrusion into its policy-making and will focus on its made-in-Manitoba climate and green plan instead. Ontario premier Doug Ford is in Calgary today for a "Scrap the Carbon Tax" rally. He has been leading the charge against the tax by outing it as "the absolute worst tax for Canadian families, Canadian businesses, and the Canadian economy” and one that “does nothing for the environment". That message resonates in Alberta, where Jason Kenney will repeal the tax when he becomes premier.

Consensus is building across Canada for what Conservatives have said all along: that the Liberal carbon tax is nothing more than a cash grab to finance the Prime Minister's out-of-control spending, and that the Liberals must come clean on its real costs.

Joe King Memorial Giant Pumpkin Festival

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Millville, Cape Breton is a great place to raise a family and to grow crops. Through my life, my wife Pam and I had the great honour to farm in Millville with the late Joe King, his wife Catherine and their son Joey. This Thanksgiving weekend will be the annual Joe King Memorial Giant Pumpkin Festival, named in his honour and hosted by the Millville Community Centre.

Growers from across Cape Breton will bring their largest pumpkins to compete for this crown. There will be lots of entertainment for everyone. The community centre and ladies auxiliary will have activities for children, along with crafts and great food for all.

As we start our Thanksgiving weekend, we appreciate not only farmers of Cape Breton and those across the country for the food they produce; we also thank those who prepare the food for us. Let us thank the volunteers and donors who help our food banks and give those less fortunate than us something to eat.

On behalf of my colleagues in this House, I wish all across our wonderful country a happy Thanksgiving.

40th Edition of the Buckwheat Pancake Festival

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to highlight the 40th edition of the Louiseville Buckwheat Pancake Festival, which runs from September 28 to October 7. More than 200,000 people are expected to visit the site and join the festivities, with music shows, children's activities, pancakes, of course, and the famous folkloric parade, which takes place this Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Several interesting new events are part of the festival this year, including a demolition derby, a family square and a tour of the Jardins Ricard buckwheat mill. Also, baker Louise Savoie is presenting her creation, a special bread made with buckwheat flour and potatoes.

I would like to congratulate and thank the president of the festival, André Auger, as well as the honorary president, Jean-Pierre Gélinas, for their dedication to the festival. I also want to extend a special thank you to the volunteers who made the 40th Edition of the Buckwheat Pancake Festival a great success.

Congratulations to the milling queen and Miss Personality 2017-18, Mélissa Ladouceur, and good luck to all lady millers. Enjoy the Buckwheat Pancake Festival! I invite everyone to come and see us in Louiseville.

Nobel Peace Prize

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand today and congratulate the most recent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize: Nadia Murad.

Captured by Islamic State militants at 21, Nadia was forced to endure three months as a sex slave. The militants killed anyone who refused to convert to Islam, including her mother and six of her brothers. She was bought and sold several times and regularly abused during her captivity. Being raped became part of a normal day for her. Incredibly, Nadia escaped, and this remarkable, strong and resilient young woman chose to fight on behalf of the Yazidi people and the thousands of women still suffering at the hands of the Islamic State.

She was awarded the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Council of Europe in 2016 and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. She was named the first UN goodwill ambassador for survivors of human trafficking.

Therefore, it is only fitting that Nadia won the Nobel Peace Prize and is the first Iraqi to do so. We commend her courage and her will to use her personal tragedy for the benefit of others.

Frédéric Tremblay

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today I want to pay tribute to a phenomenal man from my riding, Frédéric Tremblay. Living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Frédéric went through what would have been for him the long winter of his life with courage and resilience to come out bright-eyed with quiet strength.

Frédéric has now been telling his story for years, to remind people that help is out there and that there is always hope. This year, Frédéric was named one of the 2018 Faces of Mental Illness by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health.

Throughout Mental Illness Awareness Week, Frédéric has been sharing his journey of living in recovery, and also serves as volunteer president of the Fondation Québécoise pour le Trouble Obsessionnel-Compulsif. In his role, Frédéric seeks to help people living with OCD cope with the disorder and lead a fulfilling life.

I want to thank Frédéric for his courage. He is an inspiration to me and to so many others in our community.

International Trade

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one of the good things about having a drama teacher as prime minister is that it is very entertaining.

The Prime Minister has been acting like he is standing up to Donald Trump, when it reality, he has just backed down. He backed down from Donald Trump and agreed to impose higher drug prices on Canadian seniors, for higher profits for American drug companies. He backed down from Donald Trump, giving the U.S. President a veto over Canadian trade deals with other foreign countries. He backed down from Donald Trump and imposed Canadian export controls on our dairy products.

When will the Prime Minister stop backing down and start standing up for our country?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, the government got a good deal.

Let me explain something. The Conservative post-battle courage is ironic, given that last year, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives were imploring us to capitulate and accept any deal at any price. Let me quote from Harper's memo, “it does not matter whether current American proposals are worse than what we have now.”

Over and over, the Conservatives urged us to take Harper's advice. That was not our approach, and we got a good deal.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in that very memo, Stephen Harper predicted that the government would capitulate. It turns out Stephen Harper was absolutely right about that.

It capitulated and imposed higher drug prices on Canadian seniors so Donald Trump's corporations could make higher profits. It capitulated, giving Trump a veto power over Canadian trade deals with other countries. It capitulated and imposed Canadian penalties on Canadian dairy products being exported abroad. Meanwhile, the government did not get any relief for the U.S. protectionism on Canadian products.

When will the government finally stop backing down from Donald Trump?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, we got a good deal, unlike the Conservatives' recommendations in times gone by.

This deal improves on the initial NAFTA in the following ways. We removed the investor-state dispute system that allowed companies to sue Canada for hundreds of millions of dollars. We got rid of the energy ratchet clause, which restricted the Canadian government from access to our energy resources, and this is good news for our oil patch workers. The new auto rules of origin are great news for Canadian workers. We also have much stronger labour and environmental chapters, and we protected chapter 19.

This is a good deal.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, getting rid of the investor-state provision was actually a demand of Donald Trump's. The Liberals actually support investor-state protections. They put them in the CPTPP and in CETA. So to now take credit for a capitulation they made in favour of Trump is laughable.

As for this ratchet clause, the Liberals were trying to flip through the deal to find something they had won on. It turns out this ratchet clause has never been used in 30 years, just to show how irrelevant this so-called victory was.

The Liberals got nothing on steel tariffs, nothing on softwood tariffs and nothing on buy America. Why did they get so little—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, let me continue with the list of successes in the renegotiated NAFTA.

This agreement is a massive step forward for progressive trade. We, for example, have the strongest labour chapter of any trade agreement to which Canada is party. In fact, the enforceable provisions that protect women's rights, minority rights, indigenous rights and environmental protections are the strongest in any Canadian trade agreement to date.

As National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations recently said, “The provisions addressing Indigenous Peoples in the USMCA make it the most inclusive international trade agreement for Indigenous peoples to date.”

This is a good deal.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government says that it has negotiated a good agreement. The Liberals are celebrating the United States—Mexico—Canada Agreement. My definition of negotiating is giving things and taking things in return. They gave away access to the dairy market. They gave in to the United States by leaving the surtax on steel, aluminum and softwood lumber in place. They agreed to costlier drugs. They put quotas on the auto industry. Furthermore, we will have to ask President Trump for permission if we want to enter into trade agreements with other countries. They call that a good agreement.

Where are the wins?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, this is a good step for Canada.

The most important thing is that Canada has maintained its access to the American market, and we have done away with the dispute settlement system that allowed companies to sue Canada for hundreds of millions of dollars. That is no more.

We got rid of the clause that prevented our government from controlling access to our resources. The new auto sector rules will protect our workers in this industry. We have strong chapters on labour and the environment. We have protected chapter 19.

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

Mr. Speaker, how can this Liberal government crow about the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement when Canada is included as an afterthought? The negotiations are not over, because the surtax Canada imposed on products to put pressure on the United States during the talks is still in place today.

In Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, for example, Biscuits Leclerc, which has factories in Canada and the U.S., has to pay a surtax, as I mentioned, to import its own products into its own country.

When will the government lift these taxes so that consumers can stop having to pay so much for products?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating to watch the Conservatives find their backbone again, especially given that last year, as my colleague is well aware, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives begged us to give in and accept any deal, no matter what it cost Canadians. Thanks to our patience, our negotiating skills, and our first-rate team, we secured a great deal for Canada.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister met with Canadian and Quebec dairy farmers to really take stock of the cracks opened up by the United States—Mexico—Canada Agreement. He acknowledged that farmers will suffer a bit. The reality is that farmers will suffer a lot when they lose a month’s wages. This is huge and completely unacceptable.

My question is very simple: how does the Liberal government manage to be so bad at listening to the Quebec dairy industry?

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, we know that our farmers produce food of the highest quality for Canadians at a reasonable price and that they support the prosperity of our rural areas. We appreciate that there will be impacts on our farmers, and we are committed to providing them with fair and full compensation to help them succeed.

We will quickly establish a working group with farmers and the industry to help the process move forward. The Prime Minister, the minister and I met with many supply-managed farmers this week.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Liberals do not listen to Quebec producers. Family farms are at risk, and the next generation of farmers is worried because with this agreement Liberals opened another breach in the supply management system.

Supply management was already weakened by breaches in CETA. The Liberals once again used agricultural producers as bargaining chips. When Liberals abandon supply management, they abandon middle-class families and the next generation of farmers.

My question is very simple: do they realize this?

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, we defended our supply management system against the Americans' aggressive attempts at dismantling it. Market access is similar to what the Conservatives had negotiated in the TPP.

We are the party that implemented supply management, and we are the government that intends to defend it. That is precisely what we have done. We made a commitment to fairly and equitably compensate producers.

Natural Resources

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the Trans Mountain pipeline fiasco, the Liberals keep repeating the words “meaningful consultation”, but clearly have no idea what it actually means.

How can it be meaningful when the Prime Minister slams his fist on the table again and again, saying “this pipeline must be built”? How can it be meaningful when the Liberals bought the 65-year-old pipeline, essentially making themselves both judge and jury?

It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. How long is it going to be until the Liberals simply dump their failed strategy and actually begin to respect indigenous rights and title?

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

Mr. Speaker, on indigenous consultations, we have a clear path forward provided to us by the Federal Court of Appeal. That includes three concrete steps.

First, we will not appeal the court's decision. Second, we will re-engage phase three consultations with all indigenous groups impacted and ensure that indigenous voices are at the table so we can have a meaningful dialogue, which is a two-way dialogue. We will not only listen, we will exchange and seek to accommodate where possible. Third, we have appointed the Hon. Frank Iacobucci as federal adviser to oversee the consultation process.

We believe it is worth taking the time to get it right, together.