Debates of Feb. 27th, 2018

Canada-India Relations

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, can the Prime Minister tell me what part of this is false? Was there a briefing arranged by the PMO with the media? Is that a lie? Was that briefing done by the national security adviser, Daniel Jean? Is that a lie? Was the Indian government complicit in conspiring so that there was a terrorist in India at the same time as the Prime Minister so that they could hang out together? Which one of those three things is a lie?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that issues in relation to national security are not discussed on the floor of the House of Commons. Otherwise, the interests of the country can be compromised.

The fact of the matter is that we rely on our security officials to provide independent, impartial advice to the government and information to the country. They have performed their jobs in every respect in this matter exactly as they should have performed them.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is really quite astounding that today the Prime Minister of Canada confirmed that the claims are true that the Indian government conspired on the Atwal affair. He said that in the House today. Media reports reveal that the Indian government actually asked Canada to review the invitation list ahead of time, but the Prime Minister's Office said no.

Can the minister confirm that they refused to collaborate with the Indian government ahead of this trip?

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

Mr. Speaker, in fact there were elaborate efforts made consistently throughout all of the preparations and the trip itself, by the RCMP, by CSIS, and by all of the appropriate agencies in Global Affairs and the Government of Canada, to make sure that every precise detail of the relationship between Canada and India was properly performed and exercised in every respect.

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

Mr. Speaker, the only elaborate efforts made are the elaborate efforts to cover up the disastrous trip of the Prime Minister to use a national security adviser to spin the media on a conspiracy theory against our friends in the Indian government. We learned that they wanted to actually collaborate with Canada on security, but they refused, and now the Prime Minister is blaming India by saying what his national security adviser said was true.

Will the Prime Minister or the minister apologize to our friends in India for this scandalous accusation?

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

Mr. Speaker, at the end of the visit, I am pleased to note that the Prime Minister of India said that the talks with the Canadian Prime Minister were very fruitful. Our discussions focused on closer India-Canada co-operation in various sectors, including investment, trade, energy, and stronger people-to-people relations. There were six MOUs, 22 new initiatives, $1 billion in investment, and 5,800 jobs identified.

Status of Women

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal budget is a golden opportunity for the current government to show real action on women's equality. Over the last two years we have heard many fine words, but sadly, very little investment in true gender equality. Immediate funding is needed this year for pay equity, for child care, and for domestic violence shelters. This is long overdue and would have the biggest impact on the lives of women.

Will the budget spend on concrete actions now, not just talk, to truly help women in this country get ahead?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister of Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, when we invest in women, we strengthen the economy for everyone. This has supported our work since we formed government two years ago. It was at the heart of our work when we introduced the Canada child benefit plan, lifting 300,000 Canadian kids out of poverty. It is why the national housing strategy devotes a minimum of 25% of the $40 billion promised to support women and girls. It is why we introduced $7 billion for child care, so that families across the country can continue to look after their needs.

We all look forward to the Minister of Finance introducing the budget later today.

Child Care

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

Mr. Speaker, the government claims to want to help women get back to work by creating an incentive for parental leave. That is all well and good, but once the leave is over, child care outside of Quebec is so expensive that many parents, especially women, have to make the difficult choice between pursuing a career or staying at home. There is a simple solution, however, one that the NDP has been calling for for quite some time now: a universal, affordable child care program.

When is it going to happen?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, anyone who takes gender equality seriously knows that high-quality, affordable day care services are essential, so we know just how important day care services are, not only for parents, but also for children, and particularly children from more vulnerable families. Back in 2016, we announced our plan to create up to 40,000 spaces in educational daycare centres across the country by 2028. We want better, more affordable child care for Canadians.

Canada-India Relations

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the public safety minister claims Canada's security agencies did their job on the Prime Minister's disastrous India trip. The fact is our security experts were not allowed to do their job because the PMO did not show the guest list to the RCMP or CSIS for screening. Now we know that India's security agencies did ask to see the guest list, where they would have detected the notorious, convicted, attempted assassin, but were refused access.

It is time for the minister and the Prime Minister to explain this unacceptable security failure.

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

Mr. Speaker, in fact the security problem was identified. As soon as it was identified, the invitation was rescinded. That action was taken by the Government of Canada, as is appropriate.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is not good enough. The PMO should have known. The minister should have known. The RCMP and CSIS certainly did know that the hotel where the PM's cocktail party was held, the hotel at which the convicted attempted assassin posed for pictures with the Prime Minister's wife and others, was the site of a major terror attack in 2008 that left one Canadian dead.

Why did the Prime Minister choose to disregard the assistance India offered and then push a conspiracy theory that has undermined relations with India?

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

Mr. Speaker, again I say with absolute certainty that the Canadian security and police authorities performed their jobs in all of these circumstances exactly as they should have performed them. They provide independent, impartial, professional, non-partisan advice and information to the Government of Canada and the people of Canada, and that is exactly what has happened in this case.

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

Mr. Speaker, apparently the circus lives on. The show we got in India is not over. This government claims to be transparent, but, as we can see, it is getting entangled in its own web.

Yesterday, we learned through the media that India had asked for the guest list for the Prime Minister's gala and that the Canadian government refused to provide it.

I would like to hear from the Prime Minister whether India made the request and how the government responded.

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

Mr. Speaker, the arrangements with respect to the Prime Minister's mission to India were very carefully prepared not only by the Department of Global Affairs but also with the assistance of CSIS and the RCMP. They took all the necessary steps to ensure the security of the mission. The officials with respect to the Prime Minister's Office, once they had identified the presence of a particular individual, took the steps to rescind his invitation.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there are not enough buses in Ottawa for the Prime Minister and his backroom executives to throw people under. They have thrown the non-partisan national security adviser under the bus by having him float a conspiracy theory that the Indian government was responsible for trying to undermine India-Canada relations. Let us be honest. The Prime Minister did this to justify his disastrous trip to India, but more than that, they pushed this to the media without a single shred of evidence.

Will the Prime Minister provide the evidence, if it even exists, that supports this laughable conspiracy theory?

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

Mr. Speaker, when security officials, police officials, and representatives of our security and intelligence agencies provide information and offer advice either to the government or on occasion to the public, they perform their functions in a truly impartial and independent manner and they do so in the national interests of Canada, not in the interests of any political party on any side of the House.

Rail Transportation

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at a time when the vast majority of our constituents are concerned about mobility problems and fighting greenhouse gases, there is general consensus that a high-frequency train is needed for the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. The people of Trois-Rivières have been waiting 25 years for passenger rail service to return and the minister has all the studies he needs to make a decision.

Can he tell us whether he views passenger rail service as an investment for our regions or, like the Conservatives, does he view it as an unnecessary expense?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, passenger rail service is very important to this government. As he also knows, we are looking at the possibility of a high-frequency train for the Quebec City-Windsor corridor.

We set $3.3 million aside in budget 2016. The study is not yet complete. It is a very thorough study. When we have the results, we will share them with everyone.

Seniors

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has more seniors now than youth age 15 and under. By 2036, one in every four residents will be a senior, yet when the Liberals came into power, they got rid of the seniors minister. Is it not time to have a national seniors strategy to fill the gaps too many seniors fall through? What better than a dedicated minister to work full time on their behalf? Seniors deserve more than a small increase to their GIS. They deserve a full-time advocate. When will the government act?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to say that we have a government that is entirely dedicated to the welfare of our seniors. We started in 2016 with an increase in the guaranteed income supplement of up to $1,000 per year, benefiting almost a million vulnerable seniors. We have put back to 65 years old the age of eligibility for old age security, which is going to prevent 100,000 vulnerable seniors from falling into misery. We have enhanced the Canada pension plan, which will benefit generations of seniors.

We are going to continue to work very hard to advance the welfare of our seniors.

National Defence

[Stephen Fuhr, Liberal, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's new defence policy emphasizes NATO's importance to Canada and recognizes that joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance is essential to NATO. In response to today's security environment, NATO has significantly increased the use of its AWACS fleet, specifically in central and eastern Europe, where Canada leads a multinational NATO mission based in Latvia.

Could the Minister of National Defence update the House on the government's position with regard to the NATO AWACS program?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Kelowna—Lake Country for his former service as a CF-18 fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

I was proud to announce our government's decision to rejoin NATO's AWACS program at the NATO defence ministers' meeting earlier this month. This decision to rejoin the program after the Conservative government abruptly withdrew in 2011 is a sign of our government's strong commitment to the NATO alliance. We understand that in order to be strong and secure at home, we must be engaged in the world.

Canada-India Relations

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period the Prime Minister confirmed that he agrees with the national security adviser who advanced a conspiracy theory that it was the Government of India that conspired against the Government of Canada to embarrass the Prime Minister on his trip to India.

The Prime Minister also said that the member for Surrey Centre extended an invitation to a convicted attempted murderer. Is he saying that the member for Surrey Centre is complicit with the Indian government in conspiring against the Government of Canada?