Ryan Leef

[Interparliamentary Delegations, January 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the reports of the Canadian parliamentary delegation of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association respecting its participation at the meetings of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, held in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway, from June 3 to 6, 2013, and in Murmansk, Russia, from September 18 to 20, 2013.

[Northern Development, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud that our government has made our northern identity a top priority. Unfortunately, last week the Liberal leader refused to stand up for Canada's north when he said that the North Pole is not Canadian.

This is a poor kind of leadership that Canadians are expecting from a leader who wants to promote reckless programs to legalize marijuana and to remove mandatory minimums on child sexual predators.

Canadians know that it is our government and our party that are standing up for the north. Can the hard-working Minister of the Environment please tell this House exactly what our government is doing to enhance the economic opportunities for all northerners?

[Northern Sovereignty, December 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of their northern identity, and our government has made unprecedented investments.

This Prime Minister's accomplishments include the Canadian Armed Forces Arctic Training Centre and the devolution and transfer of lands and resource management to the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Canadians know they can count on this Prime Minister to stand up for the north and for Canada's international claim for Arctic seabed rights, including the North Pole.

Unfortunately, the Liberal leader is as soft on Canadian sovereignty as he is on crime. Yesterday the Liberal leader refused to stand up for Canada's northern sovereignty when he said that the North Pole is not Canadian. How can he, this close to Christmas, deny Santa Claus his rightful citizenship?

It is yet another example of lack in leadership, whether it is being in favour of removing mandatory minimums on child predators or promoting reckless plans to legalize marijuana to children. Canadians do not want this Liberal leader stuffing our stockings this Christmas.

[Northwest Territories, December 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday our government introduced Bill C-15, the Northwest Territories devolution act, to show our government's commitment to ensuring that northerners have greater control over their resources and decision-making. That is why we are moving ahead with devolution and the transfer of lands and resource management to the Government of the Northwest Territories. This is an accomplishment that many governments have tried to achieve in the past, but have failed.

Promoting jobs, growth and prosperity in our north continues to be a priority of our government, which is why we want to give northerners greater control over their economic and political destinies. I urge all members of the House to support a prosperous and successful future for our north and to work together with the people of the great Northwest Territories in ensuring the bill gets across the finish line by April 14, 2014.

[Ethics, December 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, white-collar crime is a matter of deep concern for my constituents. Those who engage in such fraud can wipe out the hard-earned life savings of Canadians in the blink of an eye.

The mayor of London, Ontario, and former Liberal cabinet minister, Joe Fontana, faces serious allegations of fraud. An audit from the Canada Revenue Agency shows that Mr. Fontana may have personally profited from contributions to charitable organizations to the tune of $8 million.

Can the Minister of National Revenue assure the House, and indeed, all Canadian donors that their hard-earned dollars are in fact being used for charitable donations?

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, December 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, on my hon. colleague's advice, I should remind him and all members of the House that it was the electorate of Canada that chose a strong, stable, national Conservative majority government that is caring for long-term growth, jobs and economic opportunity in our country.

I would encourage that member to pay attention to the diverse number of third-party endorsements that budget 2013 got from the Canadian Federation of Municipalities and colleges, particularly in my riding, from the Yukon College's Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining. We had Habitat for Humanity celebrate investments made in 2013. The Canadian Press rave reviews about housing investments, job opportunities through colleges and working opportunities.

Surely my hon. colleague has roamed around his riding celebrating the many infrastructure investments that have been brought to Newfoundland and Labrador through the permanency and indexing of the gas tax fund and how much money has been brought into those communities, which those municipalities asked for and which this government delivered. Their investments are directly related to the investments we have made for key projects in those communities. Has my hon. colleague addressed those?

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, December 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her comments. She is certainly a sincere and caring member of Parliament for her riding.

What is interesting is that she is representing a party that is pushing its support for the middle class but has club privilege, whereby if people simply make a small donation of $100,000 they can be part of that club privilege and can get their picture taken with the current leader of the party. That hardly smells of middle-class care and concern.

I do want to read a comment that we got from a college in respect to job training, because the member did mention a lot about job training. It states:

This budget sends the clearest message yet that colleges are the best catalyst for job opportunity in this country. We applaud the federal government for making these commitments at a time of fiscal restraint....

I wonder if the member would comment on what she is hearing in her riding from colleges and industry about the job training plans that we are putting forward. I know in the Yukon, our investment in budget 2013 for the Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining singled that college out as a key driver for jobs and growth in our territory, as well as the Aurora College in the Northwest Territories. I am sure she has experienced the exact same thing with colleges in her riding.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, December 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if my hon. colleague would comment on two things.

We have heard the opposition criticizing time allocation. I have been here for most of this debate, and I have seen some of our members stand in the House to present the government's position and not even be asked a question. Debate needs two sides of a position, and the opposition has not engaged in questioning.

To move on to something more salient, could my hon. colleague comment on the hiring credit for small businesses and the estimated $225 million in job creation that small businesses will be able to make, or the estimated $660 million in 2014 when we are dealing with the EI premium rates?

I think those are two excellent investments, excellent ways of making sure that workers and job creators are able to reinvest in the things that they know are significant in helping employ people and helping spur growth in this country.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, December 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the last bit of my hon. colleague's comments was that we should “change course”.

I wonder if he thinks we should change course on meeting the needs of the north, including $890 million in transfer payments that go into the Yukon Territory to allow it to shape its own future and destiny. I wonder if he thinks we should change course on the $600 million investment in the housing first approach we have taken, or if we should change course on the largest and longest infrastructure project in Canada's history, or if we should change course on what Canadian colleges are hailing as a great investment in post-secondary education in those institutions in our country.

I wonder if the member would want us to change course on the permanence and indexing of the gas tax fund, which the Federation of Canadian Municipalities said is a wonderful achievement allowing Canadian municipalities to determine their own fates and futures. I wonder if he wants us to change course on a renewed P3 plan, incremental goods and services tax rebates, and the lowest tax burden in over 50 years.

I wonder if he would like us to change course on all those things, when third-party endorsement of the 2013 budget has been the best we have ever seen in the history of budgets released in this country.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, December 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we heard past speakers talk about the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. When the budget was released in the spring, it stated:

Today's budget delivers significant gains for Canada's cities and communities. We applaud the government for choosing to continue moving our communities forward even as it meets its immediate fiscal challenges....

This is also a budget that delivers real gains for Canadians.... [I]t will spur growth and job creation while laying the foundation for a more competitive economy.

As I know in the Yukon, because of the gas tax funds, indexed and now made permanent, our communities are able to project and plan for their own future needs and destinies. The City of Whitehorse, as an example, is receiving nearly $7 million in gas tax funds. Smaller communities are receiving half a million dollars to invest in important infrastructure.

I wonder if my colleague could share some of the experiences of his communities that receive gas tax funds. What are his comments on their wise investments and on the comments by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities?