Debates of May 18th, 2006

Employment Insurance

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative agenda contains nothing to improve the employment insurance system. It is not even one of their priorities.

The Prime Minister does not understand anything about this issue and the extremely difficult situation thousands of Canadians face every day.

In recent years, the Liberal government introduced measures including pilot projects to improve the lot of seasonal workers.

Why does the Prime Minister not promise right now to extend all pilot projects until the programs have been reviewed and to support my private member's bill on eliminating the two-week waiting period following a job loss?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, there are a wide range of employment insurance programs that are underway. Most of them are pilot projects and by that it means they are a test. Before committing Canadian taxpayers' dollar ad infinitum, we want to ensure that new ideas will work and that they will be in the best interests of workers, and of Canadian taxpayers.

That is why we believe in getting the facts before we evaluate a program, unlike my colleagues opposite. That is why, with the five weeks program, we are waiting until we get all the facts and have been able to consult with my colleagues opposite. We are taking their considerations of those programs into our evaluation as we design something appropriate with which to go forward.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, it is incredible to hear that. This situation is completely unacceptable. It is terrible to leave the people who are most in need in the lurch while the government ponders and evaluates.

I repeat that these pilot projects, including the pilot projects on the five additional weeks and the lower St. Lawrence and Madawaska economic zones, are very important to thousands of Canadian workers.

Time is running out, and the situation is urgent. I call on the minister to act instead of hiding behind evaluations.

Why is the minister refusing to help the unemployed while she waits for the evaluations of the pilot projects?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, the government was elected to be accountable to the people. They want us to spend their dollars wisely and well. That is why we are going to evaluate and ensure that the decisions that we make are right, not just take the opposition's word for it because it was trying to buy votes locally for their members. We are going to do it for the people of Canada.

Agriculture

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, for the past decade the legitimate and escalating criticisms of Canadian farmers outlining the flaws and lack of delivery on farm programs were ignored by the previous Liberal government.

Can the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food tell the House today what our government plans to do for Canadian farmers in contrast to the inaction of the previous government?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to announce $1.5 billion in additional spending for this year.

Today we announced the enhanced spring credit advance program that will double the amount of maximum interest free loans to $100,000 per farmer. We will allow them to repay that until September 2007.

We are changing the AMPA program to include more agricultural sectors to get access to the program.

We are addressing the failures of the previous Liberal CAIS program by adjusting the inventory valuations back to 2003, 2004 and 2005.

We are putting $950 million today into farmers' hands.

Softwood Lumber

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the 23 page terms of surrender to George Bush on softwood lumber are an indictment of the government's fawning desire to negotiate any deal no matter what the price to Canadians.

The surrender terms give away over $1 billion to the trade criminals, require Canadians to have a permission slip from George Bush for any forestry changes, and throw away our binding dispute settlement rights.

Our ambassador to Washington admitted that there were no instructions from the government to stand up for Canadian rights under NAFTA. In fact, the instructions were clear: capitulate. Why did the government surrender?

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

Mr. Speaker, this government and our Ambassador to the United States do not need explicit instructions to stand up for Canada. That is his job. That is what he is doing.

The softwood lumber agreement shows that. It protects Canadian sovereignty, it protects provincial forest management policy. It creates stability in the industry. It causes American protectionists to not be able to do more of that litigation in the future.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

The truth is, Mr. Speaker, the agreement is founded on deception, but in that way, it seems remarkably similar to the election campaign the minister ran in Vancouver Kingsway.

It is unprecedented. The softwood sector has to take our own government to court in order to uphold Canada's rights. What a mess.

Will the minister commit today, as his surrender is being rejected by Canadians, that the government will do what it should have done in the first place, invoke chapter 19, provide loan guarantees and litigation support for the softwood companies so that Canadians' rights are maintained and we get every single dollar back?

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not think there is any greater deception on the people of Canada than the one that is being perpetrated by that member and that party.

That hon. member should have the courage to tell Canadians, to tell people employed in the softwood lumber industry that his strategy is a strategy for trade war. It is a strategy for litigation. It is a strategy for hundreds of millions of dollars to pay more lawyers. It is a strategy for uncertainty. It is a strategy for failure.

Health

[Belinda Stronach, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government has failed to address the issue of wait times in its first 100 days in office. All we have heard are vague promises and a budget with no money for them.

This is in contrast to the Liberal plan which put $5 billion on the table to address this issue. Canadians are still waiting for something, anything, to reduce wait times.

If this is still one of its top five priorities, when will the government act?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, there has been great progress in wait time guarantees. Right off the mark, the government of Quebec announced its own wait time guarantee program. We are initiating discussions with the other provinces.

The hon. member is misinformed when she cites the previous Liberal government's support for this.

Indeed, this government, in budget 2006 by my hon. colleague next to me, indicated a $5.5 billion fund to address wait times and an extra $1.1 billion this year alone in transfer payments to the provinces to assist them in health care.

That is leadership on this side of the House.

The Environment

[Belinda Stronach, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the minister of improved wait times could answer this: Canadians with respiratory problems, including seniors and children, are being left to fend for themselves this summer when smog season begins.

The government has gutted key Liberal programs to reduce air pollution and smugly promises that it has a plan to clean up the environment.

It has now been 100 days and counting and we have not seen anything yet. Will the government admit that it has no plan?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, our government is extremely concerned about the pollution problems and the health impacts on Canadians. As we know, in Ontario last year there were 53 smog days and 35 in Quebec. For the first time ever, we had winter smog advisory days.

Under the former Liberal government, every single industry sector in Canada has fallen behind on pollution control compared to the United States. We are working actively right now to bring legislation to the House to make sure that we not only catch up with the U.S., but that we outperform the U.S. on pollution.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. The Prime Minister in statements to the media last Friday in Mississauga stated that he will not set targets for the number of new immigrants Canada will be letting in this year. This is wrong. Parliament and Canadians have a right to know.

The Liberal government was not afraid to set targets. Will the government reverse this outrageous decision? Why would it not set targets? What are the Conservatives trying to hide, a cut in immigration?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting the member would raise that, given that the Liberal Party set a target for immigration of 1% every year over the last 10 years. The Liberals missed that by a total of almost one million people.

I have to tell the hon. member across the way, the one thing we will not do is make a promise like that that we have no intention of keeping.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is wrong in his facts again. In the past six years not only were the targets met each and every year, but they were exceeded four times.

The Prime Minister further stated that it was important to make sure applications were processed quickly. If the Conservatives are sincere about wanting to speed up processing times, they would not have cut the $700 million put in place by the previous government to do exactly that.

Will the government do the right thing and restore that $700 million?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am sad to say that the member is absolutely wrong about his facts. He is ignorant of the portfolio and that is very unfortunate, given how he holds himself out as such an expert.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment continues to make inane statements.

Yesterday, she stated that Quebec's economy would be hurt if we went ahead with the Kyoto protocol. Yet, the chief of staff of the Quebec minister for the environment, Claude Béchard, maintains that, on the contrary, it is possible to comply with Kyoto without hurting the economy.

Will the minister retract her irresponsible statements, tackle the job at hand, and reveal her plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the member is obviously trying to distract from the irresponsibility of putting forward a motion in the House that he knows full well means the reduction of four times over of the amount of emissions in every single Canadian household.

This government will act, but we will act responsibly and make sure that we defend the interests of all Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, what does the minister have to say to the directors of Alcan, Bombardier, Mouvement Desjardins, Power Corporation and Tembec who, just a few months ago, were urging the government to continue and even intensify the fight against greenhouse gas emissions?

What is the minister waiting for?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I was elected to make sure that we put forward an accountable plan on the environment to Canadians, not to corporations. That is the way we will proceed and ensure that we do what is right by the environment and what is right by Canadians.

Agriculture

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, in an earlier question the minister left the impression that there would be money for farmers today. When did September or later become today?

Earlier this morning the minister admitted there would be no cash for farmers this spring. That is a violation of the commitments that the backbench gave farmers for immediate cash. Worse yet, it is positive proof that the budget was less than honest with respect to farmers.

Why is the minister failing to provide immediate cash for farmers? Why have the Conservatives broken their trust with the farm community?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, as already mentioned, we have an enhanced spring cash advance program that will make $1.2 billion available for farmers immediately. We have changes to the AMPA legislation which will include more sectors within the agricultural community. What is more, we are going to continue to put forward programs, including a biofuels program, in the days to come that will make sure that farmers take part in the value added process where the real money is to be made.

Aboriginal Affairs

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding, as in the ridings of many other members, native friendship centres provide a valuable resource to thousands of aboriginal Canadians who live off reserves in our cities and towns. The 116 centres nationwide are places for people to meet and places for young aboriginal people to learn from their elders.

Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage please tell this House what measures the government has taken to ensure friendship centres are adequately funded?