Most toxic speeches
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Liberals' lack of planning has resulted in Syrian refugees being extorted by crooked immigration consultants. These consultants are charging Syrian refugees thousands of dollars and selling them false hope of coming to Canada. The previous Conservative government cracked down on crooked consultants. When are the Liberals going to close the door on those who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable?
Mr. Speaker, this morning we learned that some immigration consultants are charging Syrian refugees fees of more than $32,000 to process their applications to the federal government. When a program is fast-tracked, there are sometimes weaknesses and, unfortunately, some people take advantage of those weaknesses.Can the Minister of Immigration assure this House that no refugees applying to come to Canada are being exploited by immigration consultants?
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, such behaviour will not be tolerated. It is possible that sponsorship agreements could be terminated or the refugee could be not allowed, or if deemed appropriate by the authorities, such individuals or organizations could be charged. This behaviour is not tolerated by this government and perpetrators will be held to account.
Mr. Speaker, to hear the Minister of National Revenue's response, it is clear that the Liberals do not understand the difference between a manager and an official.I hope that this government will properly understand the anti-scab legislation I introduced last week. I am proud of this bill to protect workers from abuse. We need to have anti-scab legislation to fully ensure the fundamental right to collective bargaining. A government that claims to be progressive should implement this legislation.Will the Liberal government support workers and vote in favour of this anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, such behaviour is clearly against the rules and the perpetrators will be held to account. If judged appropriate by the appropriate authorities, they could be charged as well under criminal law.That being said, the vast majority of Canadians are displaying extraordinary generosity to the Syrian refugees.
Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to speak at the ninth annual Kyiv Security Forum. All speakers shared concerns over Russia's continued aggressive military actions. Just last week in the Baltic Sea, Russian fighter jets buzzed a U.S. warship and barrel-rolled over an American air force plane. Clearly, Russia is willing to flex its military muscle.Will the Liberals take the Russian threat seriously in the defence review, or do they think talking to Putin is the appropriate defence posture?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade's story just does not add up. She had a reserved seat on the government jet leaving Manilla, but she wanted some TV time on a popular U.S. show, so the minister instructed her staff to book some last-minute meetings and a first class ticket for her personal vanity project.This minister cost Canadian taxpayers almost $20,000 just so she could get schooled by an American comedian. Why does the minister believe that Canadians should have to pay for her hard-knock life lessons?
Mr. Speaker, yes, I can assure the members of this House that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Guilty parties will be punished under the law, where the authorities see fit, or by other means. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the minister should put her cue cards down for a minute and use some common sense.She is still defending the indefensible. This is not just about accountants participating in professional association events. This is about senior officials taking part in secret meetings at the Rideau Club.What does she not understand about the appearance of conflict of interest? When will she put an end to these practices? When will she tell her officials that the Rideau Club is over and there will be no more secret meetings, period?
Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to working with our multilateral organizations, especially NATO. I have read the intelligence report on that. Our troops are actually working with NATO at the moment. I got to visit our troops in Poland and also the troops that are in Ukraine. They are doing wonderful work, and we are potentially looking at other ways that we can support NATO and oppose Russian aggression.
Mr. Speaker, the contract has not, in fact, been signed. It is this government's decision. Its responsibility.Canada is going to completely miss the Conservatives' pathetic greenhouse gas targets. The Prime Minister talks a good talk on climate change, but the Liberals have the exact same targets as the Conservatives. A few days before the agreement is to be signed, they still have no plan.Will the Prime Minister finally present his action plan, or is his trip to New York just another one of those photo ops he loves so much?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada has always followed all the rules and all the regulations involved with Elections Canada and political donations. Indeed, the level of openness and transparency that we continue to display is a direct result of the lack of confidence that so many Canadians had in the way the previous government operated. Indeed, for three straight elections, the Conservatives have been convicted of election fraud in each of those elections. The fact is, Canadians were tired of the way the previous government functioned, and that is why we are committed to openness and transparency.
Mr. Speaker, when strikes and lockouts drag on, families and communities suffer. Anti-scab legislation would lead to fewer and shorter labour disputes. This is a simple change that any progressive, pro-worker government would support, yet the Liberal parliamentary secretary actually said that he would vote against the NDP bill. The bill is a simple but important first step to modernizing the Canada Labour Code. It is good for workers. It is good for our economy. Will the minister stand up for Canadian workers and support the anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that, when asked when things would actually get better with respect to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the minister could not even offer an answer.The Prime Minister went to Paris with no targets, no plan to get there, and no accountability to keep his government honest. Then the Prime Minister met with the premiers and came away with no targets, no plan, and no accountability. Now the Prime Minister is jetting off to New York City with no plan, no targets, and no accountability. Exactly how are these Liberals all that different from the Chrétien Liberals who failed us so miserably?
Mr. Speaker, I have to give my colleague credit for lumping together two or three different issues. He knows full well that the president of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec asked Mr. Lalonde to step down from his volunteer duties on the board of directors. He also knows full well that the charges laid by the chief electoral officer of Quebec have nothing to do with Mr. Lalonde's role in the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, the minister took a self-promoting vanity trip to Hollywood. She billed the taxpayers $20,000 for this trip. She directed her staff to find meetings to try to justify this trip. She even double-billed the taxpayers for dinner in Toronto after she returned home from her trip.When will this minister pay back Canadian taxpayers who shelled out so she could hobnob with Hollywood elite?
Mr. Speaker, problems at the Canada Revenue Agency just keep mounting: officials being wined and dined by the very people they are meant to investigate, a senior investigator going over to the company in the middle of a court case, secret sweetheart deals that let millionaire tax cheats off the hook with no penalties. This is an outrage. Canadians are tired of the wealthy and well-connected getting all the tax breaks. When will the minister stop defending the indefensible and announce an investigation into the KPMG tax scandal?
Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago the NDP passed a motion calling on the government to establish a compensation fund for fallen firefighters. The Liberals again promised this fund during the election, yet the Prime Minister spoke to firefighters yesterday and failed to act on the public safety officer compensation fund. Firefighters are deeply disappointed. When will the Liberals honour this promise and set up this long-overdue fund? How much longer will firefighters have to wait for a fund that will protect their families should they make the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the rest of us?
Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of convictions for electoral fraud and regularly dismaying the public with their partisanship and patronage, Canadians needed a change. That is why we demonstrated a level of openness and transparency, always following the rules, and indeed making available all the documents that the opposition is so blithely recounting now. We have demonstrated a level of confidence in Canadians that for 10 years was lacking from the previous government.
Mr. Speaker, that is not what the parliamentary budget officer is saying .At the time, we introduced Bill C-377 on union transparency. We believe that Canadians who pay union dues have the right to know how their mandatory dues are spent by union bosses. For us, it is about transparency and accountability. Why does the Prime Minister want to prevent union members from knowing how their hard-earned money is spent?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the immigration minister would not say how much the Syrian refugee program will cost Canadians. He said it will come under budget, but there is no budget. The minister also admitted that 13% of refugees, or 3,400 people, are still in hotels.The Liberals renovated five Canadian Forces bases for 6,100 people costing $6.4 million. Why did the Liberals blow millions of dollars displacing troops over Christmas to house refugees with no intent on using the bases?
Mr. Speaker, in addition to learning that the Minister of International Trade wanted to be reimbursed for expenses that she should not have claimed, we learned that the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada had to fire its treasurer, Jean-François Lalonde, because an investigation by the chief electoral officer of Quebec revealed that he had committed electoral fraud. Mr. Lalonde was fired. What will happen to the Minister of International Trade?
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should reread his own ethics code, because this is not about the Ethics Commissioner; it is actually about his own code that he put in place for his own minister. There has been a clear violation of that code. Why is the Prime Minister ignoring a blatant violation of his own code of conduct?
Mr. Speaker, all parties to the settlement agreement have a critical role in reconciliation. We believe that the Catholic Church has to honour its obligation. This is not the time to get off on a technicality. Catholic people from coast to coast to coast in this country expect their church to honour this obligation and get on with the reconciliation and they, I am sure, will help in this endeavour.
Mr. Speaker, I still find it very strange to hear the Conservatives talk about transparency when, for 10 years, their government was the most secretive and opaque of all Canadian governments.The reality is that the Conservatives are still trying to use transparency as a political weapon against their opponents rather than understanding that true transparency means having trust in Canadians and trust in our unions. It is co-operation and a partnership that will yield better results for everyone. That is what Canadians want, and that is what we are giving them.
Mr. Speaker, for the victims, the obligations imposed on the Catholic Church were part of the justice and healing process.Because of a government error, the church can now shirk its obligations. We simply cannot abandon the survivors and their families yet again, for they are still living with the painful legacy of residential schools.Will the government make a firm commitment today that the victims will receive the compensation they were promised?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?
As I have said, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. Whether it is interviews with The Washington Post editorial board, the LA Times, BBC, or the many media interviews I did with German newspapers and with Bloomberg promoting CETA in Berlin last week, it is my proud job to promote Canada to the world.Unlike the Conservatives, our open and transparent government speaks to the media, including international media. The Conservatives did everything possible to insult the media. We are doing things differently.
Mr. Speaker, today, on the budget, the Prime Minister's commitment to transparency has gone from a principle to a buzzword. The current parliamentary budget officer has said, When you don't see the details, usually somebody is trying to hide something, and today he confirmed two more things: first, the Liberal budget does not add up; and second, good news, the Conservatives did leave a surplus.My question for the Prime Minister is, why does he insist on this continuation of misleading Canadians on these basic facts?
Mr. Speaker, my NDP colleague is choosing to doubt the professionalism of public servants. He should listen to his colleague from Jonquière, who had this to say in the House yesterday: I am proud of Canada's public servants, the services they provide, and their professionalism. I trust the agency employees to conduct themselves professionally. They are expected to adhere to the code of integrity and professional conduct. Every invitation they receive must be assessed in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, it would be nice if the government followed its own rules.The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been telling Canadians for weeks that there would be penalties if the arms deal with Saudi Arabia were cancelled. However, this morning, he told us that there might not be, which is yet another contradiction. This is a far cry from an open and transparent government. Canadians have the right to know.Will the Prime Minister stop doing political yoga and make the contract public?
Mr. Speaker, this week, countries from around the world will be attending the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem. The government promised that its drug policy, including support for harm reduction, would be evidence-based. Can the Minister of Health inform the House about Canada's participation in this meeting?
Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none.It is my job to promote Canada and Canadian business around the world. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to visit California, one of our largest trading partners, larger than Japan, Germany, or the U.K., where I held six business round tables.The Conservatives' accusations are absolutely wrong. All of our expenses were clearly posted months before this was raised.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is making defence cuts to create a leaner military and is delaying major procurement projects until after the next election. He plans on replacing Canada's combat capabilities with peace operations. He said that he wants to implement the recommendations from the 2011 transformation report, which would reduce the size of our military. The Liberals have already locked in their ideological direction for the Canadian Armed Forces, so why should Canadians expect their views to actually be heard in the Liberal defence review?
Mr. Speaker, the leak of the Panama papers has highlighted the need for collective action to crack down on people and companies who are trying to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. At last week's G20 finance ministers' meetings, the world's major economies took a united public stand on tax dodging and sent a strong warning to other countries that are not meeting their international commitments.As Canada's representative at the G20 finance ministers' meetings, would our Minister of Finance tell us how he is contributing to international efforts and the measures here at home?
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. It is my job to promote Canada around the world, and I am proud of that. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to go to California for a trade visit. As everyone knows, California is one of our largest trading partners.I repeat: the Conservatives' accusations are wrong, and all the rules were followed.
Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government keeps changing its story about the Saudi arms deal. After the minister described it as a done deal, he now claims that he, and he alone, made the decision to sign the export permit. Canadians need to know who is running the show. Is it true that the Prime Minister and the PMO were kept completely in the dark about the signing of the export permit?
Mr. Speaker, I have been saying the same thing about this contract for well over six months. We will not cancel an existing contract. It is important for people to know that when Canada signs an international deal, it is respected. The member for Outremont and the member for LondonFanshawe have stated very clearly that we do not cancel signed contracts. However, obviously, we are concerned about human rights around the world. We are therefore going to be open and transparent in our agreements in the future, because that is what Canadians are demanding and that is how we want to do things.
Talk about a glass half empty or half full, Mr. Speaker.I said yesterday that 87% of the refugees have now found permanent housing. That is a very large number and we should be pleased with it. The remaining 13% will find permanent housing very soon.My colleague beside me, the Minister of National Defence, confirms there is nothing truthful in the member's comments about defence.
Mr. Speaker, under Jean Chrétien's Liberals, our armed forces went through a decade of darkness. It is sad to see the current government going down the same path. The Prime Minister already cut defence investments in the recent budget. He does not want to acquire the F-35s, and he is delaying other important procurements. He also promised to replace our combat capabilities with peacekeeping missions.Can the Prime Minister confirm that the defence policy is not yet written in stone and that consultations with the Standing Committee on National Defence will be taken into consideration?
Mr. Speaker, there is no point in pushing me because we make environmental decisions based on evidence, facts, and science. We also do it engaging with indigenous people, in consultation with Canadians. We are committed to getting resources to market, but it must be done in a sustainable way, and that is what we will do.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous government, we are always very open to speaking and working with the parliamentary budget officer to show that we are trying to be much more transparent than the previous government was.We are putting in place a new way of creating economic growth with longer-term strategies. There will certainly be an adjustment period for the parliamentary budget officer because we are being much more transparent than the last gang.
Mr. Speaker, instead of working on Bombardier's recovery, the government is going to cause this flagship Quebec company to be dismantled and bought out by foreigners.That is what this government is doing by forcing the company to do away with its multiple-voting shares. This government has it in for Bombardier. This government is well aware of this, because it chose to ignore its officials, who advised giving the company a line of credit.Why did this government, which has 40 members from Quebec, issue this political directive?
Mr. Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague that Canadians do not have access to high-quality palliative care in a manner that is acceptable. Some records suggest that only 15% to 30% of Canadians have access to such services. Our government is determined to work with the provinces and territories to increase access to palliative care. I will be working with my colleagues, the ministers of health across the country, to invest in home care and palliative care to make sure people have the care they need at the end of their lives.
Mr. Speaker, immigration consultants in partnership with refugee sponsorship groups are violating federal rules. A Mississauga organization called Fast to Canada has refugees paying from $12,000 to $32,000 before arriving in Canada. The group's website displays the logo of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council and indicates it is a member.What is the minister doing to protect legitimate refugees fleeing a dangerous situation from being defrauded?
Mr. Speaker, in fact, that is not true. In the entire tenure of our government, in a fundraiser that was similar to the one in question, a mistake was recognized and the money was given back. Why is the standard different with the current government?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and congratulate him on the quality of his French.What we know is that Canada must meet responsible climate change targets. We will do so by working with our provincial partners. The Government of Canada, under the Conservatives, spent too much time not talking to or working with the provinces. That is why we are setting targets and developing a plan together, with the provinces, to make the reductions needed to save the planet.
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to the Canadian Armed Forces. With our open and transparent defence review that we are launching, I welcome the member holding his consultations with Canadians and experts alike, and I look forward to hearing his comments personally as well. I will reiterate for the member that our government is absolutely committed to the Canadian Armed Forces, the men and women who serve us.
Mr. Speaker, we have always been open and transparent and followed every single rule of the Ethics Commissioner, of Elections Canada, and of electoral law. The fact is that in reference to the event that my hon. colleague speaks of regarding the former Conservative minister of heritage, the money was only returned after the Conservatives got their hands caught in the cookie jar for that one. We proactively engaged with the Ethics Commissioner on this and got the all-clear ahead of time.
Mr. Speaker, I want to quote from the Prime Minister's own guidelines for ministers when it comes to fundraising: There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, [given] to individuals...because they [may] have made a financial contribution to [a politician or a political party]. Given that the justice minister's fundraising activities at a top Toronto law firm are in direct violation of the Prime Minister's own code of conduct, when will he direct the Liberal Party to give the money back?
Mr. Speaker, we make decisions based on science, facts, and evidence, and in consultation. We have engaged with indigenous peoples and now we are reviewing the project. There are concerns with respect to salmon. I am sure the member opposite would also be concerned if there were environmental effects on the salmon.We are working with the proponent. We are working with the Government of B.C. We are engaging in consultation with indigenous leaders. We will make a decision when we are ready to make a decision.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the Minister of International Trade spent nearly $20,000 so that she could appear on a Hollywood talk show. That $20,000 was taken from the pockets of the same Canadians and middle-class families that this government claims it wants to help. That is unacceptable. The minister's travel plans clearly show that the main reason for the trip was the interview with HBO.Will the minister at least acknowledge that fact?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind the House that we have invested $2.5 billion in improving services and supports for workers who unfortunately get laid off, including seasonal workers from all parts of the country, even those areas that are not affected by the commodity downturn.We have provided a number of supports that are helping small businesses and workers from coast to coast to coast. We are there for those who need it, when they need it.
Mr. Speaker, Canadians still have 40 million good reasons.The Liberal government has completely broken its promises on transparency. Just last week, the parliamentary budget officer said that he did not have everything he needed to do his job properly and evaluate such things as job creation. He did not have the right figures.Now, the former parliamentary budget officer is adding his voice to the mix and saying exactly the same thing, that there is a lack of transparency. He said there was a reason behind this lack of transparency. It is important.Why did the Prime Minister break his promise to be transparent
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for St. Catharines and I had the privilege to announce the first foreign trade zone in Ontario last week in our home community of the Niagara region. This FTZ will provide companies that import and export any part of their supply chain and companies looking to sell their products to markets around the world with incentives to trade in Ontario, and specifically the Niagara region. Would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development explain to the House what else the Government of Canada is doing to help small and medium-sized business keep costs down while opening new markets around the world?
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I will be giving a speech at the special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Government of Canada supports harm reduction, which includes a role for supervised injection sites, the need for good Samaritan legislation, and making naloxone more readily available in emergency situations. The world is looking to Canada for leadership on these issues, and I thank the hon. member for his interest.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, who do not really like the media, I know it is my job to promote Canada to the world.In California, I appeared in the media with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine and with Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California. I also spoke to the LA Times, which wrote a column about our economic policy, and I very proudly defended Canada's support for Syrian refugees, something I will do again and again.
Mr. Speaker, once again, I will confirm that we will make decisions based on facts, science, and evidence in consultation with communities that are affected and indigenous peoples. That is the way we get resources to market in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the previous government did not understand this and it was not able to get our resources to market. That is what we are going to do. That is the responsible thing to do.
Mr. Speaker, the Coalition des Sans-Chemise, which has the support of the main unions in Quebec, launched a campaign this week entitled Employment insurance is for everyone!Although this government wants to improve the employment insurance system, it insists on applying a two-tier policy that overlooks or even ignores workers in Quebec's regions.Will the minister fix this problem and take into account the reality facing workers in Quebec regions hard hit by seasonal work?
Mr. Speaker, it was the justice minister who, in 2014, said about LNG, that there are discussions that are happening where voices are being heard and concerns are being addressed, and that LNG remains a positive prospect for many first nations. Yet, the justice minister sits here silently, while billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance. When will she break the silence, stand up for British Columbians, and push her cabinet colleagues to approve an LNG project?
Mr. Speaker, what I can tell the House is that this side respects both unions and businesses and their ability to come to a deal together. They both are going to be at the table working hard for their collective responsibilities. Overall, 95% of all agreements are settled at the table, if they are fair and balanced. This is exactly what we are doing with our Bill C-4.
Mr. Speaker, the process of reconciliation is a long one. Residential school survivors opened deep wounds to share their stories and placed their trust in other parties to hold up their end of the deal. Our collective healing depends upon it. We cannot let a legal mistake by government lawyers jeopardize justice for survivors. The parliamentary secretary was not clear yesterday, so I ask again, will the government ensure full payment for the victims of residential schools?
Mr. Speaker, today, in an effort to cover her tracks, the Minister of International Trade said her trade meetings in Los Angeles were booked before her HBO interview.However, originally her HBO appearance was supposed to be on October 30. That was before she was even sworn in as minister. This meeting was then postponed until November 20, so on what day did her staff start booking the LA meetings? Is she saying that they started even before she was the minister?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said since the beginning, whenever this issue came up in the election campaign and even before, we will not cancel an existing contract. Indeed, we will continue to respect contracts signed, because people around the world need to know that, when Canada signs a deal, it is respected.For the administrative steps that have followed, we are demonstrating government by cabinet, which means I have tremendous confidence in the ministers in our government to make the right decisions on files that cross their desks, and they do so with the full support of the prime minister, because that is why we put them in this job.
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency's budget for 2016 is unprecedented and historic: $444 million. That investment will enable the agency to improve its client service, support the government's efforts to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance, and improve the agency's ability to collect outstanding tax debts.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that, as I stated earlier, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the right capabilities. We are having the defence review, but on a separate track we are also moving diligently along to ensure that we replace our CF-18s and our ships for the navy, and we are working on a lot of other projects. However, the defence review allows all Canadians to participate in looking at where our Canadian Forces need to go.
Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say to this House before, in the last month of the year, revenues go down and expenses go up. The Conservatives left us with a deficit, as we will see.I could say that the more important question is, what are we going to do about the era of low growth that has been left to us? The PBOs independently confirmed that they agree our investments in the economy will grow the economy for the long term. That is what we are trying to do: improve Canada for this generation and the next generation of Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, the facts are that billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance.The president of the Vancouver port authority had this to say in response to the calls from the member for StevestonRichmond East about shutting down the port operations: We are the federal manager of lands in the port and are clearly designated as the environmental permitting agency, and that it is a regulatory agency, not a political body. When will the Liberals stop colluding with third party environmental groups and approve the LNG project, which would create thousands of well-paying, high-quality jobs?
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question, but since the members opposite are so interested in my promotion of Canada in California, let me talk about some of the meetings I held.I met with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine. I met with the Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. I met with Jim Haney, who is the senior VP and GM of City National Bank, recently acquired by RBC. I met with Greg Foster, the CEO of IMAX, a great Canadian company active in California. I met with Creative BC and Trade and Invest B.C. I met with John Chiang, the treasurer of California. I met with Jeff Gorell, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles. There is more, but I have run out of time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his hard work and his devotion to the environment. It is something that we share.We know that Canada needs to do more on the environment. That is why we have demonstrated every step of the way that we understand that building a strong economy goes hand in hand with protecting the environment.That is the leadership we showed at Paris. That is the leadership we continue to show on the world stage; and that is the hard work we are doing with our provincial partners and with municipalities to make sure that Canada once again has a well-earned reputation as a leader on the environmental file right across the world.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to report to the House that 95% of all CBAs in the federally regulated sector were reached without a work stoppage: 215 out of 227 agreements. This is a process that works. This is a process that will continue to work.
Mr. Speaker, some years ago I was very honoured to author in this House a private member's motion that was in fact passed and adopted by the House of Commons calling for the creation, among other things, of a public safety officer compensation fund. It was in the Liberal platform; it is in my mandate letter; it will be delivered.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member from Niagara Centre for his question, his advocacy, and his hard work in promoting business development in that region.The creation of foreign trade zone points in Niagara will provide a one-stop shop for businesses to access information on Canada's foreign trade zone policies and programs. As stated in budget 2016, expansion of trade opportunities across Canada is a key part of the Government of Canada's plan to create jobs and grow the economy. In helping small businesses to trade domestically and globally, we are able to make sure that they grow, innovate, and create good-quality jobs here and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, this government understands the importance of the aerospace sector, and that is why we are engaged with the company. The company came forward on December 11 to ask for up to $1 billion. We have been doing our due diligence and looking at the business case. We understand this is a solid company. We want to make sure we have constructive dialogue with the company. We will do what is in the best interests of Canadians, the company, Quebec, and the country from coast to coast to coast.
Mr. Speaker, just last week, two more first nations signed agreements with TransCanada for the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline. This adds to a growing list of first nations which have signed on to the project, including, Doig River, Halfway River, Blueberry River, Yekooche, Gitanyow, Kitselas, Lake Babine, Metlakatla, and Nisga'a Lisims. When will the cabinet approve the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my colleague, the member for MississaugaStreetsville, that we were a strong voice at the G20 meetings around cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.We committed that we will move forward on the common reporting standards and work toward those standards internationally. We committed that we will follow through on base erosion and profit shifting deliverables. We are committed to combatting any sort of tax evasion in Canada and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, members of the agriculture committee voted against a motion to hear from farmers with regard to the trans-Pacific partnership. While Conservative and NDP members voted to hear from farmers, the Liberal members refused. Is this the openness and transparency that the Minister of International Trade meant when she was promising broad consultations? When will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand up and ensure that farmers and farm families are heard on this important deal?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for AbitibiBaie-JamesNunavikEeyou for his question.All parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement have a crucial role to play in renewing their relationship with Canada's indigenous peoples and in reconciliation, although the previous government left no legal recourse. However, it is up to the officials of the Catholic Church to do the right thing and fix
Mr. Speaker, we said during the election what we say today. Our party understands, profoundly, that Canada is a trading nation. We also understand that with a trade deal as significant as the trans-Pacific partnership, we have a duty to consult broadly with Canadians. In fact, the trade committee is currently in British Columbia consulting.As for consultations with farmers, I have personally held many in Alberta, and I do consult often with the farming community, including my own father, who is
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Liberals' lack of planning has resulted in Syrian refugees being extorted by crooked immigration consultants. These consultants are charging Syrian refugees thousands of dollars and selling them false hope of coming to Canada. The previous Conservative government cracked down on crooked consultants. When are the Liberals going to close the door on those who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable?
Mr. Speaker, this morning we learned that some immigration consultants are charging Syrian refugees fees of more than $32,000 to process their applications to the federal government. When a program is fast-tracked, there are sometimes weaknesses and, unfortunately, some people take advantage of those weaknesses.Can the Minister of Immigration assure this House that no refugees applying to come to Canada are being exploited by immigration consultants?
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, such behaviour will not be tolerated. It is possible that sponsorship agreements could be terminated or the refugee could be not allowed, or if deemed appropriate by the authorities, such individuals or organizations could be charged. This behaviour is not tolerated by this government and perpetrators will be held to account.
Mr. Speaker, to hear the Minister of National Revenue's response, it is clear that the Liberals do not understand the difference between a manager and an official.I hope that this government will properly understand the anti-scab legislation I introduced last week. I am proud of this bill to protect workers from abuse. We need to have anti-scab legislation to fully ensure the fundamental right to collective bargaining. A government that claims to be progressive should implement this legislation.Will the Liberal government support workers and vote in favour of this anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, such behaviour is clearly against the rules and the perpetrators will be held to account. If judged appropriate by the appropriate authorities, they could be charged as well under criminal law.That being said, the vast majority of Canadians are displaying extraordinary generosity to the Syrian refugees.
Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to speak at the ninth annual Kyiv Security Forum. All speakers shared concerns over Russia's continued aggressive military actions. Just last week in the Baltic Sea, Russian fighter jets buzzed a U.S. warship and barrel-rolled over an American air force plane. Clearly, Russia is willing to flex its military muscle.Will the Liberals take the Russian threat seriously in the defence review, or do they think talking to Putin is the appropriate defence posture?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade's story just does not add up. She had a reserved seat on the government jet leaving Manilla, but she wanted some TV time on a popular U.S. show, so the minister instructed her staff to book some last-minute meetings and a first class ticket for her personal vanity project.This minister cost Canadian taxpayers almost $20,000 just so she could get schooled by an American comedian. Why does the minister believe that Canadians should have to pay for her hard-knock life lessons?
Mr. Speaker, yes, I can assure the members of this House that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Guilty parties will be punished under the law, where the authorities see fit, or by other means. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the minister should put her cue cards down for a minute and use some common sense.She is still defending the indefensible. This is not just about accountants participating in professional association events. This is about senior officials taking part in secret meetings at the Rideau Club.What does she not understand about the appearance of conflict of interest? When will she put an end to these practices? When will she tell her officials that the Rideau Club is over and there will be no more secret meetings, period?
Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to working with our multilateral organizations, especially NATO. I have read the intelligence report on that. Our troops are actually working with NATO at the moment. I got to visit our troops in Poland and also the troops that are in Ukraine. They are doing wonderful work, and we are potentially looking at other ways that we can support NATO and oppose Russian aggression.
Mr. Speaker, the contract has not, in fact, been signed. It is this government's decision. Its responsibility.Canada is going to completely miss the Conservatives' pathetic greenhouse gas targets. The Prime Minister talks a good talk on climate change, but the Liberals have the exact same targets as the Conservatives. A few days before the agreement is to be signed, they still have no plan.Will the Prime Minister finally present his action plan, or is his trip to New York just another one of those photo ops he loves so much?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada has always followed all the rules and all the regulations involved with Elections Canada and political donations. Indeed, the level of openness and transparency that we continue to display is a direct result of the lack of confidence that so many Canadians had in the way the previous government operated. Indeed, for three straight elections, the Conservatives have been convicted of election fraud in each of those elections. The fact is, Canadians were tired of the way the previous government functioned, and that is why we are committed to openness and transparency.
Mr. Speaker, when strikes and lockouts drag on, families and communities suffer. Anti-scab legislation would lead to fewer and shorter labour disputes. This is a simple change that any progressive, pro-worker government would support, yet the Liberal parliamentary secretary actually said that he would vote against the NDP bill. The bill is a simple but important first step to modernizing the Canada Labour Code. It is good for workers. It is good for our economy. Will the minister stand up for Canadian workers and support the anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that, when asked when things would actually get better with respect to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the minister could not even offer an answer.The Prime Minister went to Paris with no targets, no plan to get there, and no accountability to keep his government honest. Then the Prime Minister met with the premiers and came away with no targets, no plan, and no accountability. Now the Prime Minister is jetting off to New York City with no plan, no targets, and no accountability. Exactly how are these Liberals all that different from the Chrétien Liberals who failed us so miserably?
Mr. Speaker, I have to give my colleague credit for lumping together two or three different issues. He knows full well that the president of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec asked Mr. Lalonde to step down from his volunteer duties on the board of directors. He also knows full well that the charges laid by the chief electoral officer of Quebec have nothing to do with Mr. Lalonde's role in the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, the minister took a self-promoting vanity trip to Hollywood. She billed the taxpayers $20,000 for this trip. She directed her staff to find meetings to try to justify this trip. She even double-billed the taxpayers for dinner in Toronto after she returned home from her trip.When will this minister pay back Canadian taxpayers who shelled out so she could hobnob with Hollywood elite?
Mr. Speaker, problems at the Canada Revenue Agency just keep mounting: officials being wined and dined by the very people they are meant to investigate, a senior investigator going over to the company in the middle of a court case, secret sweetheart deals that let millionaire tax cheats off the hook with no penalties. This is an outrage. Canadians are tired of the wealthy and well-connected getting all the tax breaks. When will the minister stop defending the indefensible and announce an investigation into the KPMG tax scandal?
Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago the NDP passed a motion calling on the government to establish a compensation fund for fallen firefighters. The Liberals again promised this fund during the election, yet the Prime Minister spoke to firefighters yesterday and failed to act on the public safety officer compensation fund. Firefighters are deeply disappointed. When will the Liberals honour this promise and set up this long-overdue fund? How much longer will firefighters have to wait for a fund that will protect their families should they make the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the rest of us?
Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of convictions for electoral fraud and regularly dismaying the public with their partisanship and patronage, Canadians needed a change. That is why we demonstrated a level of openness and transparency, always following the rules, and indeed making available all the documents that the opposition is so blithely recounting now. We have demonstrated a level of confidence in Canadians that for 10 years was lacking from the previous government.
Mr. Speaker, that is not what the parliamentary budget officer is saying .At the time, we introduced Bill C-377 on union transparency. We believe that Canadians who pay union dues have the right to know how their mandatory dues are spent by union bosses. For us, it is about transparency and accountability. Why does the Prime Minister want to prevent union members from knowing how their hard-earned money is spent?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the immigration minister would not say how much the Syrian refugee program will cost Canadians. He said it will come under budget, but there is no budget. The minister also admitted that 13% of refugees, or 3,400 people, are still in hotels.The Liberals renovated five Canadian Forces bases for 6,100 people costing $6.4 million. Why did the Liberals blow millions of dollars displacing troops over Christmas to house refugees with no intent on using the bases?
Mr. Speaker, in addition to learning that the Minister of International Trade wanted to be reimbursed for expenses that she should not have claimed, we learned that the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada had to fire its treasurer, Jean-François Lalonde, because an investigation by the chief electoral officer of Quebec revealed that he had committed electoral fraud. Mr. Lalonde was fired. What will happen to the Minister of International Trade?
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should reread his own ethics code, because this is not about the Ethics Commissioner; it is actually about his own code that he put in place for his own minister. There has been a clear violation of that code. Why is the Prime Minister ignoring a blatant violation of his own code of conduct?
Mr. Speaker, all parties to the settlement agreement have a critical role in reconciliation. We believe that the Catholic Church has to honour its obligation. This is not the time to get off on a technicality. Catholic people from coast to coast to coast in this country expect their church to honour this obligation and get on with the reconciliation and they, I am sure, will help in this endeavour.
Mr. Speaker, I still find it very strange to hear the Conservatives talk about transparency when, for 10 years, their government was the most secretive and opaque of all Canadian governments.The reality is that the Conservatives are still trying to use transparency as a political weapon against their opponents rather than understanding that true transparency means having trust in Canadians and trust in our unions. It is co-operation and a partnership that will yield better results for everyone. That is what Canadians want, and that is what we are giving them.
Mr. Speaker, for the victims, the obligations imposed on the Catholic Church were part of the justice and healing process.Because of a government error, the church can now shirk its obligations. We simply cannot abandon the survivors and their families yet again, for they are still living with the painful legacy of residential schools.Will the government make a firm commitment today that the victims will receive the compensation they were promised?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?
As I have said, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. Whether it is interviews with The Washington Post editorial board, the LA Times, BBC, or the many media interviews I did with German newspapers and with Bloomberg promoting CETA in Berlin last week, it is my proud job to promote Canada to the world.Unlike the Conservatives, our open and transparent government speaks to the media, including international media. The Conservatives did everything possible to insult the media. We are doing things differently.
Mr. Speaker, today, on the budget, the Prime Minister's commitment to transparency has gone from a principle to a buzzword. The current parliamentary budget officer has said, When you don't see the details, usually somebody is trying to hide something, and today he confirmed two more things: first, the Liberal budget does not add up; and second, good news, the Conservatives did leave a surplus.My question for the Prime Minister is, why does he insist on this continuation of misleading Canadians on these basic facts?
Mr. Speaker, my NDP colleague is choosing to doubt the professionalism of public servants. He should listen to his colleague from Jonquière, who had this to say in the House yesterday: I am proud of Canada's public servants, the services they provide, and their professionalism. I trust the agency employees to conduct themselves professionally. They are expected to adhere to the code of integrity and professional conduct. Every invitation they receive must be assessed in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, it would be nice if the government followed its own rules.The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been telling Canadians for weeks that there would be penalties if the arms deal with Saudi Arabia were cancelled. However, this morning, he told us that there might not be, which is yet another contradiction. This is a far cry from an open and transparent government. Canadians have the right to know.Will the Prime Minister stop doing political yoga and make the contract public?
Mr. Speaker, this week, countries from around the world will be attending the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem. The government promised that its drug policy, including support for harm reduction, would be evidence-based. Can the Minister of Health inform the House about Canada's participation in this meeting?
Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none.It is my job to promote Canada and Canadian business around the world. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to visit California, one of our largest trading partners, larger than Japan, Germany, or the U.K., where I held six business round tables.The Conservatives' accusations are absolutely wrong. All of our expenses were clearly posted months before this was raised.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is making defence cuts to create a leaner military and is delaying major procurement projects until after the next election. He plans on replacing Canada's combat capabilities with peace operations. He said that he wants to implement the recommendations from the 2011 transformation report, which would reduce the size of our military. The Liberals have already locked in their ideological direction for the Canadian Armed Forces, so why should Canadians expect their views to actually be heard in the Liberal defence review?
Mr. Speaker, the leak of the Panama papers has highlighted the need for collective action to crack down on people and companies who are trying to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. At last week's G20 finance ministers' meetings, the world's major economies took a united public stand on tax dodging and sent a strong warning to other countries that are not meeting their international commitments.As Canada's representative at the G20 finance ministers' meetings, would our Minister of Finance tell us how he is contributing to international efforts and the measures here at home?
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. It is my job to promote Canada around the world, and I am proud of that. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to go to California for a trade visit. As everyone knows, California is one of our largest trading partners.I repeat: the Conservatives' accusations are wrong, and all the rules were followed.
Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government keeps changing its story about the Saudi arms deal. After the minister described it as a done deal, he now claims that he, and he alone, made the decision to sign the export permit. Canadians need to know who is running the show. Is it true that the Prime Minister and the PMO were kept completely in the dark about the signing of the export permit?
Mr. Speaker, I have been saying the same thing about this contract for well over six months. We will not cancel an existing contract. It is important for people to know that when Canada signs an international deal, it is respected. The member for Outremont and the member for LondonFanshawe have stated very clearly that we do not cancel signed contracts. However, obviously, we are concerned about human rights around the world. We are therefore going to be open and transparent in our agreements in the future, because that is what Canadians are demanding and that is how we want to do things.
Talk about a glass half empty or half full, Mr. Speaker.I said yesterday that 87% of the refugees have now found permanent housing. That is a very large number and we should be pleased with it. The remaining 13% will find permanent housing very soon.My colleague beside me, the Minister of National Defence, confirms there is nothing truthful in the member's comments about defence.
Mr. Speaker, under Jean Chrétien's Liberals, our armed forces went through a decade of darkness. It is sad to see the current government going down the same path. The Prime Minister already cut defence investments in the recent budget. He does not want to acquire the F-35s, and he is delaying other important procurements. He also promised to replace our combat capabilities with peacekeeping missions.Can the Prime Minister confirm that the defence policy is not yet written in stone and that consultations with the Standing Committee on National Defence will be taken into consideration?
Mr. Speaker, there is no point in pushing me because we make environmental decisions based on evidence, facts, and science. We also do it engaging with indigenous people, in consultation with Canadians. We are committed to getting resources to market, but it must be done in a sustainable way, and that is what we will do.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous government, we are always very open to speaking and working with the parliamentary budget officer to show that we are trying to be much more transparent than the previous government was.We are putting in place a new way of creating economic growth with longer-term strategies. There will certainly be an adjustment period for the parliamentary budget officer because we are being much more transparent than the last gang.
Mr. Speaker, instead of working on Bombardier's recovery, the government is going to cause this flagship Quebec company to be dismantled and bought out by foreigners.That is what this government is doing by forcing the company to do away with its multiple-voting shares. This government has it in for Bombardier. This government is well aware of this, because it chose to ignore its officials, who advised giving the company a line of credit.Why did this government, which has 40 members from Quebec, issue this political directive?
Mr. Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague that Canadians do not have access to high-quality palliative care in a manner that is acceptable. Some records suggest that only 15% to 30% of Canadians have access to such services. Our government is determined to work with the provinces and territories to increase access to palliative care. I will be working with my colleagues, the ministers of health across the country, to invest in home care and palliative care to make sure people have the care they need at the end of their lives.
Mr. Speaker, immigration consultants in partnership with refugee sponsorship groups are violating federal rules. A Mississauga organization called Fast to Canada has refugees paying from $12,000 to $32,000 before arriving in Canada. The group's website displays the logo of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council and indicates it is a member.What is the minister doing to protect legitimate refugees fleeing a dangerous situation from being defrauded?
Mr. Speaker, in fact, that is not true. In the entire tenure of our government, in a fundraiser that was similar to the one in question, a mistake was recognized and the money was given back. Why is the standard different with the current government?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and congratulate him on the quality of his French.What we know is that Canada must meet responsible climate change targets. We will do so by working with our provincial partners. The Government of Canada, under the Conservatives, spent too much time not talking to or working with the provinces. That is why we are setting targets and developing a plan together, with the provinces, to make the reductions needed to save the planet.
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to the Canadian Armed Forces. With our open and transparent defence review that we are launching, I welcome the member holding his consultations with Canadians and experts alike, and I look forward to hearing his comments personally as well. I will reiterate for the member that our government is absolutely committed to the Canadian Armed Forces, the men and women who serve us.
Mr. Speaker, we have always been open and transparent and followed every single rule of the Ethics Commissioner, of Elections Canada, and of electoral law. The fact is that in reference to the event that my hon. colleague speaks of regarding the former Conservative minister of heritage, the money was only returned after the Conservatives got their hands caught in the cookie jar for that one. We proactively engaged with the Ethics Commissioner on this and got the all-clear ahead of time.
Mr. Speaker, I want to quote from the Prime Minister's own guidelines for ministers when it comes to fundraising: There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, [given] to individuals...because they [may] have made a financial contribution to [a politician or a political party]. Given that the justice minister's fundraising activities at a top Toronto law firm are in direct violation of the Prime Minister's own code of conduct, when will he direct the Liberal Party to give the money back?
Mr. Speaker, we make decisions based on science, facts, and evidence, and in consultation. We have engaged with indigenous peoples and now we are reviewing the project. There are concerns with respect to salmon. I am sure the member opposite would also be concerned if there were environmental effects on the salmon.We are working with the proponent. We are working with the Government of B.C. We are engaging in consultation with indigenous leaders. We will make a decision when we are ready to make a decision.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the Minister of International Trade spent nearly $20,000 so that she could appear on a Hollywood talk show. That $20,000 was taken from the pockets of the same Canadians and middle-class families that this government claims it wants to help. That is unacceptable. The minister's travel plans clearly show that the main reason for the trip was the interview with HBO.Will the minister at least acknowledge that fact?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind the House that we have invested $2.5 billion in improving services and supports for workers who unfortunately get laid off, including seasonal workers from all parts of the country, even those areas that are not affected by the commodity downturn.We have provided a number of supports that are helping small businesses and workers from coast to coast to coast. We are there for those who need it, when they need it.
Mr. Speaker, Canadians still have 40 million good reasons.The Liberal government has completely broken its promises on transparency. Just last week, the parliamentary budget officer said that he did not have everything he needed to do his job properly and evaluate such things as job creation. He did not have the right figures.Now, the former parliamentary budget officer is adding his voice to the mix and saying exactly the same thing, that there is a lack of transparency. He said there was a reason behind this lack of transparency. It is important.Why did the Prime Minister break his promise to be transparent
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for St. Catharines and I had the privilege to announce the first foreign trade zone in Ontario last week in our home community of the Niagara region. This FTZ will provide companies that import and export any part of their supply chain and companies looking to sell their products to markets around the world with incentives to trade in Ontario, and specifically the Niagara region. Would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development explain to the House what else the Government of Canada is doing to help small and medium-sized business keep costs down while opening new markets around the world?
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I will be giving a speech at the special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Government of Canada supports harm reduction, which includes a role for supervised injection sites, the need for good Samaritan legislation, and making naloxone more readily available in emergency situations. The world is looking to Canada for leadership on these issues, and I thank the hon. member for his interest.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, who do not really like the media, I know it is my job to promote Canada to the world.In California, I appeared in the media with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine and with Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California. I also spoke to the LA Times, which wrote a column about our economic policy, and I very proudly defended Canada's support for Syrian refugees, something I will do again and again.
Mr. Speaker, once again, I will confirm that we will make decisions based on facts, science, and evidence in consultation with communities that are affected and indigenous peoples. That is the way we get resources to market in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the previous government did not understand this and it was not able to get our resources to market. That is what we are going to do. That is the responsible thing to do.
Mr. Speaker, the Coalition des Sans-Chemise, which has the support of the main unions in Quebec, launched a campaign this week entitled Employment insurance is for everyone!Although this government wants to improve the employment insurance system, it insists on applying a two-tier policy that overlooks or even ignores workers in Quebec's regions.Will the minister fix this problem and take into account the reality facing workers in Quebec regions hard hit by seasonal work?
Mr. Speaker, it was the justice minister who, in 2014, said about LNG, that there are discussions that are happening where voices are being heard and concerns are being addressed, and that LNG remains a positive prospect for many first nations. Yet, the justice minister sits here silently, while billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance. When will she break the silence, stand up for British Columbians, and push her cabinet colleagues to approve an LNG project?
Mr. Speaker, what I can tell the House is that this side respects both unions and businesses and their ability to come to a deal together. They both are going to be at the table working hard for their collective responsibilities. Overall, 95% of all agreements are settled at the table, if they are fair and balanced. This is exactly what we are doing with our Bill C-4.
Mr. Speaker, the process of reconciliation is a long one. Residential school survivors opened deep wounds to share their stories and placed their trust in other parties to hold up their end of the deal. Our collective healing depends upon it. We cannot let a legal mistake by government lawyers jeopardize justice for survivors. The parliamentary secretary was not clear yesterday, so I ask again, will the government ensure full payment for the victims of residential schools?
Mr. Speaker, today, in an effort to cover her tracks, the Minister of International Trade said her trade meetings in Los Angeles were booked before her HBO interview.However, originally her HBO appearance was supposed to be on October 30. That was before she was even sworn in as minister. This meeting was then postponed until November 20, so on what day did her staff start booking the LA meetings? Is she saying that they started even before she was the minister?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said since the beginning, whenever this issue came up in the election campaign and even before, we will not cancel an existing contract. Indeed, we will continue to respect contracts signed, because people around the world need to know that, when Canada signs a deal, it is respected.For the administrative steps that have followed, we are demonstrating government by cabinet, which means I have tremendous confidence in the ministers in our government to make the right decisions on files that cross their desks, and they do so with the full support of the prime minister, because that is why we put them in this job.
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency's budget for 2016 is unprecedented and historic: $444 million. That investment will enable the agency to improve its client service, support the government's efforts to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance, and improve the agency's ability to collect outstanding tax debts.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that, as I stated earlier, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the right capabilities. We are having the defence review, but on a separate track we are also moving diligently along to ensure that we replace our CF-18s and our ships for the navy, and we are working on a lot of other projects. However, the defence review allows all Canadians to participate in looking at where our Canadian Forces need to go.
Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say to this House before, in the last month of the year, revenues go down and expenses go up. The Conservatives left us with a deficit, as we will see.I could say that the more important question is, what are we going to do about the era of low growth that has been left to us? The PBOs independently confirmed that they agree our investments in the economy will grow the economy for the long term. That is what we are trying to do: improve Canada for this generation and the next generation of Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, the facts are that billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance.The president of the Vancouver port authority had this to say in response to the calls from the member for StevestonRichmond East about shutting down the port operations: We are the federal manager of lands in the port and are clearly designated as the environmental permitting agency, and that it is a regulatory agency, not a political body. When will the Liberals stop colluding with third party environmental groups and approve the LNG project, which would create thousands of well-paying, high-quality jobs?
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question, but since the members opposite are so interested in my promotion of Canada in California, let me talk about some of the meetings I held.I met with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine. I met with the Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. I met with Jim Haney, who is the senior VP and GM of City National Bank, recently acquired by RBC. I met with Greg Foster, the CEO of IMAX, a great Canadian company active in California. I met with Creative BC and Trade and Invest B.C. I met with John Chiang, the treasurer of California. I met with Jeff Gorell, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles. There is more, but I have run out of time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his hard work and his devotion to the environment. It is something that we share.We know that Canada needs to do more on the environment. That is why we have demonstrated every step of the way that we understand that building a strong economy goes hand in hand with protecting the environment.That is the leadership we showed at Paris. That is the leadership we continue to show on the world stage; and that is the hard work we are doing with our provincial partners and with municipalities to make sure that Canada once again has a well-earned reputation as a leader on the environmental file right across the world.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to report to the House that 95% of all CBAs in the federally regulated sector were reached without a work stoppage: 215 out of 227 agreements. This is a process that works. This is a process that will continue to work.
Mr. Speaker, some years ago I was very honoured to author in this House a private member's motion that was in fact passed and adopted by the House of Commons calling for the creation, among other things, of a public safety officer compensation fund. It was in the Liberal platform; it is in my mandate letter; it will be delivered.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member from Niagara Centre for his question, his advocacy, and his hard work in promoting business development in that region.The creation of foreign trade zone points in Niagara will provide a one-stop shop for businesses to access information on Canada's foreign trade zone policies and programs. As stated in budget 2016, expansion of trade opportunities across Canada is a key part of the Government of Canada's plan to create jobs and grow the economy. In helping small businesses to trade domestically and globally, we are able to make sure that they grow, innovate, and create good-quality jobs here and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, this government understands the importance of the aerospace sector, and that is why we are engaged with the company. The company came forward on December 11 to ask for up to $1 billion. We have been doing our due diligence and looking at the business case. We understand this is a solid company. We want to make sure we have constructive dialogue with the company. We will do what is in the best interests of Canadians, the company, Quebec, and the country from coast to coast to coast.
Mr. Speaker, just last week, two more first nations signed agreements with TransCanada for the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline. This adds to a growing list of first nations which have signed on to the project, including, Doig River, Halfway River, Blueberry River, Yekooche, Gitanyow, Kitselas, Lake Babine, Metlakatla, and Nisga'a Lisims. When will the cabinet approve the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my colleague, the member for MississaugaStreetsville, that we were a strong voice at the G20 meetings around cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.We committed that we will move forward on the common reporting standards and work toward those standards internationally. We committed that we will follow through on base erosion and profit shifting deliverables. We are committed to combatting any sort of tax evasion in Canada and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, members of the agriculture committee voted against a motion to hear from farmers with regard to the trans-Pacific partnership. While Conservative and NDP members voted to hear from farmers, the Liberal members refused. Is this the openness and transparency that the Minister of International Trade meant when she was promising broad consultations? When will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand up and ensure that farmers and farm families are heard on this important deal?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for AbitibiBaie-JamesNunavikEeyou for his question.All parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement have a crucial role to play in renewing their relationship with Canada's indigenous peoples and in reconciliation, although the previous government left no legal recourse. However, it is up to the officials of the Catholic Church to do the right thing and fix
Mr. Speaker, we said during the election what we say today. Our party understands, profoundly, that Canada is a trading nation. We also understand that with a trade deal as significant as the trans-Pacific partnership, we have a duty to consult broadly with Canadians. In fact, the trade committee is currently in British Columbia consulting.As for consultations with farmers, I have personally held many in Alberta, and I do consult often with the farming community, including my own father, who is
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Mr. Speaker, the minister should put her cue cards down for a minute and use some common sense.She is still defending the indefensible. This is not just about accountants participating in professional association events. This is about senior officials taking part in secret meetings at the Rideau Club.What does she not understand about the appearance of conflict of interest? When will she put an end to these practices? When will she tell her officials that the Rideau Club is over and there will be no more secret meetings, period?
Mr. Speaker, for the victims, the obligations imposed on the Catholic Church were part of the justice and healing process.Because of a government error, the church can now shirk its obligations. We simply cannot abandon the survivors and their families yet again, for they are still living with the painful legacy of residential schools.Will the government make a firm commitment today that the victims will receive the compensation they were promised?
Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago the NDP passed a motion calling on the government to establish a compensation fund for fallen firefighters. The Liberals again promised this fund during the election, yet the Prime Minister spoke to firefighters yesterday and failed to act on the public safety officer compensation fund. Firefighters are deeply disappointed. When will the Liberals honour this promise and set up this long-overdue fund? How much longer will firefighters have to wait for a fund that will protect their families should they make the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the rest of us?
Mr. Speaker, immigration consultants in partnership with refugee sponsorship groups are violating federal rules. A Mississauga organization called Fast to Canada has refugees paying from $12,000 to $32,000 before arriving in Canada. The group's website displays the logo of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council and indicates it is a member.What is the minister doing to protect legitimate refugees fleeing a dangerous situation from being defrauded?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my colleague, the member for MississaugaStreetsville, that we were a strong voice at the G20 meetings around cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.We committed that we will move forward on the common reporting standards and work toward those standards internationally. We committed that we will follow through on base erosion and profit shifting deliverables. We are committed to combatting any sort of tax evasion in Canada and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, once again, I will confirm that we will make decisions based on facts, science, and evidence in consultation with communities that are affected and indigenous peoples. That is the way we get resources to market in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the previous government did not understand this and it was not able to get our resources to market. That is what we are going to do. That is the responsible thing to do.
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Liberals' lack of planning has resulted in Syrian refugees being extorted by crooked immigration consultants. These consultants are charging Syrian refugees thousands of dollars and selling them false hope of coming to Canada. The previous Conservative government cracked down on crooked consultants. When are the Liberals going to close the door on those who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable?
Mr. Speaker, under Jean Chrétien's Liberals, our armed forces went through a decade of darkness. It is sad to see the current government going down the same path. The Prime Minister already cut defence investments in the recent budget. He does not want to acquire the F-35s, and he is delaying other important procurements. He also promised to replace our combat capabilities with peacekeeping missions.Can the Prime Minister confirm that the defence policy is not yet written in stone and that consultations with the Standing Committee on National Defence will be taken into consideration?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind the House that we have invested $2.5 billion in improving services and supports for workers who unfortunately get laid off, including seasonal workers from all parts of the country, even those areas that are not affected by the commodity downturn.We have provided a number of supports that are helping small businesses and workers from coast to coast to coast. We are there for those who need it, when they need it.
Mr. Speaker, in fact, that is not true. In the entire tenure of our government, in a fundraiser that was similar to the one in question, a mistake was recognized and the money was given back. Why is the standard different with the current government?
Mr. Speaker, problems at the Canada Revenue Agency just keep mounting: officials being wined and dined by the very people they are meant to investigate, a senior investigator going over to the company in the middle of a court case, secret sweetheart deals that let millionaire tax cheats off the hook with no penalties. This is an outrage. Canadians are tired of the wealthy and well-connected getting all the tax breaks. When will the minister stop defending the indefensible and announce an investigation into the KPMG tax scandal?
Mr. Speaker, we have always been open and transparent and followed every single rule of the Ethics Commissioner, of Elections Canada, and of electoral law. The fact is that in reference to the event that my hon. colleague speaks of regarding the former Conservative minister of heritage, the money was only returned after the Conservatives got their hands caught in the cookie jar for that one. We proactively engaged with the Ethics Commissioner on this and got the all-clear ahead of time.
Mr. Speaker, the facts are that billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance.The president of the Vancouver port authority had this to say in response to the calls from the member for StevestonRichmond East about shutting down the port operations: We are the federal manager of lands in the port and are clearly designated as the environmental permitting agency, and that it is a regulatory agency, not a political body. When will the Liberals stop colluding with third party environmental groups and approve the LNG project, which would create thousands of well-paying, high-quality jobs?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that, when asked when things would actually get better with respect to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the minister could not even offer an answer.The Prime Minister went to Paris with no targets, no plan to get there, and no accountability to keep his government honest. Then the Prime Minister met with the premiers and came away with no targets, no plan, and no accountability. Now the Prime Minister is jetting off to New York City with no plan, no targets, and no accountability. Exactly how are these Liberals all that different from the Chrétien Liberals who failed us so miserably?
Mr. Speaker, the minister took a self-promoting vanity trip to Hollywood. She billed the taxpayers $20,000 for this trip. She directed her staff to find meetings to try to justify this trip. She even double-billed the taxpayers for dinner in Toronto after she returned home from her trip.When will this minister pay back Canadian taxpayers who shelled out so she could hobnob with Hollywood elite?
Mr. Speaker, in addition to learning that the Minister of International Trade wanted to be reimbursed for expenses that she should not have claimed, we learned that the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada had to fire its treasurer, Jean-François Lalonde, because an investigation by the chief electoral officer of Quebec revealed that he had committed electoral fraud. Mr. Lalonde was fired. What will happen to the Minister of International Trade?
Mr. Speaker, this morning we learned that some immigration consultants are charging Syrian refugees fees of more than $32,000 to process their applications to the federal government. When a program is fast-tracked, there are sometimes weaknesses and, unfortunately, some people take advantage of those weaknesses.Can the Minister of Immigration assure this House that no refugees applying to come to Canada are being exploited by immigration consultants?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for AbitibiBaie-JamesNunavikEeyou for his question.All parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement have a crucial role to play in renewing their relationship with Canada's indigenous peoples and in reconciliation, although the previous government left no legal recourse. However, it is up to the officials of the Catholic Church to do the right thing and fix
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for St. Catharines and I had the privilege to announce the first foreign trade zone in Ontario last week in our home community of the Niagara region. This FTZ will provide companies that import and export any part of their supply chain and companies looking to sell their products to markets around the world with incentives to trade in Ontario, and specifically the Niagara region. Would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development explain to the House what else the Government of Canada is doing to help small and medium-sized business keep costs down while opening new markets around the world?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada has always followed all the rules and all the regulations involved with Elections Canada and political donations. Indeed, the level of openness and transparency that we continue to display is a direct result of the lack of confidence that so many Canadians had in the way the previous government operated. Indeed, for three straight elections, the Conservatives have been convicted of election fraud in each of those elections. The fact is, Canadians were tired of the way the previous government functioned, and that is why we are committed to openness and transparency.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is making defence cuts to create a leaner military and is delaying major procurement projects until after the next election. He plans on replacing Canada's combat capabilities with peace operations. He said that he wants to implement the recommendations from the 2011 transformation report, which would reduce the size of our military. The Liberals have already locked in their ideological direction for the Canadian Armed Forces, so why should Canadians expect their views to actually be heard in the Liberal defence review?
Mr. Speaker, some years ago I was very honoured to author in this House a private member's motion that was in fact passed and adopted by the House of Commons calling for the creation, among other things, of a public safety officer compensation fund. It was in the Liberal platform; it is in my mandate letter; it will be delivered.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the Minister of International Trade spent nearly $20,000 so that she could appear on a Hollywood talk show. That $20,000 was taken from the pockets of the same Canadians and middle-class families that this government claims it wants to help. That is unacceptable. The minister's travel plans clearly show that the main reason for the trip was the interview with HBO.Will the minister at least acknowledge that fact?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member from Niagara Centre for his question, his advocacy, and his hard work in promoting business development in that region.The creation of foreign trade zone points in Niagara will provide a one-stop shop for businesses to access information on Canada's foreign trade zone policies and programs. As stated in budget 2016, expansion of trade opportunities across Canada is a key part of the Government of Canada's plan to create jobs and grow the economy. In helping small businesses to trade domestically and globally, we are able to make sure that they grow, innovate, and create good-quality jobs here and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, that is not what the parliamentary budget officer is saying .At the time, we introduced Bill C-377 on union transparency. We believe that Canadians who pay union dues have the right to know how their mandatory dues are spent by union bosses. For us, it is about transparency and accountability. Why does the Prime Minister want to prevent union members from knowing how their hard-earned money is spent?
Mr. Speaker, the contract has not, in fact, been signed. It is this government's decision. Its responsibility.Canada is going to completely miss the Conservatives' pathetic greenhouse gas targets. The Prime Minister talks a good talk on climate change, but the Liberals have the exact same targets as the Conservatives. A few days before the agreement is to be signed, they still have no plan.Will the Prime Minister finally present his action plan, or is his trip to New York just another one of those photo ops he loves so much?
Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to speak at the ninth annual Kyiv Security Forum. All speakers shared concerns over Russia's continued aggressive military actions. Just last week in the Baltic Sea, Russian fighter jets buzzed a U.S. warship and barrel-rolled over an American air force plane. Clearly, Russia is willing to flex its military muscle.Will the Liberals take the Russian threat seriously in the defence review, or do they think talking to Putin is the appropriate defence posture?
Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none.It is my job to promote Canada and Canadian business around the world. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to visit California, one of our largest trading partners, larger than Japan, Germany, or the U.K., where I held six business round tables.The Conservatives' accusations are absolutely wrong. All of our expenses were clearly posted months before this was raised.
Mr. Speaker, the Coalition des Sans-Chemise, which has the support of the main unions in Quebec, launched a campaign this week entitled Employment insurance is for everyone!Although this government wants to improve the employment insurance system, it insists on applying a two-tier policy that overlooks or even ignores workers in Quebec's regions.Will the minister fix this problem and take into account the reality facing workers in Quebec regions hard hit by seasonal work?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians still have 40 million good reasons.The Liberal government has completely broken its promises on transparency. Just last week, the parliamentary budget officer said that he did not have everything he needed to do his job properly and evaluate such things as job creation. He did not have the right figures.Now, the former parliamentary budget officer is adding his voice to the mix and saying exactly the same thing, that there is a lack of transparency. He said there was a reason behind this lack of transparency. It is important.Why did the Prime Minister break his promise to be transparent
Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of convictions for electoral fraud and regularly dismaying the public with their partisanship and patronage, Canadians needed a change. That is why we demonstrated a level of openness and transparency, always following the rules, and indeed making available all the documents that the opposition is so blithely recounting now. We have demonstrated a level of confidence in Canadians that for 10 years was lacking from the previous government.
Mr. Speaker, the process of reconciliation is a long one. Residential school survivors opened deep wounds to share their stories and placed their trust in other parties to hold up their end of the deal. Our collective healing depends upon it. We cannot let a legal mistake by government lawyers jeopardize justice for survivors. The parliamentary secretary was not clear yesterday, so I ask again, will the government ensure full payment for the victims of residential schools?
Mr. Speaker, I have been saying the same thing about this contract for well over six months. We will not cancel an existing contract. It is important for people to know that when Canada signs an international deal, it is respected. The member for Outremont and the member for LondonFanshawe have stated very clearly that we do not cancel signed contracts. However, obviously, we are concerned about human rights around the world. We are therefore going to be open and transparent in our agreements in the future, because that is what Canadians are demanding and that is how we want to do things.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government keeps changing its story about the Saudi arms deal. After the minister described it as a done deal, he now claims that he, and he alone, made the decision to sign the export permit. Canadians need to know who is running the show. Is it true that the Prime Minister and the PMO were kept completely in the dark about the signing of the export permit?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and congratulate him on the quality of his French.What we know is that Canada must meet responsible climate change targets. We will do so by working with our provincial partners. The Government of Canada, under the Conservatives, spent too much time not talking to or working with the provinces. That is why we are setting targets and developing a plan together, with the provinces, to make the reductions needed to save the planet.
Mr. Speaker, the leak of the Panama papers has highlighted the need for collective action to crack down on people and companies who are trying to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. At last week's G20 finance ministers' meetings, the world's major economies took a united public stand on tax dodging and sent a strong warning to other countries that are not meeting their international commitments.As Canada's representative at the G20 finance ministers' meetings, would our Minister of Finance tell us how he is contributing to international efforts and the measures here at home?
Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say to this House before, in the last month of the year, revenues go down and expenses go up. The Conservatives left us with a deficit, as we will see.I could say that the more important question is, what are we going to do about the era of low growth that has been left to us? The PBOs independently confirmed that they agree our investments in the economy will grow the economy for the long term. That is what we are trying to do: improve Canada for this generation and the next generation of Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, such behaviour will not be tolerated. It is possible that sponsorship agreements could be terminated or the refugee could be not allowed, or if deemed appropriate by the authorities, such individuals or organizations could be charged. This behaviour is not tolerated by this government and perpetrators will be held to account.
Mr. Speaker, all parties to the settlement agreement have a critical role in reconciliation. We believe that the Catholic Church has to honour its obligation. This is not the time to get off on a technicality. Catholic people from coast to coast to coast in this country expect their church to honour this obligation and get on with the reconciliation and they, I am sure, will help in this endeavour.
Mr. Speaker, instead of working on Bombardier's recovery, the government is going to cause this flagship Quebec company to be dismantled and bought out by foreigners.That is what this government is doing by forcing the company to do away with its multiple-voting shares. This government has it in for Bombardier. This government is well aware of this, because it chose to ignore its officials, who advised giving the company a line of credit.Why did this government, which has 40 members from Quebec, issue this political directive?
Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous government, we are always very open to speaking and working with the parliamentary budget officer to show that we are trying to be much more transparent than the previous government was.We are putting in place a new way of creating economic growth with longer-term strategies. There will certainly be an adjustment period for the parliamentary budget officer because we are being much more transparent than the last gang.
Mr. Speaker, I have to give my colleague credit for lumping together two or three different issues. He knows full well that the president of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec asked Mr. Lalonde to step down from his volunteer duties on the board of directors. He also knows full well that the charges laid by the chief electoral officer of Quebec have nothing to do with Mr. Lalonde's role in the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to working with our multilateral organizations, especially NATO. I have read the intelligence report on that. Our troops are actually working with NATO at the moment. I got to visit our troops in Poland and also the troops that are in Ukraine. They are doing wonderful work, and we are potentially looking at other ways that we can support NATO and oppose Russian aggression.
Mr. Speaker, such behaviour is clearly against the rules and the perpetrators will be held to account. If judged appropriate by the appropriate authorities, they could be charged as well under criminal law.That being said, the vast majority of Canadians are displaying extraordinary generosity to the Syrian refugees.
Mr. Speaker, my NDP colleague is choosing to doubt the professionalism of public servants. He should listen to his colleague from Jonquière, who had this to say in the House yesterday: I am proud of Canada's public servants, the services they provide, and their professionalism. I trust the agency employees to conduct themselves professionally. They are expected to adhere to the code of integrity and professional conduct. Every invitation they receive must be assessed in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
As I have said, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. Whether it is interviews with The Washington Post editorial board, the LA Times, BBC, or the many media interviews I did with German newspapers and with Bloomberg promoting CETA in Berlin last week, it is my proud job to promote Canada to the world.Unlike the Conservatives, our open and transparent government speaks to the media, including international media. The Conservatives did everything possible to insult the media. We are doing things differently.
Mr. Speaker, what I can tell the House is that this side respects both unions and businesses and their ability to come to a deal together. They both are going to be at the table working hard for their collective responsibilities. Overall, 95% of all agreements are settled at the table, if they are fair and balanced. This is exactly what we are doing with our Bill C-4.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that, as I stated earlier, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the right capabilities. We are having the defence review, but on a separate track we are also moving diligently along to ensure that we replace our CF-18s and our ships for the navy, and we are working on a lot of other projects. However, the defence review allows all Canadians to participate in looking at where our Canadian Forces need to go.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, members of the agriculture committee voted against a motion to hear from farmers with regard to the trans-Pacific partnership. While Conservative and NDP members voted to hear from farmers, the Liberal members refused. Is this the openness and transparency that the Minister of International Trade meant when she was promising broad consultations? When will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand up and ensure that farmers and farm families are heard on this important deal?
Mr. Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague that Canadians do not have access to high-quality palliative care in a manner that is acceptable. Some records suggest that only 15% to 30% of Canadians have access to such services. Our government is determined to work with the provinces and territories to increase access to palliative care. I will be working with my colleagues, the ministers of health across the country, to invest in home care and palliative care to make sure people have the care they need at the end of their lives.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade's story just does not add up. She had a reserved seat on the government jet leaving Manilla, but she wanted some TV time on a popular U.S. show, so the minister instructed her staff to book some last-minute meetings and a first class ticket for her personal vanity project.This minister cost Canadian taxpayers almost $20,000 just so she could get schooled by an American comedian. Why does the minister believe that Canadians should have to pay for her hard-knock life lessons?
Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?
Talk about a glass half empty or half full, Mr. Speaker.I said yesterday that 87% of the refugees have now found permanent housing. That is a very large number and we should be pleased with it. The remaining 13% will find permanent housing very soon.My colleague beside me, the Minister of National Defence, confirms there is nothing truthful in the member's comments about defence.
Mr. Speaker, today, in an effort to cover her tracks, the Minister of International Trade said her trade meetings in Los Angeles were booked before her HBO interview.However, originally her HBO appearance was supposed to be on October 30. That was before she was even sworn in as minister. This meeting was then postponed until November 20, so on what day did her staff start booking the LA meetings? Is she saying that they started even before she was the minister?
Mr. Speaker, I want to quote from the Prime Minister's own guidelines for ministers when it comes to fundraising: There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, [given] to individuals...because they [may] have made a financial contribution to [a politician or a political party]. Given that the justice minister's fundraising activities at a top Toronto law firm are in direct violation of the Prime Minister's own code of conduct, when will he direct the Liberal Party to give the money back?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his hard work and his devotion to the environment. It is something that we share.We know that Canada needs to do more on the environment. That is why we have demonstrated every step of the way that we understand that building a strong economy goes hand in hand with protecting the environment.That is the leadership we showed at Paris. That is the leadership we continue to show on the world stage; and that is the hard work we are doing with our provincial partners and with municipalities to make sure that Canada once again has a well-earned reputation as a leader on the environmental file right across the world.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, it would be nice if the government followed its own rules.The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been telling Canadians for weeks that there would be penalties if the arms deal with Saudi Arabia were cancelled. However, this morning, he told us that there might not be, which is yet another contradiction. This is a far cry from an open and transparent government. Canadians have the right to know.Will the Prime Minister stop doing political yoga and make the contract public?
Mr. Speaker, yes, I can assure the members of this House that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Guilty parties will be punished under the law, where the authorities see fit, or by other means. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Canada.
Mr. Speaker, it was the justice minister who, in 2014, said about LNG, that there are discussions that are happening where voices are being heard and concerns are being addressed, and that LNG remains a positive prospect for many first nations. Yet, the justice minister sits here silently, while billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance. When will she break the silence, stand up for British Columbians, and push her cabinet colleagues to approve an LNG project?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the immigration minister would not say how much the Syrian refugee program will cost Canadians. He said it will come under budget, but there is no budget. The minister also admitted that 13% of refugees, or 3,400 people, are still in hotels.The Liberals renovated five Canadian Forces bases for 6,100 people costing $6.4 million. Why did the Liberals blow millions of dollars displacing troops over Christmas to house refugees with no intent on using the bases?
Mr. Speaker, today, on the budget, the Prime Minister's commitment to transparency has gone from a principle to a buzzword. The current parliamentary budget officer has said, When you don't see the details, usually somebody is trying to hide something, and today he confirmed two more things: first, the Liberal budget does not add up; and second, good news, the Conservatives did leave a surplus.My question for the Prime Minister is, why does he insist on this continuation of misleading Canadians on these basic facts?
Mr. Speaker, this week, countries from around the world will be attending the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem. The government promised that its drug policy, including support for harm reduction, would be evidence-based. Can the Minister of Health inform the House about Canada's participation in this meeting?
Mr. Speaker, we said during the election what we say today. Our party understands, profoundly, that Canada is a trading nation. We also understand that with a trade deal as significant as the trans-Pacific partnership, we have a duty to consult broadly with Canadians. In fact, the trade committee is currently in British Columbia consulting.As for consultations with farmers, I have personally held many in Alberta, and I do consult often with the farming community, including my own father, who is
Mr. Speaker, to hear the Minister of National Revenue's response, it is clear that the Liberals do not understand the difference between a manager and an official.I hope that this government will properly understand the anti-scab legislation I introduced last week. I am proud of this bill to protect workers from abuse. We need to have anti-scab legislation to fully ensure the fundamental right to collective bargaining. A government that claims to be progressive should implement this legislation.Will the Liberal government support workers and vote in favour of this anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said since the beginning, whenever this issue came up in the election campaign and even before, we will not cancel an existing contract. Indeed, we will continue to respect contracts signed, because people around the world need to know that, when Canada signs a deal, it is respected.For the administrative steps that have followed, we are demonstrating government by cabinet, which means I have tremendous confidence in the ministers in our government to make the right decisions on files that cross their desks, and they do so with the full support of the prime minister, because that is why we put them in this job.
Mr. Speaker, when strikes and lockouts drag on, families and communities suffer. Anti-scab legislation would lead to fewer and shorter labour disputes. This is a simple change that any progressive, pro-worker government would support, yet the Liberal parliamentary secretary actually said that he would vote against the NDP bill. The bill is a simple but important first step to modernizing the Canada Labour Code. It is good for workers. It is good for our economy. Will the minister stand up for Canadian workers and support the anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, just last week, two more first nations signed agreements with TransCanada for the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline. This adds to a growing list of first nations which have signed on to the project, including, Doig River, Halfway River, Blueberry River, Yekooche, Gitanyow, Kitselas, Lake Babine, Metlakatla, and Nisga'a Lisims. When will the cabinet approve the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to the Canadian Armed Forces. With our open and transparent defence review that we are launching, I welcome the member holding his consultations with Canadians and experts alike, and I look forward to hearing his comments personally as well. I will reiterate for the member that our government is absolutely committed to the Canadian Armed Forces, the men and women who serve us.
Mr. Speaker, I still find it very strange to hear the Conservatives talk about transparency when, for 10 years, their government was the most secretive and opaque of all Canadian governments.The reality is that the Conservatives are still trying to use transparency as a political weapon against their opponents rather than understanding that true transparency means having trust in Canadians and trust in our unions. It is co-operation and a partnership that will yield better results for everyone. That is what Canadians want, and that is what we are giving them.
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question, but since the members opposite are so interested in my promotion of Canada in California, let me talk about some of the meetings I held.I met with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine. I met with the Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. I met with Jim Haney, who is the senior VP and GM of City National Bank, recently acquired by RBC. I met with Greg Foster, the CEO of IMAX, a great Canadian company active in California. I met with Creative BC and Trade and Invest B.C. I met with John Chiang, the treasurer of California. I met with Jeff Gorell, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles. There is more, but I have run out of time.
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. It is my job to promote Canada around the world, and I am proud of that. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to go to California for a trade visit. As everyone knows, California is one of our largest trading partners.I repeat: the Conservatives' accusations are wrong, and all the rules were followed.
Mr. Speaker, we make decisions based on science, facts, and evidence, and in consultation. We have engaged with indigenous peoples and now we are reviewing the project. There are concerns with respect to salmon. I am sure the member opposite would also be concerned if there were environmental effects on the salmon.We are working with the proponent. We are working with the Government of B.C. We are engaging in consultation with indigenous leaders. We will make a decision when we are ready to make a decision.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should reread his own ethics code, because this is not about the Ethics Commissioner; it is actually about his own code that he put in place for his own minister. There has been a clear violation of that code. Why is the Prime Minister ignoring a blatant violation of his own code of conduct?
Mr. Speaker, this government understands the importance of the aerospace sector, and that is why we are engaged with the company. The company came forward on December 11 to ask for up to $1 billion. We have been doing our due diligence and looking at the business case. We understand this is a solid company. We want to make sure we have constructive dialogue with the company. We will do what is in the best interests of Canadians, the company, Quebec, and the country from coast to coast to coast.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, who do not really like the media, I know it is my job to promote Canada to the world.In California, I appeared in the media with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine and with Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California. I also spoke to the LA Times, which wrote a column about our economic policy, and I very proudly defended Canada's support for Syrian refugees, something I will do again and again.
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency's budget for 2016 is unprecedented and historic: $444 million. That investment will enable the agency to improve its client service, support the government's efforts to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance, and improve the agency's ability to collect outstanding tax debts.
Mr. Speaker, there is no point in pushing me because we make environmental decisions based on evidence, facts, and science. We also do it engaging with indigenous people, in consultation with Canadians. We are committed to getting resources to market, but it must be done in a sustainable way, and that is what we will do.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I will be giving a speech at the special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Government of Canada supports harm reduction, which includes a role for supervised injection sites, the need for good Samaritan legislation, and making naloxone more readily available in emergency situations. The world is looking to Canada for leadership on these issues, and I thank the hon. member for his interest.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to report to the House that 95% of all CBAs in the federally regulated sector were reached without a work stoppage: 215 out of 227 agreements. This is a process that works. This is a process that will continue to work.
Mr. Speaker, the minister should put her cue cards down for a minute and use some common sense.She is still defending the indefensible. This is not just about accountants participating in professional association events. This is about senior officials taking part in secret meetings at the Rideau Club.What does she not understand about the appearance of conflict of interest? When will she put an end to these practices? When will she tell her officials that the Rideau Club is over and there will be no more secret meetings, period?
Mr. Speaker, for the victims, the obligations imposed on the Catholic Church were part of the justice and healing process.Because of a government error, the church can now shirk its obligations. We simply cannot abandon the survivors and their families yet again, for they are still living with the painful legacy of residential schools.Will the government make a firm commitment today that the victims will receive the compensation they were promised?
Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago the NDP passed a motion calling on the government to establish a compensation fund for fallen firefighters. The Liberals again promised this fund during the election, yet the Prime Minister spoke to firefighters yesterday and failed to act on the public safety officer compensation fund. Firefighters are deeply disappointed. When will the Liberals honour this promise and set up this long-overdue fund? How much longer will firefighters have to wait for a fund that will protect their families should they make the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the rest of us?
Mr. Speaker, immigration consultants in partnership with refugee sponsorship groups are violating federal rules. A Mississauga organization called Fast to Canada has refugees paying from $12,000 to $32,000 before arriving in Canada. The group's website displays the logo of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council and indicates it is a member.What is the minister doing to protect legitimate refugees fleeing a dangerous situation from being defrauded?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my colleague, the member for MississaugaStreetsville, that we were a strong voice at the G20 meetings around cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.We committed that we will move forward on the common reporting standards and work toward those standards internationally. We committed that we will follow through on base erosion and profit shifting deliverables. We are committed to combatting any sort of tax evasion in Canada and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, once again, I will confirm that we will make decisions based on facts, science, and evidence in consultation with communities that are affected and indigenous peoples. That is the way we get resources to market in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the previous government did not understand this and it was not able to get our resources to market. That is what we are going to do. That is the responsible thing to do.
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Liberals' lack of planning has resulted in Syrian refugees being extorted by crooked immigration consultants. These consultants are charging Syrian refugees thousands of dollars and selling them false hope of coming to Canada. The previous Conservative government cracked down on crooked consultants. When are the Liberals going to close the door on those who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable?
Mr. Speaker, under Jean Chrétien's Liberals, our armed forces went through a decade of darkness. It is sad to see the current government going down the same path. The Prime Minister already cut defence investments in the recent budget. He does not want to acquire the F-35s, and he is delaying other important procurements. He also promised to replace our combat capabilities with peacekeeping missions.Can the Prime Minister confirm that the defence policy is not yet written in stone and that consultations with the Standing Committee on National Defence will be taken into consideration?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind the House that we have invested $2.5 billion in improving services and supports for workers who unfortunately get laid off, including seasonal workers from all parts of the country, even those areas that are not affected by the commodity downturn.We have provided a number of supports that are helping small businesses and workers from coast to coast to coast. We are there for those who need it, when they need it.
Mr. Speaker, in fact, that is not true. In the entire tenure of our government, in a fundraiser that was similar to the one in question, a mistake was recognized and the money was given back. Why is the standard different with the current government?
Mr. Speaker, problems at the Canada Revenue Agency just keep mounting: officials being wined and dined by the very people they are meant to investigate, a senior investigator going over to the company in the middle of a court case, secret sweetheart deals that let millionaire tax cheats off the hook with no penalties. This is an outrage. Canadians are tired of the wealthy and well-connected getting all the tax breaks. When will the minister stop defending the indefensible and announce an investigation into the KPMG tax scandal?
Mr. Speaker, we have always been open and transparent and followed every single rule of the Ethics Commissioner, of Elections Canada, and of electoral law. The fact is that in reference to the event that my hon. colleague speaks of regarding the former Conservative minister of heritage, the money was only returned after the Conservatives got their hands caught in the cookie jar for that one. We proactively engaged with the Ethics Commissioner on this and got the all-clear ahead of time.
Mr. Speaker, the facts are that billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance.The president of the Vancouver port authority had this to say in response to the calls from the member for StevestonRichmond East about shutting down the port operations: We are the federal manager of lands in the port and are clearly designated as the environmental permitting agency, and that it is a regulatory agency, not a political body. When will the Liberals stop colluding with third party environmental groups and approve the LNG project, which would create thousands of well-paying, high-quality jobs?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that, when asked when things would actually get better with respect to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the minister could not even offer an answer.The Prime Minister went to Paris with no targets, no plan to get there, and no accountability to keep his government honest. Then the Prime Minister met with the premiers and came away with no targets, no plan, and no accountability. Now the Prime Minister is jetting off to New York City with no plan, no targets, and no accountability. Exactly how are these Liberals all that different from the Chrétien Liberals who failed us so miserably?
Mr. Speaker, the minister took a self-promoting vanity trip to Hollywood. She billed the taxpayers $20,000 for this trip. She directed her staff to find meetings to try to justify this trip. She even double-billed the taxpayers for dinner in Toronto after she returned home from her trip.When will this minister pay back Canadian taxpayers who shelled out so she could hobnob with Hollywood elite?
Mr. Speaker, in addition to learning that the Minister of International Trade wanted to be reimbursed for expenses that she should not have claimed, we learned that the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada had to fire its treasurer, Jean-François Lalonde, because an investigation by the chief electoral officer of Quebec revealed that he had committed electoral fraud. Mr. Lalonde was fired. What will happen to the Minister of International Trade?
Mr. Speaker, this morning we learned that some immigration consultants are charging Syrian refugees fees of more than $32,000 to process their applications to the federal government. When a program is fast-tracked, there are sometimes weaknesses and, unfortunately, some people take advantage of those weaknesses.Can the Minister of Immigration assure this House that no refugees applying to come to Canada are being exploited by immigration consultants?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for AbitibiBaie-JamesNunavikEeyou for his question.All parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement have a crucial role to play in renewing their relationship with Canada's indigenous peoples and in reconciliation, although the previous government left no legal recourse. However, it is up to the officials of the Catholic Church to do the right thing and fix
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for St. Catharines and I had the privilege to announce the first foreign trade zone in Ontario last week in our home community of the Niagara region. This FTZ will provide companies that import and export any part of their supply chain and companies looking to sell their products to markets around the world with incentives to trade in Ontario, and specifically the Niagara region. Would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development explain to the House what else the Government of Canada is doing to help small and medium-sized business keep costs down while opening new markets around the world?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada has always followed all the rules and all the regulations involved with Elections Canada and political donations. Indeed, the level of openness and transparency that we continue to display is a direct result of the lack of confidence that so many Canadians had in the way the previous government operated. Indeed, for three straight elections, the Conservatives have been convicted of election fraud in each of those elections. The fact is, Canadians were tired of the way the previous government functioned, and that is why we are committed to openness and transparency.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is making defence cuts to create a leaner military and is delaying major procurement projects until after the next election. He plans on replacing Canada's combat capabilities with peace operations. He said that he wants to implement the recommendations from the 2011 transformation report, which would reduce the size of our military. The Liberals have already locked in their ideological direction for the Canadian Armed Forces, so why should Canadians expect their views to actually be heard in the Liberal defence review?
Mr. Speaker, some years ago I was very honoured to author in this House a private member's motion that was in fact passed and adopted by the House of Commons calling for the creation, among other things, of a public safety officer compensation fund. It was in the Liberal platform; it is in my mandate letter; it will be delivered.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the Minister of International Trade spent nearly $20,000 so that she could appear on a Hollywood talk show. That $20,000 was taken from the pockets of the same Canadians and middle-class families that this government claims it wants to help. That is unacceptable. The minister's travel plans clearly show that the main reason for the trip was the interview with HBO.Will the minister at least acknowledge that fact?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member from Niagara Centre for his question, his advocacy, and his hard work in promoting business development in that region.The creation of foreign trade zone points in Niagara will provide a one-stop shop for businesses to access information on Canada's foreign trade zone policies and programs. As stated in budget 2016, expansion of trade opportunities across Canada is a key part of the Government of Canada's plan to create jobs and grow the economy. In helping small businesses to trade domestically and globally, we are able to make sure that they grow, innovate, and create good-quality jobs here and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, that is not what the parliamentary budget officer is saying .At the time, we introduced Bill C-377 on union transparency. We believe that Canadians who pay union dues have the right to know how their mandatory dues are spent by union bosses. For us, it is about transparency and accountability. Why does the Prime Minister want to prevent union members from knowing how their hard-earned money is spent?
Mr. Speaker, the contract has not, in fact, been signed. It is this government's decision. Its responsibility.Canada is going to completely miss the Conservatives' pathetic greenhouse gas targets. The Prime Minister talks a good talk on climate change, but the Liberals have the exact same targets as the Conservatives. A few days before the agreement is to be signed, they still have no plan.Will the Prime Minister finally present his action plan, or is his trip to New York just another one of those photo ops he loves so much?
Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to speak at the ninth annual Kyiv Security Forum. All speakers shared concerns over Russia's continued aggressive military actions. Just last week in the Baltic Sea, Russian fighter jets buzzed a U.S. warship and barrel-rolled over an American air force plane. Clearly, Russia is willing to flex its military muscle.Will the Liberals take the Russian threat seriously in the defence review, or do they think talking to Putin is the appropriate defence posture?
Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none.It is my job to promote Canada and Canadian business around the world. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to visit California, one of our largest trading partners, larger than Japan, Germany, or the U.K., where I held six business round tables.The Conservatives' accusations are absolutely wrong. All of our expenses were clearly posted months before this was raised.
Mr. Speaker, the Coalition des Sans-Chemise, which has the support of the main unions in Quebec, launched a campaign this week entitled Employment insurance is for everyone!Although this government wants to improve the employment insurance system, it insists on applying a two-tier policy that overlooks or even ignores workers in Quebec's regions.Will the minister fix this problem and take into account the reality facing workers in Quebec regions hard hit by seasonal work?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians still have 40 million good reasons.The Liberal government has completely broken its promises on transparency. Just last week, the parliamentary budget officer said that he did not have everything he needed to do his job properly and evaluate such things as job creation. He did not have the right figures.Now, the former parliamentary budget officer is adding his voice to the mix and saying exactly the same thing, that there is a lack of transparency. He said there was a reason behind this lack of transparency. It is important.Why did the Prime Minister break his promise to be transparent
Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of convictions for electoral fraud and regularly dismaying the public with their partisanship and patronage, Canadians needed a change. That is why we demonstrated a level of openness and transparency, always following the rules, and indeed making available all the documents that the opposition is so blithely recounting now. We have demonstrated a level of confidence in Canadians that for 10 years was lacking from the previous government.
Mr. Speaker, the process of reconciliation is a long one. Residential school survivors opened deep wounds to share their stories and placed their trust in other parties to hold up their end of the deal. Our collective healing depends upon it. We cannot let a legal mistake by government lawyers jeopardize justice for survivors. The parliamentary secretary was not clear yesterday, so I ask again, will the government ensure full payment for the victims of residential schools?
Mr. Speaker, I have been saying the same thing about this contract for well over six months. We will not cancel an existing contract. It is important for people to know that when Canada signs an international deal, it is respected. The member for Outremont and the member for LondonFanshawe have stated very clearly that we do not cancel signed contracts. However, obviously, we are concerned about human rights around the world. We are therefore going to be open and transparent in our agreements in the future, because that is what Canadians are demanding and that is how we want to do things.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government keeps changing its story about the Saudi arms deal. After the minister described it as a done deal, he now claims that he, and he alone, made the decision to sign the export permit. Canadians need to know who is running the show. Is it true that the Prime Minister and the PMO were kept completely in the dark about the signing of the export permit?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and congratulate him on the quality of his French.What we know is that Canada must meet responsible climate change targets. We will do so by working with our provincial partners. The Government of Canada, under the Conservatives, spent too much time not talking to or working with the provinces. That is why we are setting targets and developing a plan together, with the provinces, to make the reductions needed to save the planet.
Mr. Speaker, the leak of the Panama papers has highlighted the need for collective action to crack down on people and companies who are trying to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. At last week's G20 finance ministers' meetings, the world's major economies took a united public stand on tax dodging and sent a strong warning to other countries that are not meeting their international commitments.As Canada's representative at the G20 finance ministers' meetings, would our Minister of Finance tell us how he is contributing to international efforts and the measures here at home?
Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say to this House before, in the last month of the year, revenues go down and expenses go up. The Conservatives left us with a deficit, as we will see.I could say that the more important question is, what are we going to do about the era of low growth that has been left to us? The PBOs independently confirmed that they agree our investments in the economy will grow the economy for the long term. That is what we are trying to do: improve Canada for this generation and the next generation of Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, such behaviour will not be tolerated. It is possible that sponsorship agreements could be terminated or the refugee could be not allowed, or if deemed appropriate by the authorities, such individuals or organizations could be charged. This behaviour is not tolerated by this government and perpetrators will be held to account.
Mr. Speaker, all parties to the settlement agreement have a critical role in reconciliation. We believe that the Catholic Church has to honour its obligation. This is not the time to get off on a technicality. Catholic people from coast to coast to coast in this country expect their church to honour this obligation and get on with the reconciliation and they, I am sure, will help in this endeavour.
Mr. Speaker, instead of working on Bombardier's recovery, the government is going to cause this flagship Quebec company to be dismantled and bought out by foreigners.That is what this government is doing by forcing the company to do away with its multiple-voting shares. This government has it in for Bombardier. This government is well aware of this, because it chose to ignore its officials, who advised giving the company a line of credit.Why did this government, which has 40 members from Quebec, issue this political directive?
Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous government, we are always very open to speaking and working with the parliamentary budget officer to show that we are trying to be much more transparent than the previous government was.We are putting in place a new way of creating economic growth with longer-term strategies. There will certainly be an adjustment period for the parliamentary budget officer because we are being much more transparent than the last gang.
Mr. Speaker, I have to give my colleague credit for lumping together two or three different issues. He knows full well that the president of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec asked Mr. Lalonde to step down from his volunteer duties on the board of directors. He also knows full well that the charges laid by the chief electoral officer of Quebec have nothing to do with Mr. Lalonde's role in the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to working with our multilateral organizations, especially NATO. I have read the intelligence report on that. Our troops are actually working with NATO at the moment. I got to visit our troops in Poland and also the troops that are in Ukraine. They are doing wonderful work, and we are potentially looking at other ways that we can support NATO and oppose Russian aggression.
Mr. Speaker, such behaviour is clearly against the rules and the perpetrators will be held to account. If judged appropriate by the appropriate authorities, they could be charged as well under criminal law.That being said, the vast majority of Canadians are displaying extraordinary generosity to the Syrian refugees.
Mr. Speaker, my NDP colleague is choosing to doubt the professionalism of public servants. He should listen to his colleague from Jonquière, who had this to say in the House yesterday: I am proud of Canada's public servants, the services they provide, and their professionalism. I trust the agency employees to conduct themselves professionally. They are expected to adhere to the code of integrity and professional conduct. Every invitation they receive must be assessed in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
As I have said, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. Whether it is interviews with The Washington Post editorial board, the LA Times, BBC, or the many media interviews I did with German newspapers and with Bloomberg promoting CETA in Berlin last week, it is my proud job to promote Canada to the world.Unlike the Conservatives, our open and transparent government speaks to the media, including international media. The Conservatives did everything possible to insult the media. We are doing things differently.
Mr. Speaker, what I can tell the House is that this side respects both unions and businesses and their ability to come to a deal together. They both are going to be at the table working hard for their collective responsibilities. Overall, 95% of all agreements are settled at the table, if they are fair and balanced. This is exactly what we are doing with our Bill C-4.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that, as I stated earlier, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the right capabilities. We are having the defence review, but on a separate track we are also moving diligently along to ensure that we replace our CF-18s and our ships for the navy, and we are working on a lot of other projects. However, the defence review allows all Canadians to participate in looking at where our Canadian Forces need to go.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, members of the agriculture committee voted against a motion to hear from farmers with regard to the trans-Pacific partnership. While Conservative and NDP members voted to hear from farmers, the Liberal members refused. Is this the openness and transparency that the Minister of International Trade meant when she was promising broad consultations? When will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand up and ensure that farmers and farm families are heard on this important deal?
Mr. Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague that Canadians do not have access to high-quality palliative care in a manner that is acceptable. Some records suggest that only 15% to 30% of Canadians have access to such services. Our government is determined to work with the provinces and territories to increase access to palliative care. I will be working with my colleagues, the ministers of health across the country, to invest in home care and palliative care to make sure people have the care they need at the end of their lives.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade's story just does not add up. She had a reserved seat on the government jet leaving Manilla, but she wanted some TV time on a popular U.S. show, so the minister instructed her staff to book some last-minute meetings and a first class ticket for her personal vanity project.This minister cost Canadian taxpayers almost $20,000 just so she could get schooled by an American comedian. Why does the minister believe that Canadians should have to pay for her hard-knock life lessons?
Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?
Talk about a glass half empty or half full, Mr. Speaker.I said yesterday that 87% of the refugees have now found permanent housing. That is a very large number and we should be pleased with it. The remaining 13% will find permanent housing very soon.My colleague beside me, the Minister of National Defence, confirms there is nothing truthful in the member's comments about defence.
Mr. Speaker, today, in an effort to cover her tracks, the Minister of International Trade said her trade meetings in Los Angeles were booked before her HBO interview.However, originally her HBO appearance was supposed to be on October 30. That was before she was even sworn in as minister. This meeting was then postponed until November 20, so on what day did her staff start booking the LA meetings? Is she saying that they started even before she was the minister?
Mr. Speaker, I want to quote from the Prime Minister's own guidelines for ministers when it comes to fundraising: There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, [given] to individuals...because they [may] have made a financial contribution to [a politician or a political party]. Given that the justice minister's fundraising activities at a top Toronto law firm are in direct violation of the Prime Minister's own code of conduct, when will he direct the Liberal Party to give the money back?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his hard work and his devotion to the environment. It is something that we share.We know that Canada needs to do more on the environment. That is why we have demonstrated every step of the way that we understand that building a strong economy goes hand in hand with protecting the environment.That is the leadership we showed at Paris. That is the leadership we continue to show on the world stage; and that is the hard work we are doing with our provincial partners and with municipalities to make sure that Canada once again has a well-earned reputation as a leader on the environmental file right across the world.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, it would be nice if the government followed its own rules.The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been telling Canadians for weeks that there would be penalties if the arms deal with Saudi Arabia were cancelled. However, this morning, he told us that there might not be, which is yet another contradiction. This is a far cry from an open and transparent government. Canadians have the right to know.Will the Prime Minister stop doing political yoga and make the contract public?
Mr. Speaker, yes, I can assure the members of this House that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Guilty parties will be punished under the law, where the authorities see fit, or by other means. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Canada.
Mr. Speaker, it was the justice minister who, in 2014, said about LNG, that there are discussions that are happening where voices are being heard and concerns are being addressed, and that LNG remains a positive prospect for many first nations. Yet, the justice minister sits here silently, while billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance. When will she break the silence, stand up for British Columbians, and push her cabinet colleagues to approve an LNG project?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the immigration minister would not say how much the Syrian refugee program will cost Canadians. He said it will come under budget, but there is no budget. The minister also admitted that 13% of refugees, or 3,400 people, are still in hotels.The Liberals renovated five Canadian Forces bases for 6,100 people costing $6.4 million. Why did the Liberals blow millions of dollars displacing troops over Christmas to house refugees with no intent on using the bases?
Mr. Speaker, today, on the budget, the Prime Minister's commitment to transparency has gone from a principle to a buzzword. The current parliamentary budget officer has said, When you don't see the details, usually somebody is trying to hide something, and today he confirmed two more things: first, the Liberal budget does not add up; and second, good news, the Conservatives did leave a surplus.My question for the Prime Minister is, why does he insist on this continuation of misleading Canadians on these basic facts?
Mr. Speaker, this week, countries from around the world will be attending the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem. The government promised that its drug policy, including support for harm reduction, would be evidence-based. Can the Minister of Health inform the House about Canada's participation in this meeting?
Mr. Speaker, we said during the election what we say today. Our party understands, profoundly, that Canada is a trading nation. We also understand that with a trade deal as significant as the trans-Pacific partnership, we have a duty to consult broadly with Canadians. In fact, the trade committee is currently in British Columbia consulting.As for consultations with farmers, I have personally held many in Alberta, and I do consult often with the farming community, including my own father, who is
Mr. Speaker, to hear the Minister of National Revenue's response, it is clear that the Liberals do not understand the difference between a manager and an official.I hope that this government will properly understand the anti-scab legislation I introduced last week. I am proud of this bill to protect workers from abuse. We need to have anti-scab legislation to fully ensure the fundamental right to collective bargaining. A government that claims to be progressive should implement this legislation.Will the Liberal government support workers and vote in favour of this anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said since the beginning, whenever this issue came up in the election campaign and even before, we will not cancel an existing contract. Indeed, we will continue to respect contracts signed, because people around the world need to know that, when Canada signs a deal, it is respected.For the administrative steps that have followed, we are demonstrating government by cabinet, which means I have tremendous confidence in the ministers in our government to make the right decisions on files that cross their desks, and they do so with the full support of the prime minister, because that is why we put them in this job.
Mr. Speaker, when strikes and lockouts drag on, families and communities suffer. Anti-scab legislation would lead to fewer and shorter labour disputes. This is a simple change that any progressive, pro-worker government would support, yet the Liberal parliamentary secretary actually said that he would vote against the NDP bill. The bill is a simple but important first step to modernizing the Canada Labour Code. It is good for workers. It is good for our economy. Will the minister stand up for Canadian workers and support the anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, just last week, two more first nations signed agreements with TransCanada for the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline. This adds to a growing list of first nations which have signed on to the project, including, Doig River, Halfway River, Blueberry River, Yekooche, Gitanyow, Kitselas, Lake Babine, Metlakatla, and Nisga'a Lisims. When will the cabinet approve the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to the Canadian Armed Forces. With our open and transparent defence review that we are launching, I welcome the member holding his consultations with Canadians and experts alike, and I look forward to hearing his comments personally as well. I will reiterate for the member that our government is absolutely committed to the Canadian Armed Forces, the men and women who serve us.
Mr. Speaker, I still find it very strange to hear the Conservatives talk about transparency when, for 10 years, their government was the most secretive and opaque of all Canadian governments.The reality is that the Conservatives are still trying to use transparency as a political weapon against their opponents rather than understanding that true transparency means having trust in Canadians and trust in our unions. It is co-operation and a partnership that will yield better results for everyone. That is what Canadians want, and that is what we are giving them.
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question, but since the members opposite are so interested in my promotion of Canada in California, let me talk about some of the meetings I held.I met with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine. I met with the Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. I met with Jim Haney, who is the senior VP and GM of City National Bank, recently acquired by RBC. I met with Greg Foster, the CEO of IMAX, a great Canadian company active in California. I met with Creative BC and Trade and Invest B.C. I met with John Chiang, the treasurer of California. I met with Jeff Gorell, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles. There is more, but I have run out of time.
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. It is my job to promote Canada around the world, and I am proud of that. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to go to California for a trade visit. As everyone knows, California is one of our largest trading partners.I repeat: the Conservatives' accusations are wrong, and all the rules were followed.
Mr. Speaker, we make decisions based on science, facts, and evidence, and in consultation. We have engaged with indigenous peoples and now we are reviewing the project. There are concerns with respect to salmon. I am sure the member opposite would also be concerned if there were environmental effects on the salmon.We are working with the proponent. We are working with the Government of B.C. We are engaging in consultation with indigenous leaders. We will make a decision when we are ready to make a decision.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should reread his own ethics code, because this is not about the Ethics Commissioner; it is actually about his own code that he put in place for his own minister. There has been a clear violation of that code. Why is the Prime Minister ignoring a blatant violation of his own code of conduct?
Mr. Speaker, this government understands the importance of the aerospace sector, and that is why we are engaged with the company. The company came forward on December 11 to ask for up to $1 billion. We have been doing our due diligence and looking at the business case. We understand this is a solid company. We want to make sure we have constructive dialogue with the company. We will do what is in the best interests of Canadians, the company, Quebec, and the country from coast to coast to coast.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, who do not really like the media, I know it is my job to promote Canada to the world.In California, I appeared in the media with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine and with Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California. I also spoke to the LA Times, which wrote a column about our economic policy, and I very proudly defended Canada's support for Syrian refugees, something I will do again and again.
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency's budget for 2016 is unprecedented and historic: $444 million. That investment will enable the agency to improve its client service, support the government's efforts to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance, and improve the agency's ability to collect outstanding tax debts.
Mr. Speaker, there is no point in pushing me because we make environmental decisions based on evidence, facts, and science. We also do it engaging with indigenous people, in consultation with Canadians. We are committed to getting resources to market, but it must be done in a sustainable way, and that is what we will do.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I will be giving a speech at the special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Government of Canada supports harm reduction, which includes a role for supervised injection sites, the need for good Samaritan legislation, and making naloxone more readily available in emergency situations. The world is looking to Canada for leadership on these issues, and I thank the hon. member for his interest.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to report to the House that 95% of all CBAs in the federally regulated sector were reached without a work stoppage: 215 out of 227 agreements. This is a process that works. This is a process that will continue to work.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad to report to the House that 95% of all CBAs in the federally regulated sector were reached without a work stoppage: 215 out of 227 agreements. This is a process that works. This is a process that will continue to work.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I will be giving a speech at the special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Government of Canada supports harm reduction, which includes a role for supervised injection sites, the need for good Samaritan legislation, and making naloxone more readily available in emergency situations. The world is looking to Canada for leadership on these issues, and I thank the hon. member for his interest.
Mr. Speaker, there is no point in pushing me because we make environmental decisions based on evidence, facts, and science. We also do it engaging with indigenous people, in consultation with Canadians. We are committed to getting resources to market, but it must be done in a sustainable way, and that is what we will do.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, who do not really like the media, I know it is my job to promote Canada to the world.In California, I appeared in the media with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine and with Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California. I also spoke to the LA Times, which wrote a column about our economic policy, and I very proudly defended Canada's support for Syrian refugees, something I will do again and again.
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency's budget for 2016 is unprecedented and historic: $444 million. That investment will enable the agency to improve its client service, support the government's efforts to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance, and improve the agency's ability to collect outstanding tax debts.
Mr. Speaker, this government understands the importance of the aerospace sector, and that is why we are engaged with the company. The company came forward on December 11 to ask for up to $1 billion. We have been doing our due diligence and looking at the business case. We understand this is a solid company. We want to make sure we have constructive dialogue with the company. We will do what is in the best interests of Canadians, the company, Quebec, and the country from coast to coast to coast.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should reread his own ethics code, because this is not about the Ethics Commissioner; it is actually about his own code that he put in place for his own minister. There has been a clear violation of that code. Why is the Prime Minister ignoring a blatant violation of his own code of conduct?
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. It is my job to promote Canada around the world, and I am proud of that. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to go to California for a trade visit. As everyone knows, California is one of our largest trading partners.I repeat: the Conservatives' accusations are wrong, and all the rules were followed.
Mr. Speaker, we make decisions based on science, facts, and evidence, and in consultation. We have engaged with indigenous peoples and now we are reviewing the project. There are concerns with respect to salmon. I am sure the member opposite would also be concerned if there were environmental effects on the salmon.We are working with the proponent. We are working with the Government of B.C. We are engaging in consultation with indigenous leaders. We will make a decision when we are ready to make a decision.
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question, but since the members opposite are so interested in my promotion of Canada in California, let me talk about some of the meetings I held.I met with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine. I met with the Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. I met with Jim Haney, who is the senior VP and GM of City National Bank, recently acquired by RBC. I met with Greg Foster, the CEO of IMAX, a great Canadian company active in California. I met with Creative BC and Trade and Invest B.C. I met with John Chiang, the treasurer of California. I met with Jeff Gorell, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles. There is more, but I have run out of time.
Mr. Speaker, I still find it very strange to hear the Conservatives talk about transparency when, for 10 years, their government was the most secretive and opaque of all Canadian governments.The reality is that the Conservatives are still trying to use transparency as a political weapon against their opponents rather than understanding that true transparency means having trust in Canadians and trust in our unions. It is co-operation and a partnership that will yield better results for everyone. That is what Canadians want, and that is what we are giving them.
Mr. Speaker, just last week, two more first nations signed agreements with TransCanada for the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline. This adds to a growing list of first nations which have signed on to the project, including, Doig River, Halfway River, Blueberry River, Yekooche, Gitanyow, Kitselas, Lake Babine, Metlakatla, and Nisga'a Lisims. When will the cabinet approve the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to the Canadian Armed Forces. With our open and transparent defence review that we are launching, I welcome the member holding his consultations with Canadians and experts alike, and I look forward to hearing his comments personally as well. I will reiterate for the member that our government is absolutely committed to the Canadian Armed Forces, the men and women who serve us.
Mr. Speaker, when strikes and lockouts drag on, families and communities suffer. Anti-scab legislation would lead to fewer and shorter labour disputes. This is a simple change that any progressive, pro-worker government would support, yet the Liberal parliamentary secretary actually said that he would vote against the NDP bill. The bill is a simple but important first step to modernizing the Canada Labour Code. It is good for workers. It is good for our economy. Will the minister stand up for Canadian workers and support the anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said since the beginning, whenever this issue came up in the election campaign and even before, we will not cancel an existing contract. Indeed, we will continue to respect contracts signed, because people around the world need to know that, when Canada signs a deal, it is respected.For the administrative steps that have followed, we are demonstrating government by cabinet, which means I have tremendous confidence in the ministers in our government to make the right decisions on files that cross their desks, and they do so with the full support of the prime minister, because that is why we put them in this job.
Mr. Speaker, to hear the Minister of National Revenue's response, it is clear that the Liberals do not understand the difference between a manager and an official.I hope that this government will properly understand the anti-scab legislation I introduced last week. I am proud of this bill to protect workers from abuse. We need to have anti-scab legislation to fully ensure the fundamental right to collective bargaining. A government that claims to be progressive should implement this legislation.Will the Liberal government support workers and vote in favour of this anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, we said during the election what we say today. Our party understands, profoundly, that Canada is a trading nation. We also understand that with a trade deal as significant as the trans-Pacific partnership, we have a duty to consult broadly with Canadians. In fact, the trade committee is currently in British Columbia consulting.As for consultations with farmers, I have personally held many in Alberta, and I do consult often with the farming community, including my own father, who is
Mr. Speaker, this week, countries from around the world will be attending the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem. The government promised that its drug policy, including support for harm reduction, would be evidence-based. Can the Minister of Health inform the House about Canada's participation in this meeting?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the immigration minister would not say how much the Syrian refugee program will cost Canadians. He said it will come under budget, but there is no budget. The minister also admitted that 13% of refugees, or 3,400 people, are still in hotels.The Liberals renovated five Canadian Forces bases for 6,100 people costing $6.4 million. Why did the Liberals blow millions of dollars displacing troops over Christmas to house refugees with no intent on using the bases?
Mr. Speaker, today, on the budget, the Prime Minister's commitment to transparency has gone from a principle to a buzzword. The current parliamentary budget officer has said, When you don't see the details, usually somebody is trying to hide something, and today he confirmed two more things: first, the Liberal budget does not add up; and second, good news, the Conservatives did leave a surplus.My question for the Prime Minister is, why does he insist on this continuation of misleading Canadians on these basic facts?
Mr. Speaker, it was the justice minister who, in 2014, said about LNG, that there are discussions that are happening where voices are being heard and concerns are being addressed, and that LNG remains a positive prospect for many first nations. Yet, the justice minister sits here silently, while billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance. When will she break the silence, stand up for British Columbians, and push her cabinet colleagues to approve an LNG project?
Mr. Speaker, yes, I can assure the members of this House that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Guilty parties will be punished under the law, where the authorities see fit, or by other means. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Canada.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, it would be nice if the government followed its own rules.The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been telling Canadians for weeks that there would be penalties if the arms deal with Saudi Arabia were cancelled. However, this morning, he told us that there might not be, which is yet another contradiction. This is a far cry from an open and transparent government. Canadians have the right to know.Will the Prime Minister stop doing political yoga and make the contract public?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his hard work and his devotion to the environment. It is something that we share.We know that Canada needs to do more on the environment. That is why we have demonstrated every step of the way that we understand that building a strong economy goes hand in hand with protecting the environment.That is the leadership we showed at Paris. That is the leadership we continue to show on the world stage; and that is the hard work we are doing with our provincial partners and with municipalities to make sure that Canada once again has a well-earned reputation as a leader on the environmental file right across the world.
Mr. Speaker, I want to quote from the Prime Minister's own guidelines for ministers when it comes to fundraising: There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, [given] to individuals...because they [may] have made a financial contribution to [a politician or a political party]. Given that the justice minister's fundraising activities at a top Toronto law firm are in direct violation of the Prime Minister's own code of conduct, when will he direct the Liberal Party to give the money back?
Mr. Speaker, today, in an effort to cover her tracks, the Minister of International Trade said her trade meetings in Los Angeles were booked before her HBO interview.However, originally her HBO appearance was supposed to be on October 30. That was before she was even sworn in as minister. This meeting was then postponed until November 20, so on what day did her staff start booking the LA meetings? Is she saying that they started even before she was the minister?
Talk about a glass half empty or half full, Mr. Speaker.I said yesterday that 87% of the refugees have now found permanent housing. That is a very large number and we should be pleased with it. The remaining 13% will find permanent housing very soon.My colleague beside me, the Minister of National Defence, confirms there is nothing truthful in the member's comments about defence.
Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade's story just does not add up. She had a reserved seat on the government jet leaving Manilla, but she wanted some TV time on a popular U.S. show, so the minister instructed her staff to book some last-minute meetings and a first class ticket for her personal vanity project.This minister cost Canadian taxpayers almost $20,000 just so she could get schooled by an American comedian. Why does the minister believe that Canadians should have to pay for her hard-knock life lessons?
Mr. Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague that Canadians do not have access to high-quality palliative care in a manner that is acceptable. Some records suggest that only 15% to 30% of Canadians have access to such services. Our government is determined to work with the provinces and territories to increase access to palliative care. I will be working with my colleagues, the ministers of health across the country, to invest in home care and palliative care to make sure people have the care they need at the end of their lives.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, members of the agriculture committee voted against a motion to hear from farmers with regard to the trans-Pacific partnership. While Conservative and NDP members voted to hear from farmers, the Liberal members refused. Is this the openness and transparency that the Minister of International Trade meant when she was promising broad consultations? When will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand up and ensure that farmers and farm families are heard on this important deal?
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that, as I stated earlier, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the right capabilities. We are having the defence review, but on a separate track we are also moving diligently along to ensure that we replace our CF-18s and our ships for the navy, and we are working on a lot of other projects. However, the defence review allows all Canadians to participate in looking at where our Canadian Forces need to go.
Mr. Speaker, what I can tell the House is that this side respects both unions and businesses and their ability to come to a deal together. They both are going to be at the table working hard for their collective responsibilities. Overall, 95% of all agreements are settled at the table, if they are fair and balanced. This is exactly what we are doing with our Bill C-4.
As I have said, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. Whether it is interviews with The Washington Post editorial board, the LA Times, BBC, or the many media interviews I did with German newspapers and with Bloomberg promoting CETA in Berlin last week, it is my proud job to promote Canada to the world.Unlike the Conservatives, our open and transparent government speaks to the media, including international media. The Conservatives did everything possible to insult the media. We are doing things differently.
Mr. Speaker, my NDP colleague is choosing to doubt the professionalism of public servants. He should listen to his colleague from Jonquière, who had this to say in the House yesterday: I am proud of Canada's public servants, the services they provide, and their professionalism. I trust the agency employees to conduct themselves professionally. They are expected to adhere to the code of integrity and professional conduct. Every invitation they receive must be assessed in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Mr. Speaker, such behaviour is clearly against the rules and the perpetrators will be held to account. If judged appropriate by the appropriate authorities, they could be charged as well under criminal law.That being said, the vast majority of Canadians are displaying extraordinary generosity to the Syrian refugees.
Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to working with our multilateral organizations, especially NATO. I have read the intelligence report on that. Our troops are actually working with NATO at the moment. I got to visit our troops in Poland and also the troops that are in Ukraine. They are doing wonderful work, and we are potentially looking at other ways that we can support NATO and oppose Russian aggression.
Mr. Speaker, I have to give my colleague credit for lumping together two or three different issues. He knows full well that the president of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec asked Mr. Lalonde to step down from his volunteer duties on the board of directors. He also knows full well that the charges laid by the chief electoral officer of Quebec have nothing to do with Mr. Lalonde's role in the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous government, we are always very open to speaking and working with the parliamentary budget officer to show that we are trying to be much more transparent than the previous government was.We are putting in place a new way of creating economic growth with longer-term strategies. There will certainly be an adjustment period for the parliamentary budget officer because we are being much more transparent than the last gang.
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, such behaviour will not be tolerated. It is possible that sponsorship agreements could be terminated or the refugee could be not allowed, or if deemed appropriate by the authorities, such individuals or organizations could be charged. This behaviour is not tolerated by this government and perpetrators will be held to account.
Mr. Speaker, all parties to the settlement agreement have a critical role in reconciliation. We believe that the Catholic Church has to honour its obligation. This is not the time to get off on a technicality. Catholic people from coast to coast to coast in this country expect their church to honour this obligation and get on with the reconciliation and they, I am sure, will help in this endeavour.
Mr. Speaker, instead of working on Bombardier's recovery, the government is going to cause this flagship Quebec company to be dismantled and bought out by foreigners.That is what this government is doing by forcing the company to do away with its multiple-voting shares. This government has it in for Bombardier. This government is well aware of this, because it chose to ignore its officials, who advised giving the company a line of credit.Why did this government, which has 40 members from Quebec, issue this political directive?
Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say to this House before, in the last month of the year, revenues go down and expenses go up. The Conservatives left us with a deficit, as we will see.I could say that the more important question is, what are we going to do about the era of low growth that has been left to us? The PBOs independently confirmed that they agree our investments in the economy will grow the economy for the long term. That is what we are trying to do: improve Canada for this generation and the next generation of Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, the leak of the Panama papers has highlighted the need for collective action to crack down on people and companies who are trying to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. At last week's G20 finance ministers' meetings, the world's major economies took a united public stand on tax dodging and sent a strong warning to other countries that are not meeting their international commitments.As Canada's representative at the G20 finance ministers' meetings, would our Minister of Finance tell us how he is contributing to international efforts and the measures here at home?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government keeps changing its story about the Saudi arms deal. After the minister described it as a done deal, he now claims that he, and he alone, made the decision to sign the export permit. Canadians need to know who is running the show. Is it true that the Prime Minister and the PMO were kept completely in the dark about the signing of the export permit?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and congratulate him on the quality of his French.What we know is that Canada must meet responsible climate change targets. We will do so by working with our provincial partners. The Government of Canada, under the Conservatives, spent too much time not talking to or working with the provinces. That is why we are setting targets and developing a plan together, with the provinces, to make the reductions needed to save the planet.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?
Mr. Speaker, I have been saying the same thing about this contract for well over six months. We will not cancel an existing contract. It is important for people to know that when Canada signs an international deal, it is respected. The member for Outremont and the member for LondonFanshawe have stated very clearly that we do not cancel signed contracts. However, obviously, we are concerned about human rights around the world. We are therefore going to be open and transparent in our agreements in the future, because that is what Canadians are demanding and that is how we want to do things.
Mr. Speaker, the process of reconciliation is a long one. Residential school survivors opened deep wounds to share their stories and placed their trust in other parties to hold up their end of the deal. Our collective healing depends upon it. We cannot let a legal mistake by government lawyers jeopardize justice for survivors. The parliamentary secretary was not clear yesterday, so I ask again, will the government ensure full payment for the victims of residential schools?
Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of convictions for electoral fraud and regularly dismaying the public with their partisanship and patronage, Canadians needed a change. That is why we demonstrated a level of openness and transparency, always following the rules, and indeed making available all the documents that the opposition is so blithely recounting now. We have demonstrated a level of confidence in Canadians that for 10 years was lacking from the previous government.
Mr. Speaker, Canadians still have 40 million good reasons.The Liberal government has completely broken its promises on transparency. Just last week, the parliamentary budget officer said that he did not have everything he needed to do his job properly and evaluate such things as job creation. He did not have the right figures.Now, the former parliamentary budget officer is adding his voice to the mix and saying exactly the same thing, that there is a lack of transparency. He said there was a reason behind this lack of transparency. It is important.Why did the Prime Minister break his promise to be transparent
Mr. Speaker, the Coalition des Sans-Chemise, which has the support of the main unions in Quebec, launched a campaign this week entitled Employment insurance is for everyone!Although this government wants to improve the employment insurance system, it insists on applying a two-tier policy that overlooks or even ignores workers in Quebec's regions.Will the minister fix this problem and take into account the reality facing workers in Quebec regions hard hit by seasonal work?
Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none.It is my job to promote Canada and Canadian business around the world. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to visit California, one of our largest trading partners, larger than Japan, Germany, or the U.K., where I held six business round tables.The Conservatives' accusations are absolutely wrong. All of our expenses were clearly posted months before this was raised.
Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to speak at the ninth annual Kyiv Security Forum. All speakers shared concerns over Russia's continued aggressive military actions. Just last week in the Baltic Sea, Russian fighter jets buzzed a U.S. warship and barrel-rolled over an American air force plane. Clearly, Russia is willing to flex its military muscle.Will the Liberals take the Russian threat seriously in the defence review, or do they think talking to Putin is the appropriate defence posture?
Mr. Speaker, the contract has not, in fact, been signed. It is this government's decision. Its responsibility.Canada is going to completely miss the Conservatives' pathetic greenhouse gas targets. The Prime Minister talks a good talk on climate change, but the Liberals have the exact same targets as the Conservatives. A few days before the agreement is to be signed, they still have no plan.Will the Prime Minister finally present his action plan, or is his trip to New York just another one of those photo ops he loves so much?
Mr. Speaker, that is not what the parliamentary budget officer is saying .At the time, we introduced Bill C-377 on union transparency. We believe that Canadians who pay union dues have the right to know how their mandatory dues are spent by union bosses. For us, it is about transparency and accountability. Why does the Prime Minister want to prevent union members from knowing how their hard-earned money is spent?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member from Niagara Centre for his question, his advocacy, and his hard work in promoting business development in that region.The creation of foreign trade zone points in Niagara will provide a one-stop shop for businesses to access information on Canada's foreign trade zone policies and programs. As stated in budget 2016, expansion of trade opportunities across Canada is a key part of the Government of Canada's plan to create jobs and grow the economy. In helping small businesses to trade domestically and globally, we are able to make sure that they grow, innovate, and create good-quality jobs here and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the Minister of International Trade spent nearly $20,000 so that she could appear on a Hollywood talk show. That $20,000 was taken from the pockets of the same Canadians and middle-class families that this government claims it wants to help. That is unacceptable. The minister's travel plans clearly show that the main reason for the trip was the interview with HBO.Will the minister at least acknowledge that fact?
Mr. Speaker, some years ago I was very honoured to author in this House a private member's motion that was in fact passed and adopted by the House of Commons calling for the creation, among other things, of a public safety officer compensation fund. It was in the Liberal platform; it is in my mandate letter; it will be delivered.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is making defence cuts to create a leaner military and is delaying major procurement projects until after the next election. He plans on replacing Canada's combat capabilities with peace operations. He said that he wants to implement the recommendations from the 2011 transformation report, which would reduce the size of our military. The Liberals have already locked in their ideological direction for the Canadian Armed Forces, so why should Canadians expect their views to actually be heard in the Liberal defence review?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada has always followed all the rules and all the regulations involved with Elections Canada and political donations. Indeed, the level of openness and transparency that we continue to display is a direct result of the lack of confidence that so many Canadians had in the way the previous government operated. Indeed, for three straight elections, the Conservatives have been convicted of election fraud in each of those elections. The fact is, Canadians were tired of the way the previous government functioned, and that is why we are committed to openness and transparency.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for St. Catharines and I had the privilege to announce the first foreign trade zone in Ontario last week in our home community of the Niagara region. This FTZ will provide companies that import and export any part of their supply chain and companies looking to sell their products to markets around the world with incentives to trade in Ontario, and specifically the Niagara region. Would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development explain to the House what else the Government of Canada is doing to help small and medium-sized business keep costs down while opening new markets around the world?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for AbitibiBaie-JamesNunavikEeyou for his question.All parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement have a crucial role to play in renewing their relationship with Canada's indigenous peoples and in reconciliation, although the previous government left no legal recourse. However, it is up to the officials of the Catholic Church to do the right thing and fix
Mr. Speaker, the minister took a self-promoting vanity trip to Hollywood. She billed the taxpayers $20,000 for this trip. She directed her staff to find meetings to try to justify this trip. She even double-billed the taxpayers for dinner in Toronto after she returned home from her trip.When will this minister pay back Canadian taxpayers who shelled out so she could hobnob with Hollywood elite?
Mr. Speaker, in addition to learning that the Minister of International Trade wanted to be reimbursed for expenses that she should not have claimed, we learned that the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada had to fire its treasurer, Jean-François Lalonde, because an investigation by the chief electoral officer of Quebec revealed that he had committed electoral fraud. Mr. Lalonde was fired. What will happen to the Minister of International Trade?
Mr. Speaker, this morning we learned that some immigration consultants are charging Syrian refugees fees of more than $32,000 to process their applications to the federal government. When a program is fast-tracked, there are sometimes weaknesses and, unfortunately, some people take advantage of those weaknesses.Can the Minister of Immigration assure this House that no refugees applying to come to Canada are being exploited by immigration consultants?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that, when asked when things would actually get better with respect to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the minister could not even offer an answer.The Prime Minister went to Paris with no targets, no plan to get there, and no accountability to keep his government honest. Then the Prime Minister met with the premiers and came away with no targets, no plan, and no accountability. Now the Prime Minister is jetting off to New York City with no plan, no targets, and no accountability. Exactly how are these Liberals all that different from the Chrétien Liberals who failed us so miserably?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are that billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance.The president of the Vancouver port authority had this to say in response to the calls from the member for StevestonRichmond East about shutting down the port operations: We are the federal manager of lands in the port and are clearly designated as the environmental permitting agency, and that it is a regulatory agency, not a political body. When will the Liberals stop colluding with third party environmental groups and approve the LNG project, which would create thousands of well-paying, high-quality jobs?
Mr. Speaker, we have always been open and transparent and followed every single rule of the Ethics Commissioner, of Elections Canada, and of electoral law. The fact is that in reference to the event that my hon. colleague speaks of regarding the former Conservative minister of heritage, the money was only returned after the Conservatives got their hands caught in the cookie jar for that one. We proactively engaged with the Ethics Commissioner on this and got the all-clear ahead of time.
Mr. Speaker, problems at the Canada Revenue Agency just keep mounting: officials being wined and dined by the very people they are meant to investigate, a senior investigator going over to the company in the middle of a court case, secret sweetheart deals that let millionaire tax cheats off the hook with no penalties. This is an outrage. Canadians are tired of the wealthy and well-connected getting all the tax breaks. When will the minister stop defending the indefensible and announce an investigation into the KPMG tax scandal?
Mr. Speaker, in fact, that is not true. In the entire tenure of our government, in a fundraiser that was similar to the one in question, a mistake was recognized and the money was given back. Why is the standard different with the current government?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind the House that we have invested $2.5 billion in improving services and supports for workers who unfortunately get laid off, including seasonal workers from all parts of the country, even those areas that are not affected by the commodity downturn.We have provided a number of supports that are helping small businesses and workers from coast to coast to coast. We are there for those who need it, when they need it.
Mr. Speaker, under Jean Chrétien's Liberals, our armed forces went through a decade of darkness. It is sad to see the current government going down the same path. The Prime Minister already cut defence investments in the recent budget. He does not want to acquire the F-35s, and he is delaying other important procurements. He also promised to replace our combat capabilities with peacekeeping missions.Can the Prime Minister confirm that the defence policy is not yet written in stone and that consultations with the Standing Committee on National Defence will be taken into consideration?
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Liberals' lack of planning has resulted in Syrian refugees being extorted by crooked immigration consultants. These consultants are charging Syrian refugees thousands of dollars and selling them false hope of coming to Canada. The previous Conservative government cracked down on crooked consultants. When are the Liberals going to close the door on those who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable?
Mr. Speaker, once again, I will confirm that we will make decisions based on facts, science, and evidence in consultation with communities that are affected and indigenous peoples. That is the way we get resources to market in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the previous government did not understand this and it was not able to get our resources to market. That is what we are going to do. That is the responsible thing to do.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my colleague, the member for MississaugaStreetsville, that we were a strong voice at the G20 meetings around cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.We committed that we will move forward on the common reporting standards and work toward those standards internationally. We committed that we will follow through on base erosion and profit shifting deliverables. We are committed to combatting any sort of tax evasion in Canada and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, immigration consultants in partnership with refugee sponsorship groups are violating federal rules. A Mississauga organization called Fast to Canada has refugees paying from $12,000 to $32,000 before arriving in Canada. The group's website displays the logo of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council and indicates it is a member.What is the minister doing to protect legitimate refugees fleeing a dangerous situation from being defrauded?
Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago the NDP passed a motion calling on the government to establish a compensation fund for fallen firefighters. The Liberals again promised this fund during the election, yet the Prime Minister spoke to firefighters yesterday and failed to act on the public safety officer compensation fund. Firefighters are deeply disappointed. When will the Liberals honour this promise and set up this long-overdue fund? How much longer will firefighters have to wait for a fund that will protect their families should they make the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the rest of us?
Mr. Speaker, for the victims, the obligations imposed on the Catholic Church were part of the justice and healing process.Because of a government error, the church can now shirk its obligations. We simply cannot abandon the survivors and their families yet again, for they are still living with the painful legacy of residential schools.Will the government make a firm commitment today that the victims will receive the compensation they were promised?
Mr. Speaker, the minister should put her cue cards down for a minute and use some common sense.She is still defending the indefensible. This is not just about accountants participating in professional association events. This is about senior officials taking part in secret meetings at the Rideau Club.What does she not understand about the appearance of conflict of interest? When will she put an end to these practices? When will she tell her officials that the Rideau Club is over and there will be no more secret meetings, period?
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to report to the House that 95% of all CBAs in the federally regulated sector were reached without a work stoppage: 215 out of 227 agreements. This is a process that works. This is a process that will continue to work.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow I will be giving a speech at the special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Government of Canada supports harm reduction, which includes a role for supervised injection sites, the need for good Samaritan legislation, and making naloxone more readily available in emergency situations. The world is looking to Canada for leadership on these issues, and I thank the hon. member for his interest.
Mr. Speaker, there is no point in pushing me because we make environmental decisions based on evidence, facts, and science. We also do it engaging with indigenous people, in consultation with Canadians. We are committed to getting resources to market, but it must be done in a sustainable way, and that is what we will do.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, who do not really like the media, I know it is my job to promote Canada to the world.In California, I appeared in the media with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine and with Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California. I also spoke to the LA Times, which wrote a column about our economic policy, and I very proudly defended Canada's support for Syrian refugees, something I will do again and again.
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency's budget for 2016 is unprecedented and historic: $444 million. That investment will enable the agency to improve its client service, support the government's efforts to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance, and improve the agency's ability to collect outstanding tax debts.
Mr. Speaker, this government understands the importance of the aerospace sector, and that is why we are engaged with the company. The company came forward on December 11 to ask for up to $1 billion. We have been doing our due diligence and looking at the business case. We understand this is a solid company. We want to make sure we have constructive dialogue with the company. We will do what is in the best interests of Canadians, the company, Quebec, and the country from coast to coast to coast.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should reread his own ethics code, because this is not about the Ethics Commissioner; it is actually about his own code that he put in place for his own minister. There has been a clear violation of that code. Why is the Prime Minister ignoring a blatant violation of his own code of conduct?
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. It is my job to promote Canada around the world, and I am proud of that. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to go to California for a trade visit. As everyone knows, California is one of our largest trading partners.I repeat: the Conservatives' accusations are wrong, and all the rules were followed.
Mr. Speaker, we make decisions based on science, facts, and evidence, and in consultation. We have engaged with indigenous peoples and now we are reviewing the project. There are concerns with respect to salmon. I am sure the member opposite would also be concerned if there were environmental effects on the salmon.We are working with the proponent. We are working with the Government of B.C. We are engaging in consultation with indigenous leaders. We will make a decision when we are ready to make a decision.
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question, but since the members opposite are so interested in my promotion of Canada in California, let me talk about some of the meetings I held.I met with U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine. I met with the Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom. I met with Jim Haney, who is the senior VP and GM of City National Bank, recently acquired by RBC. I met with Greg Foster, the CEO of IMAX, a great Canadian company active in California. I met with Creative BC and Trade and Invest B.C. I met with John Chiang, the treasurer of California. I met with Jeff Gorell, the deputy mayor of Los Angeles. There is more, but I have run out of time.
Mr. Speaker, I still find it very strange to hear the Conservatives talk about transparency when, for 10 years, their government was the most secretive and opaque of all Canadian governments.The reality is that the Conservatives are still trying to use transparency as a political weapon against their opponents rather than understanding that true transparency means having trust in Canadians and trust in our unions. It is co-operation and a partnership that will yield better results for everyone. That is what Canadians want, and that is what we are giving them.
Mr. Speaker, just last week, two more first nations signed agreements with TransCanada for the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline. This adds to a growing list of first nations which have signed on to the project, including, Doig River, Halfway River, Blueberry River, Yekooche, Gitanyow, Kitselas, Lake Babine, Metlakatla, and Nisga'a Lisims. When will the cabinet approve the Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to the Canadian Armed Forces. With our open and transparent defence review that we are launching, I welcome the member holding his consultations with Canadians and experts alike, and I look forward to hearing his comments personally as well. I will reiterate for the member that our government is absolutely committed to the Canadian Armed Forces, the men and women who serve us.
Mr. Speaker, when strikes and lockouts drag on, families and communities suffer. Anti-scab legislation would lead to fewer and shorter labour disputes. This is a simple change that any progressive, pro-worker government would support, yet the Liberal parliamentary secretary actually said that he would vote against the NDP bill. The bill is a simple but important first step to modernizing the Canada Labour Code. It is good for workers. It is good for our economy. Will the minister stand up for Canadian workers and support the anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, as I have said since the beginning, whenever this issue came up in the election campaign and even before, we will not cancel an existing contract. Indeed, we will continue to respect contracts signed, because people around the world need to know that, when Canada signs a deal, it is respected.For the administrative steps that have followed, we are demonstrating government by cabinet, which means I have tremendous confidence in the ministers in our government to make the right decisions on files that cross their desks, and they do so with the full support of the prime minister, because that is why we put them in this job.
Mr. Speaker, to hear the Minister of National Revenue's response, it is clear that the Liberals do not understand the difference between a manager and an official.I hope that this government will properly understand the anti-scab legislation I introduced last week. I am proud of this bill to protect workers from abuse. We need to have anti-scab legislation to fully ensure the fundamental right to collective bargaining. A government that claims to be progressive should implement this legislation.Will the Liberal government support workers and vote in favour of this anti-scab bill?
Mr. Speaker, we said during the election what we say today. Our party understands, profoundly, that Canada is a trading nation. We also understand that with a trade deal as significant as the trans-Pacific partnership, we have a duty to consult broadly with Canadians. In fact, the trade committee is currently in British Columbia consulting.As for consultations with farmers, I have personally held many in Alberta, and I do consult often with the farming community, including my own father, who is
Mr. Speaker, this week, countries from around the world will be attending the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem. The government promised that its drug policy, including support for harm reduction, would be evidence-based. Can the Minister of Health inform the House about Canada's participation in this meeting?
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the immigration minister would not say how much the Syrian refugee program will cost Canadians. He said it will come under budget, but there is no budget. The minister also admitted that 13% of refugees, or 3,400 people, are still in hotels.The Liberals renovated five Canadian Forces bases for 6,100 people costing $6.4 million. Why did the Liberals blow millions of dollars displacing troops over Christmas to house refugees with no intent on using the bases?
Mr. Speaker, today, on the budget, the Prime Minister's commitment to transparency has gone from a principle to a buzzword. The current parliamentary budget officer has said, When you don't see the details, usually somebody is trying to hide something, and today he confirmed two more things: first, the Liberal budget does not add up; and second, good news, the Conservatives did leave a surplus.My question for the Prime Minister is, why does he insist on this continuation of misleading Canadians on these basic facts?
Mr. Speaker, it was the justice minister who, in 2014, said about LNG, that there are discussions that are happening where voices are being heard and concerns are being addressed, and that LNG remains a positive prospect for many first nations. Yet, the justice minister sits here silently, while billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance. When will she break the silence, stand up for British Columbians, and push her cabinet colleagues to approve an LNG project?
Mr. Speaker, yes, I can assure the members of this House that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Guilty parties will be punished under the law, where the authorities see fit, or by other means. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Canada.
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, it would be nice if the government followed its own rules.The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been telling Canadians for weeks that there would be penalties if the arms deal with Saudi Arabia were cancelled. However, this morning, he told us that there might not be, which is yet another contradiction. This is a far cry from an open and transparent government. Canadians have the right to know.Will the Prime Minister stop doing political yoga and make the contract public?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his hard work and his devotion to the environment. It is something that we share.We know that Canada needs to do more on the environment. That is why we have demonstrated every step of the way that we understand that building a strong economy goes hand in hand with protecting the environment.That is the leadership we showed at Paris. That is the leadership we continue to show on the world stage; and that is the hard work we are doing with our provincial partners and with municipalities to make sure that Canada once again has a well-earned reputation as a leader on the environmental file right across the world.
Mr. Speaker, I want to quote from the Prime Minister's own guidelines for ministers when it comes to fundraising: There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, [given] to individuals...because they [may] have made a financial contribution to [a politician or a political party]. Given that the justice minister's fundraising activities at a top Toronto law firm are in direct violation of the Prime Minister's own code of conduct, when will he direct the Liberal Party to give the money back?
Mr. Speaker, today, in an effort to cover her tracks, the Minister of International Trade said her trade meetings in Los Angeles were booked before her HBO interview.However, originally her HBO appearance was supposed to be on October 30. That was before she was even sworn in as minister. This meeting was then postponed until November 20, so on what day did her staff start booking the LA meetings? Is she saying that they started even before she was the minister?
Talk about a glass half empty or half full, Mr. Speaker.I said yesterday that 87% of the refugees have now found permanent housing. That is a very large number and we should be pleased with it. The remaining 13% will find permanent housing very soon.My colleague beside me, the Minister of National Defence, confirms there is nothing truthful in the member's comments about defence.
Mr. Speaker, by international standards, Canada has fewer doctors specializing in palliative care than countries such as the U.S. or Australia. The Liberal government promised to support palliative care, but there was no word of it in the 2016 budget or in the latest legislation. How can the Liberal government, in good conscience, open up physician-assisted suicide when palliative care is not available to the large majority of Canadians who need it?
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade's story just does not add up. She had a reserved seat on the government jet leaving Manilla, but she wanted some TV time on a popular U.S. show, so the minister instructed her staff to book some last-minute meetings and a first class ticket for her personal vanity project.This minister cost Canadian taxpayers almost $20,000 just so she could get schooled by an American comedian. Why does the minister believe that Canadians should have to pay for her hard-knock life lessons?
Mr. Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague that Canadians do not have access to high-quality palliative care in a manner that is acceptable. Some records suggest that only 15% to 30% of Canadians have access to such services. Our government is determined to work with the provinces and territories to increase access to palliative care. I will be working with my colleagues, the ministers of health across the country, to invest in home care and palliative care to make sure people have the care they need at the end of their lives.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, members of the agriculture committee voted against a motion to hear from farmers with regard to the trans-Pacific partnership. While Conservative and NDP members voted to hear from farmers, the Liberal members refused. Is this the openness and transparency that the Minister of International Trade meant when she was promising broad consultations? When will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand up and ensure that farmers and farm families are heard on this important deal?
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that, as I stated earlier, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the right capabilities. We are having the defence review, but on a separate track we are also moving diligently along to ensure that we replace our CF-18s and our ships for the navy, and we are working on a lot of other projects. However, the defence review allows all Canadians to participate in looking at where our Canadian Forces need to go.
Mr. Speaker, what I can tell the House is that this side respects both unions and businesses and their ability to come to a deal together. They both are going to be at the table working hard for their collective responsibilities. Overall, 95% of all agreements are settled at the table, if they are fair and balanced. This is exactly what we are doing with our Bill C-4.
As I have said, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none. Whether it is interviews with The Washington Post editorial board, the LA Times, BBC, or the many media interviews I did with German newspapers and with Bloomberg promoting CETA in Berlin last week, it is my proud job to promote Canada to the world.Unlike the Conservatives, our open and transparent government speaks to the media, including international media. The Conservatives did everything possible to insult the media. We are doing things differently.
Mr. Speaker, my NDP colleague is choosing to doubt the professionalism of public servants. He should listen to his colleague from Jonquière, who had this to say in the House yesterday: I am proud of Canada's public servants, the services they provide, and their professionalism. I trust the agency employees to conduct themselves professionally. They are expected to adhere to the code of integrity and professional conduct. Every invitation they receive must be assessed in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Mr. Speaker, such behaviour is clearly against the rules and the perpetrators will be held to account. If judged appropriate by the appropriate authorities, they could be charged as well under criminal law.That being said, the vast majority of Canadians are displaying extraordinary generosity to the Syrian refugees.
Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed to working with our multilateral organizations, especially NATO. I have read the intelligence report on that. Our troops are actually working with NATO at the moment. I got to visit our troops in Poland and also the troops that are in Ukraine. They are doing wonderful work, and we are potentially looking at other ways that we can support NATO and oppose Russian aggression.
Mr. Speaker, I have to give my colleague credit for lumping together two or three different issues. He knows full well that the president of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec asked Mr. Lalonde to step down from his volunteer duties on the board of directors. He also knows full well that the charges laid by the chief electoral officer of Quebec have nothing to do with Mr. Lalonde's role in the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous government, we are always very open to speaking and working with the parliamentary budget officer to show that we are trying to be much more transparent than the previous government was.We are putting in place a new way of creating economic growth with longer-term strategies. There will certainly be an adjustment period for the parliamentary budget officer because we are being much more transparent than the last gang.
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, such behaviour will not be tolerated. It is possible that sponsorship agreements could be terminated or the refugee could be not allowed, or if deemed appropriate by the authorities, such individuals or organizations could be charged. This behaviour is not tolerated by this government and perpetrators will be held to account.
Mr. Speaker, all parties to the settlement agreement have a critical role in reconciliation. We believe that the Catholic Church has to honour its obligation. This is not the time to get off on a technicality. Catholic people from coast to coast to coast in this country expect their church to honour this obligation and get on with the reconciliation and they, I am sure, will help in this endeavour.
Mr. Speaker, instead of working on Bombardier's recovery, the government is going to cause this flagship Quebec company to be dismantled and bought out by foreigners.That is what this government is doing by forcing the company to do away with its multiple-voting shares. This government has it in for Bombardier. This government is well aware of this, because it chose to ignore its officials, who advised giving the company a line of credit.Why did this government, which has 40 members from Quebec, issue this political directive?
Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say to this House before, in the last month of the year, revenues go down and expenses go up. The Conservatives left us with a deficit, as we will see.I could say that the more important question is, what are we going to do about the era of low growth that has been left to us? The PBOs independently confirmed that they agree our investments in the economy will grow the economy for the long term. That is what we are trying to do: improve Canada for this generation and the next generation of Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, the leak of the Panama papers has highlighted the need for collective action to crack down on people and companies who are trying to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. At last week's G20 finance ministers' meetings, the world's major economies took a united public stand on tax dodging and sent a strong warning to other countries that are not meeting their international commitments.As Canada's representative at the G20 finance ministers' meetings, would our Minister of Finance tell us how he is contributing to international efforts and the measures here at home?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government keeps changing its story about the Saudi arms deal. After the minister described it as a done deal, he now claims that he, and he alone, made the decision to sign the export permit. Canadians need to know who is running the show. Is it true that the Prime Minister and the PMO were kept completely in the dark about the signing of the export permit?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question and congratulate him on the quality of his French.What we know is that Canada must meet responsible climate change targets. We will do so by working with our provincial partners. The Government of Canada, under the Conservatives, spent too much time not talking to or working with the provinces. That is why we are setting targets and developing a plan together, with the provinces, to make the reductions needed to save the planet.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Minister of International Trade spent $20,000 on an all-inclusive vanity trip to Hollywood, and to cover up this junket in Los Angeles, she instructed her department to create a few meetings, so that hopefully nobody would notice.Does the minister really think Canadians believe she just happened to be in LA on business when HBO called, or does she think concocting last-minute meetings will make everything okay?
Mr. Speaker, I have been saying the same thing about this contract for well over six months. We will not cancel an existing contract. It is important for people to know that when Canada signs an international deal, it is respected. The member for Outremont and the member for LondonFanshawe have stated very clearly that we do not cancel signed contracts. However, obviously, we are concerned about human rights around the world. We are therefore going to be open and transparent in our agreements in the future, because that is what Canadians are demanding and that is how we want to do things.
Mr. Speaker, the process of reconciliation is a long one. Residential school survivors opened deep wounds to share their stories and placed their trust in other parties to hold up their end of the deal. Our collective healing depends upon it. We cannot let a legal mistake by government lawyers jeopardize justice for survivors. The parliamentary secretary was not clear yesterday, so I ask again, will the government ensure full payment for the victims of residential schools?
Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of convictions for electoral fraud and regularly dismaying the public with their partisanship and patronage, Canadians needed a change. That is why we demonstrated a level of openness and transparency, always following the rules, and indeed making available all the documents that the opposition is so blithely recounting now. We have demonstrated a level of confidence in Canadians that for 10 years was lacking from the previous government.
Mr. Speaker, Canadians still have 40 million good reasons.The Liberal government has completely broken its promises on transparency. Just last week, the parliamentary budget officer said that he did not have everything he needed to do his job properly and evaluate such things as job creation. He did not have the right figures.Now, the former parliamentary budget officer is adding his voice to the mix and saying exactly the same thing, that there is a lack of transparency. He said there was a reason behind this lack of transparency. It is important.Why did the Prime Minister break his promise to be transparent
Mr. Speaker, the Coalition des Sans-Chemise, which has the support of the main unions in Quebec, launched a campaign this week entitled Employment insurance is for everyone!Although this government wants to improve the employment insurance system, it insists on applying a two-tier policy that overlooks or even ignores workers in Quebec's regions.Will the minister fix this problem and take into account the reality facing workers in Quebec regions hard hit by seasonal work?
Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are trying to concoct a story where there is none.It is my job to promote Canada and Canadian business around the world. Following the APEC summit in the Philippines, I was proud to visit California, one of our largest trading partners, larger than Japan, Germany, or the U.K., where I held six business round tables.The Conservatives' accusations are absolutely wrong. All of our expenses were clearly posted months before this was raised.
Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to speak at the ninth annual Kyiv Security Forum. All speakers shared concerns over Russia's continued aggressive military actions. Just last week in the Baltic Sea, Russian fighter jets buzzed a U.S. warship and barrel-rolled over an American air force plane. Clearly, Russia is willing to flex its military muscle.Will the Liberals take the Russian threat seriously in the defence review, or do they think talking to Putin is the appropriate defence posture?
Mr. Speaker, the contract has not, in fact, been signed. It is this government's decision. Its responsibility.Canada is going to completely miss the Conservatives' pathetic greenhouse gas targets. The Prime Minister talks a good talk on climate change, but the Liberals have the exact same targets as the Conservatives. A few days before the agreement is to be signed, they still have no plan.Will the Prime Minister finally present his action plan, or is his trip to New York just another one of those photo ops he loves so much?
Mr. Speaker, that is not what the parliamentary budget officer is saying .At the time, we introduced Bill C-377 on union transparency. We believe that Canadians who pay union dues have the right to know how their mandatory dues are spent by union bosses. For us, it is about transparency and accountability. Why does the Prime Minister want to prevent union members from knowing how their hard-earned money is spent?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member from Niagara Centre for his question, his advocacy, and his hard work in promoting business development in that region.The creation of foreign trade zone points in Niagara will provide a one-stop shop for businesses to access information on Canada's foreign trade zone policies and programs. As stated in budget 2016, expansion of trade opportunities across Canada is a key part of the Government of Canada's plan to create jobs and grow the economy. In helping small businesses to trade domestically and globally, we are able to make sure that they grow, innovate, and create good-quality jobs here and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that the Minister of International Trade spent nearly $20,000 so that she could appear on a Hollywood talk show. That $20,000 was taken from the pockets of the same Canadians and middle-class families that this government claims it wants to help. That is unacceptable. The minister's travel plans clearly show that the main reason for the trip was the interview with HBO.Will the minister at least acknowledge that fact?
Mr. Speaker, some years ago I was very honoured to author in this House a private member's motion that was in fact passed and adopted by the House of Commons calling for the creation, among other things, of a public safety officer compensation fund. It was in the Liberal platform; it is in my mandate letter; it will be delivered.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is making defence cuts to create a leaner military and is delaying major procurement projects until after the next election. He plans on replacing Canada's combat capabilities with peace operations. He said that he wants to implement the recommendations from the 2011 transformation report, which would reduce the size of our military. The Liberals have already locked in their ideological direction for the Canadian Armed Forces, so why should Canadians expect their views to actually be heard in the Liberal defence review?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada has always followed all the rules and all the regulations involved with Elections Canada and political donations. Indeed, the level of openness and transparency that we continue to display is a direct result of the lack of confidence that so many Canadians had in the way the previous government operated. Indeed, for three straight elections, the Conservatives have been convicted of election fraud in each of those elections. The fact is, Canadians were tired of the way the previous government functioned, and that is why we are committed to openness and transparency.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for St. Catharines and I had the privilege to announce the first foreign trade zone in Ontario last week in our home community of the Niagara region. This FTZ will provide companies that import and export any part of their supply chain and companies looking to sell their products to markets around the world with incentives to trade in Ontario, and specifically the Niagara region. Would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development explain to the House what else the Government of Canada is doing to help small and medium-sized business keep costs down while opening new markets around the world?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for AbitibiBaie-JamesNunavikEeyou for his question.All parties to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement have a crucial role to play in renewing their relationship with Canada's indigenous peoples and in reconciliation, although the previous government left no legal recourse. However, it is up to the officials of the Catholic Church to do the right thing and fix
Mr. Speaker, the minister took a self-promoting vanity trip to Hollywood. She billed the taxpayers $20,000 for this trip. She directed her staff to find meetings to try to justify this trip. She even double-billed the taxpayers for dinner in Toronto after she returned home from her trip.When will this minister pay back Canadian taxpayers who shelled out so she could hobnob with Hollywood elite?
Mr. Speaker, in addition to learning that the Minister of International Trade wanted to be reimbursed for expenses that she should not have claimed, we learned that the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada had to fire its treasurer, Jean-François Lalonde, because an investigation by the chief electoral officer of Quebec revealed that he had committed electoral fraud. Mr. Lalonde was fired. What will happen to the Minister of International Trade?
Mr. Speaker, this morning we learned that some immigration consultants are charging Syrian refugees fees of more than $32,000 to process their applications to the federal government. When a program is fast-tracked, there are sometimes weaknesses and, unfortunately, some people take advantage of those weaknesses.Can the Minister of Immigration assure this House that no refugees applying to come to Canada are being exploited by immigration consultants?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that, when asked when things would actually get better with respect to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, the minister could not even offer an answer.The Prime Minister went to Paris with no targets, no plan to get there, and no accountability to keep his government honest. Then the Prime Minister met with the premiers and came away with no targets, no plan, and no accountability. Now the Prime Minister is jetting off to New York City with no plan, no targets, and no accountability. Exactly how are these Liberals all that different from the Chrétien Liberals who failed us so miserably?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are that billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs hang in the balance.The president of the Vancouver port authority had this to say in response to the calls from the member for StevestonRichmond East about shutting down the port operations: We are the federal manager of lands in the port and are clearly designated as the environmental permitting agency, and that it is a regulatory agency, not a political body. When will the Liberals stop colluding with third party environmental groups and approve the LNG project, which would create thousands of well-paying, high-quality jobs?
Mr. Speaker, we have always been open and transparent and followed every single rule of the Ethics Commissioner, of Elections Canada, and of electoral law. The fact is that in reference to the event that my hon. colleague speaks of regarding the former Conservative minister of heritage, the money was only returned after the Conservatives got their hands caught in the cookie jar for that one. We proactively engaged with the Ethics Commissioner on this and got the all-clear ahead of time.
Mr. Speaker, problems at the Canada Revenue Agency just keep mounting: officials being wined and dined by the very people they are meant to investigate, a senior investigator going over to the company in the middle of a court case, secret sweetheart deals that let millionaire tax cheats off the hook with no penalties. This is an outrage. Canadians are tired of the wealthy and well-connected getting all the tax breaks. When will the minister stop defending the indefensible and announce an investigation into the KPMG tax scandal?
Mr. Speaker, in fact, that is not true. In the entire tenure of our government, in a fundraiser that was similar to the one in question, a mistake was recognized and the money was given back. Why is the standard different with the current government?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to remind the House that we have invested $2.5 billion in improving services and supports for workers who unfortunately get laid off, including seasonal workers from all parts of the country, even those areas that are not affected by the commodity downturn.We have provided a number of supports that are helping small businesses and workers from coast to coast to coast. We are there for those who need it, when they need it.
Mr. Speaker, under Jean Chrétien's Liberals, our armed forces went through a decade of darkness. It is sad to see the current government going down the same path. The Prime Minister already cut defence investments in the recent budget. He does not want to acquire the F-35s, and he is delaying other important procurements. He also promised to replace our combat capabilities with peacekeeping missions.Can the Prime Minister confirm that the defence policy is not yet written in stone and that consultations with the Standing Committee on National Defence will be taken into consideration?
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Liberals' lack of planning has resulted in Syrian refugees being extorted by crooked immigration consultants. These consultants are charging Syrian refugees thousands of dollars and selling them false hope of coming to Canada. The previous Conservative government cracked down on crooked consultants. When are the Liberals going to close the door on those who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable?
Mr. Speaker, once again, I will confirm that we will make decisions based on facts, science, and evidence in consultation with communities that are affected and indigenous peoples. That is the way we get resources to market in the 21st century. Unfortunately, the previous government did not understand this and it was not able to get our resources to market. That is what we are going to do. That is the responsible thing to do.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my colleague, the member for MississaugaStreetsville, that we were a strong voice at the G20 meetings around cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion.We committed that we will move forward on the common reporting standards and work toward those standards internationally. We committed that we will follow through on base erosion and profit shifting deliverables. We are committed to combatting any sort of tax evasion in Canada and abroad.
Mr. Speaker, immigration consultants in partnership with refugee sponsorship groups are violating federal rules. A Mississauga organization called Fast to Canada has refugees paying from $12,000 to $32,000 before arriving in Canada. The group's website displays the logo of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council and indicates it is a member.What is the minister doing to protect legitimate refugees fleeing a dangerous situation from being defrauded?
Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago the NDP passed a motion calling on the government to establish a compensation fund for fallen firefighters. The Liberals again promised this fund during the election, yet the Prime Minister spoke to firefighters yesterday and failed to act on the public safety officer compensation fund. Firefighters are deeply disappointed. When will the Liberals honour this promise and set up this long-overdue fund? How much longer will firefighters have to wait for a fund that will protect their families should they make the ultimate sacrifice while protecting the rest of us?
Mr. Speaker, for the victims, the obligations imposed on the Catholic Church were part of the justice and healing process.Because of a government error, the church can now shirk its obligations. We simply cannot abandon the survivors and their families yet again, for they are still living with the painful legacy of residential schools.Will the government make a firm commitment today that the victims will receive the compensation they were promised?
Mr. Speaker, the minister should put her cue cards down for a minute and use some common sense.She is still defending the indefensible. This is not just about accountants participating in professional association events. This is about senior officials taking part in secret meetings at the Rideau Club.What does she not understand about the appearance of conflict of interest? When will she put an end to these practices? When will she tell her officials that the Rideau Club is over and there will be no more secret meetings, period?