2016-12-07

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister has even read her own survey, because if we do not give the Liberals all that private information, all of our answers are thrown in the garbage.We received a call today from Janet, from Alberta. She said when she called the MyDemocracy hotline, she was told these survey questions were approved by the 12-member all-party committee.That is news to me. I sit on the committee, and we would never have insulted the intelligence of Canadians with such ridiculous questions.First, the minister threw the committee under the bus, and now the Liberals are trying to blame us for their terrible survey. Thank goodness the Privacy Commissioner is investigating.Here is a values question for the Prime Minister. Does he have the integrity to keep his own promise?

Mr. Speaker, one need only listen to the minister to understand why people are cynical about politics. Here is what the media had to say this morning about the minister and her new consultation process. Le Devoir said that “respondents are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with statements that are, at best, nonsensical and at worst, biased”. A La Presse article headlined “Hypocrites' Ball” states that “the Liberal government waded into this debate, but is now starting to look pretty foolish”.Those words were written not by me but by journalists and political analysts.Can the minister tell us whether she will respect the people and hold a referendum when she decides to change the voting system—

Mr. Speaker, repeating Liberal spin and outrageous comments a thousand times do not make them true. Frankly, it is embarrassing to watch the House leader allowing herself to be used by the Prime Minister like this. She can tell him no, after all. The Prime Minister is breaking fundraising rules. The media knows it. The public knows it. Even Liberal donors and supporters know it.Is there anyone on that side of the House who has the courage to stand up for what is right, and tell the Prime Minister to stop this corrupt fundraising?

Mr. Speaker, she is repeating lines that the Prime Minister has asked her to say, words that she knows are not true. The Liberals are not following the rules, and she has to know it.Will the House leader show the integrity and the leadership that I know she has, and will she admit that the Liberals need to clean up their act, or will she at least tell the Prime Minister that she is not going to keep doing his dirty work for him?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are bungling the replacement of Canada's search and rescue aircraft. Cascade Aerospace, one of Abbotsford's largest employers, has proposed saving the taxpayers $1.5 billion by completely modernizing the current fleet of Hercules aircraft. It now appears the Liberals have refused to consider that proposal. This decision will kill hundreds of jobs in Abbotsford and will cost Canadian taxpayers dearly. Why will the defence minister not stand up for B.C. jobs and protect Canadian taxpayers?

Mr. Speaker, the ethical ship the Liberals sailed in on is sinking like the Titanic.Day after day, more and more people are coming forward, admitting they have paid to play with the Prime Minister. It is abundantly clear to everyone the Prime Minister never intended to follow his own open and accountable government rules.When will the Prime Minister stop the charade, and put an end to these unethical, shady, cash for access events?

Mr. Speaker, the question again for the minister of youth is this. When the Prime Minister gave himself the job of minister of youth, many young Canadians expected he would champion their issues. Over a year later, the youth minister has been one of the worst-performing ministers in the Liberal cabinet. He has encouraged police to hand out criminal records for pot possession, backtracked on his promise of a fair new voting system, and is failing to address the very serious issue of rising precarious work among young people.Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and resign as minister of youth?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to be accountable and yet, during this past year, he has not answered any of my questions concerning youth. Young people's concerns about Kinder Morgan, marijuana, precarious jobs, or electoral reform are not reflected in the measures proposed by the Liberal government. I will not even mention his many broken promises to first nations youth.If the Prime Minister will not be held to account for his lack of action, why does he not resign and appoint a minister of youth who is truly interested in youth issues?

Mr. Speaker, it is great to see the Prime Minister, really. I feel kind of lucky because I did not have to pay $1,500 to get in here. On behalf of all of those Canadians who do not have $1,500 to get access to the Prime Minister, I have a very simple question. Will he now admit that he has used his official position to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into the coffers of the Liberal Party of Canada?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport received a letter from the Town of Lac-Mégantic that is very clear. The federal government can help the people of Lac-Mégantic. More than three years after the tragedy, the wounds have yet to heal, and they are reopened every time a train passes through town.Instead of passing the buck to local elected officials who must relive the tragedy every day, can the minister do what the people of Lac-Mégantic and all Canadians expect of him, which is to show some leadership, take charge of the file, and make sure no train whistle is heard in downtown Lac-Mégantic ever again?

Mr. Speaker, there is the Liberal arrogance that Albertans have come to expect from the Prime Minister. The Alberta MP asked a very good question about jobs. If it was 290,00 jobs in Toronto, the Prime Minister would have been paying attention and he would have answered the question. She deserves respect. Albertans deserve respect. Why does the Prime Minister not get up, do the right thing, and give the people of Vegreville their jobs back?

Mr. Speaker, I was not going to rise on this point of order today, but after the exchange between the Conservative leader and the government today and the obvious lack of respect for the people of Alberta, I thought I would rise on this point of order.Yesterday, during the vote on a private member's bill, the member for Lakeland stood and we applauded. I thought I heard from the other side a disparaging comment about the people of Vegreville. I would like to give the hon. member who said it an opportunity to apologize, not just to the people of Vegreville but to the member as well.

Mr. Speaker, I would rather not have to repeat myself, but our government and our Prime Minister know that the people of Lac-Mégantic were deeply traumatized by the 2013 disaster, which took the lives of 47 people.I have visited the town three times. I met with its citizens and listened to them. I am working hard on this matter. We want to speed up the process if we can, but we must do our due diligence. As soon as we have something to report, we will make an announcement.

Mr. Speaker, I am not feeling more secure now, because the Prime Minister actually himself confirmed what we are saying. When I asked him about the May fundraiser with Chinese billionaires in Toronto, he said, “That is why we have committed to engaging positively with the world to draw in investment”. Liberal Party fundraisers are not the place to draw in foreign investment. Why has the Prime Minister so blatantly and so eagerly thrown his ethical guidelines out the window?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to have forgotten what “appearance of conflict of interest” means.Their bogus survey on democratic reform is anything but scientific. Children can take it. Adults can take it 50 times if they feel so inclined. It is supposed to be anonymous, but respondents who want their answers tabulated have to disclose their gender, age, level of education, sector of employment, email address, income, language, postal code, and minority status.The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is concerned. If it is not scientific, if it really is anonymous, why do they collect all that information?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the member opposite, and assure him that providing demographic information is completely optional.All information provided by participants will be administered according to the requirements of federal policy laws and federal policies on public opinion research. Users of MyDemocracy.ca can access the privacy information at the bottom of the page, which explains the information being collected, and how it will be used. The government will only be receiving aggregated data, without any personal information. We take protecting Canadians'—

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government cannot be bothered to work out a better deal for Canadians in the Canada-Europe trade agreement. It is going ahead despite the fact that a number of problems remain outstanding. Like Canada's dairy producers, Canadian vintners will lose a lot of money because of this government's concessions.When will the minister come up with a plan to help Canadian vintners cope with the negative repercussions of this trade agreement?

Mr. Speaker, I have said many times that 2015 will be the last election held under first past the post. I do want to go back to an offhand comment the NDP leader made that demonstrates his lack of respect for our economy. The fact that he does not understand that investing in good Canadian businesses, investing in coding, making sure we have opportunities for our youth is not something to joke about.

Mr. Speaker, my staff has researched the identity of “Cliff”, cited yesterday by the minister as the defender of MyDemocracy.ca. It turns out he is Cliff Van Der Linden, the CEO of Vox Pop Labs, who was paid a quarter of a dollars to design it. That is a relief, because at first it seemed that the minister was referring to Cliff, the clueless mailman from Cheers. After all, due to the complete lack of security features, Bostonians like Cliff, Woody, and Carla can participate in the survey; Norm can sign in without even leaving his barstool.Given this lack of security, how can Canadians trust that the results of the survey will mean absolutely anything at all?

Mr. Speaker, I am baffled by this. I did not say anything disparaging at all, so I do not know how to address this.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister defended ripping 280 jobs out of Vegreville. Here are some comparisons. It is like removing 290,000 jobs from Toronto, 187,000 from Montreal, 113,000 from Vancouver, 60,000 from Ottawa, and 55,000 from Edmonton.This unnecessary and unfounded edict will hurt families, businesses, and communities in the region. When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and stop this cold-hearted, mean-spirited attack?

Mr. Speaker, whether it is hosting elites, high priced lawyers, or Chinese tycoons, Liberal fundraisers are marketed as a chance to lobby the government. An IT start-up entrepreneur was told that $1,500 would get her close to the PM and his rich friends. That is cash for access.The Liberals' response is an endless loop of “we have some of the strictest rules in the country”. We know the rules, because Conservatives wrote them, but the Prime Minister set his own rules for himself and his ministers.Will the Liberals finally admit their promises and their rules are not worth the paper they are written on?

Mr. Speaker, the job situation in Canada is worrisome, but the future looks even worse.According to CBC/Radio-Canada, the Minister of Finance presented very troubling information to the elite. The finance department's forecasts indicate that job creation will decline by 1.9% next year. We know that the government finds it difficult to provide exact figures. The government is refusing to acknowledge that no full-time jobs have been created since it came to power.Will the government give us the facts? According to its own data, is Canada headed towards a 1.9% reduction in employment next year?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister told us that we were visiting the wrong website. She might even be right. If we took democracy surveys at BuzzFeed, The Beaverton, or even on the back of a cereal box, we would get less skewed results than what they are trying to pass off as consultation now. We would not have to provide our gender, year of birth, household income, postal code, or even the name of our firstborn child for it to count.The minister keeps telling this House that we do not need personal information to participate in the survey, but she did not say those answers would actually count. Is she just using weasel words?

Mr. Speaker, based on the response to my question from last Friday, clearly, people who have been waiting for 20 years for cellular service are going to have to wait even longer, because this government has absolutely no plan.It is not just the remote countryside that lacks service. Sometimes just five minutes away from the main city, there are dead zones, as though the technology did not exist.When will the government start listening to people from rural communities? They have solutions at the ready.

Mr. Speaker, we are all thrilled that tens of thousands of Canadians are participating in MyDemocracy.ca. Providing their personal information is completely optional. Responses will remain anonymous. Any data collected will be administered according to the requirements of the federal Privacy Act. I encourage all members and Canadians to participate in this unique and innovative initiative.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague answered that question with full detail and a tremendous amount of compassion.The fact is the party opposite talked for 10 years about standing up for Alberta and yet when we approved a pipeline that is going to make a difference in the lives of millions of Albertans, what did those members do? They started talking about how it will never get built, so do not bother investing, do not bother hiring people for it. They are talking down the economy of Alberta and real decisions we took for political gain. That is why people are disgusted with the approach that members opposite are taking.

Mr. Speaker, obviously the government does not have a plan because, whatever it is doing, no full-time jobs have been created. What is more, according to the government's own forecasts, there will be a 1.9% drop in job creation. That is completely unacceptable. We know that the government is good at keeping secrets.I have asked the government 13 times when it plans to balance the budget. I want to take this opportunity to ask the Prime Minister to reassure Canadians.When will Canada balance the budget?I know it is not a $1,500 question. It is a $30-billion question.

Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, Vox Pop Labs are the folks who brought us Vote Compass, the online survey notorious for telling participants they should vote Liberal. A Queen's University professor answered Vote Compass five ways and was always labelled a Liberal. Reports showed that any consistent answer to all 30 questions on that survey caused respondents to be labelled Liberal. As a result, the CBC ombudsman warned about its data, saying “it is challenging to interpret which uses were authentic and which ones might have been contrived”. Given that MyDemocracy.ca has all the same problems, will the Liberals just take this survey offline?

Mr. Speaker, the member said that he will come to the jobs in a moment if we are just patient. Well, Canadians are going to have to be very patient, because it has been a year, and the government has not created a single net new full-time job. In fact, in 2015, we added, as a country, about 12,300 net new full-time jobs per month. This year, we have lost a grand total of 30,000 full-time jobs. All of this data can be found in the finance minister's own PowerPoint presentation.Will the finance minister turn to page 6 of that presentation and see the destructiveness of his policies and reverse them?

I will come to the jobs if members can be patient. We put in the budget measures that will help Canadians and the middle class. The member knows well that our historic investment in infrastructure is helping to grow the economy in our country and create jobs for Canadians. That is what we promised. That is what we are delivering to Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, in September, a prominent Liberal organizer sent invitations to a fundraiser with the Prime Minister. In those invitations, he said it was important to attend and donate to the Liberal Party “so that our issues are heard and that we begin to form relationships and open dialogues with our government”—not with the Liberal Party of Canada; with the government. The Prime Minister either understands that this is unethical and potentially illegal, or he is just willfully breaking the rules. Which is it?

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of the tens of thousands of Canadians who have engaged with MyDemocracy.ca. We are proud of the Canadian political scientists who have helped develop this tool. This is a Canadian made application, formed by Canadian academic experts to engage Canadians. So far, it is working.

Mr. Speaker, a recent study echoed what indigenous educators and leaders have been voicing for years, that improving the level of education and employment of young indigenous people will boost the economy in Saskatchewan by $90 billion. Yet following federal cuts, the Province of Saskatchewan redirected funding from NORTEP-NORPAC. This has students and staff uncertain about their future.Will the government help NORTEP-NORPAC to ensure that it remains autonomous and thriving, or will it continue to leave the future of our young people at risk?

Mr. Speaker, I proudly stand for B.C. and all of Canada. Our search and rescue is a critical component for Canada. This is a project that was started in 2004, and I am proud to say that this government is going to get this done, because Canada needs to have a very sound search and rescue capability, and this is one promise that we plan to keep.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to appreciate the member opposite's passion for a referendum, and I encourage all members of the House to read the committee's report. We will respond to that report in due course.

Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is only unprecedented for the Liberal Party. I had the honour of being part of a government that travelled across the country, all year round, in preparation for the budget every year, with former ministers Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Oliver. We criss-crossed the country.Perhaps it is unprecedented for the Liberals, but not for a Canadian government. Asking for $1,500 for access to the Prime Minister and to be able to talk to him, now that is unprecedented.Do the Liberals realize that giving access to the Prime Minister in exchange for money violates the rules of ethics?

Mr. Speaker, our budget implementation bill is important because it will create the economic growth that Canadians need.After the middle class and those working hard to join it failed to see adequate economic growth for 10 years, we put together a budget that will invest in the middle class, build a strong economy, and protect Canadians. That is exactly what we are going to do by creating opportunities for the middle class and those working hard to join it.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to put on the record that, in fact, we have invested $165 million in the youth employment strategy; $73 million in work-integrated learning, giving young people the chance to get the skills they need; $85 million in union-based training; $175 million in transfers to the provinces for training; and $1.5 billion to increase Canada students grants. And this is only our first year in office.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the member what we did to consult Canadians. On budget 2016, more than 500,000 Canadians engaged with us. We received more than 5,000 submissions.

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like he is running for House leader.With Bill C-29, the Prime Minister is trying to take away the protections that the Quebec law offers families who are already among the most indebted in the G20. The Prime Minister is attacking the Quebec Consumer Protection Act.Why? Is he trying to help the banks?

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to serve with four outstanding MPs from Alberta who are fighting every single day for Albertans. They are the ones who are making sure we have stabilization funding. They are the ones who are making historic investments in infrastructure. They are the ones who are making sure that we work with Business Development Canada to create opportunities for small businesses. They are the ones who led the charge when it comes to pipelines.All of these initiatives will create jobs. It is good for Alberta. It is good for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, talking about data, according to Statistics Canada, since November 2015, there have been 183,200 jobs created. We have seen 1,000 jobs at Bell Helicopter. We have seen 1,000 new jobs created by GM Canada. We have seen Thomson Reuters commit up to 1,500 new jobs in Canada.Do members know why? According to Jim Smith, the president and CEO of Thomson Reuters, “We applaud the Canadian federal, provincial and municipal governments for making jobs, innovation and the knowledge economy a top priority”. That is why we're investing—

Mr. Speaker, as a result of our close collaboration with the Government of Alberta and local municipalities, we announced public transit investments last Saturday for communities like Airdrie, Banff, Fort Saskatchewan, Fort McMurray, Red Deer, Strathcona County, Medicine Hat, St. Albert, Lethbridge, and others. Some of these communities are receiving transit funding for the first time in the last decade. These projects will help grow the economy, create jobs, and build more sustainable—

Mr. Speaker, Canadian Heritage wrapped up its series of official languages round tables that will shape the government's new action plan. These cross-Canada consultations are an example of our government's leadership on official languages. Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage share some more examples of the government's accomplishments in this area over the past year?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to serve with a government that has lowered taxes on the middle class, that respects the environment and understands we can do more to protect the environment, and that recognizes we need to grow the economy and create the growth Canadians expect us to create.The member knows very well that when it comes to the rules around political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country. We will continue to follow the rules. I encourage the member to get to work, and do the hard work Canadians expect us to do.

Mr. Speaker, in May, the founder of Wealth One Bank of Canada, a Chinese billionaire, attended a cash for access event with the Prime Minister. Two months later, his bank received final government approval to start business in Canada. Another guest at the same fundraiser donated $1 million to the Trudeau Foundation, $50,000 of which is to build a statue of the Prime Minister's father. Under these terms, does the Prime Minister understand that this is not only unethical, it is more than likely illegal, or does he just not care anymore?

Mr. Speaker, representatives of the Coalition des citoyens de Lac-Mégantic are here in Ottawa today.In 2013, the member for Papineau signed their petition in support of the construction of a rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic. Today, they are sending a clear message to the Prime Minister. They are asking him to keep his election promise by announcing the construction of a rail bypass.My question is clear. Will—

Mr. Speaker, there is no issue that I care more deeply about than the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. I have been to Lac-Mégantic three times. I held a public forum. I listened to the residents. I know they want a bypass. I met with citizens groups on three separate occasions. Just last night, I spoke with the mayor of Lac-Mégantic, Mr. Cloutier. I committed to work with him to see if we could speed up the process. I plan to speak with the Government of Quebec, which is responsible for the environmental assessment.This is a very important file, and we want to get it right.

Mr. Speaker, that is no reason to do away with Quebec's consumer protection legislation. This Prime Minister seems perfectly comfortable in not keeping his word, whether it is on forming the most ethical government on the planet, or his solemn promise to change the electoral system—and he has been in power for only one year.My question for the Prime Minister is very simple. Does he think it is important to attend question period?

Mr. Speaker, we are proud to be hearing from as many Canadians as possible about their values on their electoral system. We are proud to be working with Canada's political scientists in developing this tool. We look forward to hearing from as many Canadians as possible, using this initiative and many others, before introducing legislation in the House.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. The member recognizes that I am reminding Canadians, ensuring Canadians, that when it comes to political financing, we have some of the strictest rules in this country.What is more interesting is that the member chooses to keep repeating the same question, but does not understand why she gets the same answer.I have confidence in her, as well, that we can work together in this place to serve Canadians, and to respond to the very real challenges they are facing. Let us get to work. Let us work harder for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, clearly, the office of prime minister deserves to be treated with a great deal of respect. I am confident that the Prime Minister will continue to do so, but again today, another fundraising activity involving him, this time in Montreal, is raising questions.The organizers candidly promoted the fact that participants could have privileged access to the Prime Minister if they paid $1,500 to attend the event. Does the Prime Minister realize that, when people do that, they are tarnishing the Prime Minister's image?

Mr. Speaker, this week, the finance minister released a helpful PowerPoint presentation on the economy. It showed that in the last Conservative term in office, we were creating, as an economy, 15,000 net new full-time jobs on average every month. This year we have been losing on average 2,000 full-time jobs per month.The finance minister promised that a big deficit spending splurge would create lots of new jobs. He got the big deficits. Where are the jobs?

Mr. Speaker, we understand the impact of the Vegreville relocation on the community. We also understand the important work being undertaken by the member opposite in defence of her constituents. The testimony we heard at committee yesterday was very, very moving. We understand that this decision will have an impact on community members, and we are taking every measure possible to minimize those impacts. That includes guaranteeing a job for all of the workers who currently work in Vegreville, should they wish to work in Edmonton.We will continue to work with the member opposite in this regard and defend the workers of Alberta.

Mr. Speaker, with all these questions, it is important to reinforce the fact that at the federal level, we have among the strongest principles and rules around fundraising in the country, and those rules are always followed. This is important, because Canadians need to have confidence in the transparency, accountability, and secureness of our political financing system. Canadians can and must be reassured.

Mr. Speaker, the Special Committee on Electoral Reform has good advice about asking questions regarding electoral reform. I am sure members have started to read the report which says: Finally, the Committee was told numerous times that there is no perfect electoral system as different systems emphasize different values. Recognizing there is no perfect system, the committee used the values and principles set out in the mandate to develop its recommendations on electoral reform.MyDemocracy.ca is about empowering Canadians to have their say about electoral reform. I encourage all members of this House, and Canadians, to get involved.

Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say, time and time again, and I appreciate the opportunity to once again remind Canadians and to assure Canadians, that when it comes to the rules around political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country.This party, this government, will continue to follow the rules. This government will continue to respond to the very real challenges that Canadians are facing. I am proud to have some of my own constituents here on the Hill today, and I will continue to work hard for them.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, the Minister of Infrastructure announced over $100 million in funding for Calgary public-private projects. This money is aimed specifically to help plan and design the Green Line. However, all over Alberta, there are small communities who have never received any money for public transit. My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. How will these small communities benefit from our historic investment in public transit?

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent for his question.It is no secret that the former Conservative government left the country over $100 billion in debt. Canadians remember that.We presented Canadians with a plan for economic growth.Canadians asked us to help families and to grow the economy. That is what we did in budget 2016. That is what we did in the fall economic update. Our government is committed to helping Canadian families and creating jobs and economic growth here in Canada. That is something that the members opposite were unable to do for 10 years.

Mr. Speaker, this government will continue to engage with Canadians. This government will continue to consult with Canadians. This government will continue to respond to the very real challenges that Canadians are facing.I can assure Canadians that when it comes to the rules governing political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country, and this party, this government will continue to follow the rules.

Mr. Speaker, I answer that question in the positive, in that, yes, I am committed to making sure that—

Mr. Speaker, the frustration Canadians felt around ethics was part of why we were elected in the first place, and therefore, it is so important to reinforce for Canadians that the rules are always followed. The values and the principles that underscore the strong financing rules that exist at the federal level, stronger than just about anywhere else in the country, can reassure Canadians that we have a system that works to make sure that we are worthy and are upholding the public trust.

Again, Mr. Speaker, it is important to reassure Canadians that we have, at the federal level, some of the strongest, most stringent, rules around political fundraising anywhere in the country. Canadians know they can have confidence in members of the House, because we follow all of those rules, and understand the values of openness, accountability, transparency that are required in order to maintain Canadians' trust in our government.

Mr. Speaker, it is not a situation I am well aware of right now, and I would entertain the question and a conversation with the member afterwards to see what we can do.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, coding with Shopify.Speaking of respect for Parliament, respect for democracy, the Prime Minister's Speech from the Throne stated clearly that “2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first past the post voting system”. My question is simple. Was he lying?

Mr. Speaker, CETA is a very progressive agreement. We will monitor its impact here. We have already promised to help dairy farmers. We will monitor the impact of the agreement on Canada as we go forward.

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader gets up day after day, and repeats the same lines over and over, lines that the Prime Minister—

Mr. Speaker, here are a few facts.The Liberal Party of Canada is establishing a direct link between government business and its fundraising activities. The Liberals are inviting people to buy tickets to talk government business with the Prime Minister and the ministers.Is the Prime Minister denying those facts?

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I believe there were Liberal members who heard this as well. I believe it was the member for Newmarket—Aurora, so I would like to give him an opportunity to apologize.

Mr. Speaker, one of the challenges facing Atlantic Canada is finding ways to welcome new Canadians, growing our communities, and strengthening our economies. As one of 32 Atlantic MPs, from the rural riding of Tobique—Mactaquac, ensuring economic growth is a main priority.Could the Minister of Immigration please update the House on the details of the Atlantic immigration pilot project and how communities can be involved in its success?

Mr. Speaker, there a lot of questions about these issues, but that is why it makes me happy to reassure Canadians that indeed we have among the strongest political financing rules in the country, which means that Canadians have confidence in the transparency, openness, rigour, and accountability of our system, which this party has always followed and always will follow.

Mr. Speaker, the very last sentence says, and this is what I wish to table, “While answering the profile questions is optional, not answering these questions will result in your input not being included as part of the overall results of the study”. I am not sure what Liberals meant by participation and consultation, but—

Mr. Speaker, our government will continue its consultations and engagement with Canadians, because we need to respond to the real challenges they are facing.The Chief Electoral Officer said that political financing laws in Canada are the most advanced, constrained, and transparent in the world.

Mr. Speaker, a prime minister has a tremendous amount of responsibilities, and a large part of those responsibilities is to come to the House to take questions from his colleagues.However, I am also very pleased to have an extremely strong cabinet. They are here to answer questions related to their portfolios. I am also very proud to be constantly engaged with Canadians across the country to listen to their concerns and work with them to build a stronger future.We are committed to building a stronger and more successful middle class. That is exactly what we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to reassure Canadians that the federal level, in terms of political financing, has among the strongest and most rigorous rules in the country. That allows for openness, transparency, and accountability, which can reassure and reinforce Canadians' confidence, because those rules have always been and will always be followed by our party.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can rest assured that, at the federal level, we have one of the strongest political financing systems in the country. The reality is that this system requires a high degree of openness, transparency, and accountability in order to maintain Canadians' confidence in our democracy and system of government.I can assure Canadians that our party always follows all the rules and that it also supports all the values and principles associated with those rules.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order arising out of question period and in a moment I will ask for unanimous consent to table a document.The Minister of Democratic Institutions claimed in question period that Canadians did not have to provide their personal data in order to participate in the MyDemocracy exercise, personal information like income, gender, postal code, etc., but the privacy statement on her own website claims the following, “While answering the profile questions is optional, not answering these questions will result in your input not—”

Mr. Speaker, we held unprecedented public consultations in order to respond to the real challenges Canadians are facing.I want to assure Canadians that the rules governing fundraising are among the strictest in the country, and we follow the rules.

Mr. Speaker, this gives me an opportunity to indicate how proud we are that we have a Prime Minister who recognized a long time ago the challenge faced by youth, and is taking it so seriously that he is the minister of youth. Not only that, we are proud to have announced the creation of an expert panel on youth employment. It is going to be reporting in December. It is only one of the initiatives that we are doing to help young people in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his very hard work on this issue, because engaging communities is at the very heart of the Atlantic immigration pilot project. We know that the key to retaining newcomers is helping them successfully build their lives and put down roots in the Atlantic region. For example, we have just learned about a catering company in Moncton, started by Syrian refugee women, with support from the local community and local businesses. This is why the pilot project will mobilize communities and bring together businesses, schools, student groups, municipalities, and volunteers to welcome and help integrate new families.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but get up because the member for Alberta asked the Prime Minister an important question about jobs and I bet if it was 290,000 jobs in Toronto, he would get up and answer it. Job losses are at an all-time high in Alberta. Considering we probably will not see him again, the least the Prime Minister could do is respect Albertans, respect the member of Parliament, and get up and answer her question.

Mr. Speaker, let us get the record straight, which indicates that employment increased by 10,700 jobs in November. The unemployment rate has fallen by 0.2% to a low of 6.8%. Compared to November 2015, employment in Canada over the year since then is higher by 1.0%.Clearly, we have a plan, and it is working.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sudbury for that important question.I am proud of our government's positive leadership on official languages. Here are just a few of the things we have done: reinstated the francophone immigration program, arranged for the appointment of bilingual Supreme Court justices, reinstated university education at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and reviewed service delivery rules.My Public Safety colleague and I are committed to ensuring that all new RCMP officers providing security services on Parliament Hill are bilingual.

Mr. Speaker, at a November fundraiser, the organizer told the media that he offered to host the event after the Prime Minister invited him to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials. At that fundraiser, the Prime Minister was lobbied directly on the billion-dollar takeover of a Canadian business, which is currently before cabinet. He was also lobbied to change the rules for immigrant investors and foreign real estate investors. Based on these facts, this was not only unethical, it was illegal. Does the Prime Minister really believe that he is above the law?

Mr. Speaker, of course, this is a very important issue. We have been talking about our innovation agenda. Within that context, we need to have a strong and vibrant telecommunications sector that can provide this kind of service to our constituents. That is why we are working very closely with them to make sure we have additional investments to provide more choice and availability of service. We are working on spectrum to make sure we maximize the possibility of spectrum there to be able to provide solutions in these rural and remote regions, and where there are connections and issues around connections. We are going to make sure we address this issue in a meaningful way.

Mr. Speaker, repeating Liberal spin and outrageous comments a thousand times do not make them true. Frankly, it is embarrassing to watch the House leader allowing herself to be used by the Prime Minister like this. She can tell him no, after all. The Prime Minister is breaking fundraising rules. The media knows it. The public knows it. Even Liberal donors and supporters know it.Is there anyone on that side of the House who has the courage to stand up for what is right, and tell the Prime Minister to stop this corrupt fundraising?

Mr. Speaker, she is repeating lines that the Prime Minister has asked her to say, words that she knows are not true. The Liberals are not following the rules, and she has to know it.Will the House leader show the integrity and the leadership that I know she has, and will she admit that the Liberals need to clean up their act, or will she at least tell the Prime Minister that she is not going to keep doing his dirty work for him?

Mr. Speaker, I would rather not have to repeat myself, but our government and our Prime Minister know that the people of Lac-Mégantic were deeply traumatized by the 2013 disaster, which took the lives of 47 people.I have visited the town three times. I met with its citizens and listened to them. I am working hard on this matter. We want to speed up the process if we can, but we must do our due diligence. As soon as we have something to report, we will make an announcement.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, the Minister of Infrastructure announced over $100 million in funding for Calgary public-private projects. This money is aimed specifically to help plan and design the Green Line. However, all over Alberta, there are small communities who have never received any money for public transit. My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. How will these small communities benefit from our historic investment in public transit?

Mr. Speaker, the very last sentence says, and this is what I wish to table, “While answering the profile questions is optional, not answering these questions will result in your input not being included as part of the overall results of the study”. I am not sure what Liberals meant by participation and consultation, but—

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister told us that we were visiting the wrong website. She might even be right. If we took democracy surveys at BuzzFeed, The Beaverton, or even on the back of a cereal box, we would get less skewed results than what they are trying to pass off as consultation now. We would not have to provide our gender, year of birth, household income, postal code, or even the name of our firstborn child for it to count.The minister keeps telling this House that we do not need personal information to participate in the survey, but she did not say those answers would actually count. Is she just using weasel words?

Mr. Speaker, I continue to appreciate the member opposite's passion for a referendum, and I encourage all members of the House to read the committee's report. We will respond to that report in due course.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister defended ripping 280 jobs out of Vegreville. Here are some comparisons. It is like removing 290,000 jobs from Toronto, 187,000 from Montreal, 113,000 from Vancouver, 60,000 from Ottawa, and 55,000 from Edmonton.This unnecessary and unfounded edict will hurt families, businesses, and communities in the region. When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and stop this cold-hearted, mean-spirited attack?

Mr. Speaker, here are a few facts.The Liberal Party of Canada is establishing a direct link between government business and its fundraising activities. The Liberals are inviting people to buy tickets to talk government business with the Prime Minister and the ministers.Is the Prime Minister denying those facts?

Mr. Speaker, I was not going to rise on this point of order today, but after the exchange between the Conservative leader and the government today and the obvious lack of respect for the people of Alberta, I thought I would rise on this point of order.Yesterday, during the vote on a private member's bill, the member for Lakeland stood and we applauded. I thought I heard from the other side a disparaging comment about the people of Vegreville. I would like to give the hon. member who said it an opportunity to apologize, not just to the people of Vegreville but to the member as well.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague answered that question with full detail and a tremendous amount of compassion.The fact is the party opposite talked for 10 years about standing up for Alberta and yet when we approved a pipeline that is going to make a difference in the lives of millions of Albertans, what did those members do? They started talking about how it will never get built, so do not bother investing, do not bother hiring people for it. They are talking down the economy of Alberta and real decisions we took for political gain. That is why people are disgusted with the approach that members opposite are taking.

Mr. Speaker, one need only listen to the minister to understand why people are cynical about politics. Here is what the media had to say this morning about the minister and her new consultation process. Le Devoir said that “respondents are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with statements that are, at best, nonsensical and at worst, biased”. A La Presse article headlined “Hypocrites' Ball” states that “the Liberal government waded into this debate, but is now starting to look pretty foolish”.Those words were written not by me but by journalists and political analysts.Can the minister tell us whether she will respect the people and hold a referendum when she decides to change the voting system—

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister has even read her own survey, because if we do not give the Liberals all that private information, all of our answers are thrown in the garbage.We received a call today from Janet, from Alberta. She said when she called the MyDemocracy hotline, she was told these survey questions were approved by the 12-member all-party committee.That is news to me. I sit on the committee, and we would never have insulted the intelligence of Canadians with such ridiculous questions.First, the minister threw the committee under the bus, and now the Liberals are trying to blame us for their terrible survey. Thank goodness the Privacy Commissioner is investigating.Here is a values question for the Prime Minister. Does he have the integrity to keep his own promise?

Mr. Speaker, at a November fundraiser, the organizer told the media that he offered to host the event after the Prime Minister invited him to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials. At that fundraiser, the Prime Minister was lobbied directly on the billion-dollar takeover of a Canadian business, which is currently before cabinet. He was also lobbied to change the rules for immigrant investors and foreign real estate investors. Based on these facts, this was not only unethical, it was illegal. Does the Prime Minister really believe that he is above the law?

Mr. Speaker, this week, the finance minister released a helpful PowerPoint presentation on the economy. It showed that in the last Conservative term in office, we were creating, as an economy, 15,000 net new full-time jobs on average every month. This year we have been losing on average 2,000 full-time jobs per month.The finance minister promised that a big deficit spending splurge would create lots of new jobs. He got the big deficits. Where are the jobs?

Mr. Speaker, in May, the founder of Wealth One Bank of Canada, a Chinese billionaire, attended a cash for access event with the Prime Minister. Two months later, his bank received final government approval to start business in Canada. Another guest at the same fundraiser donated $1 million to the Trudeau Foundation, $50,000 of which is to build a statue of the Prime Minister's father. Under these terms, does the Prime Minister understand that this is not only unethical, it is more than likely illegal, or does he just not care anymore?

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader gets up day after day, and repeats the same lines over and over, lines that the Prime Minister—

I will come to the jobs if members can be patient. We put in the budget measures that will help Canadians and the middle class. The member knows well that our historic investment in infrastructure is helping to grow the economy in our country and create jobs for Canadians. That is what we promised. That is what we are delivering to Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I believe there were Liberal members who heard this as well. I believe it was the member for Newmarket—Aurora, so I would like to give him an opportunity to apologize.

Mr. Speaker, I am baffled by this. I did not say anything disparaging at all, so I do not know how to address this.

Mr. Speaker, based on the response to my question from last Friday, clearly, people who have been waiting for 20 years for cellular service are going to have to wait even longer, because this government has absolutely no plan.It is not just the remote countryside that lacks service. Sometimes just five minutes away from the main city, there are dead zones, as though the technology did not exist.When will the government start listening to people from rural communities? They have solutions at the ready.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, coding with Shopify.Speaking of respect for Parliament, respect for democracy, the Prime Minister's Speech from the Throne stated clearly that “2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first past the post voting system”. My question is simple. Was he lying?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the member opposite, and assure him that providing demographic information is completely optional.All information provided by participants will be administered according to the requirements of federal policy laws and federal policies on public opinion research. Users of MyDemocracy.ca can access the privacy information at the bottom of the page, which explains the information being collected, and how it will be used. The government will only be receiving aggregated data, without any personal information. We take protecting Canadians'—

Mr. Speaker, my staff has researched the identity of “Cliff”, cited yesterday by the minister as the defender of MyDemocracy.ca. It turns out he is Cliff Van Der Linden, the CEO of Vox Pop Labs, who was paid a quarter of a dollars to design it. That is a relief, because at first it seemed that the minister was referring to Cliff, the clueless mailman from Cheers. After all, due to the complete lack of security features, Bostonians like Cliff, Woody, and Carla can participate in the survey; Norm can sign in without even leaving his barstool.Given this lack of security, how can Canadians trust that the results of the survey will mean absolutely anything at all?

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent for his question.It is no secret that the former Conservative government left the country over $100 billion in debt. Canadians remember that.We presented Canadians with a plan for economic growth.Canadians asked us to help families and to grow the economy. That is what we did in budget 2016. That is what we did in the fall economic update. Our government is committed to helping Canadian families and creating jobs and economic growth here in Canada. That is something that the members opposite were unable to do for 10 years.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are bungling the replacement of Canada's search and rescue aircraft. Cascade Aerospace, one of Abbotsford's largest employers, has proposed saving the taxpayers $1.5 billion by completely modernizing the current fleet of Hercules aircraft. It now appears the Liberals have refused to consider that proposal. This decision will kill hundreds of jobs in Abbotsford and will cost Canadian taxpayers dearly. Why will the defence minister not stand up for B.C. jobs and protect Canadian taxpayers?

Mr. Speaker, Canadian Heritage wrapped up its series of official languages round tables that will shape the government's new action plan. These cross-Canada consultations are an example of our government's leadership on official languages. Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage share some more examples of the government's accomplishments in this area over the past year?

Mr. Speaker, our budget implementation bill is important because it will create the economic growth that Canadians need.After the middle class and those working hard to join it failed to see adequate economic growth for 10 years, we put together a budget that will invest in the middle class, build a strong economy, and protect Canadians. That is exactly what we are going to do by creating opportunities for the middle class and those working hard to join it.

Mr. Speaker, the Special Committee on Electoral Reform has good advice about asking questions regarding electoral reform. I am sure members have started to read the report which says: Finally, the Committee was told numerous times that there is no perfect electoral system as different systems emphasize different values. Recognizing there is no perfect system, the committee used the values and principles set out in the mandate to develop its recommendations on electoral reform.MyDemocracy.ca is about empowering Canadians to have their say about electoral reform. I encourage all members of this House, and Canadians, to get involved.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to be accountable and yet, during this past year, he has not answered any of my questions concerning youth. Young people's concerns about Kinder Morgan, marijuana, precarious jobs, or electoral reform are not reflected in the measures proposed by the Liberal government. I will not even mention his many broken promises to first nations youth.If the Prime Minister will not be held to account for his lack of action, why does he not resign and appoint a minister of youth who is truly interested in youth issues?

Mr. Speaker, the job situation in Canada is worrisome, but the future looks even worse.According to CBC/Radio-Canada, the Minister of Finance presented very troubling information to the elite. The finance department's forecasts indicate that job creation will decline by 1.9% next year. We know that the government finds it difficult to provide exact figures. The government is refusing to acknowledge that no full-time jobs have been created since it came to power.Will the government give us the facts? According to its own data, is Canada headed towards a 1.9% reduction in employment next year?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can rest assured that, at the federal level, we have one of the strongest political financing systems in the country. The reality is that this system requires a high degree of openness, transparency, and accountability in order to maintain Canadians' confidence in our democracy and system of government.I can assure Canadians that our party always follows all the rules and that it also supports all the values and principles associated with those rules.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but get up because the member for Alberta asked the Prime Minister an important question about jobs and I bet if it was 290,000 jobs in Toronto, he would get up and answer it. Job losses are at an all-time high in Alberta. Considering we probably will not see him again, the least the Prime Minister could do is respect Albertans, respect the member of Parliament, and get up and answer her question.

Mr. Speaker, the question again for the minister of youth is this. When the Prime Minister gave himself the job of minister of youth, many young Canadians expected he would champion their issues. Over a year later, the youth minister has been one of the worst-performing ministers in the Liberal cabinet. He has encouraged police to hand out criminal records for pot possession, backtracked on his promise of a fair new voting system, and is failing to address the very serious issue of rising precarious work among young people.Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and resign as minister of youth?

Mr. Speaker, in September, a prominent Liberal organizer sent invitations to a fundraiser with the Prime Minister. In those invitations, he said it was important to attend and donate to the Liberal Party “so that our issues are heard and that we begin to form relationships and open dialogues with our government”—not with the Liberal Party of Canada; with the government. The Prime Minister either understands that this is unethical and potentially illegal, or he is just willfully breaking the rules. Which is it?

Mr. Speaker, a recent study echoed what indigenous educators and leaders have been voicing for years, that improving the level of education and employment of young indigenous people will boost the economy in Saskatchewan by $90 billion. Yet following federal cuts, the Province of Saskatchewan redirected funding from NORTEP-NORPAC. This has students and staff uncertain about their future.Will the government help NORTEP-NORPAC to ensure that it remains autonomous and thriving, or will it continue to leave the future of our young people at risk?

Mr. Speaker, representatives of the Coalition des citoyens de Lac-Mégantic are here in Ottawa today.In 2013, the member for Papineau signed their petition in support of the construction of a rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic. Today, they are sending a clear message to the Prime Minister. They are asking him to keep his election promise by announcing the construction of a rail bypass.My question is clear. Will—

Mr. Speaker, as a result of our close collaboration with the Government of Alberta and local municipalities, we announced public transit investments last Saturday for communities like Airdrie, Banff, Fort Saskatchewan, Fort McMurray, Red Deer, Strathcona County, Medicine Hat, St. Albert, Lethbridge, and others. Some of these communities are receiving transit funding for the first time in the last decade. These projects will help grow the economy, create jobs, and build more sustainable—

Mr. Speaker, we understand the impact of the Vegreville relocation on the community. We also understand the important work being undertaken by the member opposite in defence of her constituents. The testimony we heard at committee yesterday was very, very moving. We understand that this decision will have an impact on community members, and we are taking every measure possible to minimize those impacts. That includes guaranteeing a job for all of the workers who currently work in Vegreville, should they wish to work in Edmonton.We will continue to work with the member opposite in this regard and defend the workers of Alberta.

Mr. Speaker, whether it is hosting elites, high priced lawyers, or Chinese tycoons, Liberal fundraisers are marketed as a chance to lobby the government. An IT start-up entrepreneur was told that $1,500 would get her close to the PM and his rich friends. That is cash for access.The Liberals' response is an endless loop of “we have some of the strictest rules in the country”. We know the rules, because Conservatives wrote them, but the Prime Minister set his own rules for himself and his ministers.Will the Liberals finally admit their promises and their rules are not worth the paper they are written on?

Mr. Speaker, this government will continue to engage with Canadians. This government will continue to consult with Canadians. This government will continue to respond to the very real challenges that Canadians are facing.I can assure Canadians that when it comes to the rules governing political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country, and this party, this government will continue to follow the rules.

Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, Vox Pop Labs are the folks who brought us Vote Compass, the online survey notorious for telling participants they should vote Liberal. A Queen's University professor answered Vote Compass five ways and was always labelled a Liberal. Reports showed that any consistent answer to all 30 questions on that survey caused respondents to be labelled Liberal. As a result, the CBC ombudsman warned about its data, saying “it is challenging to interpret which uses were authentic and which ones might have been contrived”. Given that MyDemocracy.ca has all the same problems, will the Liberals just take this survey offline?

Mr. Speaker, let us get the record straight, which indicates that employment increased by 10,700 jobs in November. The unemployment rate has fallen by 0.2% to a low of 6.8%. Compared to November 2015, employment in Canada over the year since then is higher by 1.0%.Clearly, we have a plan, and it is working.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order arising out of question period and in a moment I will ask for unanimous consent to table a document.The Minister of Democratic Institutions claimed in question period that Canadians did not have to provide their personal data in order to participate in the MyDemocracy exercise, personal information like income, gender, postal code, etc., but the privacy statement on her own website claims the following, “While answering the profile questions is optional, not answering these questions will result in your input not—”

Mr. Speaker, I am not feeling more secure now, because the Prime Minister actually himself confirmed what we are saying. When I asked him about the May fundraiser with Chinese billionaires in Toronto, he said, “That is why we have committed to engaging positively with the world to draw in investment”. Liberal Party fundraisers are not the place to draw in foreign investment. Why has the Prime Minister so blatantly and so eagerly thrown his ethical guidelines out the window?

Mr. Speaker, the member said that he will come to the jobs in a moment if we are just patient. Well, Canadians are going to have to be very patient, because it has been a year, and the government has not created a single net new full-time job. In fact, in 2015, we added, as a country, about 12,300 net new full-time jobs per month. This year, we have lost a grand total of 30,000 full-time jobs. All of this data can be found in the finance minister's own PowerPoint presentation.Will the finance minister turn to page 6 of that presentation and see the destructiveness of his policies and reverse them?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his very hard work on this issue, because engaging communities is at the very heart of the Atlantic immigration pilot project. We know that the key to retaining newcomers is helping them successfully build their lives and put down roots in the Atlantic region. For example, we have just learned about a catering company in Moncton, started by Syrian refugee women, with support from the local community and local businesses. This is why the pilot project will mobilize communities and bring together businesses, schools, student groups, municipalities, and volunteers to welcome and help integrate new families.

Mr. Speaker, this gives me an opportunity to indicate how proud we are that we have a Prime Minister who recognized a long time ago the challenge faced by youth, and is taking it so seriously that he is the minister of youth. Not only that, we are proud to have announced the creation of an expert panel on youth employment. It is going to be reporting in December. It is only one of the initiatives that we are doing to help young people in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to have forgotten what “appearance of conflict of interest” means.Their bogus survey on democratic reform is anything but scientific. Children can take it. Adults can take it 50 times if they feel so inclined. It is supposed to be anonymous, but respondents who want their answers tabulated have to disclose their gender, age, level of education, sector of employment, email address, income, language, postal code, and minority status.The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is concerned. If it is not scientific, if it really is anonymous, why do they collect all that information?

Mr. Speaker, CETA is a very progressive agreement. We will monitor its impact here. We have already promised to help dairy farmers. We will monitor the impact of the agreement on Canada as we go forward.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to serve with a government that has lowered taxes on the middle class, that respects the environment and understands we can do more to protect the environment, and that recognizes we need to grow the economy and create the growth Canadians expect us to create.The member knows very well that when it comes to the rules around political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country. We will continue to follow the rules. I encourage the member to get to work, and do the hard work Canadians expect us to do.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. The member recognizes that I am reminding Canadians, ensuring Canadians, that when it comes to political financing, we have some of the strictest rules in this country.What is more interesting is that the member chooses to keep repeating the same question, but does not understand why she gets the same answer.I have confidence in her, as well, that we can work together in this place to serve Canadians, and to respond to the very real challenges they are facing. Let us get to work. Let us work harder for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, there is no issue that I care more deeply about than the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. I have been to Lac-Mégantic three times. I held a public forum. I listened to the residents. I know they want a bypass. I met with citizens groups on three separate occasions. Just last night, I spoke with the mayor of Lac-Mégantic, Mr. Cloutier. I committed to work with him to see if we could speed up the process. I plan to speak with the Government of Quebec, which is responsible for the environmental assessment.This is a very important file, and we want to get it right.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sudbury for that important question.I am proud of our government's positive leadership on official languages. Here are just a few of the things we have done: reinstated the francophone immigration program, arranged for the appointment of bilingual Supreme Court justices, reinstated university education at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and reviewed service delivery rules.My Public Safety colleague and I are committed to ensuring that all new RCMP officers providing security services on Parliament Hill are bilingual.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government cannot be bothered to work out a better deal for Canadians in the Canada-Europe trade agreement. It is going ahead despite the fact that a number of problems remain outstanding. Like Canada's dairy producers, Canadian vintners will lose a lot of money because of this government's concessions.When will the minister come up with a plan to help Canadian vintners cope with the negative repercussions of this trade agreement?

Mr. Speaker, the ethical ship the Liberals sailed in on is sinking like the Titanic.Day after day, more and more people are coming forward, admitting they have paid to play with the Prime Minister. It is abundantly clear to everyone the Prime Minister never intended to follow his own open and accountable government rules.When will the Prime Minister stop the charade, and put an end to these unethical, shady, cash for access events?

Mr. Speaker, I have said many times that 2015 will be the last election held under first past the post. I do want to go back to an offhand comment the NDP leader made that demonstrates his lack of respect for our economy. The fact that he does not understand that investing in good Canadian businesses, investing in coding, making sure we have opportunities for our youth is not something to joke about.

Mr. Speaker, that is no reason to do away with Quebec's consumer protection legislation. This Prime Minister seems perfectly comfortable in not keeping his word, whether it is on forming the most ethical government on the planet, or his solemn promise to change the electoral system—and he has been in power for only one year.My question for the Prime Minister is very simple. Does he think it is important to attend question period?

Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is only unprecedented for the Liberal Party. I had the honour of being part of a government that travelled across the country, all year round, in preparation for the budget every year, with former ministers Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Oliver. We criss-crossed the country.Perhaps it is unprecedented for the Liberals, but not for a Canadian government. Asking for $1,500 for access to the Prime Minister and to be able to talk to him, now that is unprecedented.Do the Liberals realize that giving access to the Prime Minister in exchange for money violates the rules of ethics?

Mr. Speaker, talking about data, according to Statistics Canada, since November 2015, there have been 183,200 jobs created. We have seen 1,000 jobs at Bell Helicopter. We have seen 1,000 new jobs created by GM Canada. We have seen Thomson Reuters commit up to 1,500 new jobs in Canada.Do members know why? According to Jim Smith, the president and CEO of Thomson Reuters, “We applaud the Canadian federal, provincial and municipal governments for making jobs, innovation and the knowledge economy a top priority”. That is why we're investing—

Mr. Speaker, with all these questions, it is important to reinforce the fact that at the federal level, we have among the strongest principles and rules around fundraising in the country, and those rules are always followed. This is important, because Canadians need to have confidence in the transparency, accountability, and secureness of our political financing system. Canadians can and must be reassured.

Mr. Speaker, we held unprecedented public consultations in order to respond to the real challenges Canadians are facing.I want to assure Canadians that the rules governing fundraising are among the strictest in the country, and we follow the rules.

Mr. Speaker, one of the challenges facing Atlantic Canada is finding ways to welcome new Canadians, growing our communities, and strengthening our economies. As one of 32 Atlantic MPs, from the rural riding of Tobique—Mactaquac, ensuring economic growth is a main priority.Could the Minister of Immigration please update the House on the details of the Atlantic immigration pilot project and how communities can be involved in its success?

Mr. Speaker, it is not a situation I am well aware of right now, and I would entertain the question and a conversation with the member afterwards to see what we can do.

Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say, time and time again, and I appreciate the opportunity to once again remind Canadians and to assure Canadians, that when it comes to the rules around political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country.This party, this government, will continue to follow the rules. This government will continue to respond to the very real challenges that Canadians are facing. I am proud to have some of my own constituents here on the Hill today, and I will continue to work hard for them.

Mr. Speaker, our government will continue its consultations and engagement with Canadians, because we need to respond to the real challenges they are facing.The Chief Electoral Officer said that political financing laws in Canada are the most advanced, constrained, and transparent in the world.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport received a letter from the Town of Lac-Mégantic that is very clear. The federal government can help the people of Lac-Mégantic. More than three years after the tragedy, the wounds have yet to heal, and they are reopened every time a train passes through town.Instead of passing the buck to local elected officials who must relive the tragedy every day, can the minister do what the people of Lac-Mégantic and all Canadians expect of him, which is to show some leadership, take charge of the file, and make sure no train whistle is heard in downtown Lac-Mégantic ever again?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to put on the record that, in fact, we have invested $165 million in the youth employment strategy; $73 million in work-integrated learning, giving young people the chance to get the skills they need; $85 million in union-based training; $175 million in transfers to the provinces for training; and $1.5 billion to increase Canada students grants. And this is only our first year in office.

Again, Mr. Speaker, it is important to reassure Canadians that we have, at the federal level, some of the strongest, most stringent, rules around political fundraising anywhere in the country. Canadians know they can have confidence in members of the House, because we follow all of those rules, and understand the values of openness, accountability, transparency that are required in order to maintain Canadians' trust in our government.

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like he is running for House leader.With Bill C-29, the Prime Minister is trying to take away the protections that the Quebec law offers families who are already among the most indebted in the G20. The Prime Minister is attacking the Quebec Consumer Protection Act.Why? Is he trying to help the banks?

Mr. Speaker, we are all thrilled that tens of thousands of Canadians are participating in MyDemocracy.ca. Providing their personal information is completely optional. Responses will remain anonymous. Any data collected will be administered according to the requirements of the federal Privacy Act. I encourage all members and Canadians to participate in this unique and innovative initiative.

Mr. Speaker, the frustration Canadians felt around ethics was part of why we were elected in the first place, and therefore, it is so important to reinforce for Canadians that the rules are always followed. The values and the principles that underscore the strong financing rules that exist at the federal level, stronger than just about anywhere else in the country, can reassure Canadians that we have a system that works to make sure that we are worthy and are upholding the public trust.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to serve with four outstanding MPs from Alberta who are fighting every single day for Albertans. They are the ones who are making sure we have stabilization funding. They are the ones who are making historic investments in infrastructure. They are the ones who are making sure that we work with Business Development Canada to create opportunities for small businesses. They are the ones who led the charge when it comes to pipelines.All of these initiatives will create jobs. It is good for Alberta. It is good for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to reassure Canadians that the federal level, in terms of political financing, has among the strongest and most rigorous rules in the country. That allows for openness, transparency, and accountability, which can reassure and reinforce Canadians' confidence, because those rules have always been and will always be followed by our party.

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of the tens of thousands of Canadians who have engaged with MyDemocracy.ca. We are proud of the Canadian political scientists who have helped develop this tool. This is a Canadian made application, formed by Canadian academic experts to engage Canadians. So far, it is working.

Mr. Speaker, I answer that question in the positive, in that, yes, I am committed to making sure that—

Mr. Speaker, of course, this is a very important issue. We have been talking about our innovation agenda. Within that context, we need to have a strong and vibrant telecommunications sector that can provide this kind of service to our constituents. That is why we are working very closely with them to make sure we have additional investments to provide more choice and availability of service. We are working on spectrum to make sure we maximize the possibility of spectrum there to be able to provide solutions in these rural and remote regions, and where there are connections and issues around connections. We are going to make sure we address this issue in a meaningful way.

Mr. Speaker, a prime minister has a tremendous amount of responsibilities, and a large part of those responsibilities is to come to the House to take questions from his colleagues.However, I am also very pleased to have an extremely strong cabinet. They are here to answer questions related to their portfolios. I am also very proud to be constantly engaged with Canadians across the country to listen to their concerns and work with them to build a stronger future.We are committed to building a stronger and more successful middle class. That is exactly what we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, obviously the government does not have a plan because, whatever it is doing, no full-time jobs have been created. What is more, according to the government's own forecasts, there will be a 1.9% drop in job creation. That is completely unacceptable. We know that the government is good at keeping secrets.I have asked the government 13 times when it plans to balance the budget. I want to take this opportunity to ask the Prime Minister to reassure Canadians.When will Canada balance the budget?I know it is not a $1,500 question. It is a $30-billion question.

Mr. Speaker, it is great to see the Prime Minister, really. I feel kind of lucky because I did not have to pay $1,500 to get in here. On behalf of all of those Canadians who do not have $1,500 to get access to the Prime Minister, I have a very simple question. Will he now admit that he has used his official position to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into the coffers of the Liberal Party of Canada?

Mr. Speaker, we are proud to be hearing from as many Canadians as possible about their values on their electoral system. We are proud to be working with Canada's political scientists in developing this tool. We look forward to hearing from as many Canadians as possible, using this initiative and many others, before introducing legislation in the House.

Mr. Speaker, there is the Liberal arrogance that Albertans have come to expect from the Prime Minister. The Alberta MP asked a very good question about jobs. If it was 290,00 jobs in Toronto, the Prime Minister would have been paying attention and he would have answered the question. She deserves respect. Albertans deserve respect. Why does the Prime Minister not get up, do the right thing, and give the people of Vegreville their jobs back?

Mr. Speaker, there a lot of questions about these issues, but that is why it makes me happy to reassure Canadians that indeed we have among the strongest political financing rules in the country, which means that Canadians have confidence in the transparency, openness, rigour, and accountability of our system, which this party has always followed and always will follow.

Mr. Speaker, clearly, the office of prime minister deserves to be treated with a great deal of respect. I am confident that the Prime Minister will continue to do so, but again today, another fundraising activity involving him, this time in Montreal, is raising questions.The organizers candidly promoted the fact that participants could have privileged access to the Prime Minister if they paid $1,500 to attend the event. Does the Prime Minister realize that, when people do that, they are tarnishing the Prime Minister's image?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the member what we did to consult Canadians. On budget 2016, more than 500,000 Canadians engaged with us. We received more than 5,000 submissions.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly stand for B.C. and all of Canada. Our search and rescue is a critical component for Canada. This is a project that was started in 2004, and I am proud to say that this government is going to get this done, because Canada needs to have a very sound search and rescue capability, and this is one promise that we plan to keep.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly stand for B.C. and all of Canada. Our search and rescue is a critical component for Canada. This is a project that was started in 2004, and I am proud to say that this government is going to get this done, because Canada needs to have a very sound search and rescue capability, and this is one promise that we plan to keep.

Mr. Speaker, clearly, the office of prime minister deserves to be treated with a great deal of respect. I am confident that the Prime Minister will continue to do so, but again today, another fundraising activity involving him, this time in Montreal, is raising questions.The organizers candidly promoted the fact that participants could have privileged access to the Prime Minister if they paid $1,500 to attend the event. Does the Prime Minister realize that, when people do that, they are tarnishing the Prime Minister's image?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the member what we did to consult Canadians. On budget 2016, more than 500,000 Canadians engaged with us. We received more than 5,000 submissions.

Mr. Speaker, there a lot of questions about these issues, but that is why it makes me happy to reassure Canadians that indeed we have among the strongest political financing rules in the country, which means that Canadians have confidence in the transparency, openness, rigour, and accountability of our system, which this party has always followed and always will follow.

Mr. Speaker, there is the Liberal arrogance that Albertans have come to expect from the Prime Minister. The Alberta MP asked a very good question about jobs. If it was 290,00 jobs in Toronto, the Prime Minister would have been paying attention and he would have answered the question. She deserves respect. Albertans deserve respect. Why does the Prime Minister not get up, do the right thing, and give the people of Vegreville their jobs back?

Mr. Speaker, we are proud to be hearing from as many Canadians as possible about their values on their electoral system. We are proud to be working with Canada's political scientists in developing this tool. We look forward to hearing from as many Canadians as possible, using this initiative and many others, before introducing legislation in the House.

Mr. Speaker, it is great to see the Prime Minister, really. I feel kind of lucky because I did not have to pay $1,500 to get in here. On behalf of all of those Canadians who do not have $1,500 to get access to the Prime Minister, I have a very simple question. Will he now admit that he has used his official position to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into the coffers of the Liberal Party of Canada?

Mr. Speaker, obviously the government does not have a plan because, whatever it is doing, no full-time jobs have been created. What is more, according to the government's own forecasts, there will be a 1.9% drop in job creation. That is completely unacceptable. We know that the government is good at keeping secrets.I have asked the government 13 times when it plans to balance the budget. I want to take this opportunity to ask the Prime Minister to reassure Canadians.When will Canada balance the budget?I know it is not a $1,500 question. It is a $30-billion question.

Mr. Speaker, a prime minister has a tremendous amount of responsibilities, and a large part of those responsibilities is to come to the House to take questions from his colleagues.However, I am also very pleased to have an extremely strong cabinet. They are here to answer questions related to their portfolios. I am also very proud to be constantly engaged with Canadians across the country to listen to their concerns and work with them to build a stronger future.We are committed to building a stronger and more successful middle class. That is exactly what we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, of course, this is a very important issue. We have been talking about our innovation agenda. Within that context, we need to have a strong and vibrant telecommunications sector that can provide this kind of service to our constituents. That is why we are working very closely with them to make sure we have additional investments to provide more choice and availability of service. We are working on spectrum to make sure we maximize the possibility of spectrum there to be able to provide solutions in these rural and remote regions, and where there are connections and issues around connections. We are going to make sure we address this issue in a meaningful way.

Mr. Speaker, I answer that question in the positive, in that, yes, I am committed to making sure that—

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of the tens of thousands of Canadians who have engaged with MyDemocracy.ca. We are proud of the Canadian political scientists who have helped develop this tool. This is a Canadian made application, formed by Canadian academic experts to engage Canadians. So far, it is working.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to reassure Canadians that the federal level, in terms of political financing, has among the strongest and most rigorous rules in the country. That allows for openness, transparency, and accountability, which can reassure and reinforce Canadians' confidence, because those rules have always been and will always be followed by our party.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to serve with four outstanding MPs from Alberta who are fighting every single day for Albertans. They are the ones who are making sure we have stabilization funding. They are the ones who are making historic investments in infrastructure. They are the ones who are making sure that we work with Business Development Canada to create opportunities for small businesses. They are the ones who led the charge when it comes to pipelines.All of these initiatives will create jobs. It is good for Alberta. It is good for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the frustration Canadians felt around ethics was part of why we were elected in the first place, and therefore, it is so important to reinforce for Canadians that the rules are always followed. The values and the principles that underscore the strong financing rules that exist at the federal level, stronger than just about anywhere else in the country, can reassure Canadians that we have a system that works to make sure that we are worthy and are upholding the public trust.

Mr. Speaker, we are all thrilled that tens of thousands of Canadians are participating in MyDemocracy.ca. Providing their personal information is completely optional. Responses will remain anonymous. Any data collected will be administered according to the requirements of the federal Privacy Act. I encourage all members and Canadians to participate in this unique and innovative initiative.

Again, Mr. Speaker, it is important to reassure Canadians that we have, at the federal level, some of the strongest, most stringent, rules around political fundraising anywhere in the country. Canadians know they can have confidence in members of the House, because we follow all of those rules, and understand the values of openness, accountability, transparency that are required in order to maintain Canadians' trust in our government.

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like he is running for House leader.With Bill C-29, the Prime Minister is trying to take away the protections that the Quebec law offers families who are already among the most indebted in the G20. The Prime Minister is attacking the Quebec Consumer Protection Act.Why? Is he trying to help the banks?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to put on the record that, in fact, we have invested $165 million in the youth employment strategy; $73 million in work-integrated learning, giving young people the chance to get the skills they need; $85 million in union-based training; $175 million in transfers to the provinces for training; and $1.5 billion to increase Canada students grants. And this is only our first year in office.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport received a letter from the Town of Lac-Mégantic that is very clear. The federal government can help the people of Lac-Mégantic. More than three years after the tragedy, the wounds have yet to heal, and they are reopened every time a train passes through town.Instead of passing the buck to local elected officials who must relive the tragedy every day, can the minister do what the people of Lac-Mégantic and all Canadians expect of him, which is to show some leadership, take charge of the file, and make sure no train whistle is heard in downtown Lac-Mégantic ever again?

Mr. Speaker, our government will continue its consultations and engagement with Canadians, because we need to respond to the real challenges they are facing.The Chief Electoral Officer said that political financing laws in Canada are the most advanced, constrained, and transparent in the world.

Mr. Speaker, as I have had the opportunity to say, time and time again, and I appreciate the opportunity to once again remind Canadians and to assure Canadians, that when it comes to the rules around political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country.This party, this government, will continue to follow the rules. This government will continue to respond to the very real challenges that Canadians are facing. I am proud to have some of my own constituents here on the Hill today, and I will continue to work hard for them.

Mr. Speaker, it is not a situation I am well aware of right now, and I would entertain the question and a conversation with the member afterwards to see what we can do.

Mr. Speaker, one of the challenges facing Atlantic Canada is finding ways to welcome new Canadians, growing our communities, and strengthening our economies. As one of 32 Atlantic MPs, from the rural riding of Tobique—Mactaquac, ensuring economic growth is a main priority.Could the Minister of Immigration please update the House on the details of the Atlantic immigration pilot project and how communities can be involved in its success?

Mr. Speaker, with all these questions, it is important to reinforce the fact that at the federal level, we have among the strongest principles and rules around fundraising in the country, and those rules are always followed. This is important, because Canadians need to have confidence in the transparency, accountability, and secureness of our political financing system. Canadians can and must be reassured.

Mr. Speaker, we held unprecedented public consultations in order to respond to the real challenges Canadians are facing.I want to assure Canadians that the rules governing fundraising are among the strictest in the country, and we follow the rules.

Mr. Speaker, talking about data, according to Statistics Canada, since November 2015, there have been 183,200 jobs created. We have seen 1,000 jobs at Bell Helicopter. We have seen 1,000 new jobs created by GM Canada. We have seen Thomson Reuters commit up to 1,500 new jobs in Canada.Do members know why? According to Jim Smith, the president and CEO of Thomson Reuters, “We applaud the Canadian federal, provincial and municipal governments for making jobs, innovation and the knowledge economy a top priority”. That is why we're investing—

Mr. Speaker, that is no reason to do away with Quebec's consumer protection legislation. This Prime Minister seems perfectly comfortable in not keeping his word, whether it is on forming the most ethical government on the planet, or his solemn promise to change the electoral system—and he has been in power for only one year.My question for the Prime Minister is very simple. Does he think it is important to attend question period?

Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is only unprecedented for the Liberal Party. I had the honour of being part of a government that travelled across the country, all year round, in preparation for the budget every year, with former ministers Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Oliver. We criss-crossed the country.Perhaps it is unprecedented for the Liberals, but not for a Canadian government. Asking for $1,500 for access to the Prime Minister and to be able to talk to him, now that is unprecedented.Do the Liberals realize that giving access to the Prime Minister in exchange for money violates the rules of ethics?

Mr. Speaker, I have said many times that 2015 will be the last election held under first past the post. I do want to go back to an offhand comment the NDP leader made that demonstrates his lack of respect for our economy. The fact that he does not understand that investing in good Canadian businesses, investing in coding, making sure we have opportunities for our youth is not something to joke about.

Mr. Speaker, the ethical ship the Liberals sailed in on is sinking like the Titanic.Day after day, more and more people are coming forward, admitting they have paid to play with the Prime Minister. It is abundantly clear to everyone the Prime Minister never intended to follow his own open and accountable government rules.When will the Prime Minister stop the charade, and put an end to these unethical, shady, cash for access events?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government cannot be bothered to work out a better deal for Canadians in the Canada-Europe trade agreement. It is going ahead despite the fact that a number of problems remain outstanding. Like Canada's dairy producers, Canadian vintners will lose a lot of money because of this government's concessions.When will the minister come up with a plan to help Canadian vintners cope with the negative repercussions of this trade agreement?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sudbury for that important question.I am proud of our government's positive leadership on official languages. Here are just a few of the things we have done: reinstated the francophone immigration program, arranged for the appointment of bilingual Supreme Court justices, reinstated university education at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and reviewed service delivery rules.My Public Safety colleague and I are committed to ensuring that all new RCMP officers providing security services on Parliament Hill are bilingual.

Mr. Speaker, there is no issue that I care more deeply about than the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. I have been to Lac-Mégantic three times. I held a public forum. I listened to the residents. I know they want a bypass. I met with citizens groups on three separate occasions. Just last night, I spoke with the mayor of Lac-Mégantic, Mr. Cloutier. I committed to work with him to see if we could speed up the process. I plan to speak with the Government of Quebec, which is responsible for the environmental assessment.This is a very important file, and we want to get it right.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. The member recognizes that I am reminding Canadians, ensuring Canadians, that when it comes to political financing, we have some of the strictest rules in this country.What is more interesting is that the member chooses to keep repeating the same question, but does not understand why she gets the same answer.I have confidence in her, as well, that we can work together in this place to serve Canadians, and to respond to the very real challenges they are facing. Let us get to work. Let us work harder for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to serve with a government that has lowered taxes on the middle class, that respects the environment and understands we can do more to protect the environment, and that recognizes we need to grow the economy and create the growth Canadians expect us to create.The member knows very well that when it comes to the rules around political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country. We will continue to follow the rules. I encourage the member to get to work, and do the hard work Canadians expect us to do.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to have forgotten what “appearance of conflict of interest” means.Their bogus survey on democratic reform is anything but scientific. Children can take it. Adults can take it 50 times if they feel so inclined. It is supposed to be anonymous, but respondents who want their answers tabulated have to disclose their gender, age, level of education, sector of employment, email address, income, language, postal code, and minority status.The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is concerned. If it is not scientific, if it really is anonymous, why do they collect all that information?

Mr. Speaker, CETA is a very progressive agreement. We will monitor its impact here. We have already promised to help dairy farmers. We will monitor the impact of the agreement on Canada as we go forward.

Mr. Speaker, this gives me an opportunity to indicate how proud we are that we have a Prime Minister who recognized a long time ago the challenge faced by youth, and is taking it so seriously that he is the minister of youth. Not only that, we are proud to have announced the creation of an expert panel on youth employment. It is going to be reporting in December. It is only one of the initiatives that we are doing to help young people in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his very hard work on this issue, because engaging communities is at the very heart of the Atlantic immigration pilot project. We know that the key to retaining newcomers is helping them successfully build their lives and put down roots in the Atlantic region. For example, we have just learned about a catering company in Moncton, started by Syrian refugee women, with support from the local community and local businesses. This is why the pilot project will mobilize communities and bring together businesses, schools, student groups, municipalities, and volunteers to welcome and help integrate new families.

Mr. Speaker, the member said that he will come to the jobs in a moment if we are just patient. Well, Canadians are going to have to be very patient, because it has been a year, and the government has not created a single net new full-time job. In fact, in 2015, we added, as a country, about 12,300 net new full-time jobs per month. This year, we have lost a grand total of 30,000 full-time jobs. All of this data can be found in the finance minister's own PowerPoint presentation.Will the finance minister turn to page 6 of that presentation and see the destructiveness of his policies and reverse them?

Mr. Speaker, I am not feeling more secure now, because the Prime Minister actually himself confirmed what we are saying. When I asked him about the May fundraiser with Chinese billionaires in Toronto, he said, “That is why we have committed to engaging positively with the world to draw in investment”. Liberal Party fundraisers are not the place to draw in foreign investment. Why has the Prime Minister so blatantly and so eagerly thrown his ethical guidelines out the window?

Mr. Speaker, let us get the record straight, which indicates that employment increased by 10,700 jobs in November. The unemployment rate has fallen by 0.2% to a low of 6.8%. Compared to November 2015, employment in Canada over the year since then is higher by 1.0%.Clearly, we have a plan, and it is working.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order arising out of question period and in a moment I will ask for unanimous consent to table a document.The Minister of Democratic Institutions claimed in question period that Canadians did not have to provide their personal data in order to participate in the MyDemocracy exercise, personal information like income, gender, postal code, etc., but the privacy statement on her own website claims the following, “While answering the profile questions is optional, not answering these questions will result in your input not—”

Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, Vox Pop Labs are the folks who brought us Vote Compass, the online survey notorious for telling participants they should vote Liberal. A Queen's University professor answered Vote Compass five ways and was always labelled a Liberal. Reports showed that any consistent answer to all 30 questions on that survey caused respondents to be labelled Liberal. As a result, the CBC ombudsman warned about its data, saying “it is challenging to interpret which uses were authentic and which ones might have been contrived”. Given that MyDemocracy.ca has all the same problems, will the Liberals just take this survey offline?

Mr. Speaker, this government will continue to engage with Canadians. This government will continue to consult with Canadians. This government will continue to respond to the very real challenges that Canadians are facing.I can assure Canadians that when it comes to the rules governing political financing, they are amongst the strictest in this country, and this party, this government will continue to follow the rules.

Mr. Speaker, whether it is hosting elites, high priced lawyers, or Chinese tycoons, Liberal fundraisers are marketed as a chance to lobby the government. An IT start-up entrepreneur was told that $1,500 would get her close to the PM and his rich friends. That is cash for access.The Liberals' response is an endless loop of “we have some of the strictest rules in the country”. We know the rules, because Conservatives wrote them, but the Prime Minister set his own rules for himself and his ministers.Will the Liberals finally admit their promises and their rules are not worth the paper they are written on?

Mr. Speaker, we understand the impact of the Vegreville relocation on the community. We also understand the important work being undertaken by the member opposite in defence of her constituents. The testimony we heard at committee yesterday was very, very moving. We understand that this decision will have an impact on community members, and we are taking every measure possible to minimize those impacts. That includes guaranteeing a job for all of the workers who currently work in Vegreville, should they wish to work in Edmonton.We will continue to work with the member opposite in this regard and defend the workers of Alberta.

Mr. Speaker, as a result of our close collaboration with the Government of Alberta and local municipalities, we announced public transit investments last Saturday for communities like Airdrie, Banff, Fort Saskatchewan, Fort McMurray, Red Deer, Strathcona County, Medicine Hat, St. Albert, Lethbridge, and others. Some of these communities are receiving transit funding for the first time in the last decade. These projects will help grow the economy, create jobs, and build more sustainable—

Mr. Speaker, in September, a prominent Liberal organizer sent invitations to a fundraiser with the Prime Minister. In those invitations, he said it was important to attend and donate to the Liberal Party “so that our issues are heard and that we begin to form relationships and open dialogues with our government”—not with the Liberal Party of Canada; with the government. The Prime Minister either understands that this is unethical and potentially illegal, or he is just willfully breaking the rules. Which is it?

Mr. Speaker, a recent study echoed what indigenous educators and leaders have been voicing for years, that improving the level of education and employment of young indigenous people will boost the economy in Saskatchewan by $90 billion. Yet following federal cuts, the Province of Saskatchewan redirected funding from NORTEP-NORPAC. This has students and staff uncertain about their future.Will the government help NORTEP-NORPAC to ensure that it remains autonomous and thriving, or will it continue to leave the future of our young people at risk?

Mr. Speaker, representatives of the Coalition des citoyens de Lac-Mégantic are here in Ottawa today.In 2013, the member for Papineau signed their petition in support of the construction of a rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic. Today, they are sending a clear message to the Prime Minister. They are asking him to keep his election promise by announcing the construction of a rail bypass.My question is clear. Will—

Mr. Speaker, the question again for the minister of youth is this. When the Prime Minister gave himself the job of minister of youth, many young Canadians expected he would champion their issues. Over a year later, the youth minister has been one of the worst-performing ministers in the Liberal cabinet. He has encouraged police to hand out criminal records for pot possession, backtracked on his promise of a fair new voting system, and is failing to address the very serious issue of rising precarious work among young people.Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and resign as minister of youth?

Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but get up because the member for Alberta asked the Prime Minister an important question about jobs and I bet if it was 290,000 jobs in Toronto, he would get up and answer it. Job losses are at an all-time high in Alberta. Considering we probably will not see him again, the least the Prime Minister could do is respect Albertans, respect the member of Parliament, and get up and answer her question.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can rest assured that, at the federal level, we have one of the strongest political financing systems in the country. The reality is that this system requires a high degree of openness, transparency, and accountability in order to maintain Canadians' confidence in our democracy and system of government.I can assure Canadians that our party always follows all the rules and that it also supports all the values and principles associated with those rules.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to be accountable and yet, during this past year, he has not answered any of my questions concerning youth. Young people's concerns about Kinder Morgan, marijuana, precarious jobs, or electoral reform are not reflected in the measures proposed by the Liberal government. I will not even mention his many broken promises to first nations youth.If the Prime Minister will not be held to account for his lack of action, why does he not resign and appoint a minister of youth who is truly interested in youth issues?

Mr. Speaker, the job situation in Canada is worrisome, but the future looks even worse.According to CBC/Radio-Canada, the Minister of Finance presented very troubling information to the elite. The finance department's forecasts indicate that job creation will decline by 1.9% next year. We know that the government finds it difficult to provide exact figures. The government is refusing to acknowledge that no full-time jobs have been created since it came to power.Will the government give us the facts? According to its own data, is Canada headed towards a 1.9% reduction in employment next year?

Mr. Speaker, the Special Committee on Electoral Reform has good advice about asking questions regarding electoral reform. I am sure members have started to read the report which says: Finally, the Committee was told numerous times that there is no perfect electoral system as different systems emphasize different values. Recognizing there is no perfect system, the committee used the values and principles set out in the mandate to develop its recommendations on electoral reform.MyDemocracy.ca is about empowering Canadians to have their say about electoral reform. I encourage all members of this House, and Canadians, to get involved.

Mr. Speaker, our budget implementation bill is important because it will create the economic growth that Canadians need.After the middle class and those working hard to join it failed to see adequate economic growth for 10 years, we put together a budget that will invest in the middle class, build a strong economy, and protect Canadians. That is exactly what we are going to do by creating opportunities for the middle class and those working hard to join it.

Mr. Speaker, Canadian Heritage wrapped up its series of official languages round tables that will shape the government's new action plan. These cross-Canada consultations are an example of our government's leadership on official languages. Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage share some more examples of the government's accomplishments in this area over the past year?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are bungling the replacement of Canada's search and rescue aircraft. Cascade Aerospace, one of Abbotsford's largest employers, has proposed saving the taxpayers $1.5 billion by completely modernizing the current fleet of Hercules aircraft. It now appears the Liberals have refused to consider that proposal. This decision will kill hundreds of jobs in Abbotsford and will cost Canadian taxpayers dearly. Why will the defence minister not stand up for B.C. jobs and protect Canadian taxpayers?

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent for his question.It is no secret that the former Conservative government left the country over $100 billion in debt. Canadians remember that.We presented Canadians with a plan for economic growth.Canadians asked us to help families and to grow the economy. That is what we did in budget 2016. That is what we did in the fall economic update. Our government is committed to helping Canadian families and creating jobs and economic growth here in Canada. That is something that the members opposite were unable to do for 10 years.

Mr. Speaker, my staff has researched the identity of “Cliff”, cited yesterday by the minister as the defender of MyDemocracy.ca. It turns out he is Cliff Van Der Linden, the CEO of Vox Pop Labs, who was paid a quarter of a dollars to design it. That is a relief, because at first it seemed that the minister was referring to Cliff, the clueless mailman from Cheers. After all, due to the complete lack of security features, Bostonians like Cliff, Woody, and Carla can participate in the survey; Norm can sign in without even leaving his barstool.Given this lack of security, how can Canadians trust that the results of the survey will mean absolutely anything at all?

Yes, Mr. Speaker, coding with Shopify.Speaking of respect for Parliament, respect for democracy, the Prime Minister's Speech from the Throne stated clearly that “2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first past the post voting system”. My question is simple. Was he lying?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the member opposite, and assure him that providing demographic information is completely optional.All information provided by participants will be administered according to the requirements of federal policy laws and federal policies on public opinion research. Users of MyDemocracy.ca can access the privacy information at the bottom of the page, which explains the information being collected, and how it will be used. The government will only be receiving aggregated data, without any personal information. We take protecting Canadians'—

Mr. Speaker, based on the response to my question from last Friday, clearly, people who have been waiting for 20 years for cellular service are going to have to wait even longer, because this government has absolutely no plan.It is not just the remote countryside that lacks service. Sometimes just five minutes away from the main city, there are dead zones, as though the technology did not exist.When will the government start listening to people from rural communities? They have solutions at the ready.

Mr. Speaker, in May, the founder of Wealth One Bank of Canada, a Chinese billionaire, attended a cash for access event with the Prime Minister. Two months later, his bank received final government approval to start business in Canada. Another guest at the same fundraiser donated $1 million to the Trudeau Foundation, $50,000 of which is to build a statue of the Prime Minister's father. Under these terms, does the Prime Minister understand that this is not only unethical, it is more than likely illegal, or does he just not care anymore?

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader gets up day after day, and repeats the same lines over and over, lines that the Prime Minister—

I will come to the jobs if members can be patient. We put in the budget measures that will help Canadians and the middle class. The member knows well that our historic investment in infrastructure is helping to grow the economy in our country and create jobs for Canadians. That is what we promised. That is what we are delivering to Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I believe there were Liberal members who heard this as well. I believe it was the member for Newmarket—Aurora, so I would like to give him an opportunity to apologize.

Mr. Speaker, I am baffled by this. I did not say anything disparaging at all, so I do not know how to address this.

Mr. Speaker, this week, the finance minister released a helpful PowerPoint presentation on the economy. It showed that in the last Conservative term in office, we were creating, as an economy, 15,000 net new full-time jobs on average every month. This year we have been losing on average 2,000 full-time jobs per month.The finance minister promised that a big deficit spending splurge would create lots of new jobs. He got the big deficits. Where are the jobs?

Mr. Speaker, at a November fundraiser, the organizer told the media that he offered to host the event after the Prime Minister invited him to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials. At that fundraiser, the Prime Minister was lobbied directly on the billion-dollar takeover of a Canadian business, which is currently before cabinet. He was also lobbied to change the rules for immigrant investors and foreign real estate investors. Based on these facts, this was not only unethical, it was illegal. Does the Prime Minister really believe that he is above the law?

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister has even read her own survey, because if we do not give the Liberals all that private information, all of our answers are thrown in the garbage.We received a call today from Janet, from Alberta. She said when she called the MyDemocracy hotline, she was told these survey questions were approved by the 12-member all-party committee.That is news to me. I sit on the committee, and we would never have insulted the intelligence of Canadians with such ridiculous questions.First, the minister threw the committee under the bus, and now the Liberals are trying to blame us for their terrible survey. Thank goodness the Privacy Commissioner is investigating.Here is a values question for the Prime Minister. Does he have the integrity to keep his own promise?

Mr. Speaker, one need only listen to the minister to understand why people are cynical about politics. Here is what the media had to say this morning about the minister and her new consultation process. Le Devoir said that “respondents are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with statements that are, at best, nonsensical and at worst, biased”. A La Presse article headlined “Hypocrites' Ball” states that “the Liberal government waded into this debate, but is now starting to look pretty foolish”.Those words were written not by me but by journalists and political analysts.Can the minister tell us whether she will respect the people and hold a referendum when she decides to change the voting system—

Mr. Speaker, my colleague answered that question with full detail and a tremendous amount of compassion.The fact is the party opposite talked for 10 years about standing up for Alberta and yet when we approved a pipeline that is going to make a difference in the lives of millions of Albertans, what did those members do? They started talking about how it will never get built, so do not bother investing, do not bother hiring people for it. They are talking down the economy of Alberta and real decisions we took for political gain. That is why people are disgusted with the approach that members opposite are taking.

Mr. Speaker, I was not going to rise on this point of order today, but after the exchange between the Conservative leader and the government today and the obvious lack of respect for the people of Alberta, I thought I would rise on this point of order.Yesterday, during the vote on a private member's bill, the member for Lakeland stood and we applauded. I thought I heard from the other side a disparaging comment about the people of Vegreville. I would like to give the hon. member who said it an opportunity to apologize, not just to the people of Vegreville but to the member as well.

Mr. Speaker, here are a few facts.The Liberal Party of Canada is establishing a direct link between government business and its fundraising activities. The Liberals are inviting people to buy tickets to talk government business with the Prime Minister and the ministers.Is the Prime Minister denying those facts?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister defended ripping 280 jobs out of Vegreville. Here are some comparisons. It is like removing 290,000 jobs from Toronto, 187,000 from Montreal, 113,000 from Vancouver, 60,000 from Ottawa, and 55,000 from Edmonton.This unnecessary and unfounded edict will hurt families, businesses, and communities in the region. When will the Prime Minister do the right thing and stop this cold-hearted, mean-spirited attack?

Mr. Speaker, I continue to appreciate the member opposite's passion for a referendum, and I encourage all members of the House to read the committee's report. We will respond to that report in due course.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister told us that we were visiting the wrong website. She might even be right. If we took democracy surveys at BuzzFeed, The Beaverton, or even on the back of a cereal box, we would get less skewed results than what they are trying to pass off as consultation now. We would not have to provide our gender, year of birth, household income, postal code, or even the name of our firstborn child for it to count.The minister keeps telling this House that we do not need personal information to participate in the survey, but she did not say those answers would actually count. Is she just using weasel words?

Mr. Speaker, the very last sentence says, and this is what I wish to table, “While answering the profile questions is optional, not answering these questions will result in your input not being included as part of the overall results of the study”. I am not sure what Liberals meant by participation and consultation, but—

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, the Minister of Infrastructure announced over $100 million in funding for Calgary public-private projects. This money is aimed specifically to help plan and design the Green Line. However, all over Alberta, there are small communities who have never received any money for public transit. My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. How will these small communities benefit from our historic investment in public transit?

Mr. Speaker, I would rather not have to repeat myself, but our government and our Prime Minister know that the people of Lac-Mégantic were deeply traumatized by the 2013 disaster, which took the lives of 47 people.I have visited the town three times. I met with its citizens and listened to them. I am working hard on this matter. We want to speed up the process if we can, but we must do our due diligence. As soon as we have something to report, we will make an announcement.

Mr. Speaker, she is repeating lines that the Prime Minister has asked her to say, words that she knows are not true. The Liberals are not following the rules, and she has to know it.Will the House leader show the integrity and the leadership that I know she has, and will she admit that the Liberals need to clean up their act, or will she at least tell the Prime Minister that she is not going to keep doing his dirty work for him?

Mr. Speaker, repeating Liberal spin and outrageous comments a thousand times do not make them true. Frankly, it is embarrassing to watch the House leader allowing herself to be used by the Prime Minister like this. She can tell him no, after all. The Prime Minister is breaking fundraising rules. The media knows it. The public knows it. Even Liberal donors and supporters know it.Is there anyone on that side of the House who has the courage to stand up for what is right, and tell the Prime Minister to stop this corrupt fundraising?