Debates of May 17th, 2019

Justice

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we are delighted to have signed a historic memorandum of understanding with the Government of Quebec to create an advisory board for Quebec.

This board will reflect the province's unique legal tradition and ensure greater participation by its government in the selection process for Supreme Court judges from Quebec.

The memorandum of understanding reflects the government's commitment to adapting the composition of the advisory board in order to fill the three Supreme Court seats reserved for Quebec.

With this agreement, we have resolved a long-standing dispute with Quebec. As Minister of Justice—

Carbon Pricing

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this Victoria Day long weekend, as people in my province of Saskatchewan are driving to the lake, they are going to be paying higher gas prices, thanks to the Liberals' cash-grabbing carbon tax.

The Liberal carbon tax, as we know, is a plan to fight carbon change; absolutely not. This is a tax grab. All it does is make life more expensive for hard-working Canadians. When will the Liberal government support Canadians and cancel, once and for all, this carbon tax?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I have to point out that the hon. member seems confused. The province of British Columbia simply does not have the federal system apply, and in fact, the B.C. government's plan to price pollution has added one cent to the cost of gas in that province.

In respect to provinces where our plan applies, I direct the hon. member to read the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report that confirms that eight out of 10 families will have more money in their pockets at the end of the year as a result of our plan that will also reduce emissions.

If he is finally concerned about affordability, I would invite his constituents to write him and ask why he opposed the increase to the Canada child benefit, why he opposed the tax cut for middle-class families and why he opposed support for low-income seniors.

Natural Resources

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, British Columbia is drowning under the highest gas prices on the continent, and the Liberal government simply does not care. Because of the government's failure to expand pipeline access from Alberta, B.C. must buy American gasoline at a premium. This is unacceptable in a country rich in energy like ours.

B.C. needs the pipeline, and it needs it now. When will the government do the bare minimum to support B.C. and approve this desperately needed pipeline?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, since day one, our government has taken action to support our energy sector and the jobs it creates by making market access a priority. The Conservatives spent a decade failing our energy sector and failing Canadians. We are working each day to fix those failures. We are taking action now and making sure that good projects move forward, create jobs for Canadians and grow our economy. This is what Canadians deserve.

Our government approved the Line 3 replacement project. We have always supported Keystone and we are moving forward on TMX in the right way, through meaningful consultations, something that is not even an idea for the Conservatives.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has just awarded a former Tides Canada executive a position in his office as director of policy. Tides poured millions into targeting campaigns aimed at influencing the 2015 election. Tides created and funded the tar sands campaign aimed entirely at shutting down Canada's oil and gas industry. Tides has funded organizations that have waged war against Canada's forestry, fishing and agriculture industries. Tides has funded comprehensive and targeted campaigns aimed at discrediting and shutting down Canada's natural resource sectors.

Who does the Prime Minister work for, Canadians or his foreign-funded friends?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that we are working for Canadians. We have created over one million jobs and have lifted 300,000 kids out of poverty, and we are continuing to work with Canadians.

We have approved the Line 3 project. We are supportive of Keystone and we are working on TMX in the right way, something that is not the way the Conservatives operate. For them, negotiating or actually having consultations with indigenous peoples is not even a thought. For us, making sure that we are working for Canadians in the right way is a priority.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, for years the Liberals have hired anti-energy chiefs of staff and policy advisers in the ministers' offices of Natural Resources, Environment and others, and now the Prime Minister has just appointed a former vice-president of Tides Canada as his director of policy. The Tides Foundation helped run the anti-oil sands campaign. One group it funded says, “From the very beginning, the...strategy was to land lock” Canadian oil. With nearly 200,000 Canadian oil and gas workers out of their jobs and two cancelled pipelines under the Liberals, obviously it is working.

Why on earth is the Prime Minister helping foreign-funded activists shut down Canadian energy?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, that is far from the truth. We have actually approved the Line 3 project. We are supportive of Keystone and we are moving forward on TMX in the right way. We have eight teams on the ground right now making sure that we are properly consulting with indigenous peoples, something, again, that for the Conservatives is only a suggestion. We realize that it is a legal obligation. We take our obligations very seriously. That is what Canadians deserve, and that is what we are delivering.

Public Services and Procurement

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

Mr. Speaker, public servants across the country have been suffering under the Phoenix pay system fiasco since its inception. People have been underpaid, overpaid and not paid at all, and T4s are inaccurate, creating a whole host of nightmares with the Canada Revenue Agency.

This has been widely acknowledged by the government, but what is actually happening to support federal employees suffering under Phoenix? Constituents like Mr. Forester-Stone, in my riding, want to know why they are still receiving the same responses about unknown timelines, with no resolution in sight, for resolving their pay issues.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility]

Mr. Speaker, of course, we are in complete solidarity with the public servants who are labouring and suffering under the Harper-inspired Phoenix pay system, where they cut 700 qualified public servants, cut tens of millions of dollars in phony savings, and left us without an alternative pay system.

We are moving to develop a next generation pay system. We have opened a client contact centre, which is experiencing high levels of customer satisfaction, and we are, of course, going to continue to get those transactions down and get to zero.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a climate crisis before us, with current global warming trends predicting a global increase of between 3°C to 5°C by the end of the century. Canada's youth are looking to us, the elected officials, to embrace the crisis that is putting their futures in jeopardy with the same urgency they are feeling.

The government claims to understand that there is a climate emergency, but it refuses to debate the issue today, and it voted against the NDP's motion earlier this week. When will the government put some action behind its words and treat this crisis with the urgency it deserves?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is, climate change is real, the consequences are serious and we are facing an emergency today. We do not need to look to the end of the century to understand that people are feeling the consequences in our communities. We can look at the storm surges on the east coast, floods in New Brunswick, heatwaves in Quebec and Ontario, forest fires in the west and glacial melt in the north. We are feeling the impact today, and it is costing us dearly.

We have put forward a plan with more than 50 concrete measures that is going to bring our emissions down, strengthen communities, make life more affordable and do right for the next generation.

With respect to the NDP's motion, there were fatal flaws in it, because those members did not do their homework and understand that the consequences would shut off electricity to—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

International Trade

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government's management of the China crisis is a total disaster.

The Minister of Agriculture is improvising, and more and more farmers are being affected. First it was canola, pork and genetics. Now we have learned that two containers of soybeans were rejected by Chinese authorities. Sales have dropped by 95% since January, and farmers still do not have access to the advanced payment program, even though they need help now.

Rather than pointing fingers, when will the Prime Minister stand up and defend Canadian farmers?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, we have been behind our canola farmers and all of our farmers from the very start.

We are taking action on multiple fronts. We are working on this. I visited the Prairies and met with my provincial colleagues. We set up a working group with the industry and farmers. I went to Japan. I spoke with my Chinese counterpart. We have implemented a much more generous advanced payment program. We are working hard on this file. My colleague, the Minister of International Trade Diversification, will also be undertaking trade missions focusing on diversification.

Finance

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, the Auditor General told the public accounts committee that as a result of inadequate funding “we have no choice but to decrease the number of performance audits”.

Yesterday the President of the Treasury Board refused to commit to provide the necessary resources to the Auditor General so that he could do his job, so I will give her another chance today. Will she commit today, now, to provide the Office of the Auditor General the $10.8 million it requested, yes or no?

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to working with and supporting the Auditor General, as we would support all officers of the Parliament of Canada. When an officer of Parliament, such as the Auditor General, identifies a need for additional resources, we consider such a request quite seriously to ensure that that office and all offices of agents of Parliament can continue their important work on behalf of the Canadian people.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that sounded an awful lot like no.

On Tuesday, we learned that the cancelled audits included cybercrime, Arctic sovereignty, public service training, heritage services and the government's travel system. The Auditor General said that these were important areas that needed to be audited. One can imagine what these audits would reveal if they were completed.

We know that the government prefers cover-ups to accountability, but stopping the Auditor General from doing his job is inexcusable. Why are they so afraid to be accountable?

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government]

Mr. Speaker, let me reiterate that our government fully supports officers of Parliament. We take their work seriously. When an officer of Parliament, such as the Auditor General, identifies a problem with the budget, we take that seriously.

That is exactly what we are going to do.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for months, the Leader of the Opposition has been vague about the Conservative plan. This week we heard the so-called details, and they are terrifying. He wants to mix the worst of Harper with the worst of Ford. He says his cuts will not hurt kids or families, but as we are seeing in Ontario, when Conservatives make such promises, middle-class families suffer.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families please tell this House how this government has indeed helped families and the middle class prosper?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to Conservatives, they have a lot of silly slogans, and they amuse themselves with stickers and all kinds of little cartoons, but the reality is, when it comes to children, the Ford government has declared war on Ontario's children. The cuts to stem cell research yesterday are absolutely appalling and put at risk premature babies. It is a wrong cut. It is a bad cut, but it layers on top of the cuts to vaccines, the cuts to school lunch programs, the cuts to libraries and the cuts to education.

When the Conservatives talk about children, what they do not tell us is that they are coming for our kids, they are coming to hurt kids, and they cut services to kids. They just do not care. When it comes to Ford's cuts, they are—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member for Calgary Shepard.

Housing

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' one-size-fits-all mortgage stress test has blocked 147,000 Canadians from the dream of home ownership. To fix their big-government mistake, they are proposing a big-government solution of shared equity mortgages.

The finance department claims that up to 100,000 Canadians will be helped. They said that CMHC told them so; CMHC says the department gave it that number. The CMHC boss says this program will work on the margins; Liberal MPs keep claiming it will be transformational.

Will the Liberals admit that when it comes to housing affordability, they are making it up as they go along and young Canadian families are paying the price?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance (Youth Economic Opportunity)]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the issues that young people are facing, they certainly do not look to the Conservatives for solutions. After 10 years, we saw what that meant.

When it comes to housing affordability, all the Conservatives want to do is allow young people and families in first-time home ownership opportunities to take on more debt. What we are committed to is actually allowing more people to get into the housing market; making their monthly costs go down; increasing affordability for Canadians so they have more money to spend on things that matter, like their families; and making sure that they can invest in communities.

The Conservatives have no plan. We continue—