Debates of May 17th, 2006

Afghanistan

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important that Canadians fully understand the nature of our mission in Afghanistan. The Conservatives are pressing us to take a position in this evening’s vote, even though we have access to only part of the information on the extension of the mission. What is more, what we know comes to us not from the government, but from the media.

Can the Prime Minister assure Canadians that this House and the Standing Committee on National Defence will be regularly informed of the military and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear: our government is asking for an extension of the commitments of the former Liberal government for another two years, and an extension of assistance for humanitarian development for another four years. One addition is being made to the military mission: Canada is requesting general command of the International Security Assistance Force, which requires the deployment of a high-ranking general and subordinates for one year, probably in February 2008. This is the only addition to our military mission.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this answer is totally unacceptable. It is time the government started answering the questions that we ask. The Prime Minister wants to commit our soldiers for two more years, until 2009, but he allows us only six hours of debate on the issue.

Why does the Prime Minister not understand that the lives of our brave Canadian soldiers deserve more thorough reflection than can be had in a six-hour debate?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if any member of the Liberal Party wishes to vote against an extension or the completion of their mission, that is deplorable. There is no excuse for it.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Standing Committee on National Defence passed a resolution which asks to study the various aspects of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, including the status of the troops and equipment and Canada’s capacity to meet its other international obligations, so that the House can make an informed decision.

Why would the government not wait for the recommendations of the Standing Committee on National Defence before making a final decision on extending the Canadian mission in Afghanistan?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as is its right, any committee of Parliament can decide to study anything it wants. We are having a vote tonight on Afghanistan, as agreed by all House leaders of all parties.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister once said: “The Liberal Party cannot ignore the democratic will of elected Members of Parliament whenever it fits their political agenda”.

Are we to understand from the Prime Minister’s attitude that, just four months after his election, he has already forgotten the noble commitments which supposedly set him apart from the Liberals?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat in French what I just said in English. Yesterday, the Bloc Québécois was in agreement with procedures for the debate and the vote. Today it has a different position.

Possibly if I wait a few days the Bloc Québécois will have again changed its position on Afghanistan.

Firearms Registry

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety just announced that he is changing the gun registry and that hunting rifles will no longer be included.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, his counterpart in Quebec has asked that he reverse his decision and leave the registry in place.

Will the minister respond favourably to this request from the Government of Quebec?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, my office and I were pleased to receive a call from the minister for the beautiful Province of Quebec.

I can tell him that we are going to consult the provinces. I can also assure the minister that we will continue to require safe storage of firearms, safety training, a police check and registration of handguns. I will be consulting with the minister.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is also announcing that the RCMP will be responsible for managing the registry from now on.

Does the government intend to propose to the Government of Quebec that the Sûreté du Québec take on this responsibility in Quebec, with an appropriate budget transfer, especially since the Sûreté du Québec believes in the need for the national firearms program and reports to a minister who also believes in the program?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what will happen. I will consult with the minister on this, because the Sûreté du Québec has ideas, of course, and I will consult its representatives. I am in favour—we are all in favour—of effective gun control.

Softwood Lumber

[Ken Boshcoff, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, two major Canadian lumber industry groups have filed lawsuits against both the Government of Canada and the government of the United States. They state that the two governments are preventing Canadian private industry from finalizing the decision of the NAFTA panel that has found that Canadian softwood is not subsidized. That decision should be final and recognized. All duties which have been collected must be returned.

Why will the Prime Minister not stand up for Canadian companies and why did he give away what they had already won under NAFTA?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should be prepared to go to his community, where the softwood lumber industry has been on its back for the last five years, and say that he wants more years of litigation and that he wants to cast aside a negotiated settlement that will bring stability, job growth, investment and a sense of a future for the softwood lumber industry across Canada and in northern Ontario.

[Ken Boshcoff, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, who does he think asked me to ask the question?

It is absolutely shameful that a Canadian company needs to sue its own government to protect our legal rights. The United States has not yet abandoned any of its litigation. Our industries are still paying $40 million a month in duties. Many are totally tapped out of capital financing and on the brink of bankruptcy. It is another stab in the back.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I am afraid the hon. member's time has expired. The hon. the Minister of International Trade.

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, I think the lawyers were probably the ones who got him to ask the question.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have spent on legal fees in this action. This negotiated settlement was very much in the interests of the Ontario forest industry and the forest industry across the country.

We have not given up our legal rights. We have merely suspended the extraordinary challenge. It can be continued, if this negotiation is not completed.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, a NAFTA panel was preparing to confirm that Canadian softwood lumber is not subsidized just before the government capitulated to the Americans. Now, our industry must sue its own government in order to ensure compliance with NAFTA.

Rather than making the Canadian industry the priority by giving it a legal footing within NAFTA, the Prime Minister and his Minister of International Trade approved everything and abandoned everything. Why?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, as I said to the previous question, we have not given up our legal rights. We have negotiated a settlement. We have protected Canadian forest policy. We have, if anything, protected Canadian sovereignty.

We have an agreement from the United States not to launch further aggressive trade actions. Those hon. members, with their cheap partisan politics, are inviting us to go back into a trade war, to go back into litigation, to go back into uncertainty, to go back into unemployment and to go back to destroying the softwood lumber industry.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, it was established some time ago that the minister knows nothing about partisan politics.

Despite veiled threats to the provinces and industry, Ontario softwood producers have been cut loose in their fight to see free trade respected. It seems that the government is more interested in playing the role of butler to the U.S. industry than protecting Canadian jobs and ensuring our industry can compete in the future.

Why did the government gut NAFTA and give $500 million to American companies to continue to harass Canadian softwood producers?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, I may not know much about partisan politics, but I think know a thing or two about softwood lumber.

The government is dead set on protecting and improving NAFTA, not on destroying it. We have not given up our legal position. We are building on NAFTA. We are re-energizing NAFTA. We are re-energizing the softwood lumber industry in our country.

Firearms Registry

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we heard the Auditor General's condemnation of the Liberal waste and mismanagement in the long gun registry. The government is committed to addressing the issue of the registry. Today we delivered.

Could the Minister for Public Safety tell the House his plans for the long gun registry?