Debates of Feb. 7th, 2005

Foreign Affairs

[Dan McTeague, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know, as well as everyone in the House, just how much the world has changed in the past 35 to 40 days. There was the situation that occurred in Ukraine and of course the tsunami.

It is important that we consult with all individuals in the world, with all experts, and that we get this right. Certainly the hon. member would not want to rush a very important document if he believes and treats it very seriously, as he does I am sure.

Parental Leave

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, intensive negotiations with a view to signing an agreement with Quebec on parental leave were scheduled for this weekend.

How can the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development justify the fact that the principle of fully funding the first year of the program, as agreed to in 1997, is today being challenged by her government?

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

Mr. Speaker, discussions with the Government of Quebec, that is with my colleague, Minister Claude Béchard, are continuing. We hope to reach a conclusion in the near future.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the minister says, if the agreement is not signed shortly, thousands of families will not have access in January 2006 to the more generous Quebec parental leave program.

How can the minister again challenge the principle that was accepted in 1997, thereby putting 8,000 families at risk of being seriously harmed by her flip flop?

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

Mr. Speaker, we support the rather innovative approach to parental leave taken by the Government of Quebec, which is why discussions with my colleague are continuing at this time.

Once again, we hope to reach a conclusion in the near future.

Taxation

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, economist Armine Yalnizyan has examined the federal budgets for the past 10 years. The study shows, with figures to prove it, that women were unduly penalized during the years Ottawa posted deficits and that they have been generally ignored since the federal government started showing a surplus.

What explanation can be offered to women for the fact that the Liberal government's budgetary decisions have always been made at the expense of women and social programs? Is the Prime Minister not ashamed of this situation?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, with the greatest of respect, the government has worked very hard on issues related to gender equity. For example, when we have analyzed policy proposals coming forward for the budget that I am now in the process of putting together, I have asked my officials to give me an analysis with that material in each case to demonstrate that gender factors have been taken into account. It is very important that we establish that kind of principle in government decision making.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to learn that there will be an analysis that promotes gender equity. Still, can the Minister of Finance assure the House that the commitments made by the Ottawa government at the Beijing Conference in 1995 will be respected in the coming budget?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I will do my very best to respect the principles of gender equity in the preparation of this budget and indeed every budget going forward. I am very pleased that the government has taken the lead on issues like the child tax benefit for example, the commitment toward child care, and a range of other initiatives that demonstrate that we take gender issues very seriously.

Sponsorship Program

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Jean Carle, Jean Chrétien's protegé, admitted Friday that one sponsorship transaction for $125,000 amounted to money laundering. This is a criminal offence.

The Prime Minister has promised us justice. Will he really hunt down the guilty parties if they include the two Jeans, Carle and Chrétien?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again it is not appropriate to comment on individual testimony. Further to that, recently 130 of Canada's top legal minds wrote a letter to the Leader of the Conservative Party telling him he did not understand the laws of the country

I would suggest that if he does not understand the laws of the country, his party should not be trying to operate a parallel judicial inquiry on the floor of the House of Commons.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Alfonso Gagliano who sat at the cabinet table with this Prime Minister said on Friday about this Prime Minister's role in the sponsorship scandal: “He was there. He participated and agreed. All the ministers agreed with that strategy”. Jean Carle has confessed that this program amounted to money laundering.

When the Prime Minister is on the stand giving his testimony, will he commit to the House to be more truthful to Justice Gomery than he has been to the House and with the Canadian people?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. member knows that all hon. members always tell the truth in the House. To suggest that some member has been untruthful, the belief is beyond the pale in terms of parliamentary practice. We will move on to the next question.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it seems very evident that the sponsorship program was nothing more than a cash cow for Liberal supporters. Mr. Jacques Corriveau complained that he did not receive payment for his work on the 1997 election. In response he received millions of hard earned Canadian tax dollars in contracts from the sponsorship program.

When will the Prime Minister instruct the Liberal Party to pay back taxpayers' money?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a judicial inquiry headed by Justice Gomery that is doing its work on a daily basis and achieving the end that Canadians desire, and that is getting to the truth on this issue.

The reason we have that judicial inquiry and why that hon. member can comment on individual daily testimony is because our Prime Minister has had the courage to do the right thing which was to set up Justice Gomery's commission and to move forward to get that information.

I am absolutely appalled that the opposition, the Conservative Party, does not understand the charter of rights, does not understand the Constitution, and does not even understand the independence of a judicial inquiry.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Gomery inquiry is not a badge of honour for the Liberal Party to wear. The government only set it up because it got caught. Despite whatever the Prime Minister or his cronies say, the Auditor General has told us that there are millions of tax dollars missing and Canadians deserve this money back.

When will the Prime Minister order the money his operatives funnelled to run his campaigns be paid back to Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians watching this question period must be mystified that the opposition, the Conservative Party, is not actually asking questions of interest to them.

Why is it not asking questions about health care, why is it not asking questions about agriculture, why is it not asking questions on issues that actually matter to Canadians, instead of scandalmongering and letting Justice Gomery do his work?

Health

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is the leading known cause of mental retardation in Canada. Researchers also believe that 50% of the inmates in the jails of Canada suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome or other alcohol-related birth defects.

My question is for the Minister of Health. Could the minister advise the House if fetal alcohol syndrome is a priority of Health Canada, and if so, what initiatives are being contemplated to address the growing but preventable tragedy of fetal alcohol syndrome?

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the hon. member for doing the kind of work that he has been doing over the last number of years. He has a bill, Bill C-206, before the House, and I want to ensure that we give him the support that his bill needs.

I also want to tell the House that Health Canada is developing a comprehensive strategy to deal with FAS and other alcohol abuse issues right across the country that have social and economic consequences.

Housing

[Ed Broadbent, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Finance.

In the 1990s the Liberals completely destroyed the national housing program. As a consequence, many of the children living in poverty today do so because of the terrible condition of housing. Particularly in this city, some 13,000 families are waiting for affordable housing.

Will the minister restore the budget for housing to the pre-1993 level in the coming budget? Will he guarantee 25,000 new units of affordable housing?

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Housing]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, it is the federal government that believes that housing is about the foundation of healthy communities, families and people. In fact, it is this government that invests $2 billion each and every year to help 636,000 Canadians. It is this government that has committed $1 billion toward homelessness. It is this government that has committed $1 billion toward affordable housing.

Child Poverty

[Ed Broadbent, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it was this government in the 1990s that became the only government in the industrial world, among industrial leaders, that did not have a national housing program.

Another reason for children being in poverty is that so many of their families, even with two parents working, do not earn enough income to buy the clothes and the food they need. I want to ask the Minister of Finance, will he address this issue in the coming budget and at least increase the child tax benefit to $4,900?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government takes great pride in the fact of having created the child tax benefit. It is a program that is becoming one of the top social programs in this country. It is on its way to a value in excess of $10 billion per year. We will continue at every opportunity to seek its enrichment.

Public Works and Government Services

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for lapel pins keeps changing his position. At first he said that the confines of our trade agreement made him buy the pins in China. Then he went to the sweatshops at public works and found out that it was not really the policy and pins could now be made in Canada. He does not seem to have a clue what is going on in his own department.

I wonder what the back of the napkin says today. Will the pins be made in Canada or will they be made in China?