Debates of Oct. 28th, 2004

Mirabel Airport

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on October 31, most people will be celebrating Halloween, but the people of Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel will not be in a festive mood. This date will truly be nightmarish because it will mark the demise of Mirabel airport.

On October 31, 2004, the last passenger flight will take off and no more will land, dealing the final blow to our moribund airport and ensuring success for the federal government's plan to close, once and for all, the only airport that could have been any real competition to Pearson airport in Toronto, been a point of entry to eastern North America, and guaranteed Quebec a solid position internationally.

Halloween will never be the same for the people of Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel and the Lower Laurentians, since this date will mark the beginning of the end of almost 35 years of partisan manipulation, wasted money and decisions made without any thought for the public. The saga of the Mirabel airport is a true scandal and there is no one to blame but the Liberal government.

Conflict Diamonds

[Nancy Karetak-Lindell, Liberal, Nunavut, NU]

Mr. Speaker, conflict diamonds financed a number of conflicts in Africa in the past, including Sierra Leone, with a devastating impact on the security of innocent civilians. The Kimberley Process certification scheme aims to combat the trade in conflict diamonds.

Canada, now the world's third largest diamond producer by value with annual exports of $1.7 billion Canadian, has been a leader in the fight against conflict diamonds.

As current chair of the Kimberley Process, Canada is hosting a plenary meeting in Gatineau, October 27 to 29. This meeting brings together more than 42 governments implementing the certification scheme as well as representatives from the diamond industry and civil society.

The plenary will review progress made toward implementation since the launch of this scheme on January 1, 2003.

Riding of Souris—Moose Mountain

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight two cities within my constituency of Souris—Moose Mountain, Estevan and Weyburn.

Estevan has a diverse economy including coal, oil, gas, a service industry, manufacturing, farming and ranching. Estevan has the distinction of being the sunshine capital of Canada. It is the hot spot many times. It also boasts being the first in Canada to meet and exceed its United Way fundraising goal for 24 of 25 years. Last weekend it beat the goal again by raising $213,000.

The other city is Weyburn, the opportunity city. It too was host to a successful United Way and the 2004 Summer Games. Weyburn is in the heartland of prairie agriculture and is Canada's largest inland grain assembly point. It boasts of the Weyburn Inland Terminal, Canada's largest and highest volume, farmer owned grain handling facility. It is the first of its kind, where farmers identified a need and proceeded to meet that need by constructing their own condominium and grain handling facility.

These communities are enterprising, energetic and innovative. I expect them to rise up to the current--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for St. Catharines.

Laurier Liberal Ladies Club

[Walt Lastewka, Liberal, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the voters of St. Catharines for returning me to my fourth term as their member of Parliament. This is due in no small part to the Laurier Liberal Ladies Club that is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

This club was founded to provide a forum to promote liberalism, self-improvement and the political education of women, particularly in the Niagara region. The Laurier Liberal Ladies Club has held monthly luncheon meetings with guest speakers who have spoken on local, provincial and federal issues and concerns.

During elections the members have supported the provincial and federal candidates in many ways. I have personally benefited from the tremendous contribution the Laurier Ladies have made to my campaigns.

I wish to thank all the members of the Laurier Liberal Ladies Club for their dedication to the betterment of Canada. I wish them all the best on their 25th anniversary and many years of continued success.

Disarmament Week

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. missile defence shield is a controversial issue not only in Quebec and Canada, but throughout the world.

Not only have tests for this costly project been inconclusive, but the scientific community has major doubts and suspicions about it as well. This type of project could seriously destabilize the international balance and reignite the arms race.

The Bloc Québécois is against such a project that would lead to the weaponization of space and the implementation of an armament system that would encourage global arms proliferation.

During disarmament and international security week, I hope Canada will drop any plans to take part in this U.S. project and focus instead on what the international community expects of it: the promotion of an international treaty on the non-weaponization of space and the strengthening of treaties and conventions on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.

Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame

[Jean Augustine, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, residents of Etobicoke--Lakeshore would like to congratulate seven of my constituents who will be honoured this evening at the 11th annual induction dinner for the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame. I wish to recognize the outstanding achievements of Red Kelly, Dennis Maruk, Dave Reid, Lynne and Jack Dominico, Frank Selke Jr. and Frank Orr.

Their induction into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame recognizes their exemplary accomplishments in their respective categories. Not only have they committed to achieving excellence, but their love for sports has set a remarkable example to inspire the attainment of excellence among all citizens.

I wish to congratulate all of this year's inductees and may they all take great pride in their accomplishments.

Natural Resources

[Loyola Hearn, Conservative, St. John's South, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that he is willing to give the people of Newfoundland and Labrador the deal which Premier Williams requested.

Premier Williams has now made public his written presentation to the Prime Minister. It states that the province is requesting, as promised by the Prime Minister:

100 per cent of direct provincial revenues generated by the petroleum areas in Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area, to accrue to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and be sheltered from the clawback provisions of the equalization formula (currently at 70 per cent). Those revenues...were “over the life of the offshore petroleum production”.

If this is the deal that the Prime Minister accepted, I volunteer to make the phone call, right here, right now.

Equalization Payments

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of the most remarkable improvements ever seen in the equalization and territorial formula financing programs.

The Prime Minister and his provincial and territorial counterparts have agreed on a new framework that will increase the budget for assistance to the provinces and territories by $33 billion over 10 years.

This increased funding will help the less prosperous provinces and the three territories to honour the commitments made in the ten-year plan to strengthen health care and to satisfy their other priorities.

For Quebec, it will represent about $477 million more in fiscal year 2004-05. This framework is essential because it will ensure that all Canadians, wherever they live, have access to comparable public services.

Health

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Caraquet, Dalhousie, Saint-Quentin and Miramichi are worried and frustrated.

This spring, the Government of New Brunswick announced that it intended to close hospitals and the obstetrics unit in Caraquet serving the Acadian Peninsula. In addition, it plans to reduce the number of beds in certain hospitals.

The federal government can strut around boasting about the health care agreement, but people in the region are still suffering the consequences of the 1994 cuts to health care.

Sick people must travel longer distances to get to an emergency service. Live with your suffering, says the government, because we do not see any problems between birth and death. The only important thing is the cuts. Pregnant women must live with anxiety and pain, since they also must travel farther. Babies may be born in cars. No problem, says the government, the cuts are what counts.

The federal government must ensure that the money it has recently committed via the health care agreement is going to prevent hospitals from closing.

Economic Development

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one day prior to the writ $10 million was announced for community futures development corporations in eastern Ontario. After the election, nothing happened until my party made inquiries into the funding.

Yet on Monday, within hours of our queries, the government finally came through with the money. It appears it is up to the opposition to remind government of its funding for local projects.

Prior to the election the former member in my riding of Prince Edward—Hastings also announced up to $10 million, this time in environmental funding for the cleanup of the waterfront in the city of Belleville. Much like the EODF project, information has been scarce, but I look forward to holding the government accountable to its promises.

I would like assurances from the government that those much needed economic programs are distributed fairly and in good faith so that all of eastern Ontario can benefit from these investments. Projects like these benefit entire communities and, therefore, I hope that partisan influence does not play a role.

Equalization Payments

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec came back from the first ministers' meeting on equalization payments unsatisfied.

For the umpteenth time, Ottawa said no to Quebec. Although Quebec is considered one of the have not provinces, it does not lack resources, ideas or bold projects, but is constantly up against a federal system bent on diminishing it.

Quebec's additional needs for equalization payments are the direct consequence of the negative impact of certain federal decisions.

For instance, closing Mirabel airport in favour of Toronto Pearson, or the double standard of supporting the Ontario automotive industry while refusing to do anything for Quebec's aerospace industry. Or the Borden line, which favours petrochemical industries in southern Ontario over the ones in eastern Montreal.

The Liberal MPs and ministers in this House who come from Quebec are keeping mum, faithful servants of the federal regime that they are. It is a sad spectacle.

Battle of Ortona

[Peter Goldring, Conservative, Edmonton East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, 60 years ago Canada's 1st Division soldiers advanced on Ortona, a city held on Hitler's orders of “no retreat” by a determined enemy army.

Facing hails of machine gun and mortar fire on fiercely defended streets, they invented the technique of “mouse holing”. Blasting holes through building walls to attack, they forced the enemy out of Ortona.

Soldiers such as Mel McPhee of the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, Smokey Smith of the Seaforth Highlanders, Gwylm Jones of the Three Rivers Tank Regiment and Fernand Trépanier of the Royal 22nd Regiment, Vandoos, all prevailed in bloody, hand to hand, street by street fighting to win what became known as Italy's “Battle of Stalingrad”.

The cost, the price of peace, was high. Some 1,700 died and rest forever in Ortona's Morrow River Cemetery. To those who fought, to those who died, we best never forget.

City of Laval

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after 20 years, a new version of the Bibliographie de l'île Jésus is now available to the people of Laval.

This bibliography is an update on everything that has been written on Laval, on its sports, ecology, urban planning, agriculture, health, social affairs, and many other areas. It was prepared by André Dionne, a documentation technician and member of the Île Jésus history and genealogy society. Soon the 2,422 or so entries will be available for consultation through the society and in the municipal libraries.

This new version of the Bibliographie de l'île Jésus is phase one of an official history of Laval which is due out in 2009.

I congratulate and encourage all those involved in this project.

Marielle Chevrier

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we were saddened to learn of the recent death of Marielle Chevrier, a resident of Sainte-Hélène-de-Chester in my riding of Richmond—Arthabaska.

Marielle Chevrier was a well known artist. A pioneer of Quebec television, she played an important role in my childhood and possibly that of many hon. members. She dressed many of the characters in children's programming, including Pépinot, Bobinette and Paillasson.

Working in wardrobe at Radio-Canada in 1953, and later with Radio-Québec, she created the first costumes for La Souris verte, Gobelet and Mandibule, among others. What a lot of memories.

She was also active in theatre.

When she retired, she moved to the Bois-Francs region, where she lived until her death. She got involved in the community, for example, by designing Grand-Maman Fami, the mascot for the Fête familiale de Victoriaville.

To her children, Daniel and Yan Constantineau, and to her brothers and sisters, I offer my most sincere condolences.

Natural Resources

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, through his official spokesman, has accused the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador of lying. He said the following, “The problem that the premier will have eventually is that the truth will get out”.

Will the Prime Minister unequivocally retract these statements and confirm for the House that the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is telling the truth?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, my director of communications has apologized for those statements. What he has said is that the rhetoric on both sides has simply become too high. He apologized unequivocally.

I have spoken to the Premier of Newfoundland about that. Given the fact the premier and I are talking and we want to get down to work, I would suggest that the Leader of the Opposition allow that to happen.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to make sure it happens.

On June 5 the Prime Minister said publicly that he had committed to a deal with Newfoundland and Labrador. He said the following, “I have made it very clear that the proposal that he has put forth is a proposal that we accept”. The premier said that the deal that he put forward did not include a cap on revenues.

Will the Prime Minister confirm, on the capping issue, that the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is telling the truth?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is the very same person who has consistently accused Atlantic Canadians of a culture of defeatism. He is the very same person who basically has said that Atlantic Canadians are not prepared to work to get the type of prosperity they need. The Leader of the Opposition will not make anything happen.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what becomes more and more evident is that that party distorts my words because it will not keep its own words.

The Prime Minister promised the same deal on offshore royalties to Nova Scotia during the election. He said, “If we do a deal with Newfoundland and Labrador, that same proposal ought to be made to Nova Scotia”. When the Prime Minister made that commitment, there was no mention of a time limit and the Premiers of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador say no such agreement was made.

Will the Prime Minister confirm that on the time limit issue, Premier Hamm and Premier Williams are telling the truth?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition's words have not been distorted. The problem with the Leader of the Opposition is that he cannot stand it when his own words are quoted to him exactly. I would simply ask him if he would ask his seatmate from Nova Scotia as to what he said about the Leader of the Opposition. Cultural defeatism is exactly what he said about Atlantic Canadians. He was wrong then and he is wrong now.

Sponsorship Program

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the House will note the Prime Minister had a chance to correct the record, say the premiers were telling the truth, and he refused to do so.

The Prime Minister also continues to stonewall on the sponsorship scandal in the House, except that outside he is prepared to give answers that do not turn out to be true. Last week he admitted that his office helped in getting hundreds of thousands in sponsorship money for his Liberal fundraiser Serge Savard because he said that he was a constituent. We know that Savard was not a constituent. His company was not located in the Prime Minister's riding.

Why did the Prime Minister say Serge Savard was a constituent when he was not?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition is stating was said is simply not the case. This demonstrates once again the folly of commenting on day to day testimony or things that occur in the Gomery commission. He stood up yesterday and said that there had been interference in the allocation of a contract. Testimony this morning proved that there was no such interference. What that demonstrates is that the Gomery commission should be allowed to do its work and the Leader of the Opposition should not attempt to subvert it.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, last week we all heard the Prime Minister say that the reason he wrote a letter, which he wrote on behalf of Serge Savard, and the reason he was in touch on the sponsorship program was that he did this for constituents.

If he is not a constituent, he should answer this. Why was the Prime Minister trying to get a favourable quarter million dollar sponsorship decision for his friend, Serge Savard?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, again the Alliance Conservatives continue to make mistakes when they comment on day to day testimony. In fact they have made four mistakes that we are aware of so far by commenting on day to day testimony. We have seen that today's testimony can be contradicted by another day's testimony. In fact that has been the case.

I would like to suggest that independent judicial inquiries should come with warning labels. This would be a good suggestion for the Leader of the Opposition. Those warning labels would say “Selective use of testimony can be damaging to one's credibility”.