Debates of May 8th, 2006

UNESCO

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister himself used the example of the francophone summit to illustrate how Quebec could participate in UNESCO, which implies a voice, a seat and a vote.

Since the Prime Minister could not keep this promise, should he not have moved forward on the Bloc Québécois' proposal and the Belgian model, which he referred to himself, since this is what most closely resembles the promises he made to Quebeckers?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question, which give us an opportunity to clarify this matter.

What is involved is an agreement between two levels of government, between the Quebec government, duly elected and represented by the current government, of course, and the party in power here. This agreement is obviously the product of those discussions.

We believe--and this is also the Quebec government's position--that the agreement is excellent for everyone.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, will the Prime Minister admit that he and Jean Charest signed, for the first time, an agreement that gives the federal government, in writing, the right to make decisions internationally concerning areas of jurisdiction that have always belonged to Quebec?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

No, Mr. Speaker.

Humanitarian Aid to Palestine

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, children in a Palestinian day care centre supported by CIDA are being deprived of medical care because an Israeli bank is refusing to forward donations made to the Quebec organization Aide médicale à la Palestine and meant for those children. Yet the government gave assurances that humanitarian aid would not be affected by the end of Canada's relations with the Palestinian authority.

What exactly does the Minister of International Cooperation plan to do to put an end to these arbitrary and discriminatory measures?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, CIDA is continuing to fund aid for the Palestinian population, but it is reviewing the situation and has suspended funding that was intended for the Palestinian authority, for Hamas.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as far as I can tell, children in a daycare centre are part of the population.

How can the minister reconcile this decision by the Israeli banks with her joint statement with the Minister of Foreign Affairs that Canada would continue to support the Palestinian people and meet their humanitarian needs?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, I want to repeat to my colleague that future funding depends on the Palestinian government's commitment to non-violence, the recognition of Israel and the peace accords that have been signed.

That said, Canada is continuing to respond to the Palestinians' humanitarian needs through multilateral organizations and other partners not associated with Hamas.

Federal-Provincial Relations

[Anthony Rota, Liberal, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

Last Thursday, at a Conservative Party fundraiser in Toronto, the Prime Minister went out of his way to damage the already tenuous relationship that his government has with the province of Ontario. With his meddling in provincial politics, the Prime Minister has insulted the Premier and shown contempt toward the voters of Ontario who elected the Premier to work on their behalf.

Will the Prime Minister today rise in the House and apologize to the Premier and the people of Ontario for his actions last week?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the House will be surprised to learn that John Tory is a very good friend of mine. He is a great Ontarian and Canadian, and he and I have campaigned together in the past. I do not think that is any surprise to the House. However, it would be a surprise if the party opposite were to say it would not in fact campaign or work with its provincial cousins. That would be a surprise.

[Anthony Rota, Liberal, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is not much of an answer.

Since taking office, the Prime Minister has had no trouble finding time to attend a $14,000 a table provincial Conservative fundraiser and right wing conferences, but he cannot seem to find the time to have a serious meeting with the Premier of Ontario.

Will the Prime Minister simply admit that the concerns of Ontario are not addressed by his government and the only way for the Premier to meet with the Prime MInister is to buy a fundraising ticket for a Conservative Party fundraiser?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, of course not. I met with Premier McGuinty on Thursday. We had a good meeting. He had reasonably positive comments toward our budget, unlike the party opposite.

I think it is the party opposite that may have the real trouble with Mr. McGuinty. Let me quote the member for Etobicoke North, who said in talking about Premier McGuinty:

I just resent...I expect that from the Bloc Québécois, I don’t expect that from the premier of Ontario.

The member for Markham compared the Premier of Ontario to a separatist. That is not the position of the government. That party has some explaining to do over there.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there are issues in the House and in provincial legislatures that transcend partisan politics. This week in the British Columbia Legislature, all members put partisan politics aside and applauded Premier Campbell over his refusal to let the Kelowna accord die. The provincial governments get it, including Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Most members of this House get it.

Can the Prime Minister tell us why he refuses to commit full funding to an agreement that transcends political affiliation everywhere except with this government?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, the budget represents real money, real funds for aboriginal Canadians. We are not making empty promises the way the Liberals had been doing for the past 13 years. For too long, all that aboriginal Canadians heard was rhetoric from the Liberals, but with little action.

We have promised real action. We have promised specific dollars. We are not going to make empty promises. The budget contains more than any Liberal budget ever offered to aboriginal Canadians.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, empty rhetoric, empty promises and no consultation. Here are some of the words of praise used by those who support the Kelowna accord: “historic, significant, poignant, promising”. Premier Campbell called it “a compact to restore trust, hope and confidence with aboriginal peoples across Canada”.

On Friday the accord was shamefully dismissed by the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary as a “press release”. How much more support is required before the Prime Minister will listen to the demands of Canadians all over this country and fully implement this accord?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, once again, if the hon. member chooses to review the specifics of the budget, and I would recommend to her page 162 as I recall, this government has shown significant commitment to aboriginal Canadians.

The funds that are contained in this budget exceed any money that was put forward by the former Liberal government in the 2004 budget, the 2005 budget, and the economic statement.

It is a fair and reasonable budget. It is a budget that aboriginal Canadians can count on because it is real money with real results.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I returned to my riding of Kelowna—Lake Country this weekend to find many of my constituents insulted by the opposition House leader's attempt to single out what he refers to as “mainstream native organizations”. All first nations communities are important and many support the government's budget.

Could the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development explain to the member for Wascana the negative impact his comments have had on native communities across Canada?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, I observed the disparaging comments that the hon. member for Wascana made about Inuit Canadians and off reserve first nation Canadians when he described them as being “not mainstream”. It is troubling that the hon. member would insult the Canadians whom I represent. Patrick Brazeau, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Jose Kusugak, the president of ITK, support the budget. These are respected aboriginal Canadians. So too is my parliamentary secretary. I am proud of him and I am proud of those people who have spoken in favour of this budget. We will not stand by while the member's party slams and insults aboriginal Canadians.

The Environment

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, one of the missed opportunities of the Conservative budget is the abolition of the NDP programs for improving energy efficiency. These programs were effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They would have created jobs across the country and made optimal use of taxpayer dollars.

Can the Minister of the Environment explain why a “made in Canada” solution was abolished, but $1.3 billion in gifts to the major oil companies were not?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I am always proud to get up to talk about our made in Canada solutions and our made in Canada plans.

Under the former Liberal government we could have seen up to $600 per Canadian family in taxpayer money shipped overseas to countries like Russia and China with no accountability to the environment here at home. Under our made in Canada plan, we will see all Canadian taxpayer money invested right here at home in Canadian solutions for the environment.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, members of the Conservative Party must have misled Canadians in the last election because they said they would support initiatives exactly like the NDP retrofit program that spent tax dollars wisely and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This program did all of these things.

Will the minister tell us why the Conservative Party studied the Liberal program of promising one thing and doing another so hard that it got it so right?

[Gary Lunn, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to work with the member as we develop programs. I would like to remind the member that we do not want to take lessons from the old Liberal government. This program specifically was sold to Canadians as an energy efficient program, yet only 50¢ of every program dollar actually went to homeowners. That is not efficient. It is not effective. That is not how this government is going to govern.

Homelessness

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is perfectly obvious that the Prime Minister misrepresented my position and also that the finance minister does not like homeless Canadians. In his former life with Mike Harris he wanted to throw them in jail. In his budget he wants to take away all the money to support them.

Is there no level too low for the government or will the minister stand in his place and confirm that not a penny will be cut from Canada's homeless?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for raising the subject because that is an area where we made great progress last week with an $800 million commitment in trust for affordable housing in Canada, much more than the Liberal government ever did. If we look on the streets of Toronto after 13 years of the Liberals being in government what progress was made? Nothing at all.

Now the mayor of Toronto welcomes the money. We are actually going to do something which the member's party failed to do for 13 years.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a minister who wanted to throw the homeless in jail would neither know nor care, but the fact of the matter is that truly homeless Canadians cannot afford affordable housing. Under the inspired leadership of Claudette Bradshaw, the previous government committed $1.3 billion to help those who were truly at the bottom of our national totem pole.

I repeat, will the minister stand in his place and say that not a penny will be cut to the truly homeless who are at the bottom of the national totem pole, or does he want to throw them in jail?