House of Commons Hansard #280 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Mr. Speaker, I hear the Liberals saying that they want to debate the budget. On this side we are more than happy, ready, and able to debate the failed Liberal budget. We are willing to debate it right now if the Liberals would stop filibustering this motion, allow the debate to collapse right now, and put it to a vote. Then we could get on with the budget debate.
Will the member agree to let the debate collapse right now, so we can go to the budget debate right now?
Rémi Massé Liberal Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, this is interesting. We must focus on what is important to Canadians. The Conservatives are the ones who want to continue to debate the subject of today's motion. Once again, this is a topic that we have debated and discussed at length. The Prime Minister has answered all of the questions. We also want to be able to discuss the budget, and I talked about this earlier for 10 minutes or so. It is important and we want to talk about it. Unfortunately, the Conservatives are playing politics yet again to prevent us from discussing the budget.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Speaker, I want to get back to what my colleague just said. I promise my friend from Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia that if, at the end of his speech and after questions and comments, the member for Madawaska—Restigouche does not rise, no members on this side of the House will rise to speak to the motion. This means that those of us on this side of the House are prepared to vote to dispose of the motion.
Can my colleague guarantee that, after questions and comments, the member for Madawaska—Restigouche will not rise, allowing the question to be put?
Rémi Massé Liberal Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, as I was saying earlier, we, on this side of the House, want to debate the budget. We have been wanting to do so since 10 a.m. but unfortunately the members opposite moved a motion that we are debating again today. The motion is on a subject that has been raised multiple times and on issues that have already been submitted by the opposition parties and that the Prime Minister has already responded to. We want to debate the budget because that is important to Canadians. Unfortunately, we are unable to do so because the Conservatives decided to move a motion and we have to debate that instead.
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question goes back to a point that was raised earlier about the relevance of what my colleague was talking about. What he talked about in his speech was entirely germane to the discussion. This is what we are faced with. This government has proposed a progressive budget that Canadians are responding well to and the only response to that from the opposition is to attack the Prime Minister or members of cabinet personally, as we have seen them do for a couple of years now.
What does my colleague think are the really important issues that Canadians want us to be dealing with in here as opposed to the motion that we are dealing with right now?
Rémi Massé Liberal Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his usual excellent question.
As I was saying earlier, rather than debating the types of subjects the Conservatives are bringing forward, we should be talking about subjects that are of interest to Canadians, such as the economy, jobs, investments in infrastructure, and support for families. That is what Canadians want to hear us talking about. That is what they talk to me about when I am in my riding and I have a chance to talk with my constituents. We have achieved real results. We have created 600,000 jobs in recent months and years and the unemployment rate in Canada is the lowest it has been since 1976. Those are real results and that is what Canadians want to hear about.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's contribution here today; however, I must say that it is completely at the discretion of the government and government members as to how they respond to a motion.
The third party as well as the official opposition have said many times that if we want to have a vote on this, we just have to stop talking. The Liberals are accusing us of playing games but the only game being played is they are standing to talk over and over again. They do not even have the self-awareness to understand that when they say it is our fault, all they have to do is sit down. Let us do just that. Let us sit down. Would the member agree and allow this to go to a voice vote?
Rémi Massé Liberal Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is rather surprising. The Conservatives moved a motion on a certain subject and now they no longer want to talk about it. We are here to talk about an important subject and we want to be able to debate it. We want to be able to discuss it. As we said, the Prime Minister has spoken about this many times. Now, the Conservatives no longer want to debate the issue in their motion. I find that rather unusual.
Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am the one who moved the motion earlier today, but we have heard very clearly from all sides. We have had a good discussion about “The Trudeau Report” and about the fact that the Ethics Commissioner needs to have the ability to close some loopholes. We have had a great discussion about that and I would agree that we can move on now and talk about the budget.
With that in mind, I believe that if you seek it, Mr. Speaker, you would find unanimous consent for the following motion: “That, notwithstanding any standing orders or usual practices of the House, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion currently under debate to concur in the report of the Ethics Commissioner entitled 'The Trudeau Report' tabled on Monday, January 19, 2018, be deemed put, recorded divisions be deemed requested and deferred to the ordinary hour of daily adjournment today, and that the House do now proceed to orders of the day.”
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
Does the hon. opposition House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's ReportRoutine Proceedings
Some hon. members
Agreed.
No.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
Resuming debate, the hon. member for Madawaska—Restigouche.
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to debate the matter before us this morning. This is a very awkward attempt by the opposition to avoid talking about the real and present concerns of the great citizens of this big, beautiful country.
First of all, people who were here before us and before this Parliament decided to put in place mechanisms to address the actions of MPs or cabinet ministers that put them in a conflict of interest, either because they did something or because they did not. That is why the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was created. I am not an expert in the history of Parliament's officers, but they existed prior to my arrival and this Parliament.
Today, the Conservatives and the NDP are asking us to vote on a motion that would tell the Ethics Commissioner to go back to the drawing board and to spice up the report in order to draw Canadians' attention away from the things that really concern them. To my knowledge, that has never been done in this country.
The ethics commissioner's report was published on December 20. It was tabled here in the House in January 2018 and gained a lot of media attention. Every Canadian has access to this extremely well-written, comprehensive legal report. Every Canadian who is so inclined can read it and understand all the detailed findings of the commissioner.
Last summer, I covered roughly 3,500 km by bike in my very rural riding. As an MP, I knocked on every door that I could to ask people whether they had any concerns about the country and the government that I might bring back to Ottawa on their behalf. Not one person in any of these discussions mentioned this trip. However, every question, concern, and compliment had to do with last year's budget. The government's budget has a daily impact on the future of our children, our peers, our co-workers, and all Canadians. That is what our constituents want to talk about.
After the Minister of Finance tabled his budget, I held two public meetings back home, and I did not get any questions about the trip to the Aga Khan's island, because the issue had been dealt with. The Prime Minister co-operated at every stage of the investigation. The report was tabled, period. Time to turn the page.
What is going to put food on my table tomorrow morning? How am I going to pay for my kids' education? What is going to give my family and friends equal opportunities to succeed in life? The budget is what matters and what Canadians want to talk about. They do not want to dwell on something from the past that has been resolved by a parliamentary body, specifically the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. They do not want to hear about a decision that is a done deal. It is all in the report; it is all there. Why, then, does the opposition still want to debate this today? Because it does not want to talk about the unemployment rate, the lowest rate in over a generation, incidentally. The Conservatives and NDP do not want to talk about that, particularly the NDP, who said during the election campaign that they wanted to balance the budget at all costs, without any hope of creating the level of economic development created by the current government.
Last year, contractors and truck drivers and backhoe operators were at work in every city and town in my riding. I am generalizing, of course, but that is thanks to the budget, which is having a positive impact on the country's economy and giving more Canadians a chance to earn a living. That is empowering. People know that a better future is attainable.
The Conservatives certainly do not want to talk about that. They love to toot their own horn and proclaim themselves the best budgeteers this country has ever known, so why would they talk about the Harper government's disastrous nine and a half years that ended with a $121-billion debt and a sky-high unemployment rate, leaving us trapped in dire economic straits? Why would they bring that up? Why would they compare their disastrous, decade-long failure to perform with a government that, in less than two and a half years, brought unemployment to its lowest level ever? Why? Because it would be embarrassing for them, really, really embarrassing.
I would like to talk about what this budget does for my region. That is what people want to talk about. There is money earmarked to combat spruce budworm, but the Conservatives do not care about that. The spruce budworm is attacking forests in my riding. The forestry industry in Atlantic Canada alone is worth $4 billion to the economy. The Conservatives might not think that is worth talking about, but we do. That is what people want us to talk about.
What does this massive investment in research to tackle the spruce budworm in Atlantic Canada mean? It means we are protecting the $4 billion generated annually by the forestry industry. That is the kind of thing we want to talk about.
What does the Canada workers benefit mean for low-income workers? The Conservatives do not want to talk about it because they do not give a damn. In my little home province of New Brunswick alone, this benefit will put about $66 million more into the pockets of low-income workers over the next five years. Think about what that means financially on a national scale. That is millions of dollars. The Conservatives and NDP do not want to talk about that either. They want to sidetrack the budget debate. We are wasting a day by not talking about what Canadians need to hear to guide or reorient their career and their future, to enable them to reach their full potential on the labour market and in education, and to ensure that our youth stay in our rural areas. No, they do not want to talk about that, because it would embarrass them.
By way of example, in the current budget, $250 million has been allocated to small craft harbours. The Conservatives do not want to talk about that. This affects every region on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Money is being injected into small fishing communities. We want to talk about that today because it affects our young people, but the Conservatives do not want to talk about it.
In short, I think it is unfortunate that the two opposition parties are resorting to such low tactics to try to avoid talking about an issue that affects the daily lives of Canadians, of our brothers and sisters, our cousins, our families, our residents. Instead of talking about real issues, the opposition moved a motion to try to dictate to an ethics commissioner, to an independent body of Parliament, how to rewrite her report and add things that will serve the interests of the Conservative and New Democratic parties. I think that is unfortunate.
Today, I would ask the opposition parties to truly speak on behalf of their constituents and focus on much more important things, because the issue of the Prime Minister's trip to the Aga Khan's private island has already been thoroughly addressed.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, I never thought I would say this, but the Liberals' strategy of avoiding talking about the budget is putting Machiavelli to shame. All morning, the Liberals have been talking about nothing but the budget, with just a slight mention of the amendment that they would like to vote on as quickly as possible.
I have two choices. One, I can respect the decorum in this House and talk about the motion at hand, which is what I think the Liberals should be doing. Two, I can use this opportunity to say that the Liberals' strategy may be another way to prevent the opposition from talking about the budget and from pointing out that the budget does nothing to close the growing gap between the rich and those who are struggling to make ends meet. The government is doing little to meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets. I could talk about this for 20 minutes.
My question is even simpler than that. Can we discuss the topic that was brought up this morning? Better yet, since there is broad consensus, unless the Liberals want to continue with their strategy, we should vote on this amendment, deal with this issue, and debate the budget, since I also have a lot to say about the budget.
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, in answer to my colleague, I might be more tempted to get behind team Machiavelli than team Pinocchio.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's ReportRoutine Proceedings
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
What I mean is that, as I have said, we have been trying to talk about the budget since 10 o'clock this morning.
I have no desire, personally or as a member of the government, to tell the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner how to write a report. Her report could not have been more clear. If the members opposite have failed to understand it, I may be willing to meet with them personally to discuss it further; it really is very well put together. Let us now move on to the budget.
Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is demonstrating bad faith in suggesting that we do not want to talk about the budget. Earlier, as I was asking his colleague a question, I said that if he kept quiet and did not rise, nobody else on this side of the House would rise either. Accordingly, as per our rules, the debate would have gone to a vote immediately. There would have been a vote and we could have moved on to the item on the agenda, which is the budget. Clearly, my colleague's insistence on continuing to talk is preventing us from getting back to the debate on the budget, Bill C-74.
Why did my colleague rise when he could have kept quiet so the question could be put immediately?
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, my response to my colleague from Sherbrooke is that, since 10 o'clock this morning, we were supposed to be discussing the budget in the House. That was what was planned. How, then, did this issue get turned around and why is the opposition saying that we do not want to talk about the budget and that we are doing this to delay debate on the budget, when this is quite simply an official opposition tactic? This is outrageous, and I hope that Canadians are listening to this debate and listening closely, because since 10 o'clock this morning, they have been wanting to hear about what matters to their daily lives.
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is an amazing day when we hear the opposition asking that we please stop debating something because they want to vote on it. Why would they bring forward a motion unless they wanted a healthy debate?
Part of that debate, at least to me, is what the opposition parties deem to be more important than the priorities of the government, the very serious issues facing the people of Canada, and what they want to see us in here talking about.
What does the member see as the important things in his community that would supersede this discussion that is going on today? What are people actually talking about, and how important is it to him that we get on with talking about the budget and the progressive agenda of this government?
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question.
As I was saying earlier, I hosted two public meetings after the most recent budget was tabled. As an MP, I went door to door to meet people and talk about our country's situation and our government's policies. People want to talk about what affects their daily lives, like the fact that the Canada child benefit will be indexed one year earlier than planned. This affects them, and those are the kinds of things people often talk to me about. Another thing people want to talk to me about is the Canada workers benefit, intended for low-income workers. This has a direct impact on their lives.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's ReportRoutine Proceedings
Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario
Liberal
Marco Mendicino LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I want to begin my remarks in opposition to this motion by reminding each and every one of us that we are elected here as members of Parliament to do a job, and that a significant part of that job is to listen attentively to our constituents, to bring their comments and priorities back to this House, and to debate and advance them in meaningful ways by delivering results.
A motion like the one that has been put forward by the opposition this morning is not about elevating ethical standards. It is about obstructing the meaningful delivery of the results that this government is working on, day in and day out. When the opposition members heckle us and say, “Why not just vote?”, we are not going to surrender to an opposition motion that has more than a poison pill in it, which has been debated vigorously in many other failed attempts by the opposition Conservatives to stop the priorities of the people from being advanced to this House. We on this side are going to continue to defend them.
During the last two non-sitting weeks, like many other members in this chamber, I went out and knocked on doors, and met with business leaders and students. It may come as a bit of a shock to some of my Conservative friends and colleagues, but not a single one of them raised the subject of this motion.
My constituents were asking about the economy. They were asking about how we are going to continue to create jobs at a record pace. They were asking about our relationship with our good friends south of the border, and NAFTA. They were asking about how we are going to continue to keep the privacy of Canadians safe in light of the many important and significant developments we have seen in social media. They were asking how we are going to keep to our campaign commitments to protect our communities and rid them of gun violence, and this is something I have spoken on very recently in this House.
They also asked how we are going to protect the environment and develop our natural resources in a way that is sustainable. They asked how we can do more to provide support for our veterans, which I know is something my colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador, the Minister of Veterans Affairs, is working on every day. Last, they asked how this government can make improvements to ensure that every Canadian gets access to the justice he or she deserves.
For all the noise we hear in this chamber, I know I am not the only one who is discouraged by the way the debate has been oversimplified and become redundant and non-productive through the repetitious, mechanistic way in which we approach question period. Notwithstanding all those efforts at obstruction and impeding progress, I know this government has done incredible work and is making significant progress on the priorities I just stated.
How do we know that? Let us look at the economy. We have record job growth.
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley—Aldergrove, BC
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Relevance is important, and I believe the member has strayed too long and too far from the relevance of the motion before the House.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
I thank the hon. member for Langley—Aldergrove for his reminder to the House of the importance of relevance. This has come up earlier in the course of this debate, and it is not always an easy one to rule on, because one actually has to hear the remarks and commentary from the hon. member before one can make that determination. Therefore, it is not one that we can usually rule on with a great degree of precision.
I am noting that the member is about four minutes into his 20-minute speech, and he has introduced ideas that to this point at least, from my hearing of what he has had to say, follow and are relevant to the subject before us. I will pay close attention. I encourage the hon. member to frame his remarks in that regard, and we will let him carry on.
Marco Mendicino Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague does not want us to talk about the budget because he supports an opposition motion which is designed to prevent the debate around that motion.
However, if members recall, and I hope that my hon. colleague was listening, I framed all of my remarks in the context of juxtaposing the priorities of the opposition Conservatives, which is to delay, impede, and obstruct the real priorities of Canadians. This is an obvious effort at delay. It is not about elevating the standard of ethics in this House. We know that. At every opportunity, the Conservatives will stand up and try to stop us from creating jobs and from lowering unemployment. We cannot stand for that. It is too important.
When the government was elected, this country was at an all-time weak and low point of growth, the worst since the Great Depression. We have turned it around. That is exactly what our constituents are talking about in my riding, and I believe many of my colleagues are hearing the same thing. We want to keep the momentum going.
This opposition motion is not the first time that the Conservatives have tried to stray the government and take public attention away from the hard and good work that is being done by the government. We saw it a little over two weeks ago when the opposition Conservatives brought forward a needless and unnecessary filibuster. What was the opportunity that we were deprived of back then? We were deprived of the precious time to debate how we can rid our communities of gun violence. This is something that has touched the people of my riding on a very personal level. At a family establishment where I take my two girls like many other parents, less than a month ago, we saw two people's lives lost as a result of gun violence.
If we cannot address the scourge of gun violence through organized crime in this chamber, then we are not living up to the high standards that Canadians demand of this place. This goes back to my point about raising the level of debate in this chamber, doing away with the kind of filibustering and redundant motions we see here. Let us have a debate. Let us have a thoughtful debate on the substantive merits of our policy, of our legislative agenda.
I encourage my Conservative colleagues to come forward with ways we can improve our legislation, but they do not do that. They instead choose to find ways to prevent us from talking about the budget. There are a few things that I want to highlight from the 2018 budget which we ought to have been debating this morning and this week, but we are now being deprived of that opportunity as a result of the Conservative motion. To assure my colleagues, I will come back to address the words of the motion in their expressed form in due course.
What should we be talking about to advance the priorities I am hearing about from my constituency in Eglinton—Lawrence? How do we provide support for that economic growth that I referred to before? There are a number of things that the 2018 budget implementation bill will do to advance those goals which matter to my constituents, like introducing the Canada workers benefit. We all know that many Canadians, notwithstanding the significant progress we have made in the last few years, are continuing to struggle. We are responsive to those concerns.
We introduced a number of mechanisms prior to the 2018 budget, which I think all members should be celebrating, including the introduction of the Canada child benefit. That is helping millions of Canadians and families. It has lifted approximately 300,000 children out of poverty. It has contributed to our economic growth, the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Part of that ongoing conversation about how we can provide support to low-income earners has given rise to the creation of a new Canada workers benefit.
This budget will ensure that we increase both maximum benefits and the income level at which the benefit is phased out. As a result, a low-income worker earning $15,000 could receive up to almost $500 more in 2019. That is an important and meaningful increase. That means that the parents I speak to in my riding, in a community like Lawrence Heights or Lotherton, who I often engage with, will be able to provide student supplies, or perhaps send their child to child care or an extracurricular activity. These are important conversations. We would not be bogged down in going back over covered terrain with respect to the kinds of motions being brought forward this morning.
My other colleagues who have spoken against this motion this morning have raised the fact that we cannot be complacent when it comes to the Canada child benefit plan. We have proposed in the 2018 budget to index it, so we can keep pace with the increases to the standard of living and the costs, which are something we have to be very vigilant about.
Another topic I have heard a lot about over the course of the last two weeks, and for quite some time, is how we can create the conditions which are conducive for small and medium-sized businesses. This is something my Conservative colleagues often trumpet. They are the great champions of small business. This government, in keeping with its campaign pledge, is lowering taxes for small businesses. If we cannot debate the budget, which I know the Conservatives do not want us to do, then that is potentially one more day that a small business owner in my riding will not be able to avail themselves of a lower, more competitive corporate tax and business tax regime. Therefore, I call upon my opposition colleagues to think about their own rhetoric when it comes to being the great champions of industry, enterprise, and small business, and to live up to those commitments by debating the merits of the policy, not by filibustering, by wasting time, and by bringing motions like the one we have seen this morning.
I also mentioned that among the many priorities I have heard in the last two non-sitting weeks was the ongoing conversation we are having about how to protect our environment while at the same time getting our natural resources to export markets in a sustainable way. I have listened very carefully to my colleagues in the Conservative ranks. I respect their passion and I understand their frustration. We want to see every single Canadian and sector succeed and thrive.
For the life of me, I do not understand why we see members of the other side resorting to the hyperbolic exaggerated comments that are so completely divorced from reality. These are blanket statements, such as, “this government does not believe in” or “does not care”, or most recently and alarmingly from a former colleague of my friends on the opposite side of the aisle, “Canada is broken.” Canada is not broken. Canada is the greatest country in the world. We are very fortunate to live in this country. We should not be resorting to that kind of negative rhetoric, which undermines confidence in public institutions like this one right here. Do we have our disagreements from time to time? Absolutely. Do we have fundamental disagreements on policy? Without question. That is healthy in a democracy. However, to see the kind of stoking of division and fear—