Debates of Nov. 7th, 2006

Income Trusts

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

It would be a novelty, Mr. Speaker, if the minister would answer his own constituent.

The minister has had a road to Damascus experience. He campaigns on one thing and then in office reverses himself. Who knew that the road to Damascus ran through Whitby?

I can see that the minister does not want to refer to his own announcement but no one is buying this line about ridiculous corporate taxes.

Mr. Mitchell goes on to say, “I feel robbed, raped, pillaged and definitely betrayed. The trusts in my portfolio were well researched, good quality stable businesses and purchased with the understanding that they would not tax trusts”.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. the Minister of Finance.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, Sue from Calgary wrote, “I am writing to applaud your decisive action in taxing income trusts. It is about time the government took action to stop the hemorrhaging of our tax dollars”.

As Douglas from Kitchener, Ontario wrote, “Congratulations. This took some courage. As a small business owner, I agree with your decision to stop the mad rush to trust conversions. We need Canadians to invest and grow their businesses. I am involved with a number of U.S. companies that are aggressive and built for growth. We were turning Canadians into a nation of coupon clippers”.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, not only did the minority Conservative government break its promise on income trusts, but yesterday the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance said, “We are looking at allowing trusts to reconvert to corporations without tax consequences”.

While the Conservatives are trying to find a way to help their corporate friends, all the Canadians who lost their shirts because of a Conservative deception get nothing.

Why does the Minister of Finance not care about ordinary Canadians who had their retirement plans go up in smoke?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, only one party in the House supports the notion that large companies in this country should not pay their fair share of corporate taxes and that is the Liberal Party of Canada.

Guaranteed Income Supplement

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, not only did the finance minister blow away lifetime savings of seniors, but now the Conservatives are also denying Canada's poorest seniors the support that was promised to them by the Government of Canada.

Because of the actions of the minority Conservative government, over 90,000 of Canada's poorest seniors will not receive their guaranteed income supplement. How could that be? It is because this group of Canada's poorest seniors missed the deadline set by the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.

Why will the government not stop targeting seniors and guarantee that their cheques will be in the mail this week?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised that the hon. member would be criticizing the department for following the same procedures that the hon. member's own government put in place. Nothing has changed in the way the programs were administered in the last several years. They are being done in the same way the previous government did.

That is why I have asked my officials to go ahead and try to find ways to prevent people from falling through the cracks.

Agriculture

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian agricultural income stabilization program is not meeting the needs of the grain sector at all, and the government knows it.

How can the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food be satisfied with paying $755 million to the grain sector when the American farm bill, applied to Canada, would be equivalent to $3.5 billion in financial aid for Canada in 2006?

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

Mr. Speaker, we realize that there are situations, especially in grains and oilseeds, where there has been a long term commodity price decline.

Thankfully, we are now experiencing some rebounding of those prices. We are very hopeful that prices, some at 10 and 15 year highs, will help the bottom line for farmers.

We are continuing to do programming. We started this year with grains and oilseeds programming directed at grains and oilseeds producers. We have changed the way that the CAIS program is administered to get more money out. We will have $2 billion going out between now and the end of the year directly to farmers.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister recognizes that there is a problem, but he is not doing anything. Grain producers in Quebec do not believe in magical thinking.

In a decision on March 15, 2006, the Canada Border Services Agency recognized that without dumping subsidies, the price of American corn imported into Canada would be 62% higher. Grain producers in Quebec cannot hold on for long against such heavily subsidized grain production in the United States.

How can the minister fail to see that grain production could disappear in the medium term if his government does not invest massive amounts in this sector?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are investing massively in the sector. We recognized there was a problem. During the last election, we campaigned on adding an extra half a billion dollars a year to the agricultural portfolio. This year we added $1.5 billion extra dollars. A lot of that money is not just going to grains and oilseeds. It covers everything from science and technology to direct support systems for farmers.

The prices continue to rebound, and this is a good thing. We are working closely with provincial governments, in federal-provincial meetings, to ensure that farmers are looked after.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Gary Merasty, Liberal, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the time has come. The House unanimously supported the residential school agreement. A centrepiece to this agreement was to secure an apology to the survivors of the residential school for the atrocities that they suffered.

On behalf of my mother, my aunts, my uncles and my community, when will the Prime Minister offer a simple human apology to the survivors of the residential school?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well that the agreement was concluded under this government, and it was one that I have worked on very diligently. He is well aware also that the agreement, as structured, did not call for an apology. He is well aware that the agreement is currently working its way through the court system and that we are waiting to hear back. I have had regular briefings on the status of those court proceedings. I will advise the House accordingly once the court process has been completed.

Public Safety

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in Montreal, elsewhere in Quebec and throughout the country, the phenomenon of street gangs is gaining ground and becoming a growing concern. The Bloc Québécois, doomed to remain in the opposition forever, will never be able to do anything to address this problem and support our adolescents and families.

Could the Minister of Public Safety explain to us what our new Conservative government intends to do to help young people at risk and thereby address the source of this problem?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, one of our government's five priorities is the safety of our communities. Yesterday in Montreal, I announced that we would invest $10 million in Quebec for tackling street gangs and for local programs to protect young people from the effects and temptations of crime.

This is another good example of our fine cooperation with the Government of Quebec and with community organizations.

The Environment

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with a green plan that has environmentalists turning red, the federal government awash in billions of surplus dollars, the timing has never been better for the funding of meaningful environmental projects. An energy cogeneration facility at Hamilton's Stelco would reduce its production costs, massively decrease its energy consumption and reduce its greenhouse gas and smog emissions.

Will the finance minister finally show today that the government is committed to clean air and Canadian industry by funding this very worthwhile project?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, technology is one of the keys to ensure that we can have cleaner air and we can address climate change. Our government feels that industry should take the lead on this, which is why we are introducing regulations that will push industry in the direction to make investments in their own technology. That is what we would like to see. We would like to see industry and the polluters pay. That is the principle by which we will govern in terms of our green plan.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what a shame. I thought the finance minister was going to respond.

The previous government did not act fast enough before its demise to secure the funding for this project and the Conservative government does not seem willing to act either.

For the thousands of people in Hamilton whose jobs depend on Stelco, and the 4,250 people who will seek emergency health care due to air quality related illnesses this year, I ask the finance minister, will he commit to supporting this important environmental and industrial project now?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the hon. member to support real regulations for industry, which is what we are putting forward, to ensure that industry invests in the kind of technology that will reduce air pollution, which will ensure that Canadians breathe cleaner air so we can have reduced childhood asthma and reduced lung cancer. Our government is focused on that. We will keep pushing industry in that direction.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the young professionals international program was an outstanding program that provided young people with the ability to gain valuable international experience, then come back and work in the Department of Foreign Affairs, in CIDA and in international NGOs. What did the Conservative government do? It shut it down. Without any rationale or explanation, the Conservative government cut this program.

Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs explain to the House and Canadians why his government cut a program that enabled his department to acquire the young people it needed to continue to do its work?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I would be glad to answer that question. It was in fact the previous government that cut this program and decided to wind it down.

The good news is the Department of Foreign Affairs will focus its international youth programs on opportunities for young Canadians, between the ages of 18 and 30, through programs consisting of four components: the working holiday program; the student work abroad program; the young workers exchange program; and the co-op education. These are comparable programs, more efficient and they target the same age.

Why did the member opposite have his government cut the programs?

Immigration and Refugee Board

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal government the Immigration and Refugee Board appointments were highly politicized and developed in a place favoured for patronage appointments. Recently it has come to light that two refugee board judges have been misusing their powers and influences for highly inappropriate activities.

Could the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tell us what he is doing regarding the selection process of Immigration and Refugee Board members?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we are putting this review in place because the appointment system, which is there now, was put in place two years ago when a Liberal appointee was found to be in contravention of all kinds of Criminal Code activities, and is now spending six years in prison as a result of that.

We do not want to replicate that so we are reviewing the system. We want people on the board who are fair, accountable and competent. We have already started the process of reform. We have asked the IRB to work with us, and we have received 350 applications for new IRB positions.

Taxation

[Garth Turner, Conservative, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has tried to balance his actions on income trusts with a package of measures for seniors, and that certainly is a step in the right direction. However, many other investors are also impacted.

Will the minister commit to giving Canadians a break by allowing the untaxed rollover of capital gains?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there was a commitment in the platform with respect to working on capital gains. It is one of a number of issues that we are reviewing, studying and consulting with people on as we begin the preparations for the budget for next year.