Scott Armstrong

[Housing, March 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Québec has some questions about our homelessness partnering strategy, questions that show she does not fully understand the policy that we are implementing. She has asked why we are not going with approaches that work. That is precisely what we are doing.

We have made housing first the cornerstone of our homelessness partnering strategy because it does work. Housing first is a proven, evidence-based approach. Housing first aims to stabilize the lives of homeless people for the long term, first by moving them into permanent housing and then by providing them additional support for the underlying problems like addiction and mental illness.

Last year, the Mental Health Commission of Canada released the results of the largest study of its kind, the At Home/Chez Soi project. The study found strong evidence that the housing first approach was effective in reducing chronic homelessness, while alleviating the pressure on other shelter, health and judicial services. Our former approach to homelessness was not reducing the size of the homelessness population. It was time for us to try something new, so we did.

The hon. member also asks why we are imposing this one-size-fits-all solution, but this is hardly the case. The homelessness partnering strategy, or HPS, allows communities to assess their own needs and develop projects to meet those needs. The federal government entrusts a community body, often a municipal government, with the responsibility of selecting and managing HPS projects within its own area. All requests for funding must go through that body.

In Quebec, the homelessness partnering strategy is delivered in partnership with the Quebec government and community partners that are responsible for identifying priorities, launching calls for proposal and selecting projects to recommend for HPS funding.

Local organizations know best when it comes to deciding which projects will best serve the needs of their own communities. That is why we have given them the authority to make their own spending decisions. Local organizations retain the flexibility to invest in other approaches to reduce homelessness at a local level, such as shelters or transitional housing. It means they may continue to dedicate a portion of their funding to non-housing first projects just as they did before.

Housing first is being introduced gradually across the country over the next two years. It is true that a focus on that new approach will be a shift for some communities, but it is an approach that works.

[Foreign Affairs, March 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thought I was clear the first time. The member should be aware that the minister and our government have taken a strong stand on this issue. We consider the punishment of Mr. Badawi to be in violation of his human dignity and his personal rights. We continue to call internationally for clemency in his case, and we will continue to promote human rights around the world as part of our government's policy.

[Foreign Affairs, March 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite is well aware, the minister and our government have taken a very strong stand on this issue. We consider the punishment of Mr. Badawi to be in violation of human dignity and of his personal rights.

We will continue to call for clemency in his case, and we will continue to promote human rights around the world as part of our government's policies.

[Service Medals, March 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House today to celebrate a very important constituent in my riding of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley. Mr. Roy Morrison from Truro Heights enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 17.

In 1943, he was assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Command 90 Squadron and flew 35 bombing missions over Germany, as a combat tail gunner under fire. Throughout the war, Roy served his country with dignity and respect. After the war was over, he was only recently awarded the medallions and medals that he so rightly deserved for decades.

I congratulate Roy on finally receiving his medals. His service to this country and his protection of peace and democracy worldwide will never be forgotten.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 13th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the amounts of lapsed spending by program for each fiscal year from 2006-07 to 2013 14 are available in the Public Accounts of Canada at the following links.

For 2006-07, please see page 14.11, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2007/P51-1-2007-2E.pdf.

For 2007-08, please see page 14.11, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2008/50-eng.pdf.

For 2008-09, please see page 14.12, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2009/50-eng.pdf.

For 2009-10, please see page 14.11, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2010/50-eng.pdf. 1

For 2010-11, please see page 14.10, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2011/50-eng.pdf.

For 2011-12, please see page 14.12, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2012/50a-eng.pdf.

For 2012-13, please see page 14.11, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2013/2013-vol2-eng.pdf.

For 2013-14, please see page 9.12, http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/public_accounts_can/pdf/2014/2014-vol2-eng.pdf.

Given that ESDC does not have a capital vote, no capital funds were lapsed for these fiscal years.

The information by sub-program and sub-sub-program is not available.

[Justice, March 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as part of our government's commitment to ensuring the safety of our children and youth, I am pleased to announce today that the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act has come fully into force.

Canadians across the country have been confronted by the harmful reality of cyberbullying. With the coming into force of the legislation, we are sending a strong message to those who are out to harm our children that there is a point where bullying behaviour goes beyond that and becomes criminal behaviour.

The legislation will give law enforcement officers the tools they need to investigate these high-tech crimes, while also making it an offence to distribute intimate images online. It will also empower the court to remove intimate images and make it a crime to share intimate images. It will make it possible to seize the devices used to actually commit the crime.

The Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act builds on the more than 30 tough-on-crime pieces of legislation put forward by the government. With the coming into force of this legislation, we are tackling the growing problem of cyberbullying and keeping online—

[Public Works and Government Services, March 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to ensuring that all workers have access to safe, fair and productive workplaces. Our government ensures that workers have the right to refuse any work they believe may be dangerous.

Dedicated health and safety officers work diligently on a daily basis to ensure the safety of Canada's federally regulated workers.

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the minister's speech. He talked a lot about the benefits that we were providing to middle and low-income Canadians. He talked about the expansion of the universal child care benefit. He talked about the income splitting, which really targets families with one person working or maybe making a little more than his or her spouse, to provide tax fairness for those families.

Could the minister elaborate on exactly how the income splitting would work and how it would provide support for both medium and low-income Canadian families?

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his speech this morning, highlighting the need for improved jobs, growth, economic development, and long-term prosperity, particularly on the east coast and Atlantic Canada, from which we both hail.

The Conservative government has strongly supported small businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador and Atlantic Canada. One way it did that was providing a loan guarantee for the Muskrat Falls project in Labrador, which will provide clean, green, perpetual energy throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. This will provide a stable price for energy in both Newfoundland and Labrador and all of Atlantic Canada.

I wonder if the member opposite can comment on the meaningful benefits that the project will have in providing clean, green energy and stable power rates so that small businesses can have certainty and dependability. This is a great initiative from our government. I hope that the member opposite supports it, and I wonder if he could comment on the good work that our government has done in support of that project.

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite criticized our government's plan to support families by lowering taxes and increasing benefits in the universal child care benefit, expanding it so that it supports children aged 6 to 17 and putting literally hundreds of dollars in the pockets of Canadian families with children each and every year.

He also criticized our plan to split incomes. When incomes are split, it provides tax fairness for families. Two teachers in a family making a total of $100,000 a year incur significantly less taxes than a person making $100,000 a year with the other parent choosing to stay at home. We are bringing in tax fairness for all families with children with our income-splitting plan. We are increasing the benefits for the universal child care benefit for every Canadian family. We ask that the Liberals support these measures.

Does the member across the way support lower taxes and tax fairness for Canadian families?