Debates of June 3rd, 2019

News Media Industry

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are completely disrespecting journalists with this panel. The panel is being used by the Prime Minister for his own political gain. We have learned that members of the panel are going to be muzzled, and will not be allowed to discuss whom they may have rejected. Guess what? If the Prime Minister does not like the panel's decision, he is going to override it, so no worries. So much for accountability and transparency. There is no respect for journalists in this panel.

Why is the Prime Minister always trying to interfere in democratic processes for his own political gain?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, today we see another attack on unions. Why are the Conservatives so scared of middle-class workers? Under the Harper regime, they waged a war on workers' rights. They made it more difficult for workers to organize freely, bargain collectively and work in safe environments. Unlike the Conservatives, we understand that unions are our partners, not the enemy.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has introduced a plan to give $600 million to the media right before the election.

The Prime Minister himself is going to choose the members of the panel that will decide how the money is distributed. He will not commit to following their recommendations. He will not allow the panel's deliberations to be public. He is actually asking the panel members to sign non-disclosure agreements.

The Canadian Association of Journalists is calling for greater transparency. They are goddamned right.

Why does the Prime Minister want to decide, behind closed doors, which media—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member used a word that is unparliamentary and I would like him to apologize.

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

Mr. Speaker, I apologize for using that word.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much.

The hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, there is something deeply offensive in that, not towards me or the government, but towards journalists, the men and women who have built their careers on integrity, professionalism, independence and the freedom to think, act and write.

Today the Conservatives are saying that these individuals can be bought. That is insulting to journalists, to our media and even to our democracy.

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

Mr. Speaker, Unifor is a huge union, by far the one that represents the largest number of journalists in Canada.

Unifor was invited by the Prime Minister to be part of the panel that will decide who gets a part of the media bailout. Many journalists and the Canadian public are shocked by this appointment. Jerry Dias, the president of Unifor and good friend of the Prime Minister, was clear: his union will be the Conservatives' worst nightmare in 2019.

When will the Prime Minister end this anti-democratic farce?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, that is another direct attack against workers. Why are the Conservatives so afraid of the middle class and our workers?

They waged war against workers under the Harper government. They tried to make it harder to organize freely, bargain collectively and work in safe environments.

We know that unions are not the enemy. When will the Conservatives understand that?

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Association of Journalists is calling for transparency when it comes to the government's $600-million media bailout, but that is not what these Liberals are offering. Instead, journalists on the panel will be muzzled with confidentiality agreements. We will not know whom the Liberals reject for funding. Decisions will be made behind closed doors, and the minister can arbitrarily overrule the panel.

The Liberals have no problem listening to anti-Conservative organizations like Unifor. Why do they not listen to the Canadian Association of Journalists and stop trying to stack the deck in their own favour?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism]

In very few words, that is totally false, Mr. Speaker.

Let me talk about this program for print media: millions of dollars in support for the news and media industry, helping Canadians get the information they need, supporting expensive costs for shipping, special funding for underserved communities.

Does that ring a bell? This is the 2010 program brought in by the Conservatives to support the media. The difference here is that the Conservatives did not want an independent panel to decide; they wanted to pick themselves.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are working overtime to try to stack the deck in the next election. They are allowing foreign-funded special interest groups to continue to pour millions of dollars into Canada. They are using unlimited tax dollars to promote themselves, while preventing political parties from spending their own money. They have even put anti-Conservative Unifor on a panel to determine which media outlets covering the next election will get $600 million from the government.

Will the Liberals finally stop playing games with our democracy and stop trying to rig the next election?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, we are hearing the same old lines from the same old Conservative Party. What it did when it was in government is that it limited the rights of Canadians to vote. It made it more difficult for our most vulnerable to vote, and it made it even more difficult for Elections Canada to talk to Canadians about voting.

We changed that with Bill C-76. It is unfortunate that the Conservatives keep attacking our democratic institutions. They have gone after the CEO of Elections Canada; they have gone after the commissioner, and they have gone after the debates commissioner. That is unacceptable.

Here on this side, we are standing up for democracy.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, as evidenced by the recent tariffs imposed on Mexico, Donald Trump's actions are spontaneous and unpredictable.

Last week, Vice-President Mike Pence was in town to try to pressure the Liberal government to ratify the new NAFTA. This is a bad agreement for farmers and for workers.

The Liberal government has always said that it will not sign a bad deal. Why, then, are they in such a hurry to sign the new NAFTA, which is a bad deal?

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs)]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians saw how hard it was to negotiate this agreement and achieve the lifting of tariffs. This was a task all of our country was involved in.

During that time, many Canadian families had real worries about whether or not they would lose their jobs. Canada did its job. We have a new NAFTA deal, which is a win-win outcome. We have a full lift of tariffs.

It is astonishingly irresponsible that the NDP seems preoccupied and prepared to plunge our country into a new negotiation in a period of great economic uncertainty.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the USMCA is being undermined.

U.S. Congress members are working to fix the deal to ensure provisions for environmental protections and lower-cost medicines. In response, the Liberals are trying to cut Congress at the knees by fast-tracking the deal, undermining its progress.

Moments after the U.S. vice-president left Ottawa, President Trump imposed new tariffs on Mexico. Liberals made this concession-based deal with the trade-off being certainty from Trump. Now that Trump has undermined the only gain the Prime Minister could cling to, will the Liberals finally stop undermining Congress, which is trying to fix the deal for all of us?

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs)]

Mr. Speaker, Canada and the U.S. share an incredibly important relationship. It is naive to pretend otherwise.

Last week's visit was an opportunity to discuss the new NAFTA, which provides economic security for our workers. It was an opportunity to discuss the situation facing our two Canadians detained in China. As a result of this meeting, Canada and the U.S. released a joint statement firmly rejecting those wrongful detentions and calling for the immediate release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

These are important conversations that we will always continue with the United States.

Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General is sounding the alarm.

For the first time in Canadian history, he will be unable to complete his audits because the Liberal government has refused to fund his important work, including audits on cybersecurity and Arctic sovereignty. The Liberals keep claiming that they support the Auditor General, but those are just empty words unless they give his office the funds he needs. We are running out of time.

Will the Prime Minister reverse his position of starving the Auditor General's office and give him the funds he needs to do his job?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to supporting the ongoing and important work of the Auditor General. Where an officer of Parliament, such as the AG, identifies a need for additional resources, we consider that very carefully.

I would like to mention to the member opposite that it was the Conservatives who cut 10% out of the Auditor General's budget, and it was the Liberals who reinstated that funding.

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

Mr. Speaker, at no point in Canadian history has the Auditor General ever said that he could not do his job for lack of funding, until now.

Under the previous government, he never cancelled audits. However, the Liberals have a track record of rewarding their friends and attacking those who would try to hold them to account. Canadians depend on the Auditor General to provide transparency and to tell us the truth. This is completely unprecedented, and it goes right to the heart of Parliament's responsibility for accountability.

Why does the government hate accountability so much that it is willing to silence the Auditor General?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government]

Mr. Speaker, this government is committed to accountability and transparency. That the member opposite believes that by cutting the Auditor General's budget by 10% when they were in government the Conservatives were enabling him to do his job is completely unbelievable.

We consider these requests. We will ensure that the office can continue to do its important work for Canadians efficiently and effectively.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. Members should understand, of course, that freedom of speech in this place depends on members allowing others to speak, even when they disagree, and not interrupting.

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, ever since the Office of the Auditor General of Canada was created, the Auditor General has always had the means to conduct his audits. In the history of Canada, the Auditor General has never threatened not to complete an audit for lack of funding, and yet that is precisely what is happening.

Last week, the Auditor General sounded the alarm. He wants to continue studying cybersecurity and Canada's Arctic sovereignty, but he lacks the necessary funding.

Will the government give the Auditor General the funds he needs to do his job?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to supporting the Auditor General. When the Conservatives were in power, they slashed his budget by 10%.

Why did they do that? Why did they not reinstate the AG's funding, which is what we, the Liberals, have done?

We will continue to support the very important work of this officer of Parliament.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the minister on her French, but we cannot agree with her just because she spoke French.

Her remarks are out of touch with the facts. Here are the facts: last week, the Auditor General said he no longer had sufficient funds to complete two audits. That is a first in Canadian history.

The Auditor General is like a watchdog. His job is to tell the government it is spending too much or spending unwisely. This government is keeping him very busy.

Will the government agree to the Auditor General's request so he can do his job properly, yes or no?