House of Commons Hansard #270 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was indian.

Topics

Canadian HeritageOral Questions

11:45 a.m.

Oak Ridges—Markham Ontario

Conservative

Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, I do not know about the issue that the member talked about. I will take a look into it for the member and will get back to her.

However, this also gives me a good opportunity to talk about the new museum of Canadian history. This will be an opportunity for the Museum of Civilization, which will become the museum of Canadian history, to start sharing its artifacts throughout the country with museums large and small. There are some 3.5 million artifacts currently in storage.

Those members are opposed to that because they want to keep those artifacts in storage. They do not want Canadians to see these very important treasures that are held in storage. I hope they will change their mind and get on board and support the new museum of Canadian history while they are at it.

Canadian HeritageOral Questions

11:45 a.m.

NDP

Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to educate the members opposite.

This not only shows a lack of respect for first nations, but also for the Japanese-Canadian community.

Members of that community have made it clear that they are outraged by the lack of consultation in the Nishga Girl affair. The worst part is that all of this is happening in the same year we are commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Canadian government's official apology for the suffering the Japanese community experienced here in Canada during the Second World War.

That is a perfect example of how the botched change in the Canadian Museum of Civilization's mandate is eating away at Canada's diverse history.

What gives the minister the right to authorize shipping off parts of the museum that represent the diversity of Canada's people without consulting anyone?

Canadian HeritageOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Oak Ridges—Markham Ontario

Conservative

Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, again this speaks to the NDP attitude, that somehow the treasures we have across this country are supposed to be enjoyed only by certain groups of people. I guess they are supposed to stay in storage at the Canadian museum of history.

Canadian HeritageOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Canadian HeritageOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Conservative

Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON

And they laugh. They laugh at anything that has to do with Canadians getting better access to their history and their culture. It is the same attitude that has left them to vote against $142 million for our national museums. It is the same attitude that has caused them to vote against increasing funding to our artists. They do not get it. They do not understand how important arts and culture are to promote—

Canadian HeritageOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please.

The hon. member for Vancouver Quadra.

Tourism IndustryOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Liberal

Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC

Mr. Speaker, this is National Tourism Week, and the Conservative government is celebrating by cutting 20% out of the budget for promoting Canadian tourism abroad. Already, we have lost one in five of our international visitors to Canada and that is costing jobs in communities right across the country. However, the government can find hundreds of millions of dollars to advertise its abysmal economic performance.

Why are the Conservatives pedalling propaganda instead of promoting our very important tourism industry?

Tourism IndustryOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Beauce Québec

Conservative

Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of State (Small Business and Tourism)

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the work of the Canadian Tourism Commission. The people there are very efficient. They are doing a good job.

However, the one thing that the Liberals do not know is that, when we give money to the Canadian Tourism Commission, it is money that comes from our pockets, the pockets of Canadian taxpayers. That is why it has to be well administered, and it is well administered by them. We do not want to have big government spending money. We want to have a government that will be responsible toward the taxpayers.

Tourism IndustryOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Liberal

Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC

Mr. Speaker, those promotion budgets come out of taxpayers' pockets as well and create no jobs.

The Conservative government is no longer marketing Canada in the United States. On top of that, it is damaging our core tourism product, which is our national parks and monuments. They will not disclose the extent of those cuts to people, to programs, to hours and to seasons, but we know that tourism businesses are going under, from Nanaimo to Kingston to Cape Breton Island.

Why are the Conservative MPs not sticking up for their communities? When will the government fix this mess that the Conservative MPs themselves have created?

Tourism IndustryOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Beauce Québec

Conservative

Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of State (Small Business and Tourism)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague that, as I said earlier, it is very important for the commission to spend money efficiently, and that is what it is doing. They seem to think money grows on trees. They want more money, more programs and a bigger deficit.

Unlike the Liberals, we know that today's deficit will end up being tomorrow's taxes, and that is why we have to be careful and responsible with Canadians' money.

HealthOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

NDP

Rathika Sitsabaiesan NDP Scarborough—Rouge River, ON

Mr. Speaker, it was once a key election promise, but now Conservatives brush off health care wait times as purely provincial. The federal government is the fifth largest provider of medical coverage in Canada, including first nations, the military and our veterans. Wait times are a concern for all Canadians, but Conservatives have gone from making them a top priority to refusing to even acknowledge their responsibility for them.

Where is the minister's plan for at least reducing the wait times for the 1.3 million Canadians who are directly covered by the federal government?

HealthOral Questions

11:50 a.m.

Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Colin Carrie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, we do respect the provinces' and territories' jurisdiction in the area of health care. We are providing a long-term stable funding arrangement that will see transfers reach a historic level of $40 billion by the end of the decade.

With the way our health system works, Canadians who have paid their taxes into the health care system and those who have not get the health care they desire. On the NDP side of the House, their members, who receive generous compensation from the Canadian taxpayers, are not even paying their taxes to help support our health care system.

I find it very hypocritical that they would even criticize this issue when they do not contribute their fair share.

HealthOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

NDP

Manon Perreault NDP Montcalm, QC

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are refusing to acknowledge their responsibility. The federal government is the fifth largest provider of medical coverage in the country, but wait times are atrocious for over 1.3 million people, including members of first nations and the armed forces and veterans.

When the parliamentary secretary says this is not in his jurisdiction, he is misleading the House and denying his department's responsibility. Where is the parliamentary secretary's plan to reduce wait times?

HealthOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Colin Carrie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, as I said, our government continues to work with provinces and territories and our partners to develop the best quality health care system that we can.

Again, I would like to point out to the NDP member that it is extremely important that each and every Canadian contributes and pays their fair share into our health care system. We rely on Canadians who have, to give to Canadians who have not, so that we can all have a health care system that we can be proud of.

On that side of the House, I find it hypocritical that they will not even come down hard on their own members who will not pay their taxes to support our health care system.

Public SafetyOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

Conservative

Ted Opitz Conservative Etobicoke Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP confused Parliament Hill with The Fast and the Furious. When the RCMP ended his joyride, warning him not to repeat the stunt, he aggressively replied, "Don't you know who I am? You're going to be in a lot of trouble."

Running five stop signs is dangerous, illegal, careless and carries fines of up to $2,000 and possible jail time. This reckless behaviour endangered hundreds of children visiting the Hill and could have caused a tragedy.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety tell the House what our government has done to give police the tools they need to do their job?

Public SafetyOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, our government has created new legislation to keep dangerous criminals in jail, we have added almost 3,000 new RCMP members to the front-line forces and we are giving the RCMP the tools to fight things like sexual harassment within the RCMP.

We have the leader of the NDP trying to intimidate a female RCMP member who is protecting us on the Hill. We also have a member of Parliament, the member for Timmins—James Bay, calling a female RCMP officer a "meter maid". It is despicable. The members of the opposition cannot be proud of that. The NDP leader needs to apologize, as does the member--

Public SafetyOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The member for Etobicoke North.

Public SafetyOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

Liberal

Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canada's Somali community left a war-torn country to come to our peaceful country, but almost 50 of their young men have died in Ontario and Alberta since 2006.

The community, which makes up less than 2% of Toronto's population, had 18% of its shooting deaths in 2012. No questions were asked. No investigation was launched. No solutions were offered.

Why is the Conservative government indifferent to this human tragedy?

Public SafetyOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, it is our government that has introduced legislation to get tough on gangs, guns, and crimes that are occurring in cities like Toronto and elsewhere.

Every time we introduce this legislation, the opposition opposes it. Every time the opposition members are standing up for criminals instead of the victims.

On this side of the House, we stand up for victims. We want to make sure that criminals stay in jail and that the revolving door stops. That is why our legislation has passed. It is why Canadians support our stance of being tough on crime, and not the old Liberal way of doing things.

Regional Economic DevelopmentOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

NDP

Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the government tough questions about why the Ring of Fire project has been suspended.

All I got from the parliamentary secretary was a laundry list of places he has visited. The people of northern Ontario deserve better. They want answers about why, after five months of so-called leadership from Ottawa, the project is further from realization than ever before.

Enough with the spin. What is the minister going to do to get this project back on track?

Regional Economic DevelopmentOral Questions

11:55 a.m.

Kenora Ontario

Conservative

Greg Rickford ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

Mr. Speaker, I love these Friday morning lobs from the member for Nickel Belt. There is nothing I want to talk about more.

I actually mentioned a visit to Webequie First Nation. I guess I failed to mention the fact that the minister responsible for FedNor and I sat down at the table with all of the first nations leaders in Thunder Bay. We have met with stakeholders who are implicated in the Ring of Fire.

The prevailing concerns were that the provincial government has dropped the ball on this, and that the NDP MPs who are left out there in parts of northern Ontario are not on board and do not support the initiatives this government is moving forward with to make the Ring of Fire an economic reality.

Charitable OrganizationsOral Questions

Noon

Conservative

Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS

Mr. Speaker, charities do a wonderful job for our families and communities across Canada. They often have to do this with little money and few volunteers.

That is why it is unthinkable that any member of Parliament, let alone the Liberal leader, would collect his or her $160,000 MP paycheque and then turn around and charge charities for speaking fees, something which the Canadian taxpayers are already paying MPs to do. This shows a great lack of judgment and is also a disrespectful act toward the charities and the Canadian taxpayer.

Would the Minister of State for Finance please inform the House of the good work our government is doing to actually support charities?

Charitable OrganizationsOral Questions

June 14th, 2013 / noon

Macleod Alberta

Conservative

Ted Menzies ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberal leader takes money from cash-strapped charities while he is being paid an MP's salary, we find that to be very repugnant.

On this side of the House, we are actually putting forward measures that will help charities gain more money. We put forward the donation super credit, and guess what happened. The leader of the Liberal Party actually voted against it. He takes money from charities and votes against new plans to help charities gain more money.

Consular AffairsOral Questions

Noon

NDP

Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON

Mr. Speaker, for the past several weeks the member for Hamilton Mountain and I have been pressing the government regarding the case of two Hamilton men, Nick Miele, and his 18-year-old cousin, Ben Constantini , who have been behind bars in a Dominican jail since the early morning hours of May 28. Close family members are gravely concerned that these men are in ill health, and that they have not been afforded due process.

Will the minister inform the families of any progress in the efforts that are being made on behalf of these men?

Consular AffairsOral Questions

Noon

Calgary East Alberta

Conservative

Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his question and his engagement on this case.

Consular assistance is being provided to the two Canadians who have been arrested in the Dominican Republic for allegedly injuring another Canadian citizen. Although the Government of Canada cannot exempt them from local laws, consular officials are advocating for fair treatment and due process, and will remain in contact with the families.