Debates of June 14th, 2006

Decorum

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. The hon. government House leader.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the hon. member did not hear the comments of the parliamentary secretary, but he did apologize and I think it was most appropriate under the circumstances.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that alleged apology was based on his own words, “—the House misinterpreted my gesture” … If what I did was misinterpreted, I apologize”.

That is not a genuine apology.

The Prime Minister should answer today, in this House, and say that he does not tolerate behaviour of this kind. He should immediately dismiss the parliamentary secretary, whom he personally selected.

When will the Prime Minister dismiss the parliamentary secretary for his “bloopers”?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is completely ridiculous. The hon. member apologized last night and the incident is closed.

However, the real question is this: why can the Liberals not ask questions about things that are important to Canadians, like the economy and crime? It is because the government is doing something to deal with those questions. It is because we are doing something, we are instilling a culture of accountability in government, instead of the Liberals’ corruption.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

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

Mr. Speaker, on April 13, 2005, the Prime Minister—then leader of the opposition—declared in the House, and I quote: “The Prime Minister has the moral responsibility to respect the will of the House”. Now yesterday the House adopted a motion of the Bloc Québécois demanding that the government limit imports of milk proteins.

Does the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food intend to respect the decision of the House?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government will defend the dairy producers. It clearly supports supply management. That system will continue to serve dairy producers and processors well, as it has done for many years.

The Bloc Québécois motion of yesterday evening will jeopardize the operation of the working group, and will prove ineffective in meeting the long-term concerns of dairy producers and processors.

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

Mr. Speaker, the people who are jeopardizing the dairy farmers are on the other side. What is more, farmers want exactly what is contained in the motion passed by the majority of the House yesterday.

The Conservatives are obliged to remember what they said in the past: the decision of the House must be respected. The matter of milk proteins cost us $242 million last year.

Are they going to wake up?

I ask the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to answer this question, he who claims to be defending the dairy producers.

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

Mr. Speaker, the support from this side of the House for supply management is absolutely clear. It has been clear since the campaign, before the campaign, during, after, and continues to be the position of the government that we should move ahead and support supply management. We are doing so in Geneva as we speak.

I am grateful that the dairy producers and the processors have agreed to sit down in a working group to address issues like MPCs, milk protein concentrates. They have agreed to sit together and are working together as we speak. I am hopeful that they will come up with recommendations to the government in order that we can move forward.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is less milk in ice cream and less milk in cheese because increasing use is being made of dairy by-products from elsewhere, instead of real domestic milk, in the manufacture of these products. If nothing is done to control imports of protein concentrates, up to 25% of the Canadian milk protein market will be lost, and the lost revenue will amount to over a half a billion dollars.

What is the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food waiting for to limit imports of dairy by-products, so as to offer real protection for the dairy producers of Quebec and Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course we are doing something. In fact, for the first time we have arranged for a mediator to work together with both the dairy farmers and the processors. Those two groups have come together with our mediator. They are working together as we speak to come up with recommendations to the government on things like composition standards and other issues that are facing the industry.

To simply say that this can be solved using an article XXVIII in fact jeopardizes supply management. We want to come up with long term solutions that both the processors and the dairy farmers can agree with. When that happens, then the future of the industry will be very secure indeed.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

The Minister knows very well that the one does not prevent the other. He can have his meeting with the dairy farmers and the processors, and he can take a stand and defend the dairy farmers. Despite the powers he now has, the minister is incapable of standing up on this issue.

With such an attitude, how will he be able to suitably defend the agricultural sector when the time comes to defend supply management? This is a fine signal the minister is sending to the other countries!

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

Mr. Speaker, that is interesting. This government and this country has stood against the world over in Geneva in support of supply management. We are happy to do so.

What we have said is that we are going to Geneva to get a good deal not only for the supply managed industries but for our export industries as well. More importantly, we are not going to jeopardize supply management by using a knee-jerk reaction like the Bloc would have us do for short term political gain. We want a long term solution that is in the best interest of supply management across the country.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the inane behaviour of these two parties today, let us go back to something that really concerns Canadians. The Minister of Finance has recently sent a letter to environmental groups defending his decision to continue the Liberal legacy of subsidizing the oil industry.

Can the government explain how in a time when the UN is condemning Canada for the widening gap between rich and poor, when over a million children live in poverty and seniors cannot afford the care they need, it cannot find the money to address these pressing issues, but can find $1.4 billion a year to subsidize the most profitable and polluting industry in this country?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is mistaken in the premise of her question. In fact, what this government has done in terms of its budget is to create incentives for people to use mass transit through a credit for mass transit users.

We have increased the required content for ethanol in fuel. We have acted rather than just talked like the Liberals did for 13 years. We have provided real incentives to improve our environment, the quality of our air and to reduce carbon emissions.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if that is all that the government can come up with, it is pretty pathetic because it is still defending its subsidies to the oil industry.

In fact, just yesterday the town of Fort McMurray voted unanimously to place a moratorium on the oil sands development until an infrastructure plan is developed. The people of Fort McMurray, like all Albertans and all Canadians, want their tax dollars spent wisely and want to see greenhouse gases reduced. The government's corporate welfare for the oil industry does neither.

Again I ask the government, when will it end this corporate subsidy to the oil industry and re-direct that money to seniors, kids and Canadians who really need it?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, what the member describes is far from what is happening in the oil and gas industry. The revenues to the people of Canada and the Government of Canada from that industry last year were $5 billion in taxes. That is compared to only $2.1 billion two years earlier. That is almost 15% of the total corporate tax revenues to the Government of Canada. We are proud of our oil and gas industry. It is growing. It is great for the future wealth of our country and for Canadians.

Member for Nepean--Carleton

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, there is a growing file on the immature and unacceptable behaviour of the member for Nepean—Carleton. Last night he performed his pixie dance in the House, directly mocking the Speaker. Just before that he joined the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in a vulgar gesture to farmers, and a few days ago on Bill C-2 he used obscene language in reference to other Canadians. This guy simply has to go.

Will the Prime Minister remove the member for Nepean—Carleton from his job as a parliamentary secretary?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I have already indicated that the member for Nepean—Carleton has apologized.

I will tell you what I do resent, though, Mr. Speaker. I heard two members on that side describing that vulgar and obscene gesture. They described it as Italian. They used the word “Italian”. I say to check the record on that.

I am a member of Parliament. There is a large Italian Canadian population in my riding and I think that is an insult. I would ask the Liberal Party to withdraw that reference.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I invite the government House leader to check the verbatim quotation from my colleague compared to what the translation delivered and he will find a great difference between the two.

Agriculture

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. When I negotiated for Canada in the GATT in 1993, I reported to Prime Minister Chrétien in response to his question whether I could guarantee him that supply management and the Canadian Wheat Board would exist for a full decade at least after those negotiations. I looked him right in the eye and said “yes”, and I was right.

I ask the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food today, can he show the same conviction and offer the same guarantee to Canadian farmers?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I just heard the opposition House leader say that compared to what the parliamentary secretary said, the reference to Italians was insignificant.

He asked us to check the record. I say let us check the record and I want an apology on behalf of all Canadians of Italian heritage and I want it withdrawn. That is an insult.

Canadian Heritage

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last weekend the Minister of Canadian Heritage attended a Banff World Television Festival. Close to $200 million in production deals are cemented at this event. We know, through the Ethics Commissioner, that the Minister of Canadian Heritage has a financial interest in at least one production company which has in the past benefited from government funding.

Can the minister tell the House if she discussed any funding productions with any production company while she was in Banff?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated yesterday to the House, there is a code in place that applies to all ministers. My colleague has made complete disclosure and has ensured that all directives have been complied with. There is no conflict of interest and the Ethics Commissioner agrees.

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows very well that the issue is not whether the minister has complied with disclosure requirements. The issue is whether or not she has placed herself in a conflict of interest.

When the minister responsible for the allocation of government funds to film and television producers has a financial interest in a company that stands to receive such funds, there is at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Can the minister tell the House herself that she has not had any discussions or discussed any matters with the production company in which she holds a financial interest?