Raymond Côté

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to speak right after my colleague from Surrey North and after my many official opposition colleagues who made very relevant speeches, the first being the NDP's international trade critic, the member for Vancouver Kingsway.

I want to get off to a good start by quoting the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verses 15 to 17:

If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.

But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Despite all of our efforts and all the times we have reached out, the government has shamefully imposed time allocation for the 52nd and 53rd time, in front of millions of witnesses, the millions of Canadian we proudly represent with dignity here in the House of Commons.

Despite the fact that I always try to treat government members like my sisters and brothers, the Conservatives have repeatedly spit in our faces. That is what they always do. Democracy has been denied from the outset. Now, we are studying a bill that, if passed, will be another source of shame for the people of this country. This is very serious.

Before thinking about my speech and delivering it here in the House, I took the time to listen to what the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade had to say. I also listened to the entire speech given by my esteemed colleague, the hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway, who is the NDP's international trade critic.

To begin, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade tried to create a smokescreen by extolling the virtues of the future free trade agreement between Canada and Europe. He did not disclose a single word of it, though. We are still in the dark about this free trade agreement, which we may support. The government is completely refusing to co-operate on that front.

As the member for Vancouver Kingsway said so well, other than the bill that was introduced in the House of Commons, we know nothing about the impact this agreement will have. The real problem goes beyond the government's claims that it wants to create jobs and bolster the Canadian and Honduran economies. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and the entire Conservative government—with active, enthusiastic support from the Liberals—are defending the indefensible. If this agreement goes into effect, it will go against the spirit of key international human rights treaties. That is unspeakable, not to mention completely immoral. Beyond the so-called economic arguments—which are more like wishful thinking, astrology or some other pseudo-science—there is no argument as convincing as denouncing the fundamental immorality of the bill introduced in the House.

Now I would like to focus on my Liberal colleagues. I was shocked to hear the speech from the hon. member for Toronto Centre. The Liberals are advocating a position that is very far removed from the position of Lester B. Pearson's government.

The Liberals' philosophy is some 500 years behind, stuck in a time of slavery and exploitation of the colonies and entire populations, the world over.

It is not so surprising to see the Liberals getting on board with the Conservatives. It has been said time and again in the House: there are major problems in Honduras. Organized crime is widespread. Democracy was wiped out in 2009, and there is no indication or meaningful evidence that this democracy is really vibrant or beneficial to the people of Honduras.

It is very easy to understand why this government is defending tooth and nail the bill we are considering and debating in the House for such a horribly limited amount of time. We know that the Conservatives have a penchant for fraudulent ways. They were caught using an in and out scheme and allowing their data bank to be used to voluntarily lead thousands of voters astray to false polling stations during past elections.

It is incredible that I am standing here in the House right now denouncing things that no party should even imagine or consider doing.

Currently, the party in power is denying its responsibility, denying reality and, in fact, is continuing along its merry way as though nothing happened. It even suggests that there were administrative issues at play when we talk about the in and out scheme. So it comes as no surprise that it is defending Bill C-20, a bill that might just be a blight on Canada's reputation.

I hope that my Conservative and Liberal colleagues will listen to reason and change their positions on this.

The situation has been described at length, but I want to go over it again. It is chilling to think about the murder rate and the number of people who live in fear in that country. In fact, it is not complicated; the entire population of Honduras lives in fear daily, except of course a very limited group of people that must represent, at best, a few thousand people. In fact, it is probably just a few hundred people only. They live in comfort, safety and luxury. In Honduras, a truly very small elite group enjoys this type of benefits.

How can they justify supporting a government that tolerates the reign of organized crime? Can any of my colleagues on the government or Liberal benches answer that? I have asked the question several times. Nobody has had the guts to give me a straight answer on that.

In closing, I would like to debunk an urban myth that the government has slyly, though crudely, tried to cultivate. It would have us believe the warped logic that if we support economic development, democracy will just materialize. That kind of logic is anything but divinely inspired. First of all, that is absolutely not the case, because there is no mention of the economy in this.

This urban legend belongs in the same category as the urban myth perpetuated all over social media and the Internet about how if you pass a car at night that does not have its headlights on, you should not flash your brights at it because it is part of a gang initiation ritual. Before I was elected, I had a little free time, and I researched that. I discovered that no law enforcement organization in North America had ever recorded a crime related to that kind of thing.

The government is making things up and trying to mislead the Canadian public, just like it does with other issues. Enough is enough.

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary obviously refused to answer my question. He prefers to stay stuck in his daydream.

In the House at this time, Bill C-20 on the Honduras free trade agreement is not even an economic issue. It is a moral issue because in light of the total lack of respect and the crimes committed in Honduras, the government, with the complicity of the Liberals, is supporting a government that tolerates the reign of criminal groups.

It is shameful for the people of Honduras and for Canadians to see this complicity and this support for the type of situation prevailing in Honduras right now. That is incredible.

How can the parliamentary secretary justify this position?

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely shocked that this government, with the complicity of the Liberals, is so actively endorsing the urban legend that economic measures can correct the democratic deficit.

Earlier, I asked if there really was a good example of economic measures resulting in enhanced democracy and respect for human rights. The previous speaker, the parliamentary secretary's Conservative colleague, refused to answer and responded again with a smokescreen.

Can the parliamentary secretary cite for the House an actual example of a real success story resulting from the proposed measures?

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the government's claims are nothing more than wishful thinking.

Although I have very little free time, I make time each night before going to bed to read for a little while. I am just finishing up an essay written by French-American economist Esther Duflo, who is now an advisor to President Obama.

In the part of the essay I am reading right now, she clearly establishes that a country needs strong institutions in order to prosper in an environment free of corruption and political and social dysfunction. However, such is not the case in Honduras.

That being said, can my government colleague provide specific examples to back his claim that supporting a stronger economy in Honduras will automatically and magically result in democracy for that country?

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, to the great shame of Canadians, the government is busy promoting a free trade agreement by hiding behind so-called job creation and economic activity. In the meantime, there is no mention of the murders that occur every day all across that very small country, or the repression or human rights offences there.

Let us not forget that since the 2009 coup d'état, that country has never gotten out from under its democratic deficit. It is absolutely incredible that in addition to completely muzzling us, the government is denying us our right to speak, claiming that it wants to accelerate the process for adopting this type of agreement.

How can my colleague defend this type of behaviour?

[Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation Act, March 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is really shocking to hear the outrageous remarks made by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. He has no problem taking legitimate representatives of the Canadian population hostage, to try to advance his own personal agenda.

I know this for a fact, because the people of Beauport—Limoilou are suffering the consequences of this wilful blindness, or what is really this government's refusal to accept any responsibility for the dust contamination problem. My team and I have learned that the Conservative Party received nearly $20,000 in contributions just from people at Arrimage Québec. This illustrates the real issues involved in this debate. Indeed, the Conservatives are definitely not putting Canadians first; they always put their friends first.

When will the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development start taking care of Canadians first?

[Health, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Port of Québec and Quebec Stevedoring are not co-operating with the monitoring committee that was created by the Government of Quebec, the city and citizens who are concerned about the nickel dust contamination.

The lack of co-operation from the port authority, which is under federal jurisdiction, tells me that the government is not taking this situation seriously.

Does the Minister of Transport condone this lack of transparency from the port authority and the offending company because their executives are big Conservative Party donors?

[The Budget, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Ottawa—Orléans for his speech, but I must say that his praise for the Minister of Finance bordered on the ridiculous. The member may as well have called him the best finance minister in both the known and unknown universe.

Let us get back to more serious issues. The member for Ottawa—Orléans began his speech by quite rightly thanking our athletes for their performance and for everything they were able to accomplish at the Olympics. However, that gives us the opportunity to point out another problem. The budget was tabled in the middle of the Olympics, as though they were trying to hide or gloss over the government's inaction in the budget.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer clearly stated that tens of thousands of jobs were not created because this government opted for austerity. In large part, that explains the deficit of 300,000 jobs or the additional 300,000 people who are unemployed.

Can the member for Ottawa—Orléans tell us why he supports this lack of job creation, this shortfall?

[The Budget, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her speech.

At the risk of repeating myself, I have to say that I am always surprised to hear the government bragging about its investments, which, in reality, only go halfway at best toward correcting the mistakes it made in the past when it made reckless cuts across the board.

I wonder if my colleague could talk about health transfers. The Conservative government is no different than the Liberals, who 20 years ago made large-scale cuts to all sorts of transfers.

My colleague is confusing absolute and relative numbers. In relative terms, the health transfer deficit is massive, as it relates to activities and particularly the needs of the provinces.

How is it that the hon. member is unable to understand that simple concept and is not addressing it?

[The Budget, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his lyrical speech. However, I am going to have to bring him back down to earth. At some point, we have to face reality. It is rather appalling to listen to announcements about correcting mistakes made by this government with its indiscriminate cuts.

Let us talk about real matters. I had the privilege of being a member of the Standing Committee on Finance for one year. The Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that the government's measures in recent years had very little to do with the one million jobs created. We should also not overlook the fact that the massive tax cuts for big business have artificially created the largest debt ever incurred by a Canadian federal government and that this was a real waste of money. Billions of dollars were truly wasted. The finance minister clearly showed that every dollar of tax cuts did not generate even 40¢ in potential spinoffs. That money was not very well spent.

A few years ago, the Minister of Finance supported our proposal to regulate bank fees. Unfortunately, that measure did not materialize. He went with a voluntary code.

I am asking my colleague how he can continue boasting when we have black and white proof that this government has made mistakes for years and is not solving the real problems that are very costly for Canadian taxpayers.