Debates of Feb. 2nd, 2005

Transportation Safety Board

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that anyone appointed by the governor in council has to follow the code of conduct, which prescribes the highest standard of ethics.

It is right to question the appropriateness of someone's presence at a political fundraising event. I understand that the ethics commissioner is now going to clarify the interpretation of this code for all those involved.

[John Williams, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Howard Wilson, the old lapdog, said it was not appropriate, which the minister just confirmed, for patronage appointees to go to the party with the Prime Minister. But we are still waiting for the Prime Minister to bring down the ethics standards so that we can judge who is in and who is out and who is doing the right thing.

The question is simple. Will the Prime Minister bring in these ethical standards or do we go with no standards whatsoever and find out that people can do whatever they want, any time they want, and get the Liberal Party to pay for it?

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I want to inform the hon. member that on this side of the House we are very interested, and what we are in fact doing is bringing ethical standards up, not down as the hon. member has suggested.

National Defence

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to a shemozzle, it is hard to beat the current government's record with regard to the anti-missile defence shield. In fact, the Minister of Foreign Affairs claims that the positions of the American administration and the Canadian government are in no way contradictory, since the weaponization of space is not part of the program in its current state.

Are we to understand from the minister's comments that he is satisfied enough with this answer to go ahead with the shield? Does he believe that this is the guarantee?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

No, Mr. Speaker. This is one of the criteria upon which the government will base its decision. We have been extremely clear. We do not want to take part in a program that will contribute to the weaponization of space.

However, that is one of the criteria. Everyone knows that. There are others.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, given the refusal of the American administration to guarantee that space will not be weaponized, would the only acceptable position not be to reject a plan that goes against the wishes of Quebeckers and Canadians and that, furthermore, represents a threat to peace?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that this government, like all Canadians, seeks always the promotion of peace. In fact, we seek always to promote peace.

I can add that we have a commitment from the American administration that its current program is not leading to the weaponization of space.

The member is referring to an interview with a representative of the American administration who acknowledged that nothing in the current program was leading to the weaponization of space.

Aerospace Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Minister of Transport said on January 13, the federal government's offer to Bombardier was not made until last Friday. We still do not know whether this offer contains any specific guarantee that at least 54% of jobs for this project will be in Quebec, in keeping with the current distribution of employment.

Can the minister tell us whether there is indeed such a requirement in the federal government offer to Bombardier?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we are in discussions with Bombardier. We have not reached the point of discussing the number of jobs or where they would be located. Those matters will come, and it will be largely determined by private sector consideration as to where those jobs are best situated for the economy of Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign when the federal government offered $500 million to the automobile industry to guarantee its development in Ontario, it made its offer clear and achieved its objective. At present, the minister is saying that he still has not discussed the number of jobs.

Why could what was done for the automobile industry in Ontario not also be done for the aerospace industry in Quebec? It seems this would be only fair.

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, every province in this country would like to come in and ask for a certain number of jobs as their quota allotment. That is not the way the economy works. We are driving to have a strong aerospace industry in all of Canada. It will be strong in Quebec. It will be strong in Ontario. It will be strong in Atlantic Canada and it will be strong in the west.

Parental Leave

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the deadlines have gone by and the Prime Minister has not reached an agreement with Quebec on parental leave. The Liberals are still hiding behind the Supreme Court, instead of working with Quebec to find a solution. It is clear that the Prime Minister is not trying to reach an agreement that would be fair to Quebec and to working families. The Prime Minister stubbornly opposes Quebec's desire to set up its parental leave program.

Why is he not keeping his election promise?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I believe the hon. member is repeating exactly the same question as yesterday. And so my reply will be exactly the same. One issue is the appeal now before the Supreme Court, which is intended to better clarify, in a much broader context, all the programs covered by EI. The other, parallel issue concerns the negotiations with Quebec. There is no direct connection between these two issues. Discussions with my counterpart from the Quebec government are still going on and we are still optimistic.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we are up against a Liberal bad habit: the Prime Minister makes an election promise he has no intention of keeping, then sends the case to the Supreme Court, and then makes the province fight to obtain what it was promised.

That is exactly what is happening to Quebec on the issue of parental leave. When will Canadians be able to count on a prime minister who keeps his word?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of Canada keeps his word and acts in partnership with all the provinces in all matters regarding federal-provincial relations.

In this respect, we have already covered a lot of ground with the Government of Quebec in the matter of parental leave. We have almost got the entire file sorted out. All that is left is to discuss methodology for the first year. That is why discussions are still going on.

World Aquatic Championships

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we are very sensitive to the efforts of the City of Montreal to save the Aquatic Games, and we hope that Mayor Tremblay's advisor is not once again Morrow Communications.

The Minister of Transport wants to distance himself from the “fridge” and cut off the Savard group. As for the Minister of Canadian Heritage, she wants to get involved at any cost to try to save her friends at the International games.

Could the Minister of State for Sport tell us who is in charge regarding this issue: his department, the transport department or the Department of Canadian Heritage?

[Stephen Owen, Liberal, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, we have fulfilled all our obligations towards Montreal 2005 and the organizing committee.

The federal government is the single largest contributor to the world aquatic games which we hope will be held in Montreal in July. We are supporting Mayor Tremblay in all his efforts to get the private sector to come up with its support that was budgeted for the event.

We remain open, as does FINA, with the doors open to Montreal, to make sure that we get the private sector's support so that this important event can take place in Montreal.

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, he had better send those talking points to those other two ministers, because due to the infighting of these three ministers Montreal is going to get the short end of the stick: 55,000 cancelled hotel rooms, 20,000 fewer tourists and $80 million in lost revenue.

Which minister is in charge? Who is taking responsibility for this mess?

[Stephen Owen, Liberal, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, let me repeat in English. I am sorry if the hon. member did not understand my French. The Government of Canada has met all of its obligations to the organizing committee to ensure that there will be a successful event in Montreal. The fact is that the organizing committee has not met its private support targets.

We are working with the Mayor of Montreal and with FINA to ensure that there is every possibility that those targets can be met and there will be a successful event in Montreal next July.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, aboriginal communities are faced with unique challenges in terms of delivery of services. One such service is child care. The delivery of child care has proved to be a problem for our first nations population for many reasons, including the isolated nature of their communities.

I would like to ask the Minister of Social Development what considerations have been made to account for aboriginal communities when drafting the national child care strategy.

[Ken Dryden, Liberal, Minister of Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, ensuring that the early learning and child care needs of aboriginal children are met is a national priority for all of us. At our recent FPT meeting, the ministers recognized the critical need to engage aboriginal leaders in discussions about the best approaches for aboriginal children and to build on successful initiatives such as aboriginal head start.

Aboriginal children are doing better. More are going to college and university, but many more need to attend in the future. They need to get a good start. Good quality early learning and child care can offer that immensely important boost.

Public Works and Government Services

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is distributing millions of maple leaf lapel pins that are stamped “Made in China”. What kind of credibility does our Prime Minister have in talking about Canadian values when he is leading the race to the bottom with our own flag? This is the man who pioneered the flag of convenience on the high seas and now he is pioneering the lapel flag of convenience.

My question is simple. There are 1.6 million flags scheduled to be delivered for March 18. Will they be made by Canadian workers or are they going to be shipped from overseas by sweatshops?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, certainly we as the Government of Canada and my department as the chief procurement officer for the Government of Canada endeavour to purchase the best quality materials for Canadians and at the same time achieve the best possible value for Canadian taxpayers. We do so within the confines of our trade agreements and particularly respecting the principle of national treatment, which is an essential part of all our trade agreements.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, parliamentary purchases are not covered under the WTO. They are exempt.

Here is a little bit of a history lesson. The lapel pin was a Canadian invention. It was made for 35 years by Canadian workers until this government came along.

Disney has the Mounties, this government gave the Remembrance Day coin to Tim Hortons, and now it is giving the flag to China.

This government is selling off our cultural heritage like a bunch of roadside hucksters selling off hubcaps and velvet Elvis paintings.

We have Canadian values, and the minister is talking values, so here is my question. What about the values of all the jobs in Rexdale where there have been layoffs so this government can outsource to China?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the--