Debates of June 22nd, 2006

Securities Industry

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that the provinces have made some progress on this issue already in harmonizing securities regulation. The fact remains that in the view of our government it would be to the benefit of all of Canada were there to be a single securities regulator.

As I have said, these discussions are taking place. I think the member should realize that this will only come about as a result of discussions and some meeting of the minds. I am hoping that everyone will attend in good faith and realize that what is best for the country will be best for every citizen in the country.

Regional Economic Development

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the plan for the Massif de Petite-Rivière-Saint-François is essential to the development of Charlevoix, since it would create 600 permanent jobs. Of the $230 million to be invested, Quebec has already offered $30 million. It seems that the federal government has refused to make a similar offer over five years.

The Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec was elected by promising nothing less than a Marshall plan to correct the regional economy.

How can he stand here today, in the context of the fiscal imbalance, and declare that Quebec has resources that he himself does not have? This means that, when it comes to investing in the Massif de la Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, the federal government was merely paying lip service.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is not every day that a promoter chooses to invest so much money in a project such as the Massif. In this House, government members have tremendous respect for promoters who wish to contribute to economic development.

This is why we reviewed this file three times, in order to make the best possible offer to the promoter, Daniel Gauthier, to help him go ahead with this project.

We did the best we possibly could within the budget constraints of Infrastructure Canada and within Economic Development Canada regulations.

Older Workers

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government prefers war over compassion. The federal government is preparing to invest close to $15 billion to procure all kinds of military equipment: aircraft, vehicles and ships.

How can it be so easy for the federal government to find $15 billion to buy war materiel, but not $100 million to help older workers and their families?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I will be pleased to answer the hon. member's question. The answer is simple. For 13 years, the Canadian Forces were neglected. The 13 years of the former Liberal government left the Canadian Forces in need of military equipment. And we will address that need.

In our platform during the last election campaign, we talked about military procurement. We are only keeping the promise we made to Canadians and Quebeckers.

Health

[Ruby Dhalla, Liberal, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were surprised to learn that the Prime Minister could only count to five. It appears that he cannot get past the number four. The Prime Minister is so eager to go to the barbecue circuit that his fifth priority of health care has fallen off the menu.

Do the Conservatives have a plan to reduce wait times? No. Do they have a plan to implement catastrophic drug coverage? No.

Do we have a minister who has been embroiled in one conflict after another? Yes. Do we have a minister who has violated Treasury Board rules? Yes.

Will the Prime Minister take his hamburger flipper and flip this minister out?

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

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member has a dramatic past, but in terms of the facts of this case, the facts are quite different from what she suggests.

In fact, in this country since this government was elected, there has been a province, the province of Quebec, that has moved forward with a wait times guarantee. We are in discussions with other provinces. There are numerous projects that have reduced wait times in this country.

Has this government followed through with additional moneys for wait times? Yes. Has this government followed through with a focus on health care that matters to Canadians? Yes.

When the Liberals were in government--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Brampton--Springdale.

[Ruby Dhalla, Liberal, Brampton—Springdale, ON]

Again, Mr. Speaker, empty rhetoric with no substance, because the fact is that the Conservatives have no plan on health care.

The Liberal government invested $42 billion to reduce wait times and to improve health care services. The Liberal government defended the Canada Health Act. We defended public health care in this country. The Conservative government has failed to deliver on the health care agenda.

Will the Prime Minister admit that his minister's conflict has resulted in no action, no plan and no leadership on the health care file?

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

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have made progress on the health care file. We are listening to the people of Canada on what they think is important in health care. They want a wait time guarantee. They want to make sure that when they need a procedure done, it is done in their community or there is a recourse for them that they can actually find.

We are actually focused on what Canadians care about. Can the same be said about when those members were in power? No.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on top of other conflicts and a contract scandal, we now learn that the health minister received more than $70,000 from pharmaceutical and drugstore chains in his failed Conservative leadership bid, including more than $11,000 from one company alone. In the 2004 and 2006 elections, big pharma gave big again.

I would not think it possible, but this minister for Shoppers Drug Mart has more conflicts than the Minister of National Defence. When will the Prime Minister take these conflicts seriously, remove this minister and take the health department out of the back pocket of big pharma?

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

Mr. Speaker--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The hon. President of the Treasury Board has risen to answer and has been recognized by the Chair for that purpose.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a landmark day for accountability. Yesterday the House of Commons passed the federal accountability act, which would ban corporate donations, ban union contributions and lower to just $1,000 a single campaign limit, not just for campaigns at election time, but also for leadership campaigns.

For the Liberal member to stand in his place and lecture this party on financing of leadership campaigns is absolutely disgraceful. He should tell his colleagues in the Senate to pass the federal accountability act now and bring real accountability to both houses of Parliament.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is a sad day for accountability when those members refuse to answer questions and time and time again practise nothing but hypocrisy. What does it take? How many conflicts and violations do there have to be before the Prime Minister actually demonstrates some accountability, not just rhetoric?

We have an unelected friend of the Prime Minister appointed to cabinet, a military lobbyist as a defence minister, two ministers who refuse to file conflict of interest reports, and now a minister of Shoppers Drug Mart who is responsible for health. This is not accountability. This is hypocrisy.

What is next? Is the member for Calgary West now going to become our new Ethics Commissioner?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the member opposite that the Minister of National Defence has more experience and more integrity to deal with issues affecting our armed forces than any minister in the last 50 years.

As for that member of the Liberal Party standing in his place and trying to give lessons on ethics to this party, while we were trying to bring in the federal accountability act frontbench members of the Liberal Party were shaking down young school children, shaking down young children for their milk money to give to their political campaigns. The member opposite should apologize and then resign.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. We will now have a little quieter question with the hon. member for Calgary Northeast.

Justice

[Art Hanger, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, for years now, parents, grandparents, police and other organizations have sought tougher laws to curb the abusive activities of predators, pedophiles and pornographers.

For years these same criminals have escaped justice because of our low age of sexual consent. As a result, our families have suffered imaginable pain as their children were exploited, and authorities were often powerless to do anything about it.

Can the justice minister tell us what the government is doing to protect our children from these predators?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the government has stated its commitment to protect vulnerable youth from sexual predators by raising the age of consent for sexual activity from 14 to 16 years old and renaming it the “age of protection”.

I am pleased to announce today that I tabled a bill to protect our children from adult sexual predators. This change to the age of protection is part of the government's commitment to protect our children from sexual exploitation. This is a common sense measure that deserves the support of all members of this House.

Official Languages

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages is vital to the survival of thousands of communities across Canada.

Several organizations, including the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, are very concerned about the fact that the government has not yet named a new Commissioner of Official Languages.

This government is dragging its feet. We need someone who can carry on Ms. Adam's good work.

Can the Prime Minister guarantee that he will nominate a highly qualified interim commissioner immediately, or is this not a priority for this Conservative government?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the government recognizes the importance of the Commissioner of Official Languages' role, and the process is underway to find a replacement.

The Environment

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, given the environment minister's inability to answer any questions on climate change, perhaps we will have a bit more luck with the Minister of Health.

The failing grade the Sierra Club gave the government on climate change, and reports from the Canadian Public Health Association reaffirming the illnesses and health failures for people as a result of climate change, the government has posed a significant threat to Canadians' health and safety now and in the future. Rising temperatures will result in increased sickness and fatalities due to heat stroke, dehydration and various other illnesses--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. the Minister of Health.