Ted Opitz

[Situation in Ukraine, December 10th, 2013]

Mr. Chair, I am very proud to be here tonight and speak in this very important debate as chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group.

We are very special partners, Canada and Ukraine, and in over 20 years we have worked very hard together. Canada has been mentioned many times as home to 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage and that includes my own mother-in-law.

In 2011, we celebrated the 120th anniversary of the first Ukrainian Canadian settlement in Canada. We are very proud of that achievement, very proud of what the Canadian Ukrainians have produced and have contributed to our history and to Canada.

Recently in the House we commemorated the 80th anniversary of Holomodor, one of the worst, most heinous genocides, the murder of millions by famine by Josef Stalin and the Soviet Communist totalitarian state in 1932-33.

However, on December 2, 1991, Canada became the first western nation to recognize Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union. Since then we have invested $410 million of official assistance in Ukraine and we are still providing $20 million a year in technical assistance to advance democracy and the rule of law. We have drawn bilateral road maps and we continue on with free trade negotiations.

Canada is very engaged with Ukraine. We will not disengage with Ukraine because it is very important that we maintain that engagement to be able to influence the events within Ukraine. In fact, last year we sent over 500 election observers to Ukraine, the most ever. I was part of that as were a few members of the House who participated in that. In fact, we are also sending over 25 election observers later this week. I will be one of those to go over and monitor those rerun elections.

Ukrainians are rejecting their Soviet past and instead want to embrace western ideals of freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and balanced justice. That is what the people in the Maidan are trying to say. They are fighting for their futures. They are fighting for hope. They are fighting for freedom and democracy. The people of Ukraine only want what people everywhere want. They want their kids to go to school. They want their kids to get a good education. They want their kids to have a great opportunity for jobs and a future and prosperity.

There is no reason that the nation of Ukraine cannot be one of the great nations of Europe today. Ukraine has the size. It has the potential to grow food. It has been the breadbasket of Europe. It has minerals. It has enough energy to create its own wealth. It just needs the opportunity to do that and to be able to catch up with its neighbours. It wants a vibrant civil society. For example, Ukraine's neighbours like Poland, is Ukraine's best friend in the world right now.

I commend the Poles for everything that they have done for Ukraine. I commend Mr. Cox and Mr. Kwasniewski for their multiple repeated visits to Ukraine on behalf of the EU and pulling Ukraine toward the EU and to Europe. I commend all the work that the EU has done. I commend the work that Sweden has done as well in being able to help Ukraine move that way.

We have engaged Ukraine on many levels, including free trade negotiations and we hope to resume those free trade negotiations because Ukraine has the capacity to be a great nation and we would very much like to see them achieve that and see them become a partner of Canada.

That is why events in Ukraine are so tragic. This EU association agreement that has been rejected is the same agreement that has been provided, as I said, to Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and others in the mid-nineties. It is an agreement that allowed those nations to achieve tremendous prosperity. In fact, Poland is one of the fastest growing EU countries right now economically. It is in fact often referred to as the Canada of Europe. Poland has tried very hard to assist Ukraine in being able to sign this deal and come over.

Many of us have had Canada-Ukraine parliamentary program interns who have worked for us over the many years. I have had three since I have been a member of the House of Commons. These kids are bright, smart, talented, ambitious and they want opportunity and they want to do it in their home country. They want to go home and they want to lead. These kids do not want to leave for other nations in Europe, they want to go home to Europe and they want to stand up and they want to contribute to the prosperity of their nation, in the bosom of their families, in their towns. That is what they want.

That is what those protests in the Maidan are about: freedom, hope, a future. That is what they are looking forward to.

It is Russia that is making this an us-or-them proposition. It is Mr. Putin who is unfairly leveraging Ukraine with the hold he has on Ukraine right now with Gazprom and the other trade levers he is pulling. There is no reason Ukraine cannot trade with the European Union and trade with Russia. There is absolutely no reason why this has to be an us-or-them proposition.

Ukraine should be able to have the freedom to choose who it trades with around the world. It could make trade arrangements with the TPP, perhaps, in the future, or other trade blocs or partners, for mutual benefit. That strengthens the economy and jobs. It allows people to prosper. That allows a nation to develop itself in a democratic, free, and fair way. There is absolutely no reason the Ukraine should be put in a corner where it has to choose one or the other. It is not fair. It is not necessary. In fact, it is a form of blackmail, and it is unacceptable.

Ukraine has a long way to go. For example, in the area of justice, selective justice is unacceptable. Yulia Tymoshenko is still in jail, and there is no reason for that. Part of the deal with the EU was that she might be pardoned, or at the very least, sent to Germany for medical treatment. She is in very bad medical condition with her back. I call on Mr. Yanukovych to show clemency and allow Mrs. Tymoshenko to travel to Germany for the medical treatment she badly needs.

The member for Wascana mentioned earlier that he just got a tweet about security forces moving into the square in Kiev. This is very disturbing. I would like Mr. Yanukovych to know that the world is watching. These people in the square only want freedom, democracy, human rights, rule of law, balanced justice, and an economy they can rely on. This is not happening.

If there is further violence in the Maidan, Canada is watching. Europe is watching. The United States is watching. All the world is watching. This will fall at the feet of Mr. Yanukovych if there is tragedy at the Maidan because of any orders he or his government give to harm any of those protesters. If there is further bloodshed, it is on his hands. We are watching, and the world will hold him accountable.

When the Parliamentary Chairman from Ukraine, Mr. Rybak, and his delegation were here two weeks ago leading the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, we told them that they were wrong, wrong, wrong to reject the EU association deal. It was the wrong course of action. Some members of the Party of Regions outlined to me the deal they had with Gazprom. My reply to them was this: “What is the matter with you if you are prepared to sign a deal with a country that is siphoning billions of dollars out of the Ukrainian economy and denying the people of Ukraine the economic prosperity they need? Why would you sign an agreement with people like that?”

Mr. Putin can have one word with Gazprom and they could realign that gas deal. That is not happening. They are just being leveraged and put in a corner where they have to choose one or the other.

What is happening to Ukraine is wrong, wrong, wrong. Canada is watching. Canada will remain engaged with Ukraine and will stand with its Ukrainian diaspora here in Canada to make sure that Ukraine follows the path of freedom and democracy. All Canadians and all members of this House are unified in standing with the Ukrainian people.

[Situation in Ukraine, December 10th, 2013]

Mr. Chair, I thank the parliamentary secretary and all hon. members for their questions tonight.

It is important that we maintain engagement with the Ukraine. Canada has over 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage. They work hard.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the League of Ukrainian Canadians, League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, Canadian Friends of Ukraine, and so many others are highly engaged in making sure that Ukraine achieves its full potential, which it should. There is no reason Ukraine cannot be one of the great nations of Europe today. However, there are these troubling events going on in Ukraine today, such as the present rejection of the EU association agreement and the Euromaidan protests in the square.

More troubling than that is the crackdown on some of these protesters. I would be interested in the parliamentary secretary's view on Canada's view of the harsh treatment some of these protestors have received from the security forces.

[Ukraine, December 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreigh Affairs is in Kiev to participate in the OSCE's ministerial council meeting today. This occurs while the Ukrainian government cracks down on mass protests against its unpopular decision to suspend the EU association negotiations, which many of Ukraine's neighbours leveraged for prosperous economies and full membership to the EU. Ukraine should be one of Europe's most successful countries and not a struggling post-Soviet nation drifting toward authoritarian rule.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs will take this opportunity to state our government's grave concern about the violence that has been inflicted on peaceful demonstrators by the authorities, as I as chair of the Canada-Ukraine parliamentary friendship group stated to the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament and his delegation last week. He will also meet with opposition leaders and civil society representatives to express Canada's support.

Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are fundamental tenets of any truly democratic country. Our government stands with the people of Ukraine to build a society based on freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and balanced justice.

Slava Ukraina, Slava Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I can address that in 30 seconds, that was pretty broad.

However, this government is the most democratic in history. As we said earlier, we have let the most number of private members' bills pass since 1972. We have had the most free open votes. We have nothing to answer to that whipped party for democracy.

As I said earlier, we have consulted with all kinds of stakeholders. We on this side have actually managed to read the budget and if those members need help, I am prepared to assist.

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

Mr. Speaker, I served on the immigration committee with the hon. member and he was hard working and contributed valuably to that work.

We work very closely with all provinces in their provincial nominee programs and all provinces have their specific unique needs. The minister works with his colleagues very closely and it has been one of the most successful programs in Canada for being able to allow provinces to select and choose the immigrants who they need for their local and provincial purposes.

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

Mr. Speaker, before any of this comes out and before any budget is released, we do extensive budget consultations. In fact, every member of Parliament, as many of my colleagues here do, should have prebudget consultations within their ridings as well, not only with local stakeholders but organizational and business group stakeholders, chambers of commerce and many others who feed in. We take those comments and submissions and we produce them, support them and provide them to the minister for his consideration within a budget bill. That happens on a regular business. We always consult.

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

Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of our Prime Minister, in September of this year, Moody's reaffirmed Canada's AAA credit rating.

That is because we have a Prime Minister and the best Minister of Finance in the world who keep their hands on the tiller and make sure we have one of the greatest economies on this planet. That is no accident. It is because we have a government that looks to this, and we make sure that all Canadians benefit from it.

Moody's Investors Service's report stated that Canada's AAA credit rating:

....reflects a large, diversified economy as well as sound macroeconomic policy management.

Standard and Poors has also once again confirmed our government's AAA credit rating and highlighted in its report our stable and credible policy-making and a highly resilient economy even in the face of a fragile global economy, which yet remains. However, because of our Conservative government's, our Prime Minister's and our Minister of Finance's attention to this detail, Canada remains one of the strongest economies on the planet. Its report also touted high investor confidence and, in particular, our continued openness to trade as reliable indicators of Canada's future economic success. This endorsement follows our recently announced agreement in principle on a comprehensive trade agreement with the European Union.

That trade agreement would make Canada one of only a few developed economies to have preferential access to two of the world's largest markets, the EU and the U.S., which together represent more than 800 million consumers and almost half of the global gross domestic product. I know my riding of Etobicoke Centre would benefit greatly from this trade deal because there are huge implications in it for Canada.

Our government's number one priority remains the economy, because that is the unwavering focus. More than one million more Canadians are working now than in July 2009, the best job creation record of the G7 industrialized countries.

It is my pleasure to speak to the second budget implementation bill. By implementing the measures in the economic action plan 2013, our government is helping to create jobs and opportunities for Canadians, and grow Canada's economy.

Measures in the economic action plan 2013 No. 2, aimed at spurring job creation and economic growth, include extending and expanding the hiring credit for small business, which would benefit an estimated 560,000 employers; increasing and indexing the lifetime capital gains exemption, to make investing in small business more rewarding; expanding the accelerated capital cost allowance to further encourage investments in clean energy generation; and freezing employment insurance premium rates for three years, leaving $660 million in the pockets of job creators and workers in 2014 alone.

The economic action plans will be introducing new administrative monetary penalties and criminal offences to deter the use, possession, sale and development of electronic suppression of sales software designed to falsify records for the purpose of tax evasion; closing tax loopholes relating to character conversion transactions, synthetic dispositions, leveraged life insurance arrangements and other schemes, to ensure that everyone pays their fair share; and extending, in certain circumstances, the period during which the Canada Revenue Agency can reassess a taxpayer who fails to report income from foreign property.

We do respect taxpayers' dollars. We modernized the Canada student loans program by moving to electronic service delivery, which meets our promise of eliminating red tape and unnecessary burdensome administration to get a lot of these things done. We are improving the efficiency of the temporary foreign worker program by also expanding electronic service delivery. For example, electronic signatures will suffice, whereas previously wet signatures were required, which increased the burden on people to actually get to the offices and do it. Now we have made it much easier to do all of these things online.

We are also phasing out the labour-sponsored venture capital corporations tax credit.

All these measures ensure that Canada is on the right track for economic prosperity. I think most of the world would agree with that.

I would like to further expand on a measure I just mentioned: freezing employment insurance premium rates for three years. Falling unemployment over the recovery means that the EI operating account is on track to return to balance, and the premium rate increases previously projected are simply no longer necessary.

Earlier this year, on September 9, our government announced it would freeze the employment insurance premium rate at the 2013 level of $1.88 per $100 of insurable earnings for 2014, and additionally that the rate would be set no higher than $1.88 for 2015 and 2016.

What does that mean? It means that by doing, this the government is promoting stability and predictability for employers and employees. Also, it is going to leave $660 million in the pockets of employers and workers in 2014. That means businesses and their employees, for example, in my riding of Etobicoke Centre, will keep more money in their pockets, which is great news for our local economy, especially for our small businesses, of which I have many in my riding. This measure also establishes that the premium rate for 2017 and onwards would be set according to the seven year break-even rate setting mechanism. This will ensure that EI premiums are no higher than they need to be to pay for the EI program over a seven year period.

Another measure that will help businesses in my riding is the hiring credit for small business. Small business is the engine of job creation in Canada and in recognition of the challenges faced by small businesses across the country, budget 2011 announced a temporary hiring credit for small business up to $1,000 per employer. That is significant. The credit provided needed relief to small businesses by helping defray the costs of hiring new workers and allowing them to take advantage of emerging economic activities. Indeed, the hiring credit was so successful that it was extended in 2012.

While the Canadian economy is improving, the global economy remains fragile. In order to support job creation, clause 135 would amend part IV of the Employment Insurance Act to extend and expand the hiring credit for small business in 2013. By doing this, an employer whose premiums were $15,000, increased from $10,000 used in the 2011 and 2012 hiring credit for small business, or less in 2012, would be refunded the increase in their 2013 premiums over those paid in 2012, to a maximum of $1,000. This, again, would put more money into the pockets of small businesses.

It is estimated that 560,000 small businesses will benefit from this measure, saving them $225 million in 2013. That is significant. This means that businesses and their employees, in my riding of Etobicoke Centre in particular, will be keeping more of that money. That is great news for our local economy, especially those small businesses all across Canada that will benefit from this.

Economic action plan 2013 also confirms our government's intention to create a new and innovative expression of interest immigration management system that would allow employers, provinces and territories to select skilled immigrants from a pool of applicants that best meet Canada's economic need. The expression of interest model is a new electronic, fully automated, application management system for economic immigration to Canada that would establish a two step immigrant application process, introducing the concept of the stand-alone expression of interest pre-application stage followed by an application by invitation only to the best candidates only. Candidates would complete an online form to express their interest in coming to Canada and provide information about their skills and experience, which would determine their eligibility for entry into the EOI pool. Pool submissions can be ranked, sorted, searched and top candidates would be invited to submit an application for permanent residence, which could be processed in an expedited manner.

A new expression of interest division would be added to IRPA that would allow for a stand-alone pre-application stage as a first step to immigrating to Canada under certain economic programs. In addition, the division would include broad provisions outlining the process of EOI, the required information sharing measures, as well as measures enabling a role for third parties, provinces and territories, as well as employers, under this new system. This would allow Canada to bring the best and brightest to our country, not only because we need to have sustained immigration, but also we need people who will come to our country, work closely with us, contribute to the tax base right away and make contributions to Canada within a short time of arriving.

In the past, the economic action plan has greatly benefited seniors. My riding has the eighth highest demographic of seniors in the country. These people have contributed so much to building our country and have in fact laid the foundations that all of us walk on. That is why we have done more for seniors than any other government. Budget 2011 enhanced the guaranteed income supplement, investing more than $300 million per year to improve the financial security and well-being of more than 680,000 seniors across Canada. Budget 2011 increased the budget of the new horizons for seniors program from $40 million to $45 million annually.

There are so many good things to talk about in this budget, but I will summarize by simply saying that clearly our government is on the right track. We have a Prime Minister and the best Minister of Finance in the world who have managed it deftly. They have been praised by all of their peers around the planet. We have one of the greatest economies in the G7 and we will continue to do that.

[Ukraine, November 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, our government is proud to have deployed 500 Canadian election observers to monitor Ukraine's 2012 parliamentary elections, and I was honoured to be one of those observers.

During those elections, independent Ukrainians and international election monitors pointed to government interference as well as significant flaws and irregularities in the voting process. In particular, there were five electoral districts where the integrity and voting process were seriously compromised, so seriously, in fact, that as a result, Ukraine will hold repeat elections for five of these electoral districts on December 15.

To improve the integrity of these upcoming elections, our government today announced that it would support an observation mission composed of 25 observers.

This decision demonstrates Canada's continuing commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine's journey toward democratic development. Our mission will help to discourage electoral fraud and support free and fair elections in Ukraine.

[Ukraine, November 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this past Thursday, the Ukrainian government suspended the ongoing negotiations over a trade and political agreement with the European Union. In reaction to this, thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets this weekend, not only to express their dissatisfaction but their bitter disappointment as well.

Our Conservative government is deeply concerned by this decision. These agreements with the EU presented an opportunity for the Ukrainian government to bring about greater economic prosperity for the people of Ukraine.

It was a missed opportunity to strengthen and reaffirm the values of freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and balanced justice. The Ukrainian government must continue to make efforts to strengthen its democratic institutions. An active and legitimate opposition is crucial to a vibrant and effective democracy.

Our Conservative government will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine in their pursuit of their many shared values, which would have been enshrined in this agreement. We will stand with the Ukrainian people in their aspirations for a strong democracy, for hope, and for their future.

[Holodomor, November 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, on November 23, I encourage all Canadians to remember and raise awareness of the Holodomor, which was the genocide by starvation perpetrated by Joseph Stalin's ruthless Soviet regime in an attempt to stamp out Ukrainian nationhood. This deliberately planned famine claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainian men, women, and children in 1932 and 1933.

As Prime Minister Harper said following his visit to the Holodomor memorial in Kyiv in 2010, “To contemplate an act of malevolence on that scale truly focuses one's mind on the nature of this evil”.

Saturday, November 23, marks the 80th anniversary of the Holodomor, one of the most horrific events in human history.

Canada was one of the first countries in the world to officially recognize the Holodomor as a genocide. My colleague, the MP for Selkirk—Interlake, introduced bill C-459, which designates the fourth Saturday of November as a memorial day for the Ukrainian famine, but also acknowledges the famine as an act of genocide.

I encourage my colleagues and all Canadians to participate in the numerous Holodomor commemorations across Canada this weekend. We must never forget.