Rodger Cuzner

[Canada–EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Liberals will be voting yes on this motion.

[Business of Supply, February 5th, 2009]

(Motion agreed to)

[Business of Supply, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, discussions have taken place with all parties and I believe you will find consent for the following motion. I move:

That at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the member for Kings--Hants all questions necessary to dispose of this motion be deemed put, a recorded division deemed requested, and deferred to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca has been a champion in this area and has certainly brought that to our Liberal caucus. He speaks very eloquently and very passionately about the importance and significance of those investments and the long-term benefits.

I vividly recall, back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the whole talk around our university and college communities was about the brain drain, how we were losing the best and the brightest. Without rehashing too much of the history, we all understand that the research chairs had been established and those numbers have grown. We no longer hear about the brain drain.

If we do not make those investments, if we do not continue to support those initiatives, then once again we will place ourselves at risk. It is an incredibly important aspect; it is an incredibly issue. We want to come out of this period in time of economic challenges on the absolute best footing. I think those investments are wise investments to make, so that they do best prepare us for future jobs in the future economy.

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member has a great deal of depth in that particular area. Generally what we, and I think probably most members in this House, did after prorogation is we went out and met with constituents and stakeholders.

For the people showing up in my office who have not been afforded the opportunity to receive training monies, we do not need a whole lot of statistical information. We can look across the desk and see the stress and pressure these people are under.

Those who work in seasonal industries are not confident that those industries are going to be able to start up this year because the companies they have worked for do not have access to operational capital.

As far as specific information on background and research, there is enough in the faces of the people we deal with on a day on day basis to understand the challenges taking place right now in the kitchens of this country.

I do not know what being thrust into an election would do to help this economy move along. There has to be some stimulus. That stimulus has to get out there. Hopefully the government, with the acceptance of our amendment making sure that those investments are made, will best serve Canadians.

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to join in this debate and bring the concerns of the people of Cape Breton--Canso to this House and to this debate.

Imitation is sometimes considered flattery. When the government lifts aspects of another party's platform, that is considered flattery. If only one is taken, that is considered theft. When a government takes a number, then I guess that is market research. I have to commend the government on some aspects of its budget because it has done some market research.

I want to identify two aspects specifically and the first is the RInC program. The RInC program was put forward in our platform in the last election. It makes a great deal of sense because many arenas and facilities were built during the 1967 centennial year and through the early seventies. Many of these facilities need retrofits.

My riding of Cape Breton--Canso has a number of facilities that need work, whether it is roofing, condensers or compressors. Whole physical plants require some type of investment. Many times the groups that operate these facilities are handcuffed financially. This program is going to pay dividends and hopefully offer some help. If those guys can get it off the shelf and get the cheques flowing, the program will help some small communities and municipalities that really need help in those areas.

The other aspect is the summer jobs program. I am sure there are people on the government side who are pretty uneasy with this one because they only have to think back two years ago when they carved the summer jobs program. We on this side of the House brought that fight to the government at the time.

Not for profit organizations were hurt by that. Small entrepreneurs and small businesses utilized the summer seed programs. Students were hurt by those cuts. We brought that fight to the House and we forced the government to put money back into that program. It would be great if the money gets out.

It is great that a program is going to be announced soon for summer students. I would hope that it would focus not only on not for profit organizations or those many community groups that operate summer programs but as well focus on small, independent entrepreneurs so there is some type of assistance for them. I would also hope it would be able to give students not just some summer employment but give them the experience of the first or second job as well, the work skills that are necessary to grow and become better citizens of our communities.

Those are two aspects in this sweater vested Parliament that we are in right now that are of concern to me and my constituents. We were sent here by our communities to try to make this government work and do what we can to help this economy along in these challenging times. That is what we as the official opposition are focusing on.

We can look at all aspects of the budget and cherry-pick if we like. We can say there is not enough in this area or that area.

My colleague from B.C. spoke so eloquently about the delay in getting this stimulus package out. We have known since June that the economy in this country and the global economy was going to face challenges. We knew back then. However, the Prime Minister thought that an election being called in September, really an unlawful and illegal election, would stimulate our economy.

We came to this Parliament following the election in October and the Speech from the Throne was presented. We thought we were going to be able to get on with the work of the people, but the Prime Minister came through with an economic statement that was really an ideological statement that sucker punched the Parliament of Canada, so we lost additional time again.

When the indicators were there in June, when it was obvious in September, Conservatives continued to deny that we were facing these challenges and it is only now that this stimulus package is coming forward. Whether it is enough, it may be the glass of water for the man who needs the gallon of water, but it is something. My friend said it is like putting snow tires on in the middle of May. I know there is still bad weather ahead.

Thankfully for past Liberal governments, we went into this thing later than the United States because of a firm financial foundation that had been established and the consecutive surplus budgets experienced by past Liberal governments. In the short two years that the Conservatives have had the levers of government, we know that surpluses are no more. We know we are going into this budget with close to an $18 billion deficit.

Yes, with our amendments, we will support these initiatives whether or not they are ready. I mentioned a couple of times the inability of the government. I refer to the article in The Toronto Star which said $8 billion had not been spent. The inability of the government to make those programs work, to make those investments, to get those dollars into the economy is going to be the challenge and hopefully our amendment will allow us to best track that.

We do not have to reinvent the wheel here. There are shovel-ready projects out there and I have had the opportunity to meet with the warden in Inverness, Duart MacCaulay and John Boudreau in Richmond County and Billie Joe MacLean in Port Hawkesbury. These municipal leaders have projects on the shelf. They are shovel-ready, so the templates which are in place are the ones that should be used to get these projects up and going to get people back to work and to make sure that those projects move forward.

In Cape Breton—Canso we apologize if we might be a little bit cynical because the government has said the absolute right things. When we talk about investment in the Atlantic gateway program, the government has said the right things all along in making key investments, but we have seen not a dime. We have seen nothing spent on that program.

Conservatives have a twinning highway project from Port Hawkesbury to Antigonish which was announced five times and it is in the budget again this time, so that is just the gift that keeps on giving, but the work has not been done and those contracts have not been let. We are here to help the government get that money off the truck, get that money into the economy and get it done.

I would be remiss in addressing the House if I did not share with my colleagues some disappointment at the risk of picking one program over another, but the lack of acknowledgement for the widows and the veterans independence program continues to be a thorn in my side. I continue to be disappointed in the government when the Prime Minister unequivocally stated that he would support the veterans independence program when he made a pledge to Joyce Carter. Sue King phones every day and asks how the veterans program is coming along. Some 70% of the widows of our veterans still receive no assistance from that program and that is just wrong. It would have been nice to see some type of acknowledgement for that program. Again, I had to put that on the record.

Ronald Dipenta, a strong advocate for seniors, made interventions to my office on behalf of seniors who are experiencing tough times. It would have been nice to see an increase in the guaranteed income supplement. We have not seen that and it is unfortunate.

When we look at the industries, I think the fishery is one that was neglected in this budget.

I will just wrap up with this comment, Mr. Speaker, you have been so gracious with the time allocation.

There are fish buyers who do not have access to capital to get up and operate this coming season. I know that is going to be a challenge. A lot of the time these are loan guarantees, and that would have been a program that would have certainly benefited the fishery and all those in that industry.

I have taken up enough of my allocated time. I would hope that some members might have some questions for me.

[Economic and Fiscal Statement, December 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I know you are probably thinking that we share an apartment so why do I not ask him this question on the way home tonight. However, it is important for my colleague to get this on the record. We share in a lot in our adjoining ridings. One is the huge potential in container terminal development, through the Strait of Canso, the Melford terminal project and his own port of Sydney.

Comments came from the other side of the House about the importance of investing in infrastructure, and we believe that. The Conservatives have talked the talk. They have told the stories. They have advertised this in past election campaigns, but we have not seen a dollar. We have seen no investment and it has stifled these projects.

If they got going over there and invested the money, what kind of impact would that have in his riding?

[Economic and Fiscal Statement, December 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the new member to the House. I do not know if that was his maiden speech but I congratulate him should it have been.

The member made a couple of comments, one concerning investment in infrastructure. In my own riding of Cape Breton—Canso, there are a number of fairly significant infrastructure projects. I am thinking of the Melford Terminal project, a fairly substantive private investment for the development of a container terminal. We also have the Port of Sydney project, another substantive private investment initiative. However, some of the infrastructure aspects surrounding those projects have not been addressed. We have not seen a nickel spent or a cheque cut.

The government has talked at great length, certainly in the last election but also in the election before that, about the Atlantic Gateway strategy. It says all the right things and it talks in eloquent terms about the Atlantic Gateway strategy but we have seen nothing done on it. We have seen no investment. No one has gone to the Treasury Board or cabinet. When can the people trying to champion these projects expect some action on the part of the government?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his maiden speech. I want to assure the people back in Guelph that the member has made an impact not only in a very tough situation in his own riding but an impact already not just in our caucus and as a member of our auto caucus, but in the House as well. He has brought some important issues to the House so early in his career.

We stand in this place and we talk about issues and we debate legislation and bold ideas but it is important that, as members of Parliament, we have an understanding of how these issues impact on the real lives of those back home.

As the member's community continues to wrestle with those challenges within the auto industry, how is the inactivity on the part of the government impacting on those back in his riding of Guelph?

[Early Learning and Child Care Act, June 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Seeing that there will be no private members' bills going forward and that the members in the House today are so anxious to get back and serve their good constituents in their respective ridings, might the House see the clock as 2:30 p.m.?