Debates of Feb. 19th, 2019

Kings—Hants

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

It is my duty to inform the House that a vacancy has occurred in the representation, namely Mr. Scott Brison, member for the electoral district of Kings—Hants, by resignation effective Sunday, February 10, 2019.

Pursuant to subsection 25(1)(b) of the Parliament of Canada Act, I have addressed my warrant to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election of a member to fill this vacancy.

Parliamentary Budget Officer

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Pursuant to section 79.2 of the Parliament of Canada Act, it is my duty to present to the House a report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer entitled “Economic and Fiscal Monitor--February 2019”.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the treaties entitled “Protocol Relating to an Amendment to Article 50(a) of the Convention on International Civil Aviation” and “Protocol Relating to an Amendment to Article 56 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation”, done at Montreal on October 6, 2016, as well as “Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of Japan Concerning Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services Between the Canadian Armed Forces and the Self-Defense Forces of Japan”, done at Toronto on April 21, 2018.

Government Response to Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(b), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to three petitions.

Procedure and House Affairs

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed that recently the public accounts committee was saying how hard it is working to present the 59th report of the committee.

I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 83rd report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

The committee advises that, pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the subcommittee on private members' business met to consider the order for the second reading of private members' public bills originating in the Senate, and recommended that the items listed in the report, which it has determined should not be designated non-votable, be considered by the House.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(2), the report is deemed adopted.

Ban on Shark Fin Importation and Exportation Act

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill S-238, An Act to amend the Fisheries Act and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (importation and exportation of shark fins).

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to sponsor Bill S-238, which proposes to ban the importation and exportation of shark fins. This legislation was passed in the Senate late last year and now must be reviewed in the House of Commons.

This legislation, introduced by Senator Michael McDonald, would prohibit the importation and exportation of shark fins.

With a federal election expected on October 21, it is imperative that all members work together to ensure that Bill S-238 receives royal assent before the fall election.

Over 70 million sharks are killed each year for their fins. Since 2011, five private members' bills have been introduced that would have banned the trade in shark fins. In that time, over half a billion sharks have been butchered and killed for their fins.

We cannot wait for another election. We must pass this legislation and end the destructive practice of shark finning.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)

Human Organ Trafficking

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition in support of Bill S-240 on organ harvesting, which is currently before the foreign affairs committee.

Impact of Overpass Construction

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by several hundred residents of my riding, Hochelaga. They are concerned about the social and environmental effects of the construction of an overpass near a residential neighbourhood. They are asking the Minister of Transport and port authorities to design and develop other options for the location and layout of the future overpass and to make those options available for public review.

Needle Exchange Program

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by hundreds of Canadians who are calling on the government to end the needle exchange program. They are calling on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Safety to end the prison needle exchange program and implement measures that would increase the safety of correctional officers in the surrounding community.

Banking Services

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise once again to table a petition regarding concerns surrounding bank closures. These petitioners are from Dubreuilville, White River, Echo Bay, Richards Landing, Bruce Mines, Elliot Lake, Hearst and Kapuskasing, all from the beautiful riding of Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing.

The petitioners are concerned about bank closures in rural communities across Canada. They indicate the negative impact these closures have on economic stability and remind the government that people in rural areas experience a lack of reliable broadband and cellular services to be able to do online banking. They are forced to drive long distances to access banking services. That is the case for Dubreuilville residents, as it takes a one-hour drive to access banking services.

They ask the federal government to work with financial institutions to address access to physical institutions in rural communities, introduce a three-month penalty-free period to move their finances elsewhere in order to encourage other facilities to come in, and also to consider postal banking.

Human Organ Trafficking

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present this morning.

The first petition urges the Parliament of Canada to move quickly to amend the Criminal Code to prohibit Canadians from travelling abroad to acquire human organs removed without consent or as a result of a financial transaction, and to render inadmissible to Canada any and all permanent residents or foreign nationals who have participated in this abhorrent trade in human organs.

Round Lake

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with respect to a lake in my riding. It is beautiful, but it is not functioning well right now. The water level is deplorably low and the lake is not serving its purpose because of a disagreement between the Government of Canada and the first nations of Ochapowace and Piapot.

The petitioners call on the minister to use his authority to re-establish communication with those first nations and work on a resolution to this matter that is impacting businesses and use of the area for enjoyment in the summer.

Status of Women

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise this morning to present a petition from residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands calling attention of this House to the ongoing deep concern of the tragedy of violence against women.

The petitioners point out that it remains a critical problem in Canada, particularly in relation to vulnerable populations, particularly indigenous women, and they call for equal participation of women in all parts of our society.

Pharmacare

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on the issue of pharmacare.

I have had literally hundreds of constituents petition the House asking for the Prime Minister, the government and all members of this House to recognize the important value of having a national pharmacare program. They are calling upon the Government of Canada to work with the different stakeholders, in particular our provinces and territories, in ensuring that we can have a pharmacare program for prescribed medicines.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Alleged Racial Profiling--Speaker's Ruling

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Mr. Speaker, I am now ready to rule on the issue raised on February 6, 2019, by the member for Hull—Aylmer regarding an incident of racial profiling that recently occurred within the parliamentary precinct.

The Chair is grateful to the honourable member for bringing this incident to the attention of the House. I also appreciate the comments made by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism.

While the hon. member for Hull—Aylmer raised this matter as a question of privilege and it deals with a serious event, it is not properly a question of privilege. It did not involve a member of Parliament or engage a proceeding of either this House or any committee. Nonetheless, the member has given me an opportunity to make a statement to the House and to report on the investigation that has taken place with respect to the incident.

The member for Hull—Aylmer explained that he and the parliamentary secretary had been made aware that a group of Canadians, mostly young, had come to Parliament Hill on February 4, 2019, to engage with members of Parliament on, and sensitize them to, issues that black communities in Canada are facing today. Reporting that an incident of racial profiling had occurred during this initiative, known as “Black Voices on the Hill”, he asked me to investigate the matter immediately and suggest measures to ensure that Parliament is an open and welcome place for all Canadians.

As Speaker, I have responsibility, shared with the Speaker of the Senate, for the oversight of matters of security and policing for the parliamentary precinct, and the Parliamentary Protective Service has the operational responsibility for the security in the parliamentary buildings. These important responsibilities embody far more than just the physical aspects of keeping people safe when here on Parliament Hill. The racial profiling incident cannot be condoned and must be dealt with swiftly and purposefully.

A complaint was quickly raised in the House, and the Parliamentary Protective Service replied with a full and unreserved apology, stating:

We offer our apologies to the participants for the situation that they experienced. Our security personnel must always conduct themselves with professionalism and respect towards parliamentarians, employees and visitors. We need to do a better job in ensuring that this standard is maintained across our workforce. The Parliamentary Protective Service has zero tolerance for any type of discrimination. We took immediate action upon learning of this incident and launched an internal investigation into the matter. Once the investigation is completed, we will be advising the Speakers accordingly.

The apology is a welcomed first step. However, it should not be construed as either a final step or a way to erase the harsh and unacceptable reality of what happened. Instead, we are resolved to learn from it and to do better going forward.

While one transgression does not represent the actions of all, one is too many and none can be overlooked, dismissed or excused.

All who come here must know unequivocally that they will be welcomed with equality, dignity and respect. To experience anything less here on Parliament Hill, the centre of our democracy, is a failure on our part and for that I offer my sincere apologies. We can and must do better, and we will.

As Speaker, I would like to conclude by making it clear that while there is not a finding of a prima facie question of privilege, for the reasons I have mentioned, this in no way diminishes the importance or gravity of the matter raised.

I thank all hon. members for their attention.

Opposition Motion—Transparency and Accountability

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

moved:

That the House: (a) call on the Prime Minister to waive solicitor-client privilege for the former Attorney General with respect to allegations of interference in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin; and (b) urge the government to launch a public inquiry, under the Inquiries Act, in order to provide Canadians with the transparency and accountability promised by the Liberals in the 2015 election campaign.

Mr. Speaker, as always, it is a great honour to rise in the House to represent the people of Timmins—James Bay and as the ethics spokesman for the New Democratic Party.

I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Sherbrooke.

We are now two weeks into the explosive allegations that the Prime Minister's Office attempted to end a legal investigation, a legal case into corruption against SNC-Lavalin.

Yesterday, Gerry Butts, who was the architect of the sunny-ways' revolution that propelled the present Prime Minister into the office he holds, was forced to resign in disgrace. This shows us that the crisis and corrosive nature of this scandal is eating its way right into the Office of the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister must come clean with Canadians today.

The Prime Minister needs to explain himself. The allegation that the PMO tried to shut down the legal case of corruption against SNC-Lavalin is extremely serious. What is even more serious is the open bar for lobbyists and the privatization of public goods and services to benefit companies like SNC-Lavalin. Canadians deserve credible answers. The Prime Minister needs to assure them that the government did not cover up this scandal.

I am going to start off with four really concerning issues we need to consider when are looking at the SNC-Lavalin case.

The first is a very serious allegation that the Prime Minister's Office attempted to shut down the legal case of corruption against SNC-Lavalin. If that allegation is true, then the Prime Minister has lost all moral standing with the Canadian people.

The second, which is just as explosive and very important, is the possibility that because the former justice minister, the very first indigenous woman justice minister in the country, did not go along with the pressure from the Prime Minister's Office, she was demoted, punished. Then we saw this horrific whisper campaign against her credibility by key Liberal staffers to assassinate her credibility. These allegations must be answered.

The third issue is the powerful backroom lobby system in Canada, that when SNC-Lavalin called everyone in the Prime Minister's Office and all key departments, they jumped and responded and whether, because of those lobbying efforts, the government rewrote the laws of Canada and slipped that into an omnibus bill to specifically protect SNC from its legal consequences.

The fourth is the culture of insider access that has taken place under the Prime Minister, the open bar for lobbyists and the privatization of public services to benefit companies like SNC-Lavalin at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer.

We can put these issues under the three toxic Cs of political life: the allegations of corruption, which have to be answered for the Canadian people; cronyism, which has been the underpinning of the Liberal Party for much too long with its insider pals; and third, the corrosive effect this has on public confidence.

We are here today to restore public confidence and to ask the Prime Minister to come clean with the Canadian people, to stop hiding between the solicitor-client privilege that is keeping the former justice minister from speaking and to agree to an independent inquiry, similar to what we had under Gomery, so the answers can be looked at and presented to the Canadian people in a credible light, so they will know whether the government has undermined its legal obligations or whether it can come clean. That is what we are asking the Prime Minister to do.

Just three months ago, SNC was the sponsor of the biggest schmoozefest in Ottawa. It was the ultimate insider access event to get to meet all the top Liberal ministers. They were all at the beck and call of SNC. The person the Liberals had advertising this SNC event was the indigenous affairs minister. They were using this minister's photo for an SNC event. What were they all coming together for? It certainly was not reconciliation, because that is not the most important relationship for the Prime Minister. They were all coming together to talk about how they could benefit from the privatization of public services.

Let us think about this for a moment. How is it possible that a company that was under criminal investigation for illegal bribes to both the Liberals and the Conservatives was able to host an event where all the key Liberal ministers and staffers were there? How is it possible that a company with a long and ugly history of allegations of corruption and bribery in Algeria, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Libya was able to host this event, knowing it could promote every key Liberal to be there, and the Liberals saw nothing wrong with this? It is not that their moral compass is bent in the wrong direction, there is no moral compass. It never was about the middle class and those wanting to join it. It was always about the Fortune 500 and those who were on the inside track to get there. The most important relationship never was about reconciliation with first nation people; it was about protecting their friends.

We get told now that SNC is too big to jail, too big to fail. However, I would point to Arthur Porter, who was the centre of one of the biggest fraud investigations in Canadian history. Under the former government, which is as in with SNC-Lavalin as the present one, Stephen Harper appointed Arthur Porter to oversee Canada's spy agency. This shows how much Canada is up for sale to these insiders. They always say “Too big to fail, too big to jail”, but Arthur Porter ended up in a Panamanian jail, and Canadians were no worse off for him finally getting punished.

We need to talk about clearing the air, because the government is now talking about the jobs. I am very concerned about the jobs for all the honest working people at SNC-Lavalin. However, I am also worried about the jobs of many Canadians. Their jobs have been taken away, like the workers at the heating plant right here in the National Capital Region. They worked there for years, but their jobs are being undermined because the government wants to privatize to SNC. The government says that it is worried about jobs, but it never worried about jobs when those working for Stelco and Sears lost their pensions. Why not? Because it was the family business of the finance minister that had the contract to windup their pensions. The Liberals were looking after the 1%. They would not stand up for the pension rights of Sears or Stelco workers, but they would stand up for the rights of Morneau Shepell. The finance minister is the minister of the 1%.

Let us talk about KPMG, a company that established an offshore fraud account so that multi-millionaires could evade paying their taxes. What did the government do? It not only cut a deal with KPMG and said it was okay, but it actually hired a KPMG representative to be the treasurer of the Liberal Party. It never was about the middle class and those wanting to join it. It never was about reconciliation. It was about the government and the Prime Minister's insider relationships for whom they would bend the laws of the country. They will look after their friends. They will do things behind closed doors. They will turn the public services of Canada into a cash cow for their lobbyists and their friends.

Now the Liberals are saying not to be negative but talk about positive things. However, there is nothing more negative for Canadian public life than corruption and cronyism. Until we clear that up, until we can say to the Canadian people that they can trust that everyone will have a fair chance, then Canadians have no reason to believe. Therefore, I ask the Prime Minister to do the right thing, to stop hiding, to explain why Gerry Butts had to take the fall, and for the Prime Minister to vote for our motion to have an independent investigation and stop hiding behind that fig leaf of solicitor-client privilege.

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Madam Speaker, given the nature of the comments of the member for Timmins—James Bay and the partisan rhetoric that was employed, would the member opposite not think it would be a more appropriate forum to have these matters thoroughly flushed out in a non-partisan, apolitical manner, in a manner that has more robust mechanisms, to have this addressed through the Ethics Commissioner investigation, which is already under way by virtue of a request that was made by the very same party?

Would the Ethics Commissioner's investigation be a more appropriate venue because it has stronger authority, more robust mechanisms and also can operate in a non-partisan and apolitical manner?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for—

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

Hallelujah, Madam Speaker.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

One moment, please. I would remind the member he has to wait until I recognize him and his light comes on his microphone so everybody can hear him.

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

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

Madam Speaker, the light has come on the Liberal Party. The light has come on, hallelujah. Yes, would it not be amazing if we did this through an independent investigation, not like the little monkey-wrenching the Liberals did at the justice committee where the Liberals would only have people who could not say anything? Yes, that is why we are here. Let us have an independent investigation like Gomery.

I believe the member was the assistant to the justice minister, so I am sure he knows the laws of the land, that the Ethics Commissioner can only look at a very small aspect of this, but not the aspect that actually matters, which is the legal interference by Gerry Butts or the Prime Minister or anybody over on that side.

Come to Jesus. Come with us. Walk over to the side of the light and agree to have this independent investigation. Come on over. Stop hiding with the corrupt ones.