Peter Van Loan

[Supplementary Estimates (A), 2013-14, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to table the estimates and I look forward to their consideration.

[Employment, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democratic Party wants to saddle our manufacturers with a carbon tax and hike their income taxes to drive them and the jobs in manufacturing out of Canada. In contrast, our Conservative government is supporting Canada's manufacturing sector, particularly important to the hard-working people of southern Ontario.

Our strong record of tax relief and support is getting results. Today Stats Canada reported that over 20,000 net new jobs were created in the manufacturing sector in April. That is 20,000 more reasons not to vote for NDP job-killing taxes, 20,000 more reasons to support this government.

[Ethics, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is, again, not following the facts closely. The fact is that Senator Duffy did the right thing and actually repaid inappropriate sums months ago, well before any report from the auditors.

The difference is, of course, with Liberal Senator Mac Harb, who is taking an entirely different position and saying that no, he should not have to pay back inappropriate sums, and it his colleagues, the Liberal senators, who are blocking efforts by the Conservative senators to bring in tough new rules to ensure financial accountability and the protection of taxpayers' interests.

Our Conservative government, including our senators, will continue to advance efforts to bring in tough rules to protect taxpayers' interests. It is time the Liberal Party stopped blocking that measure.

[Ethics, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, Conservative senators have introduced 11 substantial changes to the rules so that senators will be accountable to the taxpayers, as they should be, but what is happening now is that the Liberal Party is blocking the creation of tougher rules in the Senate. Liberal senators have blocked the reforms we have proposed regarding Senate accountability.

We are asking the Liberals to accept these important changes to accountability.

[Ethics, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is our respect for taxpayers' money that led to an independent outside audit of the Senate and it is the respect of Conservative senators for taxpayers' money that led to their initiative to change those very lax rules by introducing tougher rules.

However, can members guess what happened yesterday when they tried to introduce those tougher rules? Can members guess who stood in the way of them? It was the leader of the third party's Liberal senators. They are the ones who are blocking changes to the Senate. They are the ones who are blocking the kind of financial accountability that all Canadians want to see.

It is no surprise that the Liberal Party continues to defend its entitlements.

[Ethics, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member looked at the facts a bit, she would see that Mr. Duffy paid back inappropriate funds well before any discussion that she is referring to took place. In fact, he showed the kind of leadership that we would like to see from Liberal Senator Mac Harb, who instead is taking up arms against the Senate by saying that he should not have to pay back inappropriate funds.

We are bringing in tough rules. Conservative senators have proposed tough rules on expenses. Can members guess who is blocking that? It is the Liberal senators. That is typical of the opposition members. Not only are they blocking tougher rules for accountability, they are blocking accountability through electing senators and they are blocking term limits for senators.

We can see who wants to defend the status quo. It is the opposition.

[Points of Order, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it was never my intention to table the letter. It was my intention to encourage the minister to assist the member, since he had trouble finding the letter in his records, by providing to him the date and subject matter of the letter so he could find it in his own records, because he apparently had not.

I did talk to the minister and I did see it. He did write a letter asking for more temporary foreign workers for his constituency, notwithstanding that it is an area of high unemployment for Canadians. He instead wanted to see more foreign workers brought there. I trust the member has been given the date of the letter he sent.

[Business of the House, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon we will continue the debate on today’s opposition motion from the NDP. Pursuant to the rules of the House, time is allocated and there will be a vote after the two-day debate.

Tomorrow we will resume the third reading debate on Bill S-9, the Nuclear Terrorism Act. As I mentioned on Monday, I am optimistic that we will pass that important bill this week.

Should we have extra time on Friday, we will take up Bill C-48, the Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012, at report stage and third reading.

When we come back from constituency week, I am keen to see the House make a number of accomplishments for Canadians. Allow me to make it clear to the House what the government's priorities are.

Our government will continue to focus on jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. In doing that, we will be working on reforming the temporary foreign worker program to put the interests of Canadians first; implementing tax credits for Canadians who donate to charity and parents who adopt; extending tax credits for Canadians who take care of loved ones in their homes; supporting veterans and their families by improving the balance for determining veterans' benefits; moving closer to equality for Canadians living on reserves through better standards for drinking water, which my friend apparently objects to; giving women on reserves the rights and protections that other Canadian women have had for decades, something to which he also objects; and keeping our streets and communities safer by making real improvements to the witness protection program. We will of course do more.

Before we rise for the summer, we will tackle the bills currently listed on the order paper, as well as any new bills which might get introduced. After Victoria Day, we will give priority consideration to bills that have already been considered by House committees.

For instance, we will look at Bill C-48, which I just mentioned, Bill C-51, the Safer Witnesses Act, Bill C-52, the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, and Bill S-2, the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, which I understand could be reported back soon.

I look forward also to getting back from committee and passing Bill C-60, , the economic action plan 2013 act, no. 1; Bill S-8, the safe drinking water for first nations act; and Bill C-21, the political loans accountability act.

We have, of course, recently passed Bill C-15, the strengthening military justice in the defence of Canada act, and Bill S-7, the combating terrorism act. Hopefully, tomorrow we will pass Bill S-9, the nuclear terrorism act.

Finally, we will also work toward second reading of several bills including Bill C-12, the safeguarding Canadians' personal information act; Bill C-49, the Canadian museum of history act; Bill C-54, the not criminally responsible reform act; Bill C-56, the combating counterfeit products act; Bill C-57, the safeguarding Canada's seas and skies act; Bill C-61, the offshore health and safety act; Bill S-6, the first nations elections act; Bill S-10, the prohibiting cluster munitions act; Bill S-12, the incorporation by reference in regulations act; Bill S-13, the port state measures agreement implementation act; Bill S-14, the fighting foreign corruption act; Bill S-15, the expansion and conservation of Canada’s national parks act, which establishes Sable Island National Park; and Bill S-17, the tax conventions implementation act, 2013.

I believe and I think most Canadians who send us here expect us to do work and they want to see us vote on these things and get things done. These are constructive measures to help all Canadians and they certainly expect us to do our job and actually get to votes on these matters.

I hope we will be able to make up enough time to take up all of these important bills when we come back, so Canadians can benefit from many parliamentary accomplishments by the members of Parliament they have sent here this spring.

Before taking my seat, let me formally designate, pursuant to Standing Order 81(4)(a), Tuesday, May 21, as the day appointed for the consideration in a committee of the whole of all votes under Natural Resources in the main estimates for the final year ending March 31, 2014. This would be the second of two such evenings following on tonight's proceedings.

[Ethics, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the independent expert auditors actually do not agree with the assessment of the hon. member as to what took place. They indicated that the rules were not clear. As a result, the Senate is taking action to correct them, but certainly, the expert audit found no evidence of anything that would be approaching criminal activity.

That being said, the expectation of this government is that the spirit of the rules must be respected. For that reason, Liberal Senator Mac Harb and independent Patrick Brazeau are expected to repay the funds they claimed inappropriately, as was done by another senator some months ago.

[Ethics, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, today the independent expert audit was tabled in the Senate.

Its principal finding was, of course, that the rules were not clear. The Senate has already actually taken action to strengthen and improve those rules. Of course, from our perspective, the government expects the Senate to act and I understand the Senate is acting to ensure a higher standard of judgment applies.

Thus, the senators in question are being asked to repay the sums that were claimed, which were deemed inappropriate by the Senate.