Debates of June 12th, 2009

Paule Brunelle Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources speaks of additional resources for wind energy in the budget. What does the budget say? Nothing!

If this money did not go to the wind sector, can the Minister of the Environment tell us where it did go? To the oil companies, perhaps?

Jim Prentice Minister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, the member should examine the budget. Our government has made massive investments in green and clean energy such as wind and solar energy.

Furthermore, with regard to clean technologies, we need carbon capture and storage to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The Liberals have never had the courage of their convictions and the Bloc and the NDP will never have the chance to do anything more than stand up in the House.

Ted Menzies Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, the answer to that question lies with the Business Development Bank of Canada, whose representatives appeared at committee yesterday. We provided the allocation that provides them with the opportunity to deal with their customers.

I would ask my hon. colleague to ask BDC representatives when they are going to deliver the cheques, because it is through the Business Development Bank of Canada that they are delivered to those people who need it.

John McCallum Markham—Unionville, ON

So there are no cheques, Mr. Speaker. Here we have, for a single program, an $11 billion gap between what the government has promised and the reality on the ground. It is not a very good example, but I have another.

Yesterday, in its report, the government said it had committed between $1 million and $5 million to a water treatment plant in Grand Falls, Newfoundland. However, yesterday a reporter spoke to the mayor of that town and he had never heard of the project. Can the government clear that one up? When is construction going to begin?

David McGuinty Ottawa South, ON

Apologize.

The Deputy Speaker Andrew Scheer

Order, order. It is a Friday. The Speaker should be able to hear the member who is rising to answer. If members cannot stay quiet, the Speaker might have to ask them to leave the Chamber so the Speaker can hear the answer.

The hon. Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

John Baird Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I wish that the member for Ottawa South could be more like his brother Dalton.

Yesterday, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador announced that it currently has 107 tenders out for projects totalling $1.6 billion, creating an estimated 1,500 jobs. I hope the member opposite will join me in welcoming those important investments. We are working well with not just my premier, we are working well with the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Danny Williams.

Michael Savage Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS

Mr. Speaker, last year, when the government announced the enabling accessibility fund, people in the disability community raised concerns right away that the fund was specifically designed to provide money for Conservative ministers. They called it “pork barrel politics”.

That turned out to be entirely true. In fact, not only did the Minister of Finance get his project worth $15 million, but fully 94% of all funding went to Conservative ridings. Can the minister explain the mathematical equation she employed in order to send 94% of all funding to Conservative ridings?

Diane Finley Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

Mr. Speaker, the enabling accessibility fund is a great program that will make it easier for so many disabled people to actually get access to buildings. This is a good thing. It is long overdue. It is something that party should have done when it was in government for 13 years, but it did not bother. It did not even have an accessible office for people with disabilities.

We are working right across the country, particularly in small communities, to ensure the disabled have the access that they not only need but deserve.

Michael Savage Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS

Mr. Speaker, it is very sad. The Conservatives have one lens they use for everything, and that is political. The rest, good public policy, economic prudence, social justice, equity, means nothing to them.

This fund was supposed to be set up for all Canadians with disabilities. It now appears to have become a Conservative slush fund. There is no plausible explanation how 94% of any program could end up in a minority party and only there. It does not make any sense.

I invite the minister to speak to Canadians with disabilities and ask them how they feel. Could she honestly justify this level of political abuse in a program designed for persons with disabilities?

John Baird Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, when the member opposite looks in totality at the important investments we are making in infrastructure, he will see we are making significant investments in Newfoundland and Labrador, and none of that money has gone into government ridings.

He will see that we made substantial investments in the city of Windsor, which is undertaking very serious unemployment challenges. He will see we are making substantive investments in Ottawa—Vanier, where we turned the sod on a project just this morning.

We are putting partisanship aside. We are working constructively with Liberal, Conservative and New Democratic governments around the country. We hope the hon. member will also put aside partisan politics and do what is right for the Canadian people.

Scott Reid Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON

Mr. Speaker, for three years now, this Conservative government has taken a principled stand in response to the senseless violence in the Middle East. For example, back in 2006, Canada was the first government in the world to cut off aid to the Hamas terrorists who control Gaza. Just this winter the world witnessed hundreds of Hamas rockets, with increasing range and destructive power, fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel and civilian targets.

Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs inform the House as to what Canada is doing to stop arms smuggling into Gaza?