Debates of Nov. 10th, 2006

Federal Accountability Act

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is yet another broken promise.

When the President of the Treasury Board tabled his hastily drafted and flaw-filled accountability act, he stated that his party would not accept donations over $1,000. He repeated that promise in the House on October 30. However, records show that the Conservatives have broken their promise by accepting donations over $1,000 on nearly 200 occasions.

Breaking promises has become an art for the Conservatives. How can Canadians ever trust them again?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has said it wants a cap on political donations of $1,000. We agree. We wonder why those members are asking those questions. In the House of Commons committee they proposed to raise them to $3,000, and in the Liberal Senate they wanted to double them to $2,000.

We can solve this problem very easily by making our limits on donations retroactive to April 12, the day after the bill was introduced, so that we can have genuine accountability and less Liberal corruption.

Minister of Public Works and Government Services

[Stephen Owen, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, here are two more broken promises by the minority Conservative Prime Minister.

During the election the Prime Minister promised to accept only people who were elected into his cabinet and then he called for the election of senators. Yet, on his first day in office he appointed Conservative fundraiser Michael Fortier to the Senate and then to cabinet as, get this, Public Works minister.

When will the Prime Minister stop breaking promises to Canadians?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. minister has indicated that he is going to run in the next general election and that is a promise he made to Canadians. In the meantime, he is working very hard on behalf of the people of the Montreal region, Quebec and indeed, all of Canada. He is doing an outstanding job and I am sure the hon. member will second that.

Federal Accountability Act

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal dominated Senate's foot dragging, dithering and delay on the federal accountability act has finally come to an end. Tragically though, over 100 Liberal changes have effectively destroyed the bill, including providing for big money by doubling the $1,000 limit and increasing secrecy by adding exemptions to the Access to Information Act.

Will the President of the Treasury Board tell this House if he will rebuild the accountability act back into the toughest anti-corruption law in Canadian history?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member for Cambridge can bet his boots we are going to rebuild this act. He can bet his boots we are going to ensure that it is only $1,000 that people can donate to political parties and local candidates. He can bet his boots we are going to ensure that Liberal political staffers do not get a free pass into our neutral non-partisan public service and he can bet his boots that we are going to bring lightness where there is darkness at the Canadian Wheat Board.

Government Policies

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

Mr. Speaker, like the Liberals before them, the Conservatives are proving just as bad at keeping their promises. On patronage, appointments, health care wait times, clean air, income trusts and supporting our veterans, the Conservative government has broken promise after promise in its nine short months in office.

If we cannot trust the Conservatives on promises that they made in the last election, how can we trust them to keep the promises they make in the byelection in London North Centre?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat surprised at the hon. member's question. I know we have an outstanding candidate in that particular riding. She is a former mayor who has done an outstanding job. She has worked with minority groups within that community. She has brought people back together and she is going to do an excellent job on behalf of the people of London.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see her back home from Washington.

In 1993 the Liberals promised to cut pollution by 20%, but what did they deliver? A 27% increase. In the last election the Conservatives promised to table a law that would reduce pollution, but their so-called clean air act will actually increase pollution. All the while the air in London is getting dirtier and dirtier.

Will the government commit to support scientific based targets for greenhouse gas reductions in the short, medium and long term?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the member is quite right. The previous Liberal government did absolutely nothing on the environment. It is this government that, through the clean air act, will deal with greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. We would appreciate if all members, including the NDP, would deal with this very important issue.

Infrastructure

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let me come back to the broken promises.

On November 30, 2005, the Conservative members from Quebec City, whom their leader was unable to name at the time, revealed their regional platform. They promised to repaint the Quebec Bridge. A year later, rust is still ravaging the structure. I want to know what the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is waiting for to deliver cans and brushes to his Quebec caucus.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member raised this issue of action by the Conservative members in the Quebec City area. We have indeed resolved the Petite-Rivière-Saint-François matter thanks to the work of my colleague, the Minister of Labour. We were also able to resolve the Quebec City airport situation in a matter of a few months. We were able to resolve the issue of Quebec City's 400th anniversary. As far as the bridge is concerned, this matter will be resolved as a top priority within the first year of our mandate.

Canadian Heritage

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

There is another broken promise, Mr. Speaker.

Conservatives told the Canadian Museums Association, “Please be assured that generous funding for Canada's museums would be a priority for a Conservative government”. Let me spell it out for the reality challenged minority Conservative government. Decrease is not increase. Less is not more. Tight-fisted is not generous.

Why did the Conservatives break their promise and slash $4.6 million from the museums assistance program?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, as we said before, we are committed to museums. They are important to protect our heritage and our culture.

When we took over, we had art museums with leaking roofs. We had the Auditor General saying that we were losing archival material faster than we were collecting it.

We know what our responsibilities are and we will address the needs of all museums in Canada.

Child Care

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is another broken promise.

The Conservative election platform said that its $100 monthly allowance to families would be in addition to the Canada child tax benefit, which is an income support program for low and middle income families. However, the young child supplement part of this tax benefit has been eliminated. Canadians, who were promised they would not to be hit by some backdoor money grab, are having this money snatched away from their children.

How can the government justify this broken promise?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the member opposite has her facts more than a little wrong. We recognize that there was the supplement for the under seven crowd. That is why we have extended that program and combined it. Now no parent will be worse off for receiving the universal child care benefit than they were before.

Agriculture

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives promised immediate cash for farmers' spring planting. No cash has been received, another broken promise. They promised to open the aged cattle market to the United States. Nothing has been accomplished. They promised dual marketing, which the minister's hand-picked task force now states, “This is not possible”. This destructive proposal alone will take $655 million out of the pockets of farmers pockets.

They are broken promises, manipulation and deception. Why can the government not just be honest with primary producers?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, let us be honest. This hon. member does not have to live with the reality of Canadian agriculture.

Our government is aware of the problems. We are working hard day after day to help Canadian producers. We have the best programs currently available.

Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on September 22, Boîte à Science's 100 leaders campaign gathered over 150 participants from socio-economic and political backgrounds in the Quebec region who demonstrated their commitment to creating a science and technology discovery centre.

Can the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec tell us when he plans to announce his contribution to making this project happen?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, in answer to my hon. colleague, my colleagues discussed Boîte à science extensively during the election campaign. This file is currently going forward. Naturally, we are interested in trying to make progress on this file. We want the Government of Quebec to get involved too. When the time comes, when things have progressed further, I will share that information with the House.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister realize that the time has finally come to announce the $450,000 promised during the election campaign by all of the Conservative members from the Quebec region?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, they are asking us for a million dollars over two years. After that, they will be asking for another $30 million.

When we consider building infrastructure like this—if that is the right term—we have to think about subsequent stages. Nevertheless, we are very interested in this issue. We are working hard and we hope to be in a position to make an announcement soon.

Government Appointments

[Brian Murphy, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Mr. Speaker, here is another broken promise.

In opposition, the minority Conservative government made false accusations of patronage appointments. It said that it would be as pure as the driven snow when it came to making its appointments.

Since coming into office, we have seen one Conservative bagman after another appointed to the bench, to boards, to commissions and to advisory posts. As well, Conservative operatives and owners were given sole source contracts and other Conservative hacks were given plump pork postings both here and abroad.

When will the government stop the orgy of patronage and live up to the promise it has broken dozens of times?

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

Mr. Speaker, the first action of the Conservative government, in bringing real change to Canada, was to introduce legislation to establish a public appointments commission to ensure that qualifications were there for people getting public appointments.

Let us look at the Liberal record: Andre Ouellet, who they had to fire as the head of Canada Post; David Dingwall, who they had to—

[Some hon. members]

Fire.