Industry Committee on Nov. 27th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Be very brief.

[Thao Pham]

Absolutely.

Treasury Board also published figures recently. So the information has been made available.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Regan made the same request earlier, Mr. Chair. Can that information be sent to the committee members as well?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Madame LeBlanc.

[Thao Pham]

I can't comment on that. We will send you an answer to that question later.

[Luce Perreault]

Unfortunately, I again have to refer you to the agency's Web site.

It provides additional information on the expenditure review by program activity. It lists how we are contributing to the deficit reduction by year and by program activity.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Thank you very much, Ms. Perreault.

[Luce Perreault]

My pleasure.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Lebel.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you. We're way over time on that one.

Now we'll go to Mr. Lake for five minutes.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am starting in French, so I can practise speaking.

That's it. It was very brief, très bref.

Thank you for taking the time to come here today. I want to use the opportunity, me being an Alberta member of Parliament and you being a Quebec minister, to address some of the issues that have been quite prominently raised over the last week.

One of the things I've always appreciated about working with my Quebec colleagues on the Conservative side is our ability to work together to try to solve issues of common interest across the country. I've been very concerned about some of the discussion over the last few weeks, even over the last year, from the opposition members. The leader of the NDP, for example, referred to the strength of the Alberta economy as a disease. The prospective leader of the Liberal Party made the suggestion that Albertans are somehow not suitable to—

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Go ahead on a point of order, Mr. Harris.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I know that we have wide latitude as to what we can ask ministers, but I'd certainly ask the member to refrain from mischaracterizations of our leader's comments. He did not refer to any part of an economy as a disease. He made mention that part of our economy was suffering from an economic condition, not a medical one.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Harris. Unfortunately, that's not a point of order. That's a point of debate.

Mr. Regan, I hope yours is more closely related to procedure.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Yes, Mr. Chairman. We are talking about the estimates, and I haven't heard anything yet related to the estimates.

I know that there were three byelections. They're over now, so let's stick to the estimates. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Mr. Regan.

Well, as Mr. Harris said, we have a lot of latitude here. Maybe Mr. Lake will listen to some of those comments and continue with discretion.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Honestly, I really appreciate the attempted clarification of their leader's and their prospective leader's comments regarding Alberta, because I think some clarification is probably needed.

That said, if I could, what I'd like to discuss is cooperation and working together. I had the opportunity to visit Quebec in the spring with a group of Alberta business leaders. The Alberta Enterprise Group worked with Quebec business leaders to bring a mission of business people to Quebec to talk about shared interests and how they could work together to build the strength of the Canadian economy. They came to Montreal first, met with some business leaders there, and then travelled to Quebec City and met with some business leaders there.

Of course, as we've discussed, there are some real challenges in the Alberta economy that have a real impact on the Canadian economy. There is a real shortage of workers, to the tune of hundreds of thousands. One of the solutions, which the business people in Alberta and the business people in Quebec realize, is that it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to move workers across the country. To some extent, we can work together to take advantage of the expertise that exists in Quebec. Alberta companies that need supplies to further the economy of the country can really rely on that expertise located in Quebec to help build the Canadian economy in general.

Maybe you could comment on those skills, that expertise, that exists in Quebec that could be shared with the rest of the country to our common advantage.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, and I will let you continue to practise your own French with my answer.

I would be pleased to answer in French, so you can keep practising, Mr. Lake.

You are absolutely right, honourable member. Ours is an integrated economy. Every part of the country contributes to the economy, and all those parts have to keep working together. The Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec has supported a number of businesses that provide their services nationwide, including, of course, companies involved in oil sands extraction in Alberta. For us, that is part of the value chain and one of the benefits of having a large country with such a diverse range of economic opportunities.

Quebeckers may have seen TV ads featuring major bus maker Prévost Car, among others. The company's success extends beyond Quebec and Canada. Its reach includes the United States. Prévost Car has sold dozens upon dozens of buses to Alberta for the transport of oil sands workers in and around Fort McMurray.

That illustrates just how interconnected the whole country's economy is. Being part of a large country is an advantage. Having all of its economic engines working together is also an advantage.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Go ahead, Mr. Lake.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

It is incredibly important for Quebeckers and Albertans to work together for the sake of the country as a whole.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you for speaking French, Mr. Lake. It's a pleasure for me, and a number of members here today.

Many people do indeed work all over the country and go back home to their families afterwards. Open economies and globalization move products and workers alike.

Our mandate is to support business development in every region to create jobs. And that's what we will continue to do.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you very much, minister.

We will now suspend for three minutes and allow the minister to leave. Then we'll continue with questions for the officials.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Welcome, members. We're back in session now.

We'll continue our rotation. The next questioner—

Go ahead, Mr. Lake.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

In the rest of the meeting, rather than going with the traditional succession of five-minute turns, although I don't know how many questions people have, maybe whoever is ready to ask can just ask questions. I don't think we have a ton of questions right now that we need to ask, so opposition parties may want to free-flow a little bit.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

I presently have Mr. Blanchette, Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Harris. If you want, maybe we can leave it open after that.

Do you want to do that?