Debates of Sept. 29th, 2005

Justice

[Rick Casson, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is statements like that from the government that cloud this issue and put our children at risk.

By refusing to raise the age of consent, the government has turned its back on the weakest of our society, our children. Why does the government continue to ignore the calls for action by parents and police? Why does it refuse to recognize that most countries have a higher standard than Canada?

By raising the age of consent to 16 with a close in age exemption for teenagers, our children can be protected from the adult creeps who prey on them. Just do the right thing. Protect our kids.

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, no one can consent to being exploited. Whatever the age, that consent cannot be given.

The reality is what we are doing in the process with Bill C-2 is to deal with the cause of the problem. The cause is the person who exploits our young people. Those are the people we are going to get and bring to justice.

The Economy

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry.

Recently the World Economic Forum released its annual report on global competitiveness. The report measures the competitiveness of 117 countries using a wide range of indicators, including both hard data and an opinion survey of nearly 11,000 business leaders.

Could the minister inform the House how Canada stacked up against the competition and what steps the government is taking to improve Canada's economic competitiveness?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting that the World Economic Forum, at a time when members opposite are trashing one of our pre-eminent programs of innovation support, had this to say about the Government of Canada:

We have been well impressed by Canada's strong performance among her G-7 peers, particularly the cautious management of public finances.

It went on to say that more importantly, the country continues to nurture its capacity for innovation and there have been improvements with respect to company spending on R and D, the extent of absorption of new technologies and the level of business community and continued penetration—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Windsor West.

Gasoline Prices

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, another economist's report was tabled today that shows that Canadians are being ripped off at the pump. The fact of the matter is that prices should not be above $1 per litre. In fact, the sheer profiteering from hurricanes has been devastating to consumers. At the same time the industry itself has described its profits as spectacular.

The government has been sitting on a gas report tabled two years ago to bring accountability. Have enough Canadians been ripped off for the Liberals to act?

Will the Minister of Industry create a watchdog price monitoring agency now to protect Canadian consumers?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government has indicated that we are working on a variety of measures to deal with the concerns of Canadians with respect to transparency and competition in the marketplace, particularly the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Natural Resources. I have been very active on this file. It has been very helpful to have the advice of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the member for Pickering—Scarborough East, whose work on this file has been exemplary.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner released a scathing report today confirming what 11 environmental groups have said all along, that the Liberal government has broken promise after promise to Canadians when it comes to our environment. New Democrats have long said what the auditor now confirms, that any credibility the Liberal government had when it comes to the environment is now gone.

Would the minister like to stand up today and make another promise that he is only going to break tomorrow?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member would not be able to list one promise that I have not kept since I have been in Parliament.

We are committed to go ahead with our 10 year plan for clean air; to go ahead with our climate change plan, which is the most compelling one to be found on earth now; to go ahead in the next 15 years with our plan to decontaminate all federal sites. All those commitments will be fulfilled.

Income Trusts

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Doug and Kay from Oakville sent us an e-mail today saying that they lost $30,000 in their savings on September 19 because of the finance minister's inept management on the income trust issue. We understand that Liberals do not care about small investors and seniors like Doug and Kay, because according to them, they do not count politically.

The minister told us that he thought these stories were a bunch of exaggerations. Is he saying that Doug and Kay are lying?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I hazard a guess that my concern for Doug and Kay and their counterparts is every bit as deep, if not more, than that of the member for Medicine Hat. I would say to that member, not to Doug and Kay, but to that member, that those who feed a sense of fear and exaggeration are doing a disservice in the marketplace and elsewhere to those whom they purport to represent.

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if the finance minister is really so concerned, then why does he not do something about it? Why does he not stand in his place right now and say without equivocation that income trusts are here to stay and he will not implement taxes on them?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman is—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Order, order. The poor member for Medicine Hat has asked a question and he wants to hear the answer. I can see him just quaking, waiting for the answer from the Minister of Finance. We cannot hear a word because of all the noise in the chamber. The Minister of Finance has the floor and the member for Medicine Hat is entitled to hear the answer he is about to get.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman is inviting me to pre-empt a legitimate public consultation process that is in place to find out exactly what are the right answers in terms of public policy for Doug and Kay and all of the other investors in this country, whether they invest in income trusts or in other dimensions of the Canadian economy.

I would invite all Canadians to participate in that process. They can do so through the Finance website at www.fin.gc.ca. They can call 613-992-1573 and we do accept collect calls.

Sponsorship Program

[Gary Lunn, Conservative, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we asked the Minister of Public Works whether the RCMP had recently seized documents relating to the sponsorship scandal. The minister responded by claiming the RCMP had asked Public Works for a single invoice.

For the third time, is the minister aware that the RCMP attended the Public Works offices in Gatineau, Quebec on September 14 and seized over 100 boxes of documents from the records management group? Can the minister confirm or deny that this in fact happened?

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands actually claimed that Public Works provided information to the RCMP that had been withheld from the Gomery commission. I said yesterday in the House and I will repeat again today in the House that the information provided to the RCMP to help cooperate with their ongoing investigations was provided in fact twice to the Gomery commission.

That hon. member ought to rise in the House and correct what he said yesterday because he was wrong when he tried to bring disrepute on the work of Justice Gomery.

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, today the Auditor General reported that the government has spent $2 billion on aboriginal drinking water and it is still failing first nations people in this country. The government is proposing to spend another $2 billion in the next three years without any performance standards, without any regulatory framework, without providing accurate information to Parliament, zero accountability.

The government's record is one of 12 years of failure. Why are first nations citizens still waiting for clean drinking water and where did the $2 billion go?

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

Mr. Speaker, I join with the Minister of Health and the Minister of the Environment in saying that the government accepts the report of the environment commissioner. We are acting on the recommendations now, in fact. We are working with first nations communities to put the regulations in place that are necessary to make sure that we deliver good water to first nations communities.

Foreign Affairs

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs applauded the announcement that Canada was to resume nuclear cooperation with India. But this means that he is lifting the strict moratorium he had imposed on India following the nuclear testing it conducted in 1974.

What message is Canada sending to those countries that have complied with the non-proliferation treaty? Does the minister realize that he is rewarding the delinquent countries and compromising international non-proliferation efforts?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada recognizes that India recently undertook to take a number of measures to adhere, so to speak, to long-standing nuclear non-proliferation standards and applauds this commitment. This is where matters stand.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us face it; this is a 180 degree turnaround in the Canadian non-proliferation policy.

Could the minister tell us why no debate on this issue is taking place in the House of Commons, when the American Congress could, if it so decides after consideration, stop a similar agreement signed between the United States and India in July from being implemented?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well that, if the Bloc Québécois wants a debate on this issue, it can always use its opposition days for that purpose.

I must say and point out to the hon. member that things have changed. We acknowledge the fact that India is expanding and becoming a major political and economic player on the international scene. This is a reality that has obviously eluded Bloc members.

Sponsorship Program

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in response to a question from me about the apparent seizure of documents from the Department of Public Works, the minister said, “I am informed that last week the RCMP contacted Public Works [which] provided an invoice to the RCMP...”.

Is it the position of the minister that the invoice ran over 100 boxes long? Is it not true and will he not confirm that over 100 boxes of information were taken from the offices of his department by the RCMP related to the sponsorship inquiry?