House of Commons Hansard #101 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.
Dave Chatters Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is vitally important to the Canadian economy that we have access to our northern natural gas. Esso, Shell and ConocoPhillips have halted their work on the $7 billion Mackenzie Valley pipeline project due to unreasonable demands from aboriginal groups and mounting red tape from this government.
The government is sitting on the sidelines watching this project go down the drain. Why has the government failed to move this project forward?
Anne McLellan LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, far from sitting on the sidelines, we are working with the government of the Northwest Territories. Premier Handley was in town last week. We are in fact working on the regulatory process. We have met with the producers. Premier Handley on Friday met in Calgary with aboriginal proponents of this project.
It is a very complex project, one of the most complex regulatory processes under way anywhere right now, I think it is fair to say. Everybody has the shared objective to make sure the Mackenzie gas flows south in a timely fashion. That is what we are all--
Oil and Gas IndustryOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member for Westlock—St. Paul.
Dave Chatters Conservative Westlock—St. Paul, AB
Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the gas is not flowing in a timely fashion.
The government has also dropped the ball on the Alaska pipeline. We have a 27-year-old piece of legislation which is outdated and is now threatening to tie up the entire Alaska pipeline project for years in court. I raised this issue in the House with the minister two years ago and was simply dismissed.
Enbridge is now threatening legal action on this issue, yet the minister is not doing anything to resolve the issue. Why has the government been sitting on its hands for the past 12 years and doing nothing to move this project forward?
Anne McLellan LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, I would presume the hon. member knows enough about the Alaska gas project to know that in fact it is a project driven by the private sector. The resource is owned by the state of Alaska. In fact, it is up to the producers to undertake discussions with the state of Alaska as to how the project moves forward. Absolutely, there has to be infrastructure to move the gas south below the 49th parallel.
In fact, for the hon. member to suggest that this government has been inactive or that this government is the problem reflects the fact that the member knows nothing about Alaska gas, who owns it or who is going to move it.
Loyola Hearn Conservative St. John's South, NL
Mr. Speaker, when the present government was asked in the House if it would get involved in the development of the Lower Churchill project, the minister of the day said:
--the climate change issue is not an opportunity for every provincial project in every area that may have a minor climate change element at a high cost to be funded by the federal government.
Does the government still feel the same way about this project?
Stéphane Dion LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, in the very strong climate change plan we have, which we hope will survive the whirlwind and which we hope the House will unanimously support through the budget, we offered to provinces to have a partnership fund to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in joint priorities.
If it is a joint priority to develop hydroelectricity, for instance, we will do it. We will then strengthen the energy security of the country and we will reach our Kyoto target. It depends on what the provinces want to do with us.
Gerald Keddy Conservative South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is clawing back 90% of Newfoundland and Labrador's revenues from the Voisey's Bay development. Why will the government not agree to renegotiate its contract with the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in order to provide a more equitable revenue sharing plan?
Larry Bagnell LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, as members know, we have an agreement, the Atlantic accord, and we are taking care of Newfoundland and Labrador and its revenues.
Paul Crête Bloc Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC
Mr. Speaker, Tembec forestry products has announced that it will be closing four plants, which will mean the loss of 459 jobs, 403 of those in Quebec. The government has continued to turn a deaf ear to our appeals and is refusing to create an aid package for the softwood lumber industry.
Is the closure of these four plants not, unfortunately, an illustration and proof of the negligence of the government which, in refusing to follow up on our recommendations for a recovery plan, has brought about the negative outcome we are seeing today?
Jacques Saada LiberalMinister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for the Francophonie
Mr. Speaker, we are injecting an average of $25 million to $30 million specifically into communities affected by the softwood lumber situation.
We and the Government of Quebec have agreed to take part in a co-ordinating committee to lessen the impact of provincial bill 71.
We have never had any request of any kind from Tembec. We cannot respond to a request that has not been made.
Paul Crête Bloc Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC
Mr. Speaker, how can the minister be boasting about his budget when it contains nothing for companies affected by the softwood lumber crisis, even though that crisis has now been going on for three years and there is no end to the job losses?
Jacques Saada LiberalMinister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for the Francophonie
Mr. Speaker, if I do not keep tight control over my emotions, I will end up in tears over the sudden interest in economic development from a party that is voting against the budget, voting against a $309 million increase in the budget, voting against Bill C-9, and voting against the economic reinforcement of Quebec.
This is the lowest kind of petty politics, and has nothing at all to do with the issues at hand.
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Mr. Speaker, unilateral action is not the way to resolve the crisis in Darfur. Last week the Prime Minister did not consult with African Union leaders, NATO leaders or even the head of the Sudanese government before rushing to make an announcement that he was sending Canadian military into Darfur without our allies, without the Sudanese government knowing, and without even the means to protect themselves.
Helping people in Darfur is too important to ignore these things. Why did he not at least warn the African Union leaders that he was about to take unilateral action in Darfur?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, that is absolutely wrong. There have been the appropriate consultations. The Prime Minister and I have conducted consultations with the government in Iran, the United Nations, the African Union and the government of Sudan.
I spoke again with the secretary general of NATO two days ago on the telephone. The catalytic leadership that the Government of Canada is providing when there are thousands of people who are dying, who are being raped and who are starving is very much appreciated.
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is not catalytic leadership; it is catatonic leadership.
I have a statement which was released today by the leaders of Egypt, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, Gabon and Eritrea. They said that they reject any foreign intervention in the Darfur problem. Today in Brussels the African Union president, Alpha Konare, said that there will be no troops on the ground unless they are exclusively African. The Sudanese ambassador to Canada said that her country will not allow Canadian military into Darfur.
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, we have always been very clear that we will be complementary to what the African Union is doing. We will be supporting the African Union exercise. We have always said exactly that.
What we do know is that where the African Union has been in Darfur it has been helpful, but more boots on the ground are needed in the region, more than the 3,000 they have now. They need better communications equipment. Canada can do something about that. They need better transportation vehicles. Canada can help with NATO to do the right thing in Darfur.
Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON
Mr. Speaker, the health and welfare of Canadian seniors is very important to me, and I believe to all my colleagues in the House.
I would like the Minister of State for Families and Caregivers to outline for all of us the improvements for seniors contained in budget 2005.
Tony Ianno LiberalMinister of State (Families and Caregivers)
Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government believes in the value and the well-being of our seniors. Our seniors have helped build this nation to what it is today. In this budget there is $2.7 billion over five years to ensure our seniors are given the respect and the dignity they deserve.
We ask the members opposite to support our seniors and vote for the budget because they believe in it. We ask them to do so also.
Standing Committee on Government Operations and EstimatesOral Question Period
Conservative
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works often says he is open and accountable, but his actions say he is not. We just cannot trust what he says. The truth is that he refuses to attend the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates to be held accountable on the 2005-06 spending estimates for his department.
Will the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates tell this House and Canadians the truth about the minister's disrespectful treatment of this committee?
Standing Committee on Government Operations and EstimatesOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member knows that questions to committee chairs are permitted, but they are to deal with the agenda of the committee and not testimony that is given in committee.
Standing Committee on Government Operations and EstimatesOral Question Period
An hon. member
It is about the agenda.
Standing Committee on Government Operations and EstimatesOral Question Period
The Speaker
It did not sound like the agenda to me. He asked for comments on the minister's testimony and that is not the agenda in committee. I am sorry, but there are limits.
The hon. member for Cambridge.
Gary Goodyear Conservative Cambridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, my first question in this House was with regard to the accreditation process for foreign trained doctors. Forty-four billion dollars later and there is absolutely no change.
The last budget--the first one, I should say--just has 50¢ per Ontarian, and that will not solve this problem. Doctors are driving cabs while the lineups get longer.
Will the minister please get serious and get a plan about helping the one million people in Ontario who do not have doctors, not in 2008, not in 2012, but right now?
Ujjal Dosanjh LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, in the last health accord $41 billion was provided to the provinces for this purpose and other purposes in health care. There is $250 million a year ongoing in terms of training that is implicit and embedded in that health accord.
We just provided $75 million over five years to create residencies across the country. That money will flow to the provinces. That will create new positions for residencies for foreign trained doctors.