Debates of May 2nd, 2006

Steven Dwight Kavanagh

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I stand in this House today to recognize the passing of a great citizen. Steven Dwight Kavanagh of Glace Bay was a well-known academic, community leader and military man.

Serving as the Dean of the School of Business at Cape Breton University, Steve was a mentor to both students and staff. He was honoured in 1999 with the President's Award in recognition of his personal actions and leadership inspiring others to common effort. His long and distinguished military career as a reserve army officer saw him rise to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders. He served with distinction for three lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia.

Steve's commitment to his community was exemplary. He was a founding member of the Sydney Airport Authority, chair of the Sydney Ports Authority and a respected member of the Chamber of Commerce.

He will be remembered for his compassion, generosity and leadership, and his love for both family and community.

His wife Afra, his son Dan, and his daughters Basma and Sana should take comfort in knowing that Steve not only made a contribution to his community but he made a great difference.

Air-India

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Prime Minister on yesterday's historic announcement of a judicial inquiry into the Air-India bombing.

On June 23, 1985, 329 innocent people, most of them Canadian citizens and many of them children, lost their lives in the largest mass murder and terrorist act in Canadian history. For years the families of the victims have called on the government to find answers. The previous government promised a full inquiry before it was elected in 1993, and then began dithering to prevent an eventual inquiry. Canadians deserve justice, not broken Liberal promises and false hope.

We are committed to finding the missing answers so that the families of the victims can finally close this terrible chapter in Canadian history.

This government is committed to protecting the safety and security of all Canadians and will prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage

[Maka Kotto, Bloc, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last November 15, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage unanimously carried a motion by the current Minister of Canadian Heritage to establish an independent task force to review the mandate of the CBC-SRC.

Recently, we heard that she intends to proceed. Good. Nevertheless, the Bloc Québécois wishes to remind the minister about the last clause of her motion, which reads as follows:

That the government, when establishing this independent task force, do so under the advisement of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, and that the membership reflect that of this committee.

It is imperative that the minister fully respect her motion by, first, taking the advice of the committee members and second, ensuring that the membership of her task force reflects that of the committee.

It is a question of keeping her word and respecting the committee's unanimous decision. It is also a question of credibility.

Affordable Housing

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the House to join me in extending congratulations to Kitchener Centre's Mary Bales who was honoured by the Governor General with a Meritorious Service Decoration for her outstanding achievements.

As a successful realtor, Mary became aware of the lack of affordable housing in Kitchener. Always first to take affirmative action, Mary launched a campaign to create Heartwood Place to provide safe, affordable and adequate housing as well as transform old commercial buildings in our downtown core. In 2003, Heartwood Place unveiled its inaugural project, an industrial site renovated into a 33 unit apartment facility for low income families in Kitchener.

It is through Mary's generosity and commitment that we are able to provide citizens with improved access to housing, and also instill a sense of hope and confidence in tenants.

I invite hon. members to join me in offering heartfelt congratulations to Mary Bales, a true leader in our community.

Access to Information

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister spoke in the House about his election promise to implement the Information Commissioner's recommendations for greater access to information.

Now we learn that the government did not even consult with the Information Commissioner until after it tabled its new legislation in the House. The Information Commissioner offered to work with the new government before it introduced the legislation. It did not even bother to return his calls.

Why did the government ignore the views of the very parliamentary officer who was so important to it during the election campaign?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know that is not true. We have always taken into account the views of the Information Commissioner, and I can even say that I did meet with the Information Commissioner well before the legislation was tabled.

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the President of the Treasury Board, who sometimes uses vocabulary that runs ahead of himself a bit, described the criticisms of the Information Commissioner as extreme and over the top.

However, during the election campaign, the Prime Minister pledged to implement the Information Commissioner's recommendations. When the Prime Minister extended the term of the Information Commissioner, he expressed a desire to have the benefit of the commissioner's views.

Why will the Prime Minister not now recognize that, as the Information Commissioner says, these new proposals actually reduce the amount of information available to the public as a result of the government's policies?

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition should also be aware that not only did the Prime Minister meet with the Information Commissioner before tabling the federal accountability act in Parliament, I met with him. The very hard working parliamentary secretary from Nepean--Carleton met with him.

His advice certainly meant our bill was stronger. He also said in The Ottawa Citizen that our proposals were more radical than any of the ones that he proposed.

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there are consultation meetings and then there are ratification meetings. It is the latter that the government opposite is holding. It does not want to consult, it just wants to get its actions ratified. The Commissioner has told us that the effect of this legislation will be to weaken the Commissioner’s oversight role and increase the government’s ability to cover up wrongdoing.

Does the Prime Minister now intend to respect the words of his own Information Commissioner so that we in this House can pass legislation which reflects his pertinent opinions?

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to have this hon. member as the Leader of the Opposition. Last November, just seven months ago, he voted against all the known access to information measures contained in our bill. On May 5, this hon. member and all the members of the Liberal Party voted against the opening of this new cooperation agency. I say we will continue to work with the Commissioner to ensure that the bill which has been tabled is the best for accountability in Canada.

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, someone is not telling the whole story about what has occurred in this House, for on page 9 of his special report tabled in this House, the Commissioner says, and I quote: “It is regrettable that the new government did not consult with the Information Commissioner with respect to the need for, or the wording of, the 12 new exemptions to, and exclusions from, the right of access”. The Commissioner himself says that you did not consult him.

Who is telling the truth? The Commissioner, the Prime Minister or the Minister?

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, again, it is quite interesting that this is one of the members opposite who voted against including crown corporations. This is one of the members who voted against including officers of Parliament. This is one of the members who voted against putting some access to information law to shed some light on the billion dollar foundations created by the previous government.

We hope he and his party will give speedy passage to these important pieces of legislation.

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Information Commissioner goes even further. He says, and I quote:

The government’s access to information reform plan will not strengthen the accountability of government through transparency—it will weaken it.

The word “weaken” does not mean “more”, but “less”.

So I would like to know why the Prime Minister continues to take shortcuts with the truth and not listen to the Commissioner, in whom he had such confidence during the election campaign.

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed in the Hansard of November 15, not even seven short months ago, that it says in the nays: Lapierre (Outremont).

That is quite clear.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The response is no doubt of great interest, but the Honourable President of the Treasury Board knows very well that he may not speak the name of an hon. member in the House, even if he is quoting Hansard, voting lists or other such written matter.

The Honourable President of the Treasury Board has the floor and may finish his reply.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Rather than call him by his name, I should perhaps call him, Mr. Flip-Flop. This is the member opposite who voted against expanding access to information. We will move forward and we will bring more light where there is darkness. We will bring more accountability where there has been Liberal corruption.

Regional Development

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

Mr. Speaker, all premiers of Quebec since Jean Lesage—regardless of political allegiance—have called for anything done by the federal government in the area of regional development to respect the priorities set by the Government of Quebec.

Does the Prime Minister agree with Quebec’s historical request? In addition, does he intend to incorporate it into the federal regional development act?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, may I ask the member to repeat his question? I did not catch it.

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

Mr. Speaker, if he is not listening, shall I repeat it and then ask another one? It is really not my fault if he is not following what is going on in the House.

I said that all premiers of Quebec since Jean Lesage—regardless of political allegiance—have demanded that in the area of regional development, the federal government respect the priorities set by the Government of Québec.

Does the Prime Minister support Quebec’s request? Does he intend to incorporate it into the federal regional development act?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can only say that the Government of Quebec has not raised this question directly with us to date. I believe that the reason is simple: we are an economic partner of the Government of Quebec. We work closely with the Government of Quebec. The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec believe that a strong Quebec within Canada is essential to the development of Quebec.

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

Mr. Speaker, all prime ministers in Ottawa—regardless of political allegiance—have said the same thing as this Prime Minister. Even when things were not going well, they said that they were going well. That is why Quebec wants it to be incorporated into the federal regional development act.

If the Prime Minister tells us that things are going well, then there is no problem with incorporating it into the act.

I will ask the question again: why not incorporate this into the act in case things go less well at some point? Let us clearly establish this concept and let us genuinely respect Quebec’s priorities.

[An hon. member]

Perfect.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the Government of Quebec has a request to make to the Government of Canada, it is capable of making it itself.

I will wait for that, but to date the Government of Quebec has been working closely with the Government of Canada for the economic development of Quebec within Canada.

Quebec City Airport

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the Conservatives promised that the federal government would contribute financially to the modernization of the Quebec City airport. The airport's capacity to handle passengers must be increased. The work will cost $65 million, including $15 million from the federal government.

Since the Government of Quebec has already announced its contribution, is the Minister of Transport prepared to announce the federal contribution for a starting date next fall?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec City Airport project will cost $68.5 million. A committee involving the various levels of government is working on this matter. Given present circumstances, we will have to wait for the budget to see what funds are available to meet expectations and to ensure that everything is ready for Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations.