Debates of Feb. 14th, 2018

Ethics

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the issue we have run into before with this particular member opposite is that he was able to say things in the House of Commons under parliamentary immunity that he would no longer repeat outside. The fact is that we have an Ethics Commissioner whose job it is to look at the facts to determine what is public, what is private, what is responsible and what is not, what are personal attacks and what are not.

I accepted responsibility. I accept the full findings and recommendations of the Ethics Commissioner, and that is what reassures Canadians.

Canadian Heritage

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 7,000 people across Quebec have signed a petition calling on the Prime Minister, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and the Minister of Finance to take urgent action to support our media and our journalism. Seven thousand people is a lot of people.

Journalists came to Parliament today to present this petition. Unfortunately, only one Liberal was on hand to welcome them. What a shame. This sector has shed 16,000 jobs and now our media, journalists, and democracy need urgent measures.

Will the Prime Minister commit to include urgent measures in his next budget?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, high-quality local and community information is essential to our democracy.

As a result of our $675-million investment in CBC/Radio-Canada, new journalists are now in communities where previously there had been no coverage.

We are also modernizing the Canada periodical fund. Our goal is to ensure that the fund meets the need for local information and local magazines. We know that more needs to be done and we will continue to work with organizations to ensure that we will have a free, independent, and viable press.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is another sad day for journalism. The Toronto Star has laid off over 50 people. The news media are undergoing unprecedented changes, yet the Minister of Canadian Heritage has not acted on any of the recommendations from either her commissioned report or the parliamentary committee report. Months have passed and job losses are a daily occurrence in the media.

How many consultations, reports, and recommendations will it take for the government to decide to do something, even to act on a single recommendation?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, reliable local and community news is essential for the functioning of our democracy. For example, we have invested $675 million in CBC-Radio Canada that then turned around and introduced journalists into areas where they had never served before. We are also modernizing the Canada periodical fund to ensure that it is meeting the needs of local news and magazines, including in the transition to digital.

We know there is more to do. We will continue to work with our valued friends and partners in the media to ensure they can continue to do their job of holding the democracy to account and informing citizens.

Ethics

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, paragraph 121(1)(c) of the Criminal Code makes it an offence for a government official “to accept from a person who has dealings with the government a commission, reward, advantage or benefit of any kind for themselves or another person”.

Was the Prime Minister aware of this paragraph of the Criminal Code when he accepted a $200,000 gift from a person who has dealings with his government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, above the mudslinging, we have a Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, who is tasked with looking into the facts of issues, making recommendations, and holding all parliamentarians to account. When the commissioner put forward her report, I fully accepted that report, took responsibility, and have been implementing the advice and recommendations she made. The opposition may continue to want to sling mud and make personal attacks, but Canadians can be reassured that the Ethics Commissioner has done her job.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the commissioner's job does not include investigating matters under the Criminal Code. There are two essential elements to paragraph 121(1)(c) of the Criminal Code: one, a government official accepting a benefit, and two, “from a person who has dealings with the government”.

Did the Prime Minister accept a benefit from the Aga Khan? Does the Aga Khan have dealings with the government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, these are all questions that the Ethics Commissioner dug into in her report and made clear recommendations on. However, what is clear is that on this side of the House we value and respect the work done by officers of Parliament. On that side of the House, they continue to question the work of the Ethics Commissioner, just as they did for 10 years of insulting, minimizing, and discarding the advice of officers of Parliament. That is what they did when they were in government. We take a different approach. We respect the great work done by our officers of Parliament.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is not the Ethics Commissioner who is responsible for investigating matters under the Criminal Code. The RCMP is responsible for that.

Did the Prime Minister or his office ever discuss his island vacation with any member of the RCMP?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, the Ethics Commissioner did a complete and thorough investigation, at the request of members opposite. I co-operated with the Ethics Commissioner every step of the way, and her report is fulsome and rigorous. If the Conservatives choose to question the work that she has done, the quality of the work that the former ethics commissioner did, that is their prerogative. Quite frankly, it is consistent with the approach that the Conservative government under Stephen Harper always had, which was to minimize, discard, and ignore the great work done by officers of Parliament.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear. On behalf of the opposition, we fully endorse the Ethics Commissioner's finding of guilt of the Prime Minister. He broke four sections of the ethics law, and now he wants to turn himself into the victim because the opposition is asking legitimate questions about section 121 of the Criminal Code.

Does he dispute that he accepted thousands of dollars of benefits from somebody who had official dealings with his government and with him personally?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in this place we have a system where different parties ask questions and hold governments to account, and it works very well. What also works very well is that Canadians can be reassured that above the mudslinging and personal attacks, we have officers of Parliament, like the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, who will dig into the actual facts of the matter and make thorough investigations. We worked with the Ethics Commissioner throughout the fall and can say that we fully accept all her findings and have moved forward on accepting all her recommendations.

Canada Post

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, rural and suburban mail carriers are paid 25% less per hour than their urban counterparts. They also receive fewer benefits. Two-thirds of rural mail carriers are women, while urban units have mostly men.

Canada Post refuses to even acknowledge the existence of a pay gap, and the government is dragging its feet. Women have been waiting for far too long.

When will the government keep its promise and stop this injustice?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, a gender pay gap in 2018 is unacceptable.

After 10 years of inaction by the previous government, we are working to eliminate the pay gap and support women’s participation in the workforce. We have invested $7 billion into early childhood education and daycare. We have increased parental and maternity benefits. We have invested in affordable housing and home care infrastructure. We are introducing flexible work arrangements for employees under federal jurisdiction. I could go on. I know that there is work left to do, and we will continue to work on that.

Status of Women

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

Mr. Speaker, for 30 years Canada Post fought its female workers in court. It is shameful.

Two years ago, the Liberals voted for our NDP motion to give women the respect we deserve and implement pay equity, but we still have not seen any movement. The Prime Minister claims to be a feminist, yet the government has not legislated pay equity in law. Women want concrete action today. We have waited far too long already.

With the budget coming in two weeks, will the government finally introduce measures to legislate equal pay for women? We are looking for action, not words.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that half an hour into question period we finally get a question on the upcoming budget.

We consider that a gender wage gap in 2018 is unacceptable. Therefore, after 10 years of inaction from the previous government, we are taking action to help address the wage gap and support women's labour market participation.

Already we have put $7 billion to address early learning and child care. We have increased parental and maternity benefits. We have invested in affordable housing and home care, and we are also going to be moving forward on pay equity.

Youth

[Raj Grewal, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Brampton East, young people are eager to share their ideas on the most pressing issues of our time. Each week, I host a basketball drop-in where a hundred young Canadians come in. We play some ball and talk about issues impacting Canada's future. Whether it is climate change, economic prosperity, or social justice issues, young Canadians are ready to have their voices added to the conversation.

Will the Prime Minister please update the House and all Canadians on the launch of a national dialogue on Canada's first youth policy and how young Canadians can get involved?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, young Canadians are not just leaders of tomorrow; they are leaders today. We announced the launch of a new interactive online platform, youthaction.ca, where young Canadians can share their ideas and perspectives on the development of a youth policy. This is the first step toward building a policy that will hold this government and future governments to account when it comes to issues that matter to young Canadians.

I encourage all young Canadians to join the conversation, and I look forward to their feedback.

Natural Resources

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals have a plan of action and they are going to actually do what it takes to get Trans Mountain built, why did they refuse to tell Canadians exactly what that plan is? The only consistent action by the Liberals has been inaction, and the Prime Minister's failure of leadership has directly led to the escalating interprovincial dispute. Clearly, he has lost control of this national priority.

The pipeline opponents say that they will use all tools available to kill it. What tools will the Prime Minister commit to using to get the pipeline built?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is eerily reminiscent of the tone and approach that for 10 years failed to get pipelines built by the previous Conservative government. The Conservatives thought that ramming things through was the way to get things done, and they did not get it done.

On this side of the House, we understand what Canadians know, that we protect the environment and grow the economy together, and that is exactly what we are doing. That is why we put forward a national plan on fighting climate change at the same time as we are moving forward on building the Keystone XL, or rather the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. Feel the love. It is Valentine's Day.

The hon. member for Lakeland.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is confidence building, but that was the wrong one.

The minister says that he will not accept any undue delays on the Trans Mountain expansion, although he will not define them, even though it has already been held up for 142 days. Construction is stalled. Spending is slowed, and operations are postponed.

The Prime Minister says that he will not allow it to be stalled or stopped, and he claims the pipeline will be built. However, yesterday the Liberals defeated a motion just asking them to set out a concrete plan of action, and he will not answer today.

Is the Prime Minister not willing to announce his plan because he actually does not even have one?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that protecting the environment and growing the economy go together, and that is exactly what we have done. We have focused on building a world-class carbon reduction plan that is actually going to deliver on our Paris targets. We have invested over $1.5 billion in protecting our coasts, and we are moving forward on getting our resources to new markets through the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

These are the things that Canadians expect of a government, to pull things together and create an economy and an environment that go together. That is what the Conservatives failed to do. That is what we are doing.