House of Commons Hansard #76 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was airlines.
Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. Members know it is forbidden to use words such as lying in the House. I would ask the hon. member for Rimouski—Mitis to withdraw this word.
Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. I would ask the hon. member for Rimouski—Mitis to withdraw the word lying.
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC
Mr. Speaker, I will not withdraw it, because we have had our fill of their answers. We have been asking questions for three days and they always say the same thing. We have had enough. Enough is enough. I will not withdraw my remarks.
Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. The hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the much publicized and bragged about federal plan for our national health care system is dead on arrival. The Markham meeting of federal-provincial health ministers is ending without resolution.
The reality is that while the federal government refuses to invest in health care no progress can be made. While playing hide and seek the government is only leaving Canadians in the lurch, waiting and worrying about their health care.
Why is the government waiting? Why is it holding back progress to improve health care by refusing to take the first step and put cash on the table?
Yvon Charbonneau LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the NDP critic may not have got it yet, but I think that Canadians have understood what is going on in Markham.
The federal Minister of Health has undertaken a productive dialogue with his provincial counterparts, giving both sides an opportunity to explain their priorities and main concerns.
This meeting is still going on, and a few months of negotiations leading to a complete overhaul of our health insurance system would—
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, does the government not realize that the federal plan is going nowhere and that the federal health minister's strategy has collapsed?
The Markham meeting is dead. It has gone nowhere. While there is no money on the table no progress can be made. The health ministers are ending this meeting by calling for an immediate first ministers conference on health.
Will the government respond immediately, call a first ministers meeting now, and move forward with haste to preserve and strengthen medicare, our most treasured—
HealthOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health.
Yvon Charbonneau LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, if more money were all that was needed, why have certain provinces left the money they received from the federal government languishing in bank accounts?
More money is not the answer. What is needed is a shared vision, and money will help make that vision a reality.
Stéphan Tremblay Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, the public is concerned about how the government is fulfilling its responsibilities regarding Placeteco.
It understands that, for this government, the creation of jobs is not a priority and that we should no longer talk about the transitional jobs fund but, rather, about a transitional fund to salvage bankrupt companies in Saint-Maurice.
Does the minister realize that, to save companies, she is prepared to resort to any scheme, even illegal ones?
Bonnie Brown LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, the creation of jobs and the saving of jobs may not be a priority for the Bloc Quebecois, but that is our priority.
If the member wants to make allegations of some illegal activity, he should provide some evidence.
Program officials and internal auditors have reviewed the project and confirm that the company did provide invoices that support the payments made. Yes, there were administrative errors that were done in good faith in an effort to save jobs, and 170 people are working thanks to HRDC's investment.
Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period
The Speaker
I would ask the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean to be very careful with his choice of words.
Stéphan Tremblay Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. The government set up a trust, appointed a friend of the Prime Minister as trustee, agreed to the buyback of the company, gave the money in spite of the anticipated bankruptcy and waived its rights under the contract.
Is this not a long series of events that are not coincidences but rather the outcome of a plan engineered by the Prime Minister's friend Gilles Champagne?
Bonnie Brown LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, this question shows a complete lack of understanding of things that happen in the business cycle and the risks that are understood by everyone in the business world.
In this case the department had a choice: let a company and all its workers falter, go under and have a higher unemployment rate in Quebec, or move to assist. We decided to keep with this company to assist it. As a result we have a net gain in jobs. Those companies have achieved tremendous contracts for the future with very large companies like Bombardier.
Gerald Keddy Progressive Conservative South Shore, NS
Mr. Speaker, is it the intent of the minister of fisheries to expropriate licences to provide for aboriginal entry into the east coast fishery?
Gerald Keddy Progressive Conservative South Shore, NS
Mr. Speaker, does this mean specifically that the minister of fisheries guarantees to the House that expropriation of licences will not be used to provide aboriginal access to the crab fishery in zone 12?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I find it astonishing that a member who represents a fishing area should be so misinformed about departmental policy. The policy has been put forward time after time. It is very clear. There will be some acquisition of licences to facilitate access by aboriginal people to the fishery. The issue of expropriation has never, never come up.
Val Meredith Reform South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister for International Trade keeps justifying the billion dollars plus that EDC loaned to Amtrak by claiming that these loans are creating jobs in Canada. However, Amtrak's press release at the unveiling of the Acela train, claims the trains are manufactured at Bombardier plants in Barre, Vermont, and Plattsburgh, New York, and were tested in Pueblo, Colorado.
Can the minister please explain to Canadians how putting people to work in Vermont, New York and Colorado is benefiting Canadian workers?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister for International Trade
Mr. Speaker, the role of the EDC is to guarantee loans and to extend loans to foreign companies that purchase Canadian goods and goods from Canadian corporations.
I understand that the Reform Party does not understand the new economy. The Reform Party does not understand what the very nature of a global company is, in which part of the production is in one country and part in another country.
On this side of the House we understand what a real global company is. We are proud that some of our Canadian companies are really global.
Export Development CorporationOral Question Period
The Speaker
Colleagues, I advise you that sometimes the microphones are on at other desks and sometimes there might be something said inadvertently that you do not want heard.
Val Meredith Reform South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC
Mr. Speaker, there is a difference between helping Canadian workers and helping a worldwide conglomerate like Bombardier. Only three of Bombardier's 21 transportation manufacturing plants are located in Canada and employ only 16% of its workforce.
Can the government please tell Canadians why is it not only exporting capital out of the country but also is exporting jobs?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister for International Trade
Mr. Speaker, I find it quite remarkable in the very week that Bombardier signed a contract creating 1,000 jobs in Montreal by selling aircraft to Delta. It is about to sign a contract in Valencia, Spain to sell aircraft as well which would be made and manufactured in Montreal. Concerning ground transportation equipment, every time I go to La Pocatière, I am very pleased to see thousands of Quebec workers involved in a great global company born here in Canada.
Jocelyne Girard-Bujold Bloc Jonquière, QC
Mr. Speaker, last January, despite having to bend the law to do it, MOX from the United States was flown in by helicopter to Chalk River. Now spring is here, and we are waiting for Russian MOX to arrive, this time via the St. Lawrence.
Can the Minister of the Environment make a commitment right now to respect the decisions of the municipalities refusing to allow the MOX to pass through their territory, and to prevent the arrival of this convoy?