Bob Saroya

[Business of Supply, March 22nd, 2018]

One billion.

[Business of Supply, March 22nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, going back to the national security adviser with 35 years of experience, for the Prime Minister to refuse to allow him to come to the public safety committee, that is tarnishing his reputation, because he can tell something to the public on one side but at the same time he cannot tell elected MPs in the public safety committee.

There are too many conflicting stories. There are too many conflicts between the countries. It is the biggest conflict between Canada and India I have seen since I began living here 44 years ago. This one is going to get worse. What we understand is that the day the Prime Minister left India the tariff on chickpeas was doubled, or put up to 60%. Was this punishment, a disagreement, or a coincidence? I would not know the answer, but sending the national security adviser to the committee would clear the air in no time.

[Business of Supply, March 22nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member, my friend from B.C. for the question. There are a couple of things here. We are all experienced MPs, including the Prime Minister. We should always be careful about who we are taking pictures with, or riding in their Hummer, or whatever the issue. We should know these things in advance.

My second point is on the Prime Minister's judgment. India is a great country. There are over one billion people. We can do business with them as a great partner. Former prime minister, Stephen Harper, made excellent efforts to make some special ties with India. However, what we are seeing today from this Prime Minister is disturbing from my point of view. Who is telling the truth? Is it the national security adviser, the Prime Minister, the member of Parliament for Surrey Centre? The best way to find out is for the national security adviser to come to the public safety committee and tell us the truth, the same truth he told journalists.

[Business of Supply, March 22nd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House to discuss today's opposition day motion. Hopefully after today, the Liberal government will decide to do what is right for Canadians and instruct the national security adviser to appear before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security to provide the committee with the same briefing he gave journalists on February 23, 2018, and that briefing will take place in public no later than March 30, 2018, and finally provide some clarity to all Canadians.

First, I would like to discuss the facts. A convicted attempted murderer was invited to dinner, an event hosted by the Canadian High Commission. We know the Prime Minister believes that the Indian government is responsible for a convicted attempted murderer embarrassing him on his trip.

Second, we know a Liberal MP has been punished for inviting the convicted attempted murderer on his trip.

Third, we know that the Indian government has issued the following statement in response to a question regarding invitations to the convicted attempted murderer. The official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs of the Indian government has said:

We have seen the recent exchange in the Parliament of Canada regarding two invitations issued to Jaspal Atwal by the Canadian High Commissioner, for functions hosted in honour of the Canadian Prime Minister in India.

Let me categorically state that the Government of India, including the security agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal at the event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in Mumbai or the invitation issued to him for the Canadian High Commissioner's reception in New Delhi. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable.

This leaves me and many Canadians with a number of questions. How can the Prime Minister's conflicting narrative be true? Is the Prime Minister hiding facts and evidence?

I believe it is imperative that the national security adviser be called upon to testify and to provide members of Parliament with the same information he gave to journalists so that Canadians can adequately judge the validity of the Prime Minister's theory.

There is a lot of room for the Canada-India partnership to grow. Canada needs to take advantage of the opportunity that presents itself with India. It is looking for a partner with strong education, advanced health systems, and who is a leader in green energy. We need to see where Canada can complement India and grow these partnerships.

Over the past several months the Prime Minister has fumbled important files, including Canada's bilateral relationship with India, NAFTA renegotiations with the United States, and Canada's budget.

The PM's trip to India was supposed to strengthen ties between our two nations, but instead the Prime Minister humiliated Canada on the world stage. This accusation has major implications and does nothing to provide greater market access to Canadian businesses looking to expand their operations inside India. The Prime Minister cannot just ignore this problem. He must address it.

On top of this, yet again, the Prime Minister has shown no concern for taxpayers and treated this trip as more of a vacation than a trade mission. This was apparent when the Prime Minister had a celebrity flown to India to cook for him and his entourage. This trip to India is just another repeat of the Prime Minister displaying his inability on the world stage. These failures show a clear lack of judgment and respect for Canadians. Trade missions are not reality TV. The Prime Minister has failed to take his responsibilities seriously.

India is a market of over one billion people, and in order for our businesses and manufacturers to remain competitive globally, we need a strong relationship. What a missed opportunity. International trade missions like the Prime Minister's trip to India are very important. They give us an opportunity to build better relationships.

The previous Conservative government put in a lot of hard work to strengthen ties between Canada and India. We signed the Canada-India social security agreement. This agreement helps facilitate the flow of people between Canada and India. We also announced the new Canada-India research centre of excellence. This centre of excellence will build stronger bilateral research ties and create valuable learning opportunities while generating positive economic and social benefits for both countries. Now we see the Prime Minister would prefer to eat with his celebrity chef friend, see elephants, and play dress-up instead of getting results and strengthening diplomatic ties. All this has proven to us is that the Prime Minister does not take his job seriously.

Going back to the facts, the government of India, a Liberal MP, and the convicted attempted murderer in question have all refuted the Prime Minister's theory that Atwal was planted at the Prime Minister's event in India. This is contrary to what was said in a media briefing arranged by the Prime Minister's Office, where a government official suggested that Jaspal Atwal's presence with the Government of Canada's Indian delegation was linked to factions within the Indian government. The inference was that the Atwal affair was a result of rogue Indian elements sabotaging the Prime Minister on the world stage, not a lack of due diligence by the Prime Minister or his office.

I support the motion today and hope that the government does the right thing for Canadians and the relationship we have with India. The Prime Minister must be responsible and instruct his national security adviser to appear before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security to provide the committee the same briefing he gave journalists on February 23, 2018, and that briefing must take place in public no later than March 30, 2018.

Canadians deserve to hear the facts and be provided with the evidence. By continuing to support a conspiracy theory that is not supported by any proof and has been met only with denials by those allegedly involved, the PM is making allegations without substance. The Prime Minister has a responsibility to properly represent Canadians and their interests. The Prime Minister is failing to be honest with Canadians. It is important that he clears up the confusion about the Atwal affair. Canadians deserve answers. If he has evidence of moves to sabotage Canada's reputation, he must present it. Otherwise, he should take responsibility for this massive failure of an international trip.

Let us all do the right thing here today and support the motion.

[Canada Summer Jobs Program, March 21st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend the Apple Creek Seventh-day Adventist Church gave me a petition, which I have sent to the clerk of petitions at the House of Commons. The petition asks that the government vote with the opposition and remove the values test from the Canada summer jobs program.

Even though the Liberal government has since voted down the opposition motion, I will continue to stand up for the freedoms guaranteed in the charter and the students affected by this Liberal values test. This values test has no place in a tolerant multicultural society such as Canada and organizations should be able to receive funding for summer jobs regardless of their private convictions and regardless of whether they choose to sign the application attestation.

[Federal Framework on Distracted Driving Act, March 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to speak to an issue I care deeply about. It is great to have the privilege to speak to Bill C-373 in this place today. It is our job to work hard to make Canada a better and safer place to live. We hear all too often about the tragedies that occur because of distracted and impaired driving.

This is a debate that is important to each and every Canadian. No riding is immune to the devastation caused by distracted and impaired driving. We know that distracted driving occurs frequently in Canada.

Bill C-373 focuses on hand-held electronic devices, such as cellphones, which is an important issue. However, it is not comprehensive of all factors that go into distracted driving.

Distracted driving is not just an issue of texting behind the wheel; it is much more than that. The RCMP define distracted driving as a form of impaired driving as a driver's judgment is compromised when the driver is not fully focused on the road. This includes talking on a cellphone, texting, and reading, whether that be books, maps, or newspapers. Distracted driving also includes using a GPS, watching videos or movies, eating, drinking, smoking, and personal grooming. Even talking to passengers and driving while tired, either mentally or physically, can be forms of distracted driving.

We need to focus on the statistics here, because they are alarming.

Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to cause injury. Distracted driving is now the number one risk on Canadian roads, contributing to eight in 10 collisions, according to the CAA.

Further evidence according to the Government of Ontario says that one person is injured in a distracted driving collision every half hour. Even when drivers use a hands-free phone, they are less aware of the traffic around them. They tend to react more slowly to a critical event, or they may not detect the danger at all. One study highlighted that in 80% of collisions, the driver had looked away from the road three seconds prior to the crash. The take-away from all of these statistics is simple: distracted driving is a serious issue that must be addressed.

When it comes to texting and driving, there are various statistics. According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, drivers who text are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash or near crash event compared to non-distracted drivers. This study also highlighted that while driving at 90 kilometres per hour, a driver checking a text for five seconds has travelled the length of a football field without looking. A study from the National Safety Council said that about 26% of all car crashes involve phone use, including hands-free phone use. The same study estimates that drivers using phones look at but fail to see up to 50% of the material in their driving environment.

In my riding, the intersection at Highway 7 and McCowan Road was the site of 112 crashes in 2016. The government should be doing more to reduce driver fatalities in every instance, since driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol poses just as much, if not more, of a risk to Canadians as driving while using a cellphone.

A 2017 study conducted by MADD showed that cannabis was the leading cause of fatal drug-related crashes in eight provinces and was responsible for 530 deaths nationwide. We know drugs can affect a driver's judgment, reaction time, and decision-making skills. Canadians are not entirely aware of the risks that driving while high poses.

According to a Health Canada survey, of respondents who had consumed cannabis in 2017, 39% admitted to driving within two hours of consumption, and only 2% reported being stopped by police as a result of driving under the influence.

I would like to touch on some further statistics to highlight the issue of distracted driving.

Bill C-373 is an excellent example of the way road safety in Canada can be improved. However, why is it that the Liberals are addressing this one aspect while continuing to promote their plan to make marijuana legal without properly considering the effects it will have on drug-impaired driving occurrences? According to the RCMP, driver distraction is a factor in about four million motor vehicle crashes in North America each year. Further, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, distraction was a factor in nearly six out of 10 moderate to severe teen crashes. Distracted driving is dangerous and is hurting our children. The paradox I want to highlight here is that the government would like to consult with law enforcement officials to make recommendations on this issue of distracted driving but was fine ignoring the advice of law enforcement when it came to developing an effective prevention and detection strategy to deal with drug-impaired driving. Both distracted driving and impaired driving pose very real dangers and both should be taken seriously.

The Liberal government supported legislation that imposed stricter fines and penalties on drivers impaired by alcohol, yet it has failed to do so when it comes to the same risks posed by drivers impaired by cannabis. In testimony to the justice committee, Students Against Drunk Driving's community liaison Arthur Lee made the point that students told him “the general sentiment among their peer groups was that driving under the influence of marijuana was—quote—'better' than being impaired by alcohol.” How will this misconception ever change if the Liberal government constantly prioritizes road safety in every other aspect except when it comes to properly dealing with the drug it intends to legalize?

According to the Government of Canada, economic losses caused by traffic collision-related health care costs and lost productivity are at least $10 billion annually. That is about 1% of Canada's GDP. According to the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, the economic and social consequences of road crashes in Canada are estimated to be $25 billion per year, including direct and indirect costs.

Bill C-373 fails to mention or consider the territories in its text as currently written. At this time, it only makes mention of the provinces. The penalties for distracted driving vary immensely between the provinces and territories. A mixture of demerit points and cash fines is a common standard of practice to deter Canadians from committing this offence. Nunavut is the only province or territory in Canada that does not have penalties put in place as a measure to discourage distracted drivers.

From all of these statistics, we can see there is a definite need to address the concern of distracted driving. The provinces are looking for federal leadership here, and we need to take this seriously.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 19th, 2018]

With regard to flights taken on government aircraft by the Minister of National Defence since November 4, 2015: what are the details of each flight, including (i) date, (ii) origin, (iii) destination, (iv) names of Parliamentarians and exempt staff on each flight, (v) type of aircraft?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 19th, 2018]

With regard to the pending legalization of marijuana and any resulting change in policy at Global Affairs Canada: (a) what is the anticipated policy regarding the possession and use of marijuana at Canadian missions abroad; and (b) what is the anticipated policy regarding the use of diplomatic mail in relation to marijuana?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 19th, 2018]

With regard to federal spending to address addiction to items listed under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act: (a) what is the total federal government spending on programming and transfers specifically related to this issue, broken down by each specific funding envelope and each program funded; and (b) what portion of this funding is committed to (i) prevention and education, (ii) treatment and recovery, (iii) supporting police and justice system efforts to deal with the distributors, (iv) research, (v) harm reduction, (vi) other commitments, broken down by type of commitment?

[The Budget, March 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely correct. This budget does not do anything for hard-working Canadians, especially in the steel and aluminum industry. This budget has not been well thought through. There is nothing in the 328 pages that talks about hard-working Canadians. I agree with the hon. member.