Most toxic speeches
Mr. Speaker, this is a deeply flawed bill that does not respect the spirit or the letter of the treaty.The standard for Canadian arms exports is not conclusive evidence of the use of arms in human rights violations. It is reasonable risk. Clearly, with Saudi Arabia, there is a reasonable risk that Canadian arms have been and will be used to commit human rights violations in Saudi Arabia or Yemen. This is an embarrassment. The current government's approach to arms export control is shameful. When will the government do the right thing and suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia?
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the Conservatives attacking Stats Canada. They were the ones who gutted Stats Canada and got rid of the long-form census. The reality is that there are reasons why a lot of Canadians did want to vote in the last election. They were very motivated to get rid of the Harper Conservatives in that election. That has nothing to do with Stats Canada. It is because Canadians are a wise people.
Mr. Speaker, let's talk about measures. Yesterday, the minister told us he had nothing new to offer in terms of how to deal with the thousands of illegal migrants. The minister is going to take care of illegal migrants under the guise of compassion, but the problem is that his compassion does not extend to the real refugees in UN camps. The minister's hypocrisy is clear to the thousands of real refugees he never mentions in his speeches. Once again, will the government show some real leadership and put the issue of illegal asylum seekers on the agenda for the G7 summit?
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister has defended his decision to reward Liberal Party insiders with a quota worth millions of dollars, claiming his patronage was a step in reconciliation. The bidding process was a sham and an insult to reconciliation. It is pitting one first nation against the other and the crown.Why is the minister putting Liberal insiders ahead of the families in Grand Bank and ahead of reconciliation with indigenous people?
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian knows that the Liberal carbon tax will have a direct impact on their wallets. The government knows it, the government did the calculations, but the government is hiding it from Canadians. That is rather cowardly.The question is simple: how will this tax directly impact middle-class families, those who work hard, and those who want something to show for their money? What will the Liberal carbon tax cost Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. Climate change is already costing Canadians. We are seeing floods and forest fires across the country. We have a duty to leave a planet for our children and our grandchildren. We have a plan, but what is the Conservative Party's plan?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have served under a government that was the first to include LGBTQI rights in Canada's citizenship guide. There is one line of immigration that this government has managed to reduce to zero days for wait time. That is for people who are illegally crossing the border from the safe country that is the United States. Meanwhile, it takes 30 months for someone to immigrate to Canada legally on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Why has the minister redirected 80 staff from processing the applications of legal border crossers to processing those of people illegally entering the country from the United States?
Mr. Speaker, as members know, here in Canada, we welcome refugees who are fleeing persecution and who fear for their lives if they go back to their home country. We are the second largest country in the world, and our values motivate us to welcome those fleeing persecution. At the same time, we are making sure the rules are being followed. People who do not follow the rules will be sent back to their homeland. We are very clear on this.
Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that the government is rushing to build 520 housing units for illegal border crossers. These will be heated and ventilated, and they will have easy access to showers, drinking water, and toilets. Canadian northerners are desperate for this kind of housing, which has been postponed until post-2022. Many are calling my offices, and they have a simple question: Why are the Liberals responding with such urgency to illegal border crossers and ignoring the plight of the north?
Mr. Speaker, astoundingly, at the public safety committee yesterday, a Liberal member asked the incoming and first female RCMP commissioner, How will a lady tell the guys to behave? Such language, directed at the commissioner tasked with tackling harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying in the RCMP, is unquestionably sexist and undermining her leadership. Does the public safety minister feel that the question was appropriate? If not, what is he going to do about it?
Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court has ordered the government to review the refugee claim of a person who, until recently, lived in the United States for 13 years. That person never claimed asylum during that time but is now shopping for a spot in Canada. This individual is decidedly making a mockery of Canada.Does the government also believe that the United States is not a safe country for refugee claimants, or will it do what needs to be done and appeal that decision?
Mr. Speaker, after watching the Liberals' pals get pot permits to grow a small fortune, now we are seeing the Liberals' fishing buddies get a free pass, once again making a laughingstock of the principle of ethics. If court documents confirm interference on the part of the Minister of Fisheries regarding a highly valued shellfish, the Liberals will once again have cheated in an allocation process, this time at the expense of first nations.Why is the minister granting millions of dollars' worth of quotas to his Liberal buddies at the expense of a fair process and the much-desired reconciliation?
Mr. Speaker, another day has gone by, but refugees who are waiting in camps all over the world to come to Canada are no closer to arriving than they were yesterday or the day before. The Minister of Immigration preaches compassion but is making the world's most vulnerable people wait while prioritizing people who are crossing illegally from the U.S. Why does the minister not stop with the PMO talking points and tell us how this is fair?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are the ones who are talking about an open and transparent process.The government is taking the stewardship of our democracy as seriously as it did electoral reform. The lack of urgency on its part is alarming. After inexplicably waiting for 18 months to appoint a Chief Electoral Officer, the government sent two letters in the space of three weeks, with two different candidates.With only 18 months left until the next election, time is running out. Canadians expect free and fair elections. They deserve answers. What is happening, and when will the Elections Canada CEO be on the job?
Mr. Speaker, what makes it difficult for refugees is when health care is cut for refugees. What makes it difficult for refugees is when the generosity of Canadians is limited to only 4,500 spots in the privately sponsored refugee program. We have more than quadrupled those spots, to 18,000, so that more Canadians can sponsor refugees. We have doubled the number of resettled refugees who come to Canada. We have invested more money in the Immigration and Refugee Board, so that genuine refugees can get their claims heard faster. The Conservatives have no clue about compassion for refugees.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has moved over 80 full-time employees from processing applications of people who are trying to legally emigrate to Canada, to process work permits for people entering Canada illegally from the United States, yet we know that LGBTQI+ refugees in UN camps wait for years to come to Canada under the government. How is it compassionate to send resources to prioritize the applications of illegal border crossers from the United States of America, while persecuted LGBTQI+ refugees have to wait?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberal carbon tax will cost Canadian families, but the government is refusing to tell them how much. How much will the Liberal carbon tax cost moms who have to take their kids to daycare, get groceries, and go to work, but who, like many people, do not have access to public transit?
Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix pay system has been a disaster right from the beginning. At Parks Canada, the problems have been rampant, and many people have not been paid properly for months or even years. My riding is the proud home to four national parksKootenay, Yoho, Revelstoke, and Glacierand my offices have dealt with a large number of Phoenix cases from Parks Canada employees. There have been so many problems that many struggle to even keep track of the status of their own case. These good people deserve better.When will the government scrap the Phoenix pay system and compensate those affected by this fiasco?
Mr. Speaker, on January 28, 2017, the Prime Minister was taking action too. He sent out a tweet that said, To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Since then, Quebec has had its hands full. Could the Prime Minister at least edit his tweet to say To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, be aware that 90% of you will be denied asylum?
Mr. Speaker, around the globe, U.S. data oligarchies are facing calls for regulation, but with the Liberal government it is a case of who you know in the PMO. Liberal operative Kevin Chan did not even bother to register as a lobbyist because he could just call up his friends, the ministers, and Google did one step better, moving Leslie Church from the Liberal Party to Google public affairs to the senior position in the Minister of Canadian Heritage's office. Talk about letting Dracula have the keys to the blood bank.Why is the Minister of Canadian Heritage putting the interests of Liberal insiders ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens?
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand with Marie-Hélène Dubé and the Canadian Union of Public Employees today. Together they represent over a million Canadians who are calling on the government to enhance the employment insurance sickness benefits.The Prime Minister and the minister both promised to do just that, but the sick are still waiting. They should not have to deal with financial problems. They should be focusing on getting well. When will the government keep its promises?
Mr. Speaker, every day the wait gets longer for those fleeing war and genuine persecution, as the government uses its resources for those who jump the queue. The Liberals have reassigned 80 agents from processing legitimate immigration applications that have long wait times. These agents are now dealing with queue jumpers instead of real applicants. How is that fair and compassionate?
Mr. Speaker, La Presse has just announced that it will become a non-profit entity because Ottawa is still refusing to support our national media.This morning, the newspaper's president said that the newspaper could no longer compete in an environment where more than 80% of digital advertising dollars in Canada go to Google and Facebook, which do not have to pay taxes but get tax credits. Why on earth is the Minister of Finance favouring the web giants? First La Presse. What's next?Will our media have to start hiring hordes of lobbyists to finally get the government's attention?
Mr. Speaker, the government finally released its report on the use of Canadian arms in Saudi Arabia. It says that there is no evidence the arms were used to violate human rights. The UN and human rights advocacy groups say that the use of force was neither reasonable nor necessary, but the government chose to draw conclusions based on information from Saudi military and diplomatic sources.Does the government seriously expect Canadians to accept this report?
Mr. Speaker, only the Harper Conservatives would talk about border security after they cut almost $400 million from border security operations. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about compassionate treatment of refugees after they cut refugee health care to the most vulnerable people, pregnant women, and victims of torture. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about immigration processing and people stuck in backlogs after we inherited those backlogs from them and are working hard to clear them and improve processing times. We have no lessons to take from the Conservatives on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's election laws have always worked well, but now, just 18 months before the next election, the Liberals continue to look for trouble and have decided to create mass confusion among voters.Across the country, Canadians must show at least one piece of official ID to vote, and this applies to everyone, no exceptions.Why are the Liberals trying to undermine the integrity of our electoral system, which is fine as is?
Mr. Speaker, only the Liberals would think that a tax will solve environmental problems.The facts are clear. The Liberals are unable to explain how this new tax will help the environment. The Liberals simply do not want to tell Canadians how much this tax is going to cost them and, in the meantime, the parliamentary budget officer, who is neutral, says that it will cost our economy $10 billion.My question is simple. When will our Prime Minister cancel this regressive tax?
Mr. Speaker, the minister was aware of the glaring weaknesses in the Five Nations proposal, yet he ordered his officials to give them the licence anyways. Despite the departmental analysis pointing out the flaws in their application, he still awarded it to Liberal family and friends at the expense of the community of Grand Bank. Just so we are all clear, the minister awarded a contract worth millions of dollars to a Liberal MP's brother and a former Liberal MP, whose bid was incomplete and flawed. If this is not a conflict of interest, what is?
Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud, it is voter turnout. Bill C-76 will bring back voter ID cards and vouching, and we are also giving Elections Canada the mandate to promote turnout.In the last Parliament, it was a Conservative MP who had to rise to apologize for falsifying stories about electoral fraud. I would urge the Conservatives to move on and recognize that what we should be doing is encouraging people
Mr. Speaker, let us compare our records. Under the former Conservative government, spouses had to wait 26 months to reunite with their family members. We have brought that down to 12 months. Not only that, but we were able to remove 20,000 spouses from the backlog they left us.Live-in caregivers who provided services to Canadian families, under that party, under the Harper Conservatives, had to wait five to seven years to sponsor their family members. We have cut that down to 12 months. We will take no lessons from the Harper Conservatives.
Mr. Speaker, I find these remarks rather extraordinary coming from the same Harper Conservatives who did not want to let the Syrians into our country. We, on the other hand, have a different policy. We are going to make sure we show compassion toward refugees fleeing persecution who have every right to come here. At the same time, we are going to make sure the rules are being followed here in Canada. A person who comes to Canada does not automatically have the right to stay unless they meet the criteria for refugee status.
Mr. Speaker, there are 39 accepted forms of ID to vote in a federal election. A label on a prescription bottle, a personal cheque, a utility bill, a library card, those are all acceptable, and the list goes on. It is hard to conceive of a scenario where a voter would have none of these but would have a correct voter information card. However, the Liberals want to have almost a million incorrect cards used as proof. Why are the Liberals making it possible for people to vote without the correct ID?
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to wait, because we will be coming forward very soon with a successful candidate in the rigorous selection process for the next Chief Electoral Officer. Choosing the Chief Electoral Officer, who will help us preserve the integrity of our electoral system and at the same time encourage more Canadians to vote, has been a very important process. It is important that we respect the privacy of all Canadians who participate in these processes. I wish the NDP would demonstrate that same level of respect.
Mr. Speaker, last year, a number of residents of Yamachiche, particularly people who live on Louis-Gatineau Road, were affected by devastating waves that caused considerable damage to their property. Since then, the Liberal government has been hiding the full report on the incident and refuses to bear the cost of the damage. The victims still have not received any financial compensation and have really been left to fend for themselves, without any help from the federal government. I have two simple questions.Will the Minister of Transport publish the entire report? Will he compensate the victims in Yamachiche, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal reported that a majority of Atlantic Canadians have not received a wage increase in the last few years. It is reported that families have significantly less money to spend, and households are actually worse off now than they were during the great recession. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only make things worse by increasing the price of nearly everything Canadians pay for.Will the government show some compassion for Atlantic Canadians and vote with us today and say no to the carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberal government that claimed that the tax would be revenue neutral.Today, further testimony from Environment Canada disproved that claim. Officials said that the budget bill will not even allow the government to reduce other taxes with the proceeds of the carbon tax. In other words, this is going to make the government a winner and taxpayers the losers.How much will this tax increase cost the average Canadian family?
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian, I am proud of Canada's refugee policy. We can all be proud of this policy, which welcomes those fleeing persecution. We do have rules and they must be followed. We will see to it that these rules are followed to ensure the integrity of our immigration system, Canadians' safety, and respect for national and international rules.
Mr. Speaker, a year later, it is clear that the government is really just winging its response to the migrant crisis.There is a backlog of 53,000 applications. It will take two and a half years to process them all, assuming that no further applications are submitted after today. The government's solution is to fly to Nigeria and tell people that 90% of claimants will be turned away. What a clever idea.Is that the new magic solution for fixing the migrant crisis?
Mr. Speaker, I greatly respect that we have wonderful students watching today, but I bet they want to know another thing too, which is how much it is going to cost them. That is what they want to know.This is more than just a matter of choice. As the Prime Minister almost said in his remarks, it is a behaviour the government wants to correct. The Prime Minister cannot dictate how Canadians behave, but he is going to try to make sure he suffocates them with taxes before they comply.Will the Prime Minister support our motion and commit in the House today to no new taxes for these young people?
Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to implement a plan on climate change that is going to reduce emissions, that is going to grow a clean economy, that is going to ensure a sustainable planet for our kids.Once again, I am going to ask the party opposite this question: what is your plan to tackle climate change to take advantage of the
Mr. Speaker, Canadians fighting for their lives can no longer wait. We have asked the same question over and over, and we are seeing the same Liberal game. When the Liberals were in opposition they cared about this, but now that they are in government they have forgotten what they promised. Enough is enough. We need action. Why have the Liberals forgotten Marie-Hélène Dubé and the half a million Canadians who want to see EI sickness benefits extended? When will we finally see the Liberals stand up for Canadian workers and for those struggling with serious illness, and when will we see them fulfill their promise to extend El sickness benefits?
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly one of the initiatives we have taken, given that the majority of asylum seekers come from Nigeria.I must also remind my colleague that we invested $174 million in budget 2018, including $74 million to hire more Immigration and Refugee Board members so that refugee claims can be processed more quickly. We are taking action.
Mr. Speaker, the Chief Electoral Officer position has been vacant for 18 months.On April 3, we were told that a nominee had been put forward to head up Elections Canada. On April 27, out of nowhere, a new letter arrived telling us that the first nomination was cancelled and a new person was up for the job.In the space of three weeks, without any consultation or explanation, the government changed its mind about the nominee, and now it is giving us just seven business days to analyze the appointment. Let's keep in mind that the next general election is just 18 months away.Are we destined to go through the next election with no Chief Electoral Officer?
Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of costs, and costs are really on our minds as well, specifically because the Prime Minister has indicated that high fuel costs are going to make Canadians make better choices. This is what I want to know. I do not have a choice when I am taking my kids to basketball and football. I do not have a choice to walk when I am taking my husband to his specialist appointment 70 kilometres away. Choices cannot be made that easily.Do the Liberals understand the impact these costs have on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, the government likes to claim that its carbon tax will be revenue neutral.We already knew that they were going to collect GST on the carbon tax, but today Environment Canada officials testified at the finance committee that the government will not return the proceeds of GST collected on the carbon tax to the provinces from which it was originally collected.Is that not yet more proof that this tax has nothing to do with the environment, and that it is just another tax grab on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, after eliminating the children's sports and culture tax credits, after eliminating the public transit tax credit, and after raising taxes for 80% of Canadian families, the Prime Minister's new scheme to get more money out of taxpayers' pockets is to charge a new tax on carbon, which will take $10 billion out of our economy.I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he make a reasoned decision and simply cancel this carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, the statistic the minister just used is completely incorrect. In the last election, having a photo ID was a requirement, and the voter turnout was the highest it had been in two decades. Clearly, proving who a person is did not make it harder to vote. Why do the Liberals think it should not be necessary for voters to prove who they are and where they live in order to vote?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring Canada's export control system is robust and transparent. We are proud to have put forward Bill C-47, which would allow Canada to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House for the constructive work that has been done in committee. We have made significant steps toward creating a new and higher standard for arms exports. This is in line with what Canadians expect. This is what we are doing.
Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a rigorous recruitment process to choose the next Chief Electoral Officer. It is very important to recognize that as we move forward, and I expect we will be moving very soon, we respect the privacy of Canadians who participate in these selection processes. I certainly wish the NDP would respect that same principle of respecting the privacy of people who participate in these selection processes.
Mr. Speaker, a Global News reporter said he was threatened with violence and told not to film while visiting a protest camp against Trans Mountain on public property. The Prime Minister claims he will legislate to ensure that the pipeline gets built. Kinder Morgan still faces roadblocks. It is getting worse, and time is running out. The Liberals have had over a year, but there are only 12 days left to introduce and pass a law, a process that usually takes months. Here is a really easy question: Where is the legislation on the Trans Mountain expansion?
Mr. Speaker, young people and Canadians already know that they are paying for the cost of inaction by the previous government. They are paying the cost, because we are seeing the impact of climate change. We are seeing forest fires. We are seeing droughts. We are seeing floods. Also, we know that there is a huge economic opportunity, a $23-trillion opportunity, from clean growth. I am really proud of what our party has been able to do in terms of the fastest growing economy in the G7 and 400,000 jobs created.We are going to continue taking action to tackle climate change, grow our economy, and--
Mr. Speaker, promoting the rights and dignity of LGBTQ2 people at home and abroad has been a priority for this government. What was the Conservatives' record when they were in government? They were forced by the opposition to put LGBTQ2 rights back into the citizenship guide after they removed those rights and any mention of those rights under the Citizenship Act. We have quadrupled the number of privately sponsored refugees so that we can identify the most vulnerable refugees in the world, including LGBTQ2 communities. We have funded the Rainbow Refugee Society so that more LGBTQ2 refugees can be brought to Canada.
Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of Elections Canada was to restore the voter information cards and vouching to the process. That is one of the reasons why we are doing it. Stats Canada tells us that in the last election 170,000 Canadians did not have the opportunity to vote because of the Conservatives' decision to put an end to vouching and to get rid of the voter information cards. We want more Canadians to vote because we believe that voter participation strengthens our democratic system.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the way Canadians consume content has changed, and this is a reality that is impacting many sectors. The reality is that benefits associated with the shift toward digital are not shared equally between web giants and our artists, creators, and journalists. Our government wants to ensure that there is a better balance. This is why we have committed to modernizing our policy to better address the realities of the digital era, including the review of the Broadcasting Act. We believe in the importance of protecting Canadian culture, industries, and artists, and in promoting access to content on all platforms.
Mr. Speaker, if robust means checking down to see if they have given to the Liberal Party, well, they have accomplished that robust application.I spent last week in Grand Bank. From the dock to Sharon's to Foodland to Jenny's, the concern over the future is very real. I spoke again with Edgar, who works at the plant, and his son also works at the plant and is at risk of being among the very first to lose his job. If this happens, Edgar is worried he may lose his son to the mainland.Edgar has one question for the seven MPs from the Rock: when will they start standing up for them?
Mr. Speaker, this remains, and will remain, my top priority until the Phoenix pay system is stabilized. In parallel, the President of the Treasury Board is looking at a new system for the future. However, we have to pay 300,000 people every two weeks, and we will do just that. Last Friday, I was in Miramichi, and I met and talked to the people who are going to solve this for us.
Mr. Speaker, just so we are clear, the fact that there is a new participant coming into this fishery is not a surprise, or should not be a surprise, to the former government. It had a very similar process, but excluded first nations people as part of that process. We had a robust process and we are proud of the fact that we picked the best proposal. It is going to benefit the highest number of Atlantic Canadians, including indigenous people from five separate provinces.
Mr. Speaker, I always find it strange that the member opposite does not understand how a price on pollution works.He was at committee yesterday, where every single expert said that a price on pollution is the most efficient way to reduce emissions while growing a clean economy. Maybe the member opposite would like to go through the records from the committee. I am happy to produce them for him so that he can see what people say about how a price on pollution works, that we need to tackle climate change, and that this is one of the most effective tools we have to grow a clean economy, to foster innovation, and to ensure a future for our kids.
Mr. Speaker, as members know, Canadians are increasingly turning to the Internet to get the news. Meanwhile, media companies are innovating to adapt to this change.At the request of the industry, we announced in budget 2018 that the government would examine new models to enable the media to accept donations. We firmly believe that La Presse plays an important role as a reliable and professional source of local news in Quebec. We will, of course, continue to work with La Presse and other media organizations to ensure that we follow up on our budget commitments.
Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new participant in the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservative government. In fact, it started a very similar process three years ago to accomplish the very same thing. The difference is that unlike the previous government, our robust process included indigenous communities. We are proud that the best proposal was selected. The greatest number of Atlantic Canadians will benefit, including indigenous people from five provinces, those being four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the party opposite would show compassion for all Canadians and for the world by taking serious action on climate change. The costs of climate change and the impacts we are seeing on Canadians from floods, from forest fires, and from droughts have gone from $400 million a year to over $1 billion a year. We are projected to hit maybe $40 billion a year by 2030. There is a huge impact from climate change, and Canadians are feeling it right now.I just wonder if the party opposite would actually tell us if it has a plan and show it to Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We need a plan to tackle climate change.We have a plan to tackle climate change. We have a plan to grow our economy. We understand the $2-trillion opportunity of clean growth
Mr. Speaker, I always happy to stand up and talk about just how proud I am of the good work of every member of Parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador, especially the member for BonavistaBurinTrinity, who has been in constant contact with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In addition to that, we are also proud of the robust process we carried out that ensured the maximum number of Atlantic Canadians were going to benefit from this decision, including indigenous people, a group of people that government forgot about when it was going through a similar process.
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that climate change is real, that we must do something about it, and that we can grow a clean economy. That is what we are doing. We have a plan.On behalf of all Canadians, I ask the following question. What is the plan of the party across the way?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for ScarboroughGuildwood for his important work on Rouge National Urban Park.For the first time ever, we welcomed the views of all Canadians. Over 13,000 Canadians shared their perspectives, and yesterday I was able to share the practical steps that we are taking in response to this feedback. The top priority is protecting the ecological integrity of our parks and making sure that more Canadians have access to our parks, because we know when Canadians connect with nature, they understand the importance of that connection. I am extremely proud that starting in 2018, national parks are free to
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Our government recently announced its support for a stronger and more rigorous arms export control system. We will integrate the Arms Trade Treaty criteria into Canadian law, including provisions on human rights, peace and security, and gender-based violence. This also entails a new legal obligation for this government and all future governments of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about how much we have done for moms. We have invested in public transit and created the Canada child benefit. We have done more for moms in the past two years than the party opposite ever did.Moms also want to know what we are going to do to save the planet for their kids. That is what we are going to do, and we have a plan.On behalf of moms, may I ask how you intend to tackle climate change?
Mr. Speaker, the hon. opposition member should be familiar with how pollution pricing works because he lives in Quebec. What happened in Quebec? It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.We have an opportunity not only to fight climate change, but also to create jobs and businesses. In Quebec and in France, I have seen many businesses that offer clean solutions and create jobs. I see that all across Canada.We are going to move forward with our plan to fight climate change.
Mr. Speaker, our decision to increase indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous people. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource and is a powerful step toward reconciliation. When the previous government went through a very similar public proposal process to access this fishery, it forget to include indigenous people. However, we did not.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's national parks play a critical role in shaping our national identity, protecting wildlife, and preserving national heritage. Last year a record number of Canadians visited parks and heritage places across the country, including the Rouge National Urban Park in Scarborough. In 2017, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change held the most comprehensive consultation ever to be undertaken. Could the minister tell us what she heard and what her vision is for Canada's parks?
Mr. Speaker, as I look up at the gallery and I see young people here, I think the question they are asking is whether the party opposite understands that climate change is real, that it is having a real impact. Young people, and older people, and people around the world want to see clear action on climate change, because we only have one planet.On behalf of everyone that wants to see action on climate change, I would like to ask the party opposite: what is your plan?
Mr. Speaker, we certainly took note of the incident that occurred last spring when the Yamachiche region was flooded because a ship was going too fast. The pilot was penalized after being found guilty of travelling at excessive speed near Yamachiche. As for financial compensation, as everyone knows, many other houses were flooded because of last spring's torrential rains, and financial compensation will come from the province at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, members of the Standing Committee on Finance have been working with the Minister of Finance and urging him to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure that persons with disabilities and women who take time out of the workforce to raise children are able to receive the full benefits of our government's transformational Canada pension plan enhancement. Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on the results of those discussions?
Mr. Speaker, as we all know in this House, the EI system has a very important responsibility of addressing the needs and circumstances of families that are struggling with unemployment, with health care, and with family circumstances.We are very conscious of the potential and the already positive impacts of the changes made to the EI system over the last two years. We have introduced a new parental sharing benefit, for instance, which is going to benefit 100,000 families. We have enhanced accessibility for sickness benefits.We look forward to more of these changes.
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to Canadians to help them realize their goal of a strong, secure, and stable retirement. Every three years, the finance ministers review the Canada pension plan to ensure that we are continuing to respond to the needs of Canadians, and henceforth to build on the historic agreement signed in 2016 to enhance the CPP. At their most recent meeting, the finance ministers agreed to strengthen the CPP to provide greater benefits to parents whose income drops after the birth or adoption of a first child, to persons with disabilities, to spouses who are widowed at a young age, and to the estates of lower-income contributors. We are happy to move on with these changes. I want to thank the member for PickeringUxbridge for her hard work on the finance committee.
Mr. Speaker, the facility that is being constructed at Lacolle is to ensure the proper handling of people who need that kind of protection, according to Canadian law. However, the needs of Canadians are extremely important to this government, wherever they may be across the country, including in northern Canada. Our job as members of Parliament is to make sure that every Canadian shares in the wealth and prosperity of this country, including those in the north.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Brenda Lucki as the 24th commissioner of the RCMP. She has 32 years of distinguished service in the force, all across Canada and indeed around the world. She will be an exceptional leader for the RCMP. She is the best person for the job, and she just happens to be a woman.
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to seek unanimous consent of the House to table two documents.The first is the Parliamentary Budget Officer's economic and fiscal outlook from April 2018 and the second is the OECD economic outlook and interim economic outlook, which will show, contrary to the Minister of Environment's claim that we have the fastest-growing environment, that we are not even second or third. In fact, this year Canada has the fourth-fastest-growing environment in the G7.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for his excellent work on behalf of seniors.The new horizons for seniors program helps seniors participate in their communities. I am pleased to announce that the call for proposals for the new version of the new horizons for seniors program was launched yesterday. I urge all members of the House to share this excellent news and to encourage organizations in their ridings to submit projects.
Mr. Speaker, the new horizons for seniors program is one of Canada's greatest policy successes.Since its creation in 2004 by a previous Liberal government, the new horizons for seniors program has supported more than 21,000 projects across the country, and it enriches the lives of a quarter of a million seniors every year.Can the minister tell the House when communities will be able to apply for funding from the 2018 new horizons for seniors program?
Mr. Speaker, we agree with the hon. member, and have agreed for some time, that we want the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline to be built, because of the jobs it would create and because of the expansion of our export markets. We believe in the combination of unprecedented investments in an oceans protection plan; looking at ways in which the world can benefit from the terrific resources in Alberta and across our country; and the co-development with indigenous peoples along the line. These are the three pillars for a successful energy policy, and we are very glad that the member agrees with us.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.I met with Ms. Dubé this morning. I had the pleasure of talking with her about the importance of the employment insurance program and how it must take into account the needs and circumstances of struggling families.We agreed that the employment insurance program has improved over the past two years thanks to the new family caregiver benefit, which will help 24,000 families, and the easing of the rules governing EI sickness benefits, which will help many families and individuals who are struggling. We will continue to work hard to ensure that the EI system
Mr. Speaker, this is a deeply flawed bill that does not respect the spirit or the letter of the treaty.The standard for Canadian arms exports is not conclusive evidence of the use of arms in human rights violations. It is reasonable risk. Clearly, with Saudi Arabia, there is a reasonable risk that Canadian arms have been and will be used to commit human rights violations in Saudi Arabia or Yemen. This is an embarrassment. The current government's approach to arms export control is shameful. When will the government do the right thing and suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia?
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the Conservatives attacking Stats Canada. They were the ones who gutted Stats Canada and got rid of the long-form census. The reality is that there are reasons why a lot of Canadians did want to vote in the last election. They were very motivated to get rid of the Harper Conservatives in that election. That has nothing to do with Stats Canada. It is because Canadians are a wise people.
Mr. Speaker, let's talk about measures. Yesterday, the minister told us he had nothing new to offer in terms of how to deal with the thousands of illegal migrants. The minister is going to take care of illegal migrants under the guise of compassion, but the problem is that his compassion does not extend to the real refugees in UN camps. The minister's hypocrisy is clear to the thousands of real refugees he never mentions in his speeches. Once again, will the government show some real leadership and put the issue of illegal asylum seekers on the agenda for the G7 summit?
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister has defended his decision to reward Liberal Party insiders with a quota worth millions of dollars, claiming his patronage was a step in reconciliation. The bidding process was a sham and an insult to reconciliation. It is pitting one first nation against the other and the crown.Why is the minister putting Liberal insiders ahead of the families in Grand Bank and ahead of reconciliation with indigenous people?
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian knows that the Liberal carbon tax will have a direct impact on their wallets. The government knows it, the government did the calculations, but the government is hiding it from Canadians. That is rather cowardly.The question is simple: how will this tax directly impact middle-class families, those who work hard, and those who want something to show for their money? What will the Liberal carbon tax cost Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. Climate change is already costing Canadians. We are seeing floods and forest fires across the country. We have a duty to leave a planet for our children and our grandchildren. We have a plan, but what is the Conservative Party's plan?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have served under a government that was the first to include LGBTQI rights in Canada's citizenship guide. There is one line of immigration that this government has managed to reduce to zero days for wait time. That is for people who are illegally crossing the border from the safe country that is the United States. Meanwhile, it takes 30 months for someone to immigrate to Canada legally on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Why has the minister redirected 80 staff from processing the applications of legal border crossers to processing those of people illegally entering the country from the United States?
Mr. Speaker, as members know, here in Canada, we welcome refugees who are fleeing persecution and who fear for their lives if they go back to their home country. We are the second largest country in the world, and our values motivate us to welcome those fleeing persecution. At the same time, we are making sure the rules are being followed. People who do not follow the rules will be sent back to their homeland. We are very clear on this.
Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that the government is rushing to build 520 housing units for illegal border crossers. These will be heated and ventilated, and they will have easy access to showers, drinking water, and toilets. Canadian northerners are desperate for this kind of housing, which has been postponed until post-2022. Many are calling my offices, and they have a simple question: Why are the Liberals responding with such urgency to illegal border crossers and ignoring the plight of the north?
Mr. Speaker, astoundingly, at the public safety committee yesterday, a Liberal member asked the incoming and first female RCMP commissioner, How will a lady tell the guys to behave? Such language, directed at the commissioner tasked with tackling harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying in the RCMP, is unquestionably sexist and undermining her leadership. Does the public safety minister feel that the question was appropriate? If not, what is he going to do about it?
Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court has ordered the government to review the refugee claim of a person who, until recently, lived in the United States for 13 years. That person never claimed asylum during that time but is now shopping for a spot in Canada. This individual is decidedly making a mockery of Canada.Does the government also believe that the United States is not a safe country for refugee claimants, or will it do what needs to be done and appeal that decision?
Mr. Speaker, after watching the Liberals' pals get pot permits to grow a small fortune, now we are seeing the Liberals' fishing buddies get a free pass, once again making a laughingstock of the principle of ethics. If court documents confirm interference on the part of the Minister of Fisheries regarding a highly valued shellfish, the Liberals will once again have cheated in an allocation process, this time at the expense of first nations.Why is the minister granting millions of dollars' worth of quotas to his Liberal buddies at the expense of a fair process and the much-desired reconciliation?
Mr. Speaker, another day has gone by, but refugees who are waiting in camps all over the world to come to Canada are no closer to arriving than they were yesterday or the day before. The Minister of Immigration preaches compassion but is making the world's most vulnerable people wait while prioritizing people who are crossing illegally from the U.S. Why does the minister not stop with the PMO talking points and tell us how this is fair?
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are the ones who are talking about an open and transparent process.The government is taking the stewardship of our democracy as seriously as it did electoral reform. The lack of urgency on its part is alarming. After inexplicably waiting for 18 months to appoint a Chief Electoral Officer, the government sent two letters in the space of three weeks, with two different candidates.With only 18 months left until the next election, time is running out. Canadians expect free and fair elections. They deserve answers. What is happening, and when will the Elections Canada CEO be on the job?
Mr. Speaker, what makes it difficult for refugees is when health care is cut for refugees. What makes it difficult for refugees is when the generosity of Canadians is limited to only 4,500 spots in the privately sponsored refugee program. We have more than quadrupled those spots, to 18,000, so that more Canadians can sponsor refugees. We have doubled the number of resettled refugees who come to Canada. We have invested more money in the Immigration and Refugee Board, so that genuine refugees can get their claims heard faster. The Conservatives have no clue about compassion for refugees.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has moved over 80 full-time employees from processing applications of people who are trying to legally emigrate to Canada, to process work permits for people entering Canada illegally from the United States, yet we know that LGBTQI+ refugees in UN camps wait for years to come to Canada under the government. How is it compassionate to send resources to prioritize the applications of illegal border crossers from the United States of America, while persecuted LGBTQI+ refugees have to wait?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberal carbon tax will cost Canadian families, but the government is refusing to tell them how much. How much will the Liberal carbon tax cost moms who have to take their kids to daycare, get groceries, and go to work, but who, like many people, do not have access to public transit?
Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix pay system has been a disaster right from the beginning. At Parks Canada, the problems have been rampant, and many people have not been paid properly for months or even years. My riding is the proud home to four national parksKootenay, Yoho, Revelstoke, and Glacierand my offices have dealt with a large number of Phoenix cases from Parks Canada employees. There have been so many problems that many struggle to even keep track of the status of their own case. These good people deserve better.When will the government scrap the Phoenix pay system and compensate those affected by this fiasco?
Mr. Speaker, on January 28, 2017, the Prime Minister was taking action too. He sent out a tweet that said, To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Since then, Quebec has had its hands full. Could the Prime Minister at least edit his tweet to say To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, be aware that 90% of you will be denied asylum?
Mr. Speaker, around the globe, U.S. data oligarchies are facing calls for regulation, but with the Liberal government it is a case of who you know in the PMO. Liberal operative Kevin Chan did not even bother to register as a lobbyist because he could just call up his friends, the ministers, and Google did one step better, moving Leslie Church from the Liberal Party to Google public affairs to the senior position in the Minister of Canadian Heritage's office. Talk about letting Dracula have the keys to the blood bank.Why is the Minister of Canadian Heritage putting the interests of Liberal insiders ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens?
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand with Marie-Hélène Dubé and the Canadian Union of Public Employees today. Together they represent over a million Canadians who are calling on the government to enhance the employment insurance sickness benefits.The Prime Minister and the minister both promised to do just that, but the sick are still waiting. They should not have to deal with financial problems. They should be focusing on getting well. When will the government keep its promises?
Mr. Speaker, every day the wait gets longer for those fleeing war and genuine persecution, as the government uses its resources for those who jump the queue. The Liberals have reassigned 80 agents from processing legitimate immigration applications that have long wait times. These agents are now dealing with queue jumpers instead of real applicants. How is that fair and compassionate?
Mr. Speaker, La Presse has just announced that it will become a non-profit entity because Ottawa is still refusing to support our national media.This morning, the newspaper's president said that the newspaper could no longer compete in an environment where more than 80% of digital advertising dollars in Canada go to Google and Facebook, which do not have to pay taxes but get tax credits. Why on earth is the Minister of Finance favouring the web giants? First La Presse. What's next?Will our media have to start hiring hordes of lobbyists to finally get the government's attention?
Mr. Speaker, the government finally released its report on the use of Canadian arms in Saudi Arabia. It says that there is no evidence the arms were used to violate human rights. The UN and human rights advocacy groups say that the use of force was neither reasonable nor necessary, but the government chose to draw conclusions based on information from Saudi military and diplomatic sources.Does the government seriously expect Canadians to accept this report?
Mr. Speaker, only the Harper Conservatives would talk about border security after they cut almost $400 million from border security operations. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about compassionate treatment of refugees after they cut refugee health care to the most vulnerable people, pregnant women, and victims of torture. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about immigration processing and people stuck in backlogs after we inherited those backlogs from them and are working hard to clear them and improve processing times. We have no lessons to take from the Conservatives on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's election laws have always worked well, but now, just 18 months before the next election, the Liberals continue to look for trouble and have decided to create mass confusion among voters.Across the country, Canadians must show at least one piece of official ID to vote, and this applies to everyone, no exceptions.Why are the Liberals trying to undermine the integrity of our electoral system, which is fine as is?
Mr. Speaker, only the Liberals would think that a tax will solve environmental problems.The facts are clear. The Liberals are unable to explain how this new tax will help the environment. The Liberals simply do not want to tell Canadians how much this tax is going to cost them and, in the meantime, the parliamentary budget officer, who is neutral, says that it will cost our economy $10 billion.My question is simple. When will our Prime Minister cancel this regressive tax?
Mr. Speaker, the minister was aware of the glaring weaknesses in the Five Nations proposal, yet he ordered his officials to give them the licence anyways. Despite the departmental analysis pointing out the flaws in their application, he still awarded it to Liberal family and friends at the expense of the community of Grand Bank. Just so we are all clear, the minister awarded a contract worth millions of dollars to a Liberal MP's brother and a former Liberal MP, whose bid was incomplete and flawed. If this is not a conflict of interest, what is?
Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud, it is voter turnout. Bill C-76 will bring back voter ID cards and vouching, and we are also giving Elections Canada the mandate to promote turnout.In the last Parliament, it was a Conservative MP who had to rise to apologize for falsifying stories about electoral fraud. I would urge the Conservatives to move on and recognize that what we should be doing is encouraging people
Mr. Speaker, let us compare our records. Under the former Conservative government, spouses had to wait 26 months to reunite with their family members. We have brought that down to 12 months. Not only that, but we were able to remove 20,000 spouses from the backlog they left us.Live-in caregivers who provided services to Canadian families, under that party, under the Harper Conservatives, had to wait five to seven years to sponsor their family members. We have cut that down to 12 months. We will take no lessons from the Harper Conservatives.
Mr. Speaker, I find these remarks rather extraordinary coming from the same Harper Conservatives who did not want to let the Syrians into our country. We, on the other hand, have a different policy. We are going to make sure we show compassion toward refugees fleeing persecution who have every right to come here. At the same time, we are going to make sure the rules are being followed here in Canada. A person who comes to Canada does not automatically have the right to stay unless they meet the criteria for refugee status.
Mr. Speaker, there are 39 accepted forms of ID to vote in a federal election. A label on a prescription bottle, a personal cheque, a utility bill, a library card, those are all acceptable, and the list goes on. It is hard to conceive of a scenario where a voter would have none of these but would have a correct voter information card. However, the Liberals want to have almost a million incorrect cards used as proof. Why are the Liberals making it possible for people to vote without the correct ID?
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to wait, because we will be coming forward very soon with a successful candidate in the rigorous selection process for the next Chief Electoral Officer. Choosing the Chief Electoral Officer, who will help us preserve the integrity of our electoral system and at the same time encourage more Canadians to vote, has been a very important process. It is important that we respect the privacy of all Canadians who participate in these processes. I wish the NDP would demonstrate that same level of respect.
Mr. Speaker, last year, a number of residents of Yamachiche, particularly people who live on Louis-Gatineau Road, were affected by devastating waves that caused considerable damage to their property. Since then, the Liberal government has been hiding the full report on the incident and refuses to bear the cost of the damage. The victims still have not received any financial compensation and have really been left to fend for themselves, without any help from the federal government. I have two simple questions.Will the Minister of Transport publish the entire report? Will he compensate the victims in Yamachiche, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal reported that a majority of Atlantic Canadians have not received a wage increase in the last few years. It is reported that families have significantly less money to spend, and households are actually worse off now than they were during the great recession. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only make things worse by increasing the price of nearly everything Canadians pay for.Will the government show some compassion for Atlantic Canadians and vote with us today and say no to the carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberal government that claimed that the tax would be revenue neutral.Today, further testimony from Environment Canada disproved that claim. Officials said that the budget bill will not even allow the government to reduce other taxes with the proceeds of the carbon tax. In other words, this is going to make the government a winner and taxpayers the losers.How much will this tax increase cost the average Canadian family?
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian, I am proud of Canada's refugee policy. We can all be proud of this policy, which welcomes those fleeing persecution. We do have rules and they must be followed. We will see to it that these rules are followed to ensure the integrity of our immigration system, Canadians' safety, and respect for national and international rules.
Mr. Speaker, a year later, it is clear that the government is really just winging its response to the migrant crisis.There is a backlog of 53,000 applications. It will take two and a half years to process them all, assuming that no further applications are submitted after today. The government's solution is to fly to Nigeria and tell people that 90% of claimants will be turned away. What a clever idea.Is that the new magic solution for fixing the migrant crisis?
Mr. Speaker, I greatly respect that we have wonderful students watching today, but I bet they want to know another thing too, which is how much it is going to cost them. That is what they want to know.This is more than just a matter of choice. As the Prime Minister almost said in his remarks, it is a behaviour the government wants to correct. The Prime Minister cannot dictate how Canadians behave, but he is going to try to make sure he suffocates them with taxes before they comply.Will the Prime Minister support our motion and commit in the House today to no new taxes for these young people?
Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to implement a plan on climate change that is going to reduce emissions, that is going to grow a clean economy, that is going to ensure a sustainable planet for our kids.Once again, I am going to ask the party opposite this question: what is your plan to tackle climate change to take advantage of the
Mr. Speaker, Canadians fighting for their lives can no longer wait. We have asked the same question over and over, and we are seeing the same Liberal game. When the Liberals were in opposition they cared about this, but now that they are in government they have forgotten what they promised. Enough is enough. We need action. Why have the Liberals forgotten Marie-Hélène Dubé and the half a million Canadians who want to see EI sickness benefits extended? When will we finally see the Liberals stand up for Canadian workers and for those struggling with serious illness, and when will we see them fulfill their promise to extend El sickness benefits?
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly one of the initiatives we have taken, given that the majority of asylum seekers come from Nigeria.I must also remind my colleague that we invested $174 million in budget 2018, including $74 million to hire more Immigration and Refugee Board members so that refugee claims can be processed more quickly. We are taking action.
Mr. Speaker, the Chief Electoral Officer position has been vacant for 18 months.On April 3, we were told that a nominee had been put forward to head up Elections Canada. On April 27, out of nowhere, a new letter arrived telling us that the first nomination was cancelled and a new person was up for the job.In the space of three weeks, without any consultation or explanation, the government changed its mind about the nominee, and now it is giving us just seven business days to analyze the appointment. Let's keep in mind that the next general election is just 18 months away.Are we destined to go through the next election with no Chief Electoral Officer?
Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of costs, and costs are really on our minds as well, specifically because the Prime Minister has indicated that high fuel costs are going to make Canadians make better choices. This is what I want to know. I do not have a choice when I am taking my kids to basketball and football. I do not have a choice to walk when I am taking my husband to his specialist appointment 70 kilometres away. Choices cannot be made that easily.Do the Liberals understand the impact these costs have on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, the government likes to claim that its carbon tax will be revenue neutral.We already knew that they were going to collect GST on the carbon tax, but today Environment Canada officials testified at the finance committee that the government will not return the proceeds of GST collected on the carbon tax to the provinces from which it was originally collected.Is that not yet more proof that this tax has nothing to do with the environment, and that it is just another tax grab on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, after eliminating the children's sports and culture tax credits, after eliminating the public transit tax credit, and after raising taxes for 80% of Canadian families, the Prime Minister's new scheme to get more money out of taxpayers' pockets is to charge a new tax on carbon, which will take $10 billion out of our economy.I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he make a reasoned decision and simply cancel this carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, the statistic the minister just used is completely incorrect. In the last election, having a photo ID was a requirement, and the voter turnout was the highest it had been in two decades. Clearly, proving who a person is did not make it harder to vote. Why do the Liberals think it should not be necessary for voters to prove who they are and where they live in order to vote?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring Canada's export control system is robust and transparent. We are proud to have put forward Bill C-47, which would allow Canada to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House for the constructive work that has been done in committee. We have made significant steps toward creating a new and higher standard for arms exports. This is in line with what Canadians expect. This is what we are doing.
Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a rigorous recruitment process to choose the next Chief Electoral Officer. It is very important to recognize that as we move forward, and I expect we will be moving very soon, we respect the privacy of Canadians who participate in these selection processes. I certainly wish the NDP would respect that same principle of respecting the privacy of people who participate in these selection processes.
Mr. Speaker, a Global News reporter said he was threatened with violence and told not to film while visiting a protest camp against Trans Mountain on public property. The Prime Minister claims he will legislate to ensure that the pipeline gets built. Kinder Morgan still faces roadblocks. It is getting worse, and time is running out. The Liberals have had over a year, but there are only 12 days left to introduce and pass a law, a process that usually takes months. Here is a really easy question: Where is the legislation on the Trans Mountain expansion?
Mr. Speaker, young people and Canadians already know that they are paying for the cost of inaction by the previous government. They are paying the cost, because we are seeing the impact of climate change. We are seeing forest fires. We are seeing droughts. We are seeing floods. Also, we know that there is a huge economic opportunity, a $23-trillion opportunity, from clean growth. I am really proud of what our party has been able to do in terms of the fastest growing economy in the G7 and 400,000 jobs created.We are going to continue taking action to tackle climate change, grow our economy, and--
Mr. Speaker, promoting the rights and dignity of LGBTQ2 people at home and abroad has been a priority for this government. What was the Conservatives' record when they were in government? They were forced by the opposition to put LGBTQ2 rights back into the citizenship guide after they removed those rights and any mention of those rights under the Citizenship Act. We have quadrupled the number of privately sponsored refugees so that we can identify the most vulnerable refugees in the world, including LGBTQ2 communities. We have funded the Rainbow Refugee Society so that more LGBTQ2 refugees can be brought to Canada.
Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of Elections Canada was to restore the voter information cards and vouching to the process. That is one of the reasons why we are doing it. Stats Canada tells us that in the last election 170,000 Canadians did not have the opportunity to vote because of the Conservatives' decision to put an end to vouching and to get rid of the voter information cards. We want more Canadians to vote because we believe that voter participation strengthens our democratic system.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the way Canadians consume content has changed, and this is a reality that is impacting many sectors. The reality is that benefits associated with the shift toward digital are not shared equally between web giants and our artists, creators, and journalists. Our government wants to ensure that there is a better balance. This is why we have committed to modernizing our policy to better address the realities of the digital era, including the review of the Broadcasting Act. We believe in the importance of protecting Canadian culture, industries, and artists, and in promoting access to content on all platforms.
Mr. Speaker, if robust means checking down to see if they have given to the Liberal Party, well, they have accomplished that robust application.I spent last week in Grand Bank. From the dock to Sharon's to Foodland to Jenny's, the concern over the future is very real. I spoke again with Edgar, who works at the plant, and his son also works at the plant and is at risk of being among the very first to lose his job. If this happens, Edgar is worried he may lose his son to the mainland.Edgar has one question for the seven MPs from the Rock: when will they start standing up for them?
Mr. Speaker, this remains, and will remain, my top priority until the Phoenix pay system is stabilized. In parallel, the President of the Treasury Board is looking at a new system for the future. However, we have to pay 300,000 people every two weeks, and we will do just that. Last Friday, I was in Miramichi, and I met and talked to the people who are going to solve this for us.
Mr. Speaker, just so we are clear, the fact that there is a new participant coming into this fishery is not a surprise, or should not be a surprise, to the former government. It had a very similar process, but excluded first nations people as part of that process. We had a robust process and we are proud of the fact that we picked the best proposal. It is going to benefit the highest number of Atlantic Canadians, including indigenous people from five separate provinces.
Mr. Speaker, I always find it strange that the member opposite does not understand how a price on pollution works.He was at committee yesterday, where every single expert said that a price on pollution is the most efficient way to reduce emissions while growing a clean economy. Maybe the member opposite would like to go through the records from the committee. I am happy to produce them for him so that he can see what people say about how a price on pollution works, that we need to tackle climate change, and that this is one of the most effective tools we have to grow a clean economy, to foster innovation, and to ensure a future for our kids.
Mr. Speaker, as members know, Canadians are increasingly turning to the Internet to get the news. Meanwhile, media companies are innovating to adapt to this change.At the request of the industry, we announced in budget 2018 that the government would examine new models to enable the media to accept donations. We firmly believe that La Presse plays an important role as a reliable and professional source of local news in Quebec. We will, of course, continue to work with La Presse and other media organizations to ensure that we follow up on our budget commitments.
Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new participant in the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservative government. In fact, it started a very similar process three years ago to accomplish the very same thing. The difference is that unlike the previous government, our robust process included indigenous communities. We are proud that the best proposal was selected. The greatest number of Atlantic Canadians will benefit, including indigenous people from five provinces, those being four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the party opposite would show compassion for all Canadians and for the world by taking serious action on climate change. The costs of climate change and the impacts we are seeing on Canadians from floods, from forest fires, and from droughts have gone from $400 million a year to over $1 billion a year. We are projected to hit maybe $40 billion a year by 2030. There is a huge impact from climate change, and Canadians are feeling it right now.I just wonder if the party opposite would actually tell us if it has a plan and show it to Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We need a plan to tackle climate change.We have a plan to tackle climate change. We have a plan to grow our economy. We understand the $2-trillion opportunity of clean growth
Mr. Speaker, I always happy to stand up and talk about just how proud I am of the good work of every member of Parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador, especially the member for BonavistaBurinTrinity, who has been in constant contact with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In addition to that, we are also proud of the robust process we carried out that ensured the maximum number of Atlantic Canadians were going to benefit from this decision, including indigenous people, a group of people that government forgot about when it was going through a similar process.
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that climate change is real, that we must do something about it, and that we can grow a clean economy. That is what we are doing. We have a plan.On behalf of all Canadians, I ask the following question. What is the plan of the party across the way?
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for ScarboroughGuildwood for his important work on Rouge National Urban Park.For the first time ever, we welcomed the views of all Canadians. Over 13,000 Canadians shared their perspectives, and yesterday I was able to share the practical steps that we are taking in response to this feedback. The top priority is protecting the ecological integrity of our parks and making sure that more Canadians have access to our parks, because we know when Canadians connect with nature, they understand the importance of that connection. I am extremely proud that starting in 2018, national parks are free to
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Our government recently announced its support for a stronger and more rigorous arms export control system. We will integrate the Arms Trade Treaty criteria into Canadian law, including provisions on human rights, peace and security, and gender-based violence. This also entails a new legal obligation for this government and all future governments of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about how much we have done for moms. We have invested in public transit and created the Canada child benefit. We have done more for moms in the past two years than the party opposite ever did.Moms also want to know what we are going to do to save the planet for their kids. That is what we are going to do, and we have a plan.On behalf of moms, may I ask how you intend to tackle climate change?
Mr. Speaker, the hon. opposition member should be familiar with how pollution pricing works because he lives in Quebec. What happened in Quebec? It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.We have an opportunity not only to fight climate change, but also to create jobs and businesses. In Quebec and in France, I have seen many businesses that offer clean solutions and create jobs. I see that all across Canada.We are going to move forward with our plan to fight climate change.
Mr. Speaker, our decision to increase indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous people. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource and is a powerful step toward reconciliation. When the previous government went through a very similar public proposal process to access this fishery, it forget to include indigenous people. However, we did not.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's national parks play a critical role in shaping our national identity, protecting wildlife, and preserving national heritage. Last year a record number of Canadians visited parks and heritage places across the country, including the Rouge National Urban Park in Scarborough. In 2017, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change held the most comprehensive consultation ever to be undertaken. Could the minister tell us what she heard and what her vision is for Canada's parks?
Mr. Speaker, as I look up at the gallery and I see young people here, I think the question they are asking is whether the party opposite understands that climate change is real, that it is having a real impact. Young people, and older people, and people around the world want to see clear action on climate change, because we only have one planet.On behalf of everyone that wants to see action on climate change, I would like to ask the party opposite: what is your plan?
Mr. Speaker, we certainly took note of the incident that occurred last spring when the Yamachiche region was flooded because a ship was going too fast. The pilot was penalized after being found guilty of travelling at excessive speed near Yamachiche. As for financial compensation, as everyone knows, many other houses were flooded because of last spring's torrential rains, and financial compensation will come from the province at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, members of the Standing Committee on Finance have been working with the Minister of Finance and urging him to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure that persons with disabilities and women who take time out of the workforce to raise children are able to receive the full benefits of our government's transformational Canada pension plan enhancement. Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on the results of those discussions?
Mr. Speaker, as we all know in this House, the EI system has a very important responsibility of addressing the needs and circumstances of families that are struggling with unemployment, with health care, and with family circumstances.We are very conscious of the potential and the already positive impacts of the changes made to the EI system over the last two years. We have introduced a new parental sharing benefit, for instance, which is going to benefit 100,000 families. We have enhanced accessibility for sickness benefits.We look forward to more of these changes.
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to Canadians to help them realize their goal of a strong, secure, and stable retirement. Every three years, the finance ministers review the Canada pension plan to ensure that we are continuing to respond to the needs of Canadians, and henceforth to build on the historic agreement signed in 2016 to enhance the CPP. At their most recent meeting, the finance ministers agreed to strengthen the CPP to provide greater benefits to parents whose income drops after the birth or adoption of a first child, to persons with disabilities, to spouses who are widowed at a young age, and to the estates of lower-income contributors. We are happy to move on with these changes. I want to thank the member for PickeringUxbridge for her hard work on the finance committee.
Mr. Speaker, the facility that is being constructed at Lacolle is to ensure the proper handling of people who need that kind of protection, according to Canadian law. However, the needs of Canadians are extremely important to this government, wherever they may be across the country, including in northern Canada. Our job as members of Parliament is to make sure that every Canadian shares in the wealth and prosperity of this country, including those in the north.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Brenda Lucki as the 24th commissioner of the RCMP. She has 32 years of distinguished service in the force, all across Canada and indeed around the world. She will be an exceptional leader for the RCMP. She is the best person for the job, and she just happens to be a woman.
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to seek unanimous consent of the House to table two documents.The first is the Parliamentary Budget Officer's economic and fiscal outlook from April 2018 and the second is the OECD economic outlook and interim economic outlook, which will show, contrary to the Minister of Environment's claim that we have the fastest-growing environment, that we are not even second or third. In fact, this year Canada has the fourth-fastest-growing environment in the G7.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for his excellent work on behalf of seniors.The new horizons for seniors program helps seniors participate in their communities. I am pleased to announce that the call for proposals for the new version of the new horizons for seniors program was launched yesterday. I urge all members of the House to share this excellent news and to encourage organizations in their ridings to submit projects.
Mr. Speaker, the new horizons for seniors program is one of Canada's greatest policy successes.Since its creation in 2004 by a previous Liberal government, the new horizons for seniors program has supported more than 21,000 projects across the country, and it enriches the lives of a quarter of a million seniors every year.Can the minister tell the House when communities will be able to apply for funding from the 2018 new horizons for seniors program?
Mr. Speaker, we agree with the hon. member, and have agreed for some time, that we want the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline to be built, because of the jobs it would create and because of the expansion of our export markets. We believe in the combination of unprecedented investments in an oceans protection plan; looking at ways in which the world can benefit from the terrific resources in Alberta and across our country; and the co-development with indigenous peoples along the line. These are the three pillars for a successful energy policy, and we are very glad that the member agrees with us.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.I met with Ms. Dubé this morning. I had the pleasure of talking with her about the importance of the employment insurance program and how it must take into account the needs and circumstances of struggling families.We agreed that the employment insurance program has improved over the past two years thanks to the new family caregiver benefit, which will help 24,000 families, and the easing of the rules governing EI sickness benefits, which will help many families and individuals who are struggling. We will continue to work hard to ensure that the EI system
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has moved over 80 full-time employees from processing applications of people who are trying to legally emigrate to Canada, to process work permits for people entering Canada illegally from the United States, yet we know that LGBTQI+ refugees in UN camps wait for years to come to Canada under the government. How is it compassionate to send resources to prioritize the applications of illegal border crossers from the United States of America, while persecuted LGBTQI+ refugees have to wait?
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand with Marie-Hélène Dubé and the Canadian Union of Public Employees today. Together they represent over a million Canadians who are calling on the government to enhance the employment insurance sickness benefits.The Prime Minister and the minister both promised to do just that, but the sick are still waiting. They should not have to deal with financial problems. They should be focusing on getting well. When will the government keep its promises?
Mr. Speaker, there are 39 accepted forms of ID to vote in a federal election. A label on a prescription bottle, a personal cheque, a utility bill, a library card, those are all acceptable, and the list goes on. It is hard to conceive of a scenario where a voter would have none of these but would have a correct voter information card. However, the Liberals want to have almost a million incorrect cards used as proof. Why are the Liberals making it possible for people to vote without the correct ID?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians fighting for their lives can no longer wait. We have asked the same question over and over, and we are seeing the same Liberal game. When the Liberals were in opposition they cared about this, but now that they are in government they have forgotten what they promised. Enough is enough. We need action. Why have the Liberals forgotten Marie-Hélène Dubé and the half a million Canadians who want to see EI sickness benefits extended? When will we finally see the Liberals stand up for Canadian workers and for those struggling with serious illness, and when will we see them fulfill their promise to extend El sickness benefits?
Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court has ordered the government to review the refugee claim of a person who, until recently, lived in the United States for 13 years. That person never claimed asylum during that time but is now shopping for a spot in Canada. This individual is decidedly making a mockery of Canada.Does the government also believe that the United States is not a safe country for refugee claimants, or will it do what needs to be done and appeal that decision?
Mr. Speaker, let's talk about measures. Yesterday, the minister told us he had nothing new to offer in terms of how to deal with the thousands of illegal migrants. The minister is going to take care of illegal migrants under the guise of compassion, but the problem is that his compassion does not extend to the real refugees in UN camps. The minister's hypocrisy is clear to the thousands of real refugees he never mentions in his speeches. Once again, will the government show some real leadership and put the issue of illegal asylum seekers on the agenda for the G7 summit?
Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberal government that claimed that the tax would be revenue neutral.Today, further testimony from Environment Canada disproved that claim. Officials said that the budget bill will not even allow the government to reduce other taxes with the proceeds of the carbon tax. In other words, this is going to make the government a winner and taxpayers the losers.How much will this tax increase cost the average Canadian family?
Mr. Speaker, the government finally released its report on the use of Canadian arms in Saudi Arabia. It says that there is no evidence the arms were used to violate human rights. The UN and human rights advocacy groups say that the use of force was neither reasonable nor necessary, but the government chose to draw conclusions based on information from Saudi military and diplomatic sources.Does the government seriously expect Canadians to accept this report?
Mr. Speaker, a Global News reporter said he was threatened with violence and told not to film while visiting a protest camp against Trans Mountain on public property. The Prime Minister claims he will legislate to ensure that the pipeline gets built. Kinder Morgan still faces roadblocks. It is getting worse, and time is running out. The Liberals have had over a year, but there are only 12 days left to introduce and pass a law, a process that usually takes months. Here is a really easy question: Where is the legislation on the Trans Mountain expansion?
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian knows that the Liberal carbon tax will have a direct impact on their wallets. The government knows it, the government did the calculations, but the government is hiding it from Canadians. That is rather cowardly.The question is simple: how will this tax directly impact middle-class families, those who work hard, and those who want something to show for their money? What will the Liberal carbon tax cost Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, Canada's election laws have always worked well, but now, just 18 months before the next election, the Liberals continue to look for trouble and have decided to create mass confusion among voters.Across the country, Canadians must show at least one piece of official ID to vote, and this applies to everyone, no exceptions.Why are the Liberals trying to undermine the integrity of our electoral system, which is fine as is?
Mr. Speaker, the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal reported that a majority of Atlantic Canadians have not received a wage increase in the last few years. It is reported that families have significantly less money to spend, and households are actually worse off now than they were during the great recession. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only make things worse by increasing the price of nearly everything Canadians pay for.Will the government show some compassion for Atlantic Canadians and vote with us today and say no to the carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, only the Liberals would think that a tax will solve environmental problems.The facts are clear. The Liberals are unable to explain how this new tax will help the environment. The Liberals simply do not want to tell Canadians how much this tax is going to cost them and, in the meantime, the parliamentary budget officer, who is neutral, says that it will cost our economy $10 billion.My question is simple. When will our Prime Minister cancel this regressive tax?
Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that the government is rushing to build 520 housing units for illegal border crossers. These will be heated and ventilated, and they will have easy access to showers, drinking water, and toilets. Canadian northerners are desperate for this kind of housing, which has been postponed until post-2022. Many are calling my offices, and they have a simple question: Why are the Liberals responding with such urgency to illegal border crossers and ignoring the plight of the north?
Mr. Speaker, last year, a number of residents of Yamachiche, particularly people who live on Louis-Gatineau Road, were affected by devastating waves that caused considerable damage to their property. Since then, the Liberal government has been hiding the full report on the incident and refuses to bear the cost of the damage. The victims still have not received any financial compensation and have really been left to fend for themselves, without any help from the federal government. I have two simple questions.Will the Minister of Transport publish the entire report? Will he compensate the victims in Yamachiche, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud, it is voter turnout. Bill C-76 will bring back voter ID cards and vouching, and we are also giving Elections Canada the mandate to promote turnout.In the last Parliament, it was a Conservative MP who had to rise to apologize for falsifying stories about electoral fraud. I would urge the Conservatives to move on and recognize that what we should be doing is encouraging people
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are the ones who are talking about an open and transparent process.The government is taking the stewardship of our democracy as seriously as it did electoral reform. The lack of urgency on its part is alarming. After inexplicably waiting for 18 months to appoint a Chief Electoral Officer, the government sent two letters in the space of three weeks, with two different candidates.With only 18 months left until the next election, time is running out. Canadians expect free and fair elections. They deserve answers. What is happening, and when will the Elections Canada CEO be on the job?
Mr. Speaker, we certainly took note of the incident that occurred last spring when the Yamachiche region was flooded because a ship was going too fast. The pilot was penalized after being found guilty of travelling at excessive speed near Yamachiche. As for financial compensation, as everyone knows, many other houses were flooded because of last spring's torrential rains, and financial compensation will come from the province at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, only the Harper Conservatives would talk about border security after they cut almost $400 million from border security operations. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about compassionate treatment of refugees after they cut refugee health care to the most vulnerable people, pregnant women, and victims of torture. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about immigration processing and people stuck in backlogs after we inherited those backlogs from them and are working hard to clear them and improve processing times. We have no lessons to take from the Conservatives on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, let us compare our records. Under the former Conservative government, spouses had to wait 26 months to reunite with their family members. We have brought that down to 12 months. Not only that, but we were able to remove 20,000 spouses from the backlog they left us.Live-in caregivers who provided services to Canadian families, under that party, under the Harper Conservatives, had to wait five to seven years to sponsor their family members. We have cut that down to 12 months. We will take no lessons from the Harper Conservatives.
Mr. Speaker, this is a deeply flawed bill that does not respect the spirit or the letter of the treaty.The standard for Canadian arms exports is not conclusive evidence of the use of arms in human rights violations. It is reasonable risk. Clearly, with Saudi Arabia, there is a reasonable risk that Canadian arms have been and will be used to commit human rights violations in Saudi Arabia or Yemen. This is an embarrassment. The current government's approach to arms export control is shameful. When will the government do the right thing and suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia?
Mr. Speaker, promoting the rights and dignity of LGBTQ2 people at home and abroad has been a priority for this government. What was the Conservatives' record when they were in government? They were forced by the opposition to put LGBTQ2 rights back into the citizenship guide after they removed those rights and any mention of those rights under the Citizenship Act. We have quadrupled the number of privately sponsored refugees so that we can identify the most vulnerable refugees in the world, including LGBTQ2 communities. We have funded the Rainbow Refugee Society so that more LGBTQ2 refugees can be brought to Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the statistic the minister just used is completely incorrect. In the last election, having a photo ID was a requirement, and the voter turnout was the highest it had been in two decades. Clearly, proving who a person is did not make it harder to vote. Why do the Liberals think it should not be necessary for voters to prove who they are and where they live in order to vote?
Mr. Speaker, another day has gone by, but refugees who are waiting in camps all over the world to come to Canada are no closer to arriving than they were yesterday or the day before. The Minister of Immigration preaches compassion but is making the world's most vulnerable people wait while prioritizing people who are crossing illegally from the U.S. Why does the minister not stop with the PMO talking points and tell us how this is fair?
Mr. Speaker, as members know, Canadians are increasingly turning to the Internet to get the news. Meanwhile, media companies are innovating to adapt to this change.At the request of the industry, we announced in budget 2018 that the government would examine new models to enable the media to accept donations. We firmly believe that La Presse plays an important role as a reliable and professional source of local news in Quebec. We will, of course, continue to work with La Presse and other media organizations to ensure that we follow up on our budget commitments.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.I met with Ms. Dubé this morning. I had the pleasure of talking with her about the importance of the employment insurance program and how it must take into account the needs and circumstances of struggling families.We agreed that the employment insurance program has improved over the past two years thanks to the new family caregiver benefit, which will help 24,000 families, and the easing of the rules governing EI sickness benefits, which will help many families and individuals who are struggling. We will continue to work hard to ensure that the EI system
Mr. Speaker, our decision to increase indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous people. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource and is a powerful step toward reconciliation. When the previous government went through a very similar public proposal process to access this fishery, it forget to include indigenous people. However, we did not.
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the party opposite would show compassion for all Canadians and for the world by taking serious action on climate change. The costs of climate change and the impacts we are seeing on Canadians from floods, from forest fires, and from droughts have gone from $400 million a year to over $1 billion a year. We are projected to hit maybe $40 billion a year by 2030. There is a huge impact from climate change, and Canadians are feeling it right now.I just wonder if the party opposite would actually tell us if it has a plan and show it to Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about how much we have done for moms. We have invested in public transit and created the Canada child benefit. We have done more for moms in the past two years than the party opposite ever did.Moms also want to know what we are going to do to save the planet for their kids. That is what we are going to do, and we have a plan.On behalf of moms, may I ask how you intend to tackle climate change?
Mr. Speaker, what makes it difficult for refugees is when health care is cut for refugees. What makes it difficult for refugees is when the generosity of Canadians is limited to only 4,500 spots in the privately sponsored refugee program. We have more than quadrupled those spots, to 18,000, so that more Canadians can sponsor refugees. We have doubled the number of resettled refugees who come to Canada. We have invested more money in the Immigration and Refugee Board, so that genuine refugees can get their claims heard faster. The Conservatives have no clue about compassion for refugees.
Mr. Speaker, the Chief Electoral Officer position has been vacant for 18 months.On April 3, we were told that a nominee had been put forward to head up Elections Canada. On April 27, out of nowhere, a new letter arrived telling us that the first nomination was cancelled and a new person was up for the job.In the space of three weeks, without any consultation or explanation, the government changed its mind about the nominee, and now it is giving us just seven business days to analyze the appointment. Let's keep in mind that the next general election is just 18 months away.Are we destined to go through the next election with no Chief Electoral Officer?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. Climate change is already costing Canadians. We are seeing floods and forest fires across the country. We have a duty to leave a planet for our children and our grandchildren. We have a plan, but what is the Conservative Party's plan?
Mr. Speaker, as I look up at the gallery and I see young people here, I think the question they are asking is whether the party opposite understands that climate change is real, that it is having a real impact. Young people, and older people, and people around the world want to see clear action on climate change, because we only have one planet.On behalf of everyone that wants to see action on climate change, I would like to ask the party opposite: what is your plan?
Mr. Speaker, the minister was aware of the glaring weaknesses in the Five Nations proposal, yet he ordered his officials to give them the licence anyways. Despite the departmental analysis pointing out the flaws in their application, he still awarded it to Liberal family and friends at the expense of the community of Grand Bank. Just so we are all clear, the minister awarded a contract worth millions of dollars to a Liberal MP's brother and a former Liberal MP, whose bid was incomplete and flawed. If this is not a conflict of interest, what is?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have served under a government that was the first to include LGBTQI rights in Canada's citizenship guide. There is one line of immigration that this government has managed to reduce to zero days for wait time. That is for people who are illegally crossing the border from the safe country that is the United States. Meanwhile, it takes 30 months for someone to immigrate to Canada legally on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Why has the minister redirected 80 staff from processing the applications of legal border crossers to processing those of people illegally entering the country from the United States?
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to seek unanimous consent of the House to table two documents.The first is the Parliamentary Budget Officer's economic and fiscal outlook from April 2018 and the second is the OECD economic outlook and interim economic outlook, which will show, contrary to the Minister of Environment's claim that we have the fastest-growing environment, that we are not even second or third. In fact, this year Canada has the fourth-fastest-growing environment in the G7.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's national parks play a critical role in shaping our national identity, protecting wildlife, and preserving national heritage. Last year a record number of Canadians visited parks and heritage places across the country, including the Rouge National Urban Park in Scarborough. In 2017, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change held the most comprehensive consultation ever to be undertaken. Could the minister tell us what she heard and what her vision is for Canada's parks?
Mr. Speaker, this remains, and will remain, my top priority until the Phoenix pay system is stabilized. In parallel, the President of the Treasury Board is looking at a new system for the future. However, we have to pay 300,000 people every two weeks, and we will do just that. Last Friday, I was in Miramichi, and I met and talked to the people who are going to solve this for us.
Mr. Speaker, if robust means checking down to see if they have given to the Liberal Party, well, they have accomplished that robust application.I spent last week in Grand Bank. From the dock to Sharon's to Foodland to Jenny's, the concern over the future is very real. I spoke again with Edgar, who works at the plant, and his son also works at the plant and is at risk of being among the very first to lose his job. If this happens, Edgar is worried he may lose his son to the mainland.Edgar has one question for the seven MPs from the Rock: when will they start standing up for them?
Mr. Speaker, after eliminating the children's sports and culture tax credits, after eliminating the public transit tax credit, and after raising taxes for 80% of Canadian families, the Prime Minister's new scheme to get more money out of taxpayers' pockets is to charge a new tax on carbon, which will take $10 billion out of our economy.I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he make a reasoned decision and simply cancel this carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Our government recently announced its support for a stronger and more rigorous arms export control system. We will integrate the Arms Trade Treaty criteria into Canadian law, including provisions on human rights, peace and security, and gender-based violence. This also entails a new legal obligation for this government and all future governments of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister has defended his decision to reward Liberal Party insiders with a quota worth millions of dollars, claiming his patronage was a step in reconciliation. The bidding process was a sham and an insult to reconciliation. It is pitting one first nation against the other and the crown.Why is the minister putting Liberal insiders ahead of the families in Grand Bank and ahead of reconciliation with indigenous people?
Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to implement a plan on climate change that is going to reduce emissions, that is going to grow a clean economy, that is going to ensure a sustainable planet for our kids.Once again, I am going to ask the party opposite this question: what is your plan to tackle climate change to take advantage of the
Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a rigorous recruitment process to choose the next Chief Electoral Officer. It is very important to recognize that as we move forward, and I expect we will be moving very soon, we respect the privacy of Canadians who participate in these selection processes. I certainly wish the NDP would respect that same principle of respecting the privacy of people who participate in these selection processes.
Mr. Speaker, La Presse has just announced that it will become a non-profit entity because Ottawa is still refusing to support our national media.This morning, the newspaper's president said that the newspaper could no longer compete in an environment where more than 80% of digital advertising dollars in Canada go to Google and Facebook, which do not have to pay taxes but get tax credits. Why on earth is the Minister of Finance favouring the web giants? First La Presse. What's next?Will our media have to start hiring hordes of lobbyists to finally get the government's attention?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that climate change is real, that we must do something about it, and that we can grow a clean economy. That is what we are doing. We have a plan.On behalf of all Canadians, I ask the following question. What is the plan of the party across the way?
Mr. Speaker, a year later, it is clear that the government is really just winging its response to the migrant crisis.There is a backlog of 53,000 applications. It will take two and a half years to process them all, assuming that no further applications are submitted after today. The government's solution is to fly to Nigeria and tell people that 90% of claimants will be turned away. What a clever idea.Is that the new magic solution for fixing the migrant crisis?
Mr. Speaker, I find these remarks rather extraordinary coming from the same Harper Conservatives who did not want to let the Syrians into our country. We, on the other hand, have a different policy. We are going to make sure we show compassion toward refugees fleeing persecution who have every right to come here. At the same time, we are going to make sure the rules are being followed here in Canada. A person who comes to Canada does not automatically have the right to stay unless they meet the criteria for refugee status.
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the Conservatives attacking Stats Canada. They were the ones who gutted Stats Canada and got rid of the long-form census. The reality is that there are reasons why a lot of Canadians did want to vote in the last election. They were very motivated to get rid of the Harper Conservatives in that election. That has nothing to do with Stats Canada. It is because Canadians are a wise people.
Mr. Speaker, as we all know in this House, the EI system has a very important responsibility of addressing the needs and circumstances of families that are struggling with unemployment, with health care, and with family circumstances.We are very conscious of the potential and the already positive impacts of the changes made to the EI system over the last two years. We have introduced a new parental sharing benefit, for instance, which is going to benefit 100,000 families. We have enhanced accessibility for sickness benefits.We look forward to more of these changes.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberal carbon tax will cost Canadian families, but the government is refusing to tell them how much. How much will the Liberal carbon tax cost moms who have to take their kids to daycare, get groceries, and go to work, but who, like many people, do not have access to public transit?
Mr. Speaker, astoundingly, at the public safety committee yesterday, a Liberal member asked the incoming and first female RCMP commissioner, How will a lady tell the guys to behave? Such language, directed at the commissioner tasked with tackling harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying in the RCMP, is unquestionably sexist and undermining her leadership. Does the public safety minister feel that the question was appropriate? If not, what is he going to do about it?
Mr. Speaker, on January 28, 2017, the Prime Minister was taking action too. He sent out a tweet that said, To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Since then, Quebec has had its hands full. Could the Prime Minister at least edit his tweet to say To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, be aware that 90% of you will be denied asylum?
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the way Canadians consume content has changed, and this is a reality that is impacting many sectors. The reality is that benefits associated with the shift toward digital are not shared equally between web giants and our artists, creators, and journalists. Our government wants to ensure that there is a better balance. This is why we have committed to modernizing our policy to better address the realities of the digital era, including the review of the Broadcasting Act. We believe in the importance of protecting Canadian culture, industries, and artists, and in promoting access to content on all platforms.
Mr. Speaker, around the globe, U.S. data oligarchies are facing calls for regulation, but with the Liberal government it is a case of who you know in the PMO. Liberal operative Kevin Chan did not even bother to register as a lobbyist because he could just call up his friends, the ministers, and Google did one step better, moving Leslie Church from the Liberal Party to Google public affairs to the senior position in the Minister of Canadian Heritage's office. Talk about letting Dracula have the keys to the blood bank.Why is the Minister of Canadian Heritage putting the interests of Liberal insiders ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens?
Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of Elections Canada was to restore the voter information cards and vouching to the process. That is one of the reasons why we are doing it. Stats Canada tells us that in the last election 170,000 Canadians did not have the opportunity to vote because of the Conservatives' decision to put an end to vouching and to get rid of the voter information cards. We want more Canadians to vote because we believe that voter participation strengthens our democratic system.
Mr. Speaker, after watching the Liberals' pals get pot permits to grow a small fortune, now we are seeing the Liberals' fishing buddies get a free pass, once again making a laughingstock of the principle of ethics. If court documents confirm interference on the part of the Minister of Fisheries regarding a highly valued shellfish, the Liberals will once again have cheated in an allocation process, this time at the expense of first nations.Why is the minister granting millions of dollars' worth of quotas to his Liberal buddies at the expense of a fair process and the much-desired reconciliation?
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to Canadians to help them realize their goal of a strong, secure, and stable retirement. Every three years, the finance ministers review the Canada pension plan to ensure that we are continuing to respond to the needs of Canadians, and henceforth to build on the historic agreement signed in 2016 to enhance the CPP. At their most recent meeting, the finance ministers agreed to strengthen the CPP to provide greater benefits to parents whose income drops after the birth or adoption of a first child, to persons with disabilities, to spouses who are widowed at a young age, and to the estates of lower-income contributors. We are happy to move on with these changes. I want to thank the member for PickeringUxbridge for her hard work on the finance committee.
Mr. Speaker, I always find it strange that the member opposite does not understand how a price on pollution works.He was at committee yesterday, where every single expert said that a price on pollution is the most efficient way to reduce emissions while growing a clean economy. Maybe the member opposite would like to go through the records from the committee. I am happy to produce them for him so that he can see what people say about how a price on pollution works, that we need to tackle climate change, and that this is one of the most effective tools we have to grow a clean economy, to foster innovation, and to ensure a future for our kids.
Mr. Speaker, as members know, here in Canada, we welcome refugees who are fleeing persecution and who fear for their lives if they go back to their home country. We are the second largest country in the world, and our values motivate us to welcome those fleeing persecution. At the same time, we are making sure the rules are being followed. People who do not follow the rules will be sent back to their homeland. We are very clear on this.
Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We need a plan to tackle climate change.We have a plan to tackle climate change. We have a plan to grow our economy. We understand the $2-trillion opportunity of clean growth
Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of costs, and costs are really on our minds as well, specifically because the Prime Minister has indicated that high fuel costs are going to make Canadians make better choices. This is what I want to know. I do not have a choice when I am taking my kids to basketball and football. I do not have a choice to walk when I am taking my husband to his specialist appointment 70 kilometres away. Choices cannot be made that easily.Do the Liberals understand the impact these costs have on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, young people and Canadians already know that they are paying for the cost of inaction by the previous government. They are paying the cost, because we are seeing the impact of climate change. We are seeing forest fires. We are seeing droughts. We are seeing floods. Also, we know that there is a huge economic opportunity, a $23-trillion opportunity, from clean growth. I am really proud of what our party has been able to do in terms of the fastest growing economy in the G7 and 400,000 jobs created.We are going to continue taking action to tackle climate change, grow our economy, and--
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to wait, because we will be coming forward very soon with a successful candidate in the rigorous selection process for the next Chief Electoral Officer. Choosing the Chief Electoral Officer, who will help us preserve the integrity of our electoral system and at the same time encourage more Canadians to vote, has been a very important process. It is important that we respect the privacy of all Canadians who participate in these processes. I wish the NDP would demonstrate that same level of respect.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. opposition member should be familiar with how pollution pricing works because he lives in Quebec. What happened in Quebec? It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.We have an opportunity not only to fight climate change, but also to create jobs and businesses. In Quebec and in France, I have seen many businesses that offer clean solutions and create jobs. I see that all across Canada.We are going to move forward with our plan to fight climate change.
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring Canada's export control system is robust and transparent. We are proud to have put forward Bill C-47, which would allow Canada to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House for the constructive work that has been done in committee. We have made significant steps toward creating a new and higher standard for arms exports. This is in line with what Canadians expect. This is what we are doing.
Mr. Speaker, every day the wait gets longer for those fleeing war and genuine persecution, as the government uses its resources for those who jump the queue. The Liberals have reassigned 80 agents from processing legitimate immigration applications that have long wait times. These agents are now dealing with queue jumpers instead of real applicants. How is that fair and compassionate?
Mr. Speaker, the new horizons for seniors program is one of Canada's greatest policy successes.Since its creation in 2004 by a previous Liberal government, the new horizons for seniors program has supported more than 21,000 projects across the country, and it enriches the lives of a quarter of a million seniors every year.Can the minister tell the House when communities will be able to apply for funding from the 2018 new horizons for seniors program?
Mr. Speaker, just so we are clear, the fact that there is a new participant coming into this fishery is not a surprise, or should not be a surprise, to the former government. It had a very similar process, but excluded first nations people as part of that process. We had a robust process and we are proud of the fact that we picked the best proposal. It is going to benefit the highest number of Atlantic Canadians, including indigenous people from five separate provinces.
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly one of the initiatives we have taken, given that the majority of asylum seekers come from Nigeria.I must also remind my colleague that we invested $174 million in budget 2018, including $74 million to hire more Immigration and Refugee Board members so that refugee claims can be processed more quickly. We are taking action.
Mr. Speaker, the facility that is being constructed at Lacolle is to ensure the proper handling of people who need that kind of protection, according to Canadian law. However, the needs of Canadians are extremely important to this government, wherever they may be across the country, including in northern Canada. Our job as members of Parliament is to make sure that every Canadian shares in the wealth and prosperity of this country, including those in the north.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for ScarboroughGuildwood for his important work on Rouge National Urban Park.For the first time ever, we welcomed the views of all Canadians. Over 13,000 Canadians shared their perspectives, and yesterday I was able to share the practical steps that we are taking in response to this feedback. The top priority is protecting the ecological integrity of our parks and making sure that more Canadians have access to our parks, because we know when Canadians connect with nature, they understand the importance of that connection. I am extremely proud that starting in 2018, national parks are free to
Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new participant in the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservative government. In fact, it started a very similar process three years ago to accomplish the very same thing. The difference is that unlike the previous government, our robust process included indigenous communities. We are proud that the best proposal was selected. The greatest number of Atlantic Canadians will benefit, including indigenous people from five provinces, those being four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, I greatly respect that we have wonderful students watching today, but I bet they want to know another thing too, which is how much it is going to cost them. That is what they want to know.This is more than just a matter of choice. As the Prime Minister almost said in his remarks, it is a behaviour the government wants to correct. The Prime Minister cannot dictate how Canadians behave, but he is going to try to make sure he suffocates them with taxes before they comply.Will the Prime Minister support our motion and commit in the House today to no new taxes for these young people?
Mr. Speaker, members of the Standing Committee on Finance have been working with the Minister of Finance and urging him to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure that persons with disabilities and women who take time out of the workforce to raise children are able to receive the full benefits of our government's transformational Canada pension plan enhancement. Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on the results of those discussions?
Mr. Speaker, the government likes to claim that its carbon tax will be revenue neutral.We already knew that they were going to collect GST on the carbon tax, but today Environment Canada officials testified at the finance committee that the government will not return the proceeds of GST collected on the carbon tax to the provinces from which it was originally collected.Is that not yet more proof that this tax has nothing to do with the environment, and that it is just another tax grab on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, I always happy to stand up and talk about just how proud I am of the good work of every member of Parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador, especially the member for BonavistaBurinTrinity, who has been in constant contact with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In addition to that, we are also proud of the robust process we carried out that ensured the maximum number of Atlantic Canadians were going to benefit from this decision, including indigenous people, a group of people that government forgot about when it was going through a similar process.
Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix pay system has been a disaster right from the beginning. At Parks Canada, the problems have been rampant, and many people have not been paid properly for months or even years. My riding is the proud home to four national parksKootenay, Yoho, Revelstoke, and Glacierand my offices have dealt with a large number of Phoenix cases from Parks Canada employees. There have been so many problems that many struggle to even keep track of the status of their own case. These good people deserve better.When will the government scrap the Phoenix pay system and compensate those affected by this fiasco?
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for his excellent work on behalf of seniors.The new horizons for seniors program helps seniors participate in their communities. I am pleased to announce that the call for proposals for the new version of the new horizons for seniors program was launched yesterday. I urge all members of the House to share this excellent news and to encourage organizations in their ridings to submit projects.
Mr. Speaker, we agree with the hon. member, and have agreed for some time, that we want the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline to be built, because of the jobs it would create and because of the expansion of our export markets. We believe in the combination of unprecedented investments in an oceans protection plan; looking at ways in which the world can benefit from the terrific resources in Alberta and across our country; and the co-development with indigenous peoples along the line. These are the three pillars for a successful energy policy, and we are very glad that the member agrees with us.
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian, I am proud of Canada's refugee policy. We can all be proud of this policy, which welcomes those fleeing persecution. We do have rules and they must be followed. We will see to it that these rules are followed to ensure the integrity of our immigration system, Canadians' safety, and respect for national and international rules.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Brenda Lucki as the 24th commissioner of the RCMP. She has 32 years of distinguished service in the force, all across Canada and indeed around the world. She will be an exceptional leader for the RCMP. She is the best person for the job, and she just happens to be a woman.
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has moved over 80 full-time employees from processing applications of people who are trying to legally emigrate to Canada, to process work permits for people entering Canada illegally from the United States, yet we know that LGBTQI+ refugees in UN camps wait for years to come to Canada under the government. How is it compassionate to send resources to prioritize the applications of illegal border crossers from the United States of America, while persecuted LGBTQI+ refugees have to wait?
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand with Marie-Hélène Dubé and the Canadian Union of Public Employees today. Together they represent over a million Canadians who are calling on the government to enhance the employment insurance sickness benefits.The Prime Minister and the minister both promised to do just that, but the sick are still waiting. They should not have to deal with financial problems. They should be focusing on getting well. When will the government keep its promises?
Mr. Speaker, there are 39 accepted forms of ID to vote in a federal election. A label on a prescription bottle, a personal cheque, a utility bill, a library card, those are all acceptable, and the list goes on. It is hard to conceive of a scenario where a voter would have none of these but would have a correct voter information card. However, the Liberals want to have almost a million incorrect cards used as proof. Why are the Liberals making it possible for people to vote without the correct ID?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians fighting for their lives can no longer wait. We have asked the same question over and over, and we are seeing the same Liberal game. When the Liberals were in opposition they cared about this, but now that they are in government they have forgotten what they promised. Enough is enough. We need action. Why have the Liberals forgotten Marie-Hélène Dubé and the half a million Canadians who want to see EI sickness benefits extended? When will we finally see the Liberals stand up for Canadian workers and for those struggling with serious illness, and when will we see them fulfill their promise to extend El sickness benefits?
Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court has ordered the government to review the refugee claim of a person who, until recently, lived in the United States for 13 years. That person never claimed asylum during that time but is now shopping for a spot in Canada. This individual is decidedly making a mockery of Canada.Does the government also believe that the United States is not a safe country for refugee claimants, or will it do what needs to be done and appeal that decision?
Mr. Speaker, let's talk about measures. Yesterday, the minister told us he had nothing new to offer in terms of how to deal with the thousands of illegal migrants. The minister is going to take care of illegal migrants under the guise of compassion, but the problem is that his compassion does not extend to the real refugees in UN camps. The minister's hypocrisy is clear to the thousands of real refugees he never mentions in his speeches. Once again, will the government show some real leadership and put the issue of illegal asylum seekers on the agenda for the G7 summit?
Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberal government that claimed that the tax would be revenue neutral.Today, further testimony from Environment Canada disproved that claim. Officials said that the budget bill will not even allow the government to reduce other taxes with the proceeds of the carbon tax. In other words, this is going to make the government a winner and taxpayers the losers.How much will this tax increase cost the average Canadian family?
Mr. Speaker, the government finally released its report on the use of Canadian arms in Saudi Arabia. It says that there is no evidence the arms were used to violate human rights. The UN and human rights advocacy groups say that the use of force was neither reasonable nor necessary, but the government chose to draw conclusions based on information from Saudi military and diplomatic sources.Does the government seriously expect Canadians to accept this report?
Mr. Speaker, a Global News reporter said he was threatened with violence and told not to film while visiting a protest camp against Trans Mountain on public property. The Prime Minister claims he will legislate to ensure that the pipeline gets built. Kinder Morgan still faces roadblocks. It is getting worse, and time is running out. The Liberals have had over a year, but there are only 12 days left to introduce and pass a law, a process that usually takes months. Here is a really easy question: Where is the legislation on the Trans Mountain expansion?
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian knows that the Liberal carbon tax will have a direct impact on their wallets. The government knows it, the government did the calculations, but the government is hiding it from Canadians. That is rather cowardly.The question is simple: how will this tax directly impact middle-class families, those who work hard, and those who want something to show for their money? What will the Liberal carbon tax cost Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, Canada's election laws have always worked well, but now, just 18 months before the next election, the Liberals continue to look for trouble and have decided to create mass confusion among voters.Across the country, Canadians must show at least one piece of official ID to vote, and this applies to everyone, no exceptions.Why are the Liberals trying to undermine the integrity of our electoral system, which is fine as is?
Mr. Speaker, the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal reported that a majority of Atlantic Canadians have not received a wage increase in the last few years. It is reported that families have significantly less money to spend, and households are actually worse off now than they were during the great recession. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only make things worse by increasing the price of nearly everything Canadians pay for.Will the government show some compassion for Atlantic Canadians and vote with us today and say no to the carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, only the Liberals would think that a tax will solve environmental problems.The facts are clear. The Liberals are unable to explain how this new tax will help the environment. The Liberals simply do not want to tell Canadians how much this tax is going to cost them and, in the meantime, the parliamentary budget officer, who is neutral, says that it will cost our economy $10 billion.My question is simple. When will our Prime Minister cancel this regressive tax?
Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that the government is rushing to build 520 housing units for illegal border crossers. These will be heated and ventilated, and they will have easy access to showers, drinking water, and toilets. Canadian northerners are desperate for this kind of housing, which has been postponed until post-2022. Many are calling my offices, and they have a simple question: Why are the Liberals responding with such urgency to illegal border crossers and ignoring the plight of the north?
Mr. Speaker, last year, a number of residents of Yamachiche, particularly people who live on Louis-Gatineau Road, were affected by devastating waves that caused considerable damage to their property. Since then, the Liberal government has been hiding the full report on the incident and refuses to bear the cost of the damage. The victims still have not received any financial compensation and have really been left to fend for themselves, without any help from the federal government. I have two simple questions.Will the Minister of Transport publish the entire report? Will he compensate the victims in Yamachiche, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud, it is voter turnout. Bill C-76 will bring back voter ID cards and vouching, and we are also giving Elections Canada the mandate to promote turnout.In the last Parliament, it was a Conservative MP who had to rise to apologize for falsifying stories about electoral fraud. I would urge the Conservatives to move on and recognize that what we should be doing is encouraging people
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are the ones who are talking about an open and transparent process.The government is taking the stewardship of our democracy as seriously as it did electoral reform. The lack of urgency on its part is alarming. After inexplicably waiting for 18 months to appoint a Chief Electoral Officer, the government sent two letters in the space of three weeks, with two different candidates.With only 18 months left until the next election, time is running out. Canadians expect free and fair elections. They deserve answers. What is happening, and when will the Elections Canada CEO be on the job?
Mr. Speaker, we certainly took note of the incident that occurred last spring when the Yamachiche region was flooded because a ship was going too fast. The pilot was penalized after being found guilty of travelling at excessive speed near Yamachiche. As for financial compensation, as everyone knows, many other houses were flooded because of last spring's torrential rains, and financial compensation will come from the province at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, only the Harper Conservatives would talk about border security after they cut almost $400 million from border security operations. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about compassionate treatment of refugees after they cut refugee health care to the most vulnerable people, pregnant women, and victims of torture. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about immigration processing and people stuck in backlogs after we inherited those backlogs from them and are working hard to clear them and improve processing times. We have no lessons to take from the Conservatives on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, let us compare our records. Under the former Conservative government, spouses had to wait 26 months to reunite with their family members. We have brought that down to 12 months. Not only that, but we were able to remove 20,000 spouses from the backlog they left us.Live-in caregivers who provided services to Canadian families, under that party, under the Harper Conservatives, had to wait five to seven years to sponsor their family members. We have cut that down to 12 months. We will take no lessons from the Harper Conservatives.
Mr. Speaker, this is a deeply flawed bill that does not respect the spirit or the letter of the treaty.The standard for Canadian arms exports is not conclusive evidence of the use of arms in human rights violations. It is reasonable risk. Clearly, with Saudi Arabia, there is a reasonable risk that Canadian arms have been and will be used to commit human rights violations in Saudi Arabia or Yemen. This is an embarrassment. The current government's approach to arms export control is shameful. When will the government do the right thing and suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia?
Mr. Speaker, promoting the rights and dignity of LGBTQ2 people at home and abroad has been a priority for this government. What was the Conservatives' record when they were in government? They were forced by the opposition to put LGBTQ2 rights back into the citizenship guide after they removed those rights and any mention of those rights under the Citizenship Act. We have quadrupled the number of privately sponsored refugees so that we can identify the most vulnerable refugees in the world, including LGBTQ2 communities. We have funded the Rainbow Refugee Society so that more LGBTQ2 refugees can be brought to Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the statistic the minister just used is completely incorrect. In the last election, having a photo ID was a requirement, and the voter turnout was the highest it had been in two decades. Clearly, proving who a person is did not make it harder to vote. Why do the Liberals think it should not be necessary for voters to prove who they are and where they live in order to vote?
Mr. Speaker, another day has gone by, but refugees who are waiting in camps all over the world to come to Canada are no closer to arriving than they were yesterday or the day before. The Minister of Immigration preaches compassion but is making the world's most vulnerable people wait while prioritizing people who are crossing illegally from the U.S. Why does the minister not stop with the PMO talking points and tell us how this is fair?
Mr. Speaker, as members know, Canadians are increasingly turning to the Internet to get the news. Meanwhile, media companies are innovating to adapt to this change.At the request of the industry, we announced in budget 2018 that the government would examine new models to enable the media to accept donations. We firmly believe that La Presse plays an important role as a reliable and professional source of local news in Quebec. We will, of course, continue to work with La Presse and other media organizations to ensure that we follow up on our budget commitments.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.I met with Ms. Dubé this morning. I had the pleasure of talking with her about the importance of the employment insurance program and how it must take into account the needs and circumstances of struggling families.We agreed that the employment insurance program has improved over the past two years thanks to the new family caregiver benefit, which will help 24,000 families, and the easing of the rules governing EI sickness benefits, which will help many families and individuals who are struggling. We will continue to work hard to ensure that the EI system
Mr. Speaker, our decision to increase indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous people. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource and is a powerful step toward reconciliation. When the previous government went through a very similar public proposal process to access this fishery, it forget to include indigenous people. However, we did not.
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the party opposite would show compassion for all Canadians and for the world by taking serious action on climate change. The costs of climate change and the impacts we are seeing on Canadians from floods, from forest fires, and from droughts have gone from $400 million a year to over $1 billion a year. We are projected to hit maybe $40 billion a year by 2030. There is a huge impact from climate change, and Canadians are feeling it right now.I just wonder if the party opposite would actually tell us if it has a plan and show it to Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about how much we have done for moms. We have invested in public transit and created the Canada child benefit. We have done more for moms in the past two years than the party opposite ever did.Moms also want to know what we are going to do to save the planet for their kids. That is what we are going to do, and we have a plan.On behalf of moms, may I ask how you intend to tackle climate change?
Mr. Speaker, what makes it difficult for refugees is when health care is cut for refugees. What makes it difficult for refugees is when the generosity of Canadians is limited to only 4,500 spots in the privately sponsored refugee program. We have more than quadrupled those spots, to 18,000, so that more Canadians can sponsor refugees. We have doubled the number of resettled refugees who come to Canada. We have invested more money in the Immigration and Refugee Board, so that genuine refugees can get their claims heard faster. The Conservatives have no clue about compassion for refugees.
Mr. Speaker, the Chief Electoral Officer position has been vacant for 18 months.On April 3, we were told that a nominee had been put forward to head up Elections Canada. On April 27, out of nowhere, a new letter arrived telling us that the first nomination was cancelled and a new person was up for the job.In the space of three weeks, without any consultation or explanation, the government changed its mind about the nominee, and now it is giving us just seven business days to analyze the appointment. Let's keep in mind that the next general election is just 18 months away.Are we destined to go through the next election with no Chief Electoral Officer?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. Climate change is already costing Canadians. We are seeing floods and forest fires across the country. We have a duty to leave a planet for our children and our grandchildren. We have a plan, but what is the Conservative Party's plan?
Mr. Speaker, as I look up at the gallery and I see young people here, I think the question they are asking is whether the party opposite understands that climate change is real, that it is having a real impact. Young people, and older people, and people around the world want to see clear action on climate change, because we only have one planet.On behalf of everyone that wants to see action on climate change, I would like to ask the party opposite: what is your plan?
Mr. Speaker, the minister was aware of the glaring weaknesses in the Five Nations proposal, yet he ordered his officials to give them the licence anyways. Despite the departmental analysis pointing out the flaws in their application, he still awarded it to Liberal family and friends at the expense of the community of Grand Bank. Just so we are all clear, the minister awarded a contract worth millions of dollars to a Liberal MP's brother and a former Liberal MP, whose bid was incomplete and flawed. If this is not a conflict of interest, what is?
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have served under a government that was the first to include LGBTQI rights in Canada's citizenship guide. There is one line of immigration that this government has managed to reduce to zero days for wait time. That is for people who are illegally crossing the border from the safe country that is the United States. Meanwhile, it takes 30 months for someone to immigrate to Canada legally on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Why has the minister redirected 80 staff from processing the applications of legal border crossers to processing those of people illegally entering the country from the United States?
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to seek unanimous consent of the House to table two documents.The first is the Parliamentary Budget Officer's economic and fiscal outlook from April 2018 and the second is the OECD economic outlook and interim economic outlook, which will show, contrary to the Minister of Environment's claim that we have the fastest-growing environment, that we are not even second or third. In fact, this year Canada has the fourth-fastest-growing environment in the G7.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's national parks play a critical role in shaping our national identity, protecting wildlife, and preserving national heritage. Last year a record number of Canadians visited parks and heritage places across the country, including the Rouge National Urban Park in Scarborough. In 2017, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change held the most comprehensive consultation ever to be undertaken. Could the minister tell us what she heard and what her vision is for Canada's parks?
Mr. Speaker, this remains, and will remain, my top priority until the Phoenix pay system is stabilized. In parallel, the President of the Treasury Board is looking at a new system for the future. However, we have to pay 300,000 people every two weeks, and we will do just that. Last Friday, I was in Miramichi, and I met and talked to the people who are going to solve this for us.
Mr. Speaker, if robust means checking down to see if they have given to the Liberal Party, well, they have accomplished that robust application.I spent last week in Grand Bank. From the dock to Sharon's to Foodland to Jenny's, the concern over the future is very real. I spoke again with Edgar, who works at the plant, and his son also works at the plant and is at risk of being among the very first to lose his job. If this happens, Edgar is worried he may lose his son to the mainland.Edgar has one question for the seven MPs from the Rock: when will they start standing up for them?
Mr. Speaker, after eliminating the children's sports and culture tax credits, after eliminating the public transit tax credit, and after raising taxes for 80% of Canadian families, the Prime Minister's new scheme to get more money out of taxpayers' pockets is to charge a new tax on carbon, which will take $10 billion out of our economy.I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he make a reasoned decision and simply cancel this carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Our government recently announced its support for a stronger and more rigorous arms export control system. We will integrate the Arms Trade Treaty criteria into Canadian law, including provisions on human rights, peace and security, and gender-based violence. This also entails a new legal obligation for this government and all future governments of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister has defended his decision to reward Liberal Party insiders with a quota worth millions of dollars, claiming his patronage was a step in reconciliation. The bidding process was a sham and an insult to reconciliation. It is pitting one first nation against the other and the crown.Why is the minister putting Liberal insiders ahead of the families in Grand Bank and ahead of reconciliation with indigenous people?
Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to implement a plan on climate change that is going to reduce emissions, that is going to grow a clean economy, that is going to ensure a sustainable planet for our kids.Once again, I am going to ask the party opposite this question: what is your plan to tackle climate change to take advantage of the
Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a rigorous recruitment process to choose the next Chief Electoral Officer. It is very important to recognize that as we move forward, and I expect we will be moving very soon, we respect the privacy of Canadians who participate in these selection processes. I certainly wish the NDP would respect that same principle of respecting the privacy of people who participate in these selection processes.
Mr. Speaker, La Presse has just announced that it will become a non-profit entity because Ottawa is still refusing to support our national media.This morning, the newspaper's president said that the newspaper could no longer compete in an environment where more than 80% of digital advertising dollars in Canada go to Google and Facebook, which do not have to pay taxes but get tax credits. Why on earth is the Minister of Finance favouring the web giants? First La Presse. What's next?Will our media have to start hiring hordes of lobbyists to finally get the government's attention?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that climate change is real, that we must do something about it, and that we can grow a clean economy. That is what we are doing. We have a plan.On behalf of all Canadians, I ask the following question. What is the plan of the party across the way?
Mr. Speaker, a year later, it is clear that the government is really just winging its response to the migrant crisis.There is a backlog of 53,000 applications. It will take two and a half years to process them all, assuming that no further applications are submitted after today. The government's solution is to fly to Nigeria and tell people that 90% of claimants will be turned away. What a clever idea.Is that the new magic solution for fixing the migrant crisis?
Mr. Speaker, I find these remarks rather extraordinary coming from the same Harper Conservatives who did not want to let the Syrians into our country. We, on the other hand, have a different policy. We are going to make sure we show compassion toward refugees fleeing persecution who have every right to come here. At the same time, we are going to make sure the rules are being followed here in Canada. A person who comes to Canada does not automatically have the right to stay unless they meet the criteria for refugee status.
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the Conservatives attacking Stats Canada. They were the ones who gutted Stats Canada and got rid of the long-form census. The reality is that there are reasons why a lot of Canadians did want to vote in the last election. They were very motivated to get rid of the Harper Conservatives in that election. That has nothing to do with Stats Canada. It is because Canadians are a wise people.
Mr. Speaker, as we all know in this House, the EI system has a very important responsibility of addressing the needs and circumstances of families that are struggling with unemployment, with health care, and with family circumstances.We are very conscious of the potential and the already positive impacts of the changes made to the EI system over the last two years. We have introduced a new parental sharing benefit, for instance, which is going to benefit 100,000 families. We have enhanced accessibility for sickness benefits.We look forward to more of these changes.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberal carbon tax will cost Canadian families, but the government is refusing to tell them how much. How much will the Liberal carbon tax cost moms who have to take their kids to daycare, get groceries, and go to work, but who, like many people, do not have access to public transit?
Mr. Speaker, astoundingly, at the public safety committee yesterday, a Liberal member asked the incoming and first female RCMP commissioner, How will a lady tell the guys to behave? Such language, directed at the commissioner tasked with tackling harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying in the RCMP, is unquestionably sexist and undermining her leadership. Does the public safety minister feel that the question was appropriate? If not, what is he going to do about it?
Mr. Speaker, on January 28, 2017, the Prime Minister was taking action too. He sent out a tweet that said, To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Since then, Quebec has had its hands full. Could the Prime Minister at least edit his tweet to say To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, be aware that 90% of you will be denied asylum?
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the way Canadians consume content has changed, and this is a reality that is impacting many sectors. The reality is that benefits associated with the shift toward digital are not shared equally between web giants and our artists, creators, and journalists. Our government wants to ensure that there is a better balance. This is why we have committed to modernizing our policy to better address the realities of the digital era, including the review of the Broadcasting Act. We believe in the importance of protecting Canadian culture, industries, and artists, and in promoting access to content on all platforms.
Mr. Speaker, around the globe, U.S. data oligarchies are facing calls for regulation, but with the Liberal government it is a case of who you know in the PMO. Liberal operative Kevin Chan did not even bother to register as a lobbyist because he could just call up his friends, the ministers, and Google did one step better, moving Leslie Church from the Liberal Party to Google public affairs to the senior position in the Minister of Canadian Heritage's office. Talk about letting Dracula have the keys to the blood bank.Why is the Minister of Canadian Heritage putting the interests of Liberal insiders ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens?
Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of Elections Canada was to restore the voter information cards and vouching to the process. That is one of the reasons why we are doing it. Stats Canada tells us that in the last election 170,000 Canadians did not have the opportunity to vote because of the Conservatives' decision to put an end to vouching and to get rid of the voter information cards. We want more Canadians to vote because we believe that voter participation strengthens our democratic system.
Mr. Speaker, after watching the Liberals' pals get pot permits to grow a small fortune, now we are seeing the Liberals' fishing buddies get a free pass, once again making a laughingstock of the principle of ethics. If court documents confirm interference on the part of the Minister of Fisheries regarding a highly valued shellfish, the Liberals will once again have cheated in an allocation process, this time at the expense of first nations.Why is the minister granting millions of dollars' worth of quotas to his Liberal buddies at the expense of a fair process and the much-desired reconciliation?
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to Canadians to help them realize their goal of a strong, secure, and stable retirement. Every three years, the finance ministers review the Canada pension plan to ensure that we are continuing to respond to the needs of Canadians, and henceforth to build on the historic agreement signed in 2016 to enhance the CPP. At their most recent meeting, the finance ministers agreed to strengthen the CPP to provide greater benefits to parents whose income drops after the birth or adoption of a first child, to persons with disabilities, to spouses who are widowed at a young age, and to the estates of lower-income contributors. We are happy to move on with these changes. I want to thank the member for PickeringUxbridge for her hard work on the finance committee.
Mr. Speaker, I always find it strange that the member opposite does not understand how a price on pollution works.He was at committee yesterday, where every single expert said that a price on pollution is the most efficient way to reduce emissions while growing a clean economy. Maybe the member opposite would like to go through the records from the committee. I am happy to produce them for him so that he can see what people say about how a price on pollution works, that we need to tackle climate change, and that this is one of the most effective tools we have to grow a clean economy, to foster innovation, and to ensure a future for our kids.
Mr. Speaker, as members know, here in Canada, we welcome refugees who are fleeing persecution and who fear for their lives if they go back to their home country. We are the second largest country in the world, and our values motivate us to welcome those fleeing persecution. At the same time, we are making sure the rules are being followed. People who do not follow the rules will be sent back to their homeland. We are very clear on this.
Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We need a plan to tackle climate change.We have a plan to tackle climate change. We have a plan to grow our economy. We understand the $2-trillion opportunity of clean growth
Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of costs, and costs are really on our minds as well, specifically because the Prime Minister has indicated that high fuel costs are going to make Canadians make better choices. This is what I want to know. I do not have a choice when I am taking my kids to basketball and football. I do not have a choice to walk when I am taking my husband to his specialist appointment 70 kilometres away. Choices cannot be made that easily.Do the Liberals understand the impact these costs have on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, young people and Canadians already know that they are paying for the cost of inaction by the previous government. They are paying the cost, because we are seeing the impact of climate change. We are seeing forest fires. We are seeing droughts. We are seeing floods. Also, we know that there is a huge economic opportunity, a $23-trillion opportunity, from clean growth. I am really proud of what our party has been able to do in terms of the fastest growing economy in the G7 and 400,000 jobs created.We are going to continue taking action to tackle climate change, grow our economy, and--
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to wait, because we will be coming forward very soon with a successful candidate in the rigorous selection process for the next Chief Electoral Officer. Choosing the Chief Electoral Officer, who will help us preserve the integrity of our electoral system and at the same time encourage more Canadians to vote, has been a very important process. It is important that we respect the privacy of all Canadians who participate in these processes. I wish the NDP would demonstrate that same level of respect.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. opposition member should be familiar with how pollution pricing works because he lives in Quebec. What happened in Quebec? It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.We have an opportunity not only to fight climate change, but also to create jobs and businesses. In Quebec and in France, I have seen many businesses that offer clean solutions and create jobs. I see that all across Canada.We are going to move forward with our plan to fight climate change.
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring Canada's export control system is robust and transparent. We are proud to have put forward Bill C-47, which would allow Canada to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House for the constructive work that has been done in committee. We have made significant steps toward creating a new and higher standard for arms exports. This is in line with what Canadians expect. This is what we are doing.
Mr. Speaker, every day the wait gets longer for those fleeing war and genuine persecution, as the government uses its resources for those who jump the queue. The Liberals have reassigned 80 agents from processing legitimate immigration applications that have long wait times. These agents are now dealing with queue jumpers instead of real applicants. How is that fair and compassionate?
Mr. Speaker, the new horizons for seniors program is one of Canada's greatest policy successes.Since its creation in 2004 by a previous Liberal government, the new horizons for seniors program has supported more than 21,000 projects across the country, and it enriches the lives of a quarter of a million seniors every year.Can the minister tell the House when communities will be able to apply for funding from the 2018 new horizons for seniors program?
Mr. Speaker, just so we are clear, the fact that there is a new participant coming into this fishery is not a surprise, or should not be a surprise, to the former government. It had a very similar process, but excluded first nations people as part of that process. We had a robust process and we are proud of the fact that we picked the best proposal. It is going to benefit the highest number of Atlantic Canadians, including indigenous people from five separate provinces.
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly one of the initiatives we have taken, given that the majority of asylum seekers come from Nigeria.I must also remind my colleague that we invested $174 million in budget 2018, including $74 million to hire more Immigration and Refugee Board members so that refugee claims can be processed more quickly. We are taking action.
Mr. Speaker, the facility that is being constructed at Lacolle is to ensure the proper handling of people who need that kind of protection, according to Canadian law. However, the needs of Canadians are extremely important to this government, wherever they may be across the country, including in northern Canada. Our job as members of Parliament is to make sure that every Canadian shares in the wealth and prosperity of this country, including those in the north.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for ScarboroughGuildwood for his important work on Rouge National Urban Park.For the first time ever, we welcomed the views of all Canadians. Over 13,000 Canadians shared their perspectives, and yesterday I was able to share the practical steps that we are taking in response to this feedback. The top priority is protecting the ecological integrity of our parks and making sure that more Canadians have access to our parks, because we know when Canadians connect with nature, they understand the importance of that connection. I am extremely proud that starting in 2018, national parks are free to
Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new participant in the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservative government. In fact, it started a very similar process three years ago to accomplish the very same thing. The difference is that unlike the previous government, our robust process included indigenous communities. We are proud that the best proposal was selected. The greatest number of Atlantic Canadians will benefit, including indigenous people from five provinces, those being four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, I greatly respect that we have wonderful students watching today, but I bet they want to know another thing too, which is how much it is going to cost them. That is what they want to know.This is more than just a matter of choice. As the Prime Minister almost said in his remarks, it is a behaviour the government wants to correct. The Prime Minister cannot dictate how Canadians behave, but he is going to try to make sure he suffocates them with taxes before they comply.Will the Prime Minister support our motion and commit in the House today to no new taxes for these young people?
Mr. Speaker, members of the Standing Committee on Finance have been working with the Minister of Finance and urging him to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure that persons with disabilities and women who take time out of the workforce to raise children are able to receive the full benefits of our government's transformational Canada pension plan enhancement. Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on the results of those discussions?
Mr. Speaker, the government likes to claim that its carbon tax will be revenue neutral.We already knew that they were going to collect GST on the carbon tax, but today Environment Canada officials testified at the finance committee that the government will not return the proceeds of GST collected on the carbon tax to the provinces from which it was originally collected.Is that not yet more proof that this tax has nothing to do with the environment, and that it is just another tax grab on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, I always happy to stand up and talk about just how proud I am of the good work of every member of Parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador, especially the member for BonavistaBurinTrinity, who has been in constant contact with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In addition to that, we are also proud of the robust process we carried out that ensured the maximum number of Atlantic Canadians were going to benefit from this decision, including indigenous people, a group of people that government forgot about when it was going through a similar process.
Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix pay system has been a disaster right from the beginning. At Parks Canada, the problems have been rampant, and many people have not been paid properly for months or even years. My riding is the proud home to four national parksKootenay, Yoho, Revelstoke, and Glacierand my offices have dealt with a large number of Phoenix cases from Parks Canada employees. There have been so many problems that many struggle to even keep track of the status of their own case. These good people deserve better.When will the government scrap the Phoenix pay system and compensate those affected by this fiasco?
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for his excellent work on behalf of seniors.The new horizons for seniors program helps seniors participate in their communities. I am pleased to announce that the call for proposals for the new version of the new horizons for seniors program was launched yesterday. I urge all members of the House to share this excellent news and to encourage organizations in their ridings to submit projects.
Mr. Speaker, we agree with the hon. member, and have agreed for some time, that we want the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline to be built, because of the jobs it would create and because of the expansion of our export markets. We believe in the combination of unprecedented investments in an oceans protection plan; looking at ways in which the world can benefit from the terrific resources in Alberta and across our country; and the co-development with indigenous peoples along the line. These are the three pillars for a successful energy policy, and we are very glad that the member agrees with us.
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian, I am proud of Canada's refugee policy. We can all be proud of this policy, which welcomes those fleeing persecution. We do have rules and they must be followed. We will see to it that these rules are followed to ensure the integrity of our immigration system, Canadians' safety, and respect for national and international rules.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Brenda Lucki as the 24th commissioner of the RCMP. She has 32 years of distinguished service in the force, all across Canada and indeed around the world. She will be an exceptional leader for the RCMP. She is the best person for the job, and she just happens to be a woman.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Brenda Lucki as the 24th commissioner of the RCMP. She has 32 years of distinguished service in the force, all across Canada and indeed around the world. She will be an exceptional leader for the RCMP. She is the best person for the job, and she just happens to be a woman.
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian, I am proud of Canada's refugee policy. We can all be proud of this policy, which welcomes those fleeing persecution. We do have rules and they must be followed. We will see to it that these rules are followed to ensure the integrity of our immigration system, Canadians' safety, and respect for national and international rules.
Mr. Speaker, we agree with the hon. member, and have agreed for some time, that we want the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline to be built, because of the jobs it would create and because of the expansion of our export markets. We believe in the combination of unprecedented investments in an oceans protection plan; looking at ways in which the world can benefit from the terrific resources in Alberta and across our country; and the co-development with indigenous peoples along the line. These are the three pillars for a successful energy policy, and we are very glad that the member agrees with us.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for his excellent work on behalf of seniors.The new horizons for seniors program helps seniors participate in their communities. I am pleased to announce that the call for proposals for the new version of the new horizons for seniors program was launched yesterday. I urge all members of the House to share this excellent news and to encourage organizations in their ridings to submit projects.
Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix pay system has been a disaster right from the beginning. At Parks Canada, the problems have been rampant, and many people have not been paid properly for months or even years. My riding is the proud home to four national parksKootenay, Yoho, Revelstoke, and Glacierand my offices have dealt with a large number of Phoenix cases from Parks Canada employees. There have been so many problems that many struggle to even keep track of the status of their own case. These good people deserve better.When will the government scrap the Phoenix pay system and compensate those affected by this fiasco?
Mr. Speaker, I always happy to stand up and talk about just how proud I am of the good work of every member of Parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador, especially the member for BonavistaBurinTrinity, who has been in constant contact with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In addition to that, we are also proud of the robust process we carried out that ensured the maximum number of Atlantic Canadians were going to benefit from this decision, including indigenous people, a group of people that government forgot about when it was going through a similar process.
Mr. Speaker, the government likes to claim that its carbon tax will be revenue neutral.We already knew that they were going to collect GST on the carbon tax, but today Environment Canada officials testified at the finance committee that the government will not return the proceeds of GST collected on the carbon tax to the provinces from which it was originally collected.Is that not yet more proof that this tax has nothing to do with the environment, and that it is just another tax grab on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, members of the Standing Committee on Finance have been working with the Minister of Finance and urging him to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure that persons with disabilities and women who take time out of the workforce to raise children are able to receive the full benefits of our government's transformational Canada pension plan enhancement. Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on the results of those discussions?
Mr. Speaker, I greatly respect that we have wonderful students watching today, but I bet they want to know another thing too, which is how much it is going to cost them. That is what they want to know.This is more than just a matter of choice. As the Prime Minister almost said in his remarks, it is a behaviour the government wants to correct. The Prime Minister cannot dictate how Canadians behave, but he is going to try to make sure he suffocates them with taxes before they comply.Will the Prime Minister support our motion and commit in the House today to no new taxes for these young people?
Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new participant in the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservative government. In fact, it started a very similar process three years ago to accomplish the very same thing. The difference is that unlike the previous government, our robust process included indigenous communities. We are proud that the best proposal was selected. The greatest number of Atlantic Canadians will benefit, including indigenous people from five provinces, those being four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for ScarboroughGuildwood for his important work on Rouge National Urban Park.For the first time ever, we welcomed the views of all Canadians. Over 13,000 Canadians shared their perspectives, and yesterday I was able to share the practical steps that we are taking in response to this feedback. The top priority is protecting the ecological integrity of our parks and making sure that more Canadians have access to our parks, because we know when Canadians connect with nature, they understand the importance of that connection. I am extremely proud that starting in 2018, national parks are free to
Mr. Speaker, the facility that is being constructed at Lacolle is to ensure the proper handling of people who need that kind of protection, according to Canadian law. However, the needs of Canadians are extremely important to this government, wherever they may be across the country, including in northern Canada. Our job as members of Parliament is to make sure that every Canadian shares in the wealth and prosperity of this country, including those in the north.
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly one of the initiatives we have taken, given that the majority of asylum seekers come from Nigeria.I must also remind my colleague that we invested $174 million in budget 2018, including $74 million to hire more Immigration and Refugee Board members so that refugee claims can be processed more quickly. We are taking action.
Mr. Speaker, just so we are clear, the fact that there is a new participant coming into this fishery is not a surprise, or should not be a surprise, to the former government. It had a very similar process, but excluded first nations people as part of that process. We had a robust process and we are proud of the fact that we picked the best proposal. It is going to benefit the highest number of Atlantic Canadians, including indigenous people from five separate provinces.
Mr. Speaker, the new horizons for seniors program is one of Canada's greatest policy successes.Since its creation in 2004 by a previous Liberal government, the new horizons for seniors program has supported more than 21,000 projects across the country, and it enriches the lives of a quarter of a million seniors every year.Can the minister tell the House when communities will be able to apply for funding from the 2018 new horizons for seniors program?
Mr. Speaker, every day the wait gets longer for those fleeing war and genuine persecution, as the government uses its resources for those who jump the queue. The Liberals have reassigned 80 agents from processing legitimate immigration applications that have long wait times. These agents are now dealing with queue jumpers instead of real applicants. How is that fair and compassionate?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring Canada's export control system is robust and transparent. We are proud to have put forward Bill C-47, which would allow Canada to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House for the constructive work that has been done in committee. We have made significant steps toward creating a new and higher standard for arms exports. This is in line with what Canadians expect. This is what we are doing.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. opposition member should be familiar with how pollution pricing works because he lives in Quebec. What happened in Quebec? It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.We have an opportunity not only to fight climate change, but also to create jobs and businesses. In Quebec and in France, I have seen many businesses that offer clean solutions and create jobs. I see that all across Canada.We are going to move forward with our plan to fight climate change.
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to wait, because we will be coming forward very soon with a successful candidate in the rigorous selection process for the next Chief Electoral Officer. Choosing the Chief Electoral Officer, who will help us preserve the integrity of our electoral system and at the same time encourage more Canadians to vote, has been a very important process. It is important that we respect the privacy of all Canadians who participate in these processes. I wish the NDP would demonstrate that same level of respect.
Mr. Speaker, young people and Canadians already know that they are paying for the cost of inaction by the previous government. They are paying the cost, because we are seeing the impact of climate change. We are seeing forest fires. We are seeing droughts. We are seeing floods. Also, we know that there is a huge economic opportunity, a $23-trillion opportunity, from clean growth. I am really proud of what our party has been able to do in terms of the fastest growing economy in the G7 and 400,000 jobs created.We are going to continue taking action to tackle climate change, grow our economy, and--
Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of costs, and costs are really on our minds as well, specifically because the Prime Minister has indicated that high fuel costs are going to make Canadians make better choices. This is what I want to know. I do not have a choice when I am taking my kids to basketball and football. I do not have a choice to walk when I am taking my husband to his specialist appointment 70 kilometres away. Choices cannot be made that easily.Do the Liberals understand the impact these costs have on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We need a plan to tackle climate change.We have a plan to tackle climate change. We have a plan to grow our economy. We understand the $2-trillion opportunity of clean growth
Mr. Speaker, as members know, here in Canada, we welcome refugees who are fleeing persecution and who fear for their lives if they go back to their home country. We are the second largest country in the world, and our values motivate us to welcome those fleeing persecution. At the same time, we are making sure the rules are being followed. People who do not follow the rules will be sent back to their homeland. We are very clear on this.
Mr. Speaker, I always find it strange that the member opposite does not understand how a price on pollution works.He was at committee yesterday, where every single expert said that a price on pollution is the most efficient way to reduce emissions while growing a clean economy. Maybe the member opposite would like to go through the records from the committee. I am happy to produce them for him so that he can see what people say about how a price on pollution works, that we need to tackle climate change, and that this is one of the most effective tools we have to grow a clean economy, to foster innovation, and to ensure a future for our kids.
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to Canadians to help them realize their goal of a strong, secure, and stable retirement. Every three years, the finance ministers review the Canada pension plan to ensure that we are continuing to respond to the needs of Canadians, and henceforth to build on the historic agreement signed in 2016 to enhance the CPP. At their most recent meeting, the finance ministers agreed to strengthen the CPP to provide greater benefits to parents whose income drops after the birth or adoption of a first child, to persons with disabilities, to spouses who are widowed at a young age, and to the estates of lower-income contributors. We are happy to move on with these changes. I want to thank the member for PickeringUxbridge for her hard work on the finance committee.
Mr. Speaker, after watching the Liberals' pals get pot permits to grow a small fortune, now we are seeing the Liberals' fishing buddies get a free pass, once again making a laughingstock of the principle of ethics. If court documents confirm interference on the part of the Minister of Fisheries regarding a highly valued shellfish, the Liberals will once again have cheated in an allocation process, this time at the expense of first nations.Why is the minister granting millions of dollars' worth of quotas to his Liberal buddies at the expense of a fair process and the much-desired reconciliation?
Mr. Speaker, around the globe, U.S. data oligarchies are facing calls for regulation, but with the Liberal government it is a case of who you know in the PMO. Liberal operative Kevin Chan did not even bother to register as a lobbyist because he could just call up his friends, the ministers, and Google did one step better, moving Leslie Church from the Liberal Party to Google public affairs to the senior position in the Minister of Canadian Heritage's office. Talk about letting Dracula have the keys to the blood bank.Why is the Minister of Canadian Heritage putting the interests of Liberal insiders ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens?
Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of Elections Canada was to restore the voter information cards and vouching to the process. That is one of the reasons why we are doing it. Stats Canada tells us that in the last election 170,000 Canadians did not have the opportunity to vote because of the Conservatives' decision to put an end to vouching and to get rid of the voter information cards. We want more Canadians to vote because we believe that voter participation strengthens our democratic system.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the way Canadians consume content has changed, and this is a reality that is impacting many sectors. The reality is that benefits associated with the shift toward digital are not shared equally between web giants and our artists, creators, and journalists. Our government wants to ensure that there is a better balance. This is why we have committed to modernizing our policy to better address the realities of the digital era, including the review of the Broadcasting Act. We believe in the importance of protecting Canadian culture, industries, and artists, and in promoting access to content on all platforms.
Mr. Speaker, on January 28, 2017, the Prime Minister was taking action too. He sent out a tweet that said, To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Since then, Quebec has had its hands full. Could the Prime Minister at least edit his tweet to say To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, be aware that 90% of you will be denied asylum?
Mr. Speaker, astoundingly, at the public safety committee yesterday, a Liberal member asked the incoming and first female RCMP commissioner, How will a lady tell the guys to behave? Such language, directed at the commissioner tasked with tackling harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying in the RCMP, is unquestionably sexist and undermining her leadership. Does the public safety minister feel that the question was appropriate? If not, what is he going to do about it?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberal carbon tax will cost Canadian families, but the government is refusing to tell them how much. How much will the Liberal carbon tax cost moms who have to take their kids to daycare, get groceries, and go to work, but who, like many people, do not have access to public transit?
Mr. Speaker, as we all know in this House, the EI system has a very important responsibility of addressing the needs and circumstances of families that are struggling with unemployment, with health care, and with family circumstances.We are very conscious of the potential and the already positive impacts of the changes made to the EI system over the last two years. We have introduced a new parental sharing benefit, for instance, which is going to benefit 100,000 families. We have enhanced accessibility for sickness benefits.We look forward to more of these changes.
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the Conservatives attacking Stats Canada. They were the ones who gutted Stats Canada and got rid of the long-form census. The reality is that there are reasons why a lot of Canadians did want to vote in the last election. They were very motivated to get rid of the Harper Conservatives in that election. That has nothing to do with Stats Canada. It is because Canadians are a wise people.
Mr. Speaker, I find these remarks rather extraordinary coming from the same Harper Conservatives who did not want to let the Syrians into our country. We, on the other hand, have a different policy. We are going to make sure we show compassion toward refugees fleeing persecution who have every right to come here. At the same time, we are going to make sure the rules are being followed here in Canada. A person who comes to Canada does not automatically have the right to stay unless they meet the criteria for refugee status.
Mr. Speaker, a year later, it is clear that the government is really just winging its response to the migrant crisis.There is a backlog of 53,000 applications. It will take two and a half years to process them all, assuming that no further applications are submitted after today. The government's solution is to fly to Nigeria and tell people that 90% of claimants will be turned away. What a clever idea.Is that the new magic solution for fixing the migrant crisis?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that climate change is real, that we must do something about it, and that we can grow a clean economy. That is what we are doing. We have a plan.On behalf of all Canadians, I ask the following question. What is the plan of the party across the way?
Mr. Speaker, La Presse has just announced that it will become a non-profit entity because Ottawa is still refusing to support our national media.This morning, the newspaper's president said that the newspaper could no longer compete in an environment where more than 80% of digital advertising dollars in Canada go to Google and Facebook, which do not have to pay taxes but get tax credits. Why on earth is the Minister of Finance favouring the web giants? First La Presse. What's next?Will our media have to start hiring hordes of lobbyists to finally get the government's attention?
Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a rigorous recruitment process to choose the next Chief Electoral Officer. It is very important to recognize that as we move forward, and I expect we will be moving very soon, we respect the privacy of Canadians who participate in these selection processes. I certainly wish the NDP would respect that same principle of respecting the privacy of people who participate in these selection processes.
Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to implement a plan on climate change that is going to reduce emissions, that is going to grow a clean economy, that is going to ensure a sustainable planet for our kids.Once again, I am going to ask the party opposite this question: what is your plan to tackle climate change to take advantage of the
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister has defended his decision to reward Liberal Party insiders with a quota worth millions of dollars, claiming his patronage was a step in reconciliation. The bidding process was a sham and an insult to reconciliation. It is pitting one first nation against the other and the crown.Why is the minister putting Liberal insiders ahead of the families in Grand Bank and ahead of reconciliation with indigenous people?
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Our government recently announced its support for a stronger and more rigorous arms export control system. We will integrate the Arms Trade Treaty criteria into Canadian law, including provisions on human rights, peace and security, and gender-based violence. This also entails a new legal obligation for this government and all future governments of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, after eliminating the children's sports and culture tax credits, after eliminating the public transit tax credit, and after raising taxes for 80% of Canadian families, the Prime Minister's new scheme to get more money out of taxpayers' pockets is to charge a new tax on carbon, which will take $10 billion out of our economy.I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he make a reasoned decision and simply cancel this carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, if robust means checking down to see if they have given to the Liberal Party, well, they have accomplished that robust application.I spent last week in Grand Bank. From the dock to Sharon's to Foodland to Jenny's, the concern over the future is very real. I spoke again with Edgar, who works at the plant, and his son also works at the plant and is at risk of being among the very first to lose his job. If this happens, Edgar is worried he may lose his son to the mainland.Edgar has one question for the seven MPs from the Rock: when will they start standing up for them?
Mr. Speaker, this remains, and will remain, my top priority until the Phoenix pay system is stabilized. In parallel, the President of the Treasury Board is looking at a new system for the future. However, we have to pay 300,000 people every two weeks, and we will do just that. Last Friday, I was in Miramichi, and I met and talked to the people who are going to solve this for us.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's national parks play a critical role in shaping our national identity, protecting wildlife, and preserving national heritage. Last year a record number of Canadians visited parks and heritage places across the country, including the Rouge National Urban Park in Scarborough. In 2017, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change held the most comprehensive consultation ever to be undertaken. Could the minister tell us what she heard and what her vision is for Canada's parks?
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to seek unanimous consent of the House to table two documents.The first is the Parliamentary Budget Officer's economic and fiscal outlook from April 2018 and the second is the OECD economic outlook and interim economic outlook, which will show, contrary to the Minister of Environment's claim that we have the fastest-growing environment, that we are not even second or third. In fact, this year Canada has the fourth-fastest-growing environment in the G7.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have served under a government that was the first to include LGBTQI rights in Canada's citizenship guide. There is one line of immigration that this government has managed to reduce to zero days for wait time. That is for people who are illegally crossing the border from the safe country that is the United States. Meanwhile, it takes 30 months for someone to immigrate to Canada legally on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Why has the minister redirected 80 staff from processing the applications of legal border crossers to processing those of people illegally entering the country from the United States?
Mr. Speaker, the minister was aware of the glaring weaknesses in the Five Nations proposal, yet he ordered his officials to give them the licence anyways. Despite the departmental analysis pointing out the flaws in their application, he still awarded it to Liberal family and friends at the expense of the community of Grand Bank. Just so we are all clear, the minister awarded a contract worth millions of dollars to a Liberal MP's brother and a former Liberal MP, whose bid was incomplete and flawed. If this is not a conflict of interest, what is?
Mr. Speaker, as I look up at the gallery and I see young people here, I think the question they are asking is whether the party opposite understands that climate change is real, that it is having a real impact. Young people, and older people, and people around the world want to see clear action on climate change, because we only have one planet.On behalf of everyone that wants to see action on climate change, I would like to ask the party opposite: what is your plan?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. Climate change is already costing Canadians. We are seeing floods and forest fires across the country. We have a duty to leave a planet for our children and our grandchildren. We have a plan, but what is the Conservative Party's plan?
Mr. Speaker, the Chief Electoral Officer position has been vacant for 18 months.On April 3, we were told that a nominee had been put forward to head up Elections Canada. On April 27, out of nowhere, a new letter arrived telling us that the first nomination was cancelled and a new person was up for the job.In the space of three weeks, without any consultation or explanation, the government changed its mind about the nominee, and now it is giving us just seven business days to analyze the appointment. Let's keep in mind that the next general election is just 18 months away.Are we destined to go through the next election with no Chief Electoral Officer?
Mr. Speaker, what makes it difficult for refugees is when health care is cut for refugees. What makes it difficult for refugees is when the generosity of Canadians is limited to only 4,500 spots in the privately sponsored refugee program. We have more than quadrupled those spots, to 18,000, so that more Canadians can sponsor refugees. We have doubled the number of resettled refugees who come to Canada. We have invested more money in the Immigration and Refugee Board, so that genuine refugees can get their claims heard faster. The Conservatives have no clue about compassion for refugees.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about how much we have done for moms. We have invested in public transit and created the Canada child benefit. We have done more for moms in the past two years than the party opposite ever did.Moms also want to know what we are going to do to save the planet for their kids. That is what we are going to do, and we have a plan.On behalf of moms, may I ask how you intend to tackle climate change?
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the party opposite would show compassion for all Canadians and for the world by taking serious action on climate change. The costs of climate change and the impacts we are seeing on Canadians from floods, from forest fires, and from droughts have gone from $400 million a year to over $1 billion a year. We are projected to hit maybe $40 billion a year by 2030. There is a huge impact from climate change, and Canadians are feeling it right now.I just wonder if the party opposite would actually tell us if it has a plan and show it to Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, our decision to increase indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous people. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource and is a powerful step toward reconciliation. When the previous government went through a very similar public proposal process to access this fishery, it forget to include indigenous people. However, we did not.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.I met with Ms. Dubé this morning. I had the pleasure of talking with her about the importance of the employment insurance program and how it must take into account the needs and circumstances of struggling families.We agreed that the employment insurance program has improved over the past two years thanks to the new family caregiver benefit, which will help 24,000 families, and the easing of the rules governing EI sickness benefits, which will help many families and individuals who are struggling. We will continue to work hard to ensure that the EI system
Mr. Speaker, as members know, Canadians are increasingly turning to the Internet to get the news. Meanwhile, media companies are innovating to adapt to this change.At the request of the industry, we announced in budget 2018 that the government would examine new models to enable the media to accept donations. We firmly believe that La Presse plays an important role as a reliable and professional source of local news in Quebec. We will, of course, continue to work with La Presse and other media organizations to ensure that we follow up on our budget commitments.
Mr. Speaker, another day has gone by, but refugees who are waiting in camps all over the world to come to Canada are no closer to arriving than they were yesterday or the day before. The Minister of Immigration preaches compassion but is making the world's most vulnerable people wait while prioritizing people who are crossing illegally from the U.S. Why does the minister not stop with the PMO talking points and tell us how this is fair?
Mr. Speaker, the statistic the minister just used is completely incorrect. In the last election, having a photo ID was a requirement, and the voter turnout was the highest it had been in two decades. Clearly, proving who a person is did not make it harder to vote. Why do the Liberals think it should not be necessary for voters to prove who they are and where they live in order to vote?
Mr. Speaker, promoting the rights and dignity of LGBTQ2 people at home and abroad has been a priority for this government. What was the Conservatives' record when they were in government? They were forced by the opposition to put LGBTQ2 rights back into the citizenship guide after they removed those rights and any mention of those rights under the Citizenship Act. We have quadrupled the number of privately sponsored refugees so that we can identify the most vulnerable refugees in the world, including LGBTQ2 communities. We have funded the Rainbow Refugee Society so that more LGBTQ2 refugees can be brought to Canada.
Mr. Speaker, this is a deeply flawed bill that does not respect the spirit or the letter of the treaty.The standard for Canadian arms exports is not conclusive evidence of the use of arms in human rights violations. It is reasonable risk. Clearly, with Saudi Arabia, there is a reasonable risk that Canadian arms have been and will be used to commit human rights violations in Saudi Arabia or Yemen. This is an embarrassment. The current government's approach to arms export control is shameful. When will the government do the right thing and suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia?
Mr. Speaker, let us compare our records. Under the former Conservative government, spouses had to wait 26 months to reunite with their family members. We have brought that down to 12 months. Not only that, but we were able to remove 20,000 spouses from the backlog they left us.Live-in caregivers who provided services to Canadian families, under that party, under the Harper Conservatives, had to wait five to seven years to sponsor their family members. We have cut that down to 12 months. We will take no lessons from the Harper Conservatives.
Mr. Speaker, only the Harper Conservatives would talk about border security after they cut almost $400 million from border security operations. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about compassionate treatment of refugees after they cut refugee health care to the most vulnerable people, pregnant women, and victims of torture. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about immigration processing and people stuck in backlogs after we inherited those backlogs from them and are working hard to clear them and improve processing times. We have no lessons to take from the Conservatives on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, we certainly took note of the incident that occurred last spring when the Yamachiche region was flooded because a ship was going too fast. The pilot was penalized after being found guilty of travelling at excessive speed near Yamachiche. As for financial compensation, as everyone knows, many other houses were flooded because of last spring's torrential rains, and financial compensation will come from the province at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are the ones who are talking about an open and transparent process.The government is taking the stewardship of our democracy as seriously as it did electoral reform. The lack of urgency on its part is alarming. After inexplicably waiting for 18 months to appoint a Chief Electoral Officer, the government sent two letters in the space of three weeks, with two different candidates.With only 18 months left until the next election, time is running out. Canadians expect free and fair elections. They deserve answers. What is happening, and when will the Elections Canada CEO be on the job?
Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud, it is voter turnout. Bill C-76 will bring back voter ID cards and vouching, and we are also giving Elections Canada the mandate to promote turnout.In the last Parliament, it was a Conservative MP who had to rise to apologize for falsifying stories about electoral fraud. I would urge the Conservatives to move on and recognize that what we should be doing is encouraging people
Mr. Speaker, last year, a number of residents of Yamachiche, particularly people who live on Louis-Gatineau Road, were affected by devastating waves that caused considerable damage to their property. Since then, the Liberal government has been hiding the full report on the incident and refuses to bear the cost of the damage. The victims still have not received any financial compensation and have really been left to fend for themselves, without any help from the federal government. I have two simple questions.Will the Minister of Transport publish the entire report? Will he compensate the victims in Yamachiche, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that the government is rushing to build 520 housing units for illegal border crossers. These will be heated and ventilated, and they will have easy access to showers, drinking water, and toilets. Canadian northerners are desperate for this kind of housing, which has been postponed until post-2022. Many are calling my offices, and they have a simple question: Why are the Liberals responding with such urgency to illegal border crossers and ignoring the plight of the north?
Mr. Speaker, only the Liberals would think that a tax will solve environmental problems.The facts are clear. The Liberals are unable to explain how this new tax will help the environment. The Liberals simply do not want to tell Canadians how much this tax is going to cost them and, in the meantime, the parliamentary budget officer, who is neutral, says that it will cost our economy $10 billion.My question is simple. When will our Prime Minister cancel this regressive tax?
Mr. Speaker, the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal reported that a majority of Atlantic Canadians have not received a wage increase in the last few years. It is reported that families have significantly less money to spend, and households are actually worse off now than they were during the great recession. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only make things worse by increasing the price of nearly everything Canadians pay for.Will the government show some compassion for Atlantic Canadians and vote with us today and say no to the carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, Canada's election laws have always worked well, but now, just 18 months before the next election, the Liberals continue to look for trouble and have decided to create mass confusion among voters.Across the country, Canadians must show at least one piece of official ID to vote, and this applies to everyone, no exceptions.Why are the Liberals trying to undermine the integrity of our electoral system, which is fine as is?
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian knows that the Liberal carbon tax will have a direct impact on their wallets. The government knows it, the government did the calculations, but the government is hiding it from Canadians. That is rather cowardly.The question is simple: how will this tax directly impact middle-class families, those who work hard, and those who want something to show for their money? What will the Liberal carbon tax cost Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, a Global News reporter said he was threatened with violence and told not to film while visiting a protest camp against Trans Mountain on public property. The Prime Minister claims he will legislate to ensure that the pipeline gets built. Kinder Morgan still faces roadblocks. It is getting worse, and time is running out. The Liberals have had over a year, but there are only 12 days left to introduce and pass a law, a process that usually takes months. Here is a really easy question: Where is the legislation on the Trans Mountain expansion?
Mr. Speaker, the government finally released its report on the use of Canadian arms in Saudi Arabia. It says that there is no evidence the arms were used to violate human rights. The UN and human rights advocacy groups say that the use of force was neither reasonable nor necessary, but the government chose to draw conclusions based on information from Saudi military and diplomatic sources.Does the government seriously expect Canadians to accept this report?
Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberal government that claimed that the tax would be revenue neutral.Today, further testimony from Environment Canada disproved that claim. Officials said that the budget bill will not even allow the government to reduce other taxes with the proceeds of the carbon tax. In other words, this is going to make the government a winner and taxpayers the losers.How much will this tax increase cost the average Canadian family?
Mr. Speaker, let's talk about measures. Yesterday, the minister told us he had nothing new to offer in terms of how to deal with the thousands of illegal migrants. The minister is going to take care of illegal migrants under the guise of compassion, but the problem is that his compassion does not extend to the real refugees in UN camps. The minister's hypocrisy is clear to the thousands of real refugees he never mentions in his speeches. Once again, will the government show some real leadership and put the issue of illegal asylum seekers on the agenda for the G7 summit?
Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court has ordered the government to review the refugee claim of a person who, until recently, lived in the United States for 13 years. That person never claimed asylum during that time but is now shopping for a spot in Canada. This individual is decidedly making a mockery of Canada.Does the government also believe that the United States is not a safe country for refugee claimants, or will it do what needs to be done and appeal that decision?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians fighting for their lives can no longer wait. We have asked the same question over and over, and we are seeing the same Liberal game. When the Liberals were in opposition they cared about this, but now that they are in government they have forgotten what they promised. Enough is enough. We need action. Why have the Liberals forgotten Marie-Hélène Dubé and the half a million Canadians who want to see EI sickness benefits extended? When will we finally see the Liberals stand up for Canadian workers and for those struggling with serious illness, and when will we see them fulfill their promise to extend El sickness benefits?
Mr. Speaker, there are 39 accepted forms of ID to vote in a federal election. A label on a prescription bottle, a personal cheque, a utility bill, a library card, those are all acceptable, and the list goes on. It is hard to conceive of a scenario where a voter would have none of these but would have a correct voter information card. However, the Liberals want to have almost a million incorrect cards used as proof. Why are the Liberals making it possible for people to vote without the correct ID?
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand with Marie-Hélène Dubé and the Canadian Union of Public Employees today. Together they represent over a million Canadians who are calling on the government to enhance the employment insurance sickness benefits.The Prime Minister and the minister both promised to do just that, but the sick are still waiting. They should not have to deal with financial problems. They should be focusing on getting well. When will the government keep its promises?
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has moved over 80 full-time employees from processing applications of people who are trying to legally emigrate to Canada, to process work permits for people entering Canada illegally from the United States, yet we know that LGBTQI+ refugees in UN camps wait for years to come to Canada under the government. How is it compassionate to send resources to prioritize the applications of illegal border crossers from the United States of America, while persecuted LGBTQI+ refugees have to wait?
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Brenda Lucki as the 24th commissioner of the RCMP. She has 32 years of distinguished service in the force, all across Canada and indeed around the world. She will be an exceptional leader for the RCMP. She is the best person for the job, and she just happens to be a woman.
Mr. Speaker, as a Canadian, I am proud of Canada's refugee policy. We can all be proud of this policy, which welcomes those fleeing persecution. We do have rules and they must be followed. We will see to it that these rules are followed to ensure the integrity of our immigration system, Canadians' safety, and respect for national and international rules.
Mr. Speaker, we agree with the hon. member, and have agreed for some time, that we want the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline to be built, because of the jobs it would create and because of the expansion of our export markets. We believe in the combination of unprecedented investments in an oceans protection plan; looking at ways in which the world can benefit from the terrific resources in Alberta and across our country; and the co-development with indigenous peoples along the line. These are the three pillars for a successful energy policy, and we are very glad that the member agrees with us.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for his excellent work on behalf of seniors.The new horizons for seniors program helps seniors participate in their communities. I am pleased to announce that the call for proposals for the new version of the new horizons for seniors program was launched yesterday. I urge all members of the House to share this excellent news and to encourage organizations in their ridings to submit projects.
Mr. Speaker, the Phoenix pay system has been a disaster right from the beginning. At Parks Canada, the problems have been rampant, and many people have not been paid properly for months or even years. My riding is the proud home to four national parksKootenay, Yoho, Revelstoke, and Glacierand my offices have dealt with a large number of Phoenix cases from Parks Canada employees. There have been so many problems that many struggle to even keep track of the status of their own case. These good people deserve better.When will the government scrap the Phoenix pay system and compensate those affected by this fiasco?
Mr. Speaker, I always happy to stand up and talk about just how proud I am of the good work of every member of Parliament from Newfoundland and Labrador, especially the member for BonavistaBurinTrinity, who has been in constant contact with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In addition to that, we are also proud of the robust process we carried out that ensured the maximum number of Atlantic Canadians were going to benefit from this decision, including indigenous people, a group of people that government forgot about when it was going through a similar process.
Mr. Speaker, the government likes to claim that its carbon tax will be revenue neutral.We already knew that they were going to collect GST on the carbon tax, but today Environment Canada officials testified at the finance committee that the government will not return the proceeds of GST collected on the carbon tax to the provinces from which it was originally collected.Is that not yet more proof that this tax has nothing to do with the environment, and that it is just another tax grab on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, members of the Standing Committee on Finance have been working with the Minister of Finance and urging him to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure that persons with disabilities and women who take time out of the workforce to raise children are able to receive the full benefits of our government's transformational Canada pension plan enhancement. Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on the results of those discussions?
Mr. Speaker, I greatly respect that we have wonderful students watching today, but I bet they want to know another thing too, which is how much it is going to cost them. That is what they want to know.This is more than just a matter of choice. As the Prime Minister almost said in his remarks, it is a behaviour the government wants to correct. The Prime Minister cannot dictate how Canadians behave, but he is going to try to make sure he suffocates them with taxes before they comply.Will the Prime Minister support our motion and commit in the House today to no new taxes for these young people?
Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new participant in the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservative government. In fact, it started a very similar process three years ago to accomplish the very same thing. The difference is that unlike the previous government, our robust process included indigenous communities. We are proud that the best proposal was selected. The greatest number of Atlantic Canadians will benefit, including indigenous people from five provinces, those being four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for ScarboroughGuildwood for his important work on Rouge National Urban Park.For the first time ever, we welcomed the views of all Canadians. Over 13,000 Canadians shared their perspectives, and yesterday I was able to share the practical steps that we are taking in response to this feedback. The top priority is protecting the ecological integrity of our parks and making sure that more Canadians have access to our parks, because we know when Canadians connect with nature, they understand the importance of that connection. I am extremely proud that starting in 2018, national parks are free to
Mr. Speaker, the facility that is being constructed at Lacolle is to ensure the proper handling of people who need that kind of protection, according to Canadian law. However, the needs of Canadians are extremely important to this government, wherever they may be across the country, including in northern Canada. Our job as members of Parliament is to make sure that every Canadian shares in the wealth and prosperity of this country, including those in the north.
Mr. Speaker, it is certainly one of the initiatives we have taken, given that the majority of asylum seekers come from Nigeria.I must also remind my colleague that we invested $174 million in budget 2018, including $74 million to hire more Immigration and Refugee Board members so that refugee claims can be processed more quickly. We are taking action.
Mr. Speaker, just so we are clear, the fact that there is a new participant coming into this fishery is not a surprise, or should not be a surprise, to the former government. It had a very similar process, but excluded first nations people as part of that process. We had a robust process and we are proud of the fact that we picked the best proposal. It is going to benefit the highest number of Atlantic Canadians, including indigenous people from five separate provinces.
Mr. Speaker, the new horizons for seniors program is one of Canada's greatest policy successes.Since its creation in 2004 by a previous Liberal government, the new horizons for seniors program has supported more than 21,000 projects across the country, and it enriches the lives of a quarter of a million seniors every year.Can the minister tell the House when communities will be able to apply for funding from the 2018 new horizons for seniors program?
Mr. Speaker, every day the wait gets longer for those fleeing war and genuine persecution, as the government uses its resources for those who jump the queue. The Liberals have reassigned 80 agents from processing legitimate immigration applications that have long wait times. These agents are now dealing with queue jumpers instead of real applicants. How is that fair and compassionate?
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring Canada's export control system is robust and transparent. We are proud to have put forward Bill C-47, which would allow Canada to accede to the Arms Trade Treaty. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the House for the constructive work that has been done in committee. We have made significant steps toward creating a new and higher standard for arms exports. This is in line with what Canadians expect. This is what we are doing.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. opposition member should be familiar with how pollution pricing works because he lives in Quebec. What happened in Quebec? It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.We have an opportunity not only to fight climate change, but also to create jobs and businesses. In Quebec and in France, I have seen many businesses that offer clean solutions and create jobs. I see that all across Canada.We are going to move forward with our plan to fight climate change.
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to wait, because we will be coming forward very soon with a successful candidate in the rigorous selection process for the next Chief Electoral Officer. Choosing the Chief Electoral Officer, who will help us preserve the integrity of our electoral system and at the same time encourage more Canadians to vote, has been a very important process. It is important that we respect the privacy of all Canadians who participate in these processes. I wish the NDP would demonstrate that same level of respect.
Mr. Speaker, young people and Canadians already know that they are paying for the cost of inaction by the previous government. They are paying the cost, because we are seeing the impact of climate change. We are seeing forest fires. We are seeing droughts. We are seeing floods. Also, we know that there is a huge economic opportunity, a $23-trillion opportunity, from clean growth. I am really proud of what our party has been able to do in terms of the fastest growing economy in the G7 and 400,000 jobs created.We are going to continue taking action to tackle climate change, grow our economy, and--
Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of costs, and costs are really on our minds as well, specifically because the Prime Minister has indicated that high fuel costs are going to make Canadians make better choices. This is what I want to know. I do not have a choice when I am taking my kids to basketball and football. I do not have a choice to walk when I am taking my husband to his specialist appointment 70 kilometres away. Choices cannot be made that easily.Do the Liberals understand the impact these costs have on Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We need a plan to tackle climate change.We have a plan to tackle climate change. We have a plan to grow our economy. We understand the $2-trillion opportunity of clean growth
Mr. Speaker, as members know, here in Canada, we welcome refugees who are fleeing persecution and who fear for their lives if they go back to their home country. We are the second largest country in the world, and our values motivate us to welcome those fleeing persecution. At the same time, we are making sure the rules are being followed. People who do not follow the rules will be sent back to their homeland. We are very clear on this.
Mr. Speaker, I always find it strange that the member opposite does not understand how a price on pollution works.He was at committee yesterday, where every single expert said that a price on pollution is the most efficient way to reduce emissions while growing a clean economy. Maybe the member opposite would like to go through the records from the committee. I am happy to produce them for him so that he can see what people say about how a price on pollution works, that we need to tackle climate change, and that this is one of the most effective tools we have to grow a clean economy, to foster innovation, and to ensure a future for our kids.
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to Canadians to help them realize their goal of a strong, secure, and stable retirement. Every three years, the finance ministers review the Canada pension plan to ensure that we are continuing to respond to the needs of Canadians, and henceforth to build on the historic agreement signed in 2016 to enhance the CPP. At their most recent meeting, the finance ministers agreed to strengthen the CPP to provide greater benefits to parents whose income drops after the birth or adoption of a first child, to persons with disabilities, to spouses who are widowed at a young age, and to the estates of lower-income contributors. We are happy to move on with these changes. I want to thank the member for PickeringUxbridge for her hard work on the finance committee.
Mr. Speaker, after watching the Liberals' pals get pot permits to grow a small fortune, now we are seeing the Liberals' fishing buddies get a free pass, once again making a laughingstock of the principle of ethics. If court documents confirm interference on the part of the Minister of Fisheries regarding a highly valued shellfish, the Liberals will once again have cheated in an allocation process, this time at the expense of first nations.Why is the minister granting millions of dollars' worth of quotas to his Liberal buddies at the expense of a fair process and the much-desired reconciliation?
Mr. Speaker, around the globe, U.S. data oligarchies are facing calls for regulation, but with the Liberal government it is a case of who you know in the PMO. Liberal operative Kevin Chan did not even bother to register as a lobbyist because he could just call up his friends, the ministers, and Google did one step better, moving Leslie Church from the Liberal Party to Google public affairs to the senior position in the Minister of Canadian Heritage's office. Talk about letting Dracula have the keys to the blood bank.Why is the Minister of Canadian Heritage putting the interests of Liberal insiders ahead of the interests of Canadian citizens?
Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations of Elections Canada was to restore the voter information cards and vouching to the process. That is one of the reasons why we are doing it. Stats Canada tells us that in the last election 170,000 Canadians did not have the opportunity to vote because of the Conservatives' decision to put an end to vouching and to get rid of the voter information cards. We want more Canadians to vote because we believe that voter participation strengthens our democratic system.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the way Canadians consume content has changed, and this is a reality that is impacting many sectors. The reality is that benefits associated with the shift toward digital are not shared equally between web giants and our artists, creators, and journalists. Our government wants to ensure that there is a better balance. This is why we have committed to modernizing our policy to better address the realities of the digital era, including the review of the Broadcasting Act. We believe in the importance of protecting Canadian culture, industries, and artists, and in promoting access to content on all platforms.
Mr. Speaker, on January 28, 2017, the Prime Minister was taking action too. He sent out a tweet that said, To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Since then, Quebec has had its hands full. Could the Prime Minister at least edit his tweet to say To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, be aware that 90% of you will be denied asylum?
Mr. Speaker, astoundingly, at the public safety committee yesterday, a Liberal member asked the incoming and first female RCMP commissioner, How will a lady tell the guys to behave? Such language, directed at the commissioner tasked with tackling harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying in the RCMP, is unquestionably sexist and undermining her leadership. Does the public safety minister feel that the question was appropriate? If not, what is he going to do about it?
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberal carbon tax will cost Canadian families, but the government is refusing to tell them how much. How much will the Liberal carbon tax cost moms who have to take their kids to daycare, get groceries, and go to work, but who, like many people, do not have access to public transit?
Mr. Speaker, as we all know in this House, the EI system has a very important responsibility of addressing the needs and circumstances of families that are struggling with unemployment, with health care, and with family circumstances.We are very conscious of the potential and the already positive impacts of the changes made to the EI system over the last two years. We have introduced a new parental sharing benefit, for instance, which is going to benefit 100,000 families. We have enhanced accessibility for sickness benefits.We look forward to more of these changes.
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the Conservatives attacking Stats Canada. They were the ones who gutted Stats Canada and got rid of the long-form census. The reality is that there are reasons why a lot of Canadians did want to vote in the last election. They were very motivated to get rid of the Harper Conservatives in that election. That has nothing to do with Stats Canada. It is because Canadians are a wise people.
Mr. Speaker, I find these remarks rather extraordinary coming from the same Harper Conservatives who did not want to let the Syrians into our country. We, on the other hand, have a different policy. We are going to make sure we show compassion toward refugees fleeing persecution who have every right to come here. At the same time, we are going to make sure the rules are being followed here in Canada. A person who comes to Canada does not automatically have the right to stay unless they meet the criteria for refugee status.
Mr. Speaker, a year later, it is clear that the government is really just winging its response to the migrant crisis.There is a backlog of 53,000 applications. It will take two and a half years to process them all, assuming that no further applications are submitted after today. The government's solution is to fly to Nigeria and tell people that 90% of claimants will be turned away. What a clever idea.Is that the new magic solution for fixing the migrant crisis?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that climate change is real, that we must do something about it, and that we can grow a clean economy. That is what we are doing. We have a plan.On behalf of all Canadians, I ask the following question. What is the plan of the party across the way?
Mr. Speaker, La Presse has just announced that it will become a non-profit entity because Ottawa is still refusing to support our national media.This morning, the newspaper's president said that the newspaper could no longer compete in an environment where more than 80% of digital advertising dollars in Canada go to Google and Facebook, which do not have to pay taxes but get tax credits. Why on earth is the Minister of Finance favouring the web giants? First La Presse. What's next?Will our media have to start hiring hordes of lobbyists to finally get the government's attention?
Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a rigorous recruitment process to choose the next Chief Electoral Officer. It is very important to recognize that as we move forward, and I expect we will be moving very soon, we respect the privacy of Canadians who participate in these selection processes. I certainly wish the NDP would respect that same principle of respecting the privacy of people who participate in these selection processes.
Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to implement a plan on climate change that is going to reduce emissions, that is going to grow a clean economy, that is going to ensure a sustainable planet for our kids.Once again, I am going to ask the party opposite this question: what is your plan to tackle climate change to take advantage of the
Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister has defended his decision to reward Liberal Party insiders with a quota worth millions of dollars, claiming his patronage was a step in reconciliation. The bidding process was a sham and an insult to reconciliation. It is pitting one first nation against the other and the crown.Why is the minister putting Liberal insiders ahead of the families in Grand Bank and ahead of reconciliation with indigenous people?
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Our government recently announced its support for a stronger and more rigorous arms export control system. We will integrate the Arms Trade Treaty criteria into Canadian law, including provisions on human rights, peace and security, and gender-based violence. This also entails a new legal obligation for this government and all future governments of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, after eliminating the children's sports and culture tax credits, after eliminating the public transit tax credit, and after raising taxes for 80% of Canadian families, the Prime Minister's new scheme to get more money out of taxpayers' pockets is to charge a new tax on carbon, which will take $10 billion out of our economy.I have a simple question for the Prime Minister. Will he make a reasoned decision and simply cancel this carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, if robust means checking down to see if they have given to the Liberal Party, well, they have accomplished that robust application.I spent last week in Grand Bank. From the dock to Sharon's to Foodland to Jenny's, the concern over the future is very real. I spoke again with Edgar, who works at the plant, and his son also works at the plant and is at risk of being among the very first to lose his job. If this happens, Edgar is worried he may lose his son to the mainland.Edgar has one question for the seven MPs from the Rock: when will they start standing up for them?
Mr. Speaker, this remains, and will remain, my top priority until the Phoenix pay system is stabilized. In parallel, the President of the Treasury Board is looking at a new system for the future. However, we have to pay 300,000 people every two weeks, and we will do just that. Last Friday, I was in Miramichi, and I met and talked to the people who are going to solve this for us.
Mr. Speaker, Canada's national parks play a critical role in shaping our national identity, protecting wildlife, and preserving national heritage. Last year a record number of Canadians visited parks and heritage places across the country, including the Rouge National Urban Park in Scarborough. In 2017, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change held the most comprehensive consultation ever to be undertaken. Could the minister tell us what she heard and what her vision is for Canada's parks?
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to seek unanimous consent of the House to table two documents.The first is the Parliamentary Budget Officer's economic and fiscal outlook from April 2018 and the second is the OECD economic outlook and interim economic outlook, which will show, contrary to the Minister of Environment's claim that we have the fastest-growing environment, that we are not even second or third. In fact, this year Canada has the fourth-fastest-growing environment in the G7.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have served under a government that was the first to include LGBTQI rights in Canada's citizenship guide. There is one line of immigration that this government has managed to reduce to zero days for wait time. That is for people who are illegally crossing the border from the safe country that is the United States. Meanwhile, it takes 30 months for someone to immigrate to Canada legally on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Why has the minister redirected 80 staff from processing the applications of legal border crossers to processing those of people illegally entering the country from the United States?
Mr. Speaker, the minister was aware of the glaring weaknesses in the Five Nations proposal, yet he ordered his officials to give them the licence anyways. Despite the departmental analysis pointing out the flaws in their application, he still awarded it to Liberal family and friends at the expense of the community of Grand Bank. Just so we are all clear, the minister awarded a contract worth millions of dollars to a Liberal MP's brother and a former Liberal MP, whose bid was incomplete and flawed. If this is not a conflict of interest, what is?
Mr. Speaker, as I look up at the gallery and I see young people here, I think the question they are asking is whether the party opposite understands that climate change is real, that it is having a real impact. Young people, and older people, and people around the world want to see clear action on climate change, because we only have one planet.On behalf of everyone that wants to see action on climate change, I would like to ask the party opposite: what is your plan?
Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. Climate change is already costing Canadians. We are seeing floods and forest fires across the country. We have a duty to leave a planet for our children and our grandchildren. We have a plan, but what is the Conservative Party's plan?
Mr. Speaker, the Chief Electoral Officer position has been vacant for 18 months.On April 3, we were told that a nominee had been put forward to head up Elections Canada. On April 27, out of nowhere, a new letter arrived telling us that the first nomination was cancelled and a new person was up for the job.In the space of three weeks, without any consultation or explanation, the government changed its mind about the nominee, and now it is giving us just seven business days to analyze the appointment. Let's keep in mind that the next general election is just 18 months away.Are we destined to go through the next election with no Chief Electoral Officer?
Mr. Speaker, what makes it difficult for refugees is when health care is cut for refugees. What makes it difficult for refugees is when the generosity of Canadians is limited to only 4,500 spots in the privately sponsored refugee program. We have more than quadrupled those spots, to 18,000, so that more Canadians can sponsor refugees. We have doubled the number of resettled refugees who come to Canada. We have invested more money in the Immigration and Refugee Board, so that genuine refugees can get their claims heard faster. The Conservatives have no clue about compassion for refugees.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about how much we have done for moms. We have invested in public transit and created the Canada child benefit. We have done more for moms in the past two years than the party opposite ever did.Moms also want to know what we are going to do to save the planet for their kids. That is what we are going to do, and we have a plan.On behalf of moms, may I ask how you intend to tackle climate change?
Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the party opposite would show compassion for all Canadians and for the world by taking serious action on climate change. The costs of climate change and the impacts we are seeing on Canadians from floods, from forest fires, and from droughts have gone from $400 million a year to over $1 billion a year. We are projected to hit maybe $40 billion a year by 2030. There is a huge impact from climate change, and Canadians are feeling it right now.I just wonder if the party opposite would actually tell us if it has a plan and show it to Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, our decision to increase indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous people. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource and is a powerful step toward reconciliation. When the previous government went through a very similar public proposal process to access this fishery, it forget to include indigenous people. However, we did not.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.I met with Ms. Dubé this morning. I had the pleasure of talking with her about the importance of the employment insurance program and how it must take into account the needs and circumstances of struggling families.We agreed that the employment insurance program has improved over the past two years thanks to the new family caregiver benefit, which will help 24,000 families, and the easing of the rules governing EI sickness benefits, which will help many families and individuals who are struggling. We will continue to work hard to ensure that the EI system
Mr. Speaker, as members know, Canadians are increasingly turning to the Internet to get the news. Meanwhile, media companies are innovating to adapt to this change.At the request of the industry, we announced in budget 2018 that the government would examine new models to enable the media to accept donations. We firmly believe that La Presse plays an important role as a reliable and professional source of local news in Quebec. We will, of course, continue to work with La Presse and other media organizations to ensure that we follow up on our budget commitments.
Mr. Speaker, another day has gone by, but refugees who are waiting in camps all over the world to come to Canada are no closer to arriving than they were yesterday or the day before. The Minister of Immigration preaches compassion but is making the world's most vulnerable people wait while prioritizing people who are crossing illegally from the U.S. Why does the minister not stop with the PMO talking points and tell us how this is fair?
Mr. Speaker, the statistic the minister just used is completely incorrect. In the last election, having a photo ID was a requirement, and the voter turnout was the highest it had been in two decades. Clearly, proving who a person is did not make it harder to vote. Why do the Liberals think it should not be necessary for voters to prove who they are and where they live in order to vote?
Mr. Speaker, promoting the rights and dignity of LGBTQ2 people at home and abroad has been a priority for this government. What was the Conservatives' record when they were in government? They were forced by the opposition to put LGBTQ2 rights back into the citizenship guide after they removed those rights and any mention of those rights under the Citizenship Act. We have quadrupled the number of privately sponsored refugees so that we can identify the most vulnerable refugees in the world, including LGBTQ2 communities. We have funded the Rainbow Refugee Society so that more LGBTQ2 refugees can be brought to Canada.
Mr. Speaker, this is a deeply flawed bill that does not respect the spirit or the letter of the treaty.The standard for Canadian arms exports is not conclusive evidence of the use of arms in human rights violations. It is reasonable risk. Clearly, with Saudi Arabia, there is a reasonable risk that Canadian arms have been and will be used to commit human rights violations in Saudi Arabia or Yemen. This is an embarrassment. The current government's approach to arms export control is shameful. When will the government do the right thing and suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia?
Mr. Speaker, let us compare our records. Under the former Conservative government, spouses had to wait 26 months to reunite with their family members. We have brought that down to 12 months. Not only that, but we were able to remove 20,000 spouses from the backlog they left us.Live-in caregivers who provided services to Canadian families, under that party, under the Harper Conservatives, had to wait five to seven years to sponsor their family members. We have cut that down to 12 months. We will take no lessons from the Harper Conservatives.
Mr. Speaker, only the Harper Conservatives would talk about border security after they cut almost $400 million from border security operations. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about compassionate treatment of refugees after they cut refugee health care to the most vulnerable people, pregnant women, and victims of torture. Only the Harper Conservatives would pretend to care about immigration processing and people stuck in backlogs after we inherited those backlogs from them and are working hard to clear them and improve processing times. We have no lessons to take from the Conservatives on this issue.
Mr. Speaker, we certainly took note of the incident that occurred last spring when the Yamachiche region was flooded because a ship was going too fast. The pilot was penalized after being found guilty of travelling at excessive speed near Yamachiche. As for financial compensation, as everyone knows, many other houses were flooded because of last spring's torrential rains, and financial compensation will come from the province at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are the ones who are talking about an open and transparent process.The government is taking the stewardship of our democracy as seriously as it did electoral reform. The lack of urgency on its part is alarming. After inexplicably waiting for 18 months to appoint a Chief Electoral Officer, the government sent two letters in the space of three weeks, with two different candidates.With only 18 months left until the next election, time is running out. Canadians expect free and fair elections. They deserve answers. What is happening, and when will the Elections Canada CEO be on the job?
Mr. Speaker, the biggest challenge for our electoral democracy is not voter fraud, it is voter turnout. Bill C-76 will bring back voter ID cards and vouching, and we are also giving Elections Canada the mandate to promote turnout.In the last Parliament, it was a Conservative MP who had to rise to apologize for falsifying stories about electoral fraud. I would urge the Conservatives to move on and recognize that what we should be doing is encouraging people
Mr. Speaker, last year, a number of residents of Yamachiche, particularly people who live on Louis-Gatineau Road, were affected by devastating waves that caused considerable damage to their property. Since then, the Liberal government has been hiding the full report on the incident and refuses to bear the cost of the damage. The victims still have not received any financial compensation and have really been left to fend for themselves, without any help from the federal government. I have two simple questions.Will the Minister of Transport publish the entire report? Will he compensate the victims in Yamachiche, yes or no?
Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that the government is rushing to build 520 housing units for illegal border crossers. These will be heated and ventilated, and they will have easy access to showers, drinking water, and toilets. Canadian northerners are desperate for this kind of housing, which has been postponed until post-2022. Many are calling my offices, and they have a simple question: Why are the Liberals responding with such urgency to illegal border crossers and ignoring the plight of the north?
Mr. Speaker, only the Liberals would think that a tax will solve environmental problems.The facts are clear. The Liberals are unable to explain how this new tax will help the environment. The Liberals simply do not want to tell Canadians how much this tax is going to cost them and, in the meantime, the parliamentary budget officer, who is neutral, says that it will cost our economy $10 billion.My question is simple. When will our Prime Minister cancel this regressive tax?
Mr. Speaker, the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal reported that a majority of Atlantic Canadians have not received a wage increase in the last few years. It is reported that families have significantly less money to spend, and households are actually worse off now than they were during the great recession. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only make things worse by increasing the price of nearly everything Canadians pay for.Will the government show some compassion for Atlantic Canadians and vote with us today and say no to the carbon tax?
Mr. Speaker, Canada's election laws have always worked well, but now, just 18 months before the next election, the Liberals continue to look for trouble and have decided to create mass confusion among voters.Across the country, Canadians must show at least one piece of official ID to vote, and this applies to everyone, no exceptions.Why are the Liberals trying to undermine the integrity of our electoral system, which is fine as is?
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian knows that the Liberal carbon tax will have a direct impact on their wallets. The government knows it, the government did the calculations, but the government is hiding it from Canadians. That is rather cowardly.The question is simple: how will this tax directly impact middle-class families, those who work hard, and those who want something to show for their money? What will the Liberal carbon tax cost Canadians?
Mr. Speaker, a Global News reporter said he was threatened with violence and told not to film while visiting a protest camp against Trans Mountain on public property. The Prime Minister claims he will legislate to ensure that the pipeline gets built. Kinder Morgan still faces roadblocks. It is getting worse, and time is running out. The Liberals have had over a year, but there are only 12 days left to introduce and pass a law, a process that usually takes months. Here is a really easy question: Where is the legislation on the Trans Mountain expansion?
Mr. Speaker, the government finally released its report on the use of Canadian arms in Saudi Arabia. It says that there is no evidence the arms were used to violate human rights. The UN and human rights advocacy groups say that the use of force was neither reasonable nor necessary, but the government chose to draw conclusions based on information from Saudi military and diplomatic sources.Does the government seriously expect Canadians to accept this report?
Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberal government that claimed that the tax would be revenue neutral.Today, further testimony from Environment Canada disproved that claim. Officials said that the budget bill will not even allow the government to reduce other taxes with the proceeds of the carbon tax. In other words, this is going to make the government a winner and taxpayers the losers.How much will this tax increase cost the average Canadian family?
Mr. Speaker, let's talk about measures. Yesterday, the minister told us he had nothing new to offer in terms of how to deal with the thousands of illegal migrants. The minister is going to take care of illegal migrants under the guise of compassion, but the problem is that his compassion does not extend to the real refugees in UN camps. The minister's hypocrisy is clear to the thousands of real refugees he never mentions in his speeches. Once again, will the government show some real leadership and put the issue of illegal asylum seekers on the agenda for the G7 summit?
Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court has ordered the government to review the refugee claim of a person who, until recently, lived in the United States for 13 years. That person never claimed asylum during that time but is now shopping for a spot in Canada. This individual is decidedly making a mockery of Canada.Does the government also believe that the United States is not a safe country for refugee claimants, or will it do what needs to be done and appeal that decision?
Mr. Speaker, Canadians fighting for their lives can no longer wait. We have asked the same question over and over, and we are seeing the same Liberal game. When the Liberals were in opposition they cared about this, but now that they are in government they have forgotten what they promised. Enough is enough. We need action. Why have the Liberals forgotten Marie-Hélène Dubé and the half a million Canadians who want to see EI sickness benefits extended? When will we finally see the Liberals stand up for Canadian workers and for those struggling with serious illness, and when will we see them fulfill their promise to extend El sickness benefits?
Mr. Speaker, there are 39 accepted forms of ID to vote in a federal election. A label on a prescription bottle, a personal cheque, a utility bill, a library card, those are all acceptable, and the list goes on. It is hard to conceive of a scenario where a voter would have none of these but would have a correct voter information card. However, the Liberals want to have almost a million incorrect cards used as proof. Why are the Liberals making it possible for people to vote without the correct ID?
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand with Marie-Hélène Dubé and the Canadian Union of Public Employees today. Together they represent over a million Canadians who are calling on the government to enhance the employment insurance sickness benefits.The Prime Minister and the minister both promised to do just that, but the sick are still waiting. They should not have to deal with financial problems. They should be focusing on getting well. When will the government keep its promises?
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has moved over 80 full-time employees from processing applications of people who are trying to legally emigrate to Canada, to process work permits for people entering Canada illegally from the United States, yet we know that LGBTQI+ refugees in UN camps wait for years to come to Canada under the government. How is it compassionate to send resources to prioritize the applications of illegal border crossers from the United States of America, while persecuted LGBTQI+ refugees have to wait?