SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 118 - Oct/26/22

Oct/26/22 7:14:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the response from the parliamentary secretary, but he is, unfortunately, very much like the rest of his Liberal colleagues. He spoke about Conservatives ignoring certain facts, but the fact is that the government is ignoring Canadians, not realizing where the challenges are for people who cannot afford to put food on the table and cannot afford to put fuel in their vehicle to drive to work. They cannot afford the expensive, out-of-control spending the government has done for the past seven years. The member also spoke about openness, honesty and transparency. I remember, back in 2015, the campaign when the Prime Minister spoke about sunshine being the best disinfectant. This government has covered up everything from the WE scandal to the SNC-Lavalin issue. Openness and transparency are not something the government should be noting.

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Mr. Terry Beech

Oct/26/22 7:15:28 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-31

Madam Speaker, again, I am happy to talk about monetary and fiscal policy any time. I note that the member wanted to change the channel a bit there. We have developed an affordability plan that makes life more affordable for Canadians. It gets money to people who need it the most, when they need it the most. Canadians from coast to coast to coast can count on us to continue to support them through this period of global elevated inflation. With Bill C-31, we are proposing to create the Canada dental benefit for families with annual incomes under $90,000. This is literally a piece of legislation that is going to enable children who could not afford to get their teeth fixed to get them fixed. We know good oral hygiene and good dental health lead to better overall health and better productivity. Those investments not only are fair and the right thing to do for those children, but will actually help us grow our economy in the future. This bill also proposes a one-time top-up to the Canada housing benefit program, to those renters—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Oct/26/22 7:16:30 p.m.
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The time is up. The hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot.

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Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Oct/26/22 7:16:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise in this place. A number of months ago, I had the opportunity to ask a question about access to information in Canada, and it is directly related to a study that is ongoing before the ethics committee. The simple and only way that one can accurately describe the Liberal record on access to information is one of failure, full stop. A comment was made the other day that bears repeating in this place: Everything under the current Liberal government is broken. I hear daily from constituents about the cost of living that is unmanageable. We have a host of new government programs that are being created almost weekly to fix a problem that the government and the Prime Minister, and their flawed ideology created. The reality is that Canadians are hurting. It seems everything is broken, whether that be passports, ethics and accountability, or any host of other things that we can point to, including Canada's reputation on the world stage. It leads me to the inevitable conclusion that the Liberals are good at one thing and that is politics. When it comes to governing, to serving Canadians and to doing what is in the best interests of our country, they have shown time and again that they are terrible at governing. The consequence of that is no more clear than it is in the access to information system. Starting in the 2015 campaign, the now Prime Minister tweeted out that it was time for a government without a new scandal every day. It is unbelievable how many new scandals seem to be piling up on that Prime Minister's plate. When it comes to the promises the Liberals made about sunshine being the best disinfectant, they have created a culture of secrecy. We heard, more times at the ethics committee today than I would be able to reference in the time permitted here, that there is this culture of secrecy, even when the Liberals claim to have fixed it. They are good at politics, but they have failed on delivering, because they brought in what they said were solutions to all the problems through Bill C-58 in the 42nd Parliament. However, the experts agree that it simply made the situation worse. Again, the Liberals are great at politics, and we hear that each and every day through catchphrases, slogans and an incredible ability to turn the issues of the day into something that is not their fault. For seven years it has been these Liberals stewarding this country. I suggest, on every metric I can think of, that our country is in a worse spot today than it was seven years ago. What is worse is that they often take credit for the good management that took place prior to that. It is the height of hypocrisy when we see the arrogance with which so many issues are approached and all the ways that our country and Canadians are hurting. When it comes to the access to information system, the culture of secrecy has to stop because Canadians are losing faith in the institutions of government, which is at the very foundation of what a modern democracy needs to have.

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Ms. Soraya Martinez Ferrada (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing), Lib.)

Oct/26/22 7:20:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member for Battle River—Crowfoot is referring to the information requested in the previous Parliament about the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. Our government respects the role that parliamentarians play in holding the government to account. However, our government must also respect the laws that Parliament has passed when it responds to orders for the production of papers, especially when the records include classified information. When disclosing information to Parliament, the government is guided by its statutory obligations to keep some information confidential under statutes like the Privacy Act, the Security of Information Act and the Canada Evidence Act. Our government always seeks to balance these interests so that parliamentarians are provided information to hold the government to account. The original request for documents from the National Microbiology Laboratory was first raised at the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations on March 31, 2021. At that time, PHAC played a lead role in the government's response to the pandemic. PHAC worked diligently to produce the requested records and submitted them to the special committee on April 20, 2021. The records were redacted because they included information that PHAC was bound by statute to keep confidential. This included national security information that would have been injurious to Canada's reputation if it was disclosed. However, the special committee was not satisfied and reported the matter to the House. Despite the government's opposition, the House adopted a Conservative opposition day motion on June 2, 2021, to order the production of the unredacted documents within two days. Our government explored options to balance the right of parliamentarians to access information with its duty to protect classified information. PHAC provided the redacted documents to the law clerk's office on the timeline set out by the order. At the same time, the Minister of Health referred the matter to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICOP. The unredacted documents were submitted to that committee. Our government believes that this committee is the appropriate mechanism to allow parliamentarians to review unredacted documents while protecting national security information. The NSICOP has members from both the House and the Senate and a broad mandate to review national security and intelligence activities. Members hold top secret security clearance, swear an oath or solemn affirmation not to disclose confidential information and are permanently bound to secrecy under the Security of Information Act. With these safeguards, committee members are able to receive classified briefings and materials. However, opposition parties did not support this approach in the last Parliament. In the current Parliament, our government remains committed to working collaboratively with opposition parties. On December 2, 2021, the government House leader proposed the creation of an ad hoc committee to allow parliamentarians to scrutinize confidential national security documents. The government based its proposal on the approach the former government proposed, and the House agreed to, in 2010 to give access to information about Afghan detainees. Members of the ad hoc committee are required to undergo security screening and agree to confidentiality undertakings. A panel of arbiters will mediate questions where the disclosure of confidential national security documents would jeopardize Canada's interests. The New Democratic Party has agreed to participate in the ad hoc committee to review the information that the member for Battle River—Crowfoot is referring to. I urge the member and his party to reconsider their participation.

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Mr. Damien Kurek

Oct/26/22 7:24:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do find interesting the culture of secrecy that has permeated every aspect of virtually everything the government does. We see that no more clearer than in the case of the Winnipeg microbiology lab and, in part, what seems like an unlimited willingness of the Prime Minister to go to any length necessary to endeavour to cover up his actions, including but not limited to prorogation, calling an election that he promised not to call and using every mechanism imaginable to cover up the actions that he and his government are responsible for. When it comes to the true facts of the matter, I would simply suggest that the member and other members of the government try to look at the trust that Canadians need to have in their institutions—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Oct/26/22 7:25:37 p.m.
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The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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Secretary

Ms. Soraya Martinez Ferrada

Oct/26/22 7:25:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government has proposed reasonable options to the House. The NSICOP and the ad hoc committee would allow the members to scrutinize confidential national security and intelligence information in a venue where the appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure the information is not publicly disclosed. Both options worked. A similar ad hoc committee was established by the previous government in 2010 to allow parliamentarians to access classified information about Afghan detainees. This is what Speaker Milliken was referring to when he urged members, in 2010, to find a compromise between complying with an order of the House and protecting classified information from public disclosure. The committee is another mechanism that responds to Speaker Milliken's appeal to the House. Since 2017, parliamentarians from both Houses have worked across party lines to examine and report on national security and intelligence activities. Members undergo the appropriate security measures to ensure that classified information is not disclosed. Again, I heard the member—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Oct/26/22 7:26:44 p.m.
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The hon. member for Brantford—Brant not being present to raise during the Adjournment Proceedings the matter for which notice had been given, the notice is deemed withdrawn. It being 7:27 p.m., the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 7:27 p.m.)

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