Debates of May 24th, 2018

Gender Equality

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the words of Nellie McClung:

Have we not the brains to think? Hands to work? Hearts to feel? And lives to live? Do we not bear our part in citizenship? Do we not help build the Empire? Give us our due!

One hundred years ago today, some women in Canada won the right to vote in federal elections for the first time, but indigenous women, Asian women, and others were excluded from this right until much later.

We have come a long way in these 100 years, from winning the right to vote, to winning a seat in this House, to 50% women in our cabinet, to our gender-focused budget, to our feminist G7 presidency. We have learned that when we add women, we change everything for the better, and better is always possible.

On this 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote in federal elections, we celebrate the contributions of so many great women and men towards equality and we commit to doing more.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, there are new revelations this morning regarding the fisheries minister.

According to a report in The Globe and Mail, Chief Terrance Paul and the Membertou First Nation were informed by the minister that they needed to partner with the company run by the Liberal MP's brother in order to win a surf clam licence.

I have a simple question: Are the media reports true? Did the Minister of Fisheries or anyone acting on his behalf suggest to the Membertou First Nation that it needed to make a deal with the Premium Seafoods company in order to win this bid?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, that allegation is simply false.

What is more important is the decision our government made to include indigenous nations in this lucrative offshore fishery. It is a historic decision. We had a public process, very similar to the one the former Conservative government had, to consult with industry and indigenous groups about participating in this fishery. We think it was a positive process, and we think it is a positive decision to include indigenous people in this fishery.

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

Mr. Speaker, we know the Liberals decided to include their friends and family in this, for sure.

The fisheries minister decided to take surf clam quota away from Clearwater Seafoods and give it to a company with connections to his own family, a company being run by a sitting Liberal MP's brother. To make matters worse, the company he gave the licence to had the lowest percentage of indigenous ownership of all the bidders, and it did not even have a boat. Clearly, the fix was in.

Will the minister do the right thing and restart the bidding process?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, no matter how often my hon. friend repeats the same incorrect allegations, it will not make them true. To say that I have a family member who will benefit from this decision is entirely false, and she knows that.

I would draw her attention to the statement made by Chief Sock on the Elsipogtog First Nation website. He has been very clear. I do not have a family member who will benefit from this process. My hon. friend should be more careful before making up those allegations and repeating them, when she knows they are not true.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is just another in the latest long list of Liberal ethics scandals: the Prime Minister under investigation; the Minister of Finance under investigation; the Liberal MP for Brampton East under investigation.

Now the fisheries minister is under formal investigation. There are new, serious allegations being reported, and the minister's credibility is in tatters. No one honestly believes that the deal was above board. It has Liberal corruption all over it.

If the minister will not do the right thing and reset the process, will the Prime Minister remove him from this file?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, again, obviously, if the Ethics Commissioner has questions or concerns, or would like any documents with respect to this process, we are of course happy to comply and happy to have those conversations with the Ethics Commissioner or his staff.

I would remind my hon. friend again that it is important to stick to the facts. The facts are that we had an open process to consult industry and indigenous communities. The Conservatives' process, which was very similar to ours, forgot to include indigenous communities. We made a decision to begin the conversation—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lévis—Lotbinière.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the investigation into the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard seems never-ending. There are goodies for everyone with Liberal connections, starting with the industrial park that a slew of Liberal friends and relatives have a hand in. Now we are hearing that the minister ordered a business owner to back out of a partnership with Clearwater in favour of an alliance with a Liberal MP's brother who owns Premium Seafoods.

When did the Prime Minister find out that the minister's family would benefit from this very lucrative contract?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, apparently my hon. colleague wants to ask the same questions in French. That does not change the facts. As I just explained in English, and in French earlier this week, no member of my family and none of my wife's 60 first cousins benefited from this process. I find it irresponsible of the member to keep repeating these allegations when he knows very well that they are false.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals the only thing that is clear and transparent is the lens taking the Prime Minister's selfies.

Bribery is the only thing missing from the list of allegations of patronage, breach of contract, and deceit associated with the fishing expedition of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

When did the Prime Minister learn that the minister's family would benefit from this lucrative contract and why is the Prime Minister defending the indefensible?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has only heard these false allegations, repeated by my colleague, here in the House.

The Prime Minister was very clear. Our government decided to open up commercial fishing, the offshore fishery, to the indigenous peoples in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. We implemented an open process to consult the industry and indigenous communities. That was something the Conservative Party forgot to do when it also decided to add stakeholders to this fishery three years ago.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has been clear. The Liberals do not have a plan to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies.

How does the government defend itself? It discredits the Auditor General's work and says that he does not know what he is talking about.

Can the Liberals tell us the total amount of the subsidies for fossil fuels? Can they tell us when in 2019 they will eliminate those subsides? Can they finally tell us how much money they are going to give Kinder Morgan? Where is the Liberal government's plan?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by the year 2025, and we are on track to meet that target. At the same time, we know that the Trans Mountain expansion is very important for our country, for our economy, and for jobs across Canada That is why we are working with the company to find a solution to the pipeline expansion. That is very important.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take us all back to Paris. It was December 2015, and a shiny new Prime Minister from Canada put his hand on his chest and promised the world that Canada would end the subsidies to the big oil and gas companies. If we fast-forward to today, that same Prime Minister beats his chest as he not only keeps the subsidies in place, but is actually adding on indemnification for the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal.

Canadians and the world want to know what happened to that guy. Where is the support for the green, clean jobs of tomorrow? When are the Liberals going to finally keep their commitment and end the subsidy to big oil and big gas?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have committed to phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies between now and 2025. We are on track to do that. In fact, we took measures to do that in budget 2016. At the same time, we want to make sure that we can move forward with the pipeline expansion, which is in the best interests of our country.

The environment and the economy can go hand in hand. That is exactly what we are doing by taking a commercial approach to finding a way to have that pipeline project go forward without having any subsidy in place in any way.

Democratic Reform

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals say they are committed, but I am committed to having a luscious, full head of hair and it is not happening, either. I am wondering when the Liberals are actually going to do something about it.

There are a lot of things we disagree about in this place, and we should, yet there is one thing we should never disagree about, and that is how Canadians vote in our elections. The way Canadians vote is sacred and a foundation of our democracy. It is not a right or left issue; it is right or wrong. It was wrong when Stephen Harper forced the unfair elections act through Parliament, and it is wrong when the Liberals do the exact same thing.

My question for the government is simple. Will it commit today, yes or no, to not move any changes to our election laws without multi-party—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Minister of Democratic Institutions.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, I am incredibly proud of Bill C-76, and I am delighted that it is going to the procedure and House affairs committee so it can get the study and the interrogation it deserves.

I am looking forward to members opposite asking questions of witnesses to ensure that we encourage Canadians to participate in our democracy, to encourage young Canadians to be registered for elections, to ensure that Canadians without identification can have vouching and can use their voter identification card, and to ensure that Canadians living abroad and every single Canadian have the right to vote.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to trust the Liberals.

We are all gathered here to represent our constituents and make their voices heard in Ottawa.

Do the Liberals realize what they are doing by curtailing the debate on the electoral reform bill? Do they understand the irony of the situation? Refusing to debate in a democracy is the same as refusing to engage in the democratic process.

By doing the same thing the Conservatives did in 2014, the Liberals are insulting all Canadians.

Do they realize what they are doing? It is serious.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with my NDP colleagues to move this bill forward and reverse the changes that were made by the former Conservative government. We can ensure that every Canadian who has the right to vote can do so. We want to ensure that young Canadians are automatically registered to vote when they turn 18. I really look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to improve Canada's democracy.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have brought forward major changes to our electoral laws, and these are changes that would tip the electoral scales in their favour. I do not know if there is any legislation that could be more significant. After only one hour of debate, they moved notice of time allocation.

As the Liberal member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame stated, “If we are actually debating...any changes to the Elections Act...time allocation and closure need not apply.”

If the Liberals actually respected Canadians, they would let this legislation receive proper debate. Why are the Liberals disrespecting Canadians and trying to ram this bill through?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to respond to my colleague from the Conservatives, because we are making it easier for Canadians to vote. We are clamping down on those who maliciously thwart and interfere in our electoral process. Let us contrast that with the former Conservative government, which made it tougher for Canadians to vote, from robocalls to Dean Del Mastro, who participated in schemes to maliciously thwart the electoral process. That is also the party that had to pay $250,000 in fines for breaking electoral laws.

We will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to our democracy.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Niagara Centre will come to order.

The hon. member for Banff—Airdrie.