House of Commons Hansard #24 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pesticide.
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member opposite understands why it is difficult to take him seriously from time to time.
I will say this, we will honour the agreement. We are committed to the agreement, unlike when the Liberals were the government and made various commitments that they did not keep.
We brought in a focused budget that kept our priority commitments to the people of Canada, including the Government of Ontario and all the people of Ontario.
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works and his parliamentary secretary need to get their stories straight.
Last week the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works denied that any sort of deal had taken place between Public Works and Minto Developments for the former JDS Uniphase site, only to be contradicted by the Minister of Public Works who confirmed that a letter of intent had in fact been signed.
Did the parliamentary secretary give the House bad information or is he just out of the loop?
Public Works and Government ServicesOral Questions
Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam B.C.
Conservative
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, at one time the member opposite was on the government side of the House. When he was here, he should know there is a difference between a letter of intent, an agreement in principle, and Treasury Board approval. In fact, there has not been a formal deal put forward and approved on the former JDS Uniphase building.
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is the problem with an unaccountable minister in another place.
This is a secret deal. This building was worth $30 million when the Liberals were in power and now the taxpayers are paying approximately $600 million. Who is pocketing the money? Or who is pocketing the difference, $570 million?
Public Works and Government ServicesOral Questions
Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam B.C.
Conservative
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, if it is a secret deal, how does he arrive at the number of $600 million? This is, again, Liberals just inventing information as the NDP critic did before. Here is the simple fact for the member opposite. There is no deal on the JDS Uniphase building that has been approved by Treasury Board. There is no deal.
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, at the Cancun summit, the Prime Minister accepted as a done deal the decision by the United States to require the use of passports at its borders, contrary to the statements by the Minister of Public Safety yesterday. Yet everyone thinks this is a bad decision.
Will the minister see reason, take the position of the Government of Quebec, four provincial premiers and the governors of New England, and wage a real battle against mandatory passports?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the member gets his notes from. What he says is not true at all. The Prime Minister stated that this situation was unacceptable. It is unacceptable that Americans or Canadians should have trouble crossing the border. That is why we have proposed a solution. We are very happy that provincial premiers such as Mr. Charest agree with us.
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, in a speech to the Canadian Association of New York on Monday, the Canadian ambassador warned the Bush administration, as the governors and the Premier of Quebec have done, against the negative impact of requiring passports at its borders.
What is the Prime Minister waiting for to explain to President Bush that this measure is expensive for both countries and useless from a security standpoint?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the hon. member mentioned our ambassador. He is working with us, of course, and we have proposed solutions. We have approached the Americans with solutions and will continue to do so, particularly with the help of our ambassador, the governors and the members in this House. We will reach a solution.
Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Mr. Speaker, given that the Auditor General determined today that notable progress has been made in the management and operation of the Canada Firearms Centre since it has been established as an independent department, and given that police and law enforcement authorities, public safety groups and victims' groups have otherwise affirmed that the firearms registry works, that it has deterred crime, that it has saved lives, why would the government seek to dismantle the vital component of a law enforcement and gun control regime that in fact protects public security, protects public safety and saves Canadians' lives?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I can only reflect on what the Auditor General herself said. I am surprised that the member, who usually presents a fairly cogent picture of the reality of the situation, has been sadly misled here.
Yes, it is true that the Auditor General mentioned that there have been some management improvements, but overall it has been a $1 billion disaster. She talks about the fact that the former government went to great lengths to hide the facts from her. She talks about the fact that it hired lawyers to deny information from her. The member did not mention that homicide rates in the last two years have gone up. It has been a $1 billion disaster.
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Mr. Speaker, for over a decade Liberal governments have starved our military of necessary resources. The Auditor General confirmed today that recruitment and retention have suffered, and our armed forces are short of necessary personnel.
Can the Minister of National Defence tell us what this government is doing for the Canadian armed forces?
Gordon O'Connor ConservativeMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, according to the Auditor General's report today regarding recruiting, this whole matter rests with the sad legacy of the Liberals. Basically, they underfunded the military for over a decade. That caused massive attrition in our military.
When the Liberals tried to turn the corner and said they would rebuild the military, they did not provide any money for recruiting, so it rests with the Liberals.
We, on the other hand, will deliver. We will deliver the money that is needed for the armed forces and we will build them to the strength we promised.
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Mr. Speaker, the new rules allowing the accessing of emergency passports is clearly discriminatory to people living in rural, northern and remote areas.
Not allowing MPs to process requests for urgent passports is setting up a two tier system. People now have to travel hundreds of miles and appear in person in a passport office to access an emergency passport.
When will the government stop caving in to U.S. security interests and concerns, and start serving all Canadians equally?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, this has absolutely nothing to do with American concerns. This has to do with Canadian passport decision making.
We are undertaking a comprehensive review of how we will deal with passports, given the current situation because of the western hemisphere travel initiative. We will be making some decisions and announcements on this in the near future.
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Mr. Speaker, obviously the minister does not understand. In large urban areas, we just have to walk down the street or catch a bus to get a passport or an emergency passport.
This weekend, in my constituency, I had a mother and her sick child who had to travel 18 hours to get an emergency passport. This is clearly discriminatory. This is clearly two tier service.
The government has two options: it can either open up more passport offices across the country or it can reverse this policy. Which will it be?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, as I said, what the government is trying to do and having to do on so many of these files is fix some of the abysmal mess that we found in our department when we were elected. If the hon. member were to do his job properly, he would have saved his constituent's 18 hour drive, picked up the documents, and delivered them to me.
Keith Martin Liberal Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, every year, half a million people, mostly civilians, die of small arms. They are a major health hazard from Darfur to the Congo.
My question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Will he task his officials this summer at the UN world summit on small arms and light weapons to support an international arms trade treaty to ensure that the principles for each state's authorization of small arms exports be added to the UN program of action?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member opposite that this has been in fact a long standing issue. It has been a problem that has cost thousands of lives, if not more. It is an issue upon which we have received a number of submissions, including from the member opposite.
A number of our EU partners have brought resolutions like this before the United Nations. We are certainly prepared to look at them, as all countries are currently doing, and we will be participating in the debate at the UN and making decisions accordingly.
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Mr. Speaker, today's Auditor General's report has highlighted first nations concerns that need to be addressed. The Auditor General has made over 30 recommendations since 2000 on how to improve services for our first nations people.
Despite many promises, the Auditor General's report proves that little was actually done by the Liberal government to improve conditions for aboriginal Canadians.
Can the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development tell us what a Conservative government is doing to address issues facing our aboriginal communities?
Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's report is in and it is a sad and appalling indictment of 13 years of Liberal government in action. This is what the Auditor General said:
Federal organizations have made unsatisfactory progress in implementing almost half of our recommendations, generally those addressing issues having the greatest impact on the lives of First Nations people and Inuit.
By contrast, in the past 100 days, this government has done more for aboriginal Canadians than the Liberals did in 13 years. We have a national drinking water strategy. The budget includes $300 million for northern housing, $300 million for off reserve housing, an additional $150 million--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please. I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of several members of the Nunavut, British Columbia and Yukon governments.
They are: the Honourable Paul Okalik, Premier of Nunavut, Minister of Justice, Minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister Responsible for Labour Relations; the Honourable Levinia Brown, Deputy Premier and Minister of Community and Government Services for Nunavut; the Honourable Edward Picco, Minister of Education and Energy and Minister Responsible for Nunavut Arctic College and Homelessness and Immigration; the Honourable David Simailak, Minister of Finance for Nunavut; the Honourable Louis Tapardjuk, Minister of Culture, Language, Elders, Youth and Human Resources for Nunavut; the Honourable Olayuk Akesuk, Minister of Economic Development and Transportation and Minister Responsible for Nunavut Housing Corporation and Mines; the Honourable John van Dongen, Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations for British Columbia; and the Honourable Jim Kenyon, Minister of Economic Development for Yukon.
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to the notice of the House that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in his response to my question, has misled the House. In fact, I believe he has misled the people of Canada into believing that a member of Parliament could simply go to a passport office, ask for an emergency passport on behalf of a constituent and expect to get it and bring it back to his constituent. He knows that is not true. I ask him to withdraw that comment and to explain the policy of his ministry in this instance.