Debates of Oct. 19th, 2006

The Environment

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has just delivered the final blow to the Kyoto protocol.

She has no short-term objectives, no measurable targets, no binding timetable; her only specific target is for 2050. I wonder how old the minister will be in 2050. By then will there still be any glaciers in the Far North? How much land will no longer be arable? How many coastal cities will have been flooded? How many people will have died as the direct or indirect consequence of climate change?

How can the minister do this to our planet and, more important yet, how can she do this to our children and grandchildren?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, it is precisely why we need Canada's clean air act: to protect our generation and the generations to come after us.

I would like to know how the hon. member could vote against a bill which will make sure, for the first time, that we can enact interim emergency orders to shut down polluting industries if we think immediate action is needed. How can he vote against something that will expand the inspection powers of our enforcement officers?

Most surprising is how he could actually vote against fuel efficiency standards in the auto sector. Do we know why? It is because those members never had the guts to regulate the auto sector.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would never vote for something so irresponsible.

A few months ago, the minister made an announcement saying that she would announce something shortly. Since then she has come to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development to announce that there would be an announcement that would announce the announcement of the announcement.

Recently the Prime Minister confirmed in an announcement that he was going to shortly make an important announcement about the announcement that would precede the announcement. Today they are finally announcing that they are going to consult. They are going to consult for years.

We have been consulting for years. We want action. When is it going to happen?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about regulations that will come into force in the next few weeks and the next few months, regulations to reduce pollution from big equipment in construction, regulations to reduce pollution from outboards, ATVs and snowmobiles, heavy trucks, school buses and forklifts, and to reduce pollution from consumer products in things like paints, cosmetics and cleaning products.

All of these things have an impact to improve the health of Canadians. That is what Canada's clean air act does. That is the action we introduced this morning. That is what this member should support.

Older Workers

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Industry boasted about an agreement with the Government of Quebec regarding the income support program for older workers. That is not the case, because no fewer than three ministers of the Quebec government—and not the least of them the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade and the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity—said that they were disappointed with the federal program.

What answer can the Minister of Industry give the Government of Quebec, today, when it is asking for an income support program for older workers and not just re-employment measures?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce in this House that Quebec is participating in our program. If you have not read the papers today, I can tell you that the minister, Ms. Courchesne, has said that the program:

—is a valuable program for many of the workers affected by the crisis in the forest industry—

Therefore the Government of Quebec is behind our program.

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Employment, Michelle Courchesne, also said, and I quote:

—excluding Montreal when we are talking about the garment industry, when we are talking mostly about women from the cultural communities, there is some concern—

Does the Minister of Industry not realize that not only does his program include no income support measures, that being the main problem, but it also excludes Quebec City, Gatineau and Montreal—half of Quebec, no less?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the Bloc Québécois that in its 2000, 2004 and 2006 election platform it called for an older worker adjustment program.

[Some hon. members]

Yes.

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

The Bloc Québécois was an ineffective opposition when it came to getting a program for all those years, and it was just as ineffective in successfully standing up for the interests of Quebec.

The Bloc Québécois and the Liberals failed to deliver the goods. It took a Conservative government to get things done, and it takes a Conservative government to stand up for the interests of Quebec.

Firearms Registry

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, recently the Quebec National Assembly unanimously demanded that the firearms registry be maintained, and it condemned the federal government's Bill C-21.

How can the Minister of Public Safety ignore the demands of parents and victims of the Dawson College tragedy, ignore the Quebec National Assembly's unanimous appeal, and pursue its intention to remove hunting guns from the Canadian Firearms Registry? For all practical purposes, this would render the registry useless.

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we will maintain a registry for all those who wish to own or buy a firearm. I would also note that police forces will still keep information in their systems so they know if a man or woman keeps a firearm at home or at school.

We will maintain the system.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government is suffering from a serious lack of consistency: more people in prison and more firearms in circulation.

Why does this government always take its cue from the worst of what is happening in the United States? Proportionally, the U.S. incarcerates seven times more people than Canada, and has many more firearms in circulation. As a result, the homicide risk is three times higher there than in Canada. More people in prison and more firearms in circulation means more homicide.

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, on the one hand, he says we have a problem with criminal situations, and on the other, he says we have a problem because prisoners are still in prison.

We want to keep dangerous people in jail, but the Bloc opposes that approach. We want safe streets for our families, for our men, women and children. It seems they are against that too.

Older Workers

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Industry assured us that the Government of Quebec was more than satisfied with the Conservative government's so-called assistance program for older workers. But Quebec's minister of employment and social solidarity, Michelle Courchesne, has said very clearly and very publicly that this is not true.

How can Quebec be satisfied with a program that is supposed to help textile workers, for example, but excludes the very region where textile jobs are concentrated? Can the minister explain that to us?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier the minister, Ms. Courchesne, said that we have developed a program that applies to many workers in the industry and will be very useful to the forest industry. And she is not the only one, because the president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, Claudette Carbonneau, said that this was a legitimate program, with legitimate retraining measures for workers.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know what the forest industry has to do with the textile industry in greater Montreal. In my opinion, the minister is reading from his paper without really thinking about what he is saying.

We see the lack of communication between the Conservative minority government and the Government of Quebec. That is patently clear.

The critical mass of the textile industry is located in the Montreal area and includes not only older workers, but also many women from Montreal's multicultural community.

Why is the government abandoning these women from the multicultural community?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we are concerned about the fate of the women and men who work in the textile industry. This program is very flexible and reflects this new government's open federalism.

The Government of Quebec will decide on the applicability criteria for this program. In addition, the program will be tailored to Quebec's needs.

Government Programs

[Ruby Dhalla, Liberal, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the human resources minister and the Prime Minister seem to always speak with one mind when it comes to muzzling voices of those who are in dissent.

They have written off the youth. They have given up on older workers. They have cancelled Canada's volunteerism initiative, which impacts thousands of volunteer organizations across the country. They have even abandoned adults who want to be able to learn to read and write.

The Conservatives continue to attack the most vulnerable in our society. Does the minister not realize that her cuts are forcing thousands of literacy organizations to close their doors?

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, we are looking at all government expenditures to ensure that they are achieving the results they were intended to achieve. It is something that is tremendously important.

Rather than put funds to have conferences and symposiums, rather than put funds to have advocacy, which was so popular among the previous government members, we want to focus on something unique. We want to focus on actually helping people learn to read and write.

[Ruby Dhalla, Liberal, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Conservatives are focusing on is attacking the most vulnerable in the country.

The facts are clear. The budget cuts by the Conservative government have gutted funding for adult literacy and training programs across the country. The axe has fallen, without any consultation, without any consideration and without any compassion. The Prime Minister has indicated, not only to his entire caucus but to Canadians across the country, that it is his way or the highway.

Why is the government so determined to muzzle, to gag and to silence the most vulnerable?

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, when the Liberal Party was in government, the most vulnerable in society were taxpayers.

We saw the billion dollar boondoggle at HRDC. We saw another billion dollar boondoggle when it came to the long gun registry. We saw, literally, millions of dollars misspent and misdirected, some of it even into the coffers of the Liberal Party.

Thank goodness we have a Prime Minister and a government that stand with ordinary taxpayers and fight for them.

Access to Information

[Dave Van Kesteren, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago the opposition Liberals were smearing the reputations of public servants and members of the Prime Minister's staff, accusing them of having deliberately broken the law by leaking the names of access to information requesters.

However, an inquiry into the matter by the access to information, privacy and ethics committee has revealed that no laws were violated and no names were leaked.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister demand an apology from the official opposition for having recklessly smeared the reputations of public servants and misleading Canadians?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thought it was shameful that we had several members of the Liberal opposition drag through the mud the names of honourable public servants of our country, people who work in the Prime Minister's office, who they claimed deliberately and wilfully violated the law and violated the Privacy Act.

We now know, after a standing committee inquiry, that those allegations were completely invented, totally fabricated and completely false. Even the Liberal member for Willowdale said, “I haven't heard anything to indicate that there was a breach of the law in this matter”.

We are looking forward to an apology to our public servants.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative's made in Washington plan is basically a free ticket for oil companies to continue to pollute. With the minister's proposal regarding intensity-based targets, pollution will not be reduced; rather, it will continue to increase.

Can the minister explain from where she drew her inspiration? Was it George W. Bush, Ralph Klein or the previous Liberal government, a complete failure?