Debates of Dec. 13th, 2018

The Economy

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians decided based on a promise that the Prime Minister made to balance the budget.

The other day the International Monetary Fund warned industrialized countries to “fix the roof while the sun shines” as the stars and clouds quickly amass over the global economy. However, the Prime Minister is doing the opposite. He continues to spend money we do not have with reckless abandon, which will ultimately lead to severe cuts of critical services when we need them the most.

When will the Prime Minister do the right thing, brace our economy for the storm and balance the budget?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is no wonder that now she is on that side, she knows a thing or two about cutting services. It is the Conservatives' side that cut services to veterans and cut pay specialists that led to the Phoenix pay system. It is their side that sent cheques to families of millionaires. That was their focus.

I understand that they tried to cut their way to prosperity. It failed. We have taken a different approach that has been working for the last three years and that is working for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I also really like history. During the financial crisis between 2008 and 2015, we released $80 billion from our economic action plan, we safeguarded 250,000 jobs and we posted the best performance of the OECD.

In 2015, the Prime Minister could not have been clearer when he said that the budget would be balanced in 2019. Not only did that not happen—which makes it a broken promise—but also the Liberals have no idea when the budget will be balanced. No government since 1867 has ever been so irresponsible with the public purse.

When will we see a balanced budget?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, no Conservative government since 1946 has posted a worse economic performance than Stephen Harper's Conservative government, which the member is so passionately defending.

I invite him to review his history and check his facts. Under the Conservative government, Canada had the worst export growth in 69 years, as well as the worst job growth, because the Conservative approach failed. It focused on the wealthy by sending cheques to millionaires' families and increasing TFSA limits for the wealthy, thanks to boutique tax credits.

We took a completely different approach, which is working. We are reducing inequality and investing in Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the early 2000s, the Conservative government paid off $40 billion of debt because we foresaw the difficult times that were ahead in the global economy.

By contrast, while the sun is shining in the global economy, the Liberal government is piling up record debt. Now Citigroup has produced a report saying that Canada us “flashing red warning lights” with respect to government debt. We go into this storm ahead more exposed now than ever before.

When will the budget be balanced?

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

Mr. Speaker, I know something of the era to which the gentleman was referring.

In 2006, the Conservative government inherited nine consecutive Liberal surpluses. It inherited $100 billion in fiscal flexibility. In less than two years, the Conservatives blew it all. Through reckless fiscal policy, it eliminated all the surplus and put the country back into deficit again, before, not because of, there was a recession in 2008. The recession made it worse.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. We all know it will get very quiet here soon, but perhaps not soon enough.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that member is very upset, because that was back in the era where he helped defeat his government by bungling his way into an RCMP investigation of the income trusts.

In the first two years before the global economic crisis, the Conservative government paid off $40 billion of debt, which buffered us against the trouble which was ahead. We came out of the global recession before everyone else, and created a million jobs.

Why are the Liberals piling up so much debt now—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Minister of Public Safety.

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

Mr. Speaker, I note the hon. gentleman omits the outcome of the investigation, which was complete vindication.

The Conservatives created the deficit before there was a recession. The recession made it worse, but they invented the deficit all by themselves and they never balanced the books ever again. The Conservatives added $150 billion in new debt. They put 216,000 more people on the unemployment rolls.

The Environment

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of the deficit, let's talk about the environmental deficit.

Everyone knows that Canada will fall well short of its greenhouse gas reduction targets.

According to an IPCC report, if Canada wanted to limit global warming to 1.5°C, it would have to double the planned reductions.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that we were running out of time. He thinks that failing to act would be not only immoral, but also suicidal.

What are the Liberals waiting for? Will they stop posturing and actually do something about climate change?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that takes the threat posed by climate change seriously. I am even prouder to see that we are actually taking action to put our commitment during the last election campaign into reality.

We are putting a price on pollution, which is going to bring emissions down and leave families better off. We are investing historically in Canada's public transit system, which will have a significant effect on emissions reduction. We are investing in green infrastructure and clean technology. Importantly, we are phasing out coal to get to a place where 90% of our electricity will be generated by renewable resources by 2030, which is 30 years ahead of when the Conservatives planned to reach this goal.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, auditors general and the United Nations have expressed concern that Canada is in danger of missing its 2030 Paris target by a wide margin. Canada is in no position to be asking others to act. Given weak greenhouse gas reduction targets and a growing number of provinces reneging on their measures, it has become evident that the much-touted pan-Canadian framework is just a legal fiction.

Instead of calling on other nations to act, will the government take concrete measures now to ensure Canada does its part?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure the member that our government is working with Canadians as we transition to a clean energy future. We have a very serious plan to do our work at home while we are taking a leadership role on the international stage. That plan includes phasing out coal and, as I mentioned before, getting to 90% of our electricity generated from renewable resources by 2030.

We are also improving public transit. We are investing in energy efficiency, with $56 million in my province of Nova Scotia alone. We are putting people to work in the green economy and bringing our emissions down at the same time.

National Defence

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, air force Captain Kimberly Fawcett was deployed twice to Afghanistan. Now she is fighting the Liberals to pay for her prosthetic limb. She lost her limb in an accident that killed her infant son Keiran. Captain Fawcett was carrying out her family care plan with the approval of her commanding officer. She defended our country in Afghanistan, but the military and Veterans Affairs say they will not pay for her prosthesis.

When will the Liberals do the right thing and cover the costs related to her injury?

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank Captain Fawcett for her service to our country. Our hearts go out to her for the loss she has suffered. We are committed to making sure she gets the support she needs, including for the prosthetic leg.

Due to the complexity of the decisions made some time ago, this file is very complex. However, we will not only make sure that she has the right support, but we will work through that complexity to make sure we do right by her.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that the minister finally decided to settle this case, but Captain Fawcett had to go to court to demand justice.

Why did the Minister of Defence, who has known about this for several months, wait for the case to end up in court and for the media to pick up the story before addressing the problem?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are going to make sure that Captain Fawcett gets the support she needs. However, as I stated, the decisions made when the Harper government was in power have made this file extremely complex. I have spoken to members opposite about this.

We have committed to and are working through the complexity of the file to make sure she has the support she needs.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Kimberly Fawcett is a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces who is in court fighting the Liberals for support for her prosthetic limbs.

I spoke to the Minister of National Defence about the Fawcett case this summer, but yesterday he told Global News that he was just becoming aware of the matter. The minister knows that is not true.

It is not complex. He should do the right thing. Captain Fawcett did her duty for Canada. It is time for the minister to do his duty to her.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will make it very clear. The question I received was about learning about the prosthetic leg. Yes, I learned about it yesterday. Obviously, we have been talking about this file for some time and have been working through it before, as the hon. member mentioned.

However, if he wants to turn this into a partisan issue, where were he and his leadership at a time when the Conservatives were in government and could have done something about this?

We will get something done, because that is what Captain Fawcett deserves.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was not partisan when I reached out to the minister four months ago to resolve this case. We spoke about this in September. He said he was seized with it. He stood with the Prime Minister and said he would never see a veteran go to court for benefits. The government is paying for the benefits of a murderer, but it is hanging Captain Fawcett out to dry.

When will the veterans in that caucus step up and fight for our military members?

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

Mr. Speaker, I spoke to the member opposite over the summer. In fact, even yesterday I reached out to him to ask for his help in reaching out to Captain Fawcett so we can get more information. I appreciate his support in that.

What is concerning to me is that we have been working in trying to resolve this together, but if the member wants to make this a partisan issue, why did he not take action at a time when he had the authority to do so as minister of veterans affairs?

We will get this done.

Indigenous Affairs

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the fact that Canada is asking for a five-judge panel to fight a battle that the Nuu-chah-nulth nations have already won rather than translate that win into meaningful benefits for them, renders words of reconciliation hollow. This is no way for the government to treat its so-called most important relationship.

The Nuu-chah-nulth nations have a right to catch and sell fish in their own territories and are asking that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice live up to their words of reconciliation.

Will the minister cease her efforts to have a five-judge panel appointed for this appeal right now?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we are certainly working collaboratively with the Ahousaht nations on the court decision in terms of working towards implementation of the decision of the court. The hon. member should know that the appeal of that decision is actually from the first nations, not from the government.

We are working collaboratively to address the issue. We will continue to do so and ensure that we meet our obligations under the court decision.

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?