Debates of Dec. 14th, 2004
House of Commons Hansard #45 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was tax.
Topics
- Chief Electoral Officer
- House of Commons
- Aboriginal Affairs
- Order in Council Appointments
- Government Response to Petitions
- Committees of the House
- Petitions
- Questions on the Order Paper
- Petitions
- Interparliamentary Delegations
- Request for Emergency Debate
- Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994
- Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2004
- Business of the House
- Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2004
- Food and Drugs Act
- London Knights
- Marriage
- Riding of Dartmouth--Cole Harbour
- Millennium Fund
- Greater Toronto Airport Authority
- Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year
- Canadian Forces Reserves
- John Humphrey Freedom Award
- Aysegul Candir
- Kamloops Christmas Light Tour
- Ukraine
- Brabant Newspapers
- Bethlehem Walk in Parksville
- Textile and Clothing Industry
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Kids Come First Child Care Centre
- Child Care
- Infrastructure
- Natural Resources
- National Defence
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Textile and Clothing Industry
- Health
- Maher Arar Inquiry
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Textile and Clothing Industry
- Marriage
- Textile and Clothing Industry
- Commercial Bankruptcies
- Aerospace Industry
- Textile and Clothing Industry
- Fisheries and Oceans
- National Defence
- Textile and Clothing Industry
- Firearms Program
- Taxation
- Tourism Industry
- Foreign Affairs
- China
- Textile and Clothing Industry
- Justice
- Transport
- Governor General
- Business of the House
- Budget Implementation Act, 2004, No. 2
- Committees of the House
- Budget Implementation Act, 2004, No. 2
- Committees of the House
- Budget Implementation Act, 2004, No. 2
- Pension Ombudsman Act
- Income Tax Act
- Committees of the House
- Income Tax Act
- Committees of the House
- Income Tax Act
- Textile Industry
Marriage
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
LaSalle—Émard
Québec
Liberal
Paul Martin Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the House what is disgraceful. It is for an hon. member to stand up in the House and make a statement like that, which is not true and, in fact, has no validity. That is what is wrong.
It is creating divisions in the country. It is a statement that goes contrary to the Charter of Rights and to what the court said. That is not the kind of statement that should be made in the House.
Marriage
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
Marriage
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
The Speaker
Order, please. I cannot hear the answers and I am not going to be able to hear the question. We need to have a little order, please.
The hon. member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands has the floor.
Marriage
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
Conservative
David Anderson Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister needs to learn what is going on in his own caucus. It was the Minister responsible for Democratic Reform who revealed the government's hidden agenda on religious freedoms. He said that public officials who cannot perform same sex marriage for reasons of conscience or religion should be fired and sanctioned.
How can the government wallow in the hypocrisy of pretending that it is going to protect religious rights when it clearly has an agenda to remove them?
Marriage
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
Mount Royal
Québec
Liberal
Irwin Cotler Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the only hidden agenda is with the opposition.
Marriage
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
Conservative
Rob Merrifield Yellowhead, AB
Mr. Speaker, freedom of religious expression is a Canadian right that Canadians are not prepared to compromise. The Minister responsible for Democratic Reform said that public servants should be disciplined or fired if they do not perform same sex marriages.
Why would the government force public servants to forfeit their religious beliefs to satisfy the bigoted view of the Liberal Party?
Marriage
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
Mount Royal
Québec
Liberal
Irwin Cotler Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the government respects the charter and the Supreme Court decision. I would ask the opposition to do the same thing.
Textile and Clothing Industry
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Mr. Speaker, as Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, I personally tabled the report on the remission order for the apparel and textile industry, which will expire at the end of the year. The Minister of Finance recently announced in this House that he planned to announce concrete measures for these two important sectors shortly.
Knowing that Liberal members have worked nonstop and that consultations have been held with representatives from these two sectors, I would like to ask the Minister of Finance for an update.
Textile and Clothing Industry
Oral Question Period
2:40 p.m.
Wascana
Saskatchewan
Liberal
Ralph Goodale Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the apparel and textile industry consists of several hundred companies across Canada which employ close to 150,000 Canadians. I have repeatedly indicated that a number of urgent issues affecting the industry will be addressed by the government before the end of this year. In fact, I intend to do so later today.
Combined federal support for the apparel and textile industry currently amounts to about $41 million per year. Due to the hard work of Liberal government caucus members, that support will more than triple over the next five years in a combination of tariff relief, duty remission and sectoral adjustments.
Commercial Bankruptcies
Oral Question Period
2:45 p.m.
NDP
Pat Martin Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, hundreds of pulp mill workers in Nackawic, New Brunswick are losing their pensions because Canada's bankruptcy laws are stacked against them.
There are 10,000 commercial bankruptcies in Canada every year and employees lose wages, benefits, and pension contributions because they rank at the bottom of the list of creditors.
When will the Minister of Industry fix Canada's bankruptcy laws so that working people are given first priority in the event of a bankruptcy? How do priorities get so screwed up, so that everybody is taken care of except Canadian voters who support this nation?
Commercial Bankruptcies
Oral Question Period
2:45 p.m.
Vancouver Kingsway
B.C.
Liberal
David Emerson Minister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Labour and Housing and I are working on Canada's bankruptcy and insolvency laws. We will have some changes to propose in the new year.
Aerospace Industry
Oral Question Period
December 14th, 2004 / 2:45 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, if Bombardier does not have the immediate attention of the minister on aerospace policy, it will be without pension parachutes. The departure of Paul Tellier and the free fall in that stock have created great concerns for the industry. In fact, the Liberals are once again coming in for a crash landing with Bombardier because they do not have a national aerospace policy.
When will the Minister of Industry have a national aerospace policy, so that we do not have the Liberals circling above again and creating a weakness in our national trade policy which puts our companies in this situation?
Aerospace Industry
Oral Question Period
2:45 p.m.
Vancouver Kingsway
B.C.
Liberal
David Emerson Minister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, we are well along in the development of a national aerospace policy. Bombardier has been having troubles that are a fallout from the crisis in the airline industry. It has been going on for several years.
Paul Tellier has done a great job. I would like to pay tribute to the good work he has done. We look forward to a stronger, healthier aerospace industry going forward, and a healthier, stronger Bombardier. We will be there to support the industry.
Textile and Clothing Industry
Oral Question Period
2:45 p.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, “Since he became Prime Minister we no longer exist. We feel unwanted”. Those are the words of the former Liberal minister, Gilbert Normand. Nonetheless, the textile and clothing manufacturers feel the same way. This week, the town of Huntington is losing six plants and 800 jobs, a number that, unfortunately, is likely to go into the thousands.
What nice little trinket will the Minister of Industry be putting in the Christmas stockings of the affected families?
Textile and Clothing Industry
Oral Question Period
2:45 p.m.
Wascana
Saskatchewan
Liberal
Ralph Goodale Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, in cooperation with the Minister of Industry, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and all members of the government caucus, we have been working on a comprehensive package of measures to assist the textile and apparel industry.
That will consist of a combination of tariff relief, duty remission and sectoral adjustment assistance. Over the course of the next five years we expect to triple our support for this industry.