Debates of May 16th, 2019

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, it is always very challenging in this House. On the one hand, we have a party whose members do not believe in taking climate action, who attack the price on pollution, pretending that we are not giving the money back and taking action to reduce emissions while putting more money in people's pockets. On the other hand, we have another party whose members are saying it is a fake price on pollution. I do not really get it.

We have a climate emergency. We need to come together and take serious action. We have to stop fighting and we need to move forward together. That is the only way we will be able to tackle climate change. That is the only way we will be able to grow our economy. We have to come together as a country. We owe it to our kids.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. It seems that many members have lots to say, but I would ask them of course to wait until they have the floor.

Now the floor is going to the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

Justice

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are refusing to allow today's emergency meeting on the Vice-Admiral Mark Norman affair to be televised. Canadians deserve transparency, but the Liberals want to hide in the dark.

Vice-Admiral Norman says he has a story to tell that Canadians will want to hear. Canadians need to be assured that the Prime Minister is not orchestrating yet another cover-up.

Will the chair of the defence committee do the right thing and allow today's meeting to be televised?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as vice-chair of the national defence committee, I am disappointed that the Liberal chair of the committee from Kelowna—Lake Country is stubbornly refusing to accommodate requests from media to televise today's meeting. There is intense national interest regarding the unjust prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, but the Liberals want to keep it in the dark.

So much for Liberal transparency. It is starting to smell a lot like a cover-up.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, last night I asked the Minister of National Defence if he would finally apologize on behalf of the Liberal government to Vice-Admiral Mark Norman for the miscarriage of justice he suffered at the government's hands. The answer was nothing.

The documents the Prime Minister fought to keep secret were the very documents that vindicated Vice-Admiral Norman. It could have happened months ago, yet the Liberals still refuse to turn them over to the court.

If the minister truly regrets what happened to Vice-Admiral Norman, will he let the sun shine in, release the documents and end this Liberal cover-up?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can have confidence in the independence of our judicial institutions.

This week, we supported the motion to recognize Vice-Admiral Mark Norman for his service and apologize to him and his family.

We are waiting to hear from the chief of defence staff and the Canadian Armed Forces about what the next steps will be. There is a process in place, and we know that it was followed. We need to respect the judicial process, unlike what the Conservatives are doing. They are not showing any respect for the judicial process.

Public Services and Procurement

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Royal Canadian Navy needs two supply ships. On February 27, 2014, HMCS Protecteur was lost to a fire. On September 1, 2014, HMCS Preserver conducted its last exercise. The navy had an urgent need that only Davie could fill.

Why did the Liberal government try to cancel the Asterix contract that had been awarded to Davie?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, our national shipbuilding strategy is creating good jobs for the middle class in Quebec and across Canada.

The Conservatives shut Davie out entirely, awarding it no significant contracts through the national shipbuilding strategy. Meanwhile, our government has granted more than 16% of the contracts, worth $1.5 million, to companies in Quebec.

We believe in the Davie shipyard, and we will also continue to ensure that the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy have the equipment they need to do their jobs. That is exactly what we are doing by investing in our men and women in uniform.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by the way, we were the ones who awarded the contract, not them.

The Asterix is resounding success. It was delivered by Davie on time and on budget. Last night, the Minister of National Defence was unable to confirm when the Royal Canadian Navy could count on getting a second supply ship. He also confirmed that he endorsed the decision by the chief of the defence staff to suspend Vice-Admiral Norman.

Why did the Liberal government not support the man who was defending the Royal Canadian Navy?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, since the question also touched on the issue with Davie, it is important to respond by saying that the Conservatives completely abandoned Davie and did not award it a single contract.

Once again, we have granted more than $1.5 billion in contracts to Quebec businesses. We will ensure that we provide equipment to the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy.

To assess the navy's needs, our government relies on official advice from the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as that of the commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, who gave us his opinion on the supply ships.

Justice

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know there was an orchestrated effort by the Prime Minister to politically interfere in the Mark Norman case. Documents were withheld and redacted, code names were used to suppress information, witnesses were tampered with and clandestine meetings were held at which no notes were taken. The Prime Minister's own lawyer talked about the need to engineer the issues at stake.

Will the Prime Minister apologize to Mark Norman and immediately return the admiral to his job?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we supported the motion this week to recognize Vice-Admiral Norman for his service and apologize to him and his family.

I would like to point out that the entire House supported this motion. We are waiting to hear from the chief of the defence staff and the Canadian Armed Forces about the next steps. As we know, the chief of the defence staff will be sitting down with Admiral Norman to discuss next steps.

We respect this process, unlike the Conservatives, who are trying to undermine a process that has been in place for many years and Canada's judicial process.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the prosecution may have been completely independent, but the current government was anything but. Canadians know the Prime Minister was wrong to politically interfere in the Mark Norman case. Now Canadians expect the Prime Minister to say he is sorry.

It is clear the Prime Minister did everything he could to punish Admiral Norman. From tarnishing his reputation to destroying him financially, the Prime Minister was unrelenting.

When will the Prime Minister—on behalf of the government, not this House—apologize to Mark Norman and give him his job back?

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Once again, the House unanimously adopted a motion to apologize. I would like to remind the opposition members that no factors were considered in this decision. There was no outside contact or influence, including political influence in either the initial decision to prosecute Mr. Norman or the decision to stay the charge.

Those are the words of the PPSC. Once again, any allegations from the opposition are absurd. We must respect this country's judicial process. Unlike the Conservatives, this side of the House always respects that process.

The Environment

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Kingcome, a community in my riding, has been going into debt every year because of the current government's lack of action to get it off diesel. This community has been grappling with dangerous floods because of climate change. Like many communities across this country, it wants action.

Our motion asked the government to stop subsidies to big oil, not to communities like Kingcome. The Liberals are misleading people by using their own failure to deliver for indigenous peoples to defend against their lacklustre record on climate change.

It is a simple question. Why are the Liberals refusing to support our motion to fight climate change?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, that is not how it reads at all. In fact, we will remain on guard and work diligently with indigenous communities as they make the transition from a diesel economy to a new economy. In the meantime, we have to remain vigilant and make sure we protect at least 24 Ontario communities that presently rely right now on that subsidy in order to power their water rehabilitation facilities and schools.

We will continue to work with first nations as they, like the rest of us, make a transition to a new energy economy.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this community is in British Columbia. It is deplorable that the Liberals are using access to housing and the cost of living on reserves to defend their subsidies to big oil. It is unacceptable to see the government mislead people to protect rich corporations.

New Democrats are talking about the more than $6 billion given last year to oil giants. The Liberals are trying to claim they cannot cancel those subsidies because it would deny indigenous communities basic fairness.

Enough. When will they join us in fighting climate change and make sure that no indigenous community is left behind?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, enough with legislation and policy being played on here in this House without consulting with indigenous communities first.

I would ask the NDP exactly how much consultation with indigenous groups they did before they decided they wanted to end the federal energy subsidies. How much consultation have they done? I know that on this side of the House we continue to consult, because the path to reconciliation requires all of us to do so.

Intergovernmental Relations

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government is incapable of working with the provinces on a number of issues.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change is constantly attacking the Ontario and Alberta governments. The Minister of Tourism goes after the Premier of Ontario every chance she gets. The Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the member for Louis-Hébert publicly attacked the Premier of Quebec.

My question is this. Does the Prime Minister support the disrespectful and condescending way his Liberal MPs and ministers attack the various provincial governments?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, only a Conservative would oppose nationwide investments.

Just this morning, I spoke with my counterpart in Alberta. We are proud to have approved more than 4,800 projects across Canada. We are proud to have invested over $2.4 billion in Atlantic Canada. We are proud to have invested over $6.7 billion in Quebec. We are proud to have invested over $12.2 billion in Ontario and we are proud to have invested over $15.6 billion in western Canada. We will continue to make investments that improve the lives of Canadians across the country.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, too bad he was reading from a page that had nothing to do with my question.

This government is paternalistic and condescending toward our provincial premiers and partners. On Friday, the Prime Minister of Canada accused the Premier of Quebec of playing petty politics. That comment is disrespectful toward the person who was democratically elected by the people of Quebec in October.

Does the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities agree with the Prime Minister of Canada's disrespectful comments about the Premier—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague.

Respecting Quebec means more than asking questions in the House of Commons. It means acting in the best interests of Quebeckers. That is why we have approved 684 projects in Quebec since November 2015, for a total investment in excess of $5.3 billion in Quebec.

Respecting Quebeckers means investing in Quebec, which is what we will continue to do.

Finance

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, real federalism is what we did. We recognized Quebec as a nation in 2008, something the Liberals never would have done.

Not only that, but we have seen since 2015 that they are anything but transparent. They hide tax hikes and bury objectionable provisions in huge omnibus bills. Surprise, surprise, what do we see? The Liberals refused to properly fund the Office of the Auditor General this year.

Why are they withholding that funding, which the Auditor General needs in order to perform audits to hold this government accountable to Canadians?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to respecting our officers of Parliament, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, who, members will recall, appointed unilingual anglophone officers of Parliament, showing profound disrespect for Quebec.

We are committed to giving the Auditor General all the necessary tools. The member mentioned taxes, and I would like to remind him of one simple fact. Last summer, the OECD confirmed to Canadians that a typical Canadian family of four in 2019 has about $2,000 more in its pockets than in 2015. The Liberal plan is working for the middle class.