Debates of Feb. 25th, 2005

Agriculture

[Belinda Stronach, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in just over a week the U.S. border should open again for younger cattle, but the Prime Minister's failure for more than a year and a half to get that border open has caused devastating losses to the entire cattle sector.

Worse, the media report that Alberta truckers and feedlot owners fear there will be another six months to a year of harassment at the border. Many truckers have already gone to the oil patch and others will just not bother trying. The border will be open on paper, but not in practice.

When the trade minister was in Washington for the first time recently, did he receive assurances from the U.S. government that it will not harass Canadian truckers and open the border for real on March 7?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member is well aware, the USDA put forward at the end of December a revised rule that would govern how the border would be open to younger cattle. That rule is based on science. Officials on both sides of the border are working with each other to develop the necessary protocols to bring that into effect.

[Belinda Stronach, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, to add insult to injury each truck carrying live cattle into the U.S. starting March 7 will be inspected individually. This higher administrative cost will be passed on to the Canadian producer at between $5 and $15 a head extra. More holdups and more delays.

Has the minister negotiated with the Americans a special protocol for clearing our cattle faster and if not, when will he do that?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my answer to the first question, officials on both the Canadian side and the U.S. side are in the midst of discussions in anticipation of the rule coming into force. They will ensure that the regulatory regime that will be necessary to facilitate trade is put in place and they will work on that in a manner that works for producers as well as consumers.

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the lack of any meaningful commitment to agriculture producers in this budget is appalling. An industry struggling to cope with a myriad of problems received .3% of the Liberals' $42 billion wish list. That is an insult.

Is this pathetic attempt a reflection of the finance minister's ignorance on the issue or the agriculture minister's incompetence?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the comments from the hon. member are utter nonsense. He ignores the almost $2 billion that has gone to assist the beef and cattle industry. He ignores the fact that in the first two years of the new business risk management program $700 million beyond what was originally projected to be spent will flow to producers.

The reality is that there has been substantial support for producers across the country. We have done that in the past and we will continue to do that in the future.

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, if the minister was to show that indignation at the cabinet table, we might actually get a program that he can deliver. The minister can repeat all the big numbers he wants, but his record on delivery five days or five years from now is despicable. It is one of failure and a litany of excuses.

The minister finally got the message that the cash deposit on CAIS had to go, but like everything else in this budget, it is a promise without a deadline. Will the minister stand up right now and give us an exact date when that ridiculous requirement will be gone?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member conveniently ignores, which is not the case that he puts in his question, is that real money has gone to real producers to assist them with real needs.

I know it does not fit the member's political agenda to have to admit that, but the reality is, and all those folks over there should listen, the real money has gone to real producers to deal with real issues and not simply the rhetoric that we hear from the other side.

Child Care

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec's intergovernmental affairs minister said he was disappointed that Quebec's share, this year, for Quebec's child care program will be limited to $165 million because federal funding for the first year of the program is only $700 million.

Are we to understand that, because its child care program is operational and efficient, Quebec has to pay for the other provinces, which are not prepared to implement their own child care programs?

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

Mr. Speaker, I seriously wonder where the Bloc gets its interpretations.

We have always said that the Government of Quebec was an innovator in child care, and that the other provinces might want to look at what Quebec has done and draw inspiration from it to develop their own systems. Clearly, we will not penalize a province that has been innovative in an area as important as early childhood development.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of interpretation, I am looking forward to the minister's answer to this question.

In the budget, the federal government earmarked $100 million for the development of a new accountability program.

After the Prime Minister promised to give Quebec the money for child care with no strings attached, how does the minister explain why $100 million will be spent on this, if the goal, ultimately, is not to impose Canada-wide standards on Quebec?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, what exaggeration on the part of the hon. member for Verchères—Les Patriotes.

Every province in this country is accountable to its own citizens, and I am all for that. Be it Alberta or Quebec, they report directly to their citizens. That is precisely what accountability is all about in any government system.

Employment Insurance

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development stated yesterday that she had heard the budgetary policies described by a spokesperson for seasonal workers as a victory for them.

What does the minister have to say to the Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi, the Sans-chemise coalition, labour organizations and the Mouvement Action-Chômage, which, like others, are condemning the policies announced and saying they are completely disappointed with the crumbs the minister has thrown them?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc has so much trouble admitting when we take a step in the right direction. It is always like this.

Let me quote Rodrigue Landry, the spokesman for seasonal workers in southeastern New Brunswick, who said,

This is a real victory. This news here is nothing less than a victory. It is what we wanted from the start: the 14 best weeks out of the last 52.

He is a spokesman for seasonal workers.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we would do better at agreeing to listen to what organizations, not individuals, have to say.

If the minister is so sure of the quality of the measures she announced, why does she not go and see what is really happening on the ground, as advocacy groups for the unemployed are asking her to do?

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

Mr. Speaker, since yesterday, again today, tomorrow and next week, all of the government members, myself included, will be on the ground, to meet Quebeckers and explain to them the benefits of belonging to the Canadian federation, unlike what the Bloc is telling us.

Agriculture

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Grey—Bruce—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this year's budget proved yet again that the government is ignoring the plight of farmers.

Farmers will get no more cash in their pockets. The cash advances are like finding a needle in a haystack and do not even kick in until next year, if at all.

Two weeks ago the Liberal Party and even the minister voted against removing the CAIS deposit requirement. Yesterday he declared that he would not apologize for it. The March 31 deadline is fast approaching.

The government admits that the program is a disaster and says that it will fix it, but, surprise, surprise, the government votes against any improvement.

Will the minister stop stalling? Will he support farmers and agree to the necessary changes needed today?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, in answer to a similar question from an hon. member on that side, I made the comment that it was political rhetoric. I want to make sure we make the point crystal clear.

Each one of the members on that side knows that the CAIS program is a federal-provincial program that requires both the federal government and the provinces to agree to the changes. They know that is the case but in their questions they try to infer that it is something else.

Do they want to help producers? No they do not. Do they want to make political rhetoric? Yes they do because that is all they are capable of.

Transport Canada

[Jeremy Harrison, Conservative, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has proposed a draconian new set of transport policies for my home province of Saskatchewan.

First, the government wants all outfitters, commercial fishermen and guides to complete an operators course offered in Vancouver or Halifax, even if they have been operating their boats for decades. Guess what else? The Liberals want them to register their canoes.

We have already seen at least a billion dollars wasted on the Liberal gun registry. How much more money is the government going to send up the creek with the Liberal canoe registry?

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, talking about people not having any sense of direction and people being rudderless, that is the party over there.

Let me reassure the hon. member that we on this side take any kind of vessels very seriously. Transport Canada is responsible for the registration and licensing of all vessels.

Canoes, if used for commercial purposes, are classified as small commercial vessels and are required under current regulations to be licensed.

I know a lot of the hon. members across do not want to hear the answer. Maybe they should get the wax out of their ears.

Agriculture

[Loyola Hearn, Conservative, St. John's South, NL]

Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that the government brags about investing in research, it is closing the only agricultural research facility in Newfoundland and Labrador without even consulting the provincial government which shares the facility.

The Minister of Natural Resources says that there is a silver lining: jobs might stay in the province at the university. This is impractical and that minister always settles for silver rather than gold.

Before the minister rushes off to meet his program review commitments, will he discuss this with the provincial government, industry and his own people in the province?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, to be charitable, the hon. member is simply ill-informed. The reality is that the work that is being done in science will continue to be done. The people who do the work will continue to do the work.

What we are doing as a department is cutting the overhead so that there will in fact be more money to do more science to the benefit of producers.

The Environment

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, new environmental regulations have forced municipalities to once again retrofit waterworks that were recently upgraded. They are being told that funds will not be made available for these unforeseen additional costs.

An amendment to the new Canada-Ontario municipal rural infrastructure fund to include completed green projects not fully covered under the old program is needed.

Will the minister consider making this change?

[Joe Comuzzi, Liberal, Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario)]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada-Ontario infrastructure program is coming to a close and while we complete these closures we are finding that some programs which had been funded will not be proceeding.

It is our intention at this time to take those funds and assist those communities that have experienced an overrun in their costing. I hope the hon. member and I can work together on Laurentian Hills and the 800 overage that the community is experiencing.

Gasoline Industry

[Ken Boshcoff, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the industry committee has considered the lack of competition in the retail and refining sectors of the gasoline industry.

With inexcusably high prices for gasoline in many markets, with little or no competition in these sectors, could the Minister of Industry advise us how proposed amendments to the Competition Act aimed at predatory pricing will help consumers in all regions of the country?