Matt Jeneroux

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, December 6th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, that is a hard-hitting question.

I have to say that small businesses are hurting enough with the promises they thought they would get from the government, but now a CPP increase is being piled on, and that includes health and dental benefits, too. Small businesses right now do not know where the next saving grace from the government is coming from. It is a challenging time, particularly in Alberta, and I imagine in Essex as well, to have a small business knowing there may be a carbon tax, a CPP enhancement, and EI premiums. That is a lot for small businesses. I would think it is a struggle for small businesses these days because of the actions of the Liberal government.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, December 6th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I do not envy the member's position on the other side of the House with having to stand against his government on the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Apparently, giving his approval, I guess, goes a long way to the Prime Minister, I wish he would have listened to me on energy east, Keystone, and northern gateway.

The social licence on the other side has gotten us nowhere. There is now a president-elect in the United States who is moving ahead without a carbon tax and not going along with the Paris agreement. I would think that would indicate that there goes investment, there goes business out of Canada to the United States.

I would hope that the member on the other side recognizes the implications of a carbon tax, not just on the side that he speaks about but because of what that is going to do for the rest of the country and the economy.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, December 6th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to stand today to speak to Bill C-29.

Just last month, a group of respected physicians in Edmonton and the surrounding area wrote to me about a new federal tax proposal in Bill C-29 that would alter the small business deduction to exclude group medical structures. Their email reads:

I urge the federal government to amend Clause 13 of the Legislative Proposals Relating to Income Tax, Sales Tax and Excise Duties by exempting group medical structures and health care delivery from the proposed changes to S. 125 of the Income Tax Act regarding multiplication of access to the small business deduction.

The proposal outlined in C-29 will hobble the efforts of these doctors and their colleagues from effectively serving Canadians, as it would unfairly penalize group medical structures, These structures are not formed to avoid the taxman. They are formed to deliver team-based integrated medical health services according to priorities set out by the provinces.

In many of the sub-specialties these physicians work in, these arrangements are the standard of delivering care in a safe and cost-effective manner. This tax proposal threatens to tear this balance apart, heaping rising costs upon health care providers and forcing many to potentially move their practice to other countries with less punishing tax burdens. Most important, these changes will directly impact the medical care received by Canadian families across the country.

These arrangements are the fruit of years, decades even, of careful planning and negotiation between the provinces and their health care providers to implement their health care priorities. The division of powers is quite clear in this country: the delivery of health services is a major component of the provincial mandate, not the federal government's. The government is once again ignoring the concerns and opinions of experts and forcing its views onto our provinces.

I would like to turn my comments to Alberta. Alberta is struggling right now. It is going through one of the worst job crises in the province's history. The unemployment rate right now is at a 22-year high. Over 222,000 Albertans are out of work. They are not just from the oil patch, but work in restaurants, in small businesses, and in gyms as physical fitness experts. I was speaking with one the other day. These people are the heart and soul of Alberta and to have them out of work really leaves Alberta at an incredible disadvantage.

We are suffering from the low oil and gas prices. That is fair. The government on the other side will stand up and announce its decisions on pipelines, issue a press release, and say everything is fixed: “Move on, Alberta, on to our next hurdle”.

We cannot just rely on these pipelines. Right now what we have is a jobs crisis. It leaves us at a disadvantage in all of our sectors. These pipelines that we hope will be built eventually do not address anything happening right now.

We need to ensure that we have particular infrastructure in place, yet we have no shovels in the ground. We need more jobs. However, we keep seeing part-time jobs. It is unfair what is happening in Alberta and there seems to be a real lack of recognition of this on the other side.

Furthermore, to add to everything that is happening in Alberta, the Liberals have now announced a carbon tax. The carbon tax is going to $50 a tonne. The Alberta provincial government has set the carbon taxes at $30 per tonne, but because of the good faith in these new pipelines, they have decided to move it up to $50 a tonne.

That has an impact not just on the oil and gas sector, but on regular families. I have a letter I received from a family in my area, which said that the YMCA daycare, a solid daycare provider in our constituency, has decided to raise the annual fee for parents in the community, because they think the carbon tax will have an impact on the YMCA. It seems to me that this carbon tax is not just building social licence, as the government states, but is really having an impact on young families on the ground.

We figure, great, the Liberals have put in place a carbon tax, let us apply pressure to the government to ensure that it understands the impact of this. Then the government landed the CPP increases on small businesses, and on families as well; then there were mortgage rules, and now we are hearing today about taxation of health and dental benefits.

There is only one taxpayer, and this one taxpayer continually has to pay all of the taxes that are added on. I plead with the members on the other side that Bill C-29 is yet a further indication that the current government is completely out of touch, not just with Alberta, but with the families across the country this bill would have an impact on.

We keep hearing that infrastructure investments are going to save the day, are going to be the way to put Albertans and other western Canadians back to work. We have a minister who can stand up here and say “from coast to coast to coast” as much as he likes, yet quite honestly, we have not seen a single shovel in the ground yet. Oh wait, there is one in central Alberta for waste management. That is the only one. The minister will stand in Edmonton and Calgary and call press conferences with anyone who will come, and he will say, “Look at us, we are creating jobs”. Where are the jobs? We have yet to see a single full-time job created. We have part-time jobs. Statistics Canada reports say there are all these part-time jobs, but that in terms of full-time jobs on the infrastructure side, we actually lost construction jobs. Over the last year, there were fewer construction jobs than the year before. It does not add up and does not make sense how this infrastructure plan is going to jumpstart our communities.

Then we asked the Minister of Infrastructure, the Prime Minister, the natural resources minister, and the minister of industry what we are supposed to tell Albertans when none of this is coming to fruition, when nothing is happening, and when people are still unemployed. The unemployment rate is still the highest in 22 years. We are told to hang in there by the Prime Minister. We are told not to worry, that we will hold hands together and get through this, by the infrastructure minister. I do not know how the minister's warm embrace will help the many people who are unemployed in Alberta. It seems a little optimistic on the minister's side.

I would encourage the minister, the Prime Minister, and the finance minister to listen to us on this side of the House. We are sitting down with everyday Albertans. We created what we call the “Alberta Jobs Taskforce”. Every Alberta member of Parliament is participating, actively meeting with as many stakeholders as they can. We are sitting down at round tables, town halls, and one-on-one meetings. I cannot say how many people have been in my office crying because they have lost their jobs, because they do not know how they are going to put a roof over their heads, and because now that their government is increasing the carbon tax, they are not going to be able to afford day care for their children.

I believe it is incumbent on us, in a non-partisan approach, to ensure that we are listening to those in our constituency. I know that the member for Calgary Shepard has had a number of round tables and is meeting with his constituents regularly. I know that the member for Lethbridge has met with a number of youth who do not know where they will get jobs out of university. So it is incumbent on us as members of Parliament to communicate to the government what we are hearing on the ground.

We have a budget coming up in the new year. As part of that budget, we want to make sure that the Prime Minister and the finance minister have heard exactly what we have heard from these Albertans. We are hearing not only from small businesses and oil and gas companies, but also from food banks. I spoke with an individual at a food bank the other day who said that because of the carbon tax, the people there are concerned about how they will continue operating. There are now more people lined up at the food bank, yet the people working there do not know how the food bank will continue operating. That would bother me if I were sitting on the side of the House. We need to ensure that we have solutions for this crisis in Alberta.

Over the years, Albertans have stood shoulder to shoulder with other provinces across the country, making sure that we were there in their time of need. Right now, Alberta is hurting. Alberta is going through an incredible jobs crisis, and we need the rest of the country to listen to Albertans and hear our thoughts.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, December 5th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, the member neglected to talk about two things that we talk about on this side of the House. There is the carbon tax, which we will see in about 26 days in Alberta and the impact that will have. However, I am also curious to hear the member's thoughts on the pipeline approval that was just announced. I know that in his area in B.C., people probably have some opinions on that. I am curious to know what he would think. I know that back home in my province, the provincial premier seems to be saying that she did a lot of it. I am curious to know what the hon. member thinks.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would tend to disagree with the hon. member's last comments, that we are helping back home first. In Alberta, we have a massive jobs crisis that is occurring, we have a carbon tax implemented, and we have CPP increases on top of that.

As part of the member's speech, she indicated that she is helping young families. Could the member comment on how those initiatives would help young families, because, quite frankly, I do not think they would.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I know there are not many who talk to their constituents more than my colleague. I believe that he was previously voted as one of the hardest-working members of Parliament for his constituents.

I am curious about his thoughts. The many times that he has been at people's doors, has he heard that a carbon tax is the answer? Has he heard that infrastructure spending is actually creating jobs? I am not hearing that at the doors that I knock on. He lives in a different part of the province of Alberta, and I am curious if he is hearing something different than I am hearing.

[Employment, December 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss to ignore the last part of the member's speech, where he talked about pipelines. It is important to note that those jobs are down the line. Those are not jobs that Albertans need and want right now. Although those are important, and I applaud the government for doing that, they are not the jobs that we need.

The member spoke of doubling the infrastructure investments. He brought up the fact that September was when they did it. The Prime Minister met with the premier of the province back in February. So why did it take from February to September to announce that funding? That was an entire construction season that we lost, and the minister on the other side of the House should know that, being from Alberta.

[Employment, December 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, Alberta is in the grip of a devastating jobs crisis that is disrupting lives and careers, breaking up families, and forcing people to leave. Seeing Alberta's EI numbers, and seeing the job numbers each month, is heart-wrenching.

Since the beginning of 2015, the number of unemployed Albertans has nearly doubled. There are now over 200,000 people looking for work. However, what is really sad is that there are real people behind these numbers.

Thousands of families cannot make ends meet. Kids are seeing their parents go to food banks for the first time. Skilled workers across Alberta are struggling to provide for their families and are being forced to seek opportunities for employment in other provinces and countries, taking their skills with them. Imagine what they are thinking when the Alberta minister says, let us hold hands and get through this together.

Losing these skilled workers is another hit that will further weaken our province. More than 24,000 Albertans have already left.

Since the financial crisis, Alberta has been the economic engine of Canada. Albertans have worked hard for generations, and all of Canada has benefited from our province's economic strength. The Canadian economy and the growth in prosperity we have come to expect will lag behind until Alberta is strong again. A strong Alberta means a strong Canada, and a strong Canada must include Alberta.

Without a clear and targeted plan in place by the Liberal government that specifically addresses the challenges being faced in Alberta, companies will continue to move their business elsewhere, families will continue to struggle, and skilled workers will be forced to line up for EI. Albertans deserve better.

As proud Albertans, we want to see the restoration of the province as an economic leader in Canada and a hub for job creation and ingenuity. It is with the Alberta Jobs Taskforce that we on this side of the House will work with everyday Albertans, struggling families, investors, small businesses, and companies to hear their thoughts to develop a plan that will allow the Alberta economy to grow and to restore the province as an economic leader in the country.

In the past months, our Alberta colleagues have been hosting town halls and round tables to develop a report that will outline a plan to stimulate and grow the Alberta economy and get hard-working Albertans back to work.

In our round tables and town halls, we have listened to the enterprising solutions Albertans have come up with to get our province back on its feet. In these round tables and town halls, we have heard the stories of those who have been affected by the economic crisis.

We will be sharing the stories of hard-working and resilient Albertans who have been affected by the economic downturn and reminding the Liberal government, and those outside of Alberta, that behind these numbers are real families having to make tough decisions on whether to put food on the table or pay the mortgage to keep a roof over their family's head.

Our work will report with real policy solutions. We are ready to roll up our sleeves and help out Alberta.

Why is the Liberal government continuing with things like a carbon tax, continuing with the CPP increases on small business, and continuing to turn a blind eye to Alberta?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 18th, 2016]

With regard to official government social media accounts, including ministerial accounts, broken down by department and agency, and broken down by social media account: (a) what social media platforms does the government currently use; (b) what is each account's name, handle, or other identifier, broken down by platform; and (c) which accounts' contents are managed by (i) departmental officials, (ii) ministerial exempt staff, (iii) both?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 18th, 2016]

With regard to cyber attacks, broken down by month, and by department, agency, and crown corporation, since January 1, 2016: (a) how many cyber attacks have occurred, either against a department, agency or crown corporation or on one of their servers or networks; (b) how many of the attacks referred to in (a) resulted in government information being stolen; (c) how many of the attacks referred to in (b) resulted in classified government information being stolen; (d) how many of the attacks referred to in (a) resulted in individuals' personal information being stolen; (e) for each of the attacks referred to in (d), how many individuals' personal information was stolen; (f) were the individuals from whom information was stolen informed of the theft, and, if so, how were they informed; and (g) for each case where individuals' information was stolen, was the Privacy Commissioner notified?