House of Commons Hansard #425 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was news.
Joyce Murray LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to supporting the important work of the Auditor General.
The Conservatives have me perplexed. They are the ones who cut the RCMP's budget by $500 million and the Canada Revenue Agency's by $1 billion. They cut funding for officers of Parliament.
Why—
Cheryl Hardcastle NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Mr. Speaker, Mr. and Mrs. Karki, age 66 and 69, missed their flight from Vancouver to Edmonton after being left in their wheelchairs without assistance for hours at the airport. They could not go to a washroom or even get a drink of water.
The Liberal government passed an accessibility act that exempts the Canadian Transportation Agency from enforcing it. How can we rely on airlines to include people with disabilities when Liberals failed to make it mandatory in Bill C-81?
Terry Beech LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we are focusing on making Canada more accessible, and we are sorry for the situation that happened to this couple. Our government takes accessibility and transportation in Canada very seriously, and we are standing up for Canadian air passengers to ensure they are treated with fairness and respect.
Through the accessible Canada act, we are taking concrete steps to move forward a barrier-free Canada for all Canadians. The Canadian Transportation Agency officials are experts in passenger considerations and complaints, and I would very much recommend that these individuals approach that agency with any complaints they have.
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, this is the first time in the history of Canada that the government of the day has failed to adequately fund the work plan of the Auditor General.
Given that one of the planned audits being killed is on cybersecurity, how can the government possibly justify this unprecedented attack on the work of the Auditor General and the work of oversight and accountability?
Joyce Murray LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to supporting the important work of the Auditor General. When an officer of Parliament, such as the Auditor General, makes a request for additional budget, we take that request very seriously.
My question for the member of the NDP is this: Where was he when the Conservatives cut 10% out of the Auditor General's budget, as well as cutting half a billion dollars out of the RCMP, millions out of the CRA and so many other things that they did to undermine our democracy and accountability?
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order, please. Members have to let other members speak, even when they do not like what they are hearing.
The hon. member for Davenport.
Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, thalidomide was used off-label in the 1950s and early 1960s to treat morning sickness in pregnant women. The drug had devastating consequences and led to miscarriages, birth defects such as missing organs and stunted limbs, and premature death.
Our national government has taken action in launching a new, more compassionate support program: the Canadian thalidomide survivors support program. Could the Minister of Health please give us an update on the status of this program and how it will help thalidomide survivors?
Ginette Petitpas Taylor LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the member for Davenport for her advocacy on behalf of thalidomide survivors.
Our government believes that thalidomide survivors deserve to live the rest of their lives in comfort and dignity. We have held a dialogue with the community and listened to their concerns with respect to the original program, which is why the new Canadian thalidomide survivors support program will use a probability-based medical assessment process to determine eligibility. I am very pleased to announce that the applications were officially launched today.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, last week I asked the Prime Minister a question about the safety and security of Canadians. Since I did not get an answer, I will try asking again.
About two weeks ago, two men were arrested in Richmond Hill in possession of explosive materials, and 24 hours after the arrest we heard nothing further. The Prime Minister said this was not a matter of national security, even though the FBI is involved.
When will they stop taking Canadians for fools and give us more information?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, as the charges laid in court amply show, the case being investigated by the York Regional Police relates to the illegal possession of explosives. The investigation is early and ongoing. There is no information available about motive or other factors. To date, the York police have not referred the matter to federal policing or to the national security unit of the RCMP.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, when I asked the Prime Minister last week, he answered that this was not related to matters of national security. Today the minister has given us a little more information.
We simply want to know whether the government thinks that the two individuals who had explosives were a potential threat to national security.
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, the case is being investigated by the police of local jurisdiction: the York Regional Police. If they believe they have some need for the federal policing services of the RCMP or the national security services of the RCMP, they will ask for them. The FBI was referred to in the hon. gentleman's question and in the heckling across the floor. The FBI investigates a tremendous number of federal offences in the United States: national security, but many, many more.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, “I felt it's unfair and it felt like a third world country, where things can be manipulated and deals can be reached on something which was a government process” are the words of a new Canadian upon finding out that the Liberals secretly awarded Canadian residency as a settlement or a prize to people who were suing them.
Is the government expecting further lawsuits as a result of the chaos it has created in Canada's immigration system?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the chaos that the member opposite refers to is the chaos that that party put parents and grandparents through. The Conservatives deleted the program for two years. They kept people waiting five to seven years. We are the ones who cleaned up their backlog of 167,000 cases, and we have quadrupled the number of spaces available to Canadians to sponsor their loved ones. They did not get the job done; we are getting the job done.
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order. I remind members that each sides gets its turn and each side should wait its turn.
The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, that is a flat out embarrassing answer. These are people's lives. These are people who are trying to come to this country legally.
“It seems to me that what our government has done with this settlement is just state that being able to pay a few hundred dollars for a lawsuit can actually get you a spot in the program.” He is right. Between this and Roxham Road, there is no legitimacy in our system anymore.
When is the government going to stop creating chaos, injustice and unfairness in Canada's once proud immigration system?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the unfairness the member opposite speaks of is what Conservatives put Canadians through in their version of the immigration system.
They left a broken system. Spouses were kept apart for years under the Conservative Party. The Conservatives want to talk about the parents and grandparents program, but they deleted that program for two years.
The fact of the matter is that we have fixed the broken immigration system left by the Conservatives.
Brigitte Sansoucy NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, the IPCC report was clear: we must act now to deal with the climate emergency.
The NDP has an ambitious plan to deal with this emergency. The plan is focused on the jobs that support our workers and their families by providing training, helping them go back to school, helping them find good jobs and making life more affordable for them. The energy transition needs to happen quickly.
Can the Liberals assure workers that they will have easy access to EI so they can make this energy transition?
Sean Fraser LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, with respect, I have had the opportunity to review the NDP's plan, and despite its good intentions, it is simply poorly thought through.
When it comes to supporting workers, I point to the $185 million set aside to support training for those in the conventional energy sector in Canada under our just transition task force.
I would take the NDP plan more seriously if its leader would take a position on LNG Canada and stop flip-flopping. I note in particular that on its carbon pricing plan, Ecofiscal Commission chair Chris Ragan said that the NDP's carbon price “would hurt the Canadian economy and would not help global emissions.”
Climate change is real, and moving forward takes a government that understands how to develop policy seriously.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, according to the latest IPCC report, we have less than 12 years left to reverse the results of global warming.
Last Friday, the Leader of the NDP announced a bold plan for energy transition that does not abandon workers, but helps them throughout the process. The success of this plan will rely mainly on developing green public transit.
If the government is serious, will it finally follow the NDP's lead and commit to implementing the high-frequency rail project?
Terry Beech LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to investing in VIA Rail and our passenger rail services, we are doing it correctly. We are making it more green, we are making it more energy efficient and we are making it more accessible.
I am very happy that today I can provide an update to the member that we are also working with the infrastructure bank to put together the right structure to attract the appropriate partners.
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Speaker, this government has failed on the environment. It imposed a carbon tax and we know that does not work in Canada. Just ask Quebec and British Columbia.
The Liberals paid more than $4 billion to Americans for a pipeline. That did not solve anything. They are talking about an environmental emergency. Is that how they justify their lack of action? This government is now waking up, but Canada will not even meet its Paris targets. We must take action now.
When will this government present a real plan to meet the Paris targets?
Sean Fraser LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, it is hard to take seriously criticism from a member of a party that promised to provide a plan over 400 days ago and has been sitting on its hands since.
Over that 400 days, we have put a price on pollution and finalized methane regulations to reduce the emissions in our gas sector. We have also established GHG standards for heavy-duty vehicles. We are protecting our oceans and investing in energy efficiency.
If the hon. member had been paying attention to debates in the House over the past three years, he would know our plan includes over 50 measures that are being implemented today and are bringing down our emissions and putting more money in the pockets of Canadian families.
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's climate plan has become a massive failure. We have more punishing taxes on Canadians, skyrocketing gas prices, a shutting down of Canada's energy industry and a $12-million handout to Loblaws, a billion-dollar company. That is a climate plan?
Now the Liberals have fallen so far behind that they have no hope of meeting their emissions targets.
When will the Prime Minister finally admit that his plan is not as advertised and that he will not meet the Paris targets?