Debates of May 31st, 2018

The Environment

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today the House is debating the 2018 budget, which imposes a massive carbon tax on Canadians. Now, other ministers have agreed to appear before committees to defend their spending plans. Sadly, despite repeated requests, the environment minister will not publicly say whether she will come to committee to defend her harmful carbon tax. The buck stops with the minister.

Canadians are demanding to know, will she publicly defend her carbon tax plan before we have to vote on it? Will she answer, and is it yes or no?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I have appeared before committee many, many times on issues unrelated to carbon pricing, and the question from the party opposite is always on carbon pricing. Every day in the House I defend putting a price on pollution. Let us be clear: 80% of Canadians live in a province that has actually stepped up and said that we want to take action on climate change. Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec put a price on pollution. They are tackling climate change, and guess what, their economies are the fastest-growing in the country. That is what we want to see. We want to see more jobs and less emissions, and tackle climate change. We owe it to our kids.

Canadian Heritage

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the sun is out, and Canadians are turning their minds to summer travel. There is no better place to travel than across our country from coast to coast to coast, and many people will be including in their plans a trip to Ottawa to celebrate Canada Day.

Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage please update the House on the planning for July 1?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, Canada Day is a time when Canadians of all ages can take part in a wide range of activities that celebrate our communities.

This year, Canada Day programming will showcase the important contributions of indigenous peoples and the inspiring women who shaped this nation.

Artists such as Arkells, Lights, Brigitte Boisjoli, Charlotte Cardin, and Iskwé will be on stage on July 1.

I look forward to all Canadians from coast to coast coming to Parliament Hill for July 1 to celebrate Canada Day together.

Public Safety

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Prime Minister is eager to show my wonderful riding off to the whole world during the G7 meeting. We also know that events like these attract protestors and vandals.

We all deplore that type of violence, and the Prime Minister must stop denying its existence. He needs to step up and provide assurances to people affected by the G7.

Can he tell us if his government has set aside a special fund to compensate the people who end up being victims of vandalism?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, arrangements are firmly in place to deal with all eventualities around the G7 summit. Obviously, meetings of the G7 are extremely important to the participants, but also to many other countries around the world. Security is important. That is the responsibility of the host country. The arrangements have been put in place, and the opposition parties have been briefed. Canadians can count on the excellent professionalism of their police and security services.

Indigenous Affairs

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the shortfall for clean water for first nations on reserve is $3.2 billion. The shortfall on housing is much more severe. When I am dealing, as I was this week, with a young mother with a chronically sick child living in a mould-infested shack, what am I to tell her? Do I tell her that she is now a part owner of a 65-year-old pipeline, or that it is not going to be Doug Ford driving the first bulldozer through first nation territory but the Prime Minister?

Why is it that with first nation children change is always incremental, but Texas oil investors get from the Prime Minister what they want, when they want it?

[Jane Philpott, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House we all agreed together, or at least most of the parties agreed, that we respect the rights of indigenous peoples. Our government has embarked on a new relationship with indigenous peoples. We are making the appropriate investments, $17 billion in the last three budgets. There are 13,000 homes being built across the country. There are 62 drinking water advisories that have been lifted across the country. There are new investments in schools, health care, and infrastructure. We are getting the work done.

Public Safety

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for the sixth time, Bill Browder was arrested on an Interpol arrest warrant. Mr. Browder has been tireless in his advocacy of the Magnitsky legislation. To retaliate, Russia has added him to the Interpol warrant list. Could the Minister of Public Safety speak to what the Government of Canada is doing to ensure that individuals unjustly blacklisted by Russia, such as Mr. Browder, will not be unlawfully detained if they come to Canada?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, last fall, I condemned Russia's abuse of the Interpol notice system to try to block Bill Browder from visiting Canada to celebrate the passage of Canada's Magnitsky act. As I said then, “Canada will decide admissibility to Canada, not the Kremlin.” Interpol notices are a valuable tool that should not be perverted for other purposes, such as foreign political interference.

When Mr. Browder was in Canada earlier this year, he was welcomed and celebrated as a human rights champion, including by all sides in the House, and I am sure this will continue.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that anything goes with the Liberals, as long as they do not get caught red-handed.

I have spoken out multiple times about the conflict of interest created by the Prime Minister's family trip to the Aga Khan's private island. This morning, the media reported that a memo on meetings between the Prime Minister's Office and the Aga Khan's office had been almost completely redacted. So much for Liberal transparency.

If transparency is so important to the Prime Minister's Office, why were 251 of the 316 pages redacted? What are they hiding?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that, at the end of the day, we have a Prime Minister who is committed to working with the Ethics Commissioner in full co-operation, which has been illustrated on numerous occasions.

We, on this side of the House, have full confidence in our independent offices, whether it is the commissioner's office or Elections Canada. This is important in terms of our parliamentary traditions and history, and we support that.

Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees

[Rhéal Fortin, Québec debout, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on April 26, the Canadian Press reported that Ottawa was late in delivering its promised plan for triaging asylum seekers. On April 18, the minister had promised that the plan would be released within a few days. Then, the government said it would be out in a few weeks. Now it says it will be a few months.

Does the minister realize that while he plays around, killing time, asylum seekers continue to pour in every day through Roxham Road?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are working on a triage plan in close collaboration with Quebec and Ontario, because we know that many asylum seekers are heading for Ontario.

We have been working closely with officials from Ontario's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and we have made considerable progress. However, we need to wait until Ontario chooses a new government before we can finalize the arrangements we have made.

[Rhéal Fortin, Québec debout, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

That's just it, Mr. Speaker. The government is talking and waiting, but meanwhile things are simply not working.

The government is saying that the triage plan is being held up by the election in Ontario. What will the Liberals' excuse be once the election is over? Will asylum seekers stop coming through Quebec because there is an election in Ontario? When the election is over, will the Liberals blame the delay on the Saint-Jean holiday, the construction holiday, the election in Quebec, or the Christmas holidays? What will their excuse be?

We need a triage plan now. Is that so hard to understand?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague does not understand that a triage plan does not just involve asking people whether they want to go right or left. It is much more complex than that.

Ontario needs to commit to transporting asylum seekers, receiving them, and implementing various programs like those in Quebec. It is very complex. We need to deal with reality, and I can assure the House that we will not stop for June 24.

International Trade

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, President Trump decided to slap tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminum.

Since Mr. Trump's arrival, Canada has not managed to re-establish a balance of power. The Liberal government's strategy is to kowtow to the U.S. in the hope of avoiding its wrath. In the meantime, very important sectors of Quebec's economy are being attacked on all sides.

Will the Prime Minister admit that his strategy has failed and will have disastrous consequences for Quebec's economy?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we disagree with the tariffs imposed by the United States. We are standing up for our aluminum and steel workers. We have been clear about the measures we will take in the next few weeks in response to what the United States has done. We are here for Quebec and Canadian workers. We fully reject the reason given by the United States to justify its tariffs.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of this year’s recipients of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.

The recipients of the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Awards are Andrew Alexander, Geneviève Bujold, Peter Herrndorf, Angela Hewitt, Ginette Laurin, and Murray McLauchlan.

The recipient of the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts is Florence Junca Adenot.

The recipients of the National Arts Centre Award are Tegan and Sara Quin.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I invite all hon. members to meet the recipients at a reception in room 216-N after the votes. It is up to members, obviously, whether they stay for votes, but I am guessing most will.

International Trade

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I think you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That the House (a) stand with steel and aluminum workers in Saguenay, Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie, Regina, and all across Canada; (b) agree that US action today on steel and aluminum is unacceptable, even more so because it is being done on national security grounds; and (c) and that the House is of the view that Canada should retaliate.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?