Debates of Dec. 13th, 2018

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has resumed deportations to Haiti, despite the violence in that country.

Haitians have been deported from my riding and from Montreal, Quebec City and elsewhere, even though Haiti is extremely dangerous. The government must immediately declare a moratorium on deportations to Haiti to avoid putting these people's lives in jeopardy. This government must show some humanity. It cannot remain silent in the face of this violence.

When will the minister impose a moratorium on deportations to Haiti?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the government certainly shares the concern that has been expressed by the hon. member with respect to the situation in Haiti, which is flexible, fluid and subject to constant change.

Obviously the decision to remove someone from Canada to another country is never taken lightly. It is taken with due care and consideration, and due process as well. If the circumstances are not appropriate for the removal to be done safely, then the removal will not be undertaken.

International Trade

[Karen Ludwig, Liberal, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Mr. Speaker, CETA has been in effect for one year and has had an enormous impact on Canada and specifically my home riding of New Brunswick Southwest.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification please update the House on how this agreement has benefited our seafood exporters?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for New Brunswick Southwest for her advocacy on behalf of fishers and seafood exporters.

I am happy to tell her that because of CETA, 96% of the EU tariffs on fish and seafood have been eliminated, and the remaining 4% will be phased out over the coming years.

The EU is Atlantic Canada's third-largest market for fish and seafood. Thanks to CETA, Atlantic fish and seafood now has a significant competitive advantage in Europe compared to U.S. exports. For example, according to the Lobster Council of Canada, lobster exports to Spain grew by 345%.

Natural Resources

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear the Prime Minister does not understand the struggles of everyday Canadians. More than 100,000 unemployed energy workers are struggling to pay their mortgages, heat their homes and buy Christmas presents for their families. The Prime Minister's solution to this crisis is empty words, higher taxes and more unemployment.

Canadian energy workers do not want EI cheques; they want paycheques. They do not want handouts; they want jobs. Will the Prime Minister get these people back to work? Will he scrap his “no pipelines” Bill C-69?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we have and always will stand with the energy sector and the Canadians who work in that sector. We have approved Enbridge Line 3, which will add more capacity to carry our oil to the U.S. We are moving forward with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in the right way, responding to the issues that OERD has identified. We are supporting Keystone XL. All this is being done at the same time as we are supporting workers in time of need through EI benefits.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Albertans want jobs, not handouts. Isaac Laboucan of the Woodland Cree First Nation was in Ottawa this week, voicing his opposition to the Prime Minister's shipping ban. The Prime Minister's ban hamstrings indigenous communities and is the only oil shipping moratorium in Canada. It is just another example of Liberal arrogance.

The first nations want the Prime Minister to stop his “Liberals know best” approach. When will the Prime Minister get out of the way of the indigenous people instead of supporting American oil interests, and abandon his disastrous shipping ban?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I think only a disconnected politician would call EI a handout. It is an earned benefit that workers have fought to have.

We are proud of our record. In the last month, 36,500 new jobs were created in Alberta. That is a gain of 71,100 full-time jobs since 2015 in Alberta. Yes, we need to do more, and we will deliver more.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, like leaders of hundreds of other indigenous communities, Blood Tribe Chief Roy Fox says most Treaty 7 chiefs strongly oppose Bill C-69 “for its likely devastating impact on our ability to support our community members”.

A Guelph University professor says Bill C-69 “conflicts with the goals of timeliness and transparency, not to mention fairness”, while the pipeline association says it expects timelines to be longer. Martha Hall Findlay says it will increase political influence.

This is all the exact opposite of everything the Liberals claim, so will they scrap their “no more pipelines” Bill C-69 before it is too late?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize the diversity of opinion among indigenous communities on how we develop and transport our resources. We are trying to fix a system that was broken in 2012 when the previous government brought in changes that gutted environmental regulations, destroyed the protection for water and fish, and took away the ability of Canadians to participate in the regulatory process.

We are putting a better system in place that allows good projects to move forward in a quicker way.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when Abdullahi Hashi Farah was detained a year ago after illegally entering Canada from the United States, he confessed to being part of a notorious Somali outlaw gang and had an outstanding arrest warrant. In spite of this, the government allowed him to go free in our community and claim he was fleeing persecution. He was recently arrested as a suspect in armed robberies that he allegedly committed after his release in Canada.

Will the Prime Minister review and fix his failed screening processes?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction]

Mr. Speaker, everyone who comes into this country is subject to vigorous background screening. The information in this case was not available to the IRB when it made the decision, but the man in question has been in custody since June. He is currently being held pending detention. That detention and removal will take place early in the new year.

Pensions

[Scott Duvall, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals failed to protect workers' pensions and Canadian consumers. Under their watch, rich executives and American hedge fund owners have been profiting from Sears' bankruptcy, while Canadians are left behind.

Sears workers and retirees are forced to fight in court to receive their hard-earned pensions. Now consumers are being told the warranties they purchased at Sears will not be delivered, but they have to pay for them, and if they refuse to pay, they get a bad credit rating.

This is wrong, and the government knows it. Why are the Liberals refusing to protect Canadian workers and consumers from greedy, rich corporations?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for his work with respect not only to issues at Sears, but on pensions more broadly. The member opposite knows full well when it comes to pensions, our government has taken a leadership role in advancing that issue. We have talked about supporting retirement security for Canadians. We have brought forward measures with respect to CPP by strengthening CPP. We have also expanded the wage earner protection program.

In the 2018 budget we were very clear that we are going to provide a whole-of-government solution to deal with this issue, to learn from the lessons from Sears and to make sure that these lessons are not repeated going forward.

Canada Post

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Prime Minister is attending an event on gender equality and women's economic participation, yet his unconstitutional Bill C-89 forced rural and suburban mail carriers back to work for less pay than their male counterparts, this despite an arbitrator's award for pay equity that continues to be ignored by Canada Post.

The Prime Minister talks a good game, but actions speak louder than words. Back-to-work legislation forced postal workers back into inequality. What is so feminist about that?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, we did everything we could to support Canada Post and its members and workers to get a deal. We appointed a federal mediation service at least a year before the talks ended. We appointed a special mediator. We reappointed a special mediator. We moved forward with legislation. We have legislation that is fair and balanced, that takes into account needs of the workers and the concerns they raised as well as the financial sustainability of the corporation. We look forward to the arbitrator's work.

Science

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the last election, Liberals promised to treat scientists with respect, but last week, scientists in the Networks of Centres of Excellence found out about funding cuts in a newspaper article. The Stem Cell Network is working on cures for diabetes, blood cancers and heart disease. Their funding runs out in three months and they have been told that is it. They have been funded since 2001, for the last 17 years. How is telling scientists about funding cuts in a newspaper article treating them with respect?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Minister of Science and Sport]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague in his new role. Our government is committed to science, research and evidence-based decision-making. That is why we have made the largest investment in research in Canadian history of $4 billion. This historic investment includes the creation of the new frontiers in research fund, which will support research that will accelerate the pace of discovery and help quality of life and the economy. We will take no lessons from the Conservatives who cut scientists—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs will please come to order. I know he is having a good time, but he should wait until after the House adjourns for that.

The hon. member for Cariboo—Prince George.

The Environment

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while approving the dumping of hundreds of millions of litres of raw sewage into our rivers and streams, the Minister of Environment seems intent on shuttering industry in my province. We know she is close to signing a caribou protection deal with the province of British Columbia without even consulting the mayors and regional districts. This deal will kill jobs and put families out of work. In 100 Mile House, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Mackenzie, Prince George, Fraser-Fort George, Terrace, Tumbler Ridge, Vanderhoof, Pouce Coupe and Williams Lake, these mayors just want a seat at the table. Why is the minister ignoring them?

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Conservatives' new-found interest in nature and conservation after 10 years when they slashed budgets. The fact is that in our last federal budget, we had the largest single investment in nature and conservation in the history of our country. The threats facing the boreal and Southern Mountain caribou in British Columbia is a very serious problem that we need to address. We are moving forward with a plan to work with the provinces, take the feedback of industry and, importantly, engage indigenous peoples to ensure that our kids and grandkids can see these pieces of Canada for generations to come.

National Defence

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Department of National Defence accidentally revealed to the public accounts committee the transfer of the aerospace engineering test establishment from Cold Lake to Ottawa. Despite claims to the contrary, neither the member of Parliament, nor the MLA nor the mayor of Cold Lake was briefed or consulted on the impact of this move, which will see the loss of many high-paying jobs. This is just the latest in the Liberal government's agenda to hurt Alberta every way it can.

To the Minister of National Defence: why this attack on Alberta jobs?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. Cold Lake plays an important role in our NORAD missions and we are increasing our investments to make sure that it continues to play a very important role in this. Unlike the Conservatives, whose 65 jets that they wanted to purchase would not have met our commitments, we are investing in the armed forces with 88 jets, plus an interim purchase that will also benefit and which will mean more increases.

I would like to ask my colleague if they are still against the interim purchases, because it will bring jobs and more benefits to Cold Lake.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I would remind the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot that after he asks a question, he is not supposed to keep talking.

The hon. member for Egmont.