Debates of Sept. 29th, 2006

China

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, quite to the contrary, the parliamentary secretary has been working diligently on the file of Mr. Celil, as have I. We have raised it a number of times, both in New York last week and previously at the ASEAN meeting. I know that the Prime Minister hopes to have the opportunity to meet with President Hu at the APEC summit.

These kinds of spontaneous outbursts that play to the gallery are not going to help Mr. Celil or elevate the important, respectful relationship that we have with the Republic people's of China.

Tourism Industry

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the ideological cuts we have seen from the minority Conservative government this week will have devastating effects on border tourism.

In my riding thousands of visitors have taken advantage of the GST rebate offered to tourists, stimulating cross-border traffic and tourism opportunities. Jerry Fisher of the Northwestern Ontario Tourism Association maintains this will be a devastating blow to the industry. How can the government possibly justify the elimination of this business-friendly program on the very same day it announced record surpluses?

Is help for the cross-border tourism, in the government's words, mere “fat to be trimmed”?

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

Mr. Speaker, only 3% of visitors to Canada took advantage of this program; 97% of visitors to Canada did not take advantage of this program.

We brought in a huge tax cut to help spur investment, to help spur consumer spending in Canada. That was called a 15% reduction in the goods and services tax.

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, most of that 3% must be in my riding then.

It makes absolutely no sense to cut such an effective program in the midst of surpluses. The government will also lose revenue associated with indirect sales coming from cross-border traffic. More important, this is a kick to tourism when it is already down. The high value of the Canadian dollar, more stringent entry requirements and difficulties crossing the border have all been squeezing this industry for some time now.

How can the government justify the elimination of a program that helps Canadian communities when they are already facing bleak times?

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

Again, Mr. Speaker, I do not think we are doing enough to assist in this regard. The very best thing we can do is reduce the GST one more percent, something this government plans to do.

Government Programs

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is an irony in the Prime Minister's wife and the President of the Treasury Board taking part in a walk for literacy, when the government announced this week $17.7 million in cuts to this learning program.

Does the government plan to restore funding to this program and, at the same time, transfer its share to Quebec, given that it falls within its jurisdiction?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are respecting provincial jurisdiction. That is why we are going to focus our literacy spending on issues that cross provincial and territorial boundaries. We believe that local and regional issues are best addressed at the local and regional levels, including the provincial level. That is exactly what we are allowing the province of Quebec to do.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government's ideological choices are nothing new. The decision to cut the court challenges program dates back further. Indeed, in academic texts of his, the Prime Minister's chief of staff stated that the court challenges program only helped the “haves”, namely women, francophones and gays.

Will the Prime Minister admit that it is totally unjustified to cut the court challenges program based on the outlandish idea—

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

The hon. President of the Treasury Board.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite seems to be much more familiar with the writings of Ian Brodie than I am.

We take the issue of human rights to be incredibly important. We in the House have a responsibility to uphold human rights.

I, like all members of the House, am deeply disturbed by the serious allegations of former members of the Liberal cabinet and even one member of the Liberal frontbench who says that he feels he experiences bigotry and discrimination within the Liberal Party.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the lobster fishery in New Brunswick is in terrible shape and fishermen need help. The government needs to urgently support this industry, not simply slash $20 million from DFO's budget.

This week the minister told listeners in Newfoundland not to worry, the entire cut would be absorbed in New Brunswick.

Will the parliamentary secretary tell the House if this latest cut is just the beginning of the punishment the government intends to inflict on New Brunswickers for having thrown out the Prime Minister's buddy, Bernard Lord?

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised by the question because it was the previous government that announced financial assistance to New Brunswick in the amount of $20 million but never actually delivered that money. If it had, I think we would not be having this conversation.

When we formed government we recognized that although the aquaculture industry, which is where that money was intended to go, had undergone a certain amount of restructuring, it still faced some significant challenges, so our government almost immediately provided $10 million through ACOA that has already gone out.

We have demonstrated a real commitment and real money to the aquaculture industry, in fact all sectors of the fishing industry in New Brunswick. I would expect the member to be applauding that.

Agriculture

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian agriculture industry is being faced with long term human resource challenges that require the joint efforts of industry leaders, educators and other stakeholders.

Could the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development please tell the House what the Government of Canada is doing to ensure all parties in the agriculture sector are sharing ideas, concerns and perspectives about human resources and skills issues relating to the agriculture sector?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Selkirk—Interlake for the fine and steadfast work he has done for agriculture over the last two years.

Recently I was very pleased to announce the investment of $1 million to create a new sectoral council for the agriculture industry. This council will play a vital role in finding innovative solutions to help the human resources situation affecting agriculture today.

This is good news for Canadian farmers and it is good news for Canada.

Canada-U.S. Border

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this past summer this government did nothing when the United States tore up a treaty that had been in existence from the War of 1812 that prohibited gunboats on the Great Lakes system.

Since that time, the American coast guard has indicated it wants a firing range flotilla to be set up that will conduct live fire exercises on a regular basis on the Great Lakes. This is dangerous for the environment, as well as for boaters and the tourism industry.

I want to know from this government, will it stand up and demand a cessation of this? The militarization of the border, including more helicopters, drone planes and watchtowers are what the Americans are moving toward. When will the government stand up and make sure that this is not going to put Canadian citizens at risk?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the treaty that was referenced goes back to 1817 and actually allowed for armaments on vessels. However, the amendment to that treaty allowing what is happening today with machine guns on the coast guard vessels was done by the former government in April 2003.

I can tell members that from the point of view of border security, there is a 60-day comment period on this new process by the U.S. coast guard. On the point of border security, we are going to raise the concerns that Canadians have raised, the possible dangers in those particular waters. The ministry of the environment has also raised issues of environmental concerns. We are raising those concerns.

Literacy

[Denise Savoie, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, over nine million Canadian adults need enhanced literacy skills to succeed in our society. First the government called these adults “fat to be cut” and now it is calling them “repair work” that can be ignored.

Despite misleading answers in this House, the government does not even believe that fighting adult illiteracy is worth one dollar per Canadian per year.

Canada's literacy movement has told us that these cuts have devastated local on the ground literacy projects.

When will the government reverse its shortsighted cuts?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, this Canadian government believes it is important to have a competent, literate, well-skilled workforce if we are to be competitive in the world. That is why we are spending over $2 billion a year in developing workplace skills. We have invested $307 million of new money for settlement funding that will help new Canadians take literacy programming.

We put all these programs forward, along with a whole host of other workplace development skills and education programs which the previous government, the Liberal Party, voted against.

Maher Arar

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the House has unanimously expressed its apologies to Maher Arar. Commissioner Zaccardelli has apologized to Maher Arar for the terrible injustice done to him. The government has acknowledged that a grave injustice was done to Maher Arar.

Maher Arar has wanted the government to apologize. Yesterday the hon. Minister of Public Safety said that the government wants to do what Maher Arar wants.

My question is, will the Minister of Public Safety, a decent and honourable man, do the decent and honourable thing and finally apologize on behalf of the government to Maher Arar?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as with previous injustices perpetrated by the former Liberal government, just on the legal point of view, using the example of the Chinese head tax which was perpetrated by the former Liberal government, this particular government had no problem in terms of stating an apology and also working through the compensation process.

We will not go ahead with the apology until the compensation agreements have been worked out and until everything is accepted by those who have been hurt. We want to make sure that the Arar family, and Mr. Arar, who has been hurt in this process, has compensation negotiated in a fair way--

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

The hon. member for Peace River.

Sport and Physical Activity

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, since Canada's new government came to power, we have taken a leadership role in encouraging Canadians to be more physically active through initiatives such as the children's fitness tax credit, a sports policy for persons with a disability, and a record $140 million investment in sport in this year's budget.

On top of all this, can the Minister for Sport tell us if he is prepared to do even more to encourage Canadians to be more physically active by bringing back participaction?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for all his work in promoting sport and physical activity. He has been very active on this file.

We are the single largest investor in the Canadian sport system. We have invested a record $143 million a year into sport. We have invested a record $160 million into a children's fitness tax credit. We have put $16.5 billion into federal infrastructure programs over the next four years--

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

The hon. member for Burnaby—Douglas.

Youth

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr.Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources dismissed the summer career placement program as a subsidy to corporations and cronies.

I do not know where the minister was looking, but it was not in Burnaby—Douglas where 86% of projects were in the not for profit sector and most others in small businesses.

These cuts mean fewer good student jobs, cuts to summer day camps for children, cuts to community economic development work and cuts to advocacy programs.

Why did the minister not bother to check how the money is being spent and how important it is to communities like Burnaby?