Debates of March 27th, 2009

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Mr. Speaker, since the minister likes to trade quotes, I would like to trade a quote with him. I hearken back to the year 1995, please note, when the Prime Minister called the CBC, and I quote “government sponsored loser” and argued it should be placed in a situation where subsidies are, and I quote “weaned away”. So, perhaps he would like to answer those issues.

Today, he is using the economy as a pretext to watch the CBC bleed. Will the Conservatives admit that this is what they really mean by an opportunity to slash in an economic crisis?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague wants to trade quotes, we can go all day. Here is what a former Liberal cabinet minister said, not in 1995 but in 2004. Stan Keyes said, “CBC has become a monster, quite frankly”.

The Liberal MP for Pickering—Scarborough East, a current member of the Liberal caucus, said that it was his belief that the Canadian people have had enough and they did not want the CBC. So, again, the Liberals are trying to have it both ways. They say publicly they support the CBC. However, when it comes time to walk the talk, all they have done over the years is cut the CBC: $400 million, 4,000 jobs. Shame on them.

Official Languages

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, favouritism does not rear its head in economic matters alone. There is also the disregard for the common language of the Quebec nation and of francophones. The recent launch of the Canadian Tulip Festival was conducted entirely in English. The excuse for the complete absence of French was that the translation was not ready. To add insult to injury the French press conference will be held in two weeks.

Does the government think it is normal, in the capital of a nation that claims to be bilingual, for francophones to be subjected to such disrespectful treatment?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, we take very seriously the responsibility to respect both of Canada's official languages. My colleague has pointed out an example and we will look into it.

I would like to point out that our government will invest $1.1 billion over five years in the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, which is an effective and responsible plan to protect the official languages of Canada. We have made this promise and we will keep it.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we witnessed the same disrespect at the launch of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver in February. The program did not include one francophone artist and, at the last minute, Luke Doucet had to scramble to translate two of his songs into French.

If the Chinese government was able to include French, how is it that a supposedly bilingual country like Canada cannot?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague should speak to those in charge at VANOC. Naturally the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be bilingual. Money has been invested to ensure that the torch relay and the opening ceremonies are bilingual. That investment has been made.

That member and his Bloc colleagues voted against providing money to ensure that the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are bilingual. The Bloc Québécois should be ashamed.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism is playing Pontius Pilate by washing his hands and refusing to remind the Border Services Agency that it is required to serve citizens in both official languages. The minister cites the independence of the IRB as the reason for not taking action.

The Border Services Agency is not a judicial body. Therefore, the minister can and must intervene and ask its officials to have the documents translated. What is he waiting for?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has in fact worked extremely hard to ensure that every department within the ministry follows the guidelines set forward, and quite frankly, the government expects all agencies, boards, including the Canada Border Services Agency, to operate in full compliance with the letter and spirit of the Official Languages Act and the charter in allowing individuals to be represented and heard in the language of their choice.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the same goes for partisan appointments of commissioners. The minister says it is not his fault and shifts all the blame to the selection committee. Yet it was the Conservatives who changed the composition of that committee, allowing individuals appointed by the minister himself to sit on that committee.

Should the minister not just come right out and admit that, like the Liberals, he is continuing the same practice of partisan appointments?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I completely disagree with the premise of the question that the member asks.

In fact, it is this government that actually changed the process of appointments and ensured that we have a process that is dealt with outside of political appointments, and done through an agency that ensures that they are done correctly.

At the same time, the member also indicates that these are the minister's appointments. In fact, what happens through the process is that people who are qualified are appointed. In the most recent list of reappointments, eight members who were appointed by the former government were reappointed to their positions.

Employment Insurance

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over a month ago, I asked the minister in the House about difficulties in accessing EI benefits. I was assured that extra staff would be brought in to handle the increase in applications. Yesterday I spoke to Julie, who was in tears because she had been unable to get information on her payments in order to pay rent next Wednesday.

People who have lost their jobs are at risk of eviction because they cannot access EI and pay their rent. What is the minister going to say to Julie next Wednesday?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are a lot of people who are going through some really tough times right now, thanks to this global recession. That is why, to help them out, our EI services have been expanded. We are offering an extra five weeks of benefits on top of the regular benefits by extending the pilot project right across the country. To help people like Julie, we have extended the hours of our EI call centres to include evenings and Saturdays.

For any assistance, I suggest that Julie calls Service Canada. It is easier to get through on a Saturday, and if the hon. member has continued problems--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Random—Burin—St. George's.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, in this time of economic crisis, Canadians are losing their jobs daily and facing financial hardships. Some have to choose between buying medications and feeding their families. In my riding, Kenneth from Burnt Islands waited 51 days to receive his claim. This is simply unacceptable.

Despite the minister's claim of having fixed the system, Kenneth will tell her differently. How can she continue to force people like Kenneth to choose between paying their bills and feeding their families?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are trying to make sure and doing everything we can so that people do not have to make those choices. We do not want them to. We understand the difficult circumstances in which they find themselves. That is why we have brought on hundreds of people to help with EI processing. We just received authorization this week to hire hundreds more so that we can meet the challenges that are going on right now.

With the huge jump in the number of claims, we want to make sure that we are doing everything possible so that people who need EI get it just as quickly as possible.

Science and Technology

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Justin, a student from Prince Edward Island, is now looking for a PhD program, but he will not look here in Canada. His department has advised him that this is not a good time to be undertaking social science research as the government is now targeting certain disciplines for fellowship support. In this case, it is targeting SSHRC scholarships focused on business-related degrees.

Why is the government targeting Canada's best and brightest, and forcing them to leave Canada?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of that question is absolutely misguided and completely untrue. We are putting more money into research, the social sciences, and all of Canada's granting councils than ever before. We are investing $5.1 billion dollars in science and technology this year alone in budget 2009. That is more than the previous government ever did.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think I was very clear in saying that the funding was tied to business-related degrees.

The fastest-growing occupations are now for those who require the highest levels of education: 400,000 jobs for individuals with master's or doctoral degrees between 1990 and 2004. Over the next decade, labour market demands for workers with advanced degrees may only be met with sustained immigration and significant growth in the supply of graduate students, 63% of whom come from social sciences and humanities.

Why is the government compromising its future workforce?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the premise of the question is entirely false. There is increased funding for degrees in the social sciences. There are new investments in budget 2009 regarding science and technology, including $2 billion for a knowledge infrastructure program, $1 billion over five years for clean energy technologies, $750 million for the Canada Foundation for Innovation, $500 million for Canada Health Infoway, $250 million to modernize federal labs, and $200 million over two years for the industrial research assistance program.

This government is doing more for science and technology and more for the very people she is talking about than her government ever did.

Industry

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always maintained that the last thing our economy needs is a job-killing carbon tax. Unfortunately, the Liberal Party continues to consider this irresponsible idea. The Liberal leader campaigned on it during his leadership race and vigorously defended it as a priority of a Liberal government just last fall.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry please tell the House how the Liberal leader's flawed policy ideas risk damaging Canadian industry?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leader has attempted to distance himself from the Liberal carbon tax agenda, but his own record tells a very different story. In fact, during his leadership campaign in 2006, he invented the Liberal carbon tax agenda. Seven months ago, he actually convinced his former leader to make a job-killing carbon tax the centrepiece of the Liberal election campaign.

When B.C. introduced its own carbon tax, gas prices at the pump shot up 4¢ the very next day. That kind of Liberal tax increase on gas and oil prices would be—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Halifax.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, to top off a week where CBC was forced to cut 800 jobs across the country, the main current affairs program in the maritimes has now been gutted.

Maritime Noon is heard in kitchens, offices and cars from Bathurst to Bridgewater, from Sydney to Summerside. Now it has been cut in half. Its regional journalists have been laid off because the government ignores its responsibility to keep our public broadcaster stable.

Will the minister finally put aside his ideological agenda and work for the best interests of Canadians?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

I will take a fourth run at this, Mr. Speaker.

Executive vice-president Richard Stursberg said that if the government had given the CBC bridge financing, it still would have had to cut 800 people. This was a business decision of the CBC.

The reality is that budget 2005-06 increased funding for the CBC, budget 2006-07 increased funding for the CBC, budget 2007-08 increased funding for the CBC, budget 2008-09 increased funding for the CBC and budget 2009-10 increased funding for the CBC.

The other thing in common with the budget is that the NDP voted against every one of them.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians from coast to coast to coast do not buy this kind of rhetoric.

The government's ideological attack on the CBC and Canadian voices has hit us hard in Manitoba. A vital link that connects us in northern Manitoba will be broken as CBC is planning to cut our program and station, North Country.

Respected Canadians, such as Peter Mansbridge and the minister of culture and heritage in Manitoba, Eric Robinson, got their start through North Country.

Will the government own up to its responsibility to stabilize and support the CBC so it can reinstate CBC's North Country?