Debates of Oct. 20th, 2006

The Environment

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on May 25, 2006, the newspaper Le Soleil reported that, as a result of a meeting with her provincial counterpart, the Minister of the Environment said she was open to putting some money towards Quebec's action plan for climate change. Yesterday, however, the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and political lieutenant in Quebec, said otherwise.

Why will the Minister of the Environment not keep her promise to Quebeckers?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I have always been very clear that we are very glad Quebec has put in place its own environment plan. It is a good plan. I hope it comes into law soon.

However, the government is working on its own plan. Obviously, it impacts all provinces and every industry sector across the country. There are a number of ways we can collaborate together to ensure that we make the best impact on the environment, and we will continue to do that with the province of Quebec.

[John Godfrey, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that plan is the Quebec Kyoto plan.

Yesterday the Minister of the Environment had the audacity to claim that in order to make more progress in the fight against global warming, we needed to implement intensity targets. Intensity is not the issue.

The government is trying to make it appear that it is taking new action. The minister fails to mention that thanks to the former Liberal government Canada's greenhouse gas intensity is already 13% below 1990 levels.

Will the Minister of the Environment admit that intensity is not the problem and that she is just trying to find a clever way to avoid real action until we are all dead?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, as I said repeatedly, the government is committed to putting in place short term targets, by spring, with every industry sector across the country and with every province and territory. However, the difference is we will do it together. We will not impose an arbitrarily picked target out of thin air like the Liberals did, leaving us in a mess so we cannot even make progress on the environment.

We will collaborate with the provinces and territories in a transparent way, work together with industry and put in place reachable, achievable, workable targets.

[John Godfrey, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, numbers do not lie. During the former Liberal government's time in office, greenhouse gas emissions in Canada dropped in nine of the last eleven years and is now 13% below 1990 levels. Intensity is not the problem; real, actual greenhouse gas reductions are.

Will the minister withdraw her notice of intention to regulate and replace it with a hard cap on actual greenhouse gas emissions that will take effect in 2010?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member full well knows, out of the four plans that were shelved, the last two plans that were shelved by the Liberal government were intensity based short term targets.

As he also knows, it is not technologically feasible to make absolute reductions right now. We will put in place intensity targets in the short term to lead up to ensuring we have the technology in place to make absolute reductions as soon as possible.

Transport

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the proof is in that security measures at the port of Montreal and Montréal-Trudeau Airport are flawed. Rather than resolutely addressing the problem, what are the authorities doing? In one case they go after the journalist and in the other they fire the worker who blew the whistle.

What is the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities going to do to remind the port of Montreal and Montréal-Trudeau Airport authorities that they must address the security gaps rather than coming down on those who report them?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his two part question. The first part concerns the recent report by a journalist. We investigated the matter and found that no immediate action is required. We also discovered that some of the report's allegations were unfounded.

Second, with regard to the port of Montreal, this is an internal matter.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, given that the government promised to protect whistle-blowers, should it not follow up on its commitment by abandoning the reprisals against the individual who courageously denounced the security failures at the Port of Montreal?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, if I have understood my hon. colleague's question, he is referring to the Montréal-Trudeau Airport. No action will be taken against the individuals involved.

Fisheries

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks tensions have been growing between the Chapel Island First Nations Band and the Richmond Country Inshore Fishermen's Association in my riding.

Disputed information on the extent of the fishery being conducted by the band and whether any illegal activity is taking place has caused concern in these communities. However, comments, such as those made by the Prime Minister recently in the Calgary Herald, have only served to further divide these two communities.

Will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans distance himself from the Prime Minister's inflammatory comments and work with both communities to ensure a lawful and orderly fishery is held in this region?

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is quite right to be concerned about the situation. There has been considerable tension between the lobster fishers from the Chapel Island First Nation and local fishermen, particularly with respect to measures relating to the band's food, social and ceremonial fishery.

Agreement was reached last weekend with first nation leadership. The band council then voted to reject that agreement. Therefore, now talks are ongoing to reach a consensus.

I want to assure the member that we are monitoring the situation very closely.

The Environment

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday our government tabled the clean air act, which demonstrates our commitment to cleaning up the air we breathe for the health of all Canadians. Part of that act includes the development of the new national air quality health index.

Could the Minister of Health please tell the House what public reaction he has received on this new bill?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, one of the most obvious factors in determining health is the environment. Our government is the first government at the federal level to recognize this. In fact, the Canadian Medical Association said yesterday:

--the government appears to be on the right track....that reason, the Clean Air Act could prove to be a significant first step in improving the health of Canadians.

Also, the founder of the environmental group Healthy Indoors Partnership has called this a landmark decision, a very positive development.

We are moving forward simply beyond lip service to the notion of addressing, finally, the determinants of health instead of the legacy of 13 years of inaction--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

Decorum

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House of Commons the Minister of Foreign Affairs demonstrated, yet again, a side of himself that is sexist and demeaning. I thought we were finally at a place in the House where women were no longer demeaned. Maybe we now know the answer to why the government is so determined to cut back on the status of women department.

Today we ask the government this. Will it tell the Minister of Foreign Affairs that he should stick to his knitting and apologize to Canadian women?

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

Mr. Speaker, I believe this matter is before you in the form of a point of order. I am sure the member who posed the question will share with me our confidence in your capacity to deal with these matters before the House and also a general will among members to improve decorum here.

Since she has expressed concern about this alleged matter, I look forward to her next question regarding the member for Bourassa having referred to the Minister of the Environment as a pretty plant, and demand his apologies as they have not yet been forthcoming.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, let us deal with the Minister of Foreign Affairs who is allowed to bark and bite all he wants and no one from the government side is willing to tell him to put a muzzle on it.

For decades and decades in the House of Commons there has been a rough ride for female parliamentarians. We owe a lot to the founding mothers of this place: Agnes Macphail, Gladys Strum, Ellen Fairclough, Flora MacDonald and many others.

The minister demeans the service of these women and, indeed, the whole House. Will no one in the Conservative government condemn these sexist actions?

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

Mr. Speaker, you are, of course, in your office charged with maintaining decorum in this place, which is why we trust your judgment when it comes to points of order such as the one that is now before you. I am sure the member opposite agrees that remarks made by members on all sides of the House should be considered in terms of improving decorum.

However, the Conservative tradition in our country is the one that brought the franchise to women. The first woman prime minister, the first woman cabinet minister, the first woman premier were all Conservatives, of which we are proud.

The Environment

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, last spring I asked a question about the government's commitment to restoring the Petitcodiac River and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment answered by talking about bus passes. Months later, there is still no action while this environmental tragedy continues.

Will the Minister of the Environment commit her government today to paying a fair share of the cost of removing the existing causeway and restoring this once mighty river, or will the fish now caught in the mud also have to wait until 2050 for any real change?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I will let the hon. member know the current status of the environmental assessment.

The responsible departments, Fisheries and Oceans and my department and the Minister of Transport's department, are involved in this ongoing province-led environmental assessment at this time. It is examining some of the options related to the modification of the causeway. When I have more information, I would be happy to share it with the hon. member.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Red Deer Advocate commented yesterday:

[The member for Winnipeg South Centre's] party had nine years to provide to native people the same rights in family law enjoyed by all other Canadians, and chose not to right that wrong.... Native people have been waiting for such a law for too long.

The former Liberal government's inaction is unacceptable. Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs tell us what Canada's new government is doing to improve the lives of women and children to give them the same rights as other Canadians?

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, on September 29, Canada's new government launched the second phase of a national consultation process on the issue of the division of matrimonial real property on reserve. This is the first of a series of measures to protect the rights and to ensure the well-being of women, children and families living on reserves.

Matrimonial real property has been a long-standing human rights issue and we are committed to resolving it. Unlike the former Liberal government, our new government is getting things done for aboriginal women, children and families.

Canadian Wheat Board

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the shift in the Canadian Wheat Board election process is becoming more confusing to the farmers, but that is not all. Legitimately nominated director candidates may no longer be eligible because those who nominated them are ineligible to vote. In other words, perfectly legitimate candidates could be unfairly disqualified.

Will the minister give his word today that any candidate nominated since the election process began will be eligible for election, regardless of the minister having changed the rules halfway through the election process, yes or no?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary (for the Canadian Wheat Board) to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, hysteria and hyperbole seem to be part of the NDP's way of dealing with this issue. In the House the other day the leader of the NDP brought up this issue in a way that I am sure he knew was not accurate.

The minister has said that we will deliver balance to the producers who have delivered grain over the last two years. Any other person who has an interest in grain can file a statutory declaration and they then can vote in these elections and participate in them.