Debates of Nov. 27th, 2018

Bill C-86—Time Allocation Motion

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I know we had a late night last night, but I want to remind members that when someone has the floor, that person deserves respect. The hon. member for Brantford—Brant had an opportunity to ask a question. If he has other questions, he can stand and ask those, as opposed to yelling them across the way.

Questions and comments, the member for Vancouver East.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, during the campaign, the Liberals did not say to Canadians that they would spend $4.5 billion to buy a leaky pipeline, but that is what they did.

Instead of doing that, why do we not see the government investing that money into green energy, into the future. Climate action is so necessary, not just for our generation today but for generations to come.

My question for the Minister of Finance is this. Why do the Liberals not reinvest that $4.5 billion, which was used to buy the Kinder Morgan, now Trans Mountain leaky pipeline, into action that matters for the future, the environment?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, I share the member's passion for the environment. That is why we have proposed a price on pollution. Canadians know that pollution is not free. We are all paying for the cost of storms, floods, droughts and wild fires, and extreme heat.

Our government has a plan to protect the environment and grow the economy, and it is working. Our emissions are down. Canadians have created over half a million full-time jobs since we were elected. We know we need to do more. That is why we are going to move forward on ensuring a price across Canada on what we do not want, which is pollution, so we can get what we do want, which is lower emissions, cleaner air, new business opportunities and more money in the pockets of Canadians.

We know that Andrew Scheer's plan—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the member that she is not to mention the names of individuals who sit in the House. I would ask her to wrap up, so other questions can be asked.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, I apologize.

We know that the Leader of the Opposition's plan is to follow Stephen Harper by making pollution free again. We are taking action to protect our climate and to ensure the health of this place for generations to come.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Speaker, now more than ever, the Liberals are showing that they have no respect for the promises they made, for Canadians or for this House.

They want to limit debate once again today on a mammoth bill that is more than 800 pages long and that directly affects the public purse.

Let us not forget that the Liberals were elected just three short years ago on a promise to run three small deficits, with no deficit by 2019. They ran three huge deficits totalling over $60 billion in three years, and we have no idea when they plan to return to a balanced budget. They have definitely jettisoned any possibility of clearing the deficit by 2019. It is shameful.

I call on the Minister of Finance to show some honour and dignity and stand up in this House to tell us when he plans to balance the budget.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to represent the Government of Canada today to defend our record on growing the economy. In fact, after 10 years of slow growth, Canada's economy has rebounded and we now have one of the strongest records of growth in the G7.

The economy has created over half a million full-time jobs since we have been in office. We see growth in all different sectors. We see employers with positive attitudes, in fact having new problems as a result of the lowest unemployment rate in over 40 years.

As the Minister of Employment, when I travel across the country now and meet with employers, one of the biggest challenges they have is not enough talent. That is a testament to how fast our economy is growing under our leadership.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind members again that if they have questions, to stand as opposed to yelling them across the way. I know some may be tired, however, there are still rules to be followed.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Madam Speaker, just recently, I participated in a “Chew on This” event in my community. People of a multi-faith community came together and talked about how we could address poverty in our community, what we were doing and the steps we could be taking.

One thing that is interesting, because it is organized by Dignity for All, is that many of the requests that have been put forward by Dignity for All in respect of an indexed Canada child benefit and the Canada workers benefit have been addressed by our government and have been in our past budgets.

Perhaps the minister could help us understand what our government is doing to address poverty issues in to ensure everyone has opportunities.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, that is a fantastic question, because in fact the kinds of actions we have been taking since we formed government have the goal of ensuring that the most vulnerable Canadians have an opportunity to participate as fully, as every other Canadian, in our society, in our economy.

Things like our historic housing plan, the housing strategy; the Canada child benefit, which cannot be overstated as it has lifted over 300,000 children out of poverty; a poverty reduction strategy that has concrete targets that we can actually measure our progress; the work I do as the Minister of Employment, ensuring decent work and modernizing the Canada Labour Code so the most vulnerable workers in our federally regulated workplaces have basic protections as employees; and the list goes on and on.

I am extremely proud of the record of the government on ensuring every Canadian has a fair chance to succeed. We will continue to invest in the kinds of things that help people move along the continuum to prosperity and to ensure they have fairness in their opportunities in our country.

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

Madam Speaker, 42 years ago Prime Minister Trudeau promised to legislate pay equity for Canadian women's equal pay. It did not happen. Successive Liberal and Conservative governments delayed action.

Three years ago the NDP had the current Liberal government to change its agenda and include pay equity. We were delighted that the Liberals said yes. The next three years were a black hole. We did not know what was happening. Ostensibly there were consultations with the NGOs. Then pay equity legislation was bundled into this 800-page omnibus bill. It has been rushed through at every stage. Even still, the NGOs that had been working on this and the human rights lawyers who had been litigating this issue in court for three decades proposed very specific amendments, which I was honoured, along with the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, to advance at the finance committee a week ago.

I spent from 9 a.m. until noon moving amendments that had been recommended to pay equity legislation by the Teamsters, by CUPE, by Equal Pay Coalition Ontario, by the Canadian Labour Congress and the Liberals voted every amendment down. They said that they knew best, much better than the labour activists and the human rights lawyers who had been litigating this.

Why did the government refuse every amendment on pay equity and why is it ramming this budget bill through now with no changes?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am incredibly proud to be the minister who has introduced pay equity, along with my colleagues, for Canadian women in federally regulated workplaces. They will see equal pay for work of equal value. This legislation was carefully crafted, in consultation, as the member opposite referenced, with NGOs, experts, employers and workers to ensure we had the balance right.

On one hand, the member opposite is saying that it took too long for this legislation to come forward and on the other hand, the member is saying that we are moving too quickly.

Canadian women are expecting us to act now. We are proud of this legislation. We look forward to employers and federally regulated sectors coming up with proactive pay equity plans in the near future.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, as the debate right now is on the issue of time allocation and not on the substance of Bill C-86, I want to once again make it clear that the use of time allocation as a routine proceeding is completely unacceptable. I ask the hon. minister to reconsider.

In the substance of her remarks in answer to a question, she said that this legislation and the government's actions would protect Canadians for generations to come. I would have to correct her. As it now stands, we have not protected the next generation much less generations to come.

I urge the minister to read the IPCC report on what we must do to reduce emissions, so we can hold to 1.5°C and no more.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, Canadians elected us to move forward on a very important agenda. It is an ambitious agenda, one on which we have moved diligently to ensure we can actually enact it. This is an important part of that agenda.

In fact, the bill has been debated extensively in the House. We have seen more than 15 hours of debate. It includes 22 Conservative members, eight NDP members, one member from the Bloc Québécois. At committee stage, which there were four committees studying the legislation, we have had eight meetings in which more than 45 witnesses have spoken.

We have made a commitment to work diligently on behalf of Canadians to enact the agenda for which they voted three years ago. I am proud to be part of a government that takes those commitments seriously.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Madam Speaker, the government members, as they often do, stand and say that Canadians elected them to blah, blah or in 2015 Canadians voted for blah, blah. However, the legacy of the government is going to be a government that said a whole bunch of things in 2015 and then did a whole bunch of different things in the three years following.

We hear that in questions from members of all parties regarding things that the Liberals said around closure, omnibus bills, electoral reform. Of course, in their 2015 platform, they said, “After the next two fiscal years, the deficit will decline and our investment plan will return Canada to a balanced budget in 2019.”

My question for the minister is clear. There is a very clear promise regarding a balanced budget in 2019. She has a lot of very rosy things to say about the Canadian economy, so what is the rationale, what is the reason the government would give to the Canadian people for the fact that it is running so desperately behind its promised projection for the balance it made just three years ago?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, Canadians chose a different approach in the last election. They chose a government that had the confidence to invest in Canadians, to invest in Canadian businesses and to help our economy grow. Just three short years later, we see that approach is working. Over half a million full-time jobs have been added to our economy by small and medium-sized business that have seen prosperity, that have seen the opportunities and are looking to grow themselves and contribute to the growth of our economy.

We ended the Conservative approach of sending child benefit taxes to millionaires so we could provide more support to nine out of 10 Canadian families. Believe me, this is providing those families with the confidence that they will have what they need to raise children, who are happy and healthy and can fully participate in Canadian society.

We are proud of our record. We know we are on the right track. Canadians know we are on the right track. We will continue to work hard to achieve a Canada where everybody has a fair chance to succeed.

[Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Liberal, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Madam Speaker, it is quite interesting to note that the Conservatives want a balanced budget. Where are they exactly going to cut? I would remind the House that the balanced budget they had when they were in government was made on the backs of veterans, indigenous peoples and indigenous children. Indeed, it was a very dark decade.

The question before us today is this. Do we invest in people today or do we see a long-term loss in health, education, economic potential and the potential of Canadians? This budget is about investing in the human potential of Canadians, ensuring people have the tools to be successful. We we can invest today or we can cut and we will have to pay the costs later on as a Canadian society.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, I share the member's passion and perspective. When we invest in people and Canadian society, when we invest in our small and medium-sized business, that it is good fiscal policy. It is very expensive to do nothing.

We are very committed to sound fiscal management as we continue to make investments that will contribute to that long-term economic growth. That is exactly what we are talking about here today. We are talking about investing in Canadian families. We are talking about eliminating child poverty.

We want to help our children grow up in a society in which they are not hungry, in which they have the same opportunities as their peers. We are contributing to the next generation of profit, of wealth, of growth, of business, of profitable employees and business owners. When we invest in giving people a fair chance, Canadians do not let us down. They take that chance, they take that opportunity and they contribute directly to their communities and to their country.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Speaker, I would like to remind the minister and the government of the realities on the ground when it comes to poverty, child poverty, and lack of infrastructure for communities on reserves across Canada. Our indigenous youth across Canada are struggling and they do not have the support of the government by investing in their future.

How can the government sit here and falsely give us information, saying that Canada is great and it is moving forward when it is not? When I hear about suicides, when I hear about roads being inaccessible, when I hear about job cuts in my riding and across northern Canada, I want to hear an effective plan from the government.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, we share the passion of the member opposite for equity for indigenous people. As the Minister of Employment, one of my proudest moments was being able to increase the aboriginal skills education training program to ensure equity for indigenous people looking to improve skills training. Not only that, we have invested in housing and we have invested significantly in ending boil water advisories.

Of course there is more to do. We continue to work with indigenous leaders and communities to ensure we can work in partnership, unlike the Conservative government that did not invest in indigenous communities. It did not support indigenous people with respect to equity. For a decade, it did not increase the aboriginal skills education training program, which is just one example of inequity.

We are taking a different approach. We are working with indigenous communities. We are investing in those things that we call the social determinates of health, things like housing and health care. We are transforming child welfare. We are on a good journey together. I am proud to be part of a government that works collaboratively with indigenous peoples for equity and for that equal shot at success.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, I rise today again on time allocation called on a budget bill of over 800 pages. Should we be surprised by this? Unfortunately, no. We have a government that promised not to introduce omnibus bills, yet we have a bill that is almost 900 pages long.

The Liberals campaigned on multiple things, such as deficits of no more than $10 billion. They have broken that promise. They promised decreasing deficits over their term. They have broken that promise. They promised to return to a balanced budget in 2019. They have broken that promise. What they are really breaking is their responsibility to future generations.

We heard one minister talk about how the government is building for future generations. I would like the Minister of Finance to explain how he feels he is doing the right thing, when what he is really doing is passing on increasing debt to these future Canadians. A deficit of nearly $20 billion for each of three years is $600 of debt for every man, woman and child. Every man, woman and child is $600 further in debt every year because of the government. This is the debt load it is building.

Here the Liberals are today trying to stop debate on the bill so that we cannot point out the flaws in their omnibus bill. I would like the minister to answer. Why are they doing that?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, when the Conservatives were last in government, annual GDP growth was just 1%, and Canadians were worried that we might be headed into a recession. Under our plan, GDP growth has rebounded, and Canada now has one of the strongest records of growth in the G7, at 3%. This was the strongest growth of all G7 countries last year. We are proud of our record.

During the last election, Canadians chose a different approach. They chose between the Conservative plan for austerity and cuts, and one could argue that it was the NDP plan as well, and our government's plan to invest in the middle class and build an economy that works for everyone.

When Canadians feel that they have a fair chance to succeed, when their children have a fair chance to succeed, they invest in themselves, they invest in their communities and they invest in this country. In fact, Canadians are proving just that.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, the minister earlier said that the government is doing a whole lot on the climate action file. I would just remind the government that it actually adopted Harper's targets, and even at that, it is not going to meet those targets.

The government brags about the housing file. It says that it has a national affordable housing program. The truth of the matter is that 90% of that money will not flow until after the next election. For people who are homeless today, who are in desperate need of a home, shelter and a safe place to go, does the minister actually think it is appropriate to defer the money flowing to build housing until after the next election?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Speaker, in fact, in our first budget, we invested $5.8 billion in housing across this country. It was just a down payment. We have an ambitious housing strategy that will eliminate homelessness by 50% in a decade. In fact, investments were made in the member opposite's riding in affordable housing, as she may know. If not, we are happy to tell her about those investments at any point.

This is one of the reasons I went into politics. As a former executive director of a homeless shelter in northwestern Ontario, I can tell the member that investing in affordable housing is one of the best ways to actually help people out of poverty and move people along the continuum of ensuring that they have a fair chance at success. It was my extreme pleasure to be one of the ministers able to talk about the housing strategy when it was launched.

I will continue to work with my colleagues from any side who want to work on this issue with us, because it is incredibly important. It will contribute to prosperity and a fair chance for every Canadian.