Debates of Nov. 25th, 2005

Health

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, if the past can be a gauge of the future and we had a new Conservative government like we had in the old Conservative government, we would go back to $40 billion annually in debt.

Forty-two billion dollars is the exact amount of money that the Minister of Finance negotiated with the provinces to improve the health care system, working to reduce wait times in five key areas. We are awaiting the agreements and the benchmarks that were negotiated with the provinces.

This government has done its job responsibly in taking public access to health care into the future.

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James, MB]

Mr. Speaker, even the parliamentary secretary admits that we are waiting to deal with the wait times.

The government is not only incompetent, but it lacks all compassion. Tainted blood victims continue to suffer, waiting for compensation that they justly deserve.

Aboriginals living in remote communities endure substandard living conditions and inadequate health care. The government refuses to fully fund and implement the Canadian strategy for cancer control, even though all cancer stakeholders support it and it is the will of the House.

How can the government claim to be on the side of Canadians when it demonstrates so little compassion?

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the government reached a memorandum of understanding with those suffering from hepatitis. We are negotiating with them, working alongside them to ensure our money goes exactly where it is needed.

We have invested in research: $300 million into the Canadian chronic disease strategy that includes cancer, diabetes and all other chronic diseases in Canada, a record amount of money and have reversed the brain drain. We have invested in the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The Canadian research system, medically and otherwise, is working very well.

Agriculture

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, for 10 years the government has supposedly had its 12,000 hopper railcars for sale. Apparently the government was looking forward to resolving this issue next year.

All of a sudden, just before the election, the government has accelerated and finalized the approval process.

Was this rushed through because the finance minister's Saskatchewan campaign manager is involved in this project and the government knows his days at the trough are soon over?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, do I take it that the opposition is congratulating the government for having made this agreement in principle that has been reached for the transfer of the federal hopper car fleet to the Farmer Rail Car Coalition for a total of $205 million? I think this is good news for Saskatchewan farmers and the western farmers.

I think the opposition should be acknowledging that after much effort on the part of this government we have finally delivered something that is going to be very important with the sale of these hopper cars for our western farmers.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we will see how this works out for farmers.

For 10 years the FRCC has been funded by farmer and taxpayer money. The finance minister's good friends have been involved in this project from the beginning. Farmers have been billed for a decade by his buddies.

Now that an agreement has been reached, will the government or the finance minister inform the House how much money his Saskatchewan campaign chair has made off this project since its inception?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that the idea for this particular transaction originated with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities. It is currently supported very strongly by SARM, the president of which is a former Conservative provincial cabinet minister in Saskatchewan.

It is also strongly supported by people like Nettie Wiebe, who is a former president of the National Farmers Union and a prominent New Democrat. This is not a partisan matter.

Social Development

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Minister of State for Infrastructure and Communities who recently signed two agreements on sharing gas tax revenues with communities in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

It seems there is more good news for these provinces. Will the Minister of Social Development outline how recent agreements with these same provinces will benefit Canadian families?

[Ken Dryden, Liberal, Minister of Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, this all began with a campaign promise of $5 billion over five years for a system of early learning and child care in every provinces and territory in the country. After all the years, after all the hope in this past year, there were ups and downs, but yesterday was a good day.

We have not yet reached the third coast but we will. However, now, from coast to coast, after all the efforts of so many for so long, we have for parents agreements for the preparation, learning and development of their children: 10 provinces, 10 agreements.

Softwood Lumber

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bush administration keeps up its attack on Canadian softwood jobs, holding thousands of workers in British Columbia, northern Ontario and Quebec hostage. Now Kinder Morgan wants to buy Terasen Gas to ensure its pipelines are available to carry Canadian gas to U.S. markets.

When will the government take the NDP's advice to link energy exports to fair play in softwood lumber?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, everybody knows that all of these investments are subject to the provisions of the Investment Canada Act and must be in the net benefit of Canada.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that is the rubber stamp agency. There were 11,000 applications and not one turned down.

The United States has been refusing to play by the rules of free trade for years now. It is the Liberal government that has taken no action to protect our forestry workers. There have been 20,000 jobs lost.

Is the government finally willing to consider the NDP's suggestion that we look at the possibility of export charges on our oil and gas, so that the U.S. administration knows that we are serious?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, that would be a real winner and would certainly serve to unite Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Having said that, we have taken very seriously the plight of the forestry workers in this country. We came out with a package for $356 million earlier. We have a package to help the associations with $20 million. Yesterday we put forward a package of $1.48 billion in order to help the workers, the communities and the companies.

We are standing behind the softwood lumber industry. We are standing behind the workers.

Veterans Affairs

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Lanark, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that agent orange was used at CFB Gagetown. However, the defence minister has initiated a long study that will just delay compensation to ailing victims.

The wheel need not be reinvented. We can learn from the experience and the proven approach of the U.S. military who have adopted a presumptive model.

Why will the government not presume that military personnel and civilians, who were in Gagetown at the time and are suffering from ailments associated with agent orange, were exposed and are entitled to compensation?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, this is exactly why we put together a team, not only Dr. Furlong who is an expert to consult with the community but also a scientific team to determine exactly the associations between diseases and the use of agent orange.

I repeat what I said in the House many times before, agent orange itself was used on some days in 1966 and some days in 1967. The inquiry has spread well beyond that of agent orange and is looking at the use of herbicides generally on the base. I think that as a responsibility to the victims and to the taxpayers, we must get this right.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Lanark, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in May of this year the Minister of Veterans Affairs stood in the House and said, “We will always go the extra mile to assist any veteran in need”.

When it comes to making sure that veterans know the risks to their health, apparently a mile is a pretty short distance. The Veterans Affairs website has two short paragraphs on agent orange and an article from Salute .

It has been six months. Will the minister inform the House when she expects her department to deliver a comprehensive publicity campaign for veterans regarding agent orange?

[Albina Guarnieri, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the record. Earlier the member asserted that the U.S. used the presumptive model on U.S. bases where agent orange was sprayed. The member knows that the claim he made is not factual. We are using exactly the same criteria as is used in the U.S. for spraying on domestic bases. We recognize exactly the same conditions.

The member would have us believe that a department that has awarded 10,000 pensions so far for veterans this year is not doing everything it can for our veterans. We have awarded 14 pensions for agent orange--

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Niagara Falls.

Wine Industry

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Mr. Speaker, throughout this Parliament, I and other members of my party, plus the Canadian Vintners Association, have been calling for a reduction of the federal excise tax on wine. I should point out that this has the unanimous support of the finance committee, including all the Liberals.

After three budgets and tens of billions of dollars of promises, would it be too much to ask for this small break to support the Canadian wine industry?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, that, like many other representations, will be taken into account by this government when we consider our next budget.

Ridley Terminals

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport's response on Tuesday to my question about his intended fire sale of Ridley Terminals in Prince Rupert to Fortune Minerals was completely inadequate.

Millions of dollars in future investments in northeast B.C. are threatened by his continued dithering. To protect long term contracts and future investment in the northern B.C. coal industry, Don Krusel, President and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority presented a timely solution yesterday.

Will the minister now commit to cancelling the sale of Ridley Terminals and instead turn ownership over to the Prince Rupert Port Authority?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly bring the member's question to the attention of my colleague, the Minister of Transport. I understand that he already made it quite clear that there have been no negotiations with Northwest Bulk Terminals, no agreement has been reached, and the government has not committed to any purchase price for Ridley Terminals. The request for proposal process resulted in--

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

That's the point. You're dithering.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Well, I will make sure that my colleague, the Minister of Transport, is seized of the very important situation there and he will certainly act.

Public Safety

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, about the prison planes, we are asking the government a very simple question: Did Kirghizstan airline planes land in Goose Bay on two occasions and in Frobisher Bay on another occasion. I cannot conceive that the minister could answer that he has no information. The fact is that any aircraft landing in Canada has to be logged; it is in the logs of the airports concerned, namely Goose Bay and Frobisher Bay in this case.

How can we be told that there is no information when it is a legal requirement to log flights? I would like to know if the ministers have checked to see if these flights were logged.