2016-10-07

Mr. Speaker, child and adult victims of sex trafficking are being sold daily on Backpage.com. In June, I raised this horrific issue in this chamber and wrote directly to the justice minister, with no response.Yesterday, the CEO of Backpage was arrested in the U.S. on sex trafficking charges.When will the Liberals finally take action to end Backpage.com sex trafficking ads in Canada?

Mr. Speaker, the Mayor of Hudson Bay, Elvina Rumak, said the impending closure of The Pas softwood lumber mill will impact contractors in Saskatchewan who harvest softwood for Carrot River and hardwood for Hudson Bay.Mel Cadrain, GM Hudson Bay Timberlands, said that if the mill in The Pas closes, it will put pressure on them to utilize small diameter softwood, which will increase their raw material cost and reduce mill productivity.This means fewer jobs. Why is the current sitting Liberal government taking so long to get this badly needed agreement done?

Mr. Speaker, the striped bass population has gone from a species of concern to a high-level count never seen before in the Miramichi watershed. Striped bass is a predatory fish to salmon and other species, and salmon is at an all-time low in the river.My question is this: will the minister tell the House whether next season's striped bass management plan will include increased allocations for first nations, to help meet their food and ceremonial needs, and increased sport fishing quotas for the public, since people can no longer keep salmon?

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the Liberals have not shown a shred of evidence that this carbon tax will do anything to reduce emissions in Canada, much less globally. Why do the Liberals not just admit this actually has nothing to do with fighting climate change and has everything to do with filling their coffers for their reckless spending? If they have evidence that it would reduce emissions in Canada, or globally, we want to see it.

Mr. Speaker, all week the Liberals have been trying to portray themselves as Robin Hood in their own carbon-tax forest, all the while acting like the Sheriff of Nottingham, shaking down Canadians to build their own kingdom.It is no fairy tale that the cost of everything will go up under the Prime Minister's plan. For my constituents, the commute to Kitchener-Waterloo or into the GTA, or a flight out of Hamilton airport, or simply putting fuel in a tractor will cost them more.When will the Liberals come clean about their motives to the Canadian people? Even Friar Tuck and Maid Marian would like to know.

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent report, Canadians are now spending more on taxes than they are on food, clothing, and shelter combined.I worry about seniors living on fixed incomes in my constituency, whether they are from Brandon, Melita, or Pilot Mound, who cannot afford any more taxes. They cannot afford increased grocery or gas bills.Will the Liberals commit today that their carbon tax will not take one more nickle out of the pockets of seniors living on fixed incomes?

Mr. Speaker, in a video that went viral, five-year-old Brooke Blair gets angry with the British Prime Minister because she does not understand why people are living on the street and no one is doing anything about it.In her heartfelt appeal, she says:They “should be out there”. They should be “building houses”.Even a five-year-old knows that if we build more houses there will be fewer people on the street. The best investment is social housing.When will the minister announce long-term funding for social housing?

Mr. Speaker, there is still nothing for softwood lumber, nothing for Mégantic, nothing for diafiltered milk, and nothing for Bombardier. There is nothing for the people of Quebec. On health, the Liberals are maintaining the cuts made by the Harper government, and on the environment, they are maintaining the targets set by the Harper government. For Quebec, it is obvious: the Liberals have blown it.Are the 40 Liberal members from Quebec trying to prove once again that, no matter who is in charge in Ottawa, Quebec's interests always come last?

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the President of the Treasury Board claimed that he had never been lobbied by the McCain family. We now know that this is not true. In fact, the minister met with Michael McCain in March, and the meeting was registered with the Commissioner of Lobbying. Why did the Liberal minister mislead Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, the clock is ticking. In Alberta, the forest industry employs over 19,000 people, the majority of whom are in my riding of Yellowhead. My constituents and the forest industry deserve to know what their future will be. Albertans cannot afford another drastic hit. There is no time to waste. Too many jobs are at stake. Why will the minister not do her job and ensure stability and predictability for Canadian forestry workers?

Mr. Speaker, the commissioners decide based on the information they are provided. I just want to note that. This is absolutely just another Liberal when it comes to ethics. If this was a meeting with his close friend, which he just called a social meeting, then why was it registered as lobbying if it was just a social meeting? When will the Liberal minister stop misleading Canadians and admit that there is a problem of ethics here?

Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Matthew is the most powerful hurricane to hit the Caribbean in decades. This natural disaster killed over 500 people in Haiti. Entire towns were completely destroyed, and no one knows what will happen to the residents of the many communities that remain cut off.Can the Minister of National Defence update the House on Canada's efforts to provide immediate assistance to the victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and elsewhere in the region?

Mr. Speaker, the government has decided to reduce greenhouse gases by increasing taxes on Canadians. This will raise the price of gasoline at the pump by 11¢ a litre and cost middle-class Canadian families thousands of dollars annually.Can the environment minister tell the House when her department calculated exactly how many jobs would be lost as part of the Liberals' rash scheme to impose a carbon tax on Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government is taking money out of young families' wallets with both hands with the implementation of the Liberals' carbon tax. This new tax, imposed this week in a cavalier way, leaves no financial room to manoeuvre for the future, in other words, for our children and grandchildren.How can the Liberal government claim that its ideological carbon tax will have no impact on the economic prosperity of future generations?

Mr. Speaker, the International Civil Aviation Organization reached an agreement on greener aircraft yesterday in Montreal.At the same time, the federal government is still refusing to support the development of the greenest aircraft on the market, the Bombardier C Series plane. The Liberals are still talking out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to the environment, as they do when they claim to be supporting Quebec's economy.When will the federal government stop undermining Quebec's economy, and when will it invest our money in Bombardier?

Mr. Speaker, according to Statistics Canada, poor households spend a third more of their incomes on heat, gas, and groceries, than do rich households. A carbon tax that would raise the price of those goods will take a relatively larger bite out of the incomes of the poor than of the rich, which is the very definition of “regressive”.Why is the Prime Minister imposing a regressive tax that would force those with the least to suffer the most?

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly not reveal information that will hurt the case. I have no other goal than to bring these children home with their mother. I am only saying that in order to succeed, we need to work all together and avoid politicizing this issue.If the opposition has concrete suggestions to make on how to bring these children out of Iran, my door is open, and the door of my parliamentary secretary is open, for constructive suggestions from any of our colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign the Prime Minister said that it made no sense to impose plans to decrease greenhouse gas emissions on the provinces, and that it was up to them to find a solution to the problems in their provinces. Now the Liberals are imposing a carbon tax that will increase costs for middle-class families.Why do the Liberals want to help themselves to more money from Canadian middle-class families?

Mr. Speaker, in May 2015, the Conservative government set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those targets are exactly the same as the ones set out in the Paris agreement. That is why we are in favour of the Paris agreement. However, we are opposed to the Liberals' approach, which involves inventing, creating, and imposing, and that is the verb used by the Prime Minister, a new tax. That is not the right way to go about things.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has indicated that this tax will cost each Canadian family thousands of dollars.The question is simple: does the government have the numbers? Does it know how much creating and imposing this new tax will cost families?

Mr. Speaker, this government has acknowledged that pay equity is a fundamental human right, so why is it asking Canadian women to wait another two years? Enough is enough.The previous Liberal government shelved pay equity legislation in 2005. Women should not have to wait until 2018 for this Liberal government to do the right thing. The Liberals have everything they need to introduce pay equity legislation now. What are they waiting for?

Mr. Speaker, it is imperative in order to resolve heart-breaking cases as this family's that all colleagues in this House work together. The opposition is free to instead politicize this issue in an unhelpful way, as my colleague did yesterday. Now that members know how I feel about harmful politicization, I will come back to my usual impeccable parliamentary behaviour, and again I will say that my door is open. Let us all work together to reunite this family.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for raising this important issue. This government takes very seriously the issue of sex trafficking in our country. We are working very carefully with the provinces and territories, and with law enforcement partners across the country, to address this very important issue. There is also a very significant role to play for various non-government organizations, which we are also assisting in order to respond. We are examining the issue that the member raised very carefully.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is cutting the increase in health transfers by half.The minister told us that there is no point in investing more money in the health care system. I do not believe that she has visited hospital waiting rooms in Quebec, because she would have been shown that the situation is not acceptable. The Liberals have adopted the Conservatives' cuts of billions of dollars and, what is more, the NDP's standards. Can the minister explain to Quebeckers what they will get out of this?

Mr. Speaker, I share the hon. member's concern for the softwood industry in northern Saskatchewan, and indeed across the country. We understand how important this industry is across the whole of the country. We understand its complexity across the whole of the country. All of this has been incorporated into our negotiating position. We are working hard, in collaboration with everyone in the industry. We are working hard with our American friends to try to reach a solution to this problem that will benefit the Canadian softwood—

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs gave a thumbs down when I called on the government to make the return of the Azer children a priority. The minister came close today to apologizing, but yesterday he doubled down, by deploying a Liberal insider to criticize Alison Azer for daring to speak up for the return of her children.Will the minister give a sincere apology to Alison Azer, and, second, apologize for deploying a Liberal insider to criticize Alison Azer's efforts?

Mr. Speaker, approximately 150 people participated in the veterans summit this week, yet one-quarter of them had never been in the Canadian Armed Forces and nearly half were not recipients of Veterans Affairs Canada programs or services.Must I remind the minister that the point of this type of summit is to improve the benefits offered by his department, not to serve the Liberal government's own agenda?The minister told veterans to be patient because he was still working on identifying the most pressing issues.Why then does he not consult the veterans who are most affected by his department?

Mr. Speaker, I agree with you, but what people say in the House must be accurate.Contrary to what the minister just said, we support the Paris agreement, but not the Liberals' approach.The fact is that the government's floor price is $10 per tonne. We all know what floor price means: you can bet it will not be any lower, but the sky is the limit. The tax will go up, that is for sure.I am going to ask my question again, and I would like to get an answer. How much more will Canadian families have to pay because of the Liberal carbon tax?

Mr. Speaker, I am really confused. I do not see how my colleague can say the Conservative Party supports the Paris agreement when he voted against it.We know that the economy and the environment go hand in hand. That is why we are pricing carbon. In fact, 80% of Canadians, including Quebeckers, already pay a carbon price. The Premier of Quebec supports our position. We are working with the provinces and territories because we are taking this seriously, because we want to grow our economy, a clean economy, and because—

Mr. Speaker, since coming to power, the Liberals have taken no meaningful action on diafiltered milk.The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food admitted that the dairy farmers' and processors' ingredient strategy is not good enough. The minister spent more than a year consulting farmers and every other industry stakeholder, but he is still looking for a solution. That is just outrageous.I have one simple question: will the government enforce cheese compositional standards starting now, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.Canadians are saddened by and concerned about the devastation and loss suffered by our friends in Haiti and in other countries in the region. Our government has sent a Canadian disaster and assessment team to Haiti comprised of three experts from Global Affairs and three officers from the Canadian Armed Forces, and they will rapidly assess the situation. In the interim, we have committed $3 million as an initial humanitarian response. We stand ready, with my colleague from International Development, to respond quickly and effectively for those who are in need of immediate assistance.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Alison Azer was in Ottawa. For 14 months she has been fighting to bring her children home. They were kidnapped and taken to Iran. Shockingly, when the member for St. Albert—Edmonton raised this issue, the Minister of Foreign Affairs made inappropriate and unparliamentary gestures.Will the minister apologize? Ms. Azer expects that. More importantly, when will the Liberals have the courage to do what it takes to bring these children home?

Mr. Speaker, in less than a week, the softwood lumber agreement grace period will run out, and this could mean massive export tariffs on Canadian lumber, anywhere from 25% to 30%. If we do not get a new agreement, we could lose up to 22,000 jobs in British Columbia and across Canada. Yet the minister has refused to give any assurances this week. As the deadline looms, what is the government doing to protect forestry jobs in British Columbia?

Mr. Speaker, Brigadier-General Dawe confirmed that Canadian troops have exchanged fire with Daesh fighters, but he will not say how often that has occurred. Our armed forces continue to participate in air strikes, but we do not know how often.We are told that the situation today is more dangerous and more complicated, and that it will take years to defeat Daesh. How long are the Liberals going to keep our troops engaged in this new, more dangerous mission that is unfolding on the front lines?

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly interesting that the minister would say that, because it certainly was not the Liberal approach with the case of Mohamed Fahmy. Needless to say, the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not answer the question that was posed by the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni to provide this House and all Canadians with an update on the status of the Azer children. Will he do so now?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal platform said, in black and white, “We will end Canada's combat mission in Iraq”. Canadians were told that, instead, our troops would just be training local forces, but yesterday, Brigadier-General Dawe said that there is less need for training, and troops are increasingly on the front line engaging directly with the enemy. Canadians were told this would be a training mission. Has the mission changed?

Mr. Speaker, I am very sorry that the party opposite does not believe that we should be taking action to tackle climate change. They did not vote for the Paris agreement, when the critic actually joined me. Let us point out where the evidence does show it has an impact. In British Columbia, they brought in a price on pollution, and what did they do? They reduced emissions while growing their economy. That is why the Conservative critic has said that B.C. did the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, what is interesting is that we are hearing a new buzz word from the Minister of National Defence called “advise and assist”. Does that mean combat, yes or no?Yesterday we heard from military leaders who confirmed that Canadian soldiers are spending more time on the front lines and are engaging in more firefights with ISIS, but on this, the Liberals have been silent. Conservatives will always recognize the right of our soldiers to defend themselves. The fact is, the Conservatives held regular technical briefings and informed the House of the actions of our troops, but that is not happening under the Liberals. Will the Liberals finally admit that they are withholding information because what is actually happening in Iraq is counter to the Liberal peacekeeping agenda?

Mr. Speaker, as a new grandfather, as of just hours ago, I understand more than ever the concerns that thousands of Canadian families have over the negative impact the carbon tax will have on their household spending and on all consumer goods. I am talking about the price of things like groceries, transportation, heating, and everything else that will go up.Is the Liberal government aware of how harmful the carbon tax will be for young, middle-class Canadian families?

Mr. Speaker, the minister is right. It will stay with provincial governments to fund so-called green programs, like in Ontario, where millionaire green energy insiders have overcharged hydro customers by $37 billion, forcing many into the food bank, or to quote the CBC: The Ontario government gave taxpayer-funded rebates to five millionaires to buy one of the most expensive cars ever manufactured, the Porsche 918 Spyder. Now the working guy, filling up his Ford Focus, will pay an 11-cent-a-litre tax to fund green handouts to Porsche-driving millionaires. Why?

Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite said that he supports the Paris agreement. However, that was not the case a few days ago. He did not vote in favour of the Paris agreement.Obviously, the Conservatives did not have a plan. They had targets, but no plan. We have a plan to fight climate change and grow our economy because we know that the economy and the environment go hand in hand.

Mr. Speaker, parental leave and maternity leave are essential for Canadian families, but our government can do more to adapt to the new realities facing families.Can the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development tell the House what he is doing to move forward on this important issue?

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite and the party opposite is so concerned about the middle class, I wonder why they did not support our middle-class tax cut and why they did not support an enhancement to the Canada child benefit, which now helps nine out of 10 Canadian families and raises over 300,00 children out of poverty.Let us be clear about pricing pollution. Any revenue raised from pricing pollution would remain in the province. Provinces could do as British Columbia has done: growing its economy while returning revenues in the form of tax cuts to small businesses and to families.This is the way we are moving forward to grow our economy and to protect the environment. I wish the other party would join us.

Mr. Speaker, we all make mistakes. The responsible course of action is to apologize and move on.Whether he intended it or not, the actions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs offended Alison Azer. I have two questions for the minister. Will he give a clear apology to Ms. Azer? Will he update this House on the efforts to secure the safe return of the four Azer children?

Mr. Speaker, as much as we appreciate that apology, there does seem to be a pattern among the Liberals of dismissing legitimate concerns and criticism. We are concerned with that pattern. We are seeing it when it comes to issues like the carbon tax. There are Canadians who are extremely concerned about the additional taxes and the burden they will have to bear. We know that gas prices are going to skyrocket. We know that the price of food is going to skyrocket, and Canadians are expressing concern about this. They have seen what has happened in Ontario. They are seeing what is happening in Alberta, and instead of giving heed to these legitimate concerns, the Liberals are dismissing concerns. When will the Liberals—

Mr. Speaker, this government promised to make education for first nations children a priority. The Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs even presented a plan to the minister to help her government keep its promises, but she chose to ignore the department's recommendation. I asked the minister to justify her decision, but she did not give me an answer.I am going to try again. Can the minister explain why she chose to ignore that plan?Why does she continue to say one thing here and another outside the House?

Mr. Speaker, the only thing that has changed in the mission is that we are far more effective. With the changes that were made to the mission, everything that has been accomplished has been done with the advise and assist mandate. For the protection of our troops, we provided the appropriate rules of engagement and the appropriate equipment. It is a dangerous situation. When our troops are under threat, they need to respond to protect themselves, their colleagues, and the people they are working with.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly feel sorry that what I did yesterday was interpreted as being directed at Madam Azer, because obviously, that was not the case.I am encouraging all colleagues to not politicize this really difficult issue, to all work together to see which way, with constructive propositions, we may bring these kids into the arms of their mother.This is the only goal the Prime Minister has, and I have, and the whole government has. I hope each member of this House will work together to solve this problem.

Mr. Speaker, well, well, look who just woke up. In 2006, the Conservative government brought confidence and consistency to a divided forestry industry. Through ongoing talks with our counterparts and forestry stakeholders, we set the stage for the Liberal government to finalize a new softwood lumber agreement. Unfortunately, the trade minister has only just realized that trade deals do not magically negotiate themselves. When will the trade minister tell the almost 400,000 forestry workers that their jobs are on the line because she has mismanaged this file since the very beginning?

Mr. Speaker, I always find it surprising that the party opposite would be against a market measure that is supported by businesses across Canada.Let me get this straight. We now have Canadian companies, like Suncor and Shell, job creators that are supporting putting a price on pollution—

Mr. Speaker, if the party opposite is so concerned about the middle class, I am wondering why it did not support our middle-class tax cut, or why it did not support the Canada child benefit enhancement for nine out of 10 families. However, let us be clear about the price on carbon pollution. B.C. has given its carbon price back to individuals, families, and small businesses in tax cuts. That is up to the provinces to decide to do. We are going to take action that shows that we can grow our economy in a clean way while protecting our environment.

Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear from the outset on the complexity of conflicts like this. Advise and assist requires us to be effective on the ground, to be able to train the folks, mentor them, help them on operations. That is exactly what we are doing. We are going to be adjusting the mission accordingly to make sure we have the appropriate impact. I have always stated that we have to train the right number of troops on the ground if we are going to take the fight to Daesh. That is exactly what we have accomplished and we are having a massive impact. We got tremendous compliments from the U.S. special envoy to counter ISIL, and we will always continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Mr. Speaker, as a dairy farmer, I am proud that Canada can count on such a strong, dynamic dairy industry.As we on this side of the House have said and will continue to say, supply management is an important pillar of our agriculture sector. Unlike others who would like to abolish it, we support our Canadian supply management. We support our dairy producers and their families, and we support the entire Canadian dairy industry.

Mr. Speaker, I reject the assumption of the hon. member's question. The minister has been working very hard since she came into office to resolve this issue. Indeed, Premier Christy Clark of British Columbia said, “I've got to give her [the minister] credit, she's worked day and night to try and resolve this. It's been her central focus for the last several months.” No one is working harder on this file than the Minister for International Trade. Our negotiators are working hard. We understand its importance, and we will do our best to get a good deal done.

Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting response but not an answer to my question.The brigadier-general has just revealed, “The mission has changed since the spring.” We are told the mission has moved from defensive to offensive, and after promising increased transparency, the Liberals will not tell us how often our troops come under fire and how many are on the ground in Iraq. Does the minister believe that Canadians have a right to know about the increasing risk to our soldiers in Iraq?

Mr. Speaker, our government takes guidance from the commissioners, the Ethics Commissioner, and not from the Conservative Party of Canada. The President of the Treasury Board has proactively disclosed the situation to the commissioner, and he has followed her guidance. All of his holdings have been placed in a blind trust, and the commissioner has decided it is not necessary to have an ethics screen in this situation. I would point out that the person in question has publicly said that no lobbying was done during that meeting.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the number of times the attacks happen, we are not going to be giving regular updates on this, because there is an operational security risk to it. When we start giving certain metrics to the enemy, it creates a pattern and the protection of our troops is the utmost security priority. However, in terms of the evolving mission, we have been keeping Canadians up to date. I have always stated that we will always assess, every single year, how the mission is going and make adjustments so that we can continue to have the appropriate impact, and we are having a considerable impact. That is exactly what our government said we were going to do and that is exactly what we are achieving.

Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. The member opposite is criticizing companies that are actually supporting putting a price on pollution. These companies created 900,000 jobs and $400 billion in revenue, and they get it. The environment and the economy go together. We need to reduce emissions while moving to a clean growth economy.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a right to be informed. Canadians have been told that the risk to our troops has increased, because contrary to what the Liberals promised during the election campaign, our soldiers are spending less and less time in the classroom and more and more time on the front lines. Is the government refusing to disclose this information because it wants to hide the fact that the Canadian Forces are becoming increasingly involved in combat?

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that some interpreted it to be directed at Madame Azer. It was obviously not the case. I have nothing but compassion for Madame Azer and cannot imagine the anguish she must be going through.I am disappointed in how the opposition is politicizing this heartbreaking situation. This is not helpful to Madame Azer and her children. Instead, we must all work together, all of us, to bring her children home. I am always open to consultative ways on how to do this.

Mr. Speaker, when dealing with conflict and an enemy like this, the situation obviously is going to change and we adjust with it to make sure that we are an effective coalition partner. In terms of transparency, we have been extremely open with it. Hence, the reason we actually did this technical briefing, and who better to be able to brief us on how the mission is going than our generals. I have always been open to providing information to Canadians and I will always continue to do so.

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite was so concerned about seniors living on fixed incomes, then he should have supported reducing the age of old age security to 65.We also brought in a tax cut for the middle class. We brought in an enhanced Canada child benefit.Let us be clear: the revenues from any price on pollution go back to the provinces. The provinces can do what B.C. is doing, giving tax cuts to families and also giving money back to small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, the mission in Iraq was always advise and assist, and it continues to be an advise and assist mission. With the evolving situation there, as we work with the local forces, it allows for the local troops to be able to take their fight to Daesh, and that is exactly what we are doing. Our troops are doing a wonderful job. I just met with the special envoy to counter ISIL for the U.S. and he complimented our work. We will continue to work with our coalition partners to have a continued impact against Daesh.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member what he himself said on August 18. He said, “I can appreciate there's been considerable amount of work done to this point...by both Global Affairs and the minister”. He was indeed speaking the truth at that point. The minister has worked very hard on this file from the beginning. We understand its importance to British Columbia and to the member's riding, as well as to other ridings across Canada. We will get a deal done, and we will do it if it is in the best interests of Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to see that the opposition party is concerned about the middle class, because that party certainly did not support our tax cuts for the middle class.We are working with the provinces and the territories. I will again quote the Premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard: We believe it's good [carbon pricing], and it's not going to affect the functioning of our trading system. It puts everyone on the same course, in a strong position to combat climate change.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of their publicly funded health care system, and they expect their governments to ensure it is always available to them. Next year, the Canada health transfer will grow by more than $1 billion, to over $37 billion. The Minister of Health will be meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts in the coming weeks. We look forward to our continued discussion on how we can create a health care system that all Canadians can be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, our government takes our guidance on these matters from the Ethics Commissioner and the Lobbying Commissioner. The President of the Treasury Board proactively approached the commissioner's offices to disclose his situation and his holdings, which have been placed in a blind trust. The commissioner decides whether a conflict of interest screen is necessary, and based on the facts of the president's case and situation, she decided against the screen.

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are putting a price on emissions and on pollution is because we want to grow our economy. That is why we have job creators, major energy companies, the five big banks, and consumer companies saying to actually do this, because it will help us reduce emissions and innovate. Innovation is a good thing. I hope the member opposite believes that, because innovation is necessary so that we position ourselves well to have clean solutions that we can then export, and grow our economy.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question.The Canadian government is a big backer of the aerospace industry, which generates much wealth in Canada by contributing $28 billion to the economy and maintaining over 200,000 jobs. We will definitely continue our discussions with Bombardier because we want to reach an agreement. We must ensure that we keep jobs and research and development in Montreal.

Mr. Speaker, our government definitely enjoys strong representation in Quebec, with 40 members who are here to innovate for Canada and ensure the prosperity of Quebeckers and all Canadians. I am proud to be part of the Quebec Liberal caucus.We have nothing to learn from the Bloc Québécois on how to ensure that Quebec takes its place within Canada and prospers.

Mr. Speaker, I was actually born in Hamilton, so I know that area very well.I would just like to be clear that this is about growing the economy, and it is about protecting our environment. Unfortunately, the party opposite does not understand that that is the direction we need to go. Provinces are entitled to determine what system works for them and what to do with the revenues. We have the support of business, job creators, because they understand that this is the way we are going to grow our economy, we are going to create good jobs, and we are going to create export opportunities for Canadian businesses to create more wealth for the middle class.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Miramichi—Grand Lake for that excellent question, but, more importantly, for the work he has done on this issue that is so important to his community. I share his concern with the increasing abundance of striped bass populations. I have instructed the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to update the science. I hope we will be in a position next year to further extend management measures that will allow greater retention of this fish. We know how important it is for the Atlantic salmon population. I look forward to working with the member and other colleagues on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleague for giving me this opportunity to say that this morning, just a few hours ago, I had a very productive meeting with the most important players and partners in the social community sector on the matter of housing.We had a very fruitful discussion, on the heels of countless discussions I had the privilege of taking part in over the past few months. We look forward to working with the community to ensure that all Canadians can benefit from decent and affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that the Canadian Forces mission in Iraq is quite different than the one the government has described. Our troops are no longer training local forces. They are engaged directly on the front lines, fighting alongside the Kurds.Yesterday General Dawe even confirmed that the Canadian Forces have exchanged fire with ISIL several times.We support our soldiers in Iraq. However, we would like to know why the Minister of National Defence hid the fact that the mission has changed from Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my colleague on becoming a grandfather.As a mother of three, I know that we need to take a cleaner approach to growing our economy. We also have to tackle climate change. That is what we are doing. We are putting a price on carbon, because that solution uses market forces to lower emissions and grow a cleaner economy. We are doing this for my children and for my colleague's grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Kingston and the Islands on his excellent French and thank him for the great work that he is doing for his riding and to make maternity benefits more flexible and easily accessible.Our government promised to support parents and family caregivers by providing them with more flexible and inclusive benefits. Yesterday, my colleague and I had the privilege of announcing that consultations on this issue have begun.We look forward to hearing from all Canadian families in order to ensure that the employment insurance program is useful to them and is there for them when they need it most.

Mr. Speaker, the previous government had briefings for the sake of political games. That was what was happening.I have been extremely transparent in giving information. I provide briefings to my counterparts on a regular basis and actually before we make announcements. I will not give up information that would provide information to the enemy. I have been very open, the reason we have the technical briefings in the first place. On any future changes to the mission, I am happy to provide greater information and make myself available to my colleagues to answer any questions they might have.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to inform the House that we have a government that will actually implement proactive pay equity legislation, not like the previous government, and not like the opposition that wishes it could. This is a government that will actually do it.

Mr. Speaker, part of my portfolio is to constantly think about future generations. That is why we have to ensure that we have a cleaner economy. We need good jobs and we must protect our environment. That is what we are doing.I will quote the Premier of Quebec who said, “We believe it's good [carbon pricing], and it's not going to affect the functioning of our trading system. It puts everyone on the same course, in a strong position to combat climate change”. I hope the party across the way will—

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.We are working hard on this file. Our negotiators are working hard on this file. On Tuesday, in Toronto, the minister participated in a productive conversation with USTR Michael Froman as well as with Canadian industry representatives, including representatives from British Columbia and from the rest of the country. We continue to work closely with lumber producers, workers, provinces, and territories in close collaboration as we advance this file.Any agreement has to reflect the realities of every region across the country, so we are looking for an agreement, but not just any agreement.

Mr. Speaker, first nations children deserve to get the best possible start in life and that begins with sufficient funding for education. Budget 2016 provides for $3.7 billion over five years for K-12 education, including $824.1 million to reform first nations education.

Mr. Speaker, since I came into this position on November 4, we have had three stakeholder summits, with over 150 people in attendance at all of these summits. Various veterans from all groups and all walks of life have contributed meaningfully and deeply to policy developments, from the range of economic security to families to mental health and physical well-being. These stakeholder summits are going well, and we will continue to engage and consult veterans from coast to coast to coast.

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that some interpreted it to be directed at Madame Azer. It was obviously not the case. I have nothing but compassion for Madame Azer and cannot imagine the anguish she must be going through.I am disappointed in how the opposition is politicizing this heartbreaking situation. This is not helpful to Madame Azer and her children. Instead, we must all work together, all of us, to bring her children home. I am always open to consultative ways on how to do this.

Mr. Speaker, our government takes our guidance on these matters from the Ethics Commissioner and the Lobbying Commissioner. The President of the Treasury Board proactively approached the commissioner's offices to disclose his situation and his holdings, which have been placed in a blind trust. The commissioner decides whether a conflict of interest screen is necessary, and based on the facts of the president's case and situation, she decided against the screen.

Mr. Speaker, the Mayor of Hudson Bay, Elvina Rumak, said the impending closure of The Pas softwood lumber mill will impact contractors in Saskatchewan who harvest softwood for Carrot River and hardwood for Hudson Bay.Mel Cadrain, GM Hudson Bay Timberlands, said that if the mill in The Pas closes, it will put pressure on them to utilize small diameter softwood, which will increase their raw material cost and reduce mill productivity.This means fewer jobs. Why is the current sitting Liberal government taking so long to get this badly needed agreement done?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.We are working hard on this file. Our negotiators are working hard on this file. On Tuesday, in Toronto, the minister participated in a productive conversation with USTR Michael Froman as well as with Canadian industry representatives, including representatives from British Columbia and from the rest of the country. We continue to work closely with lumber producers, workers, provinces, and territories in close collaboration as we advance this file.Any agreement has to reflect the realities of every region across the country, so we are looking for an agreement, but not just any agreement.

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the President of the Treasury Board claimed that he had never been lobbied by the McCain family. We now know that this is not true. In fact, the minister met with Michael McCain in March, and the meeting was registered with the Commissioner of Lobbying. Why did the Liberal minister mislead Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, our government takes guidance from the commissioners, the Ethics Commissioner, and not from the Conservative Party of Canada. The President of the Treasury Board has proactively disclosed the situation to the commissioner, and he has followed her guidance. All of his holdings have been placed in a blind trust, and the commissioner has decided it is not necessary to have an ethics screen in this situation. I would point out that the person in question has publicly said that no lobbying was done during that meeting.

Mr. Speaker, I am really confused. I do not see how my colleague can say the Conservative Party supports the Paris agreement when he voted against it.We know that the economy and the environment go hand in hand. That is why we are pricing carbon. In fact, 80% of Canadians, including Quebeckers, already pay a carbon price. The Premier of Quebec supports our position. We are working with the provinces and territories because we are taking this seriously, because we want to grow our economy, a clean economy, and because—

Mr. Speaker, child and adult victims of sex trafficking are being sold daily on Backpage.com. In June, I raised this horrific issue in this chamber and wrote directly to the justice minister, with no response.Yesterday, the CEO of Backpage was arrested in the U.S. on sex trafficking charges.When will the Liberals finally take action to end Backpage.com sex trafficking ads in Canada?

Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite said that he supports the Paris agreement. However, that was not the case a few days ago. He did not vote in favour of the Paris agreement.Obviously, the Conservatives did not have a plan. They had targets, but no plan. We have a plan to fight climate change and grow our economy because we know that the economy and the environment go hand in hand.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly feel sorry that what I did yesterday was interpreted as being directed at Madam Azer, because obviously, that was not the case.I am encouraging all colleagues to not politicize this really difficult issue, to all work together to see which way, with constructive propositions, we may bring these kids into the arms of their mother.This is the only goal the Prime Minister has, and I have, and the whole government has. I hope each member of this House will work together to solve this problem.

Mr. Speaker, well, well, look who just woke up. In 2006, the Conservative government brought confidence and consistency to a divided forestry industry. Through ongoing talks with our counterparts and forestry stakeholders, we set the stage for the Liberal government to finalize a new softwood lumber agreement. Unfortunately, the trade minister has only just realized that trade deals do not magically negotiate themselves. When will the trade minister tell the almost 400,000 forestry workers that their jobs are on the line because she has mismanaged this file since the very beginning?

Mr. Speaker, in less than a week, the softwood lumber agreement grace period will run out, and this could mean massive export tariffs on Canadian lumber, anywhere from 25% to 30%. If we do not get a new agreement, we could lose up to 22,000 jobs in British Columbia and across Canada. Yet the minister has refused to give any assurances this week. As the deadline looms, what is the government doing to protect forestry jobs in British Columbia?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Alison Azer was in Ottawa. For 14 months she has been fighting to bring her children home. They were kidnapped and taken to Iran. Shockingly, when the member for St. Albert—Edmonton raised this issue, the Minister of Foreign Affairs made inappropriate and unparliamentary gestures.Will the minister apologize? Ms. Azer expects that. More importantly, when will the Liberals have the courage to do what it takes to bring these children home?

Mr. Speaker, I am very sorry that the party opposite does not believe that we should be taking action to tackle climate change. They did not vote for the Paris agreement, when the critic actually joined me. Let us point out where the evidence does show it has an impact. In British Columbia, they brought in a price on pollution, and what did they do? They reduced emissions while growing their economy. That is why the Conservative critic has said that B.C. did the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the Liberals have not shown a shred of evidence that this carbon tax will do anything to reduce emissions in Canada, much less globally. Why do the Liberals not just admit this actually has nothing to do with fighting climate change and has everything to do with filling their coffers for their reckless spending? If they have evidence that it would reduce emissions in Canada, or globally, we want to see it.

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite and the party opposite is so concerned about the middle class, I wonder why they did not support our middle-class tax cut and why they did not support an enhancement to the Canada child benefit, which now helps nine out of 10 Canadian families and raises over 300,00 children out of poverty.Let us be clear about pricing pollution. Any revenue raised from pricing pollution would remain in the province. Provinces could do as British Columbia has done: growing its economy while returning revenues in the form of tax cuts to small businesses and to families.This is the way we are moving forward to grow our economy and to protect the environment. I wish the other party would join us.

Mr. Speaker, the striped bass population has gone from a species of concern to a high-level count never seen before in the Miramichi watershed. Striped bass is a predatory fish to salmon and other species, and salmon is at an all-time low in the river.My question is this: will the minister tell the House whether next season's striped bass management plan will include increased allocations for first nations, to help meet their food and ceremonial needs, and increased sport fishing quotas for the public, since people can no longer keep salmon?

Mr. Speaker, since coming to power, the Liberals have taken no meaningful action on diafiltered milk.The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food admitted that the dairy farmers' and processors' ingredient strategy is not good enough. The minister spent more than a year consulting farmers and every other industry stakeholder, but he is still looking for a solution. That is just outrageous.I have one simple question: will the government enforce cheese compositional standards starting now, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, there is still nothing for softwood lumber, nothing for Mégantic, nothing for diafiltered milk, and nothing for Bombardier. There is nothing for the people of Quebec. On health, the Liberals are maintaining the cuts made by the Harper government, and on the environment, they are maintaining the targets set by the Harper government. For Quebec, it is obvious: the Liberals have blown it.Are the 40 Liberal members from Quebec trying to prove once again that, no matter who is in charge in Ottawa, Quebec's interests always come last?

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite was so concerned about seniors living on fixed incomes, then he should have supported reducing the age of old age security to 65.We also brought in a tax cut for the middle class. We brought in an enhanced Canada child benefit.Let us be clear: the revenues from any price on pollution go back to the provinces. The provinces can do what B.C. is doing, giving tax cuts to families and also giving money back to small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs gave a thumbs down when I called on the government to make the return of the Azer children a priority. The minister came close today to apologizing, but yesterday he doubled down, by deploying a Liberal insider to criticize Alison Azer for daring to speak up for the return of her children.Will the minister give a sincere apology to Alison Azer, and, second, apologize for deploying a Liberal insider to criticize Alison Azer's efforts?

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly not reveal information that will hurt the case. I have no other goal than to bring these children home with their mother. I am only saying that in order to succeed, we need to work all together and avoid politicizing this issue.If the opposition has concrete suggestions to make on how to bring these children out of Iran, my door is open, and the door of my parliamentary secretary is open, for constructive suggestions from any of our colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly interesting that the minister would say that, because it certainly was not the Liberal approach with the case of Mohamed Fahmy. Needless to say, the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not answer the question that was posed by the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni to provide this House and all Canadians with an update on the status of the Azer children. Will he do so now?

Mr. Speaker, the minister is right. It will stay with provincial governments to fund so-called green programs, like in Ontario, where millionaire green energy insiders have overcharged hydro customers by $37 billion, forcing many into the food bank, or to quote the CBC: The Ontario government gave taxpayer-funded rebates to five millionaires to buy one of the most expensive cars ever manufactured, the Porsche 918 Spyder. Now the working guy, filling up his Ford Focus, will pay an 11-cent-a-litre tax to fund green handouts to Porsche-driving millionaires. Why?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal platform said, in black and white, “We will end Canada's combat mission in Iraq”. Canadians were told that, instead, our troops would just be training local forces, but yesterday, Brigadier-General Dawe said that there is less need for training, and troops are increasingly on the front line engaging directly with the enemy. Canadians were told this would be a training mission. Has the mission changed?

Mr. Speaker, Brigadier-General Dawe confirmed that Canadian troops have exchanged fire with Daesh fighters, but he will not say how often that has occurred. Our armed forces continue to participate in air strikes, but we do not know how often.We are told that the situation today is more dangerous and more complicated, and that it will take years to defeat Daesh. How long are the Liberals going to keep our troops engaged in this new, more dangerous mission that is unfolding on the front lines?

Mr. Speaker, I share the hon. member's concern for the softwood industry in northern Saskatchewan, and indeed across the country. We understand how important this industry is across the whole of the country. We understand its complexity across the whole of the country. All of this has been incorporated into our negotiating position. We are working hard, in collaboration with everyone in the industry. We are working hard with our American friends to try to reach a solution to this problem that will benefit the Canadian softwood—

Mr. Speaker, as much as we appreciate that apology, there does seem to be a pattern among the Liberals of dismissing legitimate concerns and criticism. We are concerned with that pattern. We are seeing it when it comes to issues like the carbon tax. There are Canadians who are extremely concerned about the additional taxes and the burden they will have to bear. We know that gas prices are going to skyrocket. We know that the price of food is going to skyrocket, and Canadians are expressing concern about this. They have seen what has happened in Ontario. They are seeing what is happening in Alberta, and instead of giving heed to these legitimate concerns, the Liberals are dismissing concerns. When will the Liberals—

Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government is taking money out of young families' wallets with both hands with the implementation of the Liberals' carbon tax. This new tax, imposed this week in a cavalier way, leaves no financial room to manoeuvre for the future, in other words, for our children and grandchildren.How can the Liberal government claim that its ideological carbon tax will have no impact on the economic prosperity of future generations?

Mr. Speaker, if the party opposite is so concerned about the middle class, I am wondering why it did not support our middle-class tax cut, or why it did not support the Canada child benefit enhancement for nine out of 10 families. However, let us be clear about the price on carbon pollution. B.C. has given its carbon price back to individuals, families, and small businesses in tax cuts. That is up to the provinces to decide to do. We are going to take action that shows that we can grow our economy in a clean way while protecting our environment.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question.The Canadian government is a big backer of the aerospace industry, which generates much wealth in Canada by contributing $28 billion to the economy and maintaining over 200,000 jobs. We will definitely continue our discussions with Bombardier because we want to reach an agreement. We must ensure that we keep jobs and research and development in Montreal.

Mr. Speaker, this government has acknowledged that pay equity is a fundamental human right, so why is it asking Canadian women to wait another two years? Enough is enough.The previous Liberal government shelved pay equity legislation in 2005. Women should not have to wait until 2018 for this Liberal government to do the right thing. The Liberals have everything they need to introduce pay equity legislation now. What are they waiting for?

Mr. Speaker, the International Civil Aviation Organization reached an agreement on greener aircraft yesterday in Montreal.At the same time, the federal government is still refusing to support the development of the greenest aircraft on the market, the Bombardier C Series plane. The Liberals are still talking out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to the environment, as they do when they claim to be supporting Quebec's economy.When will the federal government stop undermining Quebec's economy, and when will it invest our money in Bombardier?

Mr. Speaker, according to Statistics Canada, poor households spend a third more of their incomes on heat, gas, and groceries, than do rich households. A carbon tax that would raise the price of those goods will take a relatively larger bite out of the incomes of the poor than of the rich, which is the very definition of “regressive”.Why is the Prime Minister imposing a regressive tax that would force those with the least to suffer the most?

Mr. Speaker, the commissioners decide based on the information they are provided. I just want to note that. This is absolutely just another Liberal when it comes to ethics. If this was a meeting with his close friend, which he just called a social meeting, then why was it registered as lobbying if it was just a social meeting? When will the Liberal minister stop misleading Canadians and admit that there is a problem of ethics here?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for raising this important issue. This government takes very seriously the issue of sex trafficking in our country. We are working very carefully with the provinces and territories, and with law enforcement partners across the country, to address this very important issue. There is also a very significant role to play for various non-government organizations, which we are also assisting in order to respond. We are examining the issue that the member raised very carefully.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that the Canadian Forces mission in Iraq is quite different than the one the government has described. Our troops are no longer training local forces. They are engaged directly on the front lines, fighting alongside the Kurds.Yesterday General Dawe even confirmed that the Canadian Forces have exchanged fire with ISIL several times.We support our soldiers in Iraq. However, we would like to know why the Minister of National Defence hid the fact that the mission has changed from Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I reject the assumption of the hon. member's question. The minister has been working very hard since she came into office to resolve this issue. Indeed, Premier Christy Clark of British Columbia said, “I've got to give her [the minister] credit, she's worked day and night to try and resolve this. It's been her central focus for the last several months.” No one is working harder on this file than the Minister for International Trade. Our negotiators are working hard. We understand its importance, and we will do our best to get a good deal done.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member what he himself said on August 18. He said, “I can appreciate there's been considerable amount of work done to this point...by both Global Affairs and the minister”. He was indeed speaking the truth at that point. The minister has worked very hard on this file from the beginning. We understand its importance to British Columbia and to the member's riding, as well as to other ridings across Canada. We will get a deal done, and we will do it if it is in the best interests of Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, the clock is ticking. In Alberta, the forest industry employs over 19,000 people, the majority of whom are in my riding of Yellowhead. My constituents and the forest industry deserve to know what their future will be. Albertans cannot afford another drastic hit. There is no time to waste. Too many jobs are at stake. Why will the minister not do her job and ensure stability and predictability for Canadian forestry workers?

Mr. Speaker, since I came into this position on November 4, we have had three stakeholder summits, with over 150 people in attendance at all of these summits. Various veterans from all groups and all walks of life have contributed meaningfully and deeply to policy developments, from the range of economic security to families to mental health and physical well-being. These stakeholder summits are going well, and we will continue to engage and consult veterans from coast to coast to coast.

Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleague for giving me this opportunity to say that this morning, just a few hours ago, I had a very productive meeting with the most important players and partners in the social community sector on the matter of housing.We had a very fruitful discussion, on the heels of countless discussions I had the privilege of taking part in over the past few months. We look forward to working with the community to ensure that all Canadians can benefit from decent and affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, I was actually born in Hamilton, so I know that area very well.I would just like to be clear that this is about growing the economy, and it is about protecting our environment. Unfortunately, the party opposite does not understand that that is the direction we need to go. Provinces are entitled to determine what system works for them and what to do with the revenues. We have the support of business, job creators, because they understand that this is the way we are going to grow our economy, we are going to create good jobs, and we are going to create export opportunities for Canadian businesses to create more wealth for the middle class.

Mr. Speaker, this government promised to make education for first nations children a priority. The Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs even presented a plan to the minister to help her government keep its promises, but she chose to ignore the department's recommendation. I asked the minister to justify her decision, but she did not give me an answer.I am going to try again. Can the minister explain why she chose to ignore that plan?Why does she continue to say one thing here and another outside the House?

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is cutting the increase in health transfers by half.The minister told us that there is no point in investing more money in the health care system. I do not believe that she has visited hospital waiting rooms in Quebec, because she would have been shown that the situation is not acceptable. The Liberals have adopted the Conservatives' cuts of billions of dollars and, what is more, the NDP's standards. Can the minister explain to Quebeckers what they will get out of this?

Mr. Speaker, as a new grandfather, as of just hours ago, I understand more than ever the concerns that thousands of Canadian families have over the negative impact the carbon tax will have on their household spending and on all consumer goods. I am talking about the price of things like groceries, transportation, heating, and everything else that will go up.Is the Liberal government aware of how harmful the carbon tax will be for young, middle-class Canadian families?

Mr. Speaker, the previous government had briefings for the sake of political games. That was what was happening.I have been extremely transparent in giving information. I provide briefings to my counterparts on a regular basis and actually before we make announcements. I will not give up information that would provide information to the enemy. I have been very open, the reason we have the technical briefings in the first place. On any future changes to the mission, I am happy to provide greater information and make myself available to my colleagues to answer any questions they might have.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.Canadians are saddened by and concerned about the devastation and loss suffered by our friends in Haiti and in other countries in the region. Our government has sent a Canadian disaster and assessment team to Haiti comprised of three experts from Global Affairs and three officers from the Canadian Armed Forces, and they will rapidly assess the situation. In the interim, we have committed $3 million as an initial humanitarian response. We stand ready, with my colleague from International Development, to respond quickly and effectively for those who are in need of immediate assistance.

Mr. Speaker, in May 2015, the Conservative government set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those targets are exactly the same as the ones set out in the Paris agreement. That is why we are in favour of the Paris agreement. However, we are opposed to the Liberals' approach, which involves inventing, creating, and imposing, and that is the verb used by the Prime Minister, a new tax. That is not the right way to go about things.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has indicated that this tax will cost each Canadian family thousands of dollars.The question is simple: does the government have the numbers? Does it know how much creating and imposing this new tax will cost families?

Mr. Speaker, in a video that went viral, five-year-old Brooke Blair gets angry with the British Prime Minister because she does not understand why people are living on the street and no one is doing anything about it.In her heartfelt appeal, she says:They “should be out there”. They should be “building houses”.Even a five-year-old knows that if we build more houses there will be fewer people on the street. The best investment is social housing.When will the minister announce long-term funding for social housing?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to inform the House that we have a government that will actually implement proactive pay equity legislation, not like the previous government, and not like the opposition that wishes it could. This is a government that will actually do it.

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are putting a price on emissions and on pollution is because we want to grow our economy. That is why we have job creators, major energy companies, the five big banks, and consumer companies saying to actually do this, because it will help us reduce emissions and innovate. Innovation is a good thing. I hope the member opposite believes that, because innovation is necessary so that we position ourselves well to have clean solutions that we can then export, and grow our economy.

Mr. Speaker, what is interesting is that we are hearing a new buzz word from the Minister of National Defence called “advise and assist”. Does that mean combat, yes or no?Yesterday we heard from military leaders who confirmed that Canadian soldiers are spending more time on the front lines and are engaging in more firefights with ISIS, but on this, the Liberals have been silent. Conservatives will always recognize the right of our soldiers to defend themselves. The fact is, the Conservatives held regular technical briefings and informed the House of the actions of our troops, but that is not happening under the Liberals. Will the Liberals finally admit that they are withholding information because what is actually happening in Iraq is counter to the Liberal peacekeeping agenda?

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the number of times the attacks happen, we are not going to be giving regular updates on this, because there is an operational security risk to it. When we start giving certain metrics to the enemy, it creates a pattern and the protection of our troops is the utmost security priority. However, in terms of the evolving mission, we have been keeping Canadians up to date. I have always stated that we will always assess, every single year, how the mission is going and make adjustments so that we can continue to have the appropriate impact, and we are having a considerable impact. That is exactly what our government said we were going to do and that is exactly what we are achieving.

Mr. Speaker, it is imperative in order to resolve heart-breaking cases as this family's that all colleagues in this House work together. The opposition is free to instead politicize this issue in an unhelpful way, as my colleague did yesterday. Now that members know how I feel about harmful politicization, I will come back to my usual impeccable parliamentary behaviour, and again I will say that my door is open. Let us all work together to reunite this family.

Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Matthew is the most powerful hurricane to hit the Caribbean in decades. This natural disaster killed over 500 people in Haiti. Entire towns were completely destroyed, and no one knows what will happen to the residents of the many communities that remain cut off.Can the Minister of National Defence update the House on Canada's efforts to provide immediate assistance to the victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and elsewhere in the region?

Mr. Speaker, we all make mistakes. The responsible course of action is to apologize and move on.Whether he intended it or not, the actions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs offended Alison Azer. I have two questions for the minister. Will he give a clear apology to Ms. Azer? Will he update this House on the efforts to secure the safe return of the four Azer children?

Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. The member opposite is criticizing companies that are actually supporting putting a price on pollution. These companies created 900,000 jobs and $400 billion in revenue, and they get it. The environment and the economy go together. We need to reduce emissions while moving to a clean growth economy.

Mr. Speaker, approximately 150 people participated in the veterans summit this week, yet one-quarter of them had never been in the Canadian Armed Forces and nearly half were not recipients of Veterans Affairs Canada programs or services.Must I remind the minister that the point of this type of summit is to improve the benefits offered by his department, not to serve the Liberal government's own agenda?The minister told veterans to be patient because he was still working on identifying the most pressing issues.Why then does he not consult the veterans who are most affected by his department?

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to see that the opposition party is concerned about the middle class, because that party certainly did not support our tax cuts for the middle class.We are working with the provinces and the territories. I will again quote the Premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard: We believe it's good [carbon pricing], and it's not going to affect the functioning of our trading system. It puts everyone on the same course, in a strong position to combat climate change.

Mr. Speaker, when dealing with conflict and an enemy like this, the situation obviously is going to change and we adjust with it to make sure that we are an effective coalition partner. In terms of transparency, we have been extremely open with it. Hence, the reason we actually did this technical briefing, and who better to be able to brief us on how the mission is going than our generals. I have always been open to providing information to Canadians and I will always continue to do so.

Mr. Speaker, parental leave and maternity leave are essential for Canadian families, but our government can do more to adapt to the new realities facing families.Can the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development tell the House what he is doing to move forward on this important issue?

Mr. Speaker, the only thing that has changed in the mission is that we are far more effective. With the changes that were made to the mission, everything that has been accomplished has been done with the advise and assist mandate. For the protection of our troops, we provided the appropriate rules of engagement and the appropriate equipment. It is a dangerous situation. When our troops are under threat, they need to respond to protect themselves, their colleagues, and the people they are working with.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a right to be informed. Canadians have been told that the risk to our troops has increased, because contrary to what the Liberals promised during the election campaign, our soldiers are spending less and less time in the classroom and more and more time on the front lines. Is the government refusing to disclose this information because it wants to hide the fact that the Canadian Forces are becoming increasingly involved in combat?

Mr. Speaker, all week the Liberals have been trying to portray themselves as Robin Hood in their own carbon-tax forest, all the while acting like the Sheriff of Nottingham, shaking down Canadians to build their own kingdom.It is no fairy tale that the cost of everything will go up under the Prime Minister's plan. For my constituents, the commute to Kitchener-Waterloo or into the GTA, or a flight out of Hamilton airport, or simply putting fuel in a tractor will cost them more.When will the Liberals come clean about their motives to the Canadian people? Even Friar Tuck and Maid Marian would like to know.

Mr. Speaker, as a dairy farmer, I am proud that Canada can count on such a strong, dynamic dairy industry.As we on this side of the House have said and will continue to say, supply management is an important pillar of our agriculture sector. Unlike others who would like to abolish it, we support our Canadian supply management. We support our dairy producers and their families, and we support the entire Canadian dairy industry.

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent report, Canadians are now spending more on taxes than they are on food, clothing, and shelter combined.I worry about seniors living on fixed incomes in my constituency, whether they are from Brandon, Melita, or Pilot Mound, who cannot afford any more taxes. They cannot afford increased grocery or gas bills.Will the Liberals commit today that their carbon tax will not take one more nickle out of the pockets of seniors living on fixed incomes?

Mr. Speaker, I always find it surprising that the party opposite would be against a market measure that is supported by businesses across Canada.Let me get this straight. We now have Canadian companies, like Suncor and Shell, job creators that are supporting putting a price on pollution—

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Miramichi—Grand Lake for that excellent question, but, more importantly, for the work he has done on this issue that is so important to his community. I share his concern with the increasing abundance of striped bass populations. I have instructed the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to update the science. I hope we will be in a position next year to further extend management measures that will allow greater retention of this fish. We know how important it is for the Atlantic salmon population. I look forward to working with the member and other colleagues on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, part of my portfolio is to constantly think about future generations. That is why we have to ensure that we have a cleaner economy. We need good jobs and we must protect our environment. That is what we are doing.I will quote the Premier of Quebec who said, “We believe it's good [carbon pricing], and it's not going to affect the functioning of our trading system. It puts everyone on the same course, in a strong position to combat climate change”. I hope the party across the way will—

Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear from the outset on the complexity of conflicts like this. Advise and assist requires us to be effective on the ground, to be able to train the folks, mentor them, help them on operations. That is exactly what we are doing. We are going to be adjusting the mission accordingly to make sure we have the appropriate impact. I have always stated that we have to train the right number of troops on the ground if we are going to take the fight to Daesh. That is exactly what we have accomplished and we are having a massive impact. We got tremendous compliments from the U.S. special envoy to counter ISIL, and we will always continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my colleague on becoming a grandfather.As a mother of three, I know that we need to take a cleaner approach to growing our economy. We also have to tackle climate change. That is what we are doing. We are putting a price on carbon, because that solution uses market forces to lower emissions and grow a cleaner economy. We are doing this for my children and for my colleague's grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, the mission in Iraq was always advise and assist, and it continues to be an advise and assist mission. With the evolving situation there, as we work with the local forces, it allows for the local troops to be able to take their fight to Daesh, and that is exactly what we are doing. Our troops are doing a wonderful job. I just met with the special envoy to counter ISIL for the U.S. and he complimented our work. We will continue to work with our coalition partners to have a continued impact against Daesh.

Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting response but not an answer to my question.The brigadier-general has just revealed, “The mission has changed since the spring.” We are told the mission has moved from defensive to offensive, and after promising increased transparency, the Liberals will not tell us how often our troops come under fire and how many are on the ground in Iraq. Does the minister believe that Canadians have a right to know about the increasing risk to our soldiers in Iraq?

Mr. Speaker, first nations children deserve to get the best possible start in life and that begins with sufficient funding for education. Budget 2016 provides for $3.7 billion over five years for K-12 education, including $824.1 million to reform first nations education.

Mr. Speaker, the government has decided to reduce greenhouse gases by increasing taxes on Canadians. This will raise the price of gasoline at the pump by 11¢ a litre and cost middle-class Canadian families thousands of dollars annually.Can the environment minister tell the House when her department calculated exactly how many jobs would be lost as part of the Liberals' rash scheme to impose a carbon tax on Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, our government definitely enjoys strong representation in Quebec, with 40 members who are here to innovate for Canada and ensure the prosperity of Quebeckers and all Canadians. I am proud to be part of the Quebec Liberal caucus.We have nothing to learn from the Bloc Québécois on how to ensure that Quebec takes its place within Canada and prospers.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of their publicly funded health care system, and they expect their governments to ensure it is always available to them. Next year, the Canada health transfer will grow by more than $1 billion, to over $37 billion. The Minister of Health will be meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts in the coming weeks. We look forward to our continued discussion on how we can create a health care system that all Canadians can be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with you, but what people say in the House must be accurate.Contrary to what the minister just said, we support the Paris agreement, but not the Liberals' approach.The fact is that the government's floor price is $10 per tonne. We all know what floor price means: you can bet it will not be any lower, but the sky is the limit. The tax will go up, that is for sure.I am going to ask my question again, and I would like to get an answer. How much more will Canadian families have to pay because of the Liberal carbon tax?

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign the Prime Minister said that it made no sense to impose plans to decrease greenhouse gas emissions on the provinces, and that it was up to them to find a solution to the problems in their provinces. Now the Liberals are imposing a carbon tax that will increase costs for middle-class families.Why do the Liberals want to help themselves to more money from Canadian middle-class families?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Kingston and the Islands on his excellent French and thank him for the great work that he is doing for his riding and to make maternity benefits more flexible and easily accessible.Our government promised to support parents and family caregivers by providing them with more flexible and inclusive benefits. Yesterday, my colleague and I had the privilege of announcing that consultations on this issue have begun.We look forward to hearing from all Canadian families in order to ensure that the employment insurance program is useful to them and is there for them when they need it most.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Kingston and the Islands on his excellent French and thank him for the great work that he is doing for his riding and to make maternity benefits more flexible and easily accessible.Our government promised to support parents and family caregivers by providing them with more flexible and inclusive benefits. Yesterday, my colleague and I had the privilege of announcing that consultations on this issue have begun.We look forward to hearing from all Canadian families in order to ensure that the employment insurance program is useful to them and is there for them when they need it most.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with you, but what people say in the House must be accurate.Contrary to what the minister just said, we support the Paris agreement, but not the Liberals' approach.The fact is that the government's floor price is $10 per tonne. We all know what floor price means: you can bet it will not be any lower, but the sky is the limit. The tax will go up, that is for sure.I am going to ask my question again, and I would like to get an answer. How much more will Canadian families have to pay because of the Liberal carbon tax?

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign the Prime Minister said that it made no sense to impose plans to decrease greenhouse gas emissions on the provinces, and that it was up to them to find a solution to the problems in their provinces. Now the Liberals are imposing a carbon tax that will increase costs for middle-class families.Why do the Liberals want to help themselves to more money from Canadian middle-class families?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of their publicly funded health care system, and they expect their governments to ensure it is always available to them. Next year, the Canada health transfer will grow by more than $1 billion, to over $37 billion. The Minister of Health will be meeting with her provincial and territorial counterparts in the coming weeks. We look forward to our continued discussion on how we can create a health care system that all Canadians can be proud of.

Mr. Speaker, our government definitely enjoys strong representation in Quebec, with 40 members who are here to innovate for Canada and ensure the prosperity of Quebeckers and all Canadians. I am proud to be part of the Quebec Liberal caucus.We have nothing to learn from the Bloc Québécois on how to ensure that Quebec takes its place within Canada and prospers.

Mr. Speaker, first nations children deserve to get the best possible start in life and that begins with sufficient funding for education. Budget 2016 provides for $3.7 billion over five years for K-12 education, including $824.1 million to reform first nations education.

Mr. Speaker, the government has decided to reduce greenhouse gases by increasing taxes on Canadians. This will raise the price of gasoline at the pump by 11¢ a litre and cost middle-class Canadian families thousands of dollars annually.Can the environment minister tell the House when her department calculated exactly how many jobs would be lost as part of the Liberals' rash scheme to impose a carbon tax on Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting response but not an answer to my question.The brigadier-general has just revealed, “The mission has changed since the spring.” We are told the mission has moved from defensive to offensive, and after promising increased transparency, the Liberals will not tell us how often our troops come under fire and how many are on the ground in Iraq. Does the minister believe that Canadians have a right to know about the increasing risk to our soldiers in Iraq?

Mr. Speaker, the mission in Iraq was always advise and assist, and it continues to be an advise and assist mission. With the evolving situation there, as we work with the local forces, it allows for the local troops to be able to take their fight to Daesh, and that is exactly what we are doing. Our troops are doing a wonderful job. I just met with the special envoy to counter ISIL for the U.S. and he complimented our work. We will continue to work with our coalition partners to have a continued impact against Daesh.

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my colleague on becoming a grandfather.As a mother of three, I know that we need to take a cleaner approach to growing our economy. We also have to tackle climate change. That is what we are doing. We are putting a price on carbon, because that solution uses market forces to lower emissions and grow a cleaner economy. We are doing this for my children and for my colleague's grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear from the outset on the complexity of conflicts like this. Advise and assist requires us to be effective on the ground, to be able to train the folks, mentor them, help them on operations. That is exactly what we are doing. We are going to be adjusting the mission accordingly to make sure we have the appropriate impact. I have always stated that we have to train the right number of troops on the ground if we are going to take the fight to Daesh. That is exactly what we have accomplished and we are having a massive impact. We got tremendous compliments from the U.S. special envoy to counter ISIL, and we will always continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Mr. Speaker, part of my portfolio is to constantly think about future generations. That is why we have to ensure that we have a cleaner economy. We need good jobs and we must protect our environment. That is what we are doing.I will quote the Premier of Quebec who said, “We believe it's good [carbon pricing], and it's not going to affect the functioning of our trading system. It puts everyone on the same course, in a strong position to combat climate change”. I hope the party across the way will—

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Miramichi—Grand Lake for that excellent question, but, more importantly, for the work he has done on this issue that is so important to his community. I share his concern with the increasing abundance of striped bass populations. I have instructed the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to update the science. I hope we will be in a position next year to further extend management measures that will allow greater retention of this fish. We know how important it is for the Atlantic salmon population. I look forward to working with the member and other colleagues on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I always find it surprising that the party opposite would be against a market measure that is supported by businesses across Canada.Let me get this straight. We now have Canadian companies, like Suncor and Shell, job creators that are supporting putting a price on pollution—

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent report, Canadians are now spending more on taxes than they are on food, clothing, and shelter combined.I worry about seniors living on fixed incomes in my constituency, whether they are from Brandon, Melita, or Pilot Mound, who cannot afford any more taxes. They cannot afford increased grocery or gas bills.Will the Liberals commit today that their carbon tax will not take one more nickle out of the pockets of seniors living on fixed incomes?

Mr. Speaker, as a dairy farmer, I am proud that Canada can count on such a strong, dynamic dairy industry.As we on this side of the House have said and will continue to say, supply management is an important pillar of our agriculture sector. Unlike others who would like to abolish it, we support our Canadian supply management. We support our dairy producers and their families, and we support the entire Canadian dairy industry.

Mr. Speaker, all week the Liberals have been trying to portray themselves as Robin Hood in their own carbon-tax forest, all the while acting like the Sheriff of Nottingham, shaking down Canadians to build their own kingdom.It is no fairy tale that the cost of everything will go up under the Prime Minister's plan. For my constituents, the commute to Kitchener-Waterloo or into the GTA, or a flight out of Hamilton airport, or simply putting fuel in a tractor will cost them more.When will the Liberals come clean about their motives to the Canadian people? Even Friar Tuck and Maid Marian would like to know.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a right to be informed. Canadians have been told that the risk to our troops has increased, because contrary to what the Liberals promised during the election campaign, our soldiers are spending less and less time in the classroom and more and more time on the front lines. Is the government refusing to disclose this information because it wants to hide the fact that the Canadian Forces are becoming increasingly involved in combat?

Mr. Speaker, the only thing that has changed in the mission is that we are far more effective. With the changes that were made to the mission, everything that has been accomplished has been done with the advise and assist mandate. For the protection of our troops, we provided the appropriate rules of engagement and the appropriate equipment. It is a dangerous situation. When our troops are under threat, they need to respond to protect themselves, their colleagues, and the people they are working with.

Mr. Speaker, parental leave and maternity leave are essential for Canadian families, but our government can do more to adapt to the new realities facing families.Can the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development tell the House what he is doing to move forward on this important issue?

Mr. Speaker, when dealing with conflict and an enemy like this, the situation obviously is going to change and we adjust with it to make sure that we are an effective coalition partner. In terms of transparency, we have been extremely open with it. Hence, the reason we actually did this technical briefing, and who better to be able to brief us on how the mission is going than our generals. I have always been open to providing information to Canadians and I will always continue to do so.

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to see that the opposition party is concerned about the middle class, because that party certainly did not support our tax cuts for the middle class.We are working with the provinces and the territories. I will again quote the Premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard: We believe it's good [carbon pricing], and it's not going to affect the functioning of our trading system. It puts everyone on the same course, in a strong position to combat climate change.

Mr. Speaker, approximately 150 people participated in the veterans summit this week, yet one-quarter of them had never been in the Canadian Armed Forces and nearly half were not recipients of Veterans Affairs Canada programs or services.Must I remind the minister that the point of this type of summit is to improve the benefits offered by his department, not to serve the Liberal government's own agenda?The minister told veterans to be patient because he was still working on identifying the most pressing issues.Why then does he not consult the veterans who are most affected by his department?

Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. The member opposite is criticizing companies that are actually supporting putting a price on pollution. These companies created 900,000 jobs and $400 billion in revenue, and they get it. The environment and the economy go together. We need to reduce emissions while moving to a clean growth economy.

Mr. Speaker, we all make mistakes. The responsible course of action is to apologize and move on.Whether he intended it or not, the actions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs offended Alison Azer. I have two questions for the minister. Will he give a clear apology to Ms. Azer? Will he update this House on the efforts to secure the safe return of the four Azer children?

Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Matthew is the most powerful hurricane to hit the Caribbean in decades. This natural disaster killed over 500 people in Haiti. Entire towns were completely destroyed, and no one knows what will happen to the residents of the many communities that remain cut off.Can the Minister of National Defence update the House on Canada's efforts to provide immediate assistance to the victims of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and elsewhere in the region?

Mr. Speaker, it is imperative in order to resolve heart-breaking cases as this family's that all colleagues in this House work together. The opposition is free to instead politicize this issue in an unhelpful way, as my colleague did yesterday. Now that members know how I feel about harmful politicization, I will come back to my usual impeccable parliamentary behaviour, and again I will say that my door is open. Let us all work together to reunite this family.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the number of times the attacks happen, we are not going to be giving regular updates on this, because there is an operational security risk to it. When we start giving certain metrics to the enemy, it creates a pattern and the protection of our troops is the utmost security priority. However, in terms of the evolving mission, we have been keeping Canadians up to date. I have always stated that we will always assess, every single year, how the mission is going and make adjustments so that we can continue to have the appropriate impact, and we are having a considerable impact. That is exactly what our government said we were going to do and that is exactly what we are achieving.

Mr. Speaker, what is interesting is that we are hearing a new buzz word from the Minister of National Defence called “advise and assist”. Does that mean combat, yes or no?Yesterday we heard from military leaders who confirmed that Canadian soldiers are spending more time on the front lines and are engaging in more firefights with ISIS, but on this, the Liberals have been silent. Conservatives will always recognize the right of our soldiers to defend themselves. The fact is, the Conservatives held regular technical briefings and informed the House of the actions of our troops, but that is not happening under the Liberals. Will the Liberals finally admit that they are withholding information because what is actually happening in Iraq is counter to the Liberal peacekeeping agenda?

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are putting a price on emissions and on pollution is because we want to grow our economy. That is why we have job creators, major energy companies, the five big banks, and consumer companies saying to actually do this, because it will help us reduce emissions and innovate. Innovation is a good thing. I hope the member opposite believes that, because innovation is necessary so that we position ourselves well to have clean solutions that we can then export, and grow our economy.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to inform the House that we have a government that will actually implement proactive pay equity legislation, not like the previous government, and not like the opposition that wishes it could. This is a government that will actually do it.

Mr. Speaker, in a video that went viral, five-year-old Brooke Blair gets angry with the British Prime Minister because she does not understand why people are living on the street and no one is doing anything about it.In her heartfelt appeal, she says:They “should be out there”. They should be “building houses”.Even a five-year-old knows that if we build more houses there will be fewer people on the street. The best investment is social housing.When will the minister announce long-term funding for social housing?

Mr. Speaker, in May 2015, the Conservative government set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those targets are exactly the same as the ones set out in the Paris agreement. That is why we are in favour of the Paris agreement. However, we are opposed to the Liberals' approach, which involves inventing, creating, and imposing, and that is the verb used by the Prime Minister, a new tax. That is not the right way to go about things.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has indicated that this tax will cost each Canadian family thousands of dollars.The question is simple: does the government have the numbers? Does it know how much creating and imposing this new tax will cost families?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.Canadians are saddened by and concerned about the devastation and loss suffered by our friends in Haiti and in other countries in the region. Our government has sent a Canadian disaster and assessment team to Haiti comprised of three experts from Global Affairs and three officers from the Canadian Armed Forces, and they will rapidly assess the situation. In the interim, we have committed $3 million as an initial humanitarian response. We stand ready, with my colleague from International Development, to respond quickly and effectively for those who are in need of immediate assistance.

Mr. Speaker, the previous government had briefings for the sake of political games. That was what was happening.I have been extremely transparent in giving information. I provide briefings to my counterparts on a regular basis and actually before we make announcements. I will not give up information that would provide information to the enemy. I have been very open, the reason we have the technical briefings in the first place. On any future changes to the mission, I am happy to provide greater information and make myself available to my colleagues to answer any questions they might have.

Mr. Speaker, as a new grandfather, as of just hours ago, I understand more than ever the concerns that thousands of Canadian families have over the negative impact the carbon tax will have on their household spending and on all consumer goods. I am talking about the price of things like groceries, transportation, heating, and everything else that will go up.Is the Liberal government aware of how harmful the carbon tax will be for young, middle-class Canadian families?

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is cutting the increase in health transfers by half.The minister told us that there is no point in investing more money in the health care system. I do not believe that she has visited hospital waiting rooms in Quebec, because she would have been shown that the situation is not acceptable. The Liberals have adopted the Conservatives' cuts of billions of dollars and, what is more, the NDP's standards. Can the minister explain to Quebeckers what they will get out of this?

Mr. Speaker, I was actually born in Hamilton, so I know that area very well.I would just like to be clear that this is about growing the economy, and it is about protecting our environment. Unfortunately, the party opposite does not understand that that is the direction we need to go. Provinces are entitled to determine what system works for them and what to do with the revenues. We have the support of business, job creators, because they understand that this is the way we are going to grow our economy, we are going to create good jobs, and we are going to create export opportunities for Canadian businesses to create more wealth for the middle class.

Mr. Speaker, this government promised to make education for first nations children a priority. The Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs even presented a plan to the minister to help her government keep its promises, but she chose to ignore the department's recommendation. I asked the minister to justify her decision, but she did not give me an answer.I am going to try again. Can the minister explain why she chose to ignore that plan?Why does she continue to say one thing here and another outside the House?

Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleague for giving me this opportunity to say that this morning, just a few hours ago, I had a very productive meeting with the most important players and partners in the social community sector on the matter of housing.We had a very fruitful discussion, on the heels of countless discussions I had the privilege of taking part in over the past few months. We look forward to working with the community to ensure that all Canadians can benefit from decent and affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, the clock is ticking. In Alberta, the forest industry employs over 19,000 people, the majority of whom are in my riding of Yellowhead. My constituents and the forest industry deserve to know what their future will be. Albertans cannot afford another drastic hit. There is no time to waste. Too many jobs are at stake. Why will the minister not do her job and ensure stability and predictability for Canadian forestry workers?

Mr. Speaker, since I came into this position on November 4, we have had three stakeholder summits, with over 150 people in attendance at all of these summits. Various veterans from all groups and all walks of life have contributed meaningfully and deeply to policy developments, from the range of economic security to families to mental health and physical well-being. These stakeholder summits are going well, and we will continue to engage and consult veterans from coast to coast to coast.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member what he himself said on August 18. He said, “I can appreciate there's been considerable amount of work done to this point...by both Global Affairs and the minister”. He was indeed speaking the truth at that point. The minister has worked very hard on this file from the beginning. We understand its importance to British Columbia and to the member's riding, as well as to other ridings across Canada. We will get a deal done, and we will do it if it is in the best interests of Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I reject the assumption of the hon. member's question. The minister has been working very hard since she came into office to resolve this issue. Indeed, Premier Christy Clark of British Columbia said, “I've got to give her [the minister] credit, she's worked day and night to try and resolve this. It's been her central focus for the last several months.” No one is working harder on this file than the Minister for International Trade. Our negotiators are working hard. We understand its importance, and we will do our best to get a good deal done.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that the Canadian Forces mission in Iraq is quite different than the one the government has described. Our troops are no longer training local forces. They are engaged directly on the front lines, fighting alongside the Kurds.Yesterday General Dawe even confirmed that the Canadian Forces have exchanged fire with ISIL several times.We support our soldiers in Iraq. However, we would like to know why the Minister of National Defence hid the fact that the mission has changed from Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for raising this important issue. This government takes very seriously the issue of sex trafficking in our country. We are working very carefully with the provinces and territories, and with law enforcement partners across the country, to address this very important issue. There is also a very significant role to play for various non-government organizations, which we are also assisting in order to respond. We are examining the issue that the member raised very carefully.

Mr. Speaker, the commissioners decide based on the information they are provided. I just want to note that. This is absolutely just another Liberal when it comes to ethics. If this was a meeting with his close friend, which he just called a social meeting, then why was it registered as lobbying if it was just a social meeting? When will the Liberal minister stop misleading Canadians and admit that there is a problem of ethics here?

Mr. Speaker, according to Statistics Canada, poor households spend a third more of their incomes on heat, gas, and groceries, than do rich households. A carbon tax that would raise the price of those goods will take a relatively larger bite out of the incomes of the poor than of the rich, which is the very definition of “regressive”.Why is the Prime Minister imposing a regressive tax that would force those with the least to suffer the most?

Mr. Speaker, the International Civil Aviation Organization reached an agreement on greener aircraft yesterday in Montreal.At the same time, the federal government is still refusing to support the development of the greenest aircraft on the market, the Bombardier C Series plane. The Liberals are still talking out of both sides of their mouths when it comes to the environment, as they do when they claim to be supporting Quebec's economy.When will the federal government stop undermining Quebec's economy, and when will it invest our money in Bombardier?

Mr. Speaker, this government has acknowledged that pay equity is a fundamental human right, so why is it asking Canadian women to wait another two years? Enough is enough.The previous Liberal government shelved pay equity legislation in 2005. Women should not have to wait until 2018 for this Liberal government to do the right thing. The Liberals have everything they need to introduce pay equity legislation now. What are they waiting for?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question.The Canadian government is a big backer of the aerospace industry, which generates much wealth in Canada by contributing $28 billion to the economy and maintaining over 200,000 jobs. We will definitely continue our discussions with Bombardier because we want to reach an agreement. We must ensure that we keep jobs and research and development in Montreal.

Mr. Speaker, if the party opposite is so concerned about the middle class, I am wondering why it did not support our middle-class tax cut, or why it did not support the Canada child benefit enhancement for nine out of 10 families. However, let us be clear about the price on carbon pollution. B.C. has given its carbon price back to individuals, families, and small businesses in tax cuts. That is up to the provinces to decide to do. We are going to take action that shows that we can grow our economy in a clean way while protecting our environment.

Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government is taking money out of young families' wallets with both hands with the implementation of the Liberals' carbon tax. This new tax, imposed this week in a cavalier way, leaves no financial room to manoeuvre for the future, in other words, for our children and grandchildren.How can the Liberal government claim that its ideological carbon tax will have no impact on the economic prosperity of future generations?

Mr. Speaker, as much as we appreciate that apology, there does seem to be a pattern among the Liberals of dismissing legitimate concerns and criticism. We are concerned with that pattern. We are seeing it when it comes to issues like the carbon tax. There are Canadians who are extremely concerned about the additional taxes and the burden they will have to bear. We know that gas prices are going to skyrocket. We know that the price of food is going to skyrocket, and Canadians are expressing concern about this. They have seen what has happened in Ontario. They are seeing what is happening in Alberta, and instead of giving heed to these legitimate concerns, the Liberals are dismissing concerns. When will the Liberals—

Mr. Speaker, I share the hon. member's concern for the softwood industry in northern Saskatchewan, and indeed across the country. We understand how important this industry is across the whole of the country. We understand its complexity across the whole of the country. All of this has been incorporated into our negotiating position. We are working hard, in collaboration with everyone in the industry. We are working hard with our American friends to try to reach a solution to this problem that will benefit the Canadian softwood—

Mr. Speaker, Brigadier-General Dawe confirmed that Canadian troops have exchanged fire with Daesh fighters, but he will not say how often that has occurred. Our armed forces continue to participate in air strikes, but we do not know how often.We are told that the situation today is more dangerous and more complicated, and that it will take years to defeat Daesh. How long are the Liberals going to keep our troops engaged in this new, more dangerous mission that is unfolding on the front lines?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal platform said, in black and white, “We will end Canada's combat mission in Iraq”. Canadians were told that, instead, our troops would just be training local forces, but yesterday, Brigadier-General Dawe said that there is less need for training, and troops are increasingly on the front line engaging directly with the enemy. Canadians were told this would be a training mission. Has the mission changed?

Mr. Speaker, the minister is right. It will stay with provincial governments to fund so-called green programs, like in Ontario, where millionaire green energy insiders have overcharged hydro customers by $37 billion, forcing many into the food bank, or to quote the CBC: The Ontario government gave taxpayer-funded rebates to five millionaires to buy one of the most expensive cars ever manufactured, the Porsche 918 Spyder. Now the working guy, filling up his Ford Focus, will pay an 11-cent-a-litre tax to fund green handouts to Porsche-driving millionaires. Why?

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly interesting that the minister would say that, because it certainly was not the Liberal approach with the case of Mohamed Fahmy. Needless to say, the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not answer the question that was posed by the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni to provide this House and all Canadians with an update on the status of the Azer children. Will he do so now?

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly not reveal information that will hurt the case. I have no other goal than to bring these children home with their mother. I am only saying that in order to succeed, we need to work all together and avoid politicizing this issue.If the opposition has concrete suggestions to make on how to bring these children out of Iran, my door is open, and the door of my parliamentary secretary is open, for constructive suggestions from any of our colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs gave a thumbs down when I called on the government to make the return of the Azer children a priority. The minister came close today to apologizing, but yesterday he doubled down, by deploying a Liberal insider to criticize Alison Azer for daring to speak up for the return of her children.Will the minister give a sincere apology to Alison Azer, and, second, apologize for deploying a Liberal insider to criticize Alison Azer's efforts?

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite was so concerned about seniors living on fixed incomes, then he should have supported reducing the age of old age security to 65.We also brought in a tax cut for the middle class. We brought in an enhanced Canada child benefit.Let us be clear: the revenues from any price on pollution go back to the provinces. The provinces can do what B.C. is doing, giving tax cuts to families and also giving money back to small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, there is still nothing for softwood lumber, nothing for Mégantic, nothing for diafiltered milk, and nothing for Bombardier. There is nothing for the people of Quebec. On health, the Liberals are maintaining the cuts made by the Harper government, and on the environment, they are maintaining the targets set by the Harper government. For Quebec, it is obvious: the Liberals have blown it.Are the 40 Liberal members from Quebec trying to prove once again that, no matter who is in charge in Ottawa, Quebec's interests always come last?

Mr. Speaker, since coming to power, the Liberals have taken no meaningful action on diafiltered milk.The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food admitted that the dairy farmers' and processors' ingredient strategy is not good enough. The minister spent more than a year consulting farmers and every other industry stakeholder, but he is still looking for a solution. That is just outrageous.I have one simple question: will the government enforce cheese compositional standards starting now, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, the striped bass population has gone from a species of concern to a high-level count never seen before in the Miramichi watershed. Striped bass is a predatory fish to salmon and other species, and salmon is at an all-time low in the river.My question is this: will the minister tell the House whether next season's striped bass management plan will include increased allocations for first nations, to help meet their food and ceremonial needs, and increased sport fishing quotas for the public, since people can no longer keep salmon?

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite and the party opposite is so concerned about the middle class, I wonder why they did not support our middle-class tax cut and why they did not support an enhancement to the Canada child benefit, which now helps nine out of 10 Canadian families and raises over 300,00 children out of poverty.Let us be clear about pricing pollution. Any revenue raised from pricing pollution would remain in the province. Provinces could do as British Columbia has done: growing its economy while returning revenues in the form of tax cuts to small businesses and to families.This is the way we are moving forward to grow our economy and to protect the environment. I wish the other party would join us.

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the Liberals have not shown a shred of evidence that this carbon tax will do anything to reduce emissions in Canada, much less globally. Why do the Liberals not just admit this actually has nothing to do with fighting climate change and has everything to do with filling their coffers for their reckless spending? If they have evidence that it would reduce emissions in Canada, or globally, we want to see it.

Mr. Speaker, I am very sorry that the party opposite does not believe that we should be taking action to tackle climate change. They did not vote for the Paris agreement, when the critic actually joined me. Let us point out where the evidence does show it has an impact. In British Columbia, they brought in a price on pollution, and what did they do? They reduced emissions while growing their economy. That is why the Conservative critic has said that B.C. did the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Alison Azer was in Ottawa. For 14 months she has been fighting to bring her children home. They were kidnapped and taken to Iran. Shockingly, when the member for St. Albert—Edmonton raised this issue, the Minister of Foreign Affairs made inappropriate and unparliamentary gestures.Will the minister apologize? Ms. Azer expects that. More importantly, when will the Liberals have the courage to do what it takes to bring these children home?

Mr. Speaker, in less than a week, the softwood lumber agreement grace period will run out, and this could mean massive export tariffs on Canadian lumber, anywhere from 25% to 30%. If we do not get a new agreement, we could lose up to 22,000 jobs in British Columbia and across Canada. Yet the minister has refused to give any assurances this week. As the deadline looms, what is the government doing to protect forestry jobs in British Columbia?

Mr. Speaker, well, well, look who just woke up. In 2006, the Conservative government brought confidence and consistency to a divided forestry industry. Through ongoing talks with our counterparts and forestry stakeholders, we set the stage for the Liberal government to finalize a new softwood lumber agreement. Unfortunately, the trade minister has only just realized that trade deals do not magically negotiate themselves. When will the trade minister tell the almost 400,000 forestry workers that their jobs are on the line because she has mismanaged this file since the very beginning?

Mr. Speaker, I certainly feel sorry that what I did yesterday was interpreted as being directed at Madam Azer, because obviously, that was not the case.I am encouraging all colleagues to not politicize this really difficult issue, to all work together to see which way, with constructive propositions, we may bring these kids into the arms of their mother.This is the only goal the Prime Minister has, and I have, and the whole government has. I hope each member of this House will work together to solve this problem.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite said that he supports the Paris agreement. However, that was not the case a few days ago. He did not vote in favour of the Paris agreement.Obviously, the Conservatives did not have a plan. They had targets, but no plan. We have a plan to fight climate change and grow our economy because we know that the economy and the environment go hand in hand.

Mr. Speaker, child and adult victims of sex trafficking are being sold daily on Backpage.com. In June, I raised this horrific issue in this chamber and wrote directly to the justice minister, with no response.Yesterday, the CEO of Backpage was arrested in the U.S. on sex trafficking charges.When will the Liberals finally take action to end Backpage.com sex trafficking ads in Canada?

Mr. Speaker, I am really confused. I do not see how my colleague can say the Conservative Party supports the Paris agreement when he voted against it.We know that the economy and the environment go hand in hand. That is why we are pricing carbon. In fact, 80% of Canadians, including Quebeckers, already pay a carbon price. The Premier of Quebec supports our position. We are working with the provinces and territories because we are taking this seriously, because we want to grow our economy, a clean economy, and because—

Mr. Speaker, our government takes guidance from the commissioners, the Ethics Commissioner, and not from the Conservative Party of Canada. The President of the Treasury Board has proactively disclosed the situation to the commissioner, and he has followed her guidance. All of his holdings have been placed in a blind trust, and the commissioner has decided it is not necessary to have an ethics screen in this situation. I would point out that the person in question has publicly said that no lobbying was done during that meeting.

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the President of the Treasury Board claimed that he had never been lobbied by the McCain family. We now know that this is not true. In fact, the minister met with Michael McCain in March, and the meeting was registered with the Commissioner of Lobbying. Why did the Liberal minister mislead Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.We are working hard on this file. Our negotiators are working hard on this file. On Tuesday, in Toronto, the minister participated in a productive conversation with USTR Michael Froman as well as with Canadian industry representatives, including representatives from British Columbia and from the rest of the country. We continue to work closely with lumber producers, workers, provinces, and territories in close collaboration as we advance this file.Any agreement has to reflect the realities of every region across the country, so we are looking for an agreement, but not just any agreement.

Mr. Speaker, the Mayor of Hudson Bay, Elvina Rumak, said the impending closure of The Pas softwood lumber mill will impact contractors in Saskatchewan who harvest softwood for Carrot River and hardwood for Hudson Bay.Mel Cadrain, GM Hudson Bay Timberlands, said that if the mill in The Pas closes, it will put pressure on them to utilize small diameter softwood, which will increase their raw material cost and reduce mill productivity.This means fewer jobs. Why is the current sitting Liberal government taking so long to get this badly needed agreement done?

Mr. Speaker, our government takes our guidance on these matters from the Ethics Commissioner and the Lobbying Commissioner. The President of the Treasury Board proactively approached the commissioner's offices to disclose his situation and his holdings, which have been placed in a blind trust. The commissioner decides whether a conflict of interest screen is necessary, and based on the facts of the president's case and situation, she decided against the screen.

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that some interpreted it to be directed at Madame Azer. It was obviously not the case. I have nothing but compassion for Madame Azer and cannot imagine the anguish she must be going through.I am disappointed in how the opposition is politicizing this heartbreaking situation. This is not helpful to Madame Azer and her children. Instead, we must all work together, all of us, to bring her children home. I am always open to consultative ways on how to do this.