Debates of Nov. 16th, 2004

Citizenship and Immigration

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly funny that the minister used her discretion so generously in support of one of her own political workers.

Thousands are waiting anxiously for their Canadian status. Thousands have made these kinds of applications. Sometimes it takes years to go through the normal channels, but suddenly this woman who worked to help the minister get re-elected gets fortunate enough to get a “you get to stay in Canada card” on the orders of the minister. Why does the Prime Minister and why does the government see nothing wrong with the minister giving an unfair advantage to one of her supporters?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the member again and let me just remind the member that on June 11 she put in a request, and what was that, 10 days before the election, on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. I issue hundreds of--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

You asked the question. Yes, she did.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I am sure the minister appreciates all the help with her reply, but the minister was asked a question. She seems to have a reply of her own. All hon. members will want to hear it. We will have a little order in the House while the minister has the floor.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, Parliament has given the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, under the act, the ability to exercise humanitarian and compassionate grounds. It is something that is done for hundreds of members of Parliament and people all across Canada. Many of those are members from the opposition.

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it looks like the minister is getting help from her friend on dancing around the question.

The citizenship and immigration minister's lack of credibility must have been common knowledge during the election as a man wanted for deportation by her own department delivered pizza and brazenly hung out at her campaign office. It is almost as if the minister put out a sign, “Help me get elected and I'll let you say in Canada”.

Why does the minister believe that the rules apply to everyone but her Liberal friends?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of people volunteer in election campaigns. I am not sure about Conservatives, but in Liberal ridings we have lots of people who volunteer.

Let me tell the House that issues of national security are extremely important to all of us on this side. If the member has any allegations or any evidence to support this allegation, I suggest he should bring it forward and not just use his mouth to put the words.

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law. Yet she failed to report the fact that she had a deportee working for her. We know it is not because she is incapable of working the phone. After all, she made a call to get a minister's permit for her stripper friend.

Why the double standard when it comes to her Liberal friends? Why did the minister not report this individual to her own department?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it would be great if the hon. member would get his facts straight rather than taking them as whatever he reads in the media as being the gospel truth.

As I said before, issues of national security continue to be very important to me, as they are to all of us on this side of the House.

Budget Surplus

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last winter, the Office of the Auditor General indicated that the government could very well pass, before March 31, legislation allowing it to use its budget surplus for purposes other than the repayment of the public debt.

Given that it has to make money available to resolve the well-identified problems faced by people, ordinary people, and that it can afford to do so, will the government make a commitment to introduce in Parliament legislation providing that the surplus may be used for purposes other than just applying it to the debt?

[John McKay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, the federal government has over the last number of years run surpluses and those surpluses have been applied to the debt. The debt has been reduced from $562 billion to just a touch over $500 billion. That has worked a great deal of good in the economy and for the nation's well-being. By almost any criteria, we are a well-managed government.

We will take the hon. member's consideration under advisement.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for too many years, the Liberal government has been misleading the public and going after the wrong target by applying all its surpluses to the debt instead of correcting social injustices such as the way youth and women are treated under the EI program.

Will the government recognize that introducing in Parliament legislation on the use of surpluses would help tackle problems like employment insurance and the fiscal imbalance? This will not prevent him from continuing to repay part of the debt, if it wants.

[John McKay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has had a happy circumstance in the last seven years. In the last seven years we have run surpluses and that has led to unparalleled prosperity in the nation. We have used those moneys to pay down the debt.

This is far from misleading. In fact it is the most open and transparent process in the world. I would encourage the hon. member to engage in that.

Aerospace Industry

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the middle of the election campaign, the Prime Minister announced $500 million in financial assistance for the automotive industry in Ontario. While a similar situation is now arising with Bombardier in Quebec, the government is dithering about making a commitment like the one it made for the automotive industry.

What is the federal government waiting for to act and to announce that it will help Bombardier and Quebec, like it helped GM, Ford and Ontario before? What is it waiting for?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the automotive strategy that the government is pursuing is of benefit across the country. I refer the hon. member to a speech made by my counterpart in Quebec. He said that a healthy auto sector was crucial since in Quebec it generated annual sales in excess of $3 billion and employed 15,000 people in some 250 companies. That is the auto sector in Quebec. We are driving the aerospace sector as well.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is all good and fine to support the auto industry, but other countries and certain U.S states have already made very tempting offers to Bombardier to carry out the development and building of a new aircraft there. The federal government must do for the aviation industry what it did for the automotive industry in Ontario last spring.

Does it not realize that time is of the essence and that, if it does not act, it will be responsible for the loss of thousands of jobs in the aerospace industry in Quebec? This is urgent, and the federal government must act now.

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we have provided an enormous amount of support to the aerospace industry. We continue to develop an aerospace strategy for all of Canada. We will continue to execute that strategy. We will deal with individual companies and the entire sector so they serve to employ hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it turns out it was not just the pizza delivery man lounging around the immigration minister's campaign office. Her chief of staff and two other employees apparently spent time in the minister's region during the election, this time at the expense of taxpayers. In fact, from May 21 to June 29, staff members claimed more than $11,000 in travel expenses.

Why did the minister allow her staff to claim expenses to work in her riding during the election?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I must congratulate the hon. member on her election. I have not had a chance to do that.

I can assure the member that any expenses that are submitted at any time from my offices are totally above board and within the Treasury Board guidelines.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is noted on the website of the ministry that the minister's director of parliamentary affairs claimed nearly $5,900 in expenses for an entire month for travel to the minister's riding, ending on the day of the election.

Will the minister reimburse taxpayers for the election expenses of her staffers?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, as ministers, we continue to do our jobs even if an election campaign is ongoing. My staff continue to do theirs.

Prime Minister

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, according to access to information, the Prime Minister's seven month food bill on air caviar was $71,000. The champagne bill has not landed yet. We do not know what was on that menu. The Prime Minister's excesses in just seven months is roughly equivalent to what three Newfoundlanders earned in 2001.

How can the Prime Minister justify spending the equivalent of the annual salary of three Newfoundland families on sky high food bills when many Canadians are going to food banks?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of the country is not only the Prime Minister of the Hill; he is the Prime Minister of the country from coast to coast to coast. It is his responsibility and his duty to go across the country and to visit and talk with Canadians in every big city and every small hamlet, wherever that may be. I will continue to do that.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, it is also the Prime Minister's duty to spend taxpayer money responsibly. Maybe he should spend some time in the grocery store.

Here is a news flash for the Prime Minister and the government, and it will not cost him $1 million. Canadians want lower taxes, not publicly funded partisan trips. How can the Prime Minister justify spending $1 million on his pre-election campaign a la carte when he will not give Canadians a tax break? Just who was he listening to on these luxury flights?