House of Commons Hansard #104 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.
John Godfrey LiberalMinister of State (Infrastructure and Communities)
Mr. Speaker, over the weekend the mayor of Winnipeg said that he was pleased to report that we are engaged in intensive discussions to get the deal done and that he was optimistic that we would find a positive solution on the gas tax. There is no problem here.
Joy Smith Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, there is a big problem here because in February 2005 the government guaranteed that money could be put into roads and bridges.
Now the Liberal agenda seems to be more of a priority than the needs of the cities and municipalities. When will this change?
John Godfrey LiberalMinister of State (Infrastructure and Communities)
Mr. Speaker, what the government guaranteed is that we would be using the gas tax money in large cities to obtain results that coincided with our national strategy, such as reducing greenhouse gases and having clean water.
We said that smaller places, places with 25,000 people or less, could use the money to rehabilitate roads and bridges because they do not have public transit.
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
Mr. Speaker, we heard the admission right there: It is about Liberal priorities, not city priorities.
The Prime Minister led big cities to believe that gas tax money would go to fix crumbling roads and bridges. Then his minister of infrastructure directed that gas tax dollars had to go to buying buses instead.
Canada's big cities want to fix the roads and highways neglected by the Liberal government over the past decade but the government will not let them.
Why is the minister of infrastructure forcing big cities to buy buses but is not allowing them to fix the roads they must travel on?
John Godfrey LiberalMinister of State (Infrastructure and Communities)
Mr. Speaker, the answer is simple. It is because big cities, like Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal, have all asked for money for public transit, as has the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
Mr. Speaker, Ontario and Manitoba are negotiating gas tax transfers.
Deals with British Columbia and Alberta show just what hoops the provinces must go through before they can spend the money, ensuring big cities can only buy buses but not fix the roads on which they must travel.
Canada's provinces and cities can determine infrastructure priorities without the minister of infrastructure constantly looking over their shoulders.
Will the minister remove restrictions so Ontario's and Manitoba's big cities can rebuild their crumbling roads and bridges?
John Godfrey LiberalMinister of State (Infrastructure and Communities)
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the gas tax money is to find, with municipalities and provinces, shared national objectives. Some of those national objectives have to do with clean water, clean air and the reduction of greenhouse gases.
The cities themselves agree with that strategy. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities agrees with that strategy. British Columbia and Alberta signed agreements which agree with that strategy. What is not to like about that?
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois says it wants to defend the interests of Quebec when, in fact, it is more interested in defending the interests of sovereignists only.
The leader of the Bloc loves to repeat that there is nothing in the government's budget for Quebec. It is easy to see, from reading the budget, that the leader of the Bloc is deliberately ignoring many measures benefiting Quebec.
Can the Minister of Finance tell us about the many benefits in this budget for Quebec?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, by opposing the budget, the Bloc Québécois hopes to prevent the government from relieving the financial pressure on Quebec.
This budget provides for parental leave, $200 million for transition; child care, $1 billion for Quebec; more than $1 billion for Quebec cities and communities; more money for students and housing; money to fight climate change; money to increase foreign aid, all priorities of Quebeckers.
It is obvious that the Bloc is not working in Quebec's interests.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, in 2003, the Gullyfish processing plant in Shippagan was destroyed by arson. In 2004, the Oceanis plant in Shippagan closed. Now the Bluecove plant in Maissonnette has just closed. Since 2003, over 600 employees have been affected.
My question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Will the minister implement a program to help the employees at least qualify for employment insurance, or set up an early retirement program, or will he wash his hands of this and leave these employees and their families penniless?
Peter Adams LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, we are always very concerned when people become unemployed and when large numbers of people in a region become unemployed. The Department of HRSD provides assistance to employees and employers when something like this occurs. Our officials go to the premises concerned, or to a mutually agreed to site, and they help employees apply for EI. The federal government is helping in this case.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, Canadians welcomed today's reversal of the Prime Minister's earlier refusal to end government stonewalling of the Arar public inquiry. The unredacted memo released today proves that the government has been frustrating the public's right to know the truth by viciously redacting documents pertinent to the inquiry and doing so in a manner highly prejudicial to Maher Arar.
Will the government apologize for this despicable behaviour and give assurances today to Maher Arar and to Canadians that we can count on this cooperation to continue?
Geoff Regan LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. The issue here is the public release of documents. It is important to note that all documents are available to Justice O'Connor. That is a very important point. I have made it clear that all information that can be released will be released provided it does not injure our national security interests, international relations or police work. That too is very important. The government asked that Justice O'Connor look at these documents in question. He has decided they should be released and we agreed.
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Mr. Speaker, before and after the government finally tabled its much overdue foreign policy statement, we had urged it to direct resources and personnel to pursuing our transatlantic opportunities and relationships. The government wrongly believed that it could just focus on the growing superparliament in Brussels. Yesterday, the people of France in a no vote rejected the European constitution.
Will the government now admit that areas important to Canada like trade, agriculture and security need to be pursued more on a nation by nation basis? Will it admit its analysis was flawed and do the follow-up?
Jim Peterson LiberalMinister of International Trade
Mr. Speaker, the vote in France yesterday had absolutely nothing to do with our trading relationship with Europe. We will continue to actively engage with the EU, the proper body. We are now negotiating a trade and investment enhancement agreement and we will continue to act in accordance with the rules established by the EU.
Stockwell Day Conservative Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC
Mr. Speaker, there still has to be contact with the EU. However, the minister does not seem to realize that yesterday France and tomorrow other countries are increasingly rejecting the notion of the EU dictating all their policies.
Will the government admit that it got wrong advice and redirect personnel and resources to pursuing, on a nation by nation bilateral basis in Europe, those important relationships to Canada? As it does that reallocation, which non-European countries are going to lose reallocation?
Jim Peterson LiberalMinister of International Trade
Mr. Speaker, we continue to have numerous bilateral contacts with the 25 members of the EU, but it is the EU that still speaks on issues such as trade.
David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Wheat Board is rapidly becoming a Liberal patronage rest home. After the last election the campaign manager for the present Canadian Wheat Board minister was hired as the board's lobbyist. Now that same minister has appointed a director whose main qualifications are his Liberal connections and his donation of more than $15,000 to the Prime Minister's leadership campaign.
Why is the government making prairie farmers pay the Prime Minister's political debts?
Reg Alcock LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, we are still waiting for that member to apologize for the allegations he last made about the Wheat Board.
Leaving that for the moment, he may be interested to know that the Wheat Board does considerable business internationally, has considerable interests in the WTO, and considerable interests in China. The member chosen has experience in all of those fields and is eminently well qualified to be a member of the board.
David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Mr. Speaker, when the Wheat Board legislation was rewritten, the government required that five directors be appointed by the government so that it could keep control of the board. These appointments have become more and more political. The latest is William Cheuk, who along with his business partners have donated more than $100,000 to the Prime Minister and Liberal Party. He has little agricultural expertise.
Why are western Canadian farmers paying for Liberal patronage appointments?
Reg Alcock LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, the member will know that the government does not appoint a majority of the members of the board. We only appoint five. We appoint one from Manitoba, one from Alberta, two from Saskatchewan, and then we alternate between Ontario and B.C. In this case, we chose an individual who has experience before the WTO, experience in marketing internationally and experience in marketing in China. He is an excellent appointment.
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, on December 14, the Prime Minister said very clearly that the money for child care would be given to Quebec unconditionally. “Absolutely”, said the Prime Minister at the time. And yet, last week, his Minister of Social Development said the opposite, intimating that he continues to attach certain conditions to federal funds.
In light of these contradictory statements, could the Prime Minister confirm that his commitment remains valid and that Quebec will get the money for child care without conditions?
Ken Dryden LiberalMinister of Social Development
Mr. Speaker, there were no contradictory statements. The questions that were asked last week were answered in the way they have always been answered. There are discussions and negotiations going on between the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec. Officials are speaking and no other statements were made.
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, do the conditions the Minister of Social Development wants to impose, despite the commitments by the Prime Minister, not explain the fact that over a year later there is still no agreement with the Government of Quebec on child care? It does not seem to me that transferring money unconditionally should be so complicated.
Ken Dryden LiberalMinister of Social Development
Mr. Speaker, I can only repeat my answer. No conversations or statements were made in that way. Negotiations and discussions are ongoing.