Debates of Nov. 20th, 2006

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, when she appeared before the environment committee, the minister denounced the evils of emissions trading. She claimed that it would cost Canadians billions. She also claimed that the European trading market collapsed and that we were wasting money overseas. Six weeks later she has changed her tune. Emissions trading is now all the rage. Now she sees how the clean development mechanisms can help Canada meet its targets.

Will she clarify her position on international emissions trading? Does she support it or not?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously the hon. member has not read the clean air act. Actually, she has answered that question many times. I encourage him to read clauses 27, 29 and 33 of the clean air act. That question has been answered. The government supports exchange markets of carbon. He should read the act.

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

Mr. Speaker, I heard the minister. The minister was in Nairobi last week pretending to support Kyoto while the Prime Minister was in Hanoi plotting to destroy it. At the environment committee, the minister alleged that billions of euros had been lost on emissions trading and she would never support the international trading system. Now she says she has learned a few things, including the value of trading credits.

Does she intend to educate the Prime Minister? Will she guarantee that Canada will be ready to join the international emissions trading market by January 1?

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

Mr. Speaker, a carbon market requires a regulatory system and obviously the member has not read the clauses of the clean air act. I encourage him to do that. I encourage him to read the act and to participate, not try to sabotage what the government is doing.

We acknowledge the support of the NDP and its thoughtful process, but after 13 years of Liberal inaction, it is no surprise that all the Liberals can do is sabotage. We need to work together. We heard that in Nairobi. We need to work together on climate change. I encourage the Liberals to stop trying to sabotage and work with the government.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment said that Canada would continue to participate in the Kyoto protocol and that all our obligations would be fulfilled, except those having to do with greenhouse gas emissions of course. But Kyoto is essentially objective based, and targets have to be met by 2012.

How can the minister support the Kyoto protocol without supporting the Kyoto objectives?

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

Mr. Speaker, the government has been very clear all along that we have committed to the Kyoto protocol. The problem that the hon. member may not remember is 13 years of Liberal inaction. We would not have the problem if the former government would have done something on the environment. That is the problem.

Now we have the clean air act. I encourage the member to stop playing games and stop the rhetoric. Let us work together on the clean air act.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister and her parliamentary secretary are living in a world of illusions and contradictions.

The industrialized nations are supposed to set an example by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, the Prime Minister met with Australian officials to explore ways to reduce emissions outside the Kyoto framework.

How can one support Kyoto and be fully committed to it while at the same time exploring ways to circumvent it and, in so doing, destroy the protocol?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to read a quote from the minister. She stated in Nairobi:

There are some who are using the Kyoto Protocol to create divisions within our country--but we will not let that happen. Canada has one target and we all share the responsibility to work together to fulfill our obligations.

I encourage the hon. member to work with the government on the clean air act. Let us work together so that we can deal with cleaning up our environment, our greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, for the health of all Canadians.

Taxation

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by cutting payments to the most disadvantaged people instead of cutting its operating expenses, which continue to spiral upward, the government has chosen the wrong target.

Will the government admit that, by using the $13 billion surplus and by implementing the plan to cut operating expenses by $16 billion over three years as proposed by the Bloc Québécois, it has all the latitude it needs to fulfill the promise made to the people of Quebec that it would resolve the fiscal imbalance once and for all?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we did a lot of things in the 2006 budget to restore the fiscal balance in this country. We will have to do more in the 2007 budget, with the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government can save $16 billion over three years by cutting purchases of professional services, reducing the public service through attrition and limiting its other operating expenses.

Instead of constantly narrowing the scope of its commitments to Quebec, instead of lowering the bar, will the Minister of Finance admit that the government has the resources to resolve the fiscal imbalance by the $3.9 billion that Quebecers were promised?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I have already said that our government took major steps in the 2006 budget to restore the fiscal balance. I will tell my colleague that our government has done a lot of things when it comes to the fiscal imbalance.

During the years when the Liberals were in power, they refused to recognize that the problem existed. The Bloc Québécois can promise the moon because people know it is a party that will never be in a position to keep its promises.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec grain producers referred to the recent federal-provincial conference of agriculture ministers, held in Calgary, as a “missed meeting”. Producers find themselves without any protection, and they are unable to hold their own against American dumping.

Why does the government refuse to put in place a program that would provide tangible assistance to our farm producers, so that they can hold their own against American dumping in Canada and in Quebec?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, the meeting in Calgary with provincial counterparts was very successful. We were able to discuss everything from not only trying to fix the failed support programs that we inherited from the previous Liberal government but we also agreed to proceed with the disaster relief program which is going to help farmers, especially in Saint-Amable as a good example. We must also engage with farmers on ways to enhance and augment the current program because we agree, along with the provinces, that it needs to be fixed to meet the needs of farmers.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the coast to coast approach that the federal government is trying to implement across Canada does not work in Quebec, and the government's apathy is jeopardizing the future of Quebec's farm income stabilization program.

When will the minister understand once and for all that he must set up an assistance program that is geared to the specific needs of Quebec's agricultural reality?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, agriculture is a shared jurisdiction between the federal and provincial governments. That is why we have federal-provincial conferences. I have had three of them now with our provincial counterparts. At every occasion we sit down and talk about what we can do nationally, and also what we can do on a regional basis or on a sectoral basis.

At every occasion we made improvements on current programing, but more importantly, we are working together to ensure we can enhance profitability for farmers right from the field to the plate.

Federal Accountability Act

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, under the cloud of investigation by Elections Canada for trying to hide nearly $2 million in illicit donations for its 2005 convention, jaw-dropping Conservative hypocrisy strikes again.

Caught breaking the law, government members want to rewrite the accountability act to let themselves off. The Conservatives want to create a loophole that would allow their flagrant violation of Canada's election laws to stand. So much for accountability.

My question is for the Prime Minister. When will the Conservatives drop this dishonest amendment, pay back any illicitly received funds, and own up to the fact they broke the law?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is always fun to get a lecture from Liberals on embezzling taxpayers' money. If corruption were an Olympic sport, the Liberal Party of Canada would be getting the gold medal.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the minister takes such fun in breaking the law. His party has broken the law and that is what is at issue. The Reform Party, the Alliance and even the Conservatives, back when they were progressive, all followed the laws for conventions. When they came together in 2005, are we supposed to believe they had amnesia? The reality is that every party in this House knew the rules and the Conservative Party broke them. What that party is trying to do now is cover it up. Well it will not work.

If the Prime Minister will not take responsibility for this mess, Canadians will in the next election. So one more time to the Prime Minister, drop this mockery of an amendment. Pay back the money and accept the consequences of breaking the election--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. President of the Treasury Board.

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

Mr. Speaker, there were obviously two interpretations of the situation. We know that because another political party testified before one of Parliament's committees and told it the exact same thing. We will of course--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. We do not want to make the President of the Treasury Board raise his voice unduly to be able to be heard. He has the floor and we want to hear the President of the Treasury Board's answer.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. You know how much I dislike raising my voice to be heard.

I know all parties will do their best to comply with the law. However, I do know that the Liberal Party of Canada wants taxpayers to subsidize its multi-million dollar conventions. I do not think hard-working Canadian families should have to do that.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board blows in the wind so much that he is beginning to look like a weather vane. Today, the Conservatives are admitting that they were caught breaking the law when they tried to hide some $2 million in political donations from the Chief Electoral Officer.

Are they prepared to admit guilt? Is the President of the Treasury Board prepared to stop his attempts to make his gimmickry retroactively legal? Is he prepared to admit guilt? Is he prepared to stop—