House of Commons Hansard #286 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was apology.

Topics

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC

Mr. Speaker, the minister calls it historic consultations; I call it deceptive consultations.

Either the minister is complicit in this charade or he does not know what is happening in his own department.

His own associate deputy minister, Erin O'Gorman, ordered her staff to give cabinet a sound legal argument for saying yes to Kinder Morgan, while public servants were assuring first nations representatives that a decision had not yet been made. I am not making this up. The media is not making this up. That is what it says in internal documents that were obtained through an access to information request.

Does the minister still dare to deny it?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Winnipeg South Centre Manitoba

Liberal

Jim Carr LiberalMinister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, there are literally dozens of access to information requests that come in to all departments every day and they are available for the Canadian public to look at. As a matter of fact, if people want to go to the NRCan website, they will see literally thousands of emails and opinions that have been offered. Why would the hon. member not just assess what was actually done rather than what he is alleging was said, and he will know that this was the most exhaustive consultation on pipelines—

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.

Status of WomenOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's symbolic gestures and words are wonderful, but they are not enough.

We are still waiting for pay equity legislation and it is now 2018. Several women's groups that came here for the G7 summit took the opportunity to remind the government that it is not doing nearly enough to achieve equality and to protect the most vulnerable women.

The Prime Minister stated that he wanted to lead by example at the summit, but what is his plan? How will he convince his G7 counterparts to adopt feminist measures when his own credibility is being called into question?

Status of WomenOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Thunder Bay—Superior North Ontario

Liberal

Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Employment

Mr. Speaker, our government understands that we cannot move forward when half of us are being held back, and that is why we have made gender equality a priority.

With budget 2018, we are taking leadership to address the gender wage gap, to institute proactive pay equity legislation, to enhance parental leave options, to tackle gender-based violence and harassment, to introduce a new entrepreneurship strategy for women, to invest in the sustainability of grassroots organizations that advocate on behalf of women, and so much more.

This is a government that takes gender equality extremely seriously and puts its money where its mouth is.

Status of WomenOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB

Mr. Speaker, we have heard that the attack in Toronto may have been inspired by the misogynistic and hateful movement “incels”.

We must acknowledge that attacks from these groups are a form of violence rooted in misogyny. We must believe women and end the hate that they face online and off-line. Saying one is a feminist is simply not enough. We must take action. The special rapporteur for the UN said that the government's fragmented approach to gender-based violence is not working.

The Prime Minister is all words. Where is the concrete plan, with resources, to end gender-based violence in Canada?

Status of WomenOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Regina—Wascana Saskatchewan

Liberal

Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Mr. Speaker, this is a profoundly serious issue.

I would note that in the last two budgets, there have been specific increases in resources from the Government of Canada to tackle problems of exactly this kind. I also had the opportunity at the beginning of this week to discuss this issue with G7 security ministers, with a view to making sure that those who provide communication services are aware of their responsibilities to work with government and to work with civil society to bring that foul and vile material off the Internet.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the good news is that the government has performed a calculation on the cost of the carbon tax to the average family. Further good news is it has released that document to me. The bad news is all the numbers—

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order. The hon. member knows it is one thing to read something and it is another to use something as a prop and that is not referring to notes.

The hon. member for Carleton has the floor. I am sure he will continue without props.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the government's memos, I can understand why you might mistake them for props.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.

Public Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Brigitte Sansoucy NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thought we had already said everything there was to say about Phoenix, but apparently I was wrong. Two thousand grievances later, the Superior Court of Quebec has handed down a very important ruling that allows some of the employees affected by the Phoenix fiasco to launch a class action suit for damages.

It makes no sense that federal employees, who simply want what they are owed, should have to go through a grievance process and now a long and costly legal process. This should be a simple matter to resolve.

When will the government compensate all federal employees for the emotional and psychological distress they have suffered because of the Phoenix fiasco?

Public Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Gatineau Québec

Liberal

Steven MacKinnon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question.

Fixing Phoenix pay system problems remains our highest priority. We have dedicated human, technological, and other resources to fixing the problem. All I can say is that we will not comment on a case before the courts. What we can say to reassure public service employees is that we are committed to looking after them, to fixing the Phoenix problems, and to cleaning up the mess the government left behind.

Public Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Shame, shame!

Suspension of SittingPublic Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order. The House will be suspended for a few minutes to the call of the Chair.

(The sitting of the House was suspended at 2:36 p.m.)

(The House resumed at 2:37 p.m.)

Sitting ResumedPublic Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

We have order in the House, so we will resume.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

Sitting ResumedPublic Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

Steven MacKinnon Liberal Gatineau, QC

Mr. Speaker, I was loudly interrupted by my colleagues on the other side, and I want to reassure public servants that fixing the problems with the Phoenix pay system remains our biggest priority. We are dedicating human, technological, and financial resources to this issue. There is indeed a case before the courts, on which we cannot comment, but what we can say is that we will fix the problems we inherited from the previous government. We will fix the Phoenix pay system for the good of Canada and our public servants.

Sitting ResumedPublic Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Quebec Superior Court handed down a very important ruling for workers burned by the Phoenix fiasco. This ruling allows them to file a class action lawsuit against the federal government for damages, but this process will be long and expensive.

In budget 2018, the Liberals committed to compensating all federal public servants for psychological and emotional damage they have suffered. Workers have waited long enough. Instead of fighting them in court, will the government compensate all workers now?

Sitting ResumedPublic Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Gatineau Québec

Liberal

Steven MacKinnon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement

Mr. Speaker, the problems associated with the Phoenix pay system, of course, were not created by this government, but we are determined to resolve those problems. That is why we are putting the utmost priority on devoting financial, human, and technological resources to fixing that problem.

We cannot comment on the case that is before the courts, but I can reassure all public servants in Canada that we will fix the problems associated with the Phoenix pay system and avoid repeating the problems that were left to us by a government that neglected them.

Sitting ResumedPublic Services and ProcurementOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order. I think members should know that it is not appropriate to challenge the Chair or to ridicule decisions of the Chair. With that in mind, and assuming it will not happen in the future, I go to the hon. member for Carleton.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the government has blacked out the numbers relating to the cost of the carbon tax on middle-class Canadians. The Liberals could tell Canadians today. They could end the carbon-tax cover-up, and tell the truth. How much will this carbon tax cost the average Canadian household?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, Canadians made a choice. They chose a government that understands that the environment and the economy go together.

Let me talk about the costs. The costs of climate change by 2020 will be over $5 billion a year to Canadians. Let me talk about the economic opportunity. It is $30 trillion.

Why does the Conservative opposition, which understands full well that we need to grow our economy while protecting our environment, not support doing the right thing: put a price on pollution, create the investments in public transit, investments in energy efficiency, the investment in Canadians—