Debates of Dec. 13th, 2006

Government Policies

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, everything was booked. I know the Conservatives are very ashamed of what they are doing--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. We have to get on with the question. The hon. Leader of the Opposition will want to put the question.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, beyond these figures, does the Prime Minister not realize that he is hitting students, the homeless and adult literacy programs? Does he not realize he is hitting Canadians with these cuts he is trying to hide from them?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, he says they were booked. As for that $40 million missing in the sponsorship program, I am hoping that somebody over there will get booked as well.

These are things the Liberals promised the Canadian people for 13 years and never delivered.

Their record is an empty shell.

They are an empty shell. They have nothing to offer other than to promise the same things they failed to deliver before.

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minority government continues to display false transparency. First, the Conservatives cut $1 billion from programs for Canadians without ever assessing the effectiveness or pertinence of these cuts and without assessing the programs. Now they are making further cuts, which the government tried to slip under the radar in the recently tabled economic and financial update, without saying a word about it.

Can the Prime Minister tell us why he hid the truth from all Canadians?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[An hon. member]

Calm down, you fools!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. The Minister of Finance has the floor to respond to the question. We are wasting a lot of time today in question period, which is not suitable for a Wednesday. The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is correct that we are spending on our priorities and not on a wish list that the Liberals published just before the last election, the third wish list that they published in 2005.

There were three sets of books in 2005 from the last government. We only have one set of books.

And yes, we are spending on our own priorities. To check on their books and what happened to the $40 million, I guess we will have to call their bookie.

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the current Conservative government seems to have forgotten that it voted unanimously, in this chamber, for Bill C-66, which contained specific projects such as the EnerGuide program and all sorts of projects to help the environment. The Conservatives voted for it at the time. They should not now be saying that they have not cut these programs. They cut them outright without an assessment.

We demand to see the assessment of the programs cut.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated yesterday with regard to environmental programs, we will have programs that lower emissions rather than increase them, as was the case with the other government.

With regard to these phantom cuts to non-existent programs, why did the Liberal Party hide its own programs from Canadians?

CIA Airplanes

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Maher Arar was deported to Syria, where he was tortured, in a CIA linked plane used for the illegal transportation of prisoners to detention centres where they are subjected to cruel treatment. These planes often stop over in Canada and in Europe. In Maher Arar's case, the plane stopped over in Italy.

Since the government has announced that it will inquire into three other cases similar to Maher Arar's, will the Prime Minister agree to broaden his inquiry to American planes that illegally transport prisoners and sometimes stop over in Canada?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the investigator can look into any issue connected to these allegations and these three cases, but I can say that the Government of Canada has examined the allegations and found no indication that any illegal activity took place.

The government's organizations are aware of the allegations and are ensuring the continued application of international laws and appropriate procedures.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, those are exactly the same answers the previous government gave. Those are the same answers Maher Arar was given. They said there were no problems and that everything was done legally. Now we know differently.

Today, Maher Arar is asking us to get to the bottom of this and to broaden this inquiry to include the CIA prison planes. We know that many of them have landed in Canada. Those planes have flight numbers and landing records, and we are asking the government to broaden this inquiry and demand the full cooperation of the United States, as other countries, such as Italy, are doing. We want to know what happened.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the government is taking the allegations in all three cases seriously, and that is why the Minister of Public Safety set up a judicial inquiry.

The Leader of the Opposition made some very specific allegations. We looked for the facts to support them, but we found no basis for those specific allegations.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there are more than just these three cases.

A report by the Canada Border Services Agency stated that no fewer than 20 prison planes linked to the CIA had made 74 stopovers in Canada in the past four years. The flight numbers, dates and landing sites in Canada are known.

What is the minister waiting for to investigate? He should not tell us that it was not illegal, because it was. It was one such plane that carried Maher Arar off to be tortured.

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois is right when he says that the former government did nothing for Mr. Arar. It is true.

However, the Canada Border Services Agency and Transport Canada have looked at the issue of these planes that are supposedly linked to the CIA.

I can assure hon. members that the pilots provided the passenger lists to one of the reporting centres, along with each passenger's date of birth, citizenship, gender, place of residence and reason for travelling. We have all that information here.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety's press secretary said in April that the Conservative government did not intend to do any additional checking.

If the minister is not willing to conduct an investigation himself, is he willing to broaden Mr. Justice Iacobucci's mandate to include investigating these prison planes? Not only has the European Parliament launched a commission of inquiry into this issue, but Italy is prosecuting CIA agents.

What is the minister waiting for to follow suit?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Justice Iacobucci's mandate does not include conducting such an investigation. But I can assure my colleague and friend that we will be vigilant with regard to this type of aircraft.

If we obtain any new information, I will share it with him and with all members.

Equalization

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it seems as though the Prime Minister and his government see Saskatchewan as nothing more than a pool for votes rather than a group of families with aspirations for their children.

The Premier of Saskatchewan, Mr. Calvert, met with the Prime Minister last week. Coming out of that meeting, he made it clear that it was obvious now that the government had no intention of honouring its promise to the people of Saskatchewan when it concerns equalization.

The Minister of Finance is going to meet with his colleagues the finance ministers in Vancouver next Friday. Will the Prime Minister stand in his place today and indicate crystal clear that he intends to honour his promise to the people of Saskatchewan when it comes to equalization?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Premier of Saskatchewan has taken a position on this that I do not accept. The government will fulfill its commitments in good faith.

At the same time, the Government of Canada is consulting with all provinces and territories to get their input on the new equalization formula and transfer payment rules that are fair to all provinces.

The leader of the NDP might want to indicate to the House whether he favours the position of the NDP Government of Saskatchewan to exclude natural resources or the position of the NDP Government of Manitoba to include natural resources.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this has to do with a promise made by the Prime Minister to the people of Saskatchewan, very directly, for fairness. He was rather specific about it. It looks to me like he is waffling now.

We hear the catcalls from the backbenches, but it is silence from the MPs from Saskatchewan on the government side of the House. They have not delivered anything to the people of Saskatchewan when it comes to fairness.

If it is not the Prime Minister, will anybody on that side of the House stand up for the people of Saskatchewan and say that the promise made will be a promise kept when it comes to fairness and equalization in Saskatchewan?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can say—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!