Debates of Dec. 5th, 2012

Arctic Council

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, the hon. member for Western Arctic has the floor.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Mr. Speaker, St. Jerome's University Professor Whitney Lackenbauer, UBC research chair Michael Byers and former Canadian circumpolar ambassador Mary Simon have all raised concerns that the government will promote resource development only, rather than working with its international partners on vital issues, as my colleague has indicated.

Mary Simon has said that “The issues have just escalated when you look at what’s happening now with climate change”.

When will the Conservatives realize that their nationalistic, head-in-the-sand approach to the Arctic is counterproductive?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the experts on the north that the member is quoting are not even from the north. Our government is going to listen to the true experts of the north. That is why I have been consulting with a wide range of northerners.

I guess we should not be too shocked that the member for Western Arctic would not want us to listen to northerners. After all, he voted against the wishes of his own constituents when he voted against a number of investments for the north, including abolishing the gun registry.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the independent Atlantic inshore fishery is at risk again.

Controlling agreements are arrangements that compromise the owner-operator and fleet separation policies set to expire in March 2014. We now understand that two Conservative members from Nova Scotia have appealed to the minister and requested that these agreements be grandfathered. This flies in the face of what Atlantic fishermen and their communities are asking for.

Will the minister stand by the earlier commitment made by the minister and protect the owner-operator and fleet separation policy?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans did stand in this place and tell this House that we would uphold the owner-operator and fleet separation policies.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, there can be no ambiguity here. This is about the survival—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour has the floor.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the owner-operator and fleet separation policies protect the independent fishery as we know it, and controlling agreements compromise those very policies.

I ask the minister once again, will she assure us here today that she will ensure that controlling agreements will in fact expire in March 2014?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, we have said that we will uphold the owner-operator policy. We have said that we will uphold the fleet separation policy. A former minister of Fisheries and Oceans adopted PIIFCAF, which makes it illegal to have these controlling agreements.

Search and Rescue

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Vancouver police and fire chiefs have now written the Prime Minister protesting the closure of the Kitsilano Coast Guard base next May, saying that it would compromise safety and endanger lives. They join a growing list of provincial and municipal governments, mariners, maritime shippers and citizens protesting the closure of the base.

It is Conservative incompetence that caused the debt to skyrocket and led to deep cuts in services to Canadians that sacrifice human life in the name of ideology. Did the Conservative government learn nothing from the Walkerton tragedy?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the top priority of the Canadian Coast Guard is the safety of our mariners. In fact, the Coast Guard is in the process of establishing a new inshore rescue boat station for the summer season in Vancouver. We continue to strengthen our partnerships with the on-water research and rescue responders. We have invested billions of dollars in Canadian Coast Guard assets. There are more assets in Vancouver harbour than in any harbour in the country.

When this member's party was in government, the Coast Guard was tied to the wharf, rusting and underfunded.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to punish Canadians with service cuts, cost recovery and privatization as a result of driving the debt to $600 billion. As shocking as it seems, the Minister of National Revenue does not realize that transferring tax file storage facilities to low-wage employers puts Canadians' sensitive medical information at risk.

Why are Canadians being asked to pay the price in every way, including the security of sensitive medical files, to pay for the financial incompetence of the Conservative government?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, we store tax information, generally not medical files.

Our government's top priority is the economy and this includes making sure that Canadians' tax dollars are spent wisely. This change will ensure the privacy and security of taxpayers' records, and will do so at a lower cost for Canadian taxpayers.

International Co-operation

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the Minister of International Cooperation truly understood his files, he would know about the Paris Declaration principles. He would know that CIDA's aid effectiveness practices are founded on these principles. Yesterday, at the parliamentary committee, he candidly admitted that he is not familiar with these principles.

How can Canadians have confidence in a government whose ministers do not know what they are talking about?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, that is a classic example of misstating facts. The member does not know what she is talking about. This declaration was meant to make assistance—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of International Cooperation has the floor.

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this declaration was meant to make assistance more effective, and we are doing exactly that. Under our government, we are achieving real results. For example, 7.8 million chronically food insecure people have been given food in Ethiopia, 900,000 farmers and small business owners earn higher incomes in Bangladesh, and 7.8 million children have been vaccinated against polio in Afghanistan.

The opposition voted against our efforts at every opportunity. We will continue to do the good work that we are doing.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it seems that the minister's primary focus is having CIDA do PR work for the mining industry.

The last time CIDA partnered with the corporate sector was under the INC program and it was a disaster, yet the minister is intent on pursuing this failed approach.

CIDA is legally obliged to ensure that Canadian aid contributes to poverty reduction. Does the minister really understand his responsibilities?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is, yes, I do. We are focused on achieving tangible results for those most in need.

We know that the NDP is anti-investment, anti-business and anti-trade. Now we have learned that the NDP is also anti-international development.

While the NDP is focused on a $21 billion carbon tax, we are focused on helping those most in need.

National Defence

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian armed forces are contributing to our government's fight against illegal drugs both here at home and abroad. Our armed forces deploy regularly in the Americas to assist our allies in the detection of illicit and illegal activities.

Would the Minister of National Defence provide an update to the House on the activities of the Canadian armed forces in the Americas?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is right. The contribution of Canadians to fighting illegal smuggling in the Americas is well-known and well-respected.

I am proud to inform the House that our Canadian armed forces personnel aboard the HMCS Ottawa, who are deployed as part of Op CARIBBE, assisted the U.S. coast guard recently in a boarding and seized over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine worth $32 million.

In one week in November alone, the Canadian armed forces crews have assisted in seizing over $145 million in illegal drugs.

The actions of Commander Van Will, his crew and the Royal Canadian Air Force members involved in this seizure demonstrates Canadian leadership abroad and at home. They are making our—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood.

International Co-operation

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is an axiom of the law that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Yesterday, the CIDA minister demonstrated that he had no idea that he was bound by the Paris declaration on the effectiveness of aid. He also appears to be unaware that this Parliament passed unanimously the better aid bill that binds his actions.

The minister was a cop and knows ignorance is no excuse. Why is he prepared to excuse himself as a minister when he never would have excused himself as a cop?