House of Commons Hansard #33 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was seniors.
Gary Schellenberger Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry. Many manufacturing plants in my riding are concerned about the high Canadian dollar and the impact it is having on their businesses.
Companies in my riding like Honeywell-Fram, Richardson Foods and Nuhn Industries Ltd. are well managed and efficient.
What is the government doing to protect Canadian manufacturing jobs in light of the high Canadian dollar?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, as I identified in the fiscal statement of a week or 10 days ago, the rapid escalation in the value of the Canadian currency does pose a downside risk to growth in the future.
The Government of Canada is obviously anxious to foster the conditions that will encourage growth. That is why in the throne speech and in the fiscal statement we laid out a plan for productivity that we believe would help Canadian business and industry to move forward. That is why we are also prudent in the planning to ensure that nothing pushes us off our fiscal track.
Monte Solberg Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has been promising new guidelines for bank mergers for months now. Tens of billions of dollars have been tied up while investors try to figure out what the minister is doing.
Are we going to see these guidelines before Christmas? If not, when? What is the holdup?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman in asking the question was groping for his BlackBerry. I encourage him to deal with one thing at one time, which is what I propose to do with respect to the issue of mergers.
The issue is very much before the government. As indicated earlier, we are anxious to produce a statement that lays out the guidelines for going forward. At the moment, I am taking the time to speak directly with the chief executive officers of all the major financial institutions to collect their views.
Don Boudria Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
Mr. Speaker, in her November 9 report, the Commissioner of Official Languages pointed out some serious shortcomings as far as official languages are concerned in our foreign missions. These included security services not being available in both languages, a large percentage of unilingual mission staff, and some English only websites.
What steps does the Minister of Foreign Affairs plan to take to remedy these very serious shortcomings?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for this important question. I am proud of our history and linguistic duality, which are among Canada's best features and assets internationally.
We constantly strive to improve the delivery of our services in both official languages. We have in excess of 160 missions throughout the world, and over 5,000 employees in those missions, so this is a major challenge.
Our foreign missions all provide services in both official languages, sometimes in difficult conditions. Consular services are always provided in French and English. Web pages for Canadians are always available in English and in French—
Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB
Mr. Speaker, we have another example of the Liberal government ignoring the west.
In the past, the federal government has allocated funding to promote provincial centennial projects. Next year Alberta and Saskatchewan will be celebrating their centennials. As of today, there has been no allocation of funds to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Why?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we are preparing a very thoughtful plan in consultation with the people in those two provinces. I am very pleased to reassure the hon. member that the Government of Canada will be participating vigorously in the anniversaries of those two provinces.
Randy Kamp Conservative Dewdney—Alouette, BC
Mr. Speaker, in the communities I represent, lives are being ruined. In fact, lives are being lost from the use of crystal meth. Hundreds of concerned citizens are participating in local campaigns to do something about this drug that is poisoning our children, but we are frustrated because of the lack of an effective drug strategy.
I know the government is focused on funding injection sites and decriminalizing marijuana. Can the Minister of Justice tell us what programs he has in place to help us combat the use of crystal meth?
Irwin Cotler LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the drug strategy is the responsibility of the Minister of Health. With respect to the Ministry of Justice, any matters that constitute a health hazard or are prejudicial to health, and constitute a criminal matter in that regard, we will fully explore those issues.
Sébastien Gagnon Bloc Jonquière—Alma, QC
Mr. Speaker, leaders in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region are setting up a major regional investment fund. There is strong support in the region for this initiative, in which the Government of Quebec is participating.
Instead of insisting on implementing a new structure that does not bring anything concrete to our region, as is the case with Bill C-9, will the government finally listen to the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region and participate in this brilliant initiative?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I am sure my colleague from regional economic development always has the interests of all the regions of Quebec, especially those of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, very close to his heart. He will certainly look into this matter when he gets back from the summit of the Francophonie.
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, as members of the House know, the number of seniors is growing in our country. Seniors within my riding of Davenport and indeed across the country will want to know what the government plans to do to address issues of concern to them.
Could the Minister of State for Families and Caregivers assure seniors what action plan he plans to put in place?
Tony Ianno LiberalMinister of State (Families and Caregivers)
Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to thank the hon. member who has been working on this issue for many years.
The government has proclaimed in the Speech from the Throne that it will be working toward increasing the guaranteed income supplement for low income seniors. Social Development Canada will be taking the lead on issues related to seniors and working with other departments to ensure seniors live the kind of life that we all can dream of. Seniors have contributed tremendously to our country and we owe them that much.
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. We know the Chinese government wants to buy up our resource industries, a government with a terrible workers rights and environmental protection record. The Noranda mining company is a likely acquisition and now we learn that Husky Oil is coming next. The Prime Minister has said he thinks it is great that foreign governments are buying up our resource industries.
When it comes to a government with the kind of record that China has, does the Prime Minister still hold that same position?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, Canada is a world leader in human rights. We will continue to be a world leader in human rights. We are committed to that. That is part of our social fabric as a country. It is a Canadian value that we promote around the world.
At the same time, we believe in fair and free trade with our trading partners. Canadian companies and investors continue to invest around the world. In fact, Canadian investors are taking leadership roles in countries around the world. We are proud of that.
James Rajotte Conservative Edmonton—Leduc, AB
Mr. Speaker, the government has still not clarified to companies and industries across Canada its plans on the Kyoto accord. Many companies in fact took early action to reduce their emissions to take environmental leadership on this issue. They deserve credit for their leadership.
I want to ask the Minister of the Environment very clearly, and to be very specific to these companies and industries, will those companies that took early action before this House ratified Kyoto deserve credit for their emission reductions, yes or no?
Stéphane Dion LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue. The Government of Canada, especially the Minister of Natural Resources, for two years has been discussing this issue with the industry in order to have targets decreased, and that we will adjust with each industry, with the overall goal to have a decrease in the intensity of emissions by 15%. In doing so, Canada will play its role in order to decrease those gas emissions as a partner in the Kyoto protocol.
Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC
Mr. Speaker, in November 2003, the Minister of Canadian Heritage said in my riding that discussions would be conducted with the executives of the Légendes fantastiques and the problem resolved, because this production is very important to Drummondville. And she added that the federal government has many envelopes and many subsidies unknown to the public in general.
One year later, in spite of repeated requests by the executives of the Légendes fantastiques, the problem remains unresolved and the subsidies remain unknown.
When does the minister plan to resolve this problem?
Liza Frulla LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for Status of Women
Mr. Speaker, I discussed this particular issue with the mayor of Drummondville perhaps three weeks ago.
The assistance provided to the Légendes fantastiques at the time came from two sources, namely the communications program and the sponsorship program. Everyone cashed in on this much maligned program. And now, everyone wishes it was still around.
I indicated to the mayor that we now have to check our programs. We have nothing right now, but we plan to be reviewing these programs to help—
Arts and CultureOral Question Period
The Speaker
As there is no one else on the list, this will bring an end to oral question period.
Judy Sgro LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I would like to table in the House the document that I made reference to regarding the website.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Enforcement ActRoutine Proceedings
Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario
Liberal
Andy Mitchell LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-27, an act to regulate and prohibit certain activities related to food and other products to which the acts under the administration of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency apply and to provide for the administration and enforcement of those acts and to amend other acts in consequence.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development, Skills Development, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities on Bill C-5, an act to provide financial assistance for post-secondary education savings.