House of Commons Hansard #10 of the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebec.
John Maloney Liberal Welland, ON
Mr. Speaker, in January the Auditor General specifically singled out the Conservatives because they had no plan to deal with the demand for passports. It appears they still have no plan and Canadians are the ones who are going to pay the price in cancelled trips and sheer frustration.
How long will the government continue to mishandle this file? How long will it be before Canadians are able to get their passports when they actually need them?
Maxime Bernier ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, as I just said, we have taken administrative measures to speed up passport application processing. That is what we are doing. There has been a sharp increase in these applications by Canadians and we have implemented procedures to ensure that Canadians get their passports on time.
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the recent federal byelections, the Chief Electoral Officer refused to deny women wearing veils the right to vote. He justified this refusal saying that parliamentarians had to make clear legislative changes to the act. The changes proposed by the government remain unclear, and the authority continues to lie with the Chief Electoral Officer.
Has the government failed to understand the recent message from the Chief Electoral Officer, who said that amendments to the act are the responsibility of the lawmakers alone?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as we know the government announced in the throne speech its intention to introduce a bill to prevent voters from wearing a veil. We also know that the Bloc opposed this, but we kept our promise. Friday, we had the pleasure of tabling the bill.
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, the bill threatens the principle of equality between men and women, because it opens the door to the potential gendering of officials' duties by allowing a voter to insist on being served by a man or a woman.
Does the government realize that it could undermine the principle of equality between men and women by thus delegating these powers to the Chief Electoral Officer?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, a few seconds ago, our hon. Bloc colleague was claiming that the bill was unclear. Now, he seems very much aware of the specifics of the bill. I have no doubt that he will have an opportunity to express his opinion when the matter is debated in committee or in this House.
What counts is that we said we would resolve the matter, and we will.
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadian families were dealt another blow this weekend when they learned that the Conservatives knew all along that their plan to use tax credits to create child care spaces would not work.
Against the advice of business and child care experts, the government persisted in its stupid strip mall solution. The plan has failed miserably. The minister has confessed that he will not be able to deliver the 125,000 spaces promised to Canadian families.
Will the minister finally admit that he knew full well that what was in budget 2007 was an ideologically-driven farce?
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the fact that this government is delivering directly to parents and child care providers and to the provinces three times as much in support of child care than the previous government. We are creating thousands of spaces.
One thing we will never do is take away the universal child care benefit like the leader of the Liberal Party has said he would do. To me that speaks volumes about his lack of faith in the ability of parents to raise their own children.
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canada has a distinguished visitor this week. The 14th Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and our third honorary citizen, is in Ottawa.
Could the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity tell the House about this meeting with the Dalai Lama?
Jason Kenney ConservativeSecretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity)
Mr. Speaker, I should acknowledge that the member was one of the sponsors of the unanimous resolution in this place to grant honorary citizenship to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whom I had the pleasure of meeting this morning and discussing issues related to pluralism, of which he is a world leader.
He has just met with the Prime Minister and earlier met with parliamentarians from all parties of both houses. He is now on his way to meet with Her Excellency the Governor General.
The government, the people, and I believe the Parliament of Canada, are proud to welcome this honorary citizen to Canada, this champion of peace and pluralism. We wish him and the Tibetan people all the best.
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Mr. Speaker, in June 2005 the then opposition leader and now Prime Minister promised a widow of a veteran that if the Conservatives were elected, they would immediately extend VIP services to all veterans and all widows.
Again in the same month, the same Prime Minister said that all victims should be compensated for the agent defoliant spraying. In fact, the veterans affairs minister said that the government would stand up for full compensation for all persons exposed to defoliant spraying from 1956 to 1984, and yet the government came out with a package for only those from 1966 to 1967.
On VIP and agent orange, why did the government mislead these honourable veterans?
Greg Thompson ConservativeMinister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the voting record of that member and his party on veterans and our men and women in the military speaks for itself.
We have acted on all of those files. If the member would only take a minute and come from his corner in the House and talk to me on the VIP, I would outline this plan to him as I have done with other members.
In terms of agent orange, we acted where previous governments would not. This weekend I was in Oromocto, Hoyt and Gagetown, New Brunswick. The people down there are happy, as are our men and women in uniform.
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Mr. Speaker, the veterans we are standing up for are the same ones who liberated my family in the liberation of Holland in 1944 and 1945.
If those political sycophants called the Conservative backbenchers are not willing to stand up to the minister and the Prime Minister for veterans, then I guarantee that it will be those of us in opposition who will do it.
The minister made these promises to the widows and veterans. The minister made these promises to the people and changed the program. I ask the minister one more time, why do so many of these soldiers and their families have to go to court to get the compensation they so rightfully deserve?
Greg Thompson ConservativeMinister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, this is why the member is back on his feet. He is usually silent in this place. That party's record on veterans is deplorable. They never stand up for veterans. They never stand up for our men and women in uniform.
I urge the member and all parliamentarians to check the NDP's voting record over the history of this place. Those members never stand up for our veterans. They never stand up for our military. They never stand up for our international obligations. It is a deplorable record.
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Mr. Speaker, tourist operators across this country are being crippled by the impact of the Canadian dollar. Big businesses, small businesses, mom and pop operators across the country are struggling as the dollar reaches a 47 year high. Along with the manufacturing sector, this sector is being savaged.
The Conservative government hurt our operators by taking away a tax credit for tourist operators. When will the government do one single thing to help tourist operators?
Diane Ablonczy ConservativeSecretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is actually incorrect. As he well knows, the government reintroduced a program to make sure that tour operators and conventions could in fact claim the goods and services tax credit.
I do not know what he is complaining about. He is behind the times if he does not realize that the program is firmly in place.
Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Mr. Speaker, one of the most important responsibilities of any government is to ensure the health of Canadians. This can be achieved through a variety of means, including increased access to clean drinking water.
Can the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities explain what initiatives our government has taken to ensure clean water in my local communities?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for that most interesting question. Of course our government believes in clean water and clean drinking water. We feel that it is essential for healthy communities.
This is why we have committed up to $50 million toward the HELP Clean Water project, to increase residents' access to treated water in the London region. Our government, along with the project proponents, looks forward to matching funds from the provincial government so that this environmentally friendly initiative can proceed as quickly as possible.
Louise Thibault Independent Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the Speech from the Throne, the government announced that it planned to “improve the governance and management of the Employment Insurance Account”.
Beyond the reserve needed to deal with an economic crisis, the huge amounts accumulated in this fund must be used to protect the financial security of citizens and to increase employability.
When will the federal government transfer more funds to provincial governments and to Quebec, which are responsible for labour force training, so they can implement permanent strategies to extend the weeks of work for seasonal workers?
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her important question. Actually, this government did commit to improving the governance and management of the employment insurance account.
We have also announced in the budget $3 billion in transfers to the provinces so that they can provide more training for people who have never been in the workforce. We have also put in the targeted initiative for older workers. We have reduced premiums. We have improved benefits.
No government in history has spent more on providing training to unemployed workers than this government is spending. I am very proud of that.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of Her Excellency Katalin Szili, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Hungary.
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations among the parties and I seek the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion:
That ways and means motions 1 and 2 be adopted.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?