Evidence of meeting #28 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was agreed.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
I'd like to propose a friendly amendment to my colleague. I suggest that we say: “as it appears on page [...] Vote [...]”. That way, everyone will understand that of course, the reference is to $107,473,862, because figures in the book are always expressed in thousands of dollars. They will also understand that the figures in question are $8,347,000 and $99,036,000, because these are drawn exactly from your book. I think that's what you mean. It's a friendly amendment.
Bloc
Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
t's a good friendly amendment. The amendment essentially says, on page....
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Yes. It's $107 million. I guess I didn't....
My motion was very clear when I first amended it.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Okay.
We have a friendly amendment to make it clearer. Is that carried?
Liberal
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
I was going to.
This reads, to be precise: that vote 1a in the amount of $107,473,000 under Public Works and Government Services be reduced by $8,437,000 to $99,036,000.
NDP
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
I'm of the firm belief, and the NDP is of the belief, that the universal child care benefit should be delivered with the Canada child tax benefit. It is the same department. It should be on the same cheque.
In Quebec that dollar has been transferred to the Quebec government, and the Quebec government has.... The Bloc has always taken the position to have that cheque sent through the Quebec government. That has been the argument from day one.
The Conservative government chose to have a separate cheque and have a separate advertisement. The advertisement is in another budget at $2 million, to advertise universal child care. It comes with its own flyer and its own envelope. There's a radio ad and a newspaper advertisement. This dollar amount, together with other amounts, means that close to $27 million is used to deliver this program.
I'm of the opinion that it still should be delivered through the child tax benefit program. There has been an established program for quite a few years. It works quite well--even though, one could say, it's a Liberal program. I've always been in support of this child tax benefit, and it could have been done through there.
The entire amount is actually $16 million through Canada Revenue Agency. That's the main delivery program. Social Development has $1.98 million for advertisements, and Public Works and Government Services has $8.4 million.
What I'm trying to say is that this is an amount that should not be there. I would much prefer it if this money had been delivered through Canada child tax benefit, because it would save $27 million in total of Canadian taxpayers' money. It would also respect the right of the Quebec government to send the cheque directly, the way it's been done, with an agreement with the Quebec government. Outside Quebec, it would mean that it would come in one envelope, one cheque, through the Canada child tax benefit.
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Shall votes 1a, 5a, and 10a under Public Works and Government Services carry?
PUBLIC WORKS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES
1a—Operating expenditures--To authorize the transfer of $2,877,360 from Public Works and Government Services Vote 5, $235,600 from Human Resources and Skills Development Vote 1, and $26,000 from Treasury Board Vote 1, Appropriation Act No. 1, 2006-2007 for the purposes of this Vote and to provide a further amount of..........$107,473,862
5a—Capital expenditures--To authorize the transfer of $13,479,000 from Public Works and Government Services Vote 1, Appropriation Act No. 1, 2006-2007 for the purposes of this Vote and to provide a further amount of..........$10,554,000
10a—The grants listed in the Estimates.........$41,670,000
(Votes 1a, 5a, and 10a agreed to)
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Diane Marleau
Shall the chair report votes 1a, 5a, and 10a under Public Works and Government Services to the House?
