Debates of Feb. 4th, 2005

Parental Leave

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for the Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, the well-being of Quebec families and their eligibility for parental leave is important to the minister and our entire government.

This is an extremely simple situation to understand. Negotiations are currently under way. Each party has its own position and interpretation. I think we have to give both parties a chance to negotiate to reach an agreement. One thing is certain, the floor of this House is not the place to solve this problem.

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

Mr. Speaker, if there is not enough money for parental leave, as the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development claims, has it ever occurred to her that the reason for that may be that the government misappropriated the surpluses in the EI fund and used them for other purposes? If the government's financial resources are insufficient, it is the government that is responsible.

I want to ask the minister this. How does she plan to cover all the necessary expenditures for the first year of the parental leave program?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for the Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, I wish my hon. colleague opposite had taken the time to read the Employment Insurance Act, to grasp the constraints on the funding earmarked for parental leave which are set out in the act.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

While I am trying to answer, there is a lot of noise coming from across the way. That will not change the reality, however, and the reality is that both parties are currently negotiating and that the only way to reach an agreement is by letting those involved negotiate outside this chamber.

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

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that close to $47 billion was misappropriated from this fund. The solution is simple. Instead of negotiating through press conferences, does the minister not think that she would be better inspired to give Mr. Béchard a call, confirming that she is prepared to settle the issue under the conditions set forth in the 1997 letter and to give Quebec the full amount back, with no strings attached?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for the Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member opposite for suggesting that the minister phone her counterpart, with whom she has been in regular contact for the past several days.

I will repeat once more that, in this whole issue, no solution can be found until the negotiations between the parties are concluded. And the parties will not be concluding any negotiations in this place, here, today. That is not how it is done. We are going to take an intelligent approach and, more importantly, one that is sensitive to the well-being of families in Quebec.

The Environment

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 1993, the Prime Minister promised to cut pollution by 20% by 2005. However, pollution has increased by 20%. So, the Liberals have not kept this promise.

Yesterday, Environment Canada issued a smog warning, which is still in effect for Montreal, Laval, Saint-Hyacinthe, Lachute, Drummondville and Quebec City. We are talking about a smog warning in February. Can the minister tell us who is to blame?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, of course, more must be done to fight pollution. However, the hon. leader of the New Democratic Party does not have the correct figures. In fact, pollution is decreasing in Canada. There has not been a 20% increase in pollution. I do not know where he got that information.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is unbelievable. The Arctic ice is melting, sea levels are rising, the prairies are drying out, and we now have smog in February. What is the government's solution? It is to call a 1-800 number. The number Canadians will be calling is 9-1-1 because they cannot breathe.

If we brought in mandatory emission standards for vehicles, we could cut smog. When will the government act so Canadians can stop choking on its broken promises?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, it is true and the leader of the NDP is quite right that climate change is creating a lot of danger for the planet. It is true that Canada must do its share. We have an international commitment with regard to Kyoto. It is true that the automotive industry has to do its share.

We are now finalizing a very helpful negotiation. I am very confident that with the Minister of Natural Resources and all my colleagues, we will come to an agreement with the automotive industry.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that the submarine acquisition was technically flawed. Now we have learned that the submarine training was also flawed.

A former submarine commander and training officer recently confirmed that to meet U.K. contract obligations, corners were cut in training standards both on shore and at sea.

The minister has led us to believe that all crew members were properly trained, yet we have the former training officer for submarines saying otherwise. Who should Canadians believe?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I believe the House would want to know that Mr. Kavanagh, who testified before the committee, was a training officer for the Oberon class of submarine, which went out of service 15 years ago.

This is an interesting observation by my critic. However, to be fair, the House should know the training has changed. We now use simulators, the same way airline pilots use simulators. There is a new way of training. One does not get as much sea time as one did before.

However, I can assure the House that when men and women go to sea, they are trained to do the job.

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

Mr. Speaker, he was a training officer for the Victoria, too.

The DND Portage la Prairie flight contract project, which has a potential value of $1 billion, has been tied up in the bidding process for 18 months. During that time the two bidders, Bombardier and Allied Wings, have had to extend their bid price three times. It has been reported that the contract award recommendation has been approved and the budget financing is in place, yet no public announcement has been made.

Given that the current Bombardier contract terminates soon, why is there a delay in awarding the new contract?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, obviously these contracts are extremely important. We want to get it right. That is exactly what we do in the department.

This contract takes time. However, we are negotiating it in good faith with the two parties. We will sign a contract when it is in the best interests of the Government of Canada and the people of Canada to get the best contract we can for Canada.

Automotive Industry

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we warned that meeting Kyoto requirements could cost up to 450,000 jobs. The Minister of Industry said that it was no problem, that Technology Partnerships Canada would fix that.

The minister had better get out his famous Liberal chequebook because that translates into $27 billion at $60,000 per job.

Has the minister discussed this with the slush fund manager over there, the Minister of Finance?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows not of what he speaks. We have had very good discussions with the automotive industry. My colleagues, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Natural Resources and myself, as well as other ministers, met this morning with the automotive industry. There is a very constructive solution that we hope will be put in place. The automotive industry will be stronger and stronger as a result.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first the Minister of Industry said that Kyoto would cost us no jobs. Then he admits he misled us and Kyoto will cost us jobs. Now he says, “not to worry, we have TPC”.

TPC is supposed to be an R and D program, not an employment slush fund. Clearly, the government has not put any time into considering the impact of Kyoto on our important manufacturing industries, like the auto sector.

Will the Minister of Industry confirm that he has changed the mandate of TPC to include job protection commitments for Kyoto?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I can confirm to the House that those people's thinking is so inconsistent, they should just sit down. They complain about TPC day after day, yet TPC is one of the key instruments for developing a competitive, strong, dynamic automotive industry in Canada.

Sponsorship Program

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, several million dollars in sponsorships were paid out to a major Liberal organizer and friend of the former Prime Minister. By all indications, these sponsorships were used to pay for professional services this Liberal organizer provided to the Liberal Party of Canada. On February 12, 2004, the Prime Minister said that those who are responsible will face the full consequences of their actions.

Has the government given André Gauthier, the lawyer assigned to recover the misappropriated funds, the mandate to investigate this specific matter?

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

Mr. Speaker, I hope the Bloc Québécois understands the importance of independence in a legal inquiry. We have to wait for Mr. Gomery to finish his work. I am anxious to read his report.

However, it is inappropriate to keep discussing his work, here in the House of Commons, day after day.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, the Prime Minister's political lieutenant in Quebec again promised to pay back the tainted money and said that the government has a clear cut case of sponsorship money being used to serve the interests of the Liberal Party. Does he not think there is only one thing to do: ask André Gauthier to investigate the matter?

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, we have submitted all the donations made to the Liberal Party to André Gauthier and the Gomery Commission and we are anxious to read the report. We hope the report of the Gomery Commission and the report of André Gauthier will allow the government to recover the money.

The Environment

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment recently announced the federal government's intention to table a new Canadian plan for applying the Kyoto protocol. On January 16, we learned of a memo from Natural Resources proposing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the major polluters from 55 to 37 megatonnes.

Can the minister guarantee that the new plan he will be tabling shortly will not lessen the obligations of major polluters to apply the Kyoto protocol in Canada?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, it is not appropriate to comment on so-called government reports referred to in the papers.

Second, the Government of Canada will shortly be releasing its revised, corrected and improved 2002 plan, intended to get all Canadians on side in an effort to bolster the environment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create employment.