House of Commons Hansard #89 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was westminster.
Caroline St-Hilaire Bloc Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC
Mr. Speaker, all rhetoric aside, will the Prime Minister agree that re-establishing the necessary balance between the military and humanitarian aspects of the mission in Afghanistan is crucial to counteracting Afghans' disillusionment with the international community and the Afghan central government?
Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member that one of the first things our government did when we were elected was our Prime Minister's announcement of increased funding for reconstruction in Afghanistan. That is much more than the Liberal government committed to doing to help with reconstruction in Afghanistan. In addition, we have extended our commitment to 2011.
Jean-Yves Laforest Bloc Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services stated yesterday that the contract awarded to Royal LePage will not be revisited even though the Auditor General confirmed that there were irregularities in the contracting process.
Why does the government and the Minister of Public Works and Government Services wish to hold on to this contract at all costs even though it was slammed by the Auditor General?
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, we are going to honour the contract that was written. It was put forward after a competitive process by the previous government. We are going to honour the contract.
Jean-Yves Laforest Bloc Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Speaker, we know that Conservative members of the public accounts committee were lobbied hard by Ms. Buckler, the current director of communications for the Prime Minister.
Does the fact that the government will not revisit the Royal LePage contract not prove that the interests of Ms. Buckler take precedence over those of taxpayers?
John Baird ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, it was announced yesterday that this contract was signed by the previous Liberal government, before Ms. Buckler began working for that company. She no longer works there. It is unfortunate that the Bloc Québécois continues to reiterate these false allegations.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, there is more international embarrassment. Diplomatically objecting to human rights abuses in China is always appropriate, but not by tying a message to a rock and throwing it through the front window. The Prime Minister paraded Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil as the poster boy for his human rights sideshow rather than plead his case in frank and open discussions behind closed doors and with government officials, policy advisers and translators.
Why did the Prime Minister squander his first and best opportunity to bring hope to Mr. Celil and his family?
Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the member is saying, the Prime Minister takes this issue very seriously. That is why he engaged with the president of China. Not only has the Prime Minister done this, but the foreign affairs minister has talked with the foreign minister of China three times.
We are taking this matter very seriously, contrary to what the member is saying. We are aware of this and we will fight for the rights of Canadian citizens.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, we hear more platitudes.
The foreign affairs minister professes that he has been deeply involved in the case of Mr. Celil when in fact he is simply way over his head. Since April I have asked many times in this House for answers, but none has been forthcoming.
Today we do not know where Mr. Celil is. We do not even know whether he has been tortured. We do not even know whether he is alive. If the minister can answer any of these questions, will he answer them now and specifically identify the official Chinese source of that information?
Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, as I have stated time after time, the Prime Minister is engaged and the foreign affairs minister is engaged. Not only that, but the Minister of Natural Resources, who was in China in November, talked with senior Chinese officials and he brought up this issue there. We are fully engaged with the Chinese to ensure that Mr. Celil's rights as a Canadian citizen are protected and brought to their attention.
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Mr. Speaker, since coming to office 10 months ago, the Conservative government has done nothing but sabotage the long-standing healthy relationship Canada has had with China. This deteriorating situation has become an international embarrassment--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please. The hon. member for Mississauga—Erindale has the floor. I cannot hear a word he is saying. He is asking a question. Somebody is going to have to answer so we had better be able to hear the question, or else what will happen to the answer?
The hon. member for Mississauga—Erindale has the floor. We will hear him now.
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am glad they are listening.
This deteriorating situation has become an international embarrassment. Canadian citizens and businesses have expressed concern about how the government has approached its relationship with our fastest growing trading partner and they said the government is taking the wrong approach.
Why has the government decided to ditch diplomacy and follow a confrontational approach that can only be--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, that is totally false. Contrary to what the member is saying, this government has been fully engaged with the government of China. The Minister of Natural Resources was there. The Minister of Agriculture was there. The Prime Minister has talked to the president of China. We are fully engaged. We continue doing that also in Canada.
We recognize that China is an important partner of Canada and we will continue to maintain our strong relationship, but that does not take away times when we need to say something to the Chinese as friends. That is what we are doing as well.
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga—Erindale, ON
Mr. Speaker, I hope the parliamentary secretary will heed the call of Senator Carney, a Conservative senator.
Canadians do expect the government to promote human rights here in Canada and abroad, but the government's approach of embarrassing the Chinese is ineffective. Everyone knows this ham-fisted approach does not work. Diplomacy does. Building strong economic ties does.
The government's behaviour has implications, not only economic ones, but also implications for the progress of human rights in China and around the world. When is the government going to realize that grandstanding is ineffective and that constructive engagement is the way to go?
David Emerson ConservativeMinister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
Mr. Speaker, a recent survey of business CEOs showed that 60% believe that the Prime Minister did the right thing by being open, focused, clear, frank, and honest about Canada's views on human rights and democracy. There is no reason why we have to trade off good economics against good diplomacy. The Prime Minister is not doing that.
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, today the Wait Time Alliance released an interim report on progress being made in regard to wait times. Could the Minister of Health inform the House how the new federal government scored and what initiatives he has taken to reduce wait times?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to inform the House that in fact the alliance gives the government an A when it comes to funding. The press release quotes Dr. Lorne Bellan as saying, “Today, I think it’s fair to say that government efforts on wait times are showing promise”.
In the last two weeks I have announced two different wait time guarantees, the first wait time guarantees in Canada. That is what we are doing. We are protecting Canadians. We are moving forward. Unlike the do nothing former government, we are making progress on behalf of Canadians.
Penny Priddy NDP Surrey North, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Wait Time Alliance released its interim report card on reducing wait times. The report card gives--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please. We know the hon. member for Surrey North is very popular, but we have to be able to hear the question. She has the floor for a question.
Penny Priddy NDP Surrey North, BC
Mr. Speaker, the report card gives the Conservatives a D for failing to establish a timetable for achieving targets and said that the government's work in achieving meaningful reductions is incomplete.
My question is for the Minister of Health. When will he keep the promise made to Canadians, almost a year ago, and implement a real, meaningful patient wait times guarantee or has his so-called priority been officially dropped from the agenda?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
Mr. Speaker, I have reported to the House that in the last two weeks alone the government has led the way for Canada with the establishment of the first two wait time guarantees in aboriginal prenatal care and aboriginal diabetes issues.
Clearly, the message is getting through to the Canadian Medical Association. It said our efforts are showing promise. We get an A for funding. We get a B for establishing the benchmarks and there is obviously some room for improvement.
If the hon. member and her party were in power, there would be no guarantees and no benchmarks. There would only be a lot of talk and no action.