Debates of Feb. 5th, 2019

Telecommunications

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

Mr. Speaker, access to high-speed Internet in the regions is vital, especially for families, SMEs, self-employed workers and farm operations. Nonetheless, 240,000 households in Quebec do not have an affordable and reliable Internet connection. There is a desperate need, but the Liberals have no plan to bridge the digital divide. The Liberals have failed the rural regions, as did the previous Conservative government.

My question is very simple. When will the government introduce a strategy to get rural regions connected to the Internet?

[Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Rural Economic Development, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to rise as the new Minister of Rural Economic Development. Our government is committed to ensuring that we have high-quality, high-speed broadband in rural Canada. We know it is imperative for businesses to grow and succeed. That is why we are going to develop a rural economic strategy. Rural broadband will be an extremely important part of that.

I look forward to working with all members of the House to make sure we deliver on that strategy.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, I just asked the minister a pretty simple question, one he should know the answer to, ostensibly. Today the Toronto Star reported that 11,745 people, many of whom entered our country illegally, have not had their security screening completed. Is this true, yes or no?

[Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right that this is a simple question, and I will answer it this way: Everyone who enters our country is subject to security screening by CBSA, and they do this in partnership with the RCMP and immigration.

As part of the process of determining their eligibility, there is an additional process of further screening that takes place, and there is a backlog, as reported by the Toronto Star. However, it is very important for all Canadians to understand that there is no security threat to Canadians, because every individual is screened for security concerns before they enter this country.

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

Mr. Speaker, one could argue that it would difficult to evaluate if someone posed a security risk to Canada if their security screening was not completed.

Again, the Toronto Star reported that 11,745 people have not had their security screening completed. Is this true, yes or no?

[Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, everyone who enters the country, whether irregularly or at a port of entry, is screened to determine their admissibility into the country—everyone, 100%.

As part of the process of determining their eligibility for asylum under IRCC's process, there is an additional screening that takes place. We are working hard to deal with the backlog that they left to us, and we will complete that process before anyone is admitted as eligible for refugee status in our country.

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

Mr. Speaker, the answer to this question is not yes and no. The Prime Minister has allowed 40,000 people to illegally enter our country, and today the Toronto Star has reported that 11,745 people have not had their security screening completed.

The minister is in charge of this file, in theory, so he needs to answer this question: Is the screening completed, yes or no?

[Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, everyone who comes to this country and crosses the border irregularly is thoroughly screened before they move forward into the process of determining their eligibility, so the answer to that question is yes.

There is an additional concern, because as people move through that process of determining their eligibility, CBSA, working with IRCC, does additional security screening. That process is backlogged, and we are addressing that backlog by making significant new investments in making those processes more efficient.

Let me be clear. This is not a security issue.

Telecommunications

[David Graham, Liberal, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, access to high-speed Internet is still one of the most serious economic and social problems facing Canada's rural regions, and that includes Laurentides—Labelle. Our government and our team have already done a great deal of work, but we still have a long way to go.

Internet access is key for growing businesses, creating good jobs, getting our Canadian products to global markets and for opportunity in general.

The new Minister of Rural Economic Development has this issue as one of the key priorities in her mandate letter. Could she update the House and rural Canada on her plans for the Internet?

[Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Rural Economic Development, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we know that in order to grow the rural economy, we have to have access to high-speed broadband. It is a commitment we have made in the past.

We have invested in connect to innovate, but we know we need to do more. That is why we are developing a rural economic strategy, and broadband will be a key piece of that.

I look forward to developing that strategy with people in this House, as well as with my provincial, municipal and territorial partners. We will hopefully have a strategy in the next few months.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's latest justification for raising taxes is this: “Low-income people do not benefit from tax breaks because they do not pay taxes.”

Everybody who earns more than $12,000 a year, which is way below the poverty line, is eligible to pay income tax. They also pay payroll taxes, gas taxes, and numerous other fees and charges governments apply.

How could the Prime Minister possibly help the poor and working-class people when he does not even realize that they pay taxes?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have been really clear since we came into office that we would move forward with policies that would help middle-class Canadians and those who are struggling the most to get by.

We have taken measures that have had a material impact. The Canada child benefit is helping nine out of 10 families. We put in place the Canada workers benefit to help people go from not working to work, to enable them to do better. We have put in place additions to the guaranteed income supplement. All these measures are working towards ensuring that middle-class Canadians and those Canadians who are trying to get into the middle class are doing better and better.

That is what they have seen under this government. That is what they will continue to see.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, dairy farmers have repeatedly been used as sacrificial pawns by the Liberal government in international trade negotiations.

Through the signing of recent trade deals, the Dairy Farmers of Canada, who are here in Ottawa today, estimate a total domestic market loss of 18%, which represents $1.3 billion. The government has still not unveiled the compensation package that was promised.

Since the Liberal government has clearly sided with foreign jurisdictions in appeasing their oversupply problems, when will we see it side with dairy farmers and actually give them the compensation package they were promised?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome all the dairy farmers from across Canada to Ottawa today. It is very important that their voices be heard, and our government has heard their voices.

We have defended the supply management system from a strong American attempt to dismantle it. We understand that the supply management system is vital to our financial success. We will be fully and fairly supporting the supply management sector. That is why we have formed working groups, to make sure that the information came from the supply sector up to the government.

Foreign Affairs

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 10 years have passed since the end of the war in Sri Lanka.

I have heard heart-wrenching stories from the victims of the war. The military continues to occupy land, many languish in jails under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and many more have disappeared. The slow progress towards accountability has shaken the confidence of the victims.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs advise this House of the steps that Canada is taking to hold those responsible to account for the atrocities committed?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking the member for Brampton North for her commitment to this very important issue.

Canada called for a marked acceleration of Sri Lanka's accountability efforts directly at the UN Human Rights Council last March, and at the Commonwealth meeting last April.

Canada will join the United Kingdom, Germany, Macedonia and Montenegro as part of the core group in supporting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, working toward the upcoming Human Rights Council session.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, again, the Prime Minister says, “Low-income people do not benefit from tax breaks because they do not pay taxes.”

Anyone earning $12,000 or more, way below the poverty line, is eligible to pay taxes: income taxes, GST, payroll taxes and other taxes.

Does the Prime Minister understand the appalling arrogance of a millionaire trust fund baby accusing the working poor of not paying their taxes?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the positions of the parties in this House have been very clear over the last three and a half years. Our position has been that we are lowering middle-class taxes; the position of the Conservatives is they voted against that. Our position is that we are going to increase the Canada workers benefit to help people get into work; the Conservatives voted against that. Our position is we are helping single seniors with an increase in their supplement; the Conservatives voted against that.

Clearly, we are helping middle-class Canadians and those working hard to do better, and we will continue to do so.

Natural Resources

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government paid $4.5 billion to purchase an old pipeline, with no negotiation whatsoever. How much do you want for the Trans Mountain pipeline? $4.5 billion? No problem; here is a cheque, and let us add another $9.3 billion to expand the pipeline.

To eliminate the deficit and fight climate change, perhaps the Minister of Finance could stop putting all our money in dirty oil?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we know how important it is to give our resources access to international markets. That is why we considered buying the Trans Mountain pipeline. It was very important to our economy and our natural resource sector. We will continue to look into how we can carry out the project successfully.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will continue. I was at $13.8 billion for the acquisition and expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. To that we can add $2.7 billion in tax breaks for the oil industry over five years and $1.6 billion in support for the industry. Then there is $840 million, if the Liberals buy the railcars to move the dirty oil. In total, that is $19 billion, just like the deficit.

Is the minister of high finance aware that his deficit—

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Let me talk.

Does the minister of high finance realize that dirty oil caused his deficit?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our resource sector is very important. We know that it is important to have access to international markets. That is why we decided to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline. We will continue with our approach to improving the natural resource sector and our economy as a whole.

Northern Affairs

[Hunter Tootoo, Independent, Nunavut, NU]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade will know that the Kivalliq Inuit Association has been working very hard to advance clean energy solutions that will create economic development opportunities in the region. This work is fully supported by the Government of Nunavut.

Investments to support projects like the Kivalliq hydro fibre link are fundamental to creating a sustainable economy for Nunavut. Can the minister assure us that advancing critical projects like this to grow and modernize badly needed investments in Nunavut communities will be a priority in the coming budget?