Debates of June 3rd, 2010

John Baird Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I say very directly to the member opposite, nothing was fast-tracked and no funding was given to any of these projects. The government acted responsibly and it reacted well.

Siobhan Coady St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL

Mr. Speaker, the Conflict of Interest Act prohibits public office holders from using their position to further the private interests of a friend. However, the former minister of public works admitted that he discussed his friend Rahim Jaffer's business proposal which the department then fast-tracked. Compliance with the act is a condition of a person's employment as a public office holder.

Will the Prime Minister explain the consequences for his minister's serious ethics violation?

John Baird Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the member is making totally outrageous allegations. Let me be very clear. Nothing was fast-tracked and no funding was given to any of the projects in question.

Daniel Paillé Hochelaga, QC

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary does not have the support for the securities issue that he claims to have.

In Quebec, the Bloc's position on this has the support of the National Assembly, the Conseil du patronat, the labour funds, Molson, Canam, Cascades, Couche-Tard, Jean Coutu, Power Corporation, Quebecor, Transat, Transcontinental, Industrielle Alliance, the SSQ and La Capitale.

Why destroy a system that, in the words of Michael Sabia, president and CEO of the Caisse de dépôt, is working quite well?

If it is not broken, why fix it?

Ted Menzies Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for once again asking a very obvious question. He lists off a whole number of organizations that he says support the passport system, but we have a much larger list of people who support the voluntary system which is a Canadian system that protects Canadians. I have a list so long I do not think I can do it in 35 seconds, but if he asks another question, I will start the list. It is many organizations both national and international.

Daniel Paillé Hochelaga, QC

Mr. Speaker, let him give us his list from Quebec and then we will talk.

A columnist from the Financial Post points out the absurdity of this plan. He said, “Canada is the only developed country without a national regulator and the only country not to be burned by the global financial crisis, therefore Canada will create a national regulator”.

It is ridiculous. It is not broken, but they want to fix it.

The OECD, the World Bank and the IMF all support our passport system and say it is superior to that of the U.S., Britain and—

The Speaker Peter Milliken

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

Ted Menzies Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, obviously the member is mistaken in some of his suggestions that the OECD supports the passport system. I read out a quote just the other day that says the OECD supports a Canadian single securities regulator. But who is more important than a list of corporations? Those victims of Earl Jones, those Canadians who lost money. I will quote Joey Davis, “We support the idea of a single national regulatory body overseeing financial organizations”.

Rob Nicholson Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, we are responding to concerns that we have heard right across this country. Changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act are as a result of extensive consultations, including with the Province of Quebec.

If the hon. member were to take a reasonable and impassioned look at this, I think he would realize that these are very reasonable steps that we are taking and should be supported by every member of the House.

Serge Ménard Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I believe that the minister avoided answering my question. However, his refusal or inability to answer are nonetheless significant.

In addition to the National Assembly, the Association des centres jeunesse du Québec, the Barreau du Québec, the Canadian Bar Association, the Association québécoise Plaidoyer-Victimes and many other witnesses have indicated that Bill C-4 would undermine the Quebec method, which gives such good results.

Will the Minister of Justice, who says he cares about the victims, agree to amendments to his law in order to avoid this risk?

Rob Nicholson Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, the amendments that we are proposing in no way impede provincial jurisdiction and management of this file.

The member was good enough to mention a number of organizations. He perhaps forgot to mention that the Quebec provincial police association and many victims in Quebec are very interested and very supportive of this. However, I am sure at his next opportunity he will want to acknowledge all the support that we are getting from the Province of Quebec.

Keith Martin Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC

Mr. Speaker, we have all seen the devastation that is taking place off the coast of Louisiana but our government has failed to articulate any emergency response plan to address an oil spill catastrophe if it were to occur on our shores. The fact that we do not have a plan is beyond irresponsible. It is actually downright negligent.

When will the government show all Canadians its plan to prevent an oil drilling catastrophe, as well as its emergency response plan, and what will it do if an oil spill occurs in our waters?

Christian Paradis Minister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, this government has been clear from the very beginning. We expect Canada's regulators to enforce this country's strong environmental standards across the board.

In the case of offshore drilling, Canada's regulators are doing the prudent thing by conducting reviews and putting special oversight measures in place following the incident in the Gulf of Mexico. For example, the NEB is carrying out a comprehensive review of its drilling requirements, which will be open to the Canadian public, and incorporate information from other regulators, as well as the ongoing U.S. investigation.