House of Commons Hansard #187 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was students.
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, very much to the contrary, my predecessor established a new framework for sponsorship programs, and this is available on the Internet.
I recommend to the hon. member that, for the answer to his question, he consult the departmental Internet site.
Finally, I would point out that I myself have, on two occasions, added measures to improve the system and make it more accountable.
Jason Kenney Canadian Alliance Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, public servants rarely break the law knowingly because to do so would jeopardize their careers, but the auditor general said that:
...senior public servants responsible for managing the contracts demonstrated an appalling disregard for the Financial Administration Act...Treasury Board policy, and rules designed to ensure prudence and probity in government procurement.
Just who is it over there who ordered our public servants to break the law?
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member is prepared to quote the auditor general and to believe what she said, as he should, why does he go beyond that and put in something that she did not say?
She did not say that these people had been overruled, manipulated, or whatever other words, by either my predecessor or anyone else in public office. He recognizes that and he should stick to he facts as they are in the auditor general's report.
Jason Kenney Canadian Alliance Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, is that minister now passing the buck to the bureaucrats? The former head of the Business Development Bank told us all about political interference.
Public servants gave verbal approval to contracts and kept no paperwork. They waived legal and quality control reviews and they gave contracts on an emergency basis for no reason at all. An employee told the auditor general that “this was how business was done”.
Public servants do not break the rules on a whim. Someone told them to. Why are the Liberals corrupting our supposedly independent public service?
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, again I remind the hon. member what the auditor general said about extrapolating from what she reported and giving it definitions which are not there. He should stick to the facts.
She referred to what she saw as being unacceptable. She has reported on it. If the hon. member is prepared to accept the auditor general's report, which he is, why then does he say something that is not in there?
Mario Laframboise Bloc Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Mr. Speaker, everyone is pulling together to help ensure the survival of Mirabel airport, with the exception of the federal government, which is sitting on its hands.
Yet it is Ottawa that is responsible for this whole mess, and it is up to Ottawa to share the burden and make it possible to create an international free trade zone at Mirabel, like Quebec has done.
Does the federal government not feel that it has made enough blunders in Quebec, and that it must act?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is fully aware of the national policy on airports. Under this policy, it is up to Aéroports de Montréal to manage the interests of the two airports in the Montreal region.
ADM has made a decision, and this decision respects the terms of its lease with the federal government.
Mario Laframboise Bloc Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Mr. Speaker, everything that has been proposed by the federal government until now has fallen short of the mark. What is needed are tax incentives like those granted by the government of Quebec to put Mirabel solidly back on its feet.
Will the government finally decide to act and agree to measures similar to those taken by the government of Quebec to support the development of Mirabel?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, ADM is responsible for managing the airports in a way that would demonstrate the viability of both airports. This is a collective responsibility.
It made a decision to transfer passenger flights to Dorval. This is a management decision made by ADM. As I have already stated, this respects the terms of the lease between ADM and the federal government.
Betty Hinton Canadian Alliance Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government will try anything to divert attention from the culture of corruption. The Liberals blame us for raising it, they blame the media for reporting it, they blame the bureaucrats for creating it, and they blame the pollsters for counting the 70% of Canadians who believe it.
Now they are even blaming the auditor general for doing the work that they asked her to do, after plenty of prompting from us, I might add, to bring her in. Instead of blaming, why do they not admit their mistakes and apologize to Canadian taxpayers?
John Manley LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations
Mr. Speaker, I blame the opposition for misstating the facts repeatedly and continually.
If there is corruption, that suggests criminal offences. Is there evidence of criminal offences? If so, then the police should prosecute. We on our side hope that if that is the case the people are held criminally responsible for what they have done, whoever they may be.
If it is an administrative problem, then we need to take the measures necessary to correct it. That in fact has already been undertaken by the minister of public works, and if the auditor general recommends further steps we will take those as well.
Betty Hinton Canadian Alliance Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC
Mr. Speaker, in addition to the blame, they throw up smokescreens and keep repeating the same mistakes. They make a few cosmetic changes so they can claim that they have cleaned up their act, but nothing changes.
This Sunday is Mother's Day. I can think of no better time and no better way to acknowledge the role of mothers in teaching right from wrong than a simple apology. Will they do so?
John Manley LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations
I am afraid, Mr. Speaker, that the question did not come through on the device but--
Government ContractsOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. It is very difficult for the Chair to hear the person who has the floor, who happens to be the Deputy Prime Minister, and I know all hon. members want to be able to hear as well.
John Manley Liberal Ottawa South, ON
Mr. Speaker, here is what we are trying to deal with. In the first place, the auditor general has identified some administrative deficiencies in the way the program was run. Those need to be corrected and there should be no hesitation on our side in acknowledging those deficiencies and in taking the steps necessary to correct them, and there is no such hesitation. If there are criminal things, then they have not yet come to light, but it is our hope that they will face appropriate prosecution in the appropriate place.
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the United Nations General Assembly's special session on children that is being held in New York this week needs to address many critical issues. One of these is micronutrients, which play an important role in saving and protecting children's lives. Food in industrialized countries has been fortified with micronutrients like vitamin A and iodine for a very long time.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Cooperation tell the House what Canada is doing to ensure that vital supplements are made available to women and children in developing countries?
Marlene Jennings LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Cooperation
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House that the Minister for International Cooperation has just announced this week that Canada is contributing $20 million toward the micronutrients initiative aimed at combating micronutrient malnutrition.
Members should know that vitamin A has been shown to dramatically reduce the child death rate while iodine improves learning ability and iron increases productivity. It is estimated that over seven million children have been born free of mental impairment because of Canada's contribution to these initiatives.
We are concerned and we want to do--
Dick Proctor NDP Palliser, SK
Mr. Speaker:
...if Canada is to work as a country, Canadians have to see themselves as belonging not to a society composed of isolated individuals or of competing interest groups, but to a society of reciprocal obligation, in which each of us is responsible for the well-being of the other.
With that red book Liberal commitment, would the Deputy Prime Minister please explain why the party that brought it in and was elected on it refuses to support a trade injury compensation program for grain and oilseed farmers?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows very well that when I met with the ministers of agriculture from across Canada earlier this week, I pledged with them to do a full review of the U.S. farm bill and its effects and to find every way that we can to challenge and counter that.
That work is being done, it is being done with the support of the provincial ministers of agriculture, and I can assure members that it will be done.
Dick Proctor NDP Palliser, SK
Mr. Speaker, let us cut out the rhetorical nonsense. Western Canadians know the score. That party over there can continue to win elections without support from western Canada. It has zero to do with reciprocal obligations, rights, fairness or justice. It has to do with rewarding those regions of the country that the Liberals need to continue to stay in office.
As the Prime Minister stated in the last election campaign, he likes to do politics with people in the east. Would the minister of agriculture concede that this is the real issue?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member should concede is that last year the province of Saskatchewan, in program payments from the province but mostly from the federal government, got $962 million of support, more support than any other province got from the federal government.
Bill Casey Progressive Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I raised a question about the marine terminal in Lewisporte, Newfoundland, which will be closed later this year. It is the major industry in Lewisporte and will take with it 30 or 40 jobs and put at risk the entire rural community.
Why is the Minister of Transport allowing the reduction of ferry service from Lewisporte to coastal Labrador and why is there this continued attack on rural Newfoundland and Labrador?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, in my absence, there was apparently an answer given by the secretary for ACOA that talked about discussions underway with respect to this particular matter. I think the motivation for the question is not really the hon. member's concern about ferry service between Newfoundland and other parts of the country but rather a certain event that will happen on Monday which will show the Liberal members' return from Newfoundland.