Industry Committee on Nov. 29th, 2012

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Switching subjects a little bit, what benefit is our government deriving from the programs and initiatives in the auto sector?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Well, it's very simple. When the crisis hit the United States, the idea was...did we want to stay in the game or not in terms of automotive? There's more than the hundreds of direct jobs; we know that the industry generates a lot of indirect jobs. In auto parts, I think there are over 300,000 jobs, so we had to make sure.... If we wanted to remain in business, it needed investment, and I think the timing gave us a reason. The sector now has bounced back. We have solid jobs.

As I said, one OEM job generates six indirect jobs in the country, and not only in Ontario. It has an impact everywhere. The automotive sector is the most important manufacturing sector. I think that after the fact, when we see what we've done, we can see that it was crucial to make this investment. Now we are happy to see companies bouncing back with good results. Hopefully, they will remain on that track.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

What are the barriers to Canada becoming a digital economy and what is the government doing to address them?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

As I said earlier, the problem we have is one of productivity. We cannot say that we are doing well. We are not doing well compared to the States. We surfed on a low currency for years and now we are at par. It will likely stay like that, so we have to do more with less.

It's not the fact that Canadian workers are working less hard but that sometimes we need better tools. It's like when you want to punch a nail, you can do it with a hammer or with an air gun, right? It's the same thing. If our industries want to be competitive, one of the main keys is to make sure they adopt digital technologies, because they can do more with less. This is a barrier and a gap that we need to address. If we want to make sure that we get to a productivity comparable to that of the U.S., for example, one of the key issues is to address digital technology.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Sweet]

Thank you, Minister Paradis.

Thank you, Madam Gallant.

We now go to Mr. Regan for seven minutes.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Ministers, for appearing, but I must ask you to forgive me if I am not as effusive in my praise as was my friend, Mr. Wallace, who mentioned that you're coming here today before the committee for an hour.

I note that, in fact, because of the delays with the introductions and your opening statements, you didn't face questions from the opposition until 11:35—we were due to start at 11—and you'll face a total, between the two of you, of 14 minutes of questions from opposition. So I'm not quite as excited about this opportunity, but I'm pleased to have my seven minutes, and I better get to it.

My question is for Mr. Valcourt.

The 2012-13 report on plans and priorities says that the role of ACOA is “to create opportunities for economic growth in Atlantic Canada by helping small and medium-sized enterprises...become more competitive, innovative and productive”. Yet according to vote 5 in supplementary estimates (B), you need $1.24 million “to assist in the organization and delivery of the Halifax International Security Forum”.

It seems to me that instead of helping to create jobs for small and medium-sized enterprises, what you're doing is squandering $1.25 million to provide lavish hotels and fine dining for your exclusive security forum guests. Surely if it's security, it ought to be the Minister of Defence's department that's paying for it, when you should be doing things to help those small and medium-sized enterprises, which is your mandate. How do you justify these expenditures for this exclusive club? How would you explain this to a small business owner in Edmundston or Summerside or Gander?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Well, what I would explain is that, along with the Department of National Defence, we have entered into this three-year funding agreement to ensure that this enterprise can continue to keep the attention of the world on Halifax.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

But isn't it about security and not about economic development?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Well, you know—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I mean, it's called the International Security Forum, after all, isn't it?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Yes, and we have a security sector in Atlantic Canada—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Isn't this simply taking money that ought to be going to economic development—

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

No—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

—and saying, “Well, we have ACOA there, so we'll use ACOA to pay for this”?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

No. This is another way of discharging our responsibility to create economic growth in Atlantic Canada.

Now, if, Mr. Regan, you are against ACOA spending these funds in order to attract to the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and all of Atlantic Canada some of the most prominent security and defence stakeholders in the world, it's fine. It's your—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Well, Minister, as I've said, I'm all for the defence department—

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

—position to take, but I think that—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

—paying for that if it's defence-related. Or Foreign Affairs could certainly pay for it.

But we've seen many times in the past, and I'm sure you'll recall—

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Well, there's only one taxpayer, as you know, today—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Minister, I'm sure you'll recall it. In the past, we've seen this kind of game being played by the centre around here, by the Department of Finance and so forth, in saying, “Well, let ACOA pay for it.” That's not good enough.

Now, let's look at what's happened to your budget. It has been shrinking, and it's going to keep shrinking for years to come. In 2010-11, the budget was $382 million. It shrank to $317 million in 2011-12. This year it's shrinking further to $307 million. According to page 11 of the 2012-13 report on plans and priorities, the budget will be cut to $298 million in 2013 and to $296 million in 2014-15.

Isn't anyone in cabinet standing up for Atlantic Canada?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Absolutely: just look at the $33-billion naval shipbuilding strategy, from which Atlantic Canada will benefit enormously. Look at the Building Canada fund, where, again, the money is not on the books of ACOA, but from what the Government of Canada has spent in Atlantic Canada—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

But what about the last—

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I think that when Atlantic Canadians look at the facts, your doom-and-gloom scenario doesn't hold, because look at the facts—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Well, this week, Minister—

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

In all four Atlantic provinces, since the end of recession, P.E.I, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia have all recovered the jobs lost, plus more. The only one that is still having difficulty is New Brunswick, where they are still shedding jobs. The recovery is taking place all over Atlantic Canada. We have enormous economic potential benefits that will stem from the Muskrat Falls project—