Debates of Feb. 28th, 2018

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The time provided for private members' business has now expired, and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

The Environment

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

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak about an incident that took place on November 17 on the west coast of Vancouver Island, when CTV news reported an incident that had taken place where thousands of plastic feedbags escaped from an aquaculture farm and washed ashore in the Broken Group Islands, yet the communities were not notified about this. They found out through a leak.

The company that had the spill of plastic bags had reported it to the Coast Guard in October. Its float house had gone down and the bags escaped the float house some time in early November, yet we did not learn about this until CTV reported on it. I am going to read what CTV reported. It said, “The memo says the discovery could attract 'significant' media and public attention, connecting it to broader marine debris issues such as the Hanjin shipping container spill in November 2016.”

We know the efforts of the government to deal with the Hanjin were a disaster. Its plan of action was to let the local communities deal with it and then we will figure out who pays for it later and then try to reimburse them, instead of doing the right thing, which is cleaning up environmental messes and then figuring out who pays for it after, which is what people would expect.

When we learned about this through CTV, the first thing I did was reach out to the local communities, to Chief Dick at Tseshaht, to Chief Mack at Toquaht Nation, to President Les Doiron from Ucluelet First Nation, who is actually here in the House today, and the mayors of Ucluelet and Tofino. I asked if any of them had been contacted about this spill that had taken place. In fact, none of them had been contacted by the government. I will tell the House why. It is because the government was more worried about its reputation than protecting the environment, which is shameful.

The least we would expect as coastal communities is that when an incident takes place, the government contacts the local communities, the people that can help out, such as the Pacific Rim chapter of Surfrider or Clayoquot CleanUp. These groups all are willing to help out when there is an incident that takes place. They understand the significance, all of our region, all of our stakeholders, of protecting our ecosystem, especially our sensitive marine ecosystem, which we rely on for our food, for our economy, and for our recreation, and how important that is.

Most of all, when a memo goes out like this from the minister's office in the department, it compromises local staff. The local parks staff at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve have worked very hard. They live in our communities. They work very hard to create those relationships, that trust. They care about our communities. When the government makes a decision to hide information from the local communities, it compromises the local staff who are working hard to protect our communities and make us a better region.

With tides, winds, and shifting currents, ocean plastic is constantly moving and the government obviously does not understand the sense of urgency to take care of these issues. We hope that the government will support my Motion No. 151, to have an ocean plastics strategy that will dedicate funds to combatting ocean plastic pollution, dedicated funds for cleanups and marine debris cleanups, especially when emergencies like this surface.

I hope the government will make a promise today that it will never betray coastal communities and that it will tell them the truth when an incident takes place. It is the right thing to do.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for his focus on this issue and pay my respects to the hard work he does to make sure that the complex coastal communities of the west coast get the protection they need.

Our government also takes this issue seriously. Working together with more than 300 indigenous communities across Canada, Parks Canada and indigenous peoples are partners in conserving, restoring, and presenting Canada's natural and cultural heritage to the best of our abilities.

At Pacific Rim National Park Reserve of Canada, the agency is working collaboratively with the Tseshaht First Nation and other Nuu-chah-nulth first nations as partners to achieve long-term conservation and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources.

Parks Canada places represent the very best that Canada has to offer. They tell the stories of who we are, including the history, cultures, and contributions of indigenous peoples.

The Government of Canada is committed to the protection of Canada's national parks, and we take the issue of ocean debris very seriously.

When plastic bags were first discovered on the shores of the Broken Group Islands on November 10, Parks Canada immediately began working to remove the debris. At the time of the initial discovery, storm conditions prevented the agency from fully assessing the scope of the debris. Further work has continued since that time. With the help of the Canadian Coast Guard, approximately 4,000 plastic bags have been removed so far. Planning is under way to remove the remaining plastic bags and other, larger items. As weather permits, Parks Canada will continue to remove the debris from the Broken Group Islands. The agency is also planning a more formal cleanup effort in the national park reserve in collaboration with first nations, community groups, and federal departments.

The Government of Canada appreciates the concerns of all those who reached out after learning of the debris, and extends its thanks particularly to community members and the local businesses that have offered so much support in the cleanup efforts.

The agency's law enforcement officials are also investigating the incident and will work with the federal crown prosecutor to pursue charges under the Canada National Parks Act, if appropriate.

Parks Canada is committed to open and transparent communications with indigenous partners, stakeholders, and all Canadians. The agency also has an obligation to confirm that the information it provides is clear and accurate, ensures an appropriate response, and respects investigations that are under way.

When word of the incident first spread, Parks Canada was still gathering information to provide an overview of the situation to the Tseshaht First Nation, other indigenous partners, and key stakeholders along the coast. The agency has since had discussions with local first nations and local government representatives regarding the debris in the Broken Group Islands.

In the future, Parks Canada has committed to advising first nations sooner with respect to environmental incidents that occur within their traditional territory. Parks Canada will continue to share information moving forward, while respecting that an investigation is still under way.

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

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the words from my colleague and the commitment to inform the local communities.

I have a quote about the leaked memo: “The memo also says the plastic bags could pose a threat to marine wildlife by entangling them, impacting their habitat or being ingested as food.”

This is serious. The government knew that this could have an impact on the environment, yet it did not contact the local communities.

Nation to nation is built on respect. The Nuu-chah-nulth people have a word for respect. It is isaak. They carry isaak with them when they negotiate, when they talk to the government, when they look after this beautiful place that we call the Nuu-chah-nulth territories, so they expect that from the government.

I want to make sure that the member promises that they will be informed immediately, not soon but immediately, when an incident takes place on their traditional territories.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Madam Speaker, federal departments have been working together to assess the scope of the debris in the Broken Group Islands. When Parks Canada's boats could not reach outer islands due to dangerous conditions on the water, the Canadian Coast Guard deployed a helicopter to support this important work.

Parks Canada will collaborate with Fisheries and Oceans Canada in its investigation to understand exactly what the incident was with the aquaculture operation.

We are committed to a stronger nation-to-nation relationship. We understand the importance of making sure information gets to our partners on the ground and to indigenous communities as quickly as possible to facilitate as quick a cleanup as possible.

The issues raised by the hon. member are serious, and we understand that our response has to be just as serious.

Veterans Affairs

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, on February 26, I posed a question to the Prime Minister on behalf of Warrant Officer Roger Perreault, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, regarding the decision to reward terrorists who maim and kill Canadian soldiers, while denying compensation to soldiers injured in roadside bomb attacks.

Roger Perreault is an Afghanistan veteran who served his country honourably. In addition to serving in Afghanistan, he served twice in Bosnia and in three special duty areas over a span of 27 years. He was medically released from the military in 2017.

Roger was injured in 2006 in a blast from an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan. He has had three back surgeries, two hip replacements, and other complications. His release was timed to take place two days before the government's fake news announcement that all support programs would be in place before an injured soldier was discharged from the military. Nothing was in place for Roger and his family.

Now released from the military, retired Perreault is being denied the critical injury benefit by Veterans Affairs, being told that, at age 46, his injuries are the result of his body wearing out, ignoring the injuries he received in the IED blast. Today, veteran Roger Perreault informs me that the Department of Veterans Affairs does not even bother to return his phone calls. The Prime Minister should be ashamed that a Canadian veteran who sacrificed his health and the well-being of his family is treated in such a shoddy fashion.

On the evening of October 7, 2006, while on mission in Afghanistan, Warrant Officer Perreault was on a routine patrol in a LAV III. He had stopped behind another LAV III and dismounted when a large explosion ripped the left side of the LAV, throwing him to the ground. While, at the time, Roger considered himself lucky to have survived the explosion, several of his close comrades in arms were not so lucky.

Trooper Mark Andrew Wilson of the Royal Canadian Dragoons died that day. On September 3, 2006, Sargent Shane Hank Stachnik, from Roger's 2 Combat Engineer Regiment, Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan and Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish of the Royal Canadian Regiment died during a Taliban assault. Roger is haunted by memories of those fallen comrades. Now, considering the treatment he is receiving from his own government, he is not so sure who was the lucky one.

Four weeks ago, a veteran in Edmonton said, “I was prepared to be killed in action. What I wasn’t prepared for, Mr. Prime Minister, is Canada turning its back on me.” The Prime Minister's response that veterans are asking for more than he can give them right now was appalling.

Actually, what veterans are asking for is what the Prime Minister promised them. In terms of pain, suffering, and incapacity payments, most if not all veterans who qualify for such benefits under the Liberal April 2019 plan will receive less than under programs that were available from the Conservative government. What a cruel trick to Veterans: announce a program that few if any veterans qualify for.

Additional existing and future benefits have highly restrictive criteria. Only 152 veterans received the critical injury benefit that is owed to Roger Perreault out of more than 62,000 recipients of the lump sum. The Liberals have made it so difficult to qualify for the critical injury benefit that by their own estimates only six veterans per year will qualify going forward.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces literally put their lives on the line in service of our country, and for us.

On November 4, 2015, this government pledged to ensure that Canadian Armed Forces members injured in the line of duty receive the care, support, respect, and economic opportunities they deserve. We are delivering on that promise by enhancing programs for veterans with service-related injuries and illnesses, as well as improving service delivery. Plus, we are restoring a pension for life option.

On April 1 of this year, new programs that we announced in budget 2017 will become available to our veterans and their families. These include career transition services; the caregiver recognition benefit of $1,000 per month, tax free; expanded access to military family resource centres for veterans and their families; a new veteran emergency fund; a veteran and family well-being fund; and a new centre of excellence on PTSD and related mental health conditions. We are also expanding financial support for post-secondary education and training for veterans after service and removing the time limits for vocational training and support for families.

We announced a pension for life option for Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans with service-related disabilities. It means that a 25-year-old retired corporal who is 100% disabled would receive more than $5,800 in monthly support. For a 50-year-old retired major who is 100% disabled, monthly support would be almost $9,000. With an emphasis on overall well-being, we have invested over $6 billion to improve benefits and services for veterans, and the new pension for life plan invests nearly $3.6 billion more in pension benefits and programs that can be tailored to meet the individual needs of veterans and their families.

We know that veterans are often frustrated over having to wait to receive the benefits to which they are entitled after applying. Although the number of applications for disability benefits has increased by 32% over the past two years, this is a good thing. We are implementing programs and benefits for veterans, and more veterans are asking for the help they need and deserve.

We realize that there is still much work to be done. The Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada are working together to fill the gaps between the two departments so that veterans no longer have to wait to receive benefits. We promised to improve how our brave veterans and their families are treated. We will keep our promise.

It was clear the new veterans charter did not meet the financial needs of our veterans and their families. We listened to them. We increased the disability award, the earnings loss benefit, and introduced the pension for life to address this. In the first two years of our mandate, we invested almost $10 billion to improve the services and benefits available.

I have personally visited 12 bases and wings in the past year, including CFB Petawawa, and spoke to military families.

We have introduced the caregiver benefit of $1,000 tax free per month, which will be coming into effect April 1 of this year; $147 million over the next six years for access to the MFRCs, all 32 of them across Canada, for veterans and their families; and just yesterday, we announced in budget 2018, an additional $42.8 million over the next two years to improve service delivery, because we know we need to get faster supports to our veterans, including $24.4 million for graves and commemoration. We also will introduce the tax benefit for veterans for service dogs.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, recently Conservatives in my riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke overwhelmingly endorsed me to represent our party in the next federal election. It looks like the Prime Minister's party will be looking for a new candidate after he recently said the following on social media.

“Three years ago, I decided to seek the Liberal nomination for the candidacy in Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. My only political goal was to play a role in assuring that no other brave Canadian soldier would be penalized at home due to their service. I was inspired by [the Prime Minister's] promises to fix things. I was inspired by the presence of other veterans lining up to win nominations for the Liberals. I legitimately felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. I believed them. Now I realize that I was wrong.

“The Prime Minister recently stated that Canadian veterans want more than Canada can give. I stood on a stage behind [the Prime Minister] in August of 2015 when he made a promise to veterans, a promise which was obviously, in retrospect, a political bargaining chip. I have first-hand experience as a service member, stakeholder, and party member with respect to the way our military is regarded—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Unfortunately, time is up.

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Madam Speaker, I stood in the House two weeks ago and I put out a call to my colleagues across this great institution to stop playing politics on the backs of military, veterans, and their families. I will not play politics with them.

We made a promise to do right by our brave men and women in uniform and the families that supported them. In the two years we have been in office, we have clearly demonstrated we mean it. We are putting the money where our mouths are. We are delivering on that promise to support our veterans and their families by introducing a pension for life and improving services and delivery.

We will continue to put veterans first because that is what they need.

Housing

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, on November 2 last year, I asked a question about the housing situation in Canada. A few days later, the government finally announced a few details on its national housing strategy. Yesterday, it tabled its third budget, which I must say left much to be desired on a number of fronts.

According to the last census, nearly one in five Canadians cannot find affordable housing and is forced to spend more than 30% of their income on housing. One of the least expensive ways to address this affordable housing crisis is to invest in social housing in order to prevent further homelessness. However, as I mentioned in my original question, more than 25,000 families in Montreal are on the waiting list for social housing. In Toronto, 58,000 community housing units are in need of immediate repair.

The longer we wait, the more habitable social and community housing we lose, and the worse the situation gets for vulnerable families stuck on waiting lists. After announcing its housing strategy, the government should have used budget 2018 as an opportunity to show that it is serious about tackling the housing crisis. However, like us, the municipalities of Canada and Quebec, which too often suffer the repercussions of the housing crisis, denounced this missed opportunity to support social housing.

In response to budget 2018, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which had been calling on the government to expedite the funding it had announced in 2017 for housing repairs, issued a statement that said:

After years of chronic underfunding for repairs, this move would have enabled housing providers to keep at-risk homes safe and open for vulnerable families. But instead of protecting this vital part of Canada's social housing supply, this budget delays funding for critical repairs that are ready to go ahead.

The mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, echoed those remarks:

The mayors of major Canadian cities had specifically asked the government to expedite funding for the renovation of the existing housing stock...and, unfortunately, it is not in this budget.

As I said earlier, the budget left much to be desired. By refusing to act now to prevent and address problems, the government is in denial about the depth of the housing crisis in too many Canadian communities. It is all well and good to give a little bit of money for the construction of new affordable housing units, but if we do nothing to stop losing units, we are not any further ahead. When we take a few steps forward in one area and a few steps backwards in another, we are not moving forward.

The Canadian Housing and Renewal Association also commented on yesterday's budget:

In response to today's federal Budget, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA) today lamented the lack of a dedicated funding stream for the housing challenges facing Indigenous peoples living in urban and rural settings. Furthermore, although CHRA continues to applaud the release of the National Housing Strategy by the Prime Minister in November 2017, CHRA had hoped that Budget 2018 would provide new information regarding the status and implementation of the programs announced as part of the National Housing Strategy.

These reactions point to the fact that this budget is a missed opportunity to address the housing crisis right now. I will ask my question again.

Given that 90% of the amounts announced in budget 2017 for the next 10 years will be invested starting only in 2019 and that very few investments were announced in the budget tabled yesterday, why is the government not committing to immediately investing the necessary funds to maintain and expand the social housing stock?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, no government in the history of this country has invested more in housing than this government. The national housing strategy, which was launched in November, which was promised in last year's budget, will produce $40 billion in spending over the next 10 years.

I know there is a concern that there is no money coming this year, but that is just not true. In our first budget, we quadrupled the transfers to the provinces. In fact, we did it in such a way, and made eligible repairs, that close to 100,000 homes across the country have already been touched by those investments in housing, which were spent in the first year of our mandate and in the second year of our mandate, and are being spent right now.

Yesterday I heard the leader of the third party talk about how there was no housing money being spent for the next two years. Again, that is absolutely wrong. In fact, the national housing strategy, with a $5-billion commitment over the next 10 years, is being spent this year, starting in April, and those dollars are specifically targeted for capital investments, which include repairs.

The reality is this. We have doubled the spending on homelessness. That happened in our first budget and is now being locked in for the next 10 years. We have quadrupled the money being transferred to the provinces. We are about to embark on the Canada housing benefit, which is going to deliver subsidies to families and is going to have a substantial impact on the number of people who receive housing in the next 10 years.

The government started spending the day it took office. It has increased that spending this budget. It has added a further $1.25 billion to spur the construction of affordable and below-market affordable rental housing in major cities that are experiencing a housing crisis. There is no part of the housing spectrum, from homelessness to supportive housing to social housing to co-operative housing to low-rent and private support for new rental housing to low-income home ownership, that is not touched by the $40-billion housing strategy.

To contrast this with the party opposite, it promised to spend $6 billion over four years, not $40 billion over 10. Our approach is not only more aggressive, it is delivered sooner. In fact, we will spend more on housing in the last two years of our mandate than the Conservatives proposed to spend in their entire mandate if they had been elected.

Our program is not timid. It is aggressive. It is progressive, it is imaginative, and it is supported by virtually every single city across this country. In fact, what the mayors asked was that we accelerate the extraordinary investment so that they could get to repairs sooner. The national housing strategy actually allows them to borrow the 10 years of money up front and fit it into their capital programs so they can spend it this year and use it in an imaginative way, with different financing, to get the results they want sooner.

This housing policy has been built with cities for cities, and most importantly, by cities. Our work with the FCM has been phenomenal.

I will address the issue of indigenous housing after the second question.

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Madam Speaker, the government keeps trying to wage a battle of principles and imaginary numbers like when it announced last November, as it did just now, that $40 billion would be invested in housing over the next 10 years, but failed to mention that three-quarters of the money would come from the private sector and the provinces, with whom no agreement has been concluded.

Last year, the government announced an $11-billion budget over 11 years, but as stated in the budget, 90% of the money will not be available until 2019, which, by the way, will be the Liberal government's electoral budget. The thing is, the money is needed right now. Stakeholders and municipalities, as I just said, are calling on the government to invest last year's building renovation funding more quickly. I will repeat my question: why is the government not immediately investing the necessary funding to preserve and expand social housing?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Madam Speaker, as I said, we are investing now. We are investing immediately. That money is eligible to be spent on repairs or on new builds or on subsidies. We are leaving it to local housing providers to make the best choice based on the housing stock they are managing.

On the issue of indigenous urban housing, last year's budget had a commitment of $225 million as a down payment on a national urban indigenous housing strategy. Those dollars start flowing this year.

Every single thing being spent this year is not in this year's budget; it is in previous years' budgets. I can assure members that it is not imaginary. I have been putting shovels in the ground from coast to coast to coast, cutting ribbons from coast to coast to coast, and taking a look at the new dollars that are arriving in real people's houses, in real time, as we speak.

The investments we made in 2016, the investments we made in 2017, are on the ground building housing, repairing housing, and, most importantly, housing people in this country. We are not done yet. We added almost $3 billion in yesterday's budget.

We are committed to housing. We will deliver on housing. We will deliver real dollars—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order. The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:18 p.m.)