Debates of Oct. 31st, 2006

Gatineau's Municipal Arts Centre

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on October 23, the Maison de la culture in Gatineau won a Félix award at the ADISQ Autre Gala for the third year in a row.

It all began in 2004 when the arts centre won the Venue of the Year award for its Salle Odyssée. In 2005, it made its mark as an arts presenter. This year it won, for the second time in three years, the title Venue of the Year.

I want to congratulate the entire team at the Maison de la culture and its artistic director in particular, Julie Carrière, for her incredible work.

We are proud of those who, through their dedication, succeed in stimulating culture and making it accessible and lively in Gatineau.

Again, I offer my sincere congratulations to the Maison de la culture in Gatineau and to all those who have contributed in one way or another to its outstanding success.

Juvenile Diabetes

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the privilege of saluting a courageous 11-year-old constituent from Regina, Chloe Rudichuk. Chloe is one of 46 children from across Canada who suffer from juvenile or type 1 diabetes who are in Ottawa today with the Kids for a Cure event.

Chloe will also have the unique honour this afternoon of addressing the Standing Committee on Health. She will tell our committee about the importance of continued research for a cure and the daily struggles of being an 11-year-old girl with type 1 diabetes.

Juvenile diabetes is a serious disease that can lead to devastating health consequences. Chloe needs daily insulin injections to survive.

The exciting news is that Canadian researchers are conducting very promising research that could lead to cure therapies. Chloe will be asking us, as parliamentarians, to support her mission today to find a cure tomorrow.

I am proud to support Chloe in her mission. She is a great ambassador for the children of Saskatchewan and the city of Regina.

Family Doctor Week

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to join my colleagues in recognizing Family Doctor Week in Canada from October 30 to November 5.

Every day, family doctors make diagnoses, treat patients, promote health and prevent illness, coordinate care and advocate on behalf of their patents.

They provide not only primary care, but also a great deal of secondary and tertiary care in many places: in their offices, in hospitals, in patients' homes, in seniors' homes and in other community facilities.

The College of Family Physicians will be holding its annual family medicine forum this week in Quebec City. Hundreds of participants and presenters will be in attendance.

I would like to personally thank all family doctors, and I invite all of my colleagues to support Family Doctor Week in Canada.

Laurent Guay

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today I am very proud to recognize the accomplishments of a talented young figure skater from Charny who has made thousands of Quebeckers so proud: 10 year old Laurent Guay.

Last weekend in Gatineau, he won his third gold medal in the 2007 Quebec sectionals. He competed against 20 other boys at the provincial level, setting himself apart with his combination jump, a double loop that earned him a personal best at the provincial level.

As the father of five children, I know how important it is to be present and to recognize our young people's efforts. I strongly support all those who, in pursuit of their dreams, make a considerable effort day after day to achieve their personal goals, big or small.

On behalf of all Quebeckers, I would like to congratulate 10 year old Laurent Guay of Charny once again on his determination and achievement. We wish him continued success.

Veterans Affairs

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned about how our veterans are being treated in this country.

Since World War I the government determined, without hearings, notification or opportunity to appeal, which veterans had the ability to look after their own finances and which did not. This left many disabled veterans and their families dependent on the government because military pay and other money owed was put into a trust fund.

The Canadian government, for decades, has not honoured its commitments to our veterans by refusing to pay out the interest from the money sitting in these government bank accounts. The government is depriving veterans.

Last year the Ontario Court of Justice ruled that this money is owed to the veterans and their families, and that the government should pay out the $4.6 billion in interest built up over the years. Those who have had to rely on the government for help after serving this country should receive any profits from the investments in their own money.

These are the men and women who selflessly served our country. This is the only fair thing to do.

Juvenile Diabetes

[Keith Martin, Liberal, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, many years ago Canada led the way in the discovery of insulin and in doing so gave those who suffer from type 1 diabetes a new lease on life. Tragically, the incidence of this chronic disease has not decreased but has increased and sufferers are contracting it at an earlier age, many of them just mere children.

Juvenile diabetes has a profound impact on the entire body and can cause blindness, amputations, kidney failure and premature death from heart disease. However, there is hope. We can find a cure.

Here is the challenge to the government. Give a five year commitment of $25 million a year and we will be able to find a cure for juvenile diabetes through islet cell transplantation, regenerating the body's own beta cells, and finding new therapeutics to predict, prevent and reverse complications.

There are 200,000 individuals in Canada who suffer from this disease. We ask the Government of Canada to make a five year commitment of $25 million a year and we will find a cure for juvenile diabetes.

Quebec

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on October 21, at a general council of the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada, the federal Liberals adopted a resolution to recognize Quebec as a nation. If we remain skeptical about the true recognition of Quebec's nationhood within the Canadian federation, it is because Quebeckers have already experienced a number of setbacks in this regard.

I do not need to remind the House that both the Conservatives and the Liberals rejected a Bloc Québécois motion to recognize Quebec as a nation, ignoring the fact that the National Assembly had unanimously adopted a motion to that effect.

What is the Canadian government waiting for to officially recognize Quebec as a nation? It is time that the will and identity of Quebeckers were finally respected.

Pearson International Airport

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the greater Toronto area Liberal caucus and on behalf of travellers across the country, I would like to congratulate the Greater Toronto Airport Authority for the influential award that it won yesterday.

The Institute of Transport Management has named Pearson International Airport as the best global airport in 2006. The award recognizes an airport which has best demonstrated political leadership and commitment backed by considerable investment.

Toronto Pearson has become a growing force within North America, with wider destinations, excellent facilities and dedicated staff. In making its decision, the awards committee commented that Toronto Pearson's strong management structure has enabled the airport to meet current industry demands through its high operational standards and focus on service excellence.

I am delighted, along with my colleagues, to congratulate Pearson International Airport, its management and its staff on this prestigious award.

Federal Accountability Act

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today is day 132 of the Liberal Senate's foot dragging on the toughest anti-corruption law in Canadian history, the federal accountability act.

Canada's new government believes in openness and transparency. That is why we brought in the most open and sweeping changes to access to information laws in Canadian history. Over 20 organizations, such as Canada Post, VIA Rail, the Canadian Wheat Board, and several foundations were going to be brought in under access to information laws.

Shamefully, the Liberal senators used their Liberal appointed majority to increase secrecy. They took the Wheat Board out of access to information. They took the foundations out of access to information and they have imposed new exemptions which removed information from the public eye.

Canadians have said loudly and clearly that they believe in more openness, not less. Canada's new government will work to rebuild the accountability act once again.

The Environment

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Halloween is an appropriate setting for the meeting between the Prime Minister and the leader of the NDP. Canadians can envisage many scary scenarios.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister's anti-Kyoto ideology is the scariest of all. If it were actually implemented, it would lead to a global nightmare. What is more, his government's ideological approach to climate change is a global embarrassment for Canada.

Does the Prime Minister not recognize that it is a complete international travesty for Canada to be chairing next week's global conference on climate change in Kenya when he and George Bush are the two leaders in the world most opposed to implementing the Kyoto protocol?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment has done an excellent job in representing Canada in pushing forward the view that we need an effective international treaty on climate change.

As for my meeting with the leader of the NDP, I am of course looking forward to it and I guarantee that at that meeting we will not rewrite the budget.

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, hopefully somebody will start rewriting the lines for the present Minister of the Environment. We are talking about dangerous and violent weather patterns, millions of people thrown into poverty and starvation, unprecedented crop failures, extinction of thousands of species, tsunamis, typhoons, and seven trillion dollars in economic havoc.

Does the Prime Minister not appreciate the terrible irony that his government is chairing a global meeting in Africa when his approach will lead to disaster for that already overburdened continent?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thought for a moment the Leader of the Opposition was reading the record of the Liberal government.

Here is the approach that the government has brought forward on air quality. We include air pollution targets along with greenhouse gas targets. We are seeking real greenhouse gas reductions in this country and we will have a national compulsory standard of targets. These are all things that go way beyond what the Liberal Party ever contemplated.

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the meeting in Kenya will focus on action to be taken internationally before 2012, but this government does not want to do anything until 2050. This is unacceptable.

Why is this government refusing to allow environmentalists to join the Canadian delegation? Is it afraid of having witnesses when it fails to lift a finger to protect future generations against the economic, environmental and human devastation caused by climate change?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the statements made by the Leader of the Opposition are completely false.

The truth is, over the next year, we will have two targets: pollution and greenhouse gases. We will also have greenhouse gas reductions in this country and our national targets will be mandatory.

This is considerable progress compared to the Liberals' proposals, which, in 13 years, failed to produce any results.

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in Quebec we do not know what to make of the Minister of the Environment.

On October 20, she stated in this House that the Government of Quebec had presented an excellent environmental plan. Yesterday she had the gall to say that the Conservative government was concerned about Quebec's approach.

Does she realize that the citizens are worried about the lack of leadership of our Minister of the Environment? Why has she changed her mind? Does she realize that she is undermining the little credibility she has left as Minister of the Environment?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition must know that the Clean Air Act is important for the protection of Canadians' and Quebeckers' health. In fact the Canadian Lung Association stated, and I quote:

The Lung Association is pleased to see indoor air quality regulated under the Act.

Could the opposition explain to the Canadian Lung Association, as well as to Canadians and Quebeckers suffering from lung cancer, why they are against this crucial legislation?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the issue. The minister had stated previously that Quebec had a good plan and now she has changed her mind.

Quebec has a plan that is acceptable to all stakeholders and Minister Claude Béchard has set up a coalition to oppose the Conservatives' approach. All of a sudden the minister is starting to criticize the Quebec government.

Why is she now criticizing the plan? Why has she changed her mind? Where is her own plan for Canadians?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, when the Liberals know that the government is right, they use the same tactic: divide and conquer.

Our government is the first to have tabled a bill on climate change and air quality.

Canadians and Quebeckers want to know why the Liberals are opposed to strict regulation of major industries.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in a few days, the Government of Canada will take part in an international meeting on climate change where it plans to request a full review of the Kyoto protocol. While industrialized countries such as Germany and England have cut their greenhouse gas emissions significantly since 1990, the government would like the protocol to put greater emphasis on long-term objectives.

How can the Prime Minister send his Minister of the Environment to an international conference on climate change with the intention of sabotaging the Kyoto protocol?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I absolutely do not accept what the Leader of the Bloc Québécois said. The Minister of the Environment is doing excellent work as co-chair of the international process. We need to work on an effective international agreement for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in a report published yesterday, a former chief economist of the World Bank said that global warming would have disastrous consequences and that we need to take immediate action.

While everyone recognizes that it is highly important that we act now, how can the Prime Minister propose a plan with targets to be reached in 2050? Measures need to be taken today.

I would like to hear the Prime Minister say that he agrees with the Kyoto protocol objectives rather than see him try to sabotage the protocol.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, the Bloc Québécois leader's statements are false.

The targets in our plan start next year and extend to 2050. Obviously it does not start in 2050. We need to get started now and a plan needs to be passed by the House of Commons. We have proposed something and the Bloc Québécois has proposed nothing. We need this plan in order to pursue our goals.

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is completely untrue. The Bloc has made concrete proposals in recent weeks.

Not only is this government killing the Kyoto protocol abroad, but it is killing it at home as well. It will use any excuse to destroy the protocol. First, Quebec was not getting its $328 million because the agreement had not been signed in time and it was the Liberals' fault, then yesterday we learned that the federal government did not like Quebec's plan.

Does the federal government realize that the $328 million earmarked for Quebec's plan must be delivered and paid immediately?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, our plan goes beyond Kyoto. Our government is the first one to have introduced a bill dealing with climate change and air quality.

Canadians and Quebeckers want to know why the Bloc is opposed to strict regulation of major industries in Quebec.