Debates of Nov. 21st, 2018

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when we introduced the child care benefit we had a balanced budget, and when we boosted the child care benefit we had a balanced budget. Furthermore, we did so without raising anyone's taxes.

The Prime Minister targeted middle-class families with higher taxes, generating more money for the government to spend. And he has spent. However, he has spent all of it, and now he is spending more. The deficit is three times what he promised it would be this year, and next year, when the budget was supposed to balance itself, we will still see no end in sight.

Will he finally answer the question: when will the budget balance itself?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite contrasts their approach to family benefits and the Canada child benefit. Well, let us look at that.

The Conservatives' approach was to continue to send child benefit cheques to millionaire families. We stopped sending them to the wealthiest Canadians so that we could give more to the ones who actually needed this approach. The other thing is that they made their child benefits taxable, and so families would spend every month and then have to give back to the government at the end of the year. That made no sense.

Our proactive, means-tested Canada child benefit is lifting hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the only millionaire who is getting taxpayer-funded child care benefits is the Prime Minister who is sitting right in front of us. He gives himself tens of thousands of dollars a year in free nanny services that every other Canadian has to pay for out of their own pocket. Those families understand, because they know how to balance their family budgets and know that budgets do not balance themselves.

The Prime Minister has never had to worry about money and so he does not worry about Canadians' money. Well, Canadians are worried. Tell them when the budget will be balanced.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is from a member of a Conservative government that added more billions of dollars to the national debt than any other government in Canadian history. What do they have to show for it? The worst record on growth since R.B. Bennett in the depths of the Great Depression.

What have we done? We have invested in Canadians, the way we promised to in the last election. We have invested in infrastructure, we have given more money to families who need it, and it has delivered real growth for the Canadian economy, growth in wages and growth in jobs. We are delivering on what we committed to do for Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, actually, the previous Conservative government paid off over $30 billion of debt before the great global recession drove all G7 countries into deficit, and throughout the Liberals said that we should spend more, spend faster, that we could never spend enough. We ignored them, and as a result we balanced the budget, led the G7 in growth and in job creation and had the best economic performance of all of our peers.

Back to the question. When will the budget be balanced, Mr. Prime Minister?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, after adding record amounts to the national debt, after running deficit after deficit, the Conservatives finally created a phony balance just in time for the election. How did they do it? They did it on the backs of our veterans, nickel and diming them and shutting down veterans' service offices. They did it by ramming through changes to the Phoenix pay system and booking those changes in advance. They phonied up a budget so they could try to run on it. They do not know how to manage a budget, and their record is proof of that.

Official Languages

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Doug Ford's decision to abolish the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner and cancel the project to build a French-language university in Ontario has sent shockwaves through the country. The Prime Minister said he was disappointed and concerned, but he should be doing something about this instead of staying in his corner.

The Liberals keep saying that they are there for Franco-Ontarians.

Will they prove it by contributing their fair share of the funding for the French-language university in Toronto and by calling Doug Ford to convince him to change his mind, as the NDP has been asking for?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House that our Minister of Official Languages will be having a conversation with the Ontario minister to encourage her to reverse these irresponsible cuts.

Protecting official language minorities in Canada is what we, as a party and as a government, are all about. We will always support and defend minority communities. We are very disappointed with this decision, and we encourage all members of the House to put pressure on the Ford government to change course.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Doug Ford and the Conservative Party have shown their ignorance of the Franco-Ontarian community's history of resistance and its struggle for rights. Their attack on the French-language university in Toronto is an attack on francophone rights across Canada.

Will the Prime Minister call Doug Ford personally to stand up for this institution and guarantee federal funding to build a French-language university in Ontario?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot think of advocating for Franco-Ontarians and other francophone minorities in Canada without thinking about our dear friend Mauril Bélanger. He was a lifelong champion of French-language minority communities.

If he were still with us today, he would be one of the first to speak up for francophone rights. He lives on in our hearts as we fight each day to protect and advocate for francophone minorities in response to the Conservatives' cuts.

Privacy

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

Mr. Speaker, on another issue, the law is clear. The chief statistician at Statistics Canada must inform the minister of any new program that is implemented. However, the Minister of Innovation says that he learned about this intrusion into Canadians' bank accounts via the media.

The Prime Minister must act and instruct his minister on what to do to ensure that Statistics Canada obeys the law.

Will his government commit to stopping this collection of personal information?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we take Canadians' privacy very seriously, as does Statistics Canada.

In fact, Statistics Canada has been in contact with the Privacy Commissioner about this pilot project, which has not yet been launched.

We also understand the importance of reliable data for Canadians. For 10 years, the Conservatives governed only through ideology, and we witnessed the consequences of that, namely historically low economic growth. We will continue to protect the privacy of Canadians and promote evidence-based policy.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is serious. The government is snooping around in the bank accounts of thousands of honest Canadians, and the Prime Minister is doing nothing about it.

I would remind him that federal institutions are required to notify citizens any time they collect personal information. The Prime Minister must do everything he can to protect the privacy of Canadians.

When will the Prime Minister shut down his project to collect the personal data of Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will always protect the privacy of Canadians, as this is a priority for our government. That is why we are working with the Privacy Commissioner to ensure that all data are collected appropriately.

Before we launch this pilot project, we need to ensure that all personal data are fully protected. The Conservatives claim they care about privacy, but Canadians see right through them.

The Conservatives continue to oppose the work done by Statistics Canada. The opposition House leader even indicated recently that the Conservatives still oppose the long-form census.

We will—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us recap. A letter was sent from Statistics Canada to the banks, ordering them to provide the personal financial information of Canadians. This letter went out before any notification was made or any plans were made public.

Statistics Canada appears to have broken the law, and the Prime Minister needs to step in and fix it. Will the Prime Minister fix this mess and cancel this program?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we take the privacy of Canadians very seriously, and we expect Statistics Canada to do so as well. In fact, Statistics Canada has been engaged with the Privacy Commissioner in regard to this pilot project, which has not yet been launched.

We also understand the importance of quality and reliable data to Canadians. During 10 years, the Conservatives ignored data and governed only through ideology. We witnessed the consequences: historically low economic growth while they were in power.

We will continue to protect the privacy of Canadians and promote evidence-based policy.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, he says that we are ignoring the data, but the fact is he is ignoring the question.

The law says that the minister must be told of any mandatory request for data by Statistics Canada 30 days before it is made. It also says that any new request must be made public. According to the minister, he found out about this scheme to surveil Canadians from media reports. It looks as if Statistics Canada violated the law.

Will the Prime Minister finally listen to the concerns of Canadians and cancel this unauthorized scheme?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard this approach before from the Conservatives. It is the same kind of fearmongering and politicization they used in order to justify their cancellation of the long-form census.

We understand how important it is to protect Canadians' privacy. We work with the Privacy Commissioner to ensure that Statistics Canada always complies and protects Canadians' privacy.

However, this war on data and on facts that continues to come from the Conservatives was rejected in 2015, and I know Canadians are going to reject it again.

Indigenous Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today, the international community criticized Canada for human rights violations. The UN committee against torture made it clear that the forced sterilization of indigenous women constituted torture. The committee also demanded an explanation for the lack of reparations and sanctions.

Let us be clear. This is what genocide looks like. How could Canada let this happen on our watch? Will the Prime Minister take immediate action, put a stop to this horrific act, and bring justice to the indigenous women and their families that were violated?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the coerced sterilization of some indigenous women is a serious violation of human rights.

We know that indigenous patients can face systemic barriers in accessing services, including discrimination and racism. We all have a role to play to ensure that indigenous patients receive quality health care free of prejudice, including ensuring health workers receive cultural competency training as laid out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action.

We will continue working with partners to ensure all indigenous peoples have access to culturally safe health services, no matter where they live in Canada.

Foreign Affairs

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Germany has permanently stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia. That is what leadership looks like.

Nearly a month ago, our Prime Minister announced that the government was reviewing existing export permits—not future permits, but existing permits.

Can the Prime Minister update the House on the status of the review of existing permits to export arms to Saudi Arabia and tell us when we can expect a decision?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we strongly demand and expect all Canadian exports to be used in a way that fully respects human rights.

That is why we are committed to a more rigorous arms export system and to the Arms Trade Treaty.

As I have already said, we are reviewing existing export permits to Saudi Arabia.

Status of Women

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, many amazing Canadian women have helped shape this country's history. It is great that we are recognizing Viola Desmond's contributions by putting her on the new $10 bill.

Personally, I was delighted to see the children of the West Island Black Community Association put on a play that celebrated Viola Desmond's story.

Would the Prime Minister tell the House when Canadians can expect to see these new bills in circulation?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Pierrefonds—Dollard for his question and for his hard work.

Two years ago, we announced that a Canadian woman would be featured on a regularly circulating bank note. Following extensive consultations across the country, we proudly announced that the brave Viola Desmond would be featured on the new $10 bill. The new bill went into circulation this week. All Canadians will be able to find Viola in their wallets, and we can all be proud of that.