Linda Duncan

[Business of Supply, April 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it is not the members in the House who have raised this issue. Repeatedly my colleagues and, frankly, our colleagues across the way in the Conservative Party have said that dairy farmers of Canada have called for action on this, and have done so for two years.

I will quote Mr. Wally Smith, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, who stated:

...all of Canada’s dairy farmers speak with one voice on diafiltered milk. We are collectively disappointed with the lack of action on enforcement of the cheese standards. The Government does not need to pass a new law or new regulation and the solution is simple. The Government needs to enforce the existing standards.

Yet, the Liberals keep saying that it is complex and complicated, and that it is the member's fault because she is talking too much in committee. Frankly, it is insulting.

I am very proud of my colleague and all colleagues in the House who are standing up for dairy farmers. Let us not change the channel by talking about the price of milk in northern communities, or about the TPP or CETA. This law is in place now and it simply needs to be enforced to protect our dairy farmers.

[Business of Supply, April 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his speech and for his work on agriculture.

I want to inform the member and his colleagues that I have spoken with the dairy farmers in Alberta. I have just today spoken again with Albert De Boer, who is the former Alberta representative for the Dairy Farmers of Canada. He has again repeated to me his deep concern on behalf of the Alberta dairy farmers that we urgently need action by the government.

If ever there were a time in history when we needed the Liberals to live up to their promise to diversify the economy, this is the time. The dairy farmers are an important part not just of the Alberta economy, but the Canadian economy, so will the government live up to its promise and take action on this matter?

[Air Canada Public Participation Act, April 20th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, what we have here is a situation of regulatory capture. We have been holding hearings on rail safety, and it is becoming absolutely evident that we have a situation of regulatory capture with the rail industry. We now have a situation where Air Canada is required by law to provide these jobs in these three Canadian communities. It has cut a deal with the government saying it does not want that law anymore because it has some contracts it can enter into and it might cause problems in its business dealings. This is of deep concern. If we cannot have a full debate here, will the minister ensure that every one of his members of the committee will allow that every single witness who wants to be heard on this issue is heard at committee?

[Business of Supply, April 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we are hearing a lot in this place, including from the hon. member, about what the law states and the ruling by the Ethics Commissioner, but what troubles me is that this new Liberal government has a propensity, instead of amending the law to include what they uphold as stronger principles—for example, with environmental assessment, instead of amending the rules to allow citizens to participate—to simply issue non-binding guidelines.

The member's party in November last year issued “Open and Accountable Government”, stating that ministers and parliamentary secretaries must ensure their fundraisers avoid soliciting political contributions.

Then the Prime Minister issued to all of his ministers and parliamentary secretaries the very clear directive that they must ensure that they do not appear to affect the exercise of official duties or access of individuals:

There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access....

There should be no singling out, or appearance of singling out of individuals....

Those are very clear directions to the ministers and parliamentary secretaries that they should take greater care in solicitation of political contributions.

There is a lot of argument being made that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada was there in her own right, but surely the presumption is that the Minister of Justice is there with people who could potentially be seeking judicial appointments. Surely greater care and attention should be taken by the Minister of Justice, of all cabinet members.

[Points of Order, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport, in reply to a question from my colleague, offered to provide his agenda of meetings to this place. In keeping with the mandate letter issued to the minister wherein he is required to be open and transparent, I am asking that he make available that agenda of meetings, including with communities that are concerned about rail safety.

[Rail Transportation, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport claims rail safety is his top priority, yet this week rail inspectors told our committee, despite a projected tenfold increase in dangerous cargo, that the rail safety budget was being slashed 21%.

Yesterday it was revealed that Transport Canada had withheld information on the 500 most dangerous level crossings, two of the most dangerous in my riding of Edmonton Strathcona.

Cuts, inaction, secrecy will not improve rail safety. When will the minister take real action on rail safety?

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to give my colleague an opportunity to elaborate on what he would like to see happen in this place in support of first nations and Métis communities of Canada.

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the top priority of my constituents in Edmonton Strathcona is health care. They are waiting for dollars for palliative care and pharmacare, and nothing came in the budget.

The member raised another important issue, which is the short-changing of public safety. One of the areas of public safety is rail safety. We heard testimony in committee this week from the Department of Transport's inspectors, saying that there were cuts to rail safety, including rail safety inspection. I now discover that two of the top most dangerous rail crossings in Canada are in my city. I am sure the member's constituents are concerned about rail safety. Does the member think that perhaps the government should be paying a little more attention to transport safety?

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his speech and welcome him to the House. We have worked together previously under different mantles.

I know the member is a lawyer, and I would like him to respond to the same question that the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou put to the justice minister. It is related to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. A number of people in the House tonight have asked if it is perhaps not time to let the aboriginal communities themselves, whether they be first nation, Métis or Inuit, deliver these programs—education, health care, and so forth—on their own.

Would the member, with his legal background, agree with the recommendation by my colleague, who previously tabled a bill to this effect, that international law, including the UNDRIP, does not become the law of Canada until a bill is adopted in the House? Does he support the call by my colleague that we take that first step, which would then recognize the rights of the first nations to order their own business?

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her very heartfelt speech. I get the impression that the speech was very much because of her background as a nurse, and it is very much appreciated.

I have to go back to the response by Cindy Blackstock, the head of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, who said that she was very disappointed with the budget. Her statement was, “Children only get one childhood and they can’t wait for a government to treat them equally”.

Have the member and her colleagues rethought the previous position? We obviously want a lot more immediate and direct support for the mental health of the entire aboriginal community whose members are suffering this distress and committing suicide.

We need to look at the root causes. As my colleague raised earlier, one of them is the lack of basic facilities, even for the education of the children. In many cases they have to leave their own home and family to get a basic education.

I am wondering if the member could speak to whether or not, as a result of these mounting crises for aboriginal children in Canada, she and her colleagues have rethought the previous decision to withhold the funding to provide schooling for all aboriginal children in Canada.