House of Commons Hansard #96 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was grain.
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is wrong. I notice the list of environmental programs he cited. Under the previous government, the Liberals had these Kyoto environmental programs and emissions went up. What this government has committed to is that we are re-examining all the programs and we will bring in programs where emissions will go down instead of up.
That is why, far from just getting rid of these programs, we will be replacing them with far more effective programs.
Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has confirmed that $7.4 billion in cuts were made, as the assistant deputy minister told the Standing Committee on Finance on May 10. What we do not know is where the cuts were made. We have obtained part of the answer thanks to the Access to Information Act.
I am asking for a minimum of transparency from the Prime Minister. He must make public the exact list of cuts that have been made.
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, this government announced budget cuts of $1 billion in September. The Leader of the Opposition is referring to our intention to replace certain environmental programs with more effective programs. That is necessary because the Leader of the Opposition, when he was Minister of the Environment, had the worst track record of any environment minister in the world. This country must improve its performance.
Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, I would be very pleased to debate with the Prime Minister on his policy about the environment and our policy, but today--
Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, today what we need to have is a minimum of transparency from the Prime Minister. For a week we have been asking him when he knew that the Commissioner of the RCMP would change his story. He has been unable to answer.
Today we are asking him where will he make these cuts. Where will these cuts happen? He is unable to answer. I ask the Prime Minister, how long will he hide the truth from Canadians?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition does not like the answers he gets, which is that his facts are wrong.
I will say that on this side of the House we certainly look forward to debating the environmental record of the Liberal leader. In fact, we will be able to quote his own seatmate from Etobicoke—Lakeshore, who said that he had a chance to do something for the environment and he just did not deliver. The Liberal leader has a record on the environment that is no different from the record of Alfonso Gagliano on accountability.
John Godfrey Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Mr. Speaker, yesterday in committee, the Minister of the Environment was asked whether or not Canada's contribution to the UN for the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto protocol had been paid in full. She indicated that it had, and then was immediately contradicted by an assistant deputy minister who stated that Canada was behind on a $1.5 million payment.
Has the minister now authorized the $1.5 million payment?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I can confirm again what I said at committee, which was accurate. Canada has met all of its obligations. All of our mandatory obligations under the Kyoto protocol were paid up in full. I have the United Nations document here to prove it if the member would like me to table it.
I would appreciate it if the hon. member retracted the comment.
John Godfrey Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the assistant deputy minister of foreign affairs said that we had not paid, so she must have paid overnight.
At her first appearance the Minister of the Environment said that she would never use the clean development mechanism to purchase international emission credits. Yesterday she said she would use the clean development mechanism to purchase international emission credits, if they were duly authorized and proven to lead to reductions of greenhouse gases.
Will she or will she not use the clean development mechanism?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, let me put this on the record once and for all. This government will not use taxpayer money to purchase international credits, period. And we definitely will not do what the last government did which was to spend millions of dollars through the World Bank carbon funds to buy international credits which got us no closer to our Kyoto target than 1%.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, the Prime Minister attended a meeting of NATO member nations, where he half-heartedly asked for greater military involvement by member nations and more support for rebuilding Afghanistan. Not surprisingly, given that he himself was unconvinced of the importance of what he was asking, the Prime Minister returned empty-handed, without having obtained any assurances from NATO members.
Does the Prime Minister realize that if the Afghan mission does not change, if the mission is not rebalanced and if the member nations refuse to do their part, the mission is doomed to failure?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, our closest allies in the south, such as the Dutch, the British, the Estonians and others, are helping to increase troops in Afghanistan. Clearly, we have a great deal of support, which will help us achieve success in the long term.
I noticed yesterday that the Leader of the Opposition had spoken out against the mission in Afghanistan. Yet today, the Bloc Québécois website says that despite its reservations, the Bloc supports Canada's military presence in Afghanistan.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister may now have realized that the issue is not whether or not we should be in Afghanistan, but how we should be there as part of a balanced mission.
The problem with this Prime Minister is his obtuse ideological approach. He sees the world exclusively in terms of good and bad, white and black.
Will he stop using soldiers, for whom I have the utmost respect, solely for his simplistic ideological aims?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, our soldiers in Afghanistan have a very dangerous mission. They are involved in economic development and humanitarian assistance, but the fact is that the security situation is dangerous. Therefore, their resources are needed. Some soldiers have even been killed recently while engaging in development activities. We must help our soldiers in Afghanistan for the sake of their security.
The only problem here is the Bloc Québécois leader's political opportunism. He is using our soldiers to play political games.
Vivian Barbot Bloc Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, last October, General David Richards, Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said that 70% of Afghans would side with the Taliban if living conditions do not improve within the next six months.
Should the government not talk to its NATO partners about making major adjustments to the balance between the humanitarian and military aspects of the mission in Afghanistan?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, NATO statements clearly indicate that there can be no security without development and no development without security. There is no separating the two.
Once again, the Bloc is being opportunistic. I would like to quote the House leader of the Bloc Québécois. In September, he said: “Even though the mission is difficult right now, immediate unconditional withdrawal would be irresponsible toward our soldiers, toward Afghanistan and toward the other nations to whom we promised we would do this work. We must support our soldiers.”
Vivian Barbot Bloc Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister just said exactly what we are saying. We need a better balance for this mission, not a withdrawal.
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has a very narrow vision of the operations in Afghanistan where the military aspect has taken over and is pushing a major segment of the Afghan population right into the arms of the Taliban.
Rather than go along with George W. Bush's strategy, should the Prime Minister not make a major effort to convince his partners to do more in terms of humanitarian intervention?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, this government is in Afghanistan for a military mission, for economic development and for humanitarian aid. The Bloc Québécois changes its position just to play games at the expense of our military. That is unacceptable.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, a new report on the Arctic Ocean's ice cover indicates that it could disappear completely by 2040. Global warming is having a devastating effect on our health, economy and quality of life.
Will the Prime Minister act as quickly as possible to impose a ceiling for major industrial polluters in Canada or will he wait for all the ice in the far north to melt?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the threats posed by these problems and that is why we are the first government to propose a national law to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. It is vital that the parties in this Chamber work hard to pass this bill and to have effective legislation that will give real results.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, under this law, the Prime Minister's targets do not have any real effect until 2050. That is 10 years after the Arctic will have melted. That is not acceptable.
The oil and gas sector puts out 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions in our country and this government, just like the previous one, wants to continue to subsidize it with massive subsidies. In addition, it refuses to put real controls on the big polluters.
Will the government support the NDP's call for strong emission caps on big polluters, starting within 12 months from now?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, actually just like the framework bill that the hon. member presented, this government's clean air act outlines a plan to have targets in the next few years all the way to 2050, not starting in 2050 but ending in 2050, short term targets, medium term targets and long term targets.
We want to make sure we have targets. We are in discussions with industry to make sure we have targets that are attainable and that will achieve results. I think this government has made absolutely clear in the Minister of Finance's tax fairness package that we will have tax fairness for all industries, and all industries, including the oil and gas sector, will pay their fair share of taxes.
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Speaker, students and parents were shocked to learn the government is abandoning $2.9 billion worth of programs that help low income Canadians go to university and college. With only 21% of low income youth attending university, the government has put another barrier in their way.
Why is the meanspirited minority government punishing these Canadians when it was sitting on a $13 billion surplus?
