House of Commons Hansard #154 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was property.
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, although the reasons for doing so are obvious, the Prime Minister is incapable of properly dismissing the key figures in the sponsorship scandal whom Justice Gomery has clearly fingered in his report. The Prime Minister had promised to clean house, yet we find him not even able to just dismiss Mr. Pelletier.
Will the Prime Minister force Jean Pelletier to step down from his duties at the head of VIA Rail, yes or no?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the grounds on which Mr. Pelletier was dismissed in March 2004 are as valid as ever. That is why this morning I have initiated a process which will allow Mr. Pelletier to be heard and to provide us with reasons why he ought not to be dismissed on those grounds.
Obviously, Mr. Pelletier no longer has our confidence to chair the board at VIA Rail.
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, in the great taxpayer rip-off in the David Dingwall affair, Mr. Dingwall is negotiating hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance for quitting a job that paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Now the Prime Minister and the transport minister are saying that they are still going to fire Jean Pelletier.
The question taxpayers want to know is a simple one. Which of these two Liberals, David Dingwall or Jean Pelletier, is going to get the biggest severance for leaving office in disgrace?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the member should know that Mr. Pelletier has proceedings before the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec and the court will determine that. Those proceedings have been going on for a while now, so let the court decide. It is not for him or for myself to decide.
Peter Van Loan Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
Mr. Speaker, Justice Gomery's main findings include a Liberal culture of entitlement using government contracts to pay “individuals who were, in effect, working on Liberal Party matters”. That culture of entitlement is alive and well under this Prime Minister, who gave campaign chair David Herle an untendered government contract to write the Liberal campaign platform just unveiled by the Minister of Finance.
Why, immediately following the sponsorship scandal, do we find that absolutely nothing has changed in how the Liberal government uses public-funded contracts to finance Liberal Party activity?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman's allegation is simply false. As a matter of fact, the contract was by and with the department. It was fully within all the rules that apply to these circumstances and, most important, it was fully published on the Internet.
Peter Van Loan Conservative York—Simcoe, ON
Mr. Speaker, in honour of tonight's traditional CBC pre-election documentary, perhaps I will paraphrase that there is no Herle like an old entitled Liberal Herle.
On behalf of all Canadians, I plead with the Prime Minister. We know the Liberal Party is deeply in debt but will the government please stop using the public treasury as the Liberal campaign fund?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, again I repeat the point that the contract was conducted fully within all of the rules and as a matter of complete transparency that all of those details were duly and properly published on the Internet before any issue was raised by the opposition.
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, in its last budgetary statement, the government gave the unemployed nothing, not a single thing.
How can the government ignore those who are losing their jobs while it continues to raid the EI fund day in and day out?
Belinda Stronach LiberalMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal
Mr. Speaker, in the last budget we made significant improvements to the EI fund including, which I think it is very important to note, the establishment of an independent EI commission to set those rates independently and ensure the inflows equal the outflows so that we can reduce the cost for both workers and for business.
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, evidence of that is rare. If there is one group of people who have to be supported, it is workers over 55 who lose their jobs due to plant closures. The government has provided nothing for these people.
How can the government abandon older workers, when they should be among our priorities and have access to a new income support program like the one that used to be in place?
Belinda Stronach LiberalMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal
Mr. Speaker, the government is very sensitive to the needs of older workers. We have established a working committee in conjunction with Quebec that meets about every three weeks to come up with its final report. I am expecting that report this week and, in fact, I have invited the hon. member to review the report with us, to work together with us to ensure we develop a comprehensive strategy to address the needs of older workers.
Francine Lalonde Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the possibility that U.S. prison planes used to transfer alleged terrorists landed at European airports without governments having been notified has elicited strong reactions from several European countries. Iceland in particular made its reaction clearly known to the U.S. government.
Did the Minister of Foreign Affairs do likewise with the U.S. government, given that prison planes reportedly land regularly at airports in Newfoundland?
Anne McLellan LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure the House that we have absolutely no reports or information regarding the allegations that have recently appeared in the press in relation to an alleged CIA plane landing in Canadian ports, the prospect of this in some way being implicated with extraordinary rendition. I can assure the House that we have absolutely no information nor any reason to believe that such an aircraft was involved in such a matter.
Francine Lalonde Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, we know that the Canadian government has been more than negligent in its responsibilities in the Maher Arar case. Such negligence must not be allowed in the case of these prison planes.
Will the minister make a firm commitment to question the U.S. government on this matter, as Iceland did and as other European countries are about to do?
Anne McLellan LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, I again want to reassure the hon. member that Canada is of course in full compliance with both domestic and international law as it relates to extraordinary rendition. We have never deported anyone to a country where they faced a substantial risk of torture. Our position is absolutely clear on this. We have no information regarding the alleged incident that would lead us to believe that it was in any way involved in extraordinary rendition.
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Mr. Speaker, last fall, the Minister of Industry said:
The government is developing a strategy for the Canadian automotive sector that will be the most dynamic strategy we have had in Canada for 50 years. The 80,000 workers in the automotive industry will still be there in 10 years. The number will actually grow.
It is now a year later and still no strategy.
Today 3,900 job losses at GM were announced which means 25,000 spinoff jobs lost, 25,000 mortgages and 25,000 families affected.
When will the minister admit that the government has failed auto workers and Liberal inaction is costing Canadians their livelihood?
David Emerson LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, for the information of the hon. member, Canada has actually gained something like 22,000 jobs in the last decade in the North American automotive sector. The American economy has lost 60,000 jobs. This government has invested over $400 million in the automotive assembly industry, and that has levered over $5 billion of private investment here in Canada, creating jobs here in Canada, and there will be more to come.
Bev Oda Conservative Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, part of the government's promised auto strategy was its support for the Beacon project, a partnership between GM, UIT in Durham and other universities. This project means new innovative programs in research and development for Canada's auto industry.
We know GM has confirmed its commitment to the Beacon project. Will the minister confirm unequivocally his government's commitment to Beacon in the House today?
David Emerson LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I am puzzled as to why the member would even ask the question. If we make a deal, we keep a deal. If GM makes a deal, we keep a deal. We are committed to GM.
I have spoken to the CEO of General Motors Canada and I have spoken to Buzz Hargrove, the head of the CAW. We are working together. We are committed. The automotive industry in Canada is going to become stronger.
Those people over there are the ones who refer to it as corporate welfare.
Helena Guergis Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Mr. Speaker, after 12 years, the Liberals' track record on violent crime is appalling. Their solution is to propose legalizing some drugs instead of imposing mandatory prison sentences. The Liberals fail to recognize the connection between the drug trade and violent gun crimes.
Why has it taken 48 gun deaths in Toronto, including the murder of an 18 year old boy attending the funeral of a slain friend, for the government to even call a meeting on the issue?
Irwin Cotler LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many times we have to repeat the same thing. We already have a strong policy in place and it will be reinforced by the unanimous recommendation of the FPT. We will not engage in fearmongering and the exploitation of tragedy.
Rob Nicholson Conservative Niagara Falls, ON
Mr. Speaker, for the last 12 years the showpiece of the Liberal crime initiative has been the $2 billion long arm gun registry. I think most Canadians have figured out that this has nothing to do with fighting crime but has everything to do with creating a bureaucracy.
With violence now in Toronto reaching church doorsteps, have the Liberals figured out that more bureaucracy will not solve gun violence? Why have they been so opposed to putting victims first and bringing in the mandatory sentencing for violent criminals that we have been asking for and that Canadians have been demanding? Why?
Irwin Cotler LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I wonder why opposition members enjoy misleading Canadians by asking for mandatory minimums when they know that right now there are more serious mandatory minimums for gun-related crimes than any other crime in the Criminal Code. That is the message they should be taking to Canadians.
Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Following a meeting between the new leader of the head office of the sovereignist forces in Quebec and his Ottawa lieutenant on the weekend, Mr. Boisclair said he saw no reason to comply with federal legislation on referendum clarity and that a PQ government would declare independence unilaterally following a “yes” victory in a referendum.
Can the minister tell this House whether this scenario might ensue?