Business of Supply March 8th, 2011

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague. Her speech was excellent and comprehensive. I have a question for her. Normally, when someone is innocent and is accused of something, he wants to know what he is accused of and then wonders what the problem is. But when the Conservatives were accused, they did not wonder what the problem was. The RCMP had to be sent into their offices to find the problem.

This is not about the legislation or Elections Canada. What does everything going on today tell us about the character of the Conservative Party?

International Co-operation March 4th, 2011

Mr. Speaker, either the Prime Minister can be taken at his word or he is just paying lip service. He has publicly instructed his ministers to give truthful and precise answers to the questions they are asked. Let us try again.

Who told the minister to cut the funding and who inserted the word “not” in the falsified documents? Is that so hard?

International Co-operation March 4th, 2011

Mr. Speaker, the CIDA minister's refusal to answer basic questions about her contempt for this place goes beyond just the cuts to KAIROS. It strikes at the heart of what the Prime Minister once claimed to promote. In an edict to ministers, he said that they must:

—answer honestly and accurately about their areas of responsibility.

So, who told the minister to cut KAIROS funding and why has she continued to mislead this House over these past months?

Petitions February 28th, 2011

Mr. Speaker, the fourth petition calls upon the Minister of Public Safety to approve Marc Emery's transfer from an American prison once that transfer request is received.

I am proud to table these petitions on behalf of the engaged and interested citizens of Nipissing—Timiskaming.

Petitions February 28th, 2011

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present four petitions signed by my constituents in Nipissing—Timiskaming.

The first three encourage the government to review the current legislation surrounding the sexual exploitation of children over the Internet.

Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Northern Ontario Act February 16th, 2011

Madam Speaker, I would also like to thank the hon. member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord and the hon. member for Nickel Belt.

I would also like to thank the hon. member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, who is an outstanding MP. He has been an outstanding seat mate over the years. He understands what regional economic development means to all areas. Coming from eastern Canada, the Maritimes, he understands what an agency really does for that area.

I listened to what the member for Kenora had to say. He defined FedNor as what it should be and what he thinks it does. I have some emails and there is a big problem with FedNor now. I am not saying it is bad or horrible. It is doing good things. It goes through the Minister of Industry's office and sits on his desk. The Minister of Industry is a very busy man. I am not taking that away from him. He allots certain amounts of time to issues and northern Ontario is not his priority. That is the problem.

If FedNor had its own minister, it would not be a problem. The minister would take care of things. He would be the minister of state for FedNor. That is what we are asking for. It would not sit as a minor portfolio or file on the corner of the minister's desk.

The other thing the member for Kenora talked about was a paternalistic approach. Of the two members for Parry Sound—Muskoka and Kenora, one is from Toronto and the other one is from Paris, Ontario through Winnipeg. Talk about a colonial outlook. What do we have to do? Are we serfs in northern Ontario? Do we go to whoever the landlord sends out and bow to the lords who are there and beg? Those days are over. They are finished. We do not need someone from outside of northern Ontario telling us what we need. That is the paternalistic outlook that the Conservative government takes.

It is worth noting that the Senate committee on agriculture and forestry considered whether FedNor should be a separate agency during a study on rural poverty between 2006 and 2008. In the committee's final report, Scott Merrifield, FedNor's director of policy, planning and coordination, said that FedNor differs little from the regional development agencies, except for its bureaucratic status. He went on to say:

Functionally, we do pretty much the same thing as the regional agencies; but structurally, we do not have our own legislation like the other agencies do. They would have the status of separate departments, whereas we are within Industry Canada. However, we are functionally similar and do the same kind of work; our approaches are similar, but still respecting the differences of the regions.

Historically, the Prime Minister has been against regional economic development. During the 2006 election campaign, the Prime Minister repeatedly promised that he would not make cuts to regional development funding. In fact, when the Liberals predicted that FedNor would be in serious jeopardy under the Conservatives, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Industry dismissed these comments as nothing more than fearmongering.

This is not fearmongering. This is just part of the long-term plan for the Conservative government. It does not believe in economic development and FedNor is not being converted to an agency because it will be easier for the government to get rid of it down the road. I urge all members to vote in favour of this important bill.

Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Northern Ontario Act February 16th, 2011

Madam Speaker, in spite of some of the comments she made, I want to thank the member for her support.

A fear that we do have is that if the bill does make it to the Senate, and there is no guarantee that it will because we have a Conservative government that does not want to see fairness for northern Ontario, I do not know what direction the Prime Minister will give the Senate. We know that the senators basically do what the Prime Minister tells them to do.

It is an unelected Senate, not what the Conservatives had promised, and the senators take their orders from the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's Office.

Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Northern Ontario Act February 16th, 2011

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his support of this bill. He comes from eastern Canada and people in that region understand what a difference ACOA makes there.

The Conservatives are asserting that the cost will go through the roof. That cannot be further from the truth. All the setups, all the organization, the HR, the communications, are already there. All the areas are already in place.

The only difference is the minister can wipe it out without consulting Parliament. He can change the funding. He can pork barrel and put it into his riding. The minister can do whatever he wants with this. This is a play toy for the minister and we have to stop that. An agency would at least control what the minister does with those funds.

Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Region of Northern Ontario Act February 16th, 2011

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for all the consultation he has done on this bill. He has been a great proponent of it.

Parry Sound—Muskoka is included now in the region so there was really no reason to change it. Economic development is not about pitting one region against another. The member's bill basically separated Parry Sound—Muskoka from the rest of northern Ontario. I leave that to the Conservatives. They can start wars.

This bill is about economic development. We need help. Help should go where it is needed, not to somebody's preferred area, not to somebody who wants to pit one region against the other. I know the hon. member means well. He put forward a very similar bill, but it pitted one part of northern Ontario against the other.

This bill is about working together, not about working against each other and using our resources to bring each other down. We have to build together.