House of Commons Hansard #73 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was offenders.
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that greenhouse gas emissions by Quebec industries have declined by 7% since 1990, while emissions by the entire industrial sector in Canada have risen by 30%.
How can the federal government not have confidence in the plan proposed by Quebec, when Quebec's approach has produced excellent results to date?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I must add that this government has created trusts with the provinces. We have already paid Quebec $300 million, under the same terms as for Ontario and the other provinces.
I am interested to see that the Bloc Québécois supports the green plan of Quebec's federalist government, and I congratulate the Bloc on supporting the plan.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Conservatives finally revealed their agenda to hurt farm families and to kill jobs on the Prairies.
The Wheat Board belongs to the farmers, yet the hand-picked panel of the Prime Minister came out with a recommendation that the CEO and the board should be dismissed without even a vote by the farmers who own the Wheat Board.
Now we have Saskatchewan joining with Manitoba, and rightly, in calling for the voice of farmers to be heard through a fair vote on the question of the future of the Wheat Board. Even the Conservatives in Manitoba go along with this idea.
Why will the government not stop force-feeding its ideology to farmers here in Canada and give the farmers a fair vote on the future of the Wheat Board?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the NDP is aware, the Conservative Party of Canada supports marketing choice for western Canadian farmers. That is one of the reasons why we won virtually every rural seat in western Canada in the last federal election campaign.
As I have said repeatedly, this government never fears to consult with western farmers. We look forward to hearing their views.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is that kind of arrogance that is going to turn people off. We will see what happens in the next election.
The Prime Minister says he wants to consult with farmers and then takes a third of them off the voters list of the Wheat Board.
The fact is that it is going to kill jobs if the government kills the Wheat Board. It is not just going to hurt the farmers. It will take jobs away from communities. The mayor of Churchill pointed out that if he loses the port of Churchill, it is going to cost jobs. There will be all kinds of dependent jobs lost as well.
Despite the cackling from the peanut gallery over there, whose members have no interest in listening to farmers, my question is this. They wanted in and I guess they wanted farmers in the unemployment line. Will we get a fair vote or not for farmers--
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, of course the government has consistently campaigned on and promised a marketing choice for western Canadian grain farmers. We continue to ask for western Canadian grain farmers what all farmers in the rest of Canada have, which is an option to market their products as they see fit.
We see a strong, viable Canadian Wheat Board. The task force report that I tabled yesterday charts a path forward. We welcome debate on that task force report. It does, for the first time, block out how that might happen. We of course look forward to farmers' input on that task force report. We are always interested in what they have to say.
John Godfrey Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Mr. Speaker, environmental groups agree that the minority Conservative government's environmental plan is a disaster.
Today the NDP abandoned Kyoto as well.
This dead air act rips the heart out of existing environmental protection legislation, leaving Canada with a fragmented, uncoordinated and piecemeal Canadian Environmental Protection Act. No amount of tinkering with this disaster will salvage it. It is simply wrong-headed.
When will the government withdraw this fraud of a bill and bring forward a genuine plan on global warming?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, that is rich coming from the party that has no plan on global warming.
The member opposite knows full well that the clean air act is made up of amendments to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to strengthen it so that we can regulate every industry sector across this country, both for greenhouse gases and for air pollution.
I would encourage the member to work with us, to strengthen the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the other acts that we are looking to strengthen, and to support the clean air act.
John Godfrey Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Mr. Speaker, the government's cop-out plan on global warming has no short term targets, no medium targets and no action on greenhouse gases for 50 years. While the Conservatives talk, greenhouse gas emissions are increasing.
This dead air act is a sham. It is a smokescreen designed to avoid doing anything real on global warming. No amendments to the bill could ever change that fact. When will the minister withdraw this embarrassing mistake?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I would point out to the hon. member that I believe the Liberal leadership candidate he is supporting has the same target that this government has adopted and that was recommended by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.
I will also suggest to him that we will not do what the former government did and set arbitrary targets. We have given our word to the provinces and territories that we will work with them over the coming months and we will set short term targets in the very near future. I hope his party will work with us to make sure we can implement them.
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, in June, the Minister of the Environment said she was “enthusiastic” about Quebec's environmental plan to fight climate change.
Yesterday, she contradicted herself, saying she was “concerned” to justify her refusal to hand over the $328 million Quebec is demanding.
Quebeckers want action now, not in 2050. Instead of criticizing Quebec's plan, which set realistic short-term goals, why not hand over Quebec's $328 million immediately?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, we will work with every province and territory on establishing short term targets, including the province of Quebec. My only concern was the fact that some provinces use voluntary targets. Obviously we will be working with every industry sector across this country because we are moving from voluntary targets to strict regulation.
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, I discussed the impact of climate change on public health, melting ice caps in the far north, and coastal flooding—in short, on the future of our children and grandchildren. The Conservatives mocked me.
Yesterday, Nicholas Stern, a former economist with the World Bank, talked about these same consequences, but in terms of numbers, of financial impact.
The government may not care about what will happen to human beings, but will it at least pay attention to the economic impact of the impending catastrophe?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, we understand the opposition's fear of the unknown, because it is a new thing for them to consider that a government would bring forward for the first time a piece of legislation to actually deal with climate change and clean air in Canada.
I would ask him to put aside his fear of the unknown, work with the government and get this piece of legislation through so we can move on and address climate change and clean air.
Caroline St-Hilaire Bloc Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
Mr. Speaker, in her report on Radio-Canada yesterday, Céline Galipeau revealed the absolutely horrible situation that some Afghan women are living in, in a supposedly pacified region of Afghanistan. Some of them are choosing to set themselves on fire to escape their tragic lives.
Did the minister responsible for CIDA become aware of this horror when she travelled to Afghanistan and does she intend to propose a plan to her government for intervening to relieve this terrible human misery?
Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, in fact, when I travelled to Afghanistan, I had an opportunity to meet with the minister for the status of women and with the director of women’s affairs in Kandahar. Obviously, we discussed the problem and the challenges that await women there, women who had no rights only a few years ago and who now have a constitution to protect them.
That being said, in terms of CIDA programs for women in Afghanistan, I would like to mention a few: $14.5 million for educating girls and $5 million to assist women in entering the labour market. We must note some—
Caroline St-Hilaire Bloc Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
Mr. Speaker, despite what the minister has said, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women, 65% of the widows in Kabul see suicide as the only option to get rid of their miseries and desolation.
Is this not a strong indication that we have to make changes in what Canada is doing and significantly expand the humanitarian aspect of our contribution in Afghanistan?
Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, the first major decision made by this government in relation to women in Afghanistan was to increase the budget for Afghanistan, which the previous government had repeatedly reduced.
So we are maintaining our investment in Afghanistan at $100 million, and of course the cause of women and children in that country is one of great concern to us.
As I understand it, we can count on the Bloc Québécois members to ensure that we never send women in Afghanistan back into the darkness and back under the Taliban regime.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry decided to open the floodgates to free market in the telecommunications industry, without waiting for the Standing Committee on Industry to submit its report, which is expected in March 2007. He ignored the comments made by the president of ADISQ, who asserted that this approach poses a threat to Quebec culture, in particular.
Will the minister get his act together, suspend the directive given to the CRTC and await the conclusions of the Standing Committee on Industry? Why is he in such a hurry?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I am a little surprised that my colleague from the Bloc Québécois would put such words in my mouth concerning the opening of the telecommunications markets. This file has not been discussed. What we are discussing is a policy directive calling for the CRTC to be more careful about market forces and to regulate this market only as needed. There is nothing in the policy directive concerning foreign investments.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, the directive worries the Union des consommateurs, which fears that the regions will be the first victims of the excessive deregulation proposed by the minister, given that, if companies are under no obligation to develop telecommunications in the regions, there is a good chance the regions will be left without services.
Does the minister realize that his laissez-faire attitude is putting the regions at risk? Will he suspend his directive, as the Standing Committee on Industry has asked?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I met with consumer representatives myself yesterday in my office, and they told me about their concerns, which are somewhat different from those of the Bloc Québécois. The representatives want consumers to have competitive prices, which is what the directive demands. We want consumers to have telephone services at competitive prices.
