Debates of March 7th, 2005

Agriculture

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

Mr. Speaker, I hate to correct the hon. member again but the budget did in fact contain tax measures to help with agricultural co-ops. I believe it is on page 143 of the budget if the hon. member wants to look at it.

Alberta and other provinces are announcing a combination of things, not just increased slaughter capacity, which we are there for and which we believe needs to be done, but as well, as we announced back in September, the need to create new foreign markets. It is not just an issue of having increased capacity. It is an issue of having a place in which to sell that capacity. We understand that and we are doing both.

[Rick Casson, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today was to be a celebration in Canada's cattle industry, but due to the government's complete mismanagement of the BSE crisis, this dire situation has only worsened. Instead of celebrating, once again we are facing the possibility of prolonged closure of the United States border to the movement of live cattle. It is rumoured to be affecting our boxed beef exports as well.

With ill-informed forces outside Canada working to destroy our cattle industry, why have we not seen construction started on at least one new world-class packing facility in Canada? Why have we not seen the establishment of these new secure markets?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been fully engaged with the United States in making the point that the opinion of many in that country is ill-informed. In fact the critic from the hon. member's party was engaged in that process with us. That is why, rather than having the U.S. government opposed to us, in this respect both the USDA and the President are four-square behind Canada in our move to get the border open.

We have seen new plants in Prince Edward Island. We have seen new plants in British Columbia. We will partner with additional new plants across the country.

[Rick Casson, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the U.S. Senate voted to overturn that USDA rule. It has been political and continues to be a political issue.

There are other outstanding issues the government is not addressing, including the slaughter capacity, and they are the increasing number of cull cows in this country and the harmonization of health standards.

With this politically motivated crisis squarely back in the government's hands and with cattle prices falling through the floor, producers are asking, after two years why the government has not moved to insulate the industry from further destruction by dealing with these outstanding issues. When can they expect some action?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said in the answer to the Leader of the Opposition, $1.9 billion of federal money is dealing with this issue.

In terms of repositioning the industry, we were out there in September with the provinces and with the industry with a repositioning strategy. We will pursue that. There are many issues that need to be dealt with. Older animals is one of them. We are committed to doing that. We will do that working with the industry and with the provinces. We will come up with approaches that will do what they are supposed to do and work to deal with--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Beauport--Limoilou.

Housing

[Christian Simard, Bloc, Beauport, QC]

Mr. Speaker, despite the promise to invest up to $1.5 billion in social and affordable housing in this budget, the result is nothing, zero. What a disappointment and what a betrayal for everyone who believed the Prime Minister's promises.

During the Liberal convention last weekend, should the Prime Minister not have admitted to his followers that when it comes to social housing it is promise made, tenants deceived?

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

Mr. Speaker, had the member been watching our convention, you would have heard very clearly that the Minister of Finance--

[The Speaker]

Order. The hon. member I know will want to address his remarks to the Chair.

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Of course, Mr. Speaker.

As I indicated to the member, I am sure he was watching the convention. I know that he heard the minister indicate clearly that not only will we invest $1.5 billion, but as we have said before, we continue to invest $2 billion each and every year: $1 billion toward the affordable housing initiative and $1 billion toward our homelessness initiative, including the RRAP. I must say that Quebec is doing very well and we will do more in--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Beauport--Limoilou.

[Christian Simard, Bloc, Beauport, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, I prefer to address my remarks to the Chair than to hear that.

The government's justification in no way changes reality. The government did not honour its promise to invest in social housing, while CMHC has accumulated $3 billion in surpluses.

With regard to social housing, will the Prime Minister finally admit that it is promise made, tenants deceived?

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

Mr. Speaker, the government remains committed. In fact, out of the $1 billion that was initiated back in 2001, $670 million presently exists for the provinces to take advantage.

I am happy to report to the House that just three days ago we signed with the province of Nova Scotia. We have signed with Quebec. We have signed with B.C. We have signed with Saskatchewan. In other words, we are working with the provinces to make sure that the money presently on the table is being spent. We continue to build housing and support people across the country. We will do more.

Immigration

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the immigration act was amended three years ago now, but the refugee appeal division has not yet been put in place, despite the promises made.

Does the government realize that this is not just a commitment but also a duly enacted legislative measure, which has not yet been implemented over three years later?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware of the issues before the department. We have said that we will do the appropriate thing in terms of phasing it in as is necessary.

The member should know that the appeals processes are there for everybody and that they work quite well. We are not interested in adding another layer of appeals, but we are looking at this measure.

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has missed an excellent opportunity to put the refugee appeal division in place, by not earmarking the necessary funds in its latest budget.

How can the government justify this lack of political will at a time when everyone is calling for the establishment of the appeal division? Once again, a promise made, refugees deceived.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, last year 33 refugees were accepted into this country. That is an increase over previous years. I would say, therefore, that the hon. member's claim is not substantiated by the facts. If there are more refugees, it is a matter of a promise made, a promise kept.

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the investigative news program W-FIVE has just revealed that the Liberal government is still very much active in bringing young women to Canada as strippers, yet both the Prime Minister and the immigration minister led Canadians to believe the opposite. The Prime Minister told the House, “There is no official program.... It is over”.

Who are Canadians to believe, W-FIVE investigators or the Prime Minister?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the decision was made several months ago. The Prime Minister reiterated the position, then elaborated on by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. There is no blanket assessment for any exotic dancers. The program does not exist.

Any application by temporary workers comes on a case by case basis. I think the people on W-FIVE indicated that was the case. The Prime Minister made a promise and he kept it.

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

There is another contradiction, Mr. Speaker. The immigration minister told the House, “We looked at whether we wanted to continue to provide labour market opinion on strippers and the answer was clearly no”. But he told W-FIVE , “We are giving an analysis of this job market”. W-FIVE has exposed the government as untrustworthy because officials have warned for years that bringing in strippers amounts to trafficking in vulnerable young women.

Why is the Canadian government still secretly complicit in the exploitation of women?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, all of this rhetoric flies in the face of the reality. There is no such program. I made that clear in the House, as I did on W-FIVE . There is no such program. People can accuse the government of doing anything they want to accuse it of doing, but there is no program to bring in exotic dancers.

Citizenship

[James Rajotte, Conservative, Edmonton—Leduc, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Edmonton has been without a citizenship judge for more than eight months and now has a backlog of over 2,000 people waiting to become new Canadians. Instead of actually making a decision and appointing a judge, the government has been occasionally flying in judges from all over the country, but this move has not addressed the backlog.

My question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Why has it taken eight months to make this appointment? When will the people of Edmonton have a citizenship judge?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for acknowledging the fact that the government is acting to address the issue by flying in members of the Citizenship Court to address an immediate need.

I am sure the member would also agree that he would want the government to put in place a merit based system whereby we make all the appropriate appointments and where people fit, with their competency, the requirement of the period. We are in the process of doing that. When that process is completed, we will then make the appropriate appointments.

[James Rajotte, Conservative, Edmonton—Leduc, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the judge who was already appointed, Judge Bhatia, was an excellent judge. He was a non-partisan judge who did a fantastic job, and he is willing to do it again. In fact he is doing it on a voluntary basis as much as he can while the government dithers.

The fact is over thousands of people in Edmonton have had to wait to become official citizens of the country because the government has not acted and has dithered. It is the responsibility of the government to act in this situation.

Why do the people of Edmonton have to wait for eight months to get a citizenship judge? When will they finally get a citizenship judge appointed to deal with this backlog of people waiting to become new Canadians?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to see the new found love for immigrants by members of the Conservative Party.

However, we can see that at least they acknowledge the fact that--