Debates of June 9th, 2006

Employment

[Greg Thompson, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, that is the previous minister of the last government who fell out of bed one morning and said that he would have an immigration policy for Atlantic Canada. He failed miserably on that.

That same minister fell out of of bed one morning and said that he would have a port strategy for Atlantic Canada and, guess what? He had no port strategy; a complete failure. That is the Liberal record.

On top of that, the Liberals are distorting the very statements the member made yesterday in committee. That is the old Liberal way. If they repeat a fabrication long enough they expect people to believe it. Canadians do not believe that party because its record is a record of failure in Atlantic Canada.

[Joe McGuire, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the hon. member what we did in Atlantic Canada over the past six years.

In 2000, the Liberal government launched the Atlantic investment partnership, a $700 million investment to support economic development in Atlantic Canada. In addition, $708 million was added to the last Liberal budget, building on the recognized success of the first phase. In the past six years remarkable success has been made. The region has more R and D activity, more opportunities in rural communities, more exports, more foreign investment and more skilled entrepreneurs.

Why does the government not commit itself to the Atlantic investment fund instead of one-way tickets for Atlantic Canadians out of the region?

[Greg Thompson, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I will have to repeat some of what I have said.

That party opposed free trade. That party could not get a deal on softwood lumber. That party ignored productivity in Atlantic Canada. That party starved post-secondary education. That party did not deliver on an immigration strategy after promising to do so.

Those numbers he mentioned are just simply numbers. His party did not deliver on any of those promises. In fact, in my home province the Liberals deserted us and left us on Point Lepreau--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

Order, please. I would remind hon. members that the people who have the floor are the ones who are supposed to be speaking, not everyone else.

The hon. member for Cape Breton--Canso.

Veterans Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, last fall, during a rush of promises to garner votes for an impending election, the Prime Minister unequivocally promised to:

...immediately extend Veterans Independence Program services to the widows of all Second World War and Korean War veterans regardless of when the Veteran died or how long they had been receiving the benefit before they passed away.

So far the promises are nowhere to be found and in fact were not even mentioned in the budget. Has the Prime Minister changed his mind or by “immediately” does he mean when he gets around to it?

[Greg Thompson, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the VIP is a successful program and we have every intention of honouring all our promises. The VIP is a program that allows a lot of veterans to stay at home and receive the kind of care they deserve from their own families.

We will enhance that program when necessary. We will probably do it very soon simply because we know it is good value for money. When that will occur, I do not know, but if they examine our record for the last four months, guess what? We have a habit of keeping our promises, unlike that government.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows, everyone in this House knows and anyone who has done any work on Veterans Affairs knows the name of Joyce Carter. She is a constituent of mine who is a strong advocate for veterans' issues. She has a signed copy of a promise from the leader of that party to immediately institute the broad based VIP.

When I sat in her kitchen last week she had one question. She asked, “Rodger, why did the Prime Minister lie to the widows? Why did he break his promise to the widows?” My question, on behalf of Joyce Carter and the widows--

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

Order, please. The hon. member knows that kind of language is unacceptable and that he cannot do indirectly what he is not supposed to do directly. Could he kindly take that back and rephrase the question, and very quickly?

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

I will, Mr. Speaker.

On behalf of Joyce Carter and the widows, why were those promises broken? Why did the Prime Minister break those promises?

[Greg Thompson, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member apologized for using that word but that is the word they use quite often and I can understand why he would use it so freely here in the House of Commons.

We are committed to veterans. We are delivering a wide range of programs to veterans. We have the best programs in the world for our veterans and we will continue to enhance those programs to benefit our soldiers, their wives and their families.

The Environment

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals had 13 years to address the issue of mercury pollution. Despite saying that they care about the environment, the Liberals failed to take any action on this file. This government is committed to making real progress on issues that matter to Canadians.

Could the environment minister tell us what this government has done to reduce mercury pollution and what the response has been from environmental groups?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is quite right. The Liberals did absolutely nothing for the last 13 years. On Wednesday, the environment minister announced the plan to prevent the release of 10 tonnes of mercury over the next 10 years.

Both Environmental Defence Canada and the Clean Air Foundation praised this announcement. Environmental Defence called it good news for the health of Canadians. Dr. Rick Smith said, “This is great news for the health of Canadians, particularly young children...”. The Clean Air Foundation said, “The proposal is a good first step toward protecting Canadians”.

Liberal Party of Canada

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, where I come from, the only thing worse than egg-sucking dogs is when they start running in packs. It would seem there are feathers flying and chicken coops being plundered right across the country as the Liberal leadership candidates are using their parliamentary staff to promote their own Liberal Party members.

I do not want my taxpayer dollars being paid to underwrite the Liberal leadership campaign. I want to know what provisions in the accountability act we could put in place to plug this outrageous abuse of Elections Canada financing rules.

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

Mr. Speaker, it never ends. Yesterday the Liberals were upset because ministers were following the rules and today we wake up and see headlines that say “Liberals using taxpayer-funded offices for campaign work”. I am quoting and I will table this if they would like.

One Liberal MP called the practice unethical and said that it runs deeper than just e-mails. “This is just the tip of the iceberg”, he said. We agree. This is deplorable but it is typical of what comes across the aisle from the Liberal Party of Canada.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

The fact is, Mr. Speaker, I do not really care if the Liberal Party cannot tell the difference between right and wrong. What I care about is this whole thing undermines people's confidence in the democratic process. An already jaded electorate will see this and be even less likely to take part in the democratic system.

Bill C-2 has some specific amendments to deal with those Liberal leadership loans that are really more like corporate donations. We want to know, will the Conservative Party support those amendments to curb that outrageous practice as well?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member accurately characterizes what is happening in the Liberal party. Today it is the issue of tax funded offices. Last week it was a shake down of kids for campaign contributions.

This underlines, once again, how important it is to bring back transparency and accountability in the government. That is why I want all members of Parliament to support the federal accountability act.

Supply Management

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of International Trade said that we have to be prepared for the possibility that WTO negotiations might be unsuccessful. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food said that Canada will not walk away from the negotiating table. The Conservatives are spending their time talking the talk, but let us remember that the former Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Andy Mitchell, walked the walk in Hong Kong to save supply management, even though there was an election going on.

Given these contradictions, can somebody tell us what the government's position on WTO negotiations really is?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, this government stood alone against 148 other countries to defend supply management, and we will continue to do so vigorously. We cannot discuss our negotiation tactics and strategies publicly on a daily basis. However, one thing is clear: Canada must stay at the negotiating table because it is in the best interest of our entire agricultural sector, including supply managed and export sectors.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is easy to see why the government is so reluctant to talk about its tactics for protecting supply management: it has none. Ministers from the Prairie provinces, as well as certain agricultural sectors, claims Canada is the only country at the table looking at sensitive products. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food also said that being alone at the table is an untenable position for Canada.

Does this mean that the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food will continue to support supply management at the WTO talks even though he, himself, said that this is an untenable position for Canada?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, Canada will remain actively involved in the negotiations to ensure that we are in a position to propose an agreement that is in the best interest of Canadian agriculture, not to capitulate to some other proposal.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in committee the Minister of Agriculture said that the government was still trying to determine what Canada's best strategy would be with regard to WTO negotiations. He has also received pressure from some premiers and industry groups to take a more flexible approach with regard to supply management. He stated that Canada would be part of the WTO no matter what.

The farmers in Waterloo region are worried that the Minister of Agriculture will trade off our supply managed industries for a deal with the WTO. When will the ministers of the government get personally involved, like Andy Mitchell did, and ensure that we get the right deal for farmers?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's agricultural tradition is recognized around the world. It is built on a solid footing and the solid values upheld by our Canadian farmers, such as family, hard work and honesty. Over the past 13 years, the Liberals denied those traditional farm values. With no vision for the future, the Liberals betrayed us.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our farmers deserve better than having them play politics with something that is this important.

The Minister of Agriculture said that we would stay at the WTO negotiations because Canada was a deal maker, not a deal breaker. He also said that there was significant pressure on marketing boards, but he refused to give any detail on Canada's position.

The Minister of Agriculture needs to admit that the government is abandoning Canada's long established strategy of defending our sensitive industries. We need to see a plan. Farmers deserve more than just pure rhetoric from the government.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely happy to answer that question.

Our government is determined to defend the interests of all Canadian producers, without exception. We have a long-term vision for agriculture. Under the Conservative government, Canadian agriculture will be world-renowned for its leadership.