Debates of Oct. 24th, 2007

Foreign Affairs

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I did not see these people. Our military should be asked, for instance, what they think about the hiring of mercenaries. Our general here will tell you that it is unacceptable.

Now, what is also unacceptable is that Blackwater was hired to train DND special forces.

Does anyone find it acceptable that security firms like Blackwater be hired to protect our troops and show them how they should be training? I am just back from Wainwright. We are quite capable of training them ourselves. What do we need mercenaries for, and why associate with them?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's question comes as a big surprise to me, since the Liberals themselves, when in government, hired security firms. They should know.

In addition, Bob Rae was recently quoted in the Globe and Mail as saying that he was not about to say that the security services provides by private contractors should not be used.

There is therefore two positions within the Liberal Party: that of its official critic and that of the member opposite.

Air Transportation

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the transport minister told us that 20% of Canadian flights would have to turn their passenger manifests over to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Will the minister tell Canadians what exactly is included in this 20%? Is it not a rather convoluted and deceitful way of saying that thousands of Canadian flights that fly over the U.S. without landing there will have to give their passenger manifests to the American government?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I said no such thing.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, he talked yesterday, and I encourage him to read Hansard. We are talking about the right to privacy, which is a right that the Conservative government does not seem to hold in high regard.

What happens to Canadians who fly over the U.S. to visit sunny Cuba? Will they face problems the next time they enter the United States because they dared to visit a country that the American government does not like?

How is it the American government's business to know what Canadians decide to do, when they want a vacation and where they get a tan? How is a snowbird registry useful for the war on terrorism?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, once again, what I said yesterday was that the United States came forward with a set of new regulations. We are working with the Americans. We have made representations to the United States transport officials, and we are still working on that file.

Our purpose is to ensure that Canadians can fly securely and safely, and that is the objective we are pursuing.

Minister of Finance

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as was the case with ATM fees, the Minister of Finance's attempt to address retail pricing is another non-starter. Rather than posturing and giving shopping tips, the minister should take action with the tools available to deal with the forestry and manufacturing crises.

Will the minister do his job and finally implement the Bloc Québécois proposals, that is establish refundable tax credits for research and development and provide loans to help companies invest? That is his responsibility.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the manufacturing sector, including forestry, as the member opposite knows, we have brought in a very generous accelerated capital cost allowance provision, which permits writing off a new equipment and technology over the course of two years, a 100% write-off over two years, as recommended by the Commons committee unanimously.

The other point is, with the higher Canadian currency we are seeing significant increases in the amount of machinery and equipment being purchased because it is more available and more affordable to Canadian manufacturers.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister implemented one recommendation of the 22 made by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. That is totally inadequate and unacceptable in dealing with the crisis.

The minister should take off his rose-coloured glasses and look at reality as described yesterday by the Quebec federation of chambers of commerce. Quebec is losing good jobs by the thousands in the manufacturing sector, and they are being replaced by lower paying service jobs, particularly in retail sales.

Rather than harbouring ideological illusions, will the minister listen to the chambers of commerce and take action to help the manufacturing sector? Jobs are at stake. Right now, they are disappearing by the thousands and the minister needs to do more than just hit the stores.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

In fact, Mr. Speaker, the unemployment rate is as low as it has been in 33 years. Job creation in the province of Quebec has been among the strongest within Canada. The Canadian economy is strong. We are paying down debt. The government is in surplus. The workforce is strong. More Canadians are working than ever before in the history of the country. There are many strengths in the Canadian economy.

What Canada can use is lower taxes overall, long term broad based tax cuts, which we are looking forward to doing.

Post-Secondary Education

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this week students are on the Hill meeting with MPs to talk about education. The Conservative record is appalling, whether it is the miserable $80 a year tax credit for which most students do not even qualify, the government's complete lack of vision for dealing with the rising student debt loads or dithering about whether it should even reinvest in the Millennium Scholarship Foundation.

The Speech from the Throne passes over students completely, hardly mentions education, and provides nothing for those most in need.

When will the government realize that we cannot tax cut our way to an education, we have to invest in it? Why is the government ignoring the needs of Canada's students?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that good education and good skills lead to good jobs. We are all about ensuring that we have the best labour force in the world.

One of the keys to doing that is through investing in education. The Minister of Finance announced an $800 million increase in funding for post-secondary education. That is a 40% increase in one year.

The member has a lot of gall because it was his party that cut the Canada social transfer support for post-secondary education by $25 billion. We see education as part of the solution, not part of the problem like his party did.

Food and Product Safety

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the past several months Canadians have witnessed several product and food recalls that affect the goods they use on a daily basis. Canadian families have very busy lives and it has been increasingly difficult to be sure that the products and foods they enjoy are safe for their families.

Could the Minister of Health please tell the House what our government is doing to ensure Canadians have immediate and reliable access to important recall information on products and foods sold in Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, today my colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and I were pleased to launch the consumer product recall database at healthycanadians.gc.ca. This web tool will give Canadians for the first time immediate and accurate information on products that have been recalled dating back to 1995.

Not only can this database, at healthycanadians.gc.ca, be searched by product name or manufacturer, but it also displays pictures so that Canadians can be sure they have identified the right recall product.

This is just the first step to improving this process and our government is taking action to protect Canadians after 13 years of Liberal inaction. Canadians can find this at healthycanadians.gc.ca.

Public Works and Government Services

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to accountability, the government is going in the wrong direction. It took a court injunction to stop Senator Fortier from selling off two federal buildings in Vancouver.

The unelected and unaccountable minister clearly did not do his homework. He did not consult with the first nations and he did not consult with taxpayers who over the life of this deal will be out $390 million in this lease-fleece scheme giveaway to the private sector.

Now that the unelected senator has had to yank the two Vancouver buildings, will he now do the right thing and stop the sale of the other seven?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question since it allows me an opportunity to inform the House that next week the government will receive a cheque of $1.4 billion that will allow it to reinvest into priorities for Canadians.

But I am interested to hear what the member from Timmins—James Bay has to say because in June he said, “I would advise the government to sell the building and move workers to Timmins”.

He was opposed to it, then he was in favour of it when it might benefit his riding. Now he is against it again. We do not know what side he is on but we know he is going to be in this corner of the House of Commons for a long time.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this scheme was cooked up by the Liberals and is being carried out by the Conservatives and what we are looking at is an elaborate accounting shell game where they are going to bring in $1.4 billion now and it is going to cost taxpayers $3 billion.

For example, there is the Harry Hays building in Calgary. Right now it costs taxpayers $5 million a year to maintain. Once it is sold it will cost taxpayers $20 million to maintain.

Who is getting ripped off here? It is the Canadian public. Where is the accountability?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, as usual, NDP math is a moving science, but the reality is that this is a great deal for taxpayers.

My colleague does not have to take my word for it. In the Globe and Mail, Stan Krawitz, who is a real estate expert in this country said, "I believe the process was fair and competitive, and their timing was excellent”.

This is good for Canadians. We will go ahead and do it. We will ignore the bad advice of the NDP as we always do, because the NDP's advice is always bad for Canada.

Canada Elections Act

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, by a mistake in the Canada Elections Act, the democratic right to vote has been stripped away from 190,000 rural residents in Saskatchewan. That is nearly 30% of the entire voters list for the province.

In the riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, where a byelection must be called by March, the problem is huge. More than 70% of eligible voters there cannot vote.

Band-Aid solutions are not sufficient. Will the Prime Minister guarantee that this will be fixed in law before any election is called?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, of course, we would like to fix the law as soon as possible, but we have to depend on other parties. When we have to depend on the Liberal Party to get laws through the House of Commons, we are always in dangerous territory.

That being said, I have spoken with the Chief Electoral Officer who has assured me that in the event that we have an early electoral event, he is confident he would be able to use his adaptation powers to ensure no Canadians lose their legal right to vote.

The Environment

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, since taking office, our government has acted assiduously when it comes to protecting and conserving Canada's environment.

We protected the Great Bear Rainforest in northern B.C., Point Pleasant Park in Halifax and Stanley Park in Vancouver. We announced a massive expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve, truly one of Canada's remarkable places.

Can the Minister of the Environment tell the House what additional action Canada's government has taken to protect our precious habitats?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is a strong advocate for conservation in Hamilton and surrounding areas.

The government is very proud of our record on conservation. We spent more than $375 million in additional funding to support groups like the Nature Conservancy of Canada, who will actually go out and raise a matching amount to the grant that it received from the government to protect ecologically sensitive lands in southern Canada. We think that is good for this country. We think it is good for our environment.

We have also begun to expand protected areas in the Northwest Territories, something that should have been done decades ago and something that the government is getting done this year.

Agriculture

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the remarks made by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food on the throne speech failed to outline any vision for primary producers in this country.

He virtually ignored the fact that programming agreements with the provinces end on March 31. Uncertainty reigns as a result of the lack of leadership from the government.

Will the minister at least grant an extension to those programs, which were in fact Liberal programs, to create certainty in the industry so producers have some idea where the safety net programs are?

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

Mr. Speaker, I guess the member opposite was not invited on the conference call I had with the provincial ministers last week. We spoke for about an hour on this exact issue. We have come to an agreement. There will be stability in the marketplace and producers will enjoy the programs that are worth salvaging. Of course, about two-thirds of them that the Liberals put in are not worth saving.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of Senator, The Hon. Ronald A. Robinson, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica.