House of Commons Hansard #86 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebec.
Mark Warawa ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the government takes climate change, global warming and air pollution very seriously.
The Liberal plan was to do nothing for 13 years, which is shameful. The former environment minister said the following:
I will be part of Kyoto, but I will say to the world I don't think I will make it.
No wonder we have a mess. The member who said that is actually one of the people running for the leadership of the Liberal Party. It is shameful.
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said he would be targeting certain regions of Canada to get temporary foreign workers to settle there, but this means that other parts of the country will be left out.
In addition, that will not solve the issue of undocumented workers.
What does the government intend to do to address these two situations? Will it simply continue to ignore them?
That is incredible.
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, right now there are tremendous job shortages across the country. In fact, in the next number of years, Alberta and B.C. alone project job shortages of around 700,000 people.
We are acting to respond to that, which is why we have made some administrative changes to speed up the process so employers can bring workers into Canada more quickly, more efficiently and in a more cost effective way.
After 13 years of Liberal non-action, we are acting on this and we are starting to get some things done for employers around the country.
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, the greater Toronto area needs more skilled workers but the government's response is to ignore the situation and to pit one region against the other.
Does the government not understand that without these workers Toronto's economy would come to a standstill? Torontonians contribute immensely to the strength of Canada but in return they get no support from the government.
Running a government means helping people from all over Canada. If the minister is unwilling to regularize undocumented workers, will he at least extend the temporary foreign workers enhancements to Canada's largest city or will he continue to ignore Toronto?
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, that is a little rich coming from that member.
I would point out to the member that we are in negotiations with Ontario with respect to temporary foreign workers, and have been for some time.
If the member is so concerned about undocumented workers, why did he sit idle while his government deported over 100,000 undocumented workers over the last number of years? Why did the member stand in this place and vote against a proposal to raise settlement funding to Ontario by 60% this year alone? Those are the real questions.
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Mr. Speaker, last night, the Liberal-dominated Senate continued its dirty work and sent the federal accountability act back to committee in order to delay it even further. This, after the House of Commons voted at least six times for the accountability act.
What is even more outrageous is the silence from Liberal MPs and Liberal leadership candidates whose complete failure to speak out against these delays demonstrates they are complicit in the foot-dragging.
Would the President of the Treasury Board tell the House what he is hearing from Canadians about the Liberals' lack of respect for democracy?
John Baird ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, this Parliament, this House of Commons dealt with the return and the gutting of the federal accountability act by the unelected Liberal Senate by strengthening it, putting the teeth back in and sending it back. All four parties came together to do that in less than two days.
Now the unelected Liberal Senate is going on to day 146. It is disgraceful and it is outrageous.
The unelected Liberal Senate is so concerned about its own ethics officer, it is so ethically challenged, I guess it needs its own ethics officer. We would like it to do the right thing: to stand up for accountability and pass the federal accountability act.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, this week we learned that the government has appointed a nine member committee on the future and renewal of the public service, one of this country's most important national institutions. However, not one member is currently employed in the public service.
Will the Prime Minister correct this by appointing a representative from today's public service to the advisory committee?
John Baird ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, we were very pleased that a number of eminent Canadians accepted the offer of the Prime Minister and the Privy Council to provide us with guidance as we go forward, to build upon the strength that we have in our public service and to deal with the huge challenge we will face with the retirements of eminent Canadians, such as Paul Tellier, the former Clerk of the Privy Council; the right hon. Don Mazankowski; and Aldéa Landry, the former deputy premier of New Brunswick under the Liberal government of Frank McKenna.
We will certainly take the concerns of the member opposite under advisement because we want to ensure we have and continue to have the very best public service in Canada.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, with respect, this kind of dismissive attitude is precisely what is wrong with the public service renewal plan.
If the government is really serious about recruiting future leaders to our public service, it needs to show respect to today's public servants.
Will the Prime Minister appoint, in addition to his high-powered friends, a member of today's public service to his advisory committee? We need to ensure this is not top-down and that we have a bottom-up approach. It is the sensible thing to do. Will the government please do that?
John Baird ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, with great respect to the member for Ottawa Centre, I was not dismissive. I certainly indicated to him in my first response that we would be happy to take his concerns under advisement.
We will be having a good number of exercises designed to ensure we continue to have a top quality public service, respected around the world. We will certainly look at what we can do to bring in a wide variety of public servants to get their advice and input into what will be a huge challenge for the Government of Canada in the years ahead.
Lui Temelkovski Liberal Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
Mr. Speaker, on October 25, a unanimous motion passed in the House calling on the Minister of Transport to use his powers to direct Canada Post to maintain traditional rural mail delivery and protect public safety when rural constituents are required to collect mail at designated group box locations which are often a long distance from their homes.
Since then we have seen no action from the Conservative minority government. When will rural Canadians receive their mail?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, rural Canadians are receiving their mail and progress has been noted on that file.
I have met on several occasions with the president and the chairman of Canada Post to bring forward a comprehensive plan that will necessarily encompass the wishes of this House to continue to maintain traditional rural mail delivery. The purpose for which I am working with Canada Post is to be able to do that so Canadians will be pleased and satisfied that it is done with the utmost safety and concern for the employees also.
Lui Temelkovski Liberal Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
Mr. Speaker, rural Canadians should not need to travel long distances from their homes to collect their mail. Group mail box locations were intended for urban areas, not rural Canadians. This issue is high on the minds of rural Canadians and the government's inaction tells me that rural Canadians are second-class.
When will the government start protecting public safety and take real action to protect traditional rural mail delivery?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, quite honestly, we need to recognize that this issue did not spring up the day that we were elected. Obviously there have been things that have been going on. We are working closely with the concerned parties. We take this matter very seriously. I have indicated this on several occasions in this House and have conveyed to the chairman of the board of Canada Post that this is an extremely serious matter. We want traditional mail delivery to be maintained and we will, to that purpose, do what needs to be done.
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Mr. Speaker, Labradorians say that Tory times are tough times but neo-conservative times are even tougher.
The government confirmed last night that a so-called commitment to the highway in Labrador is a sham. Now we learn that the same may be true about the new airport terminal promised for Goose Bay, the busiest airport in Labrador.
Mr. MacAdam, the ACOA minister's political appointee, says that the funds budgeted by our former Liberal government are still there. The defence minister's office says that the funds are still there. Even a well-connected Tory lobbyist says that the funds are still there. However, the transport minister cannot find them.
Will someone please show him where the money is for the Goose Bay airport and will he then tell us when can we get the cheque?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that has been brought forward and we are looking into it. When it comes time to be able to resolve it, we will advise the House on the direction that we will take.
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Mr. Speaker, that is not much. A year ago the former Liberal government approved a major investment in Goose Bay, Labrador: a $20 million diversification fund, a victim of Tory cutbacks; $30 million from DND for foreign military training and marketing, cancelled; a $96 million Coast Guard investment, axed by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. The only survivor of the cutbacks is supposedly $9 million for a new airport terminal.
Could the fisheries ministeraor the transport minister assure us that the airport terminal is still on, or was it axed like the Coast Guard and so many other things that were committed to by the Liberals their first days in office?
Gordon O'Connor ConservativeMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I find it highly hypocritical for a member of that party to be talking about Goose Bay. The Liberals had Goose Bay on the hit list. They were going to close Goose Bay. What they did before the last election was put a few little salves on the locals to pretend they would preserve Goose Bay. They are against Goose Bay. They wanted to close Goose Bay.
Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, after his unilateral decision to increase the shrimp fishing quotas for Newfoundland caused market prices to drop, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is now set to take away from Magdalen Island fishers a lobster fishing area that has been theirs since 1985 and give it to Prince Edward Island.
Is the minister's unilateral decision not hiding a strategy to take more fish stock away from Quebec fishers?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, that is certainly not the case.
First, I am very pleased to be speaking on behalf of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, who does an excellent job on behalf of our country and for fishers everywhere.
The government will be working closely with the province of Quebec on this issue and others, including anything to do with the fisheries industry. I think the member will be quite pleased.
Louise Thibault Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, first it was cod, then shrimp, and now lobster.
Does the minister not realize that, anytime the federal government makes political decisions about quotas, the impact not only on Quebec fishers but also on the resource is simply disastrous? Is the minister waiting for the ocean to be empty before changing his approach?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is going about his portfolio in the right direction. Including today, the minister is co-chairing a forum with the province of Quebec. We look forward to hearing from the minister upon his return to the House of Commons.
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, on May 11, 2004, the current member for Nepean—Carleton wrote a letter attacking any attempt to move defence headquarters to the JDS Uniphase building in his riding. In his letter he complained of increased traffic, increased infrastructure costs, lack of public consultation and, most important, the waste of taxpayer dollars.
Now that the RCMP will be moving there, could the Minister of Public Works and Government Services tell the House if he has received the same complaint from that member or is this just another example of the blatant partisan hypocrisy we have all come to expect from the member for Nepean—Carleton?
Public Works and Government ServicesOral Questions
Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam B.C.
Conservative
James Moore ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
Mr. Speaker, with the JDS Uniphase building, we were handed a mess by the Liberal government. The way it approached that contract was inappropriate. It was not open nor was it competitive.
As we put it forward, we opened the process. We allowed other people to compete for the contract and solved a lot of the problems that the Liberals had put forward. In fact, we are very proud that the RCMP will have a state of the art headquarters, where it needs to be, to meet its needs so it can meet the needs of all Canadians.