Debates of March 1st, 2018

Great Big Crunch

[Jean-Claude Poissant, Liberal, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today for the third year in a row I welcomed to Parliament Hill dozens of children and representatives from Food Secure Canada on the occasion of a wonderful event, the Great Big Crunch.

Many have joined me in acknowledging the need to offer healthier food to our children. As we are currently developing a Canadian food policy and a healthy food strategy, we have to remember to put children at the centre of our considerations. Ensuring good health for our children today guarantees better health for all Canadians of tomorrow, and I am not just saying that from the point of view of a grandfather.

I want to acknowledge the remarkable work of the Coalition for Healthy School Food and Food Secure Canada, which supports this cause and advances it every day. I invite all of my colleagues to bite into an apple with me and 300,000 children across the country as a symbol of our commitment to better nutrition.

Kinder Morgan Pipeline

[Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have been in this place since 2011 speaking out against Kinder Morgan's plan to build a new bitumen pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby.

I have warned the Prime Minister that there will be dire consequences if he continues with his plan to ram this pipeline through communities and unceded first nations territories without consent. I have warned the natural resources minister that his threats to use the military against British Columbians will only serve to deepen the intensity of the opposition. Unfortunately, this is all coming true.

A recent Insights West poll found 10% of British Columbians were willing to engage in civil disobedience to stop this pipeline. That is tens of thousands of people who are willing to be arrested to stop Kinder Morgan, and it is coming soon.

In a few days, indigenous communities impacted by Kinder Morgan are beginning what they deem front-line resistance along the pipeline route and pledge to do “whatever it takes” to stop Kinder Morgan, including mass mobilization on March 10.

It is madness for the government to continue with its support for this pipeline. I urge it to stop.

Beer Escalator Tax

[Gord Brown, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over 46,000 Canadians signed a Beer Canada petition to remove the government's automatic escalator tax on beer. The Canadian beer industry supports 149,000 middle-class jobs, generates $5.7 billion in tax, and adds $13.6 billion to Canada's GDP.

In a letter to the industry, the government calls this yearly escalator tax an inconsequential tax increase. Already, 47% of the price of beer in Canada is tax. Meanwhile, the United States federal government lowered its federal excise duty rates on beer, wine, and spirits as of April 1. The top federal excise duty rate on Canadian beer will be 90% higher than the top U.S. rate. Beer drinkers in Canada pay close to $20 a case in tax, while in the United States, beer drinkers pay about $2 in tax.

To suggest that there is room to increase the Canadian beer tax rate even further is just not credible. When will the government stop adding tax increases on top of tax increases?

Women in House

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as an alumni of the University of Toronto, it gives me enormous pleasure today to represent the non-partisan group, Women in House, who are taking part today in following our female MPs to address a very serious problem in this place, and that is the under-representation of women in this chamber.

These individuals are going to have the opportunity to shadow different members of Parliament to learn about Ottawa, what a great place it is to work, and how they can serve Canadians by dealing with issues like gender equality. They will engage in mentoring and networking. Hopefully, some of them will return here as leaders.

I want to particularly thank both Tina Park and the member for Toronto—St. Paul's, who are responsible for creating this important initiative to make sure we advance the important cause of having more women in the House.

International Trade

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, earlier today President Trump announced new tariffs, both on steel and aluminum. Canada is the number one supplier of aluminum and steel to the United States.

Can the Prime Minister update the House on whether or not he has confirmed with the President of the United States that Canada will be exempt from these tariffs?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as Canadians would expect, we are following the situation very carefully. Any tariffs or quota that would be imposed on our Canadian steel and aluminum industries would be unacceptable. Any such decision would have an impact on both sides of the border.

Canadians can rest assured that we will always be there to defend our workers in our steel and aluminum industries across this country. We will stand firm for Canadian workers.

Prime Minister's Trip to India

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the national security adviser, in briefing the Canadian press on a trip to India, indicated that the Indian government sabotaged the Prime Minister's trip.

When the Prime Minister defended this official in this House, he actually elevated that defence into an official statement of Canada. The Indian government has responded aggressively, saying that it is baseless and it is also unacceptable. This has been characterized as a serious rift in the relationship between Canada and India.

What is the Prime Minister going to do to fix this diplomatic rift?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities]

Mr. Speaker, as we have been saying, this invitation should never have been sent. As soon as it came to our attention, it was withdrawn, and the MP in question has taken responsibility.

Canada's national security agencies are non-partisan, and both highly competent and effective. We trust them to protect and promote Canada's security. They continue to do an excellent job in serving and protecting the interests of Canadians.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the response from the member, the reality is that we are far beyond invitations to any attempted murderers. Where we are right now is the reality that the Prime Minister is avoiding his responsibility, and as a result we are being laughed at, as a country, across the world.

The former high commissioner of India to Canada likened the allegations by the Prime Minister of a sabotage conspiracy to something out of Harry Potter, calling it pure fiction. A foreign affairs expert on CBC said that the saga is a whodunit, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland scheme.

This is a complete embarrassment. What is the Prime Minister doing to fix the mess he created?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities]

Mr. Speaker, we will always promote and defend the integrity of our public servants who accomplish incredible work.

Unlike the previous government, we respect the non-partisan nature of the public service, especially those who serve in national security agencies. We trust that advice and the actions they take. All Canadians can be proud of their non-partisan work, which our national security agencies carry out on a daily basis.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, no one is talking about our public service, and no one is disparaging the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

What we are talking about is the Prime Minister's senior adviser, a person who works very closely with him as part of his duties.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister told the House that the presence of the terrorist Jaspal Atwal at events attended by the Canadian delegation in India was part of a conspiracy by members of the Indian government to sabotage his visit to India.

My question is simple. Does the Prime Minister still believe in this conspiracy theory? If so, all he has to do is table the evidence in the House.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities]

Mr. Speaker, as we have been saying, this invitation should never have been sent. As soon as it came to our attention, it was withdrawn, and the MP in question has taken responsibility.

Canada's national security agencies are non-partisan, and both highly competent and effective. We trust them to protect and promote Canada's security. They continue to do an excellent job in serving and protecting the interests of Canadians.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, here is what India's Minister of External Affairs said:

Let me categorically state that the Government of India, including the security agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal [in India]. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable.

What a strongly-worded and extremely serious statement. Does the Prime Minister agree with it? If not, what has he done to prove otherwise?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said, whether in this case or in their everyday work, all the non-partisan security agencies do an exceptional job in the service of Canada's national interest.

Canadians can be reassured that, beyond the partisan nature of the comments, the advice offered by these agencies is in no way contingent upon the ruling party. We respect our national security organizations and their public service, and Canada can be proud of all they do in the interest of Canadians.

Health

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are confused with the Liberals' promise around pharmacare. Not only is it unclear whether the Liberals will eventually, maybe one day, sometime in the future go ahead with a universal pharmacare program, but even more troubling, just one day after this big announcement, Canadians learned that the dice is already stacked. The Liberals plan to go forward with a means-tested system.

Why is the government putting together this advisory council if it already knows what it wants to do?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we were very pleased to put forward a committee to take a look at how we can ensure that we deal with getting pharmaceutical products to all Canadians. We are going to look for expert advice to tell us how best to do this.

We know that the goal of making sure every Canadian has access to pharmaceuticals is critically important. We also know that listening to experts is important, and that is exactly what we intend to do as we hear back from the advisory committee on how we can move forward.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what déjà vu. I clearly remember the promise around electoral reform.

Three major organizations, including the Canadian Labour Congress, have asked that the minister recuse himself from discussions on the pharmacare program, not only to avoid another conflict of interest, but also to keep him from working against Canadians' interests by trying to influence the results of the consultation. Canadians need universal pharmacare now.

Will the Prime Minister remove the Minister of Finance from the discussions, and can he assure us that the consultation is not just a stalling tactic?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud to be looking into exactly what we need to do to make sure every Canadian gets the medication they need. We have decided to put forward an advisory committee to determine how we should proceed. This is very important for our government. We are going to listen to the experts.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, another day, another conflict of interest. Once again, Morneau Shepell is involved. It is clear that they never intended to steal the NDP's idea for a comprehensive national pharmacare program. Instead, the Liberals want to sabotage this idea. Stealing our ideas would help people, but sabotaging our ideas never helps anyone.

Why do the interests of Canadian families always come second to the interests of Morneau Shepell and the mega-wealthy?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, that is a bizarre question. We think that the idea of actually having experts help us to come forward with a way that we can get pharmaceuticals to all Canadians is important.

I guess members opposite would have us not have experts involved. I can tell members what would happen if that were the case. We could have the NDP and the member for Carleton do the policy, because that way we would have no expertise at all.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are also not going to wait another 21 years because of Liberal waiting.

Liberals promised yet another study one day and then literally the next day admitted that they have no intention of ever bringing in universal pharmacare. The PBO says that Canadians would save over $4 billion per year. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians who cannot afford medication would be helped, and businesses would be helped by reducing costs. The only one not helped is Morneau Shepell. We need to act.

The Prime Minister has not stolen the NDP plan; he has vandalized it. Why will the government not bring in real universal pharmacare now?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of our publicly funded universal medicare system, one based on the individual's need and not the ability to pay, yet we recognize that there is certainly room for improvement.

We have created a national advisory committee on the implementation of pharmacare with its mandate to study, evaluate, and ultimately bring recommendations to government on possible options. This initiative will build on the good work that has already been started by the HESA committee. We look forward to the report that we will be receiving next spring.

Prime Minister’s Trip to India

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

Mr. Speaker, the member of Parliament for Surrey Centre is no longer the B.C. caucus chair. Whether he was fired or resigned is only known between the Prime Minister and himself, but what Canadians do know is that a Liberal MP has acknowledged to be the person who invited a convicted terrorist to the Prime Minister's Indian event. Why is the Prime Minister clinging to this preposterous theory that it was the Indian government? Why is the Liberal government levying unfounded attacks on our friend in India when one of its own caucus members has accepted responsibility?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, as we have been saying all along, this invitation should never have been sent. Once we were made aware of this individual's background, the invitation was rescinded. The member has apologized.

We respect tremendously the non-partisan incredible work that the men and women do in our national security agencies every single day. We take their advice, and we act on it accordingly.

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

Mr. Speaker, what we do know is that member, in 2010, said it was unfair for a cloud of suspicion to hang over a community. The Liberals are allowing a cloud of suspicion to hang over a country of over a billion people.

We know the Indian government has said the conspiracy theory claims of thPrime Ministere are baseless. The Liberal MP for Surrey Centre has said the Indian conspiracy claims are not correct. Even the Prime Minister's friend, Jaspal Atwal, has called the Indian conspiracy claims a lie.

To stop the diplomatic bleeding, will the Prime Minister retract his remarks?