Jasbir Sandhu

[The Budget, March 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised that the member from Alberta is disappointed with my speech. We are talking about facts and Conservatives do not like that.

The facts are that year after year the current government has created deficits that are going to be paid for by future generations. It is not only that, but we have had the largest deficit ever under the current government. That is its record. The government will tell us that it is competent to manage the Canadian economy, but its record shows otherwise.

On the one hand the government has created this large deficit that future generations are going to pay for, yet it has given billions of dollars to its friends and insiders who are sitting on $500 billion in cash on the balance sheets. That is the government's record.

[The Budget, March 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents from Surrey North, I am honoured to speak to the budget bill for 2013.

I am very concerned about the budget, its deficiencies, its hidden realities and the effect these will have on my constituents. The government has been promising that it will focus on jobs, but instead the Prime Minister is pushing ahead with job-killing cuts and introducing no new measures to create jobs. Instead he is playing a shell game with skills and training money. Again, the Prime Minister is not listening to Canadians. Instead, he is listening to his friends and insiders.

I have been consulting with my constituents in Surrey to seek their priorities as to what they would like to see addressed in this budget. The responses are reflective of not only my constituents in Surrey but of many concerned citizens across British Columbia and Canada.

My constituents from Surrey North are very concerned about homelessness and poverty in my community. In the past 10 years, Surrey has had an increase of over 100% in its homeless population. Throughout the B.C. Lower Mainland communities, Surrey hosts the highest percentage of homeless women, a significant number of homeless youth and seniors, the second-largest majority of homeless families and the highest number of unsheltered persons, including persons who identify as aboriginals. In this respect, the budget has completely let us down. While on the surface it would appear there is a commitment to homelessness reduction programs, the reality is that there is less funding allocated in this year's budget than in last year's in 2012.

Surrey is one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada. My constituents are concerned about infrastructure development, particularly public transportation. In short, public transportation in Surrey is not adequate. Many residents living in Surrey commute to work in neighbouring cities. The SkyTrain system does not serve the majority of our citizens in Surrey, making it difficult to access employment.

While the Conservatives say they are addressing infrastructure concerns, it is evident that this is not happening. In fact, the government is reducing the amount dedicated to the development of infrastructure. My constituents not only feel it already but will be feeling it in the coming years.

My constituents are also concerned about support for seniors in our community. The budget places undue stress on seniors. By raising the age of eligibility from 65 to 67 years old, the government would deprive seniors of old age security and force them to continue working even longer. This only benefits the Conservatives' friends and insiders, who are taking money directly out of the pockets of our seniors.

Seniors have built this country. It is time for us to look after our seniors, who have paid taxes all their lives. We should be providing support for them to live with respect and dignity in their retirement years.

British Columbians are very proud of our natural pristine coast and our extraordinary wildlife. Surrey is proud to be home to 1,400 kilometres of waterways hosting five species of trout and salmon. My riding is home to over 900 spawning chum salmon in Bear Creek. The $108-million cuts to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is upsetting many constituents in my riding, who enjoy fishing and taking their children to watch the salmon runs every autumn. It is additionally damaging to the fish and the dependent ecosystems that live in our rivers. Likewise, it is embarrassing that there is no mention of climate change in the budget for 2013.

My constituents are especially concerned about jobs. With a large immigrant population, Surrey North residents are concerned that the new budget has overlooked foreign credential accreditation. By not recognizing new occupations, we are depriving the Canadian economy of the skills and experience of new immigrants to this country.

Surrey is the home to over 25 post-secondary institutions, including universities, colleges, trade programs and education for students with disabilities. My constituents are concerned about the rising costs of tuition fees. While the budget does address the need for the development of skilled workers through the Canada jobs grant program, I am concerned that this may pull resources away from other effective programs. Shifting money from one program to another does not properly address the job training support that is needed in our community. Furthermore, this program is pending until renegotiations with the provinces have been completed. We have no way of knowing what programs would look like after this discussion. My constituents cannot sit idly while the future lies in the balance.

Moreover, my constituents are also concerned about the lack of post-graduation employment opportunities. Post-secondary enrolment in B.C. is increasing year after year. Students are concerned about investing money and time into studies that will not provide employment for them. For every job advertised, there are six Canadians looking for work. Considering the increase in enrolment, these job-seekers cannot all be uneducated.

With one of the slowest job creation rates in Canada, unemployment in British Columbia is growing. The disappointing loss of funding for social programs, the cuts to infrastructure funding, the inadequate support for development of sustainable technology and the reduction in funding to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will all result in job losses. As well, by raising the age of eligibility for the OAS and forcing seniors to work longer, jobs that would have been released back into the market continue to be unavailable. The intersection of all these problems, along with recent job losses in the British Columbia construction industry and social service sectors, will accumulate into a considerable number of unemployed persons in British Columbia.

The 2013 budget claims to focus on reducing Canada's deficit and the developing economy. The Conservatives' record on the deficit is very clear. They have not produced a single budget surplus since they formed government seven years ago and yet they call themselves competent economic managers. Their record indicates that they have mismanaged our economy. I would call this incompetence on behalf of the government. Who will pay for the Conservative mismanagement of deficits and our economy? The very young people who are overburdened with student loans under the government will be paying for this mismanagement over the years to come. Under the current government, Canadians have the highest debt load. There will now be an additional load put on them by the government due to large deficits over the years to come.

On the one hand, the Conservatives are producing deficit after deficit to be paid by future generations. However, on the other hand, the Conservatives have been giving billions of dollars of tax breaks to their friends and insiders. Canadians will not forget this in 2015 when the next election is called.

There are many proposals that we as New Democrats would offer to bolster the Canadian economy. We must invest in Canadians themselves. We must build individual agencies by properly addressing unemployment, job creation, education and skills training, not shifting money around. A large workforce provides increased innovation and resources and generates more spending money that employees can put back into the economy. We need to invest in communities by providing infrastructure and supporting social services that prevent poverty, homelessness and other public concerns. We need to invest in our environment so we can support our tourism industry, foster our fishing commerce and protect those who have jobs in the environmental sector. By investing in our country, we will see positive consequences resonate by stimulating our economy.

This budget does not address the priorities and needs of Canadians. Therefore, the New Democrats and I will not be supporting it.

[The Budget, March 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I see a pattern with the Conservative government when it introduces a bill, whether the bill affects aboriginals, search and rescue or the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The government brings in a bill and promises to consult afterwards. Do the Conservatives not trust the provinces to deliver this jobs program that has gone on for a number of years? To be effective, job training programs should be done at the local level where organizations understand the local issues, demands and priorities. The Conservative government, without any consultation, wants to bring this to Ottawa, and we know what happens in Ottawa. Could the member elaborate on that?

[Veterans with Disabilities, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Veterans Review and Appeal Board is out of touch with the needs of our country's veterans. Too many veterans are left without adequate financial support.

For example, Gordon Fergus, a 71-year-old pensioner, is a veteran who served with the reserve forces and militia for more than two decades. He has been decorated with numerous awards, but his service to Canada was not without sacrifice. Mr. Fergus sustained several injuries that have led to long-term disability.

However, his disability application has been a struggle with the board since 2001. After many years of service to his country, Mr. Fergus is unable to keep up with the cost of his medication. What does this say about the price we place on freedom and democracy?

To me, this is no way to treat Canadians like Mr. Fergus who served our country so bravely. It is time for the Conservatives to make the welfare and health of our veterans a priority.

[Nuclear Terrorism Act, March 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I made myself clear or not, but we are certainly supportive of working with our partners across this world to tackle issues like terrorism, issues like nuclear weapons. We are certainly supportive of the bill at this point.

What I mentioned, and I believe the member failed to see, is that our ability to show leadership on the world stage has diminished under the government. I was giving examples of our inability to lead in the areas of environment, climate change and many other issues where the government has had chance after chance to lead the world the way we used to. Under the current government, that ability has diminished.

The reason I mentioned the Security Council is that we used to get a seat at the Security Council every time we ran for that seat. It is under the Conservative government, because it failed to show leadership, that we did not get the seat at the Security Council.

[Nuclear Terrorism Act, March 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt. The Conservatives have not taken leadership on the issues that are important to Canadians. There was a time when our tourists went abroad and they were proud to wear a Canadian flag and a maple leaf badge. Over the last number of years, the Conservatives have not worked with the international community to take leadership roles. We used to take leadership roles on many issues, whether it was peacekeeping, whether it was providing help after an earthquake or whether it was CIDA needs. We have seen the budget cuts in those places.

We used to be a country everyone looked up to; they said Canadians are good people. Conservatives came in and they are secular. They want to promote international issues at a high level. Like on domestic issues, they have failed on a number of international issues, which is hurting the reputation of our country.

[Nuclear Terrorism Act, March 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to speak to this bill on behalf of citizens from Surrey North.

Essentially Bill S-9, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the nuclear terrorism act, would amend the Criminal Code in order to implement the criminal requirements of two international counterterrorism treaties: the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, as amended in 2005, and the 2005 International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. Regarding Canada's treaty obligations under the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, this bill would allow the government to sign to these treaties, fulfilling our domestic obligations.

We as New Democrats are committed to multilateral diplomacy and international co-operation, especially in areas that are common to our partners across this world. We have to work with our partners on issues that are important to their country and also to ours. Examples of these issues include terrorism, climate change, environment and nuclear materials, as well as other issues. It is our duty to consult our partners, whether NATO or the UN, to work on these issues.

Not only does the Conservative government have a very shadowy record on consulting citizens of Canada when making laws, but we have also seen over the years that instead of working with our partners across this world and working through NATO and working with other countries, it is just not working on some of these issues.

One of the areas where we could be working to enhance our leadership in the world has been the environment. Not only have the Conservatives gutted the environment legislation regulations in this country, but they have also failed to work with our partners across this country and across this world to tackle climate change. That is where co-operation is needed. That is where we need to work together to look at issues facing this world, but again the Conservatives have failed on that issue. They have not shown leadership through working with our partners across the world to tackle some of the issues that we need to tackle, such as terrorism and nuclear materials. These are the kinds of issues that we need to take leadership on. That leadership has been lacking over at least the last seven years that I know of, since the Conservatives have been in power.

This is an example of the leadership lacking from that side. We used to have a seat on the UN Security Council. Every time Canadians wanted to be on the Security Council, we were voted in by all of the other countries. What happened the last time the seat became available? It was the very first time in our history that we were not sitting on the UN Security Council. That is because the Conservatives failed in international diplomacy to bring the world together to show leadership on issues that are important throughout the world.

That leadership is lacking not only internationally but also on our domestic front.

I just heard the House leader talk about making our communities safe in regard to the international terrorism bill and the amendments that we have in front of us. Making our communities safe involves investing in our RCMP and investing in crime prevention programs. We all know what Conservatives want to do with the crime prevention programs.

In fact, I have talked to a number of organizations in my community that have supported crime prevention programs. They have received funding from crime prevention programs over many years, but that funding has been eroding over the years. It has been consistently cut by the government.

If we are serious about making our communities safe, as with this bill dealing with nuclear terrorism, we need to also invest in our communities. We need to invest in programs that make a difference at a ground level, such as programs that keep our young people from getting into gangs. Those are the kinds of programs that are needed and that are going to help keep our communities safe.

We heard earlier today that the Sapers report from the correctional office says that one-quarter of our prison population are aboriginal people. Those are the kinds of programs we need to invest in to make sure that our young people are getting the help that is needed to make our communities safe.

We need to invest in the RCMP. Forty staff that support the work of the RCMP were given notices in the last budget. Those workers provide critical services to the RCMP to help them do their jobs. Those are the kinds of programs that we need in order for us to support our communities and make them safe places.

There are many other ways we can make our communities safe. For us to work with our partners is a positive step. We encourage the government to work with our partners, whether the United States or other like-minded countries that want the world to be a safer place for not just Canadians but citizens around the world.

I have given a couple of examples of issues on which the Conservatives could show leadership around the world, including the environment. I have given the example of working with other nations on climate change. Conservatives have not shown leadership there.

There are many other issues that we can be working on locally here. When we talk about ratifying treaties, we could look at it as a contract with voters and with aboriginal people. We could be working toward fulfilling those contracts here in Canada.

When the government was formed in 2011, it had a contract with Canadian voters. I have seen up close, on a daily basis, that it has not lived up to those obligations, whether in treaties or in a contract with the voters for what it was going to do when it formed government. We have seen the types of draconian measures it has taken to gut our environment. We have seen how fast the Conservatives wanted to ram through the budget bills. Those were huge omnibus bills that we could not study in a few days, yet it happens time after time. We saw it today.

I learned a new term from the Conservatives today. This place has many rules and regulations, and one of the rules and regulations I learned very quickly from them was that they can shut down debate, gag the opposition, gag the House and ram these things through. We saw an example last night. We saw another example today.

We need to work with other countries, with our partners, to look at issues of a global nature and we need to resolve those issues. The Conservatives have not taken leadership on many of these international issues, and we are paying the price at the international level, where our status over the last number of years has gone down. That was shown by our losing a seat on the Security Council.

I encourage my colleagues to work at international co-operation, to co-operate with other countries, to take a leadership role and to work on those issues that are important to Canadians.

[Nuclear Terrorism Act, March 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats are committed to international diplomacy. I think it is important that we co-operate with our partners and countries around the world to work on issues that are important to them and to us. The area of nuclear materials and terrorism is an important issue we should be co-operating on internationally at a multilateral level.

My question to my colleague, who made a wonderful speech, is about the environment. We have seen the Conservatives not only gut the environmental regulations in this country but fail to engage in meaningful environmental climate change issues at an international level. I would ask my friend if she has any knowledge as to what can be done to take a leadership role internationally on the issue of the environment.

[Business of Supply, March 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to hear Conservative speakers defending the very ineffective Senate across the hall from here. It really surprises me, especially hearing it from members from western Canada, a number of whom are former Reformers. A few years ago they wanted a triple-E Senate, which should be an elected Senate. Senators are sort of elected in different ways in different provinces and they are really not accountable to anybody at all.

Could the member talk about a few years ago when the Conservatives used to stand up for an elected, effective and equitable Senate?

[Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act, February 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in this House to speak to this very important bill dealing with the RCMP.

It is important to me and to people in Surrey, British Columbia, because as members may know, Surrey has the largest RCMP detachment in the country. The men and women who work in the RCMP in Surrey do tremendous work to make our communities safe. In fact, I was very proud to have an opportunity to present Diamond Jubilee awards to a current member and a retiree in the last month. I am proud to work with the RCMP on a regular basis and to look at issues that deal with the RCMP on a regular basis.

As the House of Commons, we have a duty to restore public confidence in the RCMP, and we have an opportunity with this bill to do that.

The preamble of the bill states that the goals for this bill are transparency, improving conduct, strengthening the review and complaints body, and dealing with the climate of sexual harassment that exists in the RCMP. Those are all good goals, and we supported these goals at second reading, hoping that we would be able to scrutinize the bill more fully at the committee stage.

However, when we got to the committee, we heard witness after witness pointing out that the bill actually does not address a number of the issues that have been plaguing the RCMP over the last number of years. In fact, for the last six or seven years, the Conservatives have mismanaged this file so badly that the reputation of the RCMP has taken a beating.

Bill C-42 fails to act on any of the recommendations set out by Justice O'Connor in the Maher Arar inquiry that aim to improve the standards of review for the RCMP to meet the needs of Canadians. The bill is supposed to fix years of mismanagement of the RCMP by the Conservatives. The Conservatives presented Bill C-42 as a solution to a dysfunctional RCMP, but it fails to improve any of that.

The bill not only falls short of addressing sexual harassment within the force but also falls short on a number of other areas that the NDP tried to amend in the committee. The NDP put forward a number of amendments meant to ensure that Bill C-42 effectively meets the challenges the RCMP is facing.

Since I was elected in 2011, the NDP has made hundreds, if not thousands, of proposed amendments at the committee stage. I am quite surprised that not one of them has been accepted by the government. One would think that maybe one, two, three or ten would make sense to the government; no. It has consistently rejected all amendments.

Those amendments are based on consultations that happen in the committee. Experts come to the committee and provide expert testimony, but we know the Conservatives do not like to consult. On the aboriginal file, we have seen them fail to consult aboriginal people time after time. This is a similar case.

We had experts at the committee who provided testimony that gave good solutions as to how we could restore confidence in the RCMP. Again the Conservatives failed to take any of the amendments from the NDP. Some of those amendments included adding mandatory harassment training for RCMP members and ensuring a fully independent civilian review body to investigate complaints against the RCMP.

The credibility of the RCMP has taken shots in a number of high-level cases in British Columbia over the last number of years. I have talked to a number of people in my constituency and throughout British Columbia, and I have heard people on the radio as well talking about having a civilian body to investigate the RCMP. Throughout this country, Canadians have been calling for an investigative body that is independent of the RCMP.

Again, the Conservatives had an opportunity with this bill to put the RCMP on the right path and restore the confidence of the people of this country in the RCMP. However, they failed to do that. The bill before us does not address any of that.

Another of the amendments we proposed was to add a provision to create a national civilian investigation body that would avoid having police investigating police. Again, the Conservatives chose not to accept it.

We also offered to create a more balanced human resource policy by removing some of the draconian powers proposed for the RCMP commissioner and by strengthening the external review committee in cases involving possible dismissal from the force.

I would point out again that we saw the deterioration start under the Liberal government, and it has continued under the Conservative government.

The Liberals did not even offer any amendments at the committee stage. We offered 18 amendments, but not one of them was accepted by the Conservative government. The Conservatives voted down every single one of the amendments, ignoring many recommendations made by witnesses at the committee. Witness after witness explained that legislation alone will not foster a more open and respectful workplace for all.

We need to see an ongoing effort from the RCMP and the government to modernize the RCMP. However, Bill C-42 lacks the transparency and accountability necessary for that change. The bill does not go far enough in directly addressing the concerns of women serving in the RCMP, who are calling for urgent action to foster a more inclusive and safe environment for women in the RCMP. As well, the bill has been introduced without the benefit of the findings of the internal gender audit of the RCMP ordered by the commissioner, which is currently under way but not yet completed.

The Conservative approach does not make women in the RCMP a priority, which is necessary if we want to deal with the problem of harassment in the RCMP. My concern is that over and over we see the government attempt to gloss over the real issues within the RCMP and implement quick fixes instead of actually looking at the root causes of the problems and addressing them. Again, the Conservatives had an opportunity to do that; we in this House owe it to Canadians to address these issues, but the Conservatives have fallen flat on that.

The scope of sexual harassment in the RCMP is massive. We have seen a number of women come forward to talk publicly about harassment in the RCMP, and there are currently lawsuits in front of the courts. We had an opportunity to address this problem, but again the Conservatives have failed.

To conclude, I stress that in my community of Surrey and in communities across this country, crime and violence are a reality. Many shootings have occurred in the greater Vancouver region in broad daylight. However, instead of investing in crime prevention programs, the Conservative government is actually making it harder for the RCMP to do its job. Our job is to help the RCMP, give its members tools and resources, and invest in our forces.

The Conservatives had an opportunity to improve the reputation of the RCMP. We must get to the root cause of the internal cultural problem of sexual harassment in the RCMP, and we need to finally have binding independent civilian oversight so that we can deal with the real issues of accountability and transparency and ultimately restore public confidence in our force.