Debates of Feb. 9th, 2005

National Defence

[Keith Martin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I regret to inform the House of the tragic incident that occurred yesterday in the Baltic Sea on the HMCS Montreal . Leading Seaman Robert Leblanc was lost at sea. On behalf of the government and indeed all members of the House, we extend our profound condolences to the Leblanc family and thank our allies for their efforts in trying to recover him.

The Environment

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, our party extends its condolences to the family as well.

My question, to switch topics for a moment, is for the Minister of Natural Resources.

After more than a decade of dithering and stalling on the Kyoto plan, we now find ourselves scrambling at the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The Liberals have come up with a shopping list for the truly delusional.

We are looking to buy hot air in Russia and spend billions of dollars there while Canadians choke on fumes here. We are looking at letting big polluters off the hook entirely for their responsibility for cleaning up the mess we are in now. We still provide subsidies to the oil and gas and coal industries while we ask Canadians to do less--

[The Speaker]

I do not know if there is a question there. Does the Minister of Natural Resources wish to respond?

[R. John Efford, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Very quickly and very simply, all the points that the hon. member just made are absolutely false.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Wonderful, Mr. Speaker, some more dithering and stalling. I am wondering if the reason the Liberal Party has hired a Newfoundland comedian to promote its Kyoto plan is because the plan is a joke.

Will the minister stand in the House today and commit to Canadians that there will be no more stalling and no more dithering for an auto emission standard in this country that Canadians can believe in once and for all in order to answer our commitment to Kyoto?

[R. John Efford, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the hon. member that the government is not dithering and it is not stalling. The hon. member is doing a lot of dithering and stalling around, but we will deliver a Kyoto plan. We are working with all of the industries so all Canadians can be very proud.

[Bob Mills, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister's solution to achieving the Kyoto targets is a robust plan of buying hot air from foreign countries. Here is a news flash. We could use a lot of that money for infrastructure here in Canada. We could use it for coal gasification, biomass development, geothermal co-generation of garbage and countless other technologies.

Why would the government buy hot air credits when there is plenty of homegrown technology here in Canada?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said to my colleague, the sole hot air that we have heard in the House has come from his party. It is not the plan of the Government of Canada at all to do that.

In the coming weeks we will come with a new plan for Kyoto. It will be very interesting to see what the opposition will say about it because I hope it will be at last a constructive opposition working with all Canadians to reach our Kyoto targets.

[Bob Mills, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there are thousands of Canadians living near government owned toxic waste sites, thousands more have boil water warnings, our national parks are in disrepair, real air pollution chokes our cities, and the government wants to buy hot air credits offshore.

Will the minister today assure us that not one penny will leave this country to get to our Kyoto targets?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, this is the challenge. We will compare what I will receive from my finance colleague with the zero commitment that my colleague received from the finance critic of the Conservative Party.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Calgary North Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on the heels of Liberal mismanagement of the residential school claims, a disturbing CBC report now outlines another Liberal embarrassment. It is more money, more misery and more victims.

In Davis Inlet the Liberals spent $350 million, $400,000 per person, yet the results are clear. There are more pregnancies, more family violence and fewer children finishing high school. The basic programs have not been met.

What is the minister going to do about this?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, the member touches on probably one of the most difficult situations that exists for aboriginal people in Canada. It is a situation that has been 50 years in the making and it will not be fixed overnight.

Having said that, three weeks ago I met with the president of the Innu nation. I met with the chiefs in both Sheshatshiu and Natuashish. They recommended a course of action for both our government and that of Newfoundland and Labrador. We are looking at that because we are interested in positively affecting the lives of these people.

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Calgary North Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the minister could tell the House what that course of action is because last night Canadians saw the face of Innu despair and hopelessness.

The government is failing aboriginal people in this country. Canadians have lost faith in the Liberal government to investigate mismanagement. After a shameful decade of all talk and no action, the government has nothing to show for it.

Will the minister commit to ask the Auditor General to review all of his department's expenditures?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, I want to accept the challenge that the government has to deal with the questions of Natuashish and Sheshatshiu and I accept that responsibility; however, when that member says we are failing aboriginal Canadians, after the round table, after the Tlicho agreement, he has it all wrong.

Aerospace Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, on October 28, 2004, the Ministers of Industry, International Trade and Transport announced amid great fanfare that the government was providing financial guarantees of up to $1.5 billion to enable Bombardier to sell its regional jets to Air Canada. Although construction of the jets has already begun, the concrete terms of this loan guarantee have yet to be decided, and Bombardier is being left to its own devices.

Can the government tell us what it needs to get moving and finalize its loan guarantee? Some 13 planes have already been delivered to Air Canada.

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the program is in fact in place. It is called the regional aircraft credit facility. We are negotiating with Bombardier at the moment. We are negotiating on appropriate terms and conditions that will protect the taxpayers of Canada and provide the appropriate assistance to the aerospace industry of Canada, and specifically in this case to Bombardier.

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

Mr. Speaker, I remind the minister that Bombardier has already commenced delivery of the jets for Air Canada. The ball is now in the minister's court.

Does he intend to act responsibly and honour his commitment to Bombardier, announced with great fanfare on October 28? Enough time has already gone by.

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to the aerospace industry in this country. We are committed to Bombardier. We will honour our commitment, but we are not going to shovel the taxpayers' money out without appropriate due diligence being done.

Middle East

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is dithering over the international policy review and has handed it off to a Liberal academic. Despite claims in the House yesterday that the foreign affairs minister single-handedly spawned the entire Middle East peace process, yesterday all he could come up with was another fact finding mission.

Is it not true that when it comes to foreign policy, the minister is just making it up as he goes along?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think that question was made up as it went along.

I want to assure the House that the nature of our policy review is both complex and very comprehensive. As the hon. member will know, because one of his members is attending the situation as it unfolds in the Middle East, it is important to recognize that the idea of policy review with respect to foreign policy is important. It is comprehensive. Canadians were involved in this. It deals with a number of elements, including the right to protect in failing states, and of course the whole issue of globalization. These are critical issues and we take them seriously.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we have a foreign affairs minister cruising the world between pit stops to his pied-à-terre in Paris and a Prime Minister who has to get up extra early to choose which socks to wear.

Canadians expect the government to stop dithering, follow the leadership shown by Conservatives, and help establish a viable independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

Will the minister commit new funding for institution building in Palestine?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member finally got it and dealt with one of the issues that is important to all Canadians, indeed the world today, the issue of the Middle East. I think he was finally able to get it in the last part of his question.

On the subject of the Middle East, it is important to understand that we will work with our counterparts to ensure there is a lasting and just peace. Canada is there to help not only in terms of refugee settlement but we also believe it is important that Canada, given the large number of people who are from that region, may have an extremely important role to play in terms of ensuring that we have a lasting and sustainable peace in that region.

Internet Pharmacies

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. Advertisements are now appearing in the United States announcing a new way to empty Canada's medicine chest. So-called Canadian resellers are selling prescription drugs directly to American pharmacies, thus going around the Internet drugstores.

I would like to know what the Minister of Health intends to do about this new twist in the sad tale of the Internet pharmacies and their offspring?

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, this development is just one more example of why we need to deal with protecting the pricing regime for Canadians and the affordable supply of drugs. We intend to do just that.

Equalization Program

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, no matter how you look at it, the Minister of Finance has clearly turned his back on the people of Saskatchewan with respect to equalization. Had Saskatchewan received the same deal as Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, it would have meant an additional $4 billion in revenue to the province over the past decade.

Rather than make excuses, will the Minister of Finance or his designate answer one question: Are you prepared to give the same deal to Saskatchewan that you gave to Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia?