Debates of May 15th, 2006

Francophonie

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

Mr. Speaker, as there was no one to meet the secretary general of the Francophonie, Mr. Abdou Diouf, upon his arrival in Canada, he was subjected to a body search. This incident reverberated all the way to Senegal, where Mr. Diouf was the former President. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal called this a “serious incident, the antithesis of international diplomatic protocol...”

What kind of consideration does the Prime Minister give to the most important official of the Francophonie, when the Minister for La Francophonie is not even able to meet him? Will the Prime Minister at last apologize officially to Mr. Diouf?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

To repeat, Mr. Speaker, I spoke with Mr. Diouf. I had a very good talk with him. He considers the matter closed. I believe that the opposition parties should follow his example. Mr. Diouf has worked with this government to improve not only our relations, but also the work of La Francophonie, which is the priority of this government when the opposition plays these games.

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

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Diouf was polite and diplomatic, something that the Prime Minister was not. The Prime Minister must take responsibility.

Why did he cancel a scheduled meeting with Mr. Diouf at the last minute? Those responsible for the indescribable reception accorded Mr. Diouf must acknowledge their responsibility. When we are responsible, we apologize for our mistakes.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat again the words of the secretary general of La Francophonie. He said that he wished “to thank the federal and provincial authorities for their warm welcome”.

Mr. Diouf had an excellent talk with the Prime Minister and stated that the matter was now in the past.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada can express its regrets, but that is not enough.

Not only is the government responsible for the fact that no one was there to welcome a high dignitary from la Francophonie—not only was no one there—but it is also responsible for the unacceptable behaviour of the security officers who dealt with Mr. Diouf’s arrival in this way.

This is my question for the government: in diplomacy, is an official apology not the least that can be done? That is how it is done, whether the Prime Minister likes it nor not.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie, Mr. Abdou Diouf, said that he was satisfied and pleased with the work done at the conference in St. Boniface on the weekend. It dealt with various aspects of conflict prevention and human security.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as a good diplomat, His Excellency thought it best to put the emphasis on what worked, not what did not, but for which the government is to blame.

I want to ask the following of the Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages, who is responsible for this issue. What did she have to do that day that was more important than welcoming the highest official of the worldwide Francophonie?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary-General indicated himself that he was warmly received in St. Boniface, which has a very large, vibrant francophone community.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

We will have a little order, please. The minister has been recognized.

She had the floor to answer the question. If there is so much noise, I will not be able to hear her. All the members must be able to hear her answer.

The Hon. Minister of International Cooperation.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the weekend the Secretary General took part in a major conference in the company of representatives of the entire Francophonie. It resulted in the St. Boniface declaration dealing among other things with light arms, war-affected children, good natural resource management in times of armed conflict, and the issue of women in situations of conflict. That is what is important. That was the outcome of the conference this weekend.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada is becoming the laughingstock of the whole world because of its position on climate change. Under the Liberals, our greenhouse gas emissions increased. Under the Conservatives, things are even worse because they have decided to renege on Canada's commitments to other countries, to our future, and to future generations.

Now that his minister is the butt of every joke in Bonn, can the Prime Minister tell the House when he will do something substantial and concrete about climate change?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment is facing the following situation: the former government agreed to targets that it failed to reach by 35%. The minister is now working with the international community to develop an effective international protocol and take real action on a national level. We will continue to act.

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

Mr. Speaker, when is the Prime Minister going to begin to take this situation seriously? The fact is, he sought the responsibility to lead this country. One of those responsibilities involves taking on the issue of climate change as something serious and critical.

The latest reports emerging at the United Nations conference suggest that there could be millions of deaths as a result of climate change. They suggest that the economic damage is going to be enormous. They suggest that the impact will be on the most vulnerable and on the next generations.

I have pleaded directly with the Prime Minister to start to take this seriously. We see no plan. Can he tell us if is he waiting for the next smog season? Is he waiting for Canada to be ridiculed on the global stage?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the recent budget of the Minister of Finance made major new investments into public transport and also into incentives for those who use public transport, as well as significant investments into renewable fuels.

This is not an entire plan, but these are important actions. It is unfortunate that the hon. member and his party voted against these things. I wonder whether they take them very seriously.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government pretends to be looking for a made in Canada solution to global warming. It is really too bad that it has not bothered to look in Canada.

Last week the government cancelled the EnerGuide program that helps Canadians make their homes more energy efficient. According to the World Wildlife Fund, this was an incredibly successful program that has helped hundreds of thousands of Canadian households reduce their energy bills by 30%. CanWest news business editor Bruce Johnstone calls cancelling the program a major and silly “mistake”.

Why would the government abandon a successful, made in Canada program?

[Gary Lunn, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, this government is committed to getting results and it is committed to ensuring that taxpayers get value for their money. That is exactly what this government is going to do.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows very well that EnerGuide, a made-to-measure program for Canada, was a huge success.

Can the Minister tell the House when the EnerGuide program fell out of favour with the Conservative government? Was it when the Conservatives were looking for money to finance their budget promises and realized that the coffers were emptying a bit too quickly? Or was it when they abandoned any semblance of financial support for protecting Canada's environment?

[Gary Lunn, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, it is no secret to Canadians that over the last 13 years the old Liberal Party became the party of billion dollar programs with no accountability. That is why the Canadian people gave the new Conservative Party a mandate to deliver a government that can ensure fiduciary responsibility to put trust back into the Government of Canada. That is exactly what we are doing. We are going to ensure that every single Canadian taxpayer gets value for their money.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's submission to the Bonn conference suggests that Kyoto should give way to any one of five international forums on global warming, all of them with significant U.S. control, one even headquartered in the United States Department of Energy.

Will the Prime Minister admit that he is happy to take his orders on global warming from the White House and he wants the rest of the world to do the same?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is honouring our international commitment. Our environment minister is president of the UN Conference of the Parties. The minister is in Bonn right now and is doing a great job.

As this House well knows, greenhouse gas emissions have risen dramatically over the last 13 years and pollution is affecting the health of Canadians. We must develop a realistic and effective approach to clean up the air that Canadians breathe and to reduce greenhouse gases.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if we dig a little deeper into Canada's submissions in Bonn, we will find all kinds of clues about the government's real hidden agenda. The Prime Minister offers nothing more than lip service on the issue of climate change while the Conservative government backs away from our international obligations and guts real, made in Canada programs that were already helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

When will the Prime Minister just admit that he has no made in Canada plan, only a made in the U.S.A. plan designed by American Republican pollsters?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the environment minister and the Prime Minister are committed to realistic solutions, not phony public relations stunts.

Canada is committed to working with all its international partners to develop a more effective global approach for the future. That is why the minister is in Bonn.

To have credibility on the world stage, it is important that we work together to clean up our own backyard first. That is the focus of this government. We want clean air, clean water and clean soil that will benefit Canadians first and also will benefit the global community.

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment is in Bonn, chairing the conference on climate change, even though she challenges the Kyoto targets.

What sort of image will Canada have in Bonn if the Minister of the Environment decides to again express her very “studied” opinion on Kyoto, namely that implementing the protocol would mean taking all the buses and cars off the road and shutting down all the trains?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, in her opening address, the environment minister called on all countries engaged in the dialogue to be innovative about the challenges ahead in addressing climate change.

The minister emphasized that we have an opportunity before us to create an inclusive dialogue that will allow a sharing of information on best practices between the global partners.