Andy Fillmore

Mr. Speaker, this conspiracy theory is insulting to the intelligence of Canadians and to the professionalism of journalists. The Conservatives think that journalists can be bought and we do not. We think their work is absolutely fundamental to our democracy.France, Sweden, Germany, the U.K. and many others have taken action to support journalism, without compromising independence. However, newspapers are going though a crisis and that is why we are taking action. We will do it while protecting journalistic independence.

Madam Speaker, Canadians were sick of seeing their money wasted by the previous government on partisan advertising. This is why, in 2016, we prohibited all government advertising in the 90 days prior to an election. That is 90 days prior to the fixed date election and for any government program that has yet to be approved by Parliament. By focusing on the needs of Canadians instead of on partisan interests, we managed to reduce the government's advertising budget—

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Official Languages made it clear that our government is fulfilling all of its official language obligations.We have always protected French, and we will continue to do so. Francophones across the country know that we are investing more in our official languages than ever before.While the NDP busies itself with petty politics, we are busy modernizing our laws.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives appear to have a real problem with journalists and the truth. The Conservative leader's office has promised to “go for the jugular” with the media. It also thinks journalists can be bought. This is an insult to the intelligence of Canadians and to the professionalism of journalists. The Conservative opposition should consult with other conservatives around the world who have made decisions to support local journalism.Journalistic independence is a pillar of our democracy and we will always protect it.

Mr. Speaker, our government takes its fundamental responsibilities to protect the private information of Canadian citizens and the integrity of our electoral system extremely seriously, which is why we engaged the Communications Security Establishment to conduct the first-ever threat assessment of Canadian democratic processes. The threat assessment looked at cyber-threats facing our democratic process. It is a critical step in addressing the potential issues Canadians may face. Happily, CSE found that there was no significant interference in the 2015 election, but we know this is going to change in 2019, and addressing this will take a whole-of-government approach. This is an issue we take extremely seriously, which is why budget 2018 committed over $750 million for—

Mr. Speaker, the main challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud but voter participation. Eliminating the voter ID card does not improve the integrity of the system. It only takes away the ability of many qualified voters to vote. In Bill C-76, we are not only restoring the use of voter identification cards and vouching, but we are also giving back the mandate for Elections Canada to promote participation. The Conservative Party's so-called Fair Elections Act was simply cover for a government determined to wring political gain from every measure.We will take no lessons from the party opposite. We believe Canadians have a right to vote and we will continue to fight for that.

Madam Speaker, Bill C-50 was reported back from committee to the House this week. I want to thank the members of the procedure and House affairs committee for their hard work and sound advice.Canadians want greater transparency with respect to how their political leaders fundraise. Therefore, it was very disappointing that all opposition members voted against Bill C-50 at committee. It was also disappointing that the leader of the official opposition has not responded to my letter from several weeks ago inviting him and his party to proactively adopt the transparency measures of Bill C-50, like the Liberal Party has. Our government is committed to providing this transparency, and we look forward to working with all parliamentarians to secure the passage—

Madam Speaker, while such a charge may make good theatre, it is simply not true. Canadians were fed up with tax dollars being wasted blatantly on partisan ads by the previous government. That was why we moved quickly in 2016 to ban partisan government ads and establish third-party oversight. We also banned government advertising in the 90-day period proceeding the fixed date election period as well for any other government program that had yet to be approved by Parliament. By focusing on government advertising, on Canadians' needs instead of on partisan objectives like the previous government, we have been able to cut the government's advertising budget by almost one-half.

Mr. Speaker, I commend my friend for his dedication to this file in the heritage committee. I commend him on his dedication to asking the same question again and again, and I will provide the same answer. He knows the answer. The answer is that for 10 years, the Conservative Party failed to fund the arts in Canada. As a result, our laws governing this subject matter predate the Internet, so we created a panel of independent experts to help us modernize the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act. Our end goal is clear. There will be no free rides.

Mr. Speaker, independent journalism is a pillar of our Canadian democracy, even though the Conservatives disagree with that. Newspapers are going through a crisis right now. They currently employ tens of thousands of Canadians, and that is only half of those who were employed in 2010. This week we are taking action. We have created a tax credit for newsrooms, for donations to not-for-profit media and for Canadians who subscribe to an online media. Those investments will be administered by an independent board of experts in order to protect journalistic independence.

Mr. Speaker, infrastructure investments we make today have potential to lock in future greenhouse gas emissions, in many cases, for years. This is why I brought my private member's Motion No. 45 to this House. It is because we know we must reduce infrastructure-related GHGs now in order to combat climate change over the long term.Can the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities update this House on what the government is doing to reduce the GHG footprint of Canada's infrastructure today and in the future?

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we will always be there for our artists and creators. That is exactly what we demonstrated with our cultural policy last year. We have made historic investments of $3.2 billion in the cultural sector, including in the CBC, the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm, the NFB and the Canada Media Fund. Due to the previous Conservative government's inaction, the lost decade, our laws on culture predate the Internet, which is why we are reviewing them so we can continue to support high quality Canadian content production. The principle of this review is clear: To participate in the system, one must contribute to the system. There will be no free ride.

Mr. Speaker, there is no relationship more important to this government than the relationship with our indigenous peoples.The ability to vote is fundamental to all Canadians, all Canadian citizens, including indigenous peoples. We will look into the matter and look forward to working with all parliamentarians to address it.

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of taxation, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have been very clear. However, we also know that the Broadcasting Act has not been reviewed since before the Internet came into our homes. The Conservatives did nothing for 10 long years, so we have taken action. We have appointed a panel of experts to help us modernize this act, and our starting point is clear. All players that participate in the system must contribute to the system. There will be no free rides.

Mr. Speaker, our government has been clear. The cultural exemption must stand with a renegotiated NAFTA. The Prime Minister has stated it, and I am repeating it today. Protecting our creative industry means protecting our culture. It means protecting a $53.8 billion industry representing over 650,000 quality jobs for middle-class Canadians. We will defend our cultural sovereignty in the cultural sector within a future deal, because it is the right thing to do for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, many communities in Nova Scotia are reeling from the devastating storm that hit Atlantic Canada last week. While some areas were impacted more and some areas impacted less, all communities are dealing together with the fallout, both short and long term. Many homes, businesses, and infrastructures sustained major damage beyond any repair. The damage has been estimated in excess of $10 million.Could the minister update the House on the measures the government will take to help Nova Scotians?

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to strengthening Canada's democratic institutions and increasing Canadians' trust and participation in our democratic processes.Bill C-76 is a great example of that. The bill would increase the transparency of our electoral process. It would make elections more accessible to all Canadians. It would make the electoral process more secure and ensure political parties protected Canadians' privacy. We believe that a whole-of-government approach is required to protect Canada's democratic institutions. We look forward to working with all members in the House to build a more open and transparent system for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives think that Canadian journalists can be bought and we certainly do not believe that. Their work is fundamental to this democracy.Conservatives around the world have understood the need to support journalism and local journalism, as have governments in France, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom. I might remind the member for Calgary Nose Hill that her government too supported media. Under its tenure it increased funding for the Canada periodical fund. Independent Canadian journalism is core to our democracy.

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we will always be there for our artists and creators and that is exactly what we demonstrated through our cultural policy last year. We have made historic investments of $2.2 billion in the cultural sector, including in the CBC, the Canada Council, Telefilm and the NFB. Due to the previous government's inaction, our culture laws predate the Internet, which is why we are reviewing them so they can continue to support high-quality Canadian content production. The principle of this review is clear. If people participate in this system, they will contribute to the system. There will be no free ride.

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of taxation, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have been entirely clear, but we also know that the Broadcasting Act has not been reviewed since before the Internet was in our homes.The Conservatives did nothing for 10 long years, so we took action. We have appointed a panel of experts to help us modernize this act. Our starting point is clear. All players that participate in a system must contribute to the system, and there will be no free rides.

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that this party is leading the way with openness and transparency in fundraising. We are a shining example for what all parties in the House could do.It is very curious, in fact, that the party from which this question proceeds is itself still keeping its information about its fundraisers a secret. Will the member join our example?

Mr. Speaker, the Broadcasting Act has not been reviewed since before the Internet was in our homes. Why is that? It is because for 10 years, the Conservatives took no action on this.We have appointed a panel of experts to help modernize this act. Our starting point is clear. All players who participate in this system will pay. There will be no free ride.I know that my colleague, the Minister of Finance, is working with our allied countries to find a consensual approach to this.

Mr. Speaker, this government takes very seriously Canadian content creators, including news media. I want to stress in answering the hon. member's question today that the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism has done exactly what the Prime Minister asked him to do in his mandate letter. He has consulted with Canadian media and stakeholders to develop business models to support local journalism. This week he has delivered. This is good government. This is real change in action.

Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete action to improve our already strong and robust rules around political fundraising events. That is why the Minister of Democratic Institutions introduced Bill C-50, which will give more information to Canadians than ever before by letting them know who is going to fundraisers, when they will be happening, and the amount required to attend.Canadians have a right to know and understand, more than they do now, about fundraising events attended by the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, party leaders, and party leadership contestants. We encourage all members in the House to join us in working to build a more open and transparent fundraising system for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Ottawa—Vanier for her question and for the good work that she does.We believe in a vibrant and inclusive democratic process in which more Canadians, not fewer, should be able to participate. We are committed to improving our democratic institutions and restoring Canadians' trust and participation in our democracy. Therefore, we will not be appealing the recent ruling in Alberta. We acknowledge the Elections Canada decision to apply the Alberta ruling across the country so that we can have one set of rules for all Canadians. Prospective candidates will no longer be required to pay a $1,000 deposit as part of their nomination process. I look forward to working with all members to strengthen, protect, and improve our democracy.

Mr. Speaker, every day the devoted team at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, one of six national museums, brings life to the story of over one million immigrants who landed at the Port of Halifax between l928 and 1971. Over the next 12 months, many positions will become available on the boards of all six of our national museums. Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage tell us how she plans to fill these positions?

Mr. Speaker, our government takes the protection of the personal privacy of Canadians extremely seriously, which is why we proactively reached out to the Privacy Commissioner to answer any questions he might have had. We thank him for his very thorough report and we accept those recommendations unconditionally. MyDemocracy.ca engaged Canadians in a national conversation in which individual responses that were received online remained anonymous. Paragraph 43 of the summary of investigation notes that the Privacy Commissioner “found no evidence that individual responses to the MyDemocracy survey questions were disclosed to third parties.” We will continue to protect and uphold the privacy of Canadians as we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, on October 6, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that Canada has accepted the invitation to be the guest of honour host country for the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair.Could the minister explain why the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair is a priority for the government?

Mr. Speaker, we will always support our culture, our artists and our creators, and that is why we doubled funding to the Canada Council for the Arts, increased Telefilm funding by $22 million and $13.5 million for the National Film Board. We restored and increased funding to CBC/Radio-Canada, with a $675-million investment. We also launched a new $125-million creative industries export fund.After the Harper Conservatives gutted support to cultural industries during their lost decade, we have taken action to support this sector.

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that this party is leading the way with openness and transparency in fundraising. We are a shining example for what all parties in the House could do.It is very curious, in fact, that the party from which this question proceeds is itself still keeping its information about its fundraisers a secret. Will the member join our example?

Madam Speaker, Canadians were sick of seeing their money wasted by the previous government on partisan advertising. This is why, in 2016, we prohibited all government advertising in the 90 days prior to an election. That is 90 days prior to the fixed date election and for any government program that has yet to be approved by Parliament. By focusing on the needs of Canadians instead of on partisan interests, we managed to reduce the government's advertising budget—

Mr. Speaker, I commend my friend for his dedication to this file in the heritage committee. I commend him on his dedication to asking the same question again and again, and I will provide the same answer. He knows the answer. The answer is that for 10 years, the Conservative Party failed to fund the arts in Canada. As a result, our laws governing this subject matter predate the Internet, so we created a panel of independent experts to help us modernize the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act. Our end goal is clear. There will be no free rides.

Madam Speaker, Bill C-50 was reported back from committee to the House this week. I want to thank the members of the procedure and House affairs committee for their hard work and sound advice.Canadians want greater transparency with respect to how their political leaders fundraise. Therefore, it was very disappointing that all opposition members voted against Bill C-50 at committee. It was also disappointing that the leader of the official opposition has not responded to my letter from several weeks ago inviting him and his party to proactively adopt the transparency measures of Bill C-50, like the Liberal Party has. Our government is committed to providing this transparency, and we look forward to working with all parliamentarians to secure the passage—

Mr. Speaker, the Broadcasting Act has not been reviewed since before the Internet was in our homes. Why is that? It is because for 10 years, the Conservatives took no action on this.We have appointed a panel of experts to help modernize this act. Our starting point is clear. All players who participate in this system will pay. There will be no free ride.I know that my colleague, the Minister of Finance, is working with our allied countries to find a consensual approach to this.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives think that Canadian journalists can be bought and we certainly do not believe that. Their work is fundamental to this democracy.Conservatives around the world have understood the need to support journalism and local journalism, as have governments in France, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom. I might remind the member for Calgary Nose Hill that her government too supported media. Under its tenure it increased funding for the Canada periodical fund. Independent Canadian journalism is core to our democracy.

Mr. Speaker, our government takes the protection of the personal privacy of Canadians extremely seriously, which is why we proactively reached out to the Privacy Commissioner to answer any questions he might have had. We thank him for his very thorough report and we accept those recommendations unconditionally. MyDemocracy.ca engaged Canadians in a national conversation in which individual responses that were received online remained anonymous. Paragraph 43 of the summary of investigation notes that the Privacy Commissioner “found no evidence that individual responses to the MyDemocracy survey questions were disclosed to third parties.” We will continue to protect and uphold the privacy of Canadians as we move forward.

Mr. Speaker, this conspiracy theory is insulting to the intelligence of Canadians and to the professionalism of journalists. The Conservatives think that journalists can be bought and we do not. We think their work is absolutely fundamental to our democracy.France, Sweden, Germany, the U.K. and many others have taken action to support journalism, without compromising independence. However, newspapers are going though a crisis and that is why we are taking action. We will do it while protecting journalistic independence.

Mr. Speaker, our government takes its fundamental responsibilities to protect the private information of Canadian citizens and the integrity of our electoral system extremely seriously, which is why we engaged the Communications Security Establishment to conduct the first-ever threat assessment of Canadian democratic processes. The threat assessment looked at cyber-threats facing our democratic process. It is a critical step in addressing the potential issues Canadians may face. Happily, CSE found that there was no significant interference in the 2015 election, but we know this is going to change in 2019, and addressing this will take a whole-of-government approach. This is an issue we take extremely seriously, which is why budget 2018 committed over $750 million for—

Mr. Speaker, on October 6, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that Canada has accepted the invitation to be the guest of honour host country for the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair.Could the minister explain why the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair is a priority for the government?

Mr. Speaker, there is no relationship more important to this government than the relationship with our indigenous peoples.The ability to vote is fundamental to all Canadians, all Canadian citizens, including indigenous peoples. We will look into the matter and look forward to working with all parliamentarians to address it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Ottawa—Vanier for her question and for the good work that she does.We believe in a vibrant and inclusive democratic process in which more Canadians, not fewer, should be able to participate. We are committed to improving our democratic institutions and restoring Canadians' trust and participation in our democracy. Therefore, we will not be appealing the recent ruling in Alberta. We acknowledge the Elections Canada decision to apply the Alberta ruling across the country so that we can have one set of rules for all Canadians. Prospective candidates will no longer be required to pay a $1,000 deposit as part of their nomination process. I look forward to working with all members to strengthen, protect, and improve our democracy.

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to strengthening Canada's democratic institutions and increasing Canadians' trust and participation in our democratic processes.Bill C-76 is a great example of that. The bill would increase the transparency of our electoral process. It would make elections more accessible to all Canadians. It would make the electoral process more secure and ensure political parties protected Canadians' privacy. We believe that a whole-of-government approach is required to protect Canada's democratic institutions. We look forward to working with all members in the House to build a more open and transparent system for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, every day the devoted team at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, one of six national museums, brings life to the story of over one million immigrants who landed at the Port of Halifax between l928 and 1971. Over the next 12 months, many positions will become available on the boards of all six of our national museums. Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage tell us how she plans to fill these positions?

Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete action to improve our already strong and robust rules around political fundraising events. That is why the Minister of Democratic Institutions introduced Bill C-50, which will give more information to Canadians than ever before by letting them know who is going to fundraisers, when they will be happening, and the amount required to attend.Canadians have a right to know and understand, more than they do now, about fundraising events attended by the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, party leaders, and party leadership contestants. We encourage all members in the House to join us in working to build a more open and transparent fundraising system for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, we will always support our culture, our artists and our creators, and that is why we doubled funding to the Canada Council for the Arts, increased Telefilm funding by $22 million and $13.5 million for the National Film Board. We restored and increased funding to CBC/Radio-Canada, with a $675-million investment. We also launched a new $125-million creative industries export fund.After the Harper Conservatives gutted support to cultural industries during their lost decade, we have taken action to support this sector.

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Official Languages made it clear that our government is fulfilling all of its official language obligations.We have always protected French, and we will continue to do so. Francophones across the country know that we are investing more in our official languages than ever before.While the NDP busies itself with petty politics, we are busy modernizing our laws.

Mr. Speaker, our government has been clear. The cultural exemption must stand with a renegotiated NAFTA. The Prime Minister has stated it, and I am repeating it today. Protecting our creative industry means protecting our culture. It means protecting a $53.8 billion industry representing over 650,000 quality jobs for middle-class Canadians. We will defend our cultural sovereignty in the cultural sector within a future deal, because it is the right thing to do for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, the main challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud but voter participation. Eliminating the voter ID card does not improve the integrity of the system. It only takes away the ability of many qualified voters to vote. In Bill C-76, we are not only restoring the use of voter identification cards and vouching, but we are also giving back the mandate for Elections Canada to promote participation. The Conservative Party's so-called Fair Elections Act was simply cover for a government determined to wring political gain from every measure.We will take no lessons from the party opposite. We believe Canadians have a right to vote and we will continue to fight for that.

Mr. Speaker, this government takes very seriously Canadian content creators, including news media. I want to stress in answering the hon. member's question today that the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism has done exactly what the Prime Minister asked him to do in his mandate letter. He has consulted with Canadian media and stakeholders to develop business models to support local journalism. This week he has delivered. This is good government. This is real change in action.

Mr. Speaker, infrastructure investments we make today have potential to lock in future greenhouse gas emissions, in many cases, for years. This is why I brought my private member's Motion No. 45 to this House. It is because we know we must reduce infrastructure-related GHGs now in order to combat climate change over the long term.Can the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities update this House on what the government is doing to reduce the GHG footprint of Canada's infrastructure today and in the future?

Mr. Speaker, many communities in Nova Scotia are reeling from the devastating storm that hit Atlantic Canada last week. While some areas were impacted more and some areas impacted less, all communities are dealing together with the fallout, both short and long term. Many homes, businesses, and infrastructures sustained major damage beyond any repair. The damage has been estimated in excess of $10 million.Could the minister update the House on the measures the government will take to help Nova Scotians?

Mr. Speaker, independent journalism is a pillar of our Canadian democracy, even though the Conservatives disagree with that. Newspapers are going through a crisis right now. They currently employ tens of thousands of Canadians, and that is only half of those who were employed in 2010. This week we are taking action. We have created a tax credit for newsrooms, for donations to not-for-profit media and for Canadians who subscribe to an online media. Those investments will be administered by an independent board of experts in order to protect journalistic independence.

Madam Speaker, while such a charge may make good theatre, it is simply not true. Canadians were fed up with tax dollars being wasted blatantly on partisan ads by the previous government. That was why we moved quickly in 2016 to ban partisan government ads and establish third-party oversight. We also banned government advertising in the 90-day period proceeding the fixed date election period as well for any other government program that had yet to be approved by Parliament. By focusing on government advertising, on Canadians' needs instead of on partisan objectives like the previous government, we have been able to cut the government's advertising budget by almost one-half.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives appear to have a real problem with journalists and the truth. The Conservative leader's office has promised to “go for the jugular” with the media. It also thinks journalists can be bought. This is an insult to the intelligence of Canadians and to the professionalism of journalists. The Conservative opposition should consult with other conservatives around the world who have made decisions to support local journalism.Journalistic independence is a pillar of our democracy and we will always protect it.

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we will always be there for our artists and creators. That is exactly what we demonstrated with our cultural policy last year. We have made historic investments of $3.2 billion in the cultural sector, including in the CBC, the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm, the NFB and the Canada Media Fund. Due to the previous Conservative government's inaction, the lost decade, our laws on culture predate the Internet, which is why we are reviewing them so we can continue to support high quality Canadian content production. The principle of this review is clear: To participate in the system, one must contribute to the system. There will be no free ride.

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of taxation, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have been very clear. However, we also know that the Broadcasting Act has not been reviewed since before the Internet came into our homes. The Conservatives did nothing for 10 long years, so we have taken action. We have appointed a panel of experts to help us modernize this act, and our starting point is clear. All players that participate in the system must contribute to the system. There will be no free rides.

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of taxation, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have been entirely clear, but we also know that the Broadcasting Act has not been reviewed since before the Internet was in our homes.The Conservatives did nothing for 10 long years, so we took action. We have appointed a panel of experts to help us modernize this act. Our starting point is clear. All players that participate in a system must contribute to the system, and there will be no free rides.

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we will always be there for our artists and creators and that is exactly what we demonstrated through our cultural policy last year. We have made historic investments of $2.2 billion in the cultural sector, including in the CBC, the Canada Council, Telefilm and the NFB. Due to the previous government's inaction, our culture laws predate the Internet, which is why we are reviewing them so they can continue to support high-quality Canadian content production. The principle of this review is clear. If people participate in this system, they will contribute to the system. There will be no free ride.