House of Commons Hansard #52 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was companies.
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, when I spoke to the Commissioner yesterday on the Hill, during the memorial ceremony for officers killed on duty, he said that he intends to appear before the committee. I saw him say the same thing on television. I will therefore await his presentation.
Lucienne Robillard Liberal Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a highly respected institution in Canada. Given Justice O'Connor's statements in the Arar case, it seems strange, to say the least, that the Commissioner has been silenced.
Will the Prime Minister tell us if he still has full confidence in the Commissioner of the RCMP?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, Justice O'Connor, in tabling his report, made it very clear that this is a detailed report. Thousands upon thousands of documents were submitted. It is 1,400 pages long. When I heard the commissioner's remarks on television last night, I could fully support what he said.
He said it was, first of all, a very important day yesterday as we were commemorating 10 officers who gave their lives in the line of duty. Then I also heard him say that he was going to be appearing before the public safety committee, an all party committee, to answer questions. I think that is entirely appropriate. I agree with his position.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, in response to an amendment moved by the Bloc Québécois, the government committed itself in the Speech from the Throne to implement income support measures for older workers affected by mass layoffs. This was even referred to in the last budget. The purpose of these income support measures is to provide financial assistance for older workers until they reach the age of retirement.
Will the Prime Minister honour his commitment and will he introduce income assistance measures to support older workers until the age of retirement?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the government will shortly be announcing a program for older workers. I suggest that the leader of the Bloc Québécois wait for the announcement and not speculate about the details.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am not talking about the details, I am talking about the basis of the bill itself.
If the Prime Minister truly wants to help older workers, his income support program will have to be directed to all workers aged 55 to 65, who have worked in all economic sectors and all regions of Quebec. Those are not details.
Will the Prime Minister commit himself to creating a program that meets all these criteria?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I repeat, we will be making an announcement shortly. I suggest that the leader of the Bloc wait for the announcement.
Our greatest concern is to provide employment opportunities for people in regions where those opportunities are in short supply.
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, these are not rumours; the information that the minister’s office is giving workers is similar to what the leader of the Bloc Québécois is saying.
According to that information, the federal government, contrary to what it suggested in the Speech from the Throne and in the budget speech, will shortly be proposing a one-year plan for some older workers in some regions, instead of a real support program for older workers.
Does the federal government intend to honour its commitments and create a real income support program for older workers, so that they will truly be able to bridge the time between employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan?
Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, during the budget of 2006 we committed to go forward with a feasibility study to look at the long term possibilities of ways to help older workers, as evidenced in Quebec and right across the country.
In the meantime, we are looking at ways to assist them in the shorter term and as the Prime Minister has just said, we encourage the members opposite to wait for the announcement.
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, all the studies have been done. What is needed now is for the decisions to be applied.
For example, 350 Wolverine Tube workers have just lost their jobs. About 20 of them have 40 years of service and are over the age of 55. Not only have these employees lost their jobs, but they also have the misfortune to live in Montreal, a region where the proposed program would not apply.
Does this example not show the inflexibility of the program, particularly when it would give workers who are 55 and over only one year to find work? We might as well say that the government is abandoning them to their fate and they should expect no further good to come from this government.
Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that the hon. member should avoid rumours. If we want to learn something in this town, we can listen to all the rumours. If we ask three people, we will get five opinions. What he needs to do is to be patient, wait for the facts that will be coming forward, we hope, in the near future.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, President Karzai was very clear when I met with him on Saturday. He stressed the importance of finding a diplomatic solution, a political solution in Afghanistan.
We are well acquainted with the approach of this government, which spends one dollar on development for every nine dollars invested militarily.
What is the Prime Minister doing to increase diplomatic and political efforts in Afghanistan?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, President Karzai thanked this government for all the work done in Afghanistan. He encouraged our government to do still more for stability. Obviously there are some major challenges to be met, but President Karzai wishes to have Canada’s support in Afghanistan. I am sure that he also wishes to have the NDP leader’s support.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, during my meeting with President Karzai, he underlined once again that there is no military solution in Afghanistan. He said that there absolutely had to be significant diplomatic and political efforts.
He also underlined, he was very blunt about this, that we needed to see an active engagement by Pakistan in these discussions, and he said that he would be raising this issue with President Bush this week.
What efforts is our Prime Minister undertaking to increase the involvement of Pakistan and ensure that Pakistan is part of the solution here?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, this government, this Prime Minister, and other ministers have raised all of these issues, including the issue of Pakistan and what it can do to help the situation, in our meeting with Pakistani officials. I did that with the Prime Minister of Pakistan when I was in Pakistan.
However, what is absolutely clear is that President Karzai strongly supports Canada's involvement in his country. He has asked for our involvement in his country. He is encouraged by that involvement and the leader of the NDP can hardly cite President Karzai. If he wants to cite President Karzai then he should get on board with the effort and support the rest of this Parliament.
Stephen Owen Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has to be held accountable for violations of the Privacy Act in his own office. Last week it was revealed that members of his political staff received the name of a reporter who had made a confidential request for information.
What disciplinary action has the Prime Minister taken against a member of his own political staff who violated the privacy law and left that violation unreported for more than six months?
John Baird ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, let us not let the facts get in the way of a good question in question period.
In fact, I can report to the member opposite that I did have a good meeting with the Privacy Commissioner. We indicated the government would certainly be prepared to work with her and respond to any questions she may have as she looks into the issue, but we will get the facts first and not the reverse.
It is odd once again to have a member of the Liberal Party giving ethics lessons to anyone.
Stephen Owen Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Mr. Speaker, the first offence was “we did not receive the information”, then “we did receive the information, but we did not read it”. Sure, Mr. Speaker.
Then the parliamentary secretary claimed that a PCO memo said that the former Liberal government regularly disclosed names of reporters, except the memo said the complete opposite. Now the parliamentary secretary, only today, has apologized for misleading the House.
When will the Prime Minister show some real accountability and dismiss his parliamentary secretary?
John Baird ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, in fact nothing of the sort occurred. The Privacy Commissioner will of course look into this issue. There is no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing with respect to the individuals in question and I take great issue.
The reality is that if the Liberal Party cannot govern itself, how can it give lectures on how this government governs Canadians? Joe Volpe apparently is recruiting dead people in Quebec--
Access to InformationOral Questions
The Speaker Peter Milliken
Order, please. I have reminded members a number of times over the last couple of weeks that naming another hon. member by name is out of order. We do have to refer to perhaps the hon. member for Eglinton—Lawrence. I recognized the member's name in the minister's answer. He knows that is out of order.
John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
I apologize, Mr. Speaker. The member from Six Feet Under is recruiting the dead. The member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore apparently signed up 60 members improperly in his leadership campaign in two Toronto ridings. One man in the member's constituency said that this person died two years ago. Maybe they should stand in their place and tell us about--
Access to InformationOral Questions
Jean Lapierre Liberal Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, who makes out he is whiter than Ivory Snow, saw the Privacy Act breached in his own office by his own staff.
I ask the Prime Minister what action he has taken since he learned the Act was breached in his own office by his own staff? What action?
John Baird ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, the first thing this government did, when it read in the newspaper that something untoward had happened, was to call Jennifer Stoddart, the Privacy Commissioner. We met with her and told her that the government would be very happy and completely prepared to work with her if she wishes to look at the case before her.