Debates of May 7th, 2018

The Environment

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that we can fight climate change and grow our economy at the same time. That is what our plan is doing, and it is working. Canada's emissions are dropping, while our economy grows. In the past two years, hard-working Canadians created nearly 600,000 new jobs. Unemployment rates are near the lowest levels in more than 40 years. Since 2016, Canada has led all G7 countries in economic growth.

Putting a price on pollution will make Canada's economy stronger over time, help create new economic opportunities, and help create good middle-class jobs.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has gone too far. He is forcing Canadians to make an impossible choice. Gas prices in B.C. are skyrocketing, making families choose between buying gas or paying for groceries. The Prime Minister says that is a good thing, that Canadians should drive less. He is punishing ordinary hard-working Canadians.

Will he finally tell us how much his carbon tax will cost the average Canadian family?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the four provinces pricing pollution—British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec—led the country in economic growth last year, showing that the environment and the economy go hand in hand. B.C. put a price on carbon pollution more than a decade ago. Since 2008, B.C.'s direct price on carbon has reduced emissions by 5% to 15%, according to experts at the University of Ottawa and Duke University. Meanwhile, provincial real GDP grew by more than 17% in the same period of time, demonstrating that action on climate change and economic growth are absolute imperatives that go together.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, is the Prime Minister listening? Why will he not answer?

His government is forcing Canadian families to choose between taking kids to hockey and paying their heating bills. We have seen the mess the Wynne Liberals have made in Ontario. Families are unable to both heat their homes and pay their mortgages. Single mothers, seniors, and Canadian families are all suffering. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister will not feel the impact of his tax hike. Why? He has a trust fund.

Why will he not tell us how much his carbon tax will cost the average Canadian family?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, as a member of Parliament for British Columbia, my hon. colleague should know better. In British Columbia, we have had a price on carbon pollution since 2008 as a result of the leadership of Premier Campbell. The revenues associated with that were returned to families in the form of tax reductions and rebates. Low-income families in British Columbia were absolutely no worse off and we had a price on pollution, which incented good choices with respect to efficiency and growth, a clean economy, and the development of the most robust clean technology sector in all of Canada.

Taxation

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Ottawa Citizen revealed the true story of a former Liberal Party strategist who was just hired as a lobbyist by Google, a Google department head who became chief of staff for the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and another former Liberal strategist, now the chief lobbyist for Facebook, who forgot to disclose his many meetings with the Minister of Finance.

Who said Ottawa was a boring city? This is like something out of House of Cards!

Could it be that the cozy relationship between web giants and the Liberals is holding the government back from forcing those companies to pay their fair share of taxes?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, the vast majority of Canadians use social media and digital platforms. Because of this, I met with representatives of all the major platforms to develop our cultural policy, Creative Canada.

My chief of staff's expertise and knowledge on the business model used by web giants is therefore an asset, given that our goal is to protect and promote our culture online. She has always been completely transparent about her former employer, including with the Ethics Commissioner.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada is warning that the power of the U.S. data oligarchies is so great that it is now threatening the competitiveness of the Canadian economy—this as the U.S. and the U.K. talk about regulating these corporate giants that have the power to undermine democratic elections. Meanwhile, the Liberal Party has put a “for sale” sign on the Prime Minister's door for all the data lobbyists who just all happen to have Liberal Party passes.

Once again, why is the government putting the interests of giant data and its Liberal Party insiders ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens, consumers, and Canadian culture?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear when it comes to data, data breaches, and privacy concerns to take aggressive action. That is why we put forward regulations to protect Canadians under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA. This applies to private entities. If there is any stolen or lost data, they must report that to the individual and to the Privacy Commissioner. Failure to do so will lead to an infraction with a fine of up to $100,000. We have been very clear about taking action on this file and will continue to do so.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on April 27, the Federal Court said that refugees could file a claim for refugee protection in Canada if they were worried about being deported from the United States. That is fundamentally contrary to the logic of the safe third country agreement, under which the United States complies with international refugee laws, including the non-refoulement principle.

Does the government agree with the Federal Court that the United States is not a safe country for asylum seekers or will it do what needs to be done and appeal that decision?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, that is some highly worrisome rhetoric coming from the Conservative benches. They are the ones perpetuating the myth that people are trying to jump the queue when they know very well that asylum seekers are treated completely differently from other asylum seekers.

They are the ones who floated the ridiculous idea of creating an official point of entry 9,000 kilometres long with fewer security officers. While they are busy fearmongering, we are going to ensure that Canadians are kept safe and that Canadian and international laws are—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing to see the minister so completely miss the point of the question I just asked him. It was very straightforward.

This morning the Minister of Immigration told Canadians that he had nothing new to offer in terms of how to deal with the thousands of illegal migrants. The Liberals never talk about the need for compassion for real refugees in UN camps. They never talk about compassion for people who immigrate to Canada legally and who now have to wait longer.

While the minister is moving heaven and earth to accommodate illegal migrants, thousands and thousands of refugees are suffering and forgotten in real refugee camps.

Can the government show some real leadership and put the issue of asylum seekers on the agenda for the G7 summit?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives may like to talk about security but they are the ones that slashed $390 million from the Canada Border Services Agency budget. They claim to be full of compassion but they are the ones who took medical aid away from families and children who came to Canada as refugees. This hypocrisy and them pretending to care about refugees is completely false. Canadians need to know that.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, truly vulnerable refugees in the world do not have the means to fly to the United States and sneak across the Canadian border. Many anguish in refugee camps, waiting in a 45,000 case private sponsorship backlog. They cannot jump the line, yet the Liberals are allowing others to do just that. How is that fair or compassionate?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the Harper Conservatives would not know what compassion is if it hit them in the face.

The Harper Conservatives cut $400 million from border security operations, and they pretend to care about the border. The Harper Conservatives kept families apart, with spouses, live-in caregivers, children, and others in queues. We inherited a huge, ballooning backlog under the privately sponsored refugees.

The Conservatives have no idea what compassion is about. They did not care about the Yazidi refugees.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. It is not helpful for order in this place to suggest that people are not honourable or lack compassion or are not competent. Of course, that goes both ways. I ask members to be cautious and careful in the words they use, and particularly the minister on this occasion. I would ask him not to use that kind of suggestion in the future.

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has issued 12,500 expedited work permits for people who have entered Canada illegally from the United States in the last year alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people, including new Canadians, who are out of work or could be out of work and are trying to make ends meet. Planned orderly migration grows our economy. What is happening at the Quebec-U.S. border is not planned, orderly, fair, or compassionate.

Why will the Prime Minister not close the loophole in the safe third country agreement?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the Harper Conservatives never understood a very simple thing about immigration, that investment follows silence. They did not make the necessary investments in immigration processing.

Let us stick to the numbers. Under that party, parents and grandparents had to wait years to come to Canada. Spouses and children were kept apart for years under that party. Privately sponsored refugees were kept apart for years under that party. We were handed a 50,000 case backlog in privately sponsored refugees. Yes, the Conservatives lack compassion because they cut refugee health care.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, no fewer than three ministers held a press conference this morning on the issue of asylum seekers, but they really did not have anything new to tell us.

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness announced that Canadian law will continue to be enforced and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said that he plans to go to Nigeria. However, there was nothing to address the root of the problem.

Will the government stop dithering and finally suspend the safe third country agreement?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we did announce new measures this morning during our press conference.

Among other things, we have spoken to our American partners about the issue of asylum seekers arriving from Nigeria with a visa. This is an important file because this group represents the largest number of asylum seekers at this time. We also provided more information on the issue of the triage system set up to deal with those arriving at the Quebec border. We spoke about measures we are taking to examine the additional requests for funding from the Province of Quebec. We are doing all kinds of things at this time.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is a far cry from “all kinds of things”, because we have been talking about this since January 2017.

The government can send officials to the U.S. and to Nigeria. It can talk about all of the things that are happening, but the problem persists. What we are seeing is people who, in one case, are trying to flee death, torture, and poor living conditions, and in another case, fleeing anti-refugee sentiment that exists even in places like the White House.

If the government wants to be welcoming to refugees and it wants it to happen in the proper way at official border crossings, why does it not do the easy thing and suspend the safe third country agreement?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the safe third country agreement is premised on the notion of better management of asylum seekers between Canada and the United States. It is based on a principle supported by the United Nations Refugee Agency, that refugees should claim asylum in the first safe country that they land in. The United Nations Refugee Agency monitors both Canada and the United States in terms of their compliance with the safe third country agreement.

I did not think I would live to see the day when the NDP would disagree with the United Nations.

Health

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this week marks Mental Health Awareness Week. It is an important moment to take collective action to reduce stigma and, above all, to encourage our friends and family to talk about it openly. Poor mental health and mental illness are more prevalent than many people think. In fact, one out of every three Canadians will have a mental illness in their lifetime.

My question is for the Minister of Health. What action is this government taking regarding mental health for Canadians?