House of Commons Hansard #18 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was billion.
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, more rhetoric, no results, no accomplishments, not getting anywhere; this is what promises are like from Liberals. Canadians expect results and they expect results in our big cities.
We have people with addiction problems who need support. We have people who need supportive housing and assistance. We have committed $800 million one time funding for this year that is going to make a real difference for Canadians in our cities.
Borys Wrzesnewskyj Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, last week it was the use of law enforcement officers to grab kids in schools as ransom for parents. Today it is trying to force the same children to choose at deportation hearings who gets to stay, father or mother, tearing families apart.
The government said that children would not be used as pawns. Who is authorizing this? Will the minister do the right thing and issue a ministerial permit in the Lizano-Sossa case?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, first of all there is a process to determine the whole aspect of deportation and whether there should be exemptions.
Members opposite know that if I were to respond in detail about a particular case, the next thing they would be doing is screaming for a resignation. That is not appropriate.
I can say that there is a process in place. That process has been filed. I dealt last week with the issue relating to what happened in those particular schools.
Andrew Telegdi Liberal Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
The previous government was working on the problem of undocumented workers and a resolution was coming forth.
In the budget last week the Conservative government increase was $1.9 billion below the amount the Liberal government had committed for 2005. Clearly the Conservative government broke its election promise to do better than the Liberal government.
This is another Conservative flip-flop. Not only does the government have a wooden smile and a wooden heart, but it has a wooden nose. Will the government keep its promise and put more money into citizenship and immigration?
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the truth is the previous government made lots of promises but it never delivered.
In fact, in the budget last week, we put another $307 million into settlement funding over the next two years. We have put more money into credentialing. We also cut the right of permanent residence fee in half, the same one the previous government imposed in 1995. We would never do that. We have done more in 13 weeks than the previous old government did in 13 years.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the past few months the manufacturing sector has lost more than 36,000 jobs in Quebec alone. When asked about this last week, the Minister of Industry gave us the gist of his strategy, which is to do nothing.
How can the Minister of Industry explain that he did not propose a single measure to allow the manufacturing industry in Quebec and Canada to cope with global competition?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, the industry's competitiveness is a priority for this government. That is why we brought down a budget that responds to the concerns of the manufacturing industry, that cuts income taxes for small businesses, that eliminates the capital gains tax and responds to the industry's concerns. In fact, this is what Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, said about our budget:
This is encouraging -- a better budget for business than we have seen in the last five years.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Industry not realize that his strategy of lowering taxes will not help the manufacturing industry in Quebec and Canada for the simple reason that by the time a company gets ready to close shop because of international competition it has not been making a profit for quite some time?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I believe my hon. colleague from the opposition is mistaken in the premise of his questions. If we asked all the businesspeople in Beauce, in Quebec and in Canada whether a tax cut would help them and their business, I think they would not hesitate to say yes.
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, last year the RCMP began probing tens of thousands of dollars donated to former MP Gurmant Grewal in my riding. Some of these donations ended up in his personal account and many of the donors have never received receipts. Everybody, including the RCMP, wants to know where that money has gone, everybody except the Prime Minister.
What is the Prime Minister doing to ensure that this troubling matter is handled in a manner consistent with the new accountability act?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, neither the Prime Minister nor individual members of Parliament nor cabinet ministers direct the RCMP when it comes to investigations. It will conduct the investigations and do the searching it wants to do in any particular case. We do not want to see the time arrive when there would be members of Parliament directing it in that fashion.
Bill Casey Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Mr. Speaker, 872 Nova Scotia farmers received payments under the CAIS program for 2003 and 2004. Then in January, 272 of them started receiving collection letters from the Government of Canada demanding they pay all of the money back. That is a 32% failure rate for this Liberal program.
Will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food explain how he is going to straighten out this Liberal mess and what is he going to do for farmers right now?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley for raising that issue with me on several occasions on behalf of farmers in Nova Scotia.
I am pleased that on Friday we not only announced an immediate moratorium on CAIS clawbacks and any interest charged on these clawbacks, but we are well on our way to establishing separate income stabilization and disaster relief programs.
It is clear the old Liberal government had programs that served its own interests. We are developing programs that serve the interests of Canadian farmers.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, we have now learned that the Minister of Public Works and Government Services is going to rewrite government contracting rules.
His plan ignores the recommendations of the Gomery report on the Liberals' sponsorship scandal.
I would have asked this of the minister, but I see Mr. Fortier is still sitting unelected in the Senate. Therefore, I ask the parliamentary secretary, can he confirm it is the government's intention to ignore the Gomery report?
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, of course, as all Canadians know and certainly the New Democrats know, after 13 years of mass corruption and unaccountability from the Liberal Party, we have put forward the federal accountability act, which will address the problems that have accumulated over the years with regard to procurement. We are doing everything we can to ensure taxpayers' dollars are well spent. That is in the best interests of Canadians. We will take no lessons from any Liberals on this issue.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. The government is planning on making it easier, not harder, to take advantage of the system. Canadians paid millions of dollars to get to the bottom of Liberal corruption and now the unelected minister is running roughshod over the recommendations.
The minister's plan makes a mockery of the Conservatives' promises in the election campaign.
Will the government tell us why the Conservatives are now behaving like Liberals, saying one thing before an election and doing another thing afterwards?
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, with respect, the preamble to the question is all over the place and just factually wrong. The government is going to do everything in its power to ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent and spent in the best interests of all Canadians.
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance uses the Atlantic accord as an example of something that is wrong within the Canadian federation. Is he telling us that what is fair in Atlantic Canada is not fair for the rest of Canada?
My question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, yes, my hon. colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador. Will he stand up for his province, take off the muzzle and tell the Minister of Finance that he is dead wrong, that the Atlantic accord is fair for Newfoundland and Labrador and it is fair for Nova Scotia?
Atlantic AccordOral Questions
St. John's South—Mount Pearl Newfoundland & Labrador
Conservative
Loyola Hearn ConservativeMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, what surprises me is the gall the hon. member has to stand up and ask a question like that. When we were fighting to get the benefits for our province from the Atlantic accord and when our Prime Minister forced the government to deliver, that member and others sat there and would not lift a finger to help Newfoundland and Labrador.
Gary Schellenberger Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Mr. Speaker, funding for the arts was part of the government's budget. The money will go to groups who will engage our communities to learn and experience. Could the minister inform this House about the funding for the arts and the reaction from the arts community?
Bev Oda ConservativeMinister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women
Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to ensuring the integrity of the arts and cultural communities in Canada. The government's commitment to the arts, as demonstrated in the budget, has been well received. I would like to read for members what was said by the Chair of the Canada Council, Karen Kain:
I think this is a real vote of confidence in the Canada Council. To make it into the first budget of a Conservative government....This government has recognized the value and importance of the arts to the quality of the lives of Canadians and their communities; I think [it] is just wonderful.
I could not agree more.
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, over the course of the past year, the media have revealed on many occasions that aircraft chartered by the CIA have flown over Canadian territory while transporting prisoners. Similar observations have been made elsewhere. The Council of Europe and the European Parliament have received a number of reports highly critical of these practices.
Will the Minister of Public Safety tell us whether he approves of the fact that the CIA is using Canadian airspace to transport prisoners?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's concerns. I have asked the representatives of the public security agency about this. It appears that in all cases the pilots had submitted their flight plan, a list of the names and dates of birth of all passengers and the reason for the flight. Up to now, we have found nothing illegal.
Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON
Mr. Speaker, in this budget, the Minister of Finance proposed to hide $3 billion of taxpayers' money in the Canada pension plan, a plan that is viable without that investment for at least another 70 years. Moreover, the budget was silent on enhancing public pension benefits for our seniors, who so desperately need financial security to retire with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Instead of hiding surplus money for questionable purposes in what should be a “pay as you go plan”, will the minister commit today to investing that money in a pension benefits guarantee fund to protect the thousands of workers and retirees whose pensions are put at risk by the 10,000 commercial bankruptcies a year?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, those facts as stated are not accurate, but what is accurate is that for 30 years pensioners in Canada waited for an increase in their pension income credit, from $1,000 up. It took 30 years and this government to double that from $1,000 to $2,000.