House of Commons Hansard #364 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was jobs.
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Pursuant to section 28 of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, it is my duty to present to the House the report of the Conflict of interest and Ethics Commissioner on an inquiry in relation to the hon. member for Calgary Midnapore.
Bob Nault Liberal Kenora, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas respecting its participation at the 10th gathering of ParlAmericas' Gender Equality Network, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from May 22 to 24.
John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 28th report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security concerning Bill C-83, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another Act.
The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back, under very constrained timelines, with extensive amendments.
I want to take this opportunity to thank staff, officials and members for their extensive co-operation in presenting this report to the House today.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley—Aldergrove, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present two petitions.
The first petition relates to the Canada summer jobs program. It highlights that the government's attestation requirement last year was in breach of the charter rights of Canadians.
The petitioners ask that next year, which is coming up very soon, the government not include the discriminatory attestation requirement.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley—Aldergrove, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with respect to impaired driving.
The petitioners highlight that the Prime Minister, leading up to the last election, promised to make impaired driving much more serious, that there would be mandatory minimums. They are disappointed that the Prime Minister has not keep that promise and is actually watering it down.
The petitioners ask the government to reconsider and to include mandatory sentencing for impaired driving causing death.
Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of 350 signatories, I have the honour of tabling a petition
The petitioners ask that the House of Commons support Bill S-214 and ban the sale and manufacturing of animal tested cosmetics and their ingredients in Canada. With alternative safety tests available that are faster, more accurate and cheaper, animal testing is unnecessary to prove the safety of cosmetic products, let alone the ethical difficulties with this practice.
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by Canadians from the ridings of Nickel Belt, Kelowna—Lake Country, Mission and Fraser Canyon.
The petitioners call on the House of Commons to respect the rights of law-abiding firearms owners and reject the Prime Minister's plan to waste taxpayer money studying a ban on guns that are already banned.
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan asked that I present a petition with respect to the illicit trafficking of human organs.
The petitioners ask for there to be a law against people going to other countries to have organs transplanted that have been taken from people without their consent.
Sheila Malcolmson NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Mr. Speaker, because vision loss is predicted to double over the next 20 years and because the most vulnerable people are children, seniors and indigenous people, petitioners in Nanaimo—Ladysmith ask the government to recognize that early detection and better access to eye health care service could prevent vision impairment. They call for the recognition that vision care is a growing public health care problem and urge the government to act proactively to prevent blindness in the first place.
I want to thank the organizations in Nanaimo—Ladysmith that have gathered hundreds of signatures for this cause.
MaryAnn Mihychuk Liberal Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Speaker, today I present a petition in regard to Ukrainians travelling to Canada visa-free for a stay of up to 90 days, especially given the fact that we successfully signed the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement on July 11 in Kiev, which came into force August 1, 2017.
David Sweet Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a petition wherein the petitioners call upon the government to bring legislation forward immediately following the report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources to provide better compassion and support for parents of pregnancy and infant loss and ensure they do not suffer any undue hardship as the result of federal government programming.
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition from a number of Canadians.
The petitioners urge Parliament to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad to acquire human organs removed without consent or as a result of a financial transaction.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
moved:
That the House: (a) recognize the severity of the looming job crisis in Canada caused by the failed economic policies of the Liberal government, especially for (i) workers in the energy sector impacted by the Liberal carbon tax, the no-more-pipelines Bill C-69, and the ban on offshore oil tankers, (ii) workers in the auto and manufacturing sector impacted by the Liberal carbon tax and failed policies that put Canada in a competitive disadvantage, (iii) workers in the steel and aluminum sectors impacted by the Liberals’ failure to have tariffs removed from their products during NAFTA negotiations, (iv) workers in the forestry sector impacted by the Liberals’ failure to resolve the softwood lumber dispute during NAFTA negotiations, (v) farmers impacted by increased input costs due to the Liberal carbon tax, (vi) workers in sectors that rely on those above, whose jobs and incomes depend on the vitality of the Canadian economy, (vii) workers in all sectors impacted by the toxic medley of carbon taxes, higher payroll taxes, higher personal income taxes, tax increases on local businesses, and costly and burdensome regulations; and (b) call on the government to (i) eliminate the carbon tax, (ii) repeal Bill C-69, (iii) resolve the dispute on steel and aluminum tariffs, (iv) resolve the softwood lumber dispute, (v) lower taxes, (vi) streamline regulations, (vii) open up interprovincial and international markets.
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Today being the last allotted day for the supply period ending December 10, and in view of recent practices, do hon. members agree that the appropriation bill be distributed now?
Opposition Motion—The EconomyBusiness of SupplyGovernment Orders
Some hon. members
Agreed.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly an honour to stand in this place on behalf of the people of Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola. I will be splitting my time with the eloquent member for Lethbridge.
Over the past few years, we have watched the ongoing demise of our energy sector. Regardless of what people may think of northern gateway, or energy east or the northern tanker ban, the end result is clear. Billions of dollars of investment and thousands of new jobs are leaving Canada. If this were just the Canadian energy sector, that would be a huge concern all on its own. However, we know it is not just the energy sector.
Last week in question period I asked about multiple factories in different sectors that had closed their doors and left Canada: General Electric in Peterborough closed, 358 jobs gone; Campbell Soup in Toronto closed, 380 jobs gone; Procter and Gamble in Brockville closed, 500 jobs gone. These are just a few examples. Keep in mind that these major companies are not leaving North America; they are just consistently saying no to manufacturing in Canada. Should we not pause to consider some of the reasons why?
We all heard the deeply troubling news that General Motors would close its Oshawa plant. To be fair, General Motors is closing plants in the United States as well. However, in Canada, we know this will have a much larger impact. Many smaller plants provide parts and supplies for this Oshawa factory.
Should we not ask why so many of these manufacturing plants are leaving Canada?
When we have raised this question in this place, we have heard mixed messages from our Prime Minister. Some days he will tell us that all is well and that there is nothing to see here. Other days he will find some way to suggest that this is all the fault of the previous Harper government. However, when in Alberta, he will acknowledge that, yes. this is a crisis. Then he turns around and offers up a budget update with no new solutions for Canadian energy. Ultimately, none of these explanations address the underlying fact.
Canada is losing critically important well-paying jobs. What are the reasons?
We know that the enhanced CPP created by the Liberal Government amounts to a payroll tax to employers. It increases the costs of doing business in Canada. Our competitors did not increase payroll taxes in this way.
We also know that a carbon tax increases the price of doing business in Canada. The Liberals seem loathe to hear that point, yet the Liberal government announced carbon tax relief for big polluters in Canada. Why? We all know why. Because our competitors do not have a carbon tax.
A Liberal parliamentary secretary, in this place, on the record, admitted that job losses and economic consequences would result from competitive concerns. Therefore, let us recap.
The Liberal government recognizes and reluctantly admits that the carbon tax is job killer that will harm the economy. They said so in this place. That brings me to the topic of coal.
Recently the Liberal government provided a 95.5% carbon tax discount on burning coal for power in New Brunswick. Why? Because the Prime Minister and his inner circle decided that this was something Canada should do. Is it because the United States and Mexico do not have a carbon tax on the burning of coal? We do not know.
Aside from coal there are other challenges.
Some of our competing jurisdictions in the United States are right to work states. I find that when a company leaves Canada and moves production to the United States, it often relocates to a right to work state.
Look at the Bombardier deal with Airbus. The C-Series jet, subsidized by Canadian taxpayers, now will be built in a plant in Alabama. Alabama happens to be a right to work state.
The General Electric plant that will build 60 new locomotives CN just ordered to help move oil by rail because we cannot do it by pipeline is located in Texas, also a right to work state.
Proctor & Gamble left Ontario and moved production to West Virginia. Virginia has right to work legislation.
I mention this because here in Canada, mandatory union dues are frequently used in playing partisan politics. We are witnessing an example of this with Unifor. However, we have other challenges. Despite a new NAFTA agreement, steel and aluminum tariffs remain, softwood lumber tariffs remain and buy American provisions remain.
In the past, we have had a favourable exchange rate when comparing the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar. Sadly, much of those exchange rate savings have now been eaten up by costs and regulations that we have placed on ourselves.
Think about all of the debate around how best to respond to Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister continues to support buying Saudi Arabian oil while his Bill C-69 kills the possibility for the energy east pipeline. Why? Saudi Arabian oil flows to the Irving refinery in Atlantic Canada and Saudi Arabia is a country with no carbon tax. Somehow to the Liberal government this all makes sense.
Make no mistake that Bill C-69 will kill our Canadian resource sector. Every single day we watch anywhere from $40 million to $80 million in lost resource revenue go out the door in Alberta. That is almost as fast as our Prime Minister can tweet Canadians' money away in new promises to his American celebrity friends. Meanwhile, we turn the other way while money from outside of Canada continues to fund the very groups who oppose our Canadian oil made by Canadian citizens who pay Canadian taxes.
Seriously, we have a problem here. Make no mistake that it is a Canadian problem. Right now we are talking about General Motors shutting down a plant in Oshawa, Ontario, but what will be next and where?
On a more local note, I would like to share an example. Many members have heard of Tolko Industries. It is a Canadian success story with strong roots in the Okanagan. Tolko runs over 15 different lumber operations in three provinces in western Canada. Where did Tolko announce its next major investment and expansion earlier this year? That would be in the state of Louisiana. Members may have already guessed that Louisiana is also a right-to-work state. The last mill that Tolko closed was located in my riding in the community of Merritt.
Unlike the Prime Minister who tries to lay every one of his failures at the feet of Mr. Harper, I am not going to lay every one of these challenges at the feet of the Prime Minister. We cannot control what happens outside of our borders. We cannot control if other countries reject a carbon tax, and they have. We cannot control if they reject looking at resource projects through a gender lens, and they have. We cannot control if they lower the costs of doing business in their jurisdiction, and they are. We here in Canada cannot stop other nations, our trading partners, from implementing policies that they believe will make them more competitive.
Here is what we can do. This motion proposes that we should recognize we have the power to compete here in Canada. When and wherever Canadians compete on a level playing field, we can compete with the best in the world. We can succeed. In my view, we cannot continue to enact policy, regulation and taxation where others do not follow. We as Canadians like to think we are leading the way, but when others do not follow our lead and when we lose jobs and investment to other jurisdictions, we need to take notice.
There is an upside, in one word: opportunity. Canada is a rich and resourceful country. We have incredibly talented people who live here. We are a world-class place to live and to raise a family. However, we cannot tax away our best and brightest, nor can we regulate new opportunities.
If we are to truly succeed, we need to be competitive. We need to allow our innovators, our best and brightest to have the opportunity they need to succeed. We need new employers knocking on our door, not just because they want handouts and subsidies but because they know they can get a return here on their investments. However, they need to be able to invest and to build easily and relatively quickly. We have almost lost that here in Canada. Deep down, I think most in this place would admit that. Fortunately, we have a capable and skilled workforce. We have good infrastructure to get goods and services to markets and, thankfully, because of considerable effort from previous governments, and with some ongoing efforts from the current government, we have trade access to many of the world's most lucrative marketplaces.
In closing, we must not overlook our opportunity. Compared to many jurisdictions, we have relatively clean power here in Canada. We need to show the world that using Canadian-made goods and services is part of the solution. However, the first step is to recognize there is a problem, and ultimately, that is what this motion is meant to do.
Opposition Motion—The EconomyBusiness of SupplyGovernment Orders
Sean Fraser Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.
Mr. Speaker, one of the points the hon. member made during his remarks was the threat of higher payroll taxes, as he phrased it, to jobs and workers in the Canadian economy. I am curious then if it is the Conservative Party of Canada's plan, should it have the opportunity to form government, to repeal the changes we have made to enhance the Canada pension plan to protect our seniors for future generations.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Speaker, at a time when the government is proposing a job-killing carbon tax that will raise the price of everything, including groceries, I am very mindful of the working poor who are trying to get by. They are reading this morning that there will be a 3.5% increase in the cost of groceries, groceries that feed their families.
CPP takes away from those people who are working hard today and gives it to them in the future. That is important, but we need to bear in mind that next year we will have increased employment insurance rates and increased Canada pension plan rates. We will have a carbon tax which the Province of Ontario, the Province of New Brunswick and the Province of Saskatchewan have all rejected as making it harder for people to put food on the table.
The government is cascading our economy and people who do not have the means to feed themselves are going to be worse for wear. That is why the government needs to be looking at this motion today. We need to start reversing that trend so people can put food on the table and put away money for retirement. That is what the government needs to focus on.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to the Conservative Party's opposition motion. Unfortunately, the motion is overly ambitious and has way too much going on. We agree that there has to be a price on pollution and that polluters cannot be allowed to keep doing what they are doing if we want to honour our Paris Agreement commitments.
I have a question for my Conservative Party colleague. What does he think of the negotiating skills of the Liberal Party, which does not mind signing free trade agreements with the United States even though steel and aluminum tariffs are still hurting our economy, our industries and our workers?
Does he believe that, by signing the agreement while the tariffs are still in place and still hurting us, the Liberal government missed a perfect opportunity to hold on to a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the United States?
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree with the member that the government capitulated time and time again when it came to the new NAFTA negotiations. Despite the rhetoric of the government, those steel and aluminum tariffs are hurting jobs right across this great country. With respect to softwood lumber, the first thing I did after the 2015 election was to stand up in this place to implore the government to take concrete action to engage with the Obama administration on softwood lumber. Here we are years later and there is no certainty in either of those.
The government likes to talk a good game but delivers very poor results. I really do hope that it takes in mind this motion, because as I said in my speech, we have so many things to be thankful for and so many things we can work on, but we cannot do it if we are saddling our industries with tariffs, policies, regulations and taxes that do not allow them to compete with places like the United States.
Alice Wong Conservative Richmond Centre, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is about small businesses. Master Hung BBQ and Won Ton was my favourite place for dim sum and other things. Every time I went there, the owner kept saying, “Get rid of the Liberals”, because for a small business there is going to be high taxes and payroll increases and the business is going down. He is going to fold his business if nothing is going to happen. I would like to ask my colleague to expand on that.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Speaker, I will just repeat what was in the motion itself, that basically, workers in all sectors are impacted by the toxic medley of carbon taxes, higher payroll taxes, higher personal income taxes, tax increases on local businesses and burdensome regulations. All of these things are reasons why small businesses should, as the restaurant owner indicated, not support the Liberals in the next election.