Hélène Laverdière

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, nearly one million Canadians rely on food banks each month. Schools on native reserves are underfunded. Employment insurance claimants are being tracked as though they are criminals. We are pulling out of international treaties such as the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, supposedly to save $150,000 a year.

Meanwhile, we have no idea where $3.1 billion has gone. Members opposite are telling us not to make too much of it, that it is not that serious. I am sorry, but it is very serious.

Members opposite are telling us that the Auditor General said there is nothing to prove that the funds were poorly used. What they do not seem to understand and are forgetting to say is that there is also nothing to prove that the funds were properly used. That is the main issue.

Let us take a look at what the Auditor General said about the possible scenarios that Treasury Board helped identify:

The funding may have lapsed without being spent. It may have been spent on PSAT activities and reported as part of ongoing programs spending. It may have been carried forward and spent on programs not related to the Initiative.

He did not add that the money may have been spent on gazebos, for example, or other such things. In short, absolutely crucial information is missing. $3.1 billion is not a trivial amount. It represents 25% of the program budget and there is no transparency or accountability.

During that time, the Conservatives passed ineffective and unnecessary bills that violate our civil liberties. However, they cannot clearly explain how and on what programs the $3.1 billion was spent.

I truly believe that the Conservatives should do some bookkeeping and be accountable. That would be a change. That is not all. As if that were not enough, there are even problems with the amounts that the Auditor General was able to trace.

After examining funding for the public security and anti-terrorism program compared to funding according to program objectives, the Auditor General concluded the following:

PSAT objectives were broadly stated, and we found that activities proposed by departments and agencies to address them were equally broad. Departments and agencies spent funds on...the services of a security expert to advise a host country on security matters related to the staging of an international sporting event. Nevertheless, activities were deemed to be within the Initiative objectives.

Is that shocking? I find it very shocking. Even worse, that is not all.

In light of the fact that they had trouble keeping records and accounting for expenditures, what brilliant solution did the government find? I will be blunt: the brilliant solution was to stop keeping track and being accountable. No sooner said than done. It is that simple.

This attitude may explain why, when my colleague said a few minutes ago that the opposition's role is to hold the government to account, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages looked at her with contempt and arrogance, as if to say, “try and see”.

I think Canadians should be seriously concerned about this kind of attitude.

That said, the idea of just giving up on keeping track of funds or being accountable, because it is simply impossible to do so, is not the right way to do things. That is not what we would do, nor is it what Canadians want. As we have seen over the past couple of days and weeks, Canadians want to know and they have every right to know. In fact, this government has a duty to do whatever it takes to ensure that Canadians know.

In order for the Auditor General to be able to provide Canadians with the information they need, it is important that he get the necessary documents to properly account for how that $3.1 billion of public funds was used.

Those documents must include all annual reports on public security and anti-terrorism that were submitted to the Treasury Board Secretariat, all submissions to the Treasury Board Secretariat established under that initiative, all departmental assessments of the initiative, and the database created by the Treasury Board to monitor funding.

The NDP is calling on the government to table those documents in the House by June 17, 2013, in both official languages, of course. We want the Auditor General to have not only all necessary documents, but also all the resources needed to conduct a thorough forensic audit until the $3.1 billion is found and can be justified.

As I was saying earlier, Canadians have the right to know where their tax dollars are going, especially since those dollars are often so hard earned. I do not understand how some members of the House could possibly oppose this search for the truth. I strongly believe that the House should support our motion. However, I would like to put forward the following amendment:

I move that the motion be amended by adding the following:

...and that in order to avoid losing funds in the future, the House request that the government take all actions necessary to transition to program activity base appropriation according to the timeline provided to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in response to their seventh report, tabled on June 20, 2012.

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her speech, which was very interesting, as always.

I believe that, in the past, Canada has had processes to fast-track family reunification in times of major humanitarian crises. I was wondering if she could comment on that. Does she understand why the government does not want to do the same thing in this case?

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his excellent question and for the excellent points he raised, especially with respect to destabilization.

Soon, 10% of all people in Lebanon will be Syrian refugees. Lebanon is a fragile country and many of these refugees live in local communities or with extended family.

The economic and social burden this places on Lebanon only adds to the destabilization. That is why, when we talk about humanitarian assistance, we sometimes talk about fixing urgent problems. However, sometimes we can almost talk about prevention, because when we help these people, we help Lebanon, and we can help avoid destabilizing the entire region, which no one wants.

Who are we talking to in Lebanon? Unfortunately, since I am not a government member, I cannot say. I know that on the government side they are always vocal and proclaiming this or that. However, they do not seem to sit down with our partners and roll up their sleeves to work together and find solutions.

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all Canadians who, in one way or another, through their taxes or donations, are doing something about this very serious situation.

The parliamentary secretary said that Canada will reassess its contribution as needs grow.

Since January, the number of refugees has tripled and, as far as I know, Canada has not reassessed its contribution. It seems to me that her remarks are not in tune with reality.

I am not trying to downplay the fact that $48.5 million has been contributed. That is a very good thing. However, the British government, which is in a much more difficult financial position, gave almost five times more.

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to share the time I have with my colleague, the hon. member for Saint-Lambert.

We know the situation in Syria is terrible. Let us first talk about the 70,000 people who have been killed there. I would like to take this opportunity to again extend my condolences to the families and loved ones of those 70,000 people. Beyond those who have died, however, there are also the living who are experiencing terrible suffering right now.

For the past few months especially, we have seen a massive influx of refugees into the neighbouring countries, including Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. In January 2013, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees counted 500,000 refugees. Half a million refugees is a huge number. Four short months later, there are 1.3 million refugees in the neighbouring countries. Some people believe that the number could be even higher because the quicker and larger the influx, the longer it takes to register people. Half of those 1.3 million refugees are children. Over half a million children are living in camps, often in appalling conditions.

All this puts absolutely enormous pressure on the neighbouring countries. Lebanon, for example, could have 1.2 million refugees by the end of the year. That is terrible. Lebanon, Turkey and the other countries are doing everything they can, but they cannot handle the situation alone. No one could. If we take the figures for Lebanon and compare them to the population, for example, it would be the same as Canada suddenly receiving 3 million refugees. A developed country like Canada would have a lot of difficulty taking in 3 million refugees at once. Therefore, we can imagine that countries in the region are facing almost insurmountable challenges, which they certainly cannot overcome without the help of the international community.

That is not all. There are refugees outside Syria, but there are also displaced persons inside the country. We are talking about 4 million displaced persons, approximately half of whom are children. In addition to those 4 million displaced persons within the country, there are 2.8 million people who urgently need humanitarian aid.

A few weeks ago, I was in New York, where I met with representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. They described the situation to me: drug shortages, destroyed water systems, lack of sanitation, destroyed hospitals, schools that have all but disappeared, children in Aleppo who have not gone to school in a year or two. The country is essentially falling apart.

The needs are immense. Without massive international humanitarian aid, the consequences could be catastrophic. This aid is needed immediately. Epidemics are starting to take hold here and there, and things are going to get worse this summer.

To work with refugees outside Syria, people displaced within Syria and people who need humanitarian aid, the UN has asked for $1.6 billion, but it has received commitments for just over half that amount.

I would like to lend my voice to Stephen Cornish, the executive director of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, who wrote an excellent article recently. He said:

We are failing the Syrian people. Right now, women, men and children are suffering and dying needlessly. We can and must do more to help them.

I recently returned from a two-week mission to Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. There I met with Syrians struggling to survive a brutal civil war that has so far killed more than 70,000 people and forced more than one and a half million to flee to neighbouring countries.

I also met with aid workers providing lifesaving assistance--from my own organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and from the few others present.

One thing became absolutely clear to me on this trip. We, the international community, are not living up to our responsibility to meet the escalating humanitarian needs of the people caught up in this intractable war.

Truly, we are failing the Syrian people. The medical needs are overwhelming--from shrapnel injuries that go untreated for lack of accessible care, to pregnant women who must risk their lives to deliver their babies, to sufferers of chronic illnesses like diabetes and cancer who can't obtain treatment, to the miserable and unsanitary conditions of the camps for displaced people.

He went on to say:

The conflict in Syria shows no sign of abating, and the needs of the Syrian people are increasing daily. There is no excuse for our continued humanitarian failure. We must act now.

I agree with those comments and with what Mr. Cornish said about how this is not a question of money. We have to admit it. We also have to convince Damascus and the opposition groups to give humanitarian workers access so that they can provide some much-needed aid.

We also have to help and push the neighbouring countries to make it easier for humanitarian workers to gain access and do their work. There are things we need to work on. We must encourage people on the ground to comply with international humanitarian law.

Despite these problems, money remains the key, because in order to have humanitarian workers, there needs to be money to send them there. Of course, Canada has made an effort in that regard, but it barely scratches the surface. The Minister of International Cooperation is sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars, even though we know from experience that hundreds of worthy projects could have been supported by CIDA.

Could the minister not have taken a small portion of those hundreds of millions of dollars to help cope with this tremendous humanitarian crisis?

The money is there. There is no doubt about it. There is no excuse for inaction. The Syrians, their neighbours and the international community expect nothing less from us.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1, May 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to move the following motion: That notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, clauses 174 to 199, related to the proposed department of foreign affairs, trade and development act be removed from Bill C-60, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 21, 2013 and other measures, and do compose Bill C-62; that Bill C-62 be deemed read a first time and be printed; that the order for the second reading of the said bill provide for the referral to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development; that Bill C-60 retain the status on the order paper that it had prior to the adoption of this order; that Bill C-60 be reprinted as amended; and that the law clerk and the parliamentary counsel be authorized to make any technical changes or corrections as may be necessary to give effect to this motion.

[International Co-operation, May 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is unable to abide by the law when it comes to handing out international aid.

What is worse, according to the Auditor General, CIDA's reports are not transparent and the annual development report is not specific enough.

The auditor confirmed what we have been saying all along: the minister is not running his department properly.

What concrete action will the minister take to abide by the law?

[International Co-operation, May 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General found that the Conservatives are failing to ensure that $2.9 billion of Canada's development assistance is meeting the criteria under the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act. The accountability act is the law; it is not an option. This is part of a continuing pattern of mismanagement under the minister.

Does he agree with the Auditor General's findings, and will he commit to complying with the law?

[International Co-operation, April 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, with development assistance budgets withering and the minister turning his back on CIDA's long-standing partners in favour of private corporations, there are many questions about the Minister of International Cooperation's mandate.

Will the new law the government has promised materialize in the form of a specific bill? Will civil society partners and experts be consulted? Will parliamentarians have an opportunity to debate this in depth?

[Foreign Affairs, April 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is reassuring. The Conservatives too often tend to ignore the role of the United Nations as an important force for peace and international security.

Yesterday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution with regard to a peacekeeping mission for Mali. The purpose of this mission is to support the political process in a friendly nation struggling with radicals, terrorism and ethnic divisions.

Will Canada participate in this peacekeeping mission or will it once again say no to the United Nations?