House of Commons Hansard #86 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was panama.

Topics

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, in a few hours the House will vote on Bill C-315, which would give Quebec workers employed by businesses under federal jurisdiction the same language rights as other Quebec workers.

Instead of beating around the bush and announcing a new committee that has still not come to be, will the Conservatives take action and vote with the NDP to recognize the rights of all francophone workers in Quebec?

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière Québec

Conservative

Jacques Gourde ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services

Mr. Speaker, with respect to language of work, the NDP has not done its homework and seems determined to impose pointless and burdensome paperwork on businesses. Our government is determined to promote and protect the French language in Canada.

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, as renowned Quebec singer Éric Lapointe would say, if he were speaking English, “Whatever”.

Bill C-315 is balanced and solves a real problem. NDP members from across Canada support it unanimously because they believe that the recognition of Quebec as a nation within Canada should be backed up by real action.

Will the Conservatives acknowledge that it is high time Quebeckers felt respected? Will they vote in favour of Bill C-315?

Official LanguagesOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière Québec

Conservative

Jacques Gourde ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services

Mr. Speaker, French is an integral part of our history, our identity and our daily lives. French is Canada's founding language, and our Conservative government is proud of that. Our government will create an advisory committee to determine whether there is a problem with respect to the French language in private enterprises operating under federal jurisdiction.

JusticeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Sylvain Chicoine NDP Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' senseless crime bill will come with equally senseless costs. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that the average cost per offender will be 16 times higher. Even worse, correctional supervision will be available for fewer offenders. The upshot: the Conservatives want Canadians to pay more to be less safe. It makes no sense.

Is this really what the Conservatives want, for Canadians to pay more to be less safe?

JusticeOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Niagara Falls Ontario

Conservative

Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, I completely disagree with that. I noted that the PBO, Kevin Page, said yesterday that there was no way judges would give conditional sentences for the nature of some of these crimes. He talked about kidnapping and sexual assault. Do not tell that to Sheldon Kennedy who has been lobbying for many years to get rid of conditional sentences for sexual assault. I am going with Sheldon Kennedy on that and that is exactly what this government will do. We are going to crack down on this kind of activity.

JusticeOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives, as usual, are cherry-picking the facts. The minister knows that this rule also includes non-violent offences and such things as theft.

The independent Parliamentary Budget Officer was only dealing with one small part of Bill C-10 and concluded that the changes would be extremely costly and would punish fewer criminals for less time. It would cost 16 times more money to keep fewer criminals under correctional supervision. That is just nonsense.

This bill is expensive, it will not make our streets safer and nobody wants to pay for it. Why are the Conservatives forging ahead with something that is doomed to fail?

JusticeOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Niagara Falls Ontario

Conservative

Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, we are looking at all victims in the country. When we have individuals, organized crime and gangs bringing drugs into our country, we need to send a message out to them that we are not prepared to stand by and let these people go ahead and try to destroy young people in our country without serious consequences.

That is exactly what this government is doing. We will continue to stand up for victims and law-abiding Canadians. That is the mandate Canadians gave us.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC

Mr. Speaker, yesterday a senior in Vancouver Quadra wrote to me that she received an election call giving wrong poll station information so she reported it because, “it is my duty to report it in defence of Canada's treasured democracy and moral integrity”.

Campaign Research, the robocall company caught making Conservative—

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The member for Vancouver Quadra has the floor.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC

Mr. Speaker, Campaign Research, the robocall company caught making Conservative-funded false calls in Mount Royal, also provided services to the Conservative campaign in Vancouver Quadra.

When will the Prime Minister accept his responsibility and investigate these nationwide complaints—

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Peterborough Ontario

Conservative

Dean Del Mastro ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party conducted a clean and ethical campaign in ridings right across this country. We hired legitimate companies to undertake legitimate exercises throughout that campaign to ensure that voters got out to vote. In fact, some 900,000 more Canadians voted in the last election.

What the Liberal Party has done, and shame on it for doing so, is it has brought forward all of these allegations with no evidence, none whatsoever. It is an unsubstantiated Liberal smear campaign and the Liberals should be ashamed of themselves.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Denis Coderre Liberal Bourassa, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister asked earlier, “Where is the beef?” We want to know, where is the poutine?

When someone buys a disposable phone and registers it with a false name and address, that usually means they want to abuse the system. This is not complicated. The only people who know who Pierre Poutine is are the Conservatives and their leader. We want to know who this Pierre Poutine is. Will the Conservatives come clean on this?

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the Liberal Party's record this week. The leader of the Liberal Party had to admit to an anonymous smear campaign against the Minister of Public Safety launched by his office. The same day, he had to withdraw his false allegations against a private company in Canada.

That is why we are asking the Liberals to provide some evidence when their members level new allegations without any proof. Otherwise, it is clear that the Liberals are simply trying to explain their huge losses in the election.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Christine Moore NDP Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC

Mr. Speaker, it is really just the Conservatives who do not understand that buying the F-35s will cost more than expected. All our allies are aware of the problems with this program. Today, Japan is thinking about cancelling its order if the price goes up again. The NDP has been warning the Conservatives for months that the price is going to go up.

We know that we have to replace the CF-18s. There is no doubt about it. But how much will it cost taxpayers? How many planes are we going to replace them with? When will we have the new planes? It is simple, is it not?

National DefenceOral Questions

3 p.m.

Vaughan Ontario

Conservative

Julian Fantino ConservativeAssociate Minister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, I was beginning to feel left out.

The Royal Canadian Air Force plays an important role in protecting our sovereignty and defending our interests at home and abroad. Canada's CF-18s are nearing the end of their usable lives. A contract has not been signed as yet for the replacement aircraft. We have set a budget for replacement. We have been clear that we will operate within that budget. We will make sure that the air force has the aircraft necessary to do the job we ask of it.

Mining IndustryOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON

Mr. Speaker, a shocking new report today revealed that nickel mining giant Vale failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent the deaths of two miners. The company had been told by one of the now deceased workers that there was a serious water problem, water in the muck, which every miner knows is deadly. The union wants charges pressed under the Westray bill, a law that holds companies to account for worker safety.

Will the government work with the province to hold this company accountable?

Mining IndustryOral Questions

3 p.m.

Halton Ontario

Conservative

Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Labour

Mr. Speaker, this government is very committed to occupational health and safety for Canadians within the federal jurisdiction and in the case of the provincial jurisdiction, we work with the province and the ministers with respect to it. I have not been approached by the minister in Ontario with respect to the matter, but I will take it under advisement.

HealthOral Questions

3 p.m.

Conservative

Joy Smith Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, patients with a rare disease face significant challenges ranging from a correct diagnosis to the availability of treatment and care. Earlier today our government announced an investment in research that will transform biological research into medical practice and treatments in the area of rare diseases.

Would the hon. Minister of Health please inform the House how this will help patients with rare diseases across our country?

HealthOral Questions

3 p.m.

Nunavut Nunavut

Conservative

Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud our government announced funding to support new research on rare diseases. This investment will go a long way to improving the lives of people who suffer from these diseases. Rare diseases are often chronic and life threatening. There are about 7,000 rare diseases and the number is growing.

Our goal is to save lives and ensure that people with these diseases receive treatments that are timely and effective.

National DefenceOral Questions

3 p.m.

Liberal

John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Associate Minister of National Defence declined to be as candid as his British counterpart in response to a question about the soaring F-35 costs, who said, “the honest answer is I don't know”. Since then the Japanese too have had to scale back their plans because of soaring costs.

When the minister returns from his F-35 problems conference, will he be as candid as Minister Luff? Will he table a full report telling Canadians how much, how many planes and when the delivery will be?

National DefenceOral Questions

3 p.m.

Vaughan Ontario

Conservative

Julian Fantino ConservativeAssociate Minister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, all I can say repeatedly is that we are engaged with all of our partners on this particular issue. No contracts have been signed. We will do the best we can for our men and women in the military, as well as Canadian taxpayers.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Fin Donnelly NDP New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC

Mr. Speaker, against the will of British Columbians, the Conservatives continue to push their Enbridge pipeline project. Their latest move was to accept a report paid for by Enbridge which says--surprise, surprise--there are no tanker traffic safety issues.

We are talking about some of Canada's most sensitive and perilous waters. Not only that, if there is a spill, the Conservatives say Enbridge would not be responsible.

Can the Conservatives rely on such a biased report when so much of B.C.'s coast is at risk?