House of Commons Hansard #432 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was projects.

Topics

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

Green

Paul Manly Green Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for relating that story again and the importance of ensuring that we have the proper oversight to make sure those honourable men and women in uniform have the respect and confidence of our citizens and the people travelling to this country. Our borders are a legal no man's land and we need to make sure we have that proper oversight for people who do have legitimate complaints when they are mistreated at the border.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

Is the House ready for the question?

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

On division.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.

(Motion agreed to, bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

6:55 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Madam Speaker, I suspect if you were to canvass the House, you would find unanimous consent to call it midnight.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

Is that agreed?

Royal Canadian Mounted Police ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

7 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Madam Speaker, I rise to raise a question I initially asked on May 30, not long ago.

While the procedures for Adjournment Proceedings call for being allowed to ask for such a debate when the answer received is not sufficient, I think I am within the rubric of our rules in asking for this further debate on the issue. However, for the record, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness answered my question fully, capably and responsibly. My concern was that we learn from this experience.

I will repeat what I asked back on May 30. There was, and remains, a very terrifying episode for the community of Pikangikum First Nation, which is way out west in Ontario, so far that it is almost in Manitoba. It is a fly-in, remote community. Approximately 4,000 people live in this first nations community. The people there were surrounded by fire.

When I rose to ask the question that day, I had just heard that the chief and the community had called out for help. She actually called out for my seatmate, the hon. member who used to be the minister of Indigenous Services. Through her, I heard that the planes had not been able to land. A Hercules that was flying in to rescue people could not land because of the smoke. It was clearly a terrifying emergency situation. My question for the minister was what was the federal government doing.

The mobilization of resources to help that community was impressive. With the fire less than one or two kilometres from the community, thousands of people were removed to safety, with the Hercules aircraft flying in and out over a period of days.

My question is this. What have we learned from this? One of the things that struck me about it, when I read the newspaper reports, was that the community had lost power, had lost land lines, had lost cell service and it was surrounded by smoke. There was an immediate health issue.

This is exactly what happened the summer before last in Ashcroft, British Columbia, where my husband is from. I talked to the deputy fire chief. People were on an evacuation alert. They had to be ready to be evacuated because of the fire. At that moment, they were without electricity, without cellphones and without land lines. They only had one road out of town. They also had an acute health issue, because people could not breathe.

The deputy fire chief told me to be prepared for these events in the future and that people were talking about what they should do when they lost power and the use of cellphones and land lines. She concluded that Ashcroft, B.C. needed to get a really big bell and put it at the fire station to warn people of evacuations. It so resonated with me.

I held my town hall meetings in the Gulf Islands in January. On December 20 of last year, we had a windstorm so severe that trees were down in the roads. This lasted 10 days, through Christmas. There was no power, no land lines, no cellphones. Just like in Ashcroft, the community self-organized, got chainsaws out and removed the trees on the roads, which we know is illegal. However, since there was no power, people felt they were safe. People took the trees off the roads, they self-organized and they went to check on their neighbours and friends.

My point is this. We are in a climate emergency. The things we think we can count on, such as our devices and our electricity, will be gone. We will be dealing with tornadoes, floods and fires. What is Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness doing to prepare for what is happening now?

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

7 p.m.

Kanata—Carleton Ontario

Liberal

Karen McCrimmon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Madam Speaker, before I get to the answer for my hon. colleague for Saanich—Gulf Islands, I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and community of Kelsey Strang who had been evacuated from Pikangikum. The Minister of Indigenous Services has reached out to the community leadership at this difficult time. While no words are adequate to respond, my heart aches for those who knew and loved her.

We will always help Canadians affected by wildfires and other disasters. We know that climate change is making natural disasters more severe, more frequent, more damaging and more expensive. Our government always stands ready to help.

The government operations centre engages with federal, provincial and territorial partners concerning fires and flooding across the country in order to be ready to respond should federal assistance be required. Emergency response is handled first at the local level. If local first responders need assistance, they can request it from neighbouring municipalities or from their province or territory. However, if an emergency escalates beyond their response capabilities, provinces or territories can request assistance from the federal government.

There is a well-established process in place for managing requests for federal assistance, which is facilitated by the Public Safety Canada regional offices through the government operations centre, and it includes interdepartmental consultation as it pertains to resources. This process ensures that municipal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions are respected, that emergency response is well coordinated and that the provision of assets and resources can be expedited at the national level when needed.

Regarding the situation of the Pikangikum First Nation, I will share some information about the events that took place recently.

On May 29, Indigenous Services Canada informed the government operations centre through the Ontario provincial emergency operations centre, that a fire was affecting the community of Pikangikum. As members may be aware, Pikangikum First Nation is a fly-in community of about 4,000 residents located in Ontario, about 70 kilometres from the Manitoba border. That same day, on May 29, a state of local emergency was declared due to the impact of smoke and fire. A request for aircraft and evacuation assistance from the Canadian Rangers and the Canadian Armed Forces was issued by the Province of Ontario to the federal government.

On May 30, in concurrence with the acting minister of National Defence, we accepted the request for the affected communities. Evacuation of the community began on the same day, on May 30. Airspace around Pikangikum was restricted to ensure the safety of Canadian Armed Forces operations and fire suppression. Ontario was not able to accommodate all the evacuees on such short notice and requested assistance from the Province of Manitoba, and that was graciously provided.

The evacuation has been suspended. The evacuation order was cancelled by the Chief of Pikangikum on June 9 due to the improving conditions.

I want to reassure Canadians that we remain committed to community safety.

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

7:05 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for the update.

The loss of life is tragic, but I thank God it was not so much worse, and it could have been with 4,000 people surrounded by fire. However, this is not the last time this is going to happen, and so there is a question of risk mapping.

The Province of Quebec, when Lucien Bouchard was premier, started risk mapping in response to the climate crisis years ago. We need it nationally. If we are going to have an adaptation strategy, we also need to have a prevention strategy.

There is standing dead forest throughout northern B.C. because of the pine beetle. There is no economic value in getting those forests out. Can we not have an effort to create fire breaks so that we are prepared for what is going to happen and protect communities before the fires get going? We also need to be prepared for more flooding. We need not to develop into flood plains.

We need to be much more prepared. We are living in a climate emergency. We have to go off fossil fuels, prevent the worst and prepare for what it inevitable.

Public SafetyAdjournment Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

Karen McCrimmon Liberal Kanata—Carleton, ON

Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada is always going to stand with Canadians every step of the way as they deal with these kinds of disasters.

We agree that collaborative effort is absolutely essential. We work shoulder to shoulder with all levels of government in Canada, first responders, volunteers, other NGOs, government departments, provinces and territories, municipalities and industry to identify collaborative actions in support of disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

Through Public Safety Canada's newly developed emergency management strategy, Canada will be in a better position to predict, prepare for, respond to and recover from weather-related emergencies and natural disasters.

Parks CanadaAdjournment Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

NDP

Wayne Stetski NDP Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Madam Speaker, again I rise in the House to speak about the perpetual nightmare that is the Phoenix pay system, which continues to impact Parks Canada employees in my riding of Kootenay—Columbia.

It has now been over three years since this disaster was forced upon the public service. Despite never working from the beginning, those who implemented the system received performance bonuses. Meanwhile, thousands of hard-working public servants have not been paid what they have earned, when it is owed to them.

This pay system was ill-conceived from the beginning. It was taken off the shelf, with no consideration given to special circumstances such as acting pay, overtime or leave without pay. Parks Canada employees were especially impacted because many of them work under different pay statuses throughout the year, going from full time in the summer to part time or casual in the shoulder seasons. Every change in status brings concern to staff. Will they get paid next week? Will Phoenix issue a seemingly random payment amount?

My colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé brought up a Parks Canada Phoenix case from her riding yesterday during question period. That Parks Canada worker has not been paid since March. This week, and it is only Wednesday evening, I have received two new Phoenix casework files in my office, both from Parks Canada employees.

The NDP has raised this issue many times, both in and out of the House, since the problems started cropping up. We have proposed solutions, like paying employees the amounts owed directly to them, while keeping records. That way, hard-working Canadians are accurately paid the funds that they are owed by their employer.

It is starting to feel like these suggestions, these pleas, are falling on deaf ears. How many more times will constituents have to contact their MPs when they are at the end of their ropes, both financially and emotionally?

The previous Conservative government touted that the Phoenix pay system would save millions of dollars per year. Instead it is estimated that the government has spent more than $1.1 billion dealing with this broken system, and that number continues to grow. That is money that could have been spent improving the lives of Canadians or dealing with the climate crisis, if the Liberals had not rushed to roll out the Phoenix pay system despite warnings that it was not ready. Conservative and Liberal governments both own a piece of this failed system.

The Treasury Board president was quoted in a CBC article this morning saying, “We may have to have the old system in parallel with the new pay experiments as we go forward.” What are “pay experiments”? Meanwhile, we still do not know how long it will take to replace Phoenix or how much this debacle will cost.

When a new system is implemented, the government must ensure employee files are 100% accurate before they are transferred to the new system. Otherwise, errors will persist.

I do not want this to be a totally negative speech, so I want to take a minute to thank the Parks Canada employees and other federal public servants who have continued to provide excellent public service to Canadians while suffering under what at times must seem like a horror system. Their loyalty to Canada and their commitment to serving our country must be recognized and should be rewarded in collective agreements.

It is shameful that the government of a developed G7 country cannot pay its own employees properly and that it has let this problem persist for more than three years.

How will the government ensure that Phoenix's replacement is delivered in a timely way and will not be another failed, expensive experiment?

Parks CanadaAdjournment Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

Kanata—Carleton Ontario

Liberal

Karen McCrimmon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Kootenay—Columbia for his concern that our public servants have the kind of pay system they deserve.

I am pleased to be able to highlight some of the things that Parks Canada has tried to do to mitigate the pay issues created by the implementation of the Phoenix pay system. We cannot underestimate these challenges, which is why ensuring that employee files are handled properly and accurately is a high priority for Parks Canada. I can assure the member that this work is being done to identify and address pay issues as efficiently as possible.

Given the special nature of Parks Canada's operating model, the agency, in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada, has been at the forefront of the search for solutions that work for Parks Canada employees, including seasonal employees, students and other types of employment.

Many actions are being initiated by Parks Canada to improve the Phoenix pay system issues. The agency has worked diligently to simplify its business processes, including establishing a special team dedicated to data management and integrity. This team now does all pay entries into the pay system, thus ensuring greater consistency and reliability of the data. This is only one example of initiatives under way.

The agency is also working with PSPC to resolve the issues. In early 2018, PSPC introduced pay pods, which are dedicated teams specific to departments and agencies, as a new approach to efficiently provide pay administration services. These pods are being rolled out to all departments and agencies served by PSPC. Parks Canada has been served by a full pay pod since February 21, 2019. Backlogged pay issues in February 2019 decreased by 30% from then to now.

Also the Minister of Environment remains actively involved in the working group of ministers on achieving steady state for the pay system, which is taking a whole-of-government approach to address these pay issues. By all working together, we can make the kind of progress that members of Parks Canada deserve.

Parks CanadaAdjournment Proceedings

7:15 p.m.

NDP

Wayne Stetski NDP Kootenay—Columbia, BC

Madam Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for the information and update.

The first call I had on this was in August 2016. The call was from a young woman working for Parks Canada who was going back to university. It was August. She had been employed since April and she still had not received a paycheque. She was concerned she was going to have to drop out of university because she did not have the money for her tuition. We were able to intervene successfully on her behalf.

There were other issues like people getting overpaid. The problem is that people might get overpaid by $1,000 and the government wants that $1,000 back, but they only get $700 on their paycheque, which leaves $300 that they have to try to get back from EI, Canada pension and other organizations. That is really not fair. Other people got paid an additional amount the next year, which put them into a different tax bracket for that year, unfairly. These are very serious issues affecting people. I have talked to Parks Canada and other employees who will not take assignments because of this.

Is there a time limit in mind for this to end?

Parks CanadaAdjournment Proceedings

7:15 p.m.

Liberal

Karen McCrimmon Liberal Kanata—Carleton, ON

Madam Speaker, there is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of finding the replacement for the Phoenix pay system.

We rely on our public servants. They do the hard work. They are dedicated. They are the ones who deliver the programs and services that benefit all Canadians, and we recognize their contributions and their commitments. That is why we will continue to treat the mitigation of pay issues created by the implementation of the Phoenix pay system as a top priority.

The process to replace the system overall is also under way. The pilot projects are going to show us the way forward as to which of the systems we are looking at will best serve all of our public servants.

Parks CanadaAdjournment Proceedings

7:15 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

The hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona is not present to raise the matter for which adjournment notice has been given. Accordingly, the notice is deemed withdrawn.

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to order made Tuesday, May 28, and Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:20 p.m.)