House of Commons Hansard #25 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was competition.
David Emerson LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I can tell the House that any of the TPC programs were made under the strictest conditions of the ethics codes of the time and under the ethics codes that exist today. To malign a member of this House in that way is wrong.
Stephen Harper ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, what is wrong is giving money that is not paid back to corporations when it should be given back to the workers who paid that money.
The problem is that the Liberals think they know more about spending the money than the people who have earned it.
With a surplus of $9 billion, does the Prime Minister intend to reduce income taxes on Canadian families, yes or no?
Paul Martin LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has said many times that he is certainly prepared to consider lower taxes, but that our priorities come first; they are: health; equalization payments for the less wealthy provinces; child care; spending for our first nations, truly spending on defence; and spending where the priorities of Canadians lie, and we shall do that. We said so during the election campaign and we will keep our promises.
Monte Solberg Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister is saying is that Canadians can have tax relief after he has spent all the money. We want a balanced approach.
Today the Prime Minister said that tax relief is at the bottom of his list, but members of the finance committee are holding prebudget hearings right now because they were told that the opinions of Canadians counted. Why is the Prime Minister telling Canadians that their opinions do not count, especially if they want lower taxes?
John McKay LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has rightly said, there is a number of funding commitments that have been made by the government, funding commitments that we made during the platform, and those funding commitments will be honoured.
After that is done, we have to keep a competitive tax environment. The appreciation of the Canadian dollar vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar creates an uncompetitive environment. The productivity numbers have to be kept up if we intend to keep our prosperity. In the greater scheme of things, we will in fact go over the issues that are raised by the committee, and if the committee behaves in a responsible, fair way, then we will in fact respond.
Monte Solberg Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is basically saying to Canadians, “If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you”.
This money belongs to Canadians. They have a right to have a say in how this money is allocated. My question is for the Prime Minister. Why is he not allowing Canadians who want lower taxes to be part of this debate? Why do they not have a say in this?
John McKay LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, in fact we have had in the last year or two the most massive tax cut in Canadian history, $100 billion. The result thus far is very encouraging, because in fact on corporate revenues the tax increase has been 23%. On personal tax cuts, we have actually generated greater revenues of 2%, so of course tax cuts have to be in the mix of debate. I cannot imagine why it is not.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier, QC
Mr. Speaker, instead of using the surplus to improve the employment insurance system to benefit the unemployed who have been waiting for far too long, the government is considering reducing contributions.
Does the Prime Minister realize that his government is completely missing the point and that the priority should be to improve the system, since currently 60% of workers are not eligible for employment insurance when they need it?
Joe Volpe LiberalMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, I think he has his facts wrong. The number of Canadians who can actually qualify for employment insurance exceeds 88%.
The Leader of the Opposition will also recall that as we prepare for a point where we will make adjustments to premium rates, we have dropped those over the course of the last 10 years at the same time as the unemployment rate has been dropping. I am sure he would want to join the rest of us in celebrating the fact that Canada's unemployment rate is among the lowest in the western world.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier, QC
Mr. Speaker, it was because of such harebrained comments that the Liberals were swept out of Quebec. During the election campaign the Prime Minister made promises. More has to be done for seasonal workers, he said in Rimouski. The 910-hour eligibility requirement penalizes young people and needs to be changed, he said during the leaders debate.
Now that he has the means, could he, for once, go ahead and keep his promises?
Joe Volpe LiberalMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, unlike the member opposite, we are going to try to base our policy on good, sound judgment and analysis rather than empty and cheap rhetoric.
What the member will recognize is that of course we have a concern about people who leave their place of birth, but it will not be because of what he suggests. It will be because we are in fact creating work employment. That is the best guarantee of stability and sustainability in every community. He will recognize that 38,000--
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister should go and say that to the unemployed who are not receiving benefits. They will tell him whether it is rhetoric or not.
The government should take advantage of the so-called unexpected surplus to resolve the eligibility problems that some Quebeckers have when it comes to employment insurance.
When we see that 84% of young people under 25 and 67% of women who have lost their jobs do not receive benefits from the employment insurance system, should the government not use its enormous surplus to help young people and more women qualify for employment insurance benefits?
Joe Volpe LiberalMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, every economist in the country, all analysts, all labour market analysts, point to the fact that we have created close to 300 new jobs--
Joe Volpe Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
--in the course of this last year, 38,000 in Quebec. We have a participation rate that is the highest in the OECD countries: 67.5%. He is decrying the fact that the economy is responding positively and giving hope and ambition to all those who aspire for a good quality of life, as they enjoy today. The member is out to lunch.
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, obviously the minister does not know what it is like to lose his job. In many outlying regions, seasonal workers and their families go through what is called the gap. In other words, in some cases, they have periods of up to two months where they do not receive any employment insurance benefits.
When the government realizes that its surplus is much greater than it had anticipated, is that not the right moment to step in to resolve these problems and help these families?
Joe Volpe LiberalMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, we are already doing so. Last spring we redistributed the economic regions so that many more individuals who end up in a period of unemployment can qualify for benefits.
Furthermore, we have already made changes to make it possible for people who live in economic regions where the unemployment rate is greater than 10% to receive benefits for an additional five weeks.
Also, last spring we set up other pilot projects for—
Employment InsuranceOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member for Toronto—Danforth.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. George Bush's choice for secretary of state is not good news for foreign policy of a moderate kind. Four years ago she was Bush's ambassador for missile defence, going to Russia to ask them to tear up an arms control treaty. In fact, that treaty was torn up.
Does the Prime Minister believe that this represents the Canadian approach, the multilateral approach that is so important, with Condoleezza Rice and George Bush tearing up multilateral arms control treaties?
Paul Martin LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I will be looking forward to meeting with President Bush in Chile to discuss Canada's vision of the new multilateralism.
We saw it the other day in Haiti, where in fact Canada played a very important role in bringing about the beginnings of reconciliation. We will see it in the discussions about the Middle East. Hopefully the road map to peace will see a new start. Canada intends to play a role there, within that, in building the institutions. That is the kind of vision the Canadian government intends to put before the world.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, this is rather incredible. We had the Prime Minister's party taking out ads against Bush's foreign policy and now he refuses to confront it with any kind of clear position that Canada might bring forward on missile defence.
My question is simply, will the Prime Minister ensure that there is a vote in this House prior to any aspect of the decision to get involved in missile defence being made, or did George Bush not allow him to agree to that?
Tony Valeri LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as all hon. members know, there was discussion, certainly during the amendments that the Conservatives put forward in the address in reply. They passed unanimously in this House. That amendment clearly stated that there would be a vote before the government would make its decision.
Diane Ablonczy Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, the citizenship and immigration minister personally helped one of her campaign workers do an end run around the immigration system. She ordered civil servants to give a “you get to stay in Canada card” to a stripper who came here on a temporary work visa.
The woman's new husband admitted they volunteered for the minister hoping to avoid going through normal channels. Sadly, it worked. The minister cut a special deal. How can the minister be trusted to fix a system that she herself bent for a political supporter?
Judy Sgro LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, let me thank the hon. member for the question, and unfortunately I was not here yesterday or I would have answered it then as well.
It is clear that under the Citizenship and Immigration Act and under my parliamentary responsibilities I have the opportunity to grant humanitarian and compassionate grounds on individual cases. I get hundreds of requests from every member in this House, including the Leader of the Opposition, on these cases. They are looked at on a case by case basis on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.