Debates of Nov. 27th, 2007

The Environment

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, what we on this side of the House believe is to successfully fight global warming and climate change, we need everyone on board. We need Canada. We need the United States. We need China and India.

Here is what the leader of the Liberal Party said just last week. He said:

To reduce green house gas emissions and improve air quality, the Canadian government must first negotiate with its American neighbours, and then take stronger action on the home front.

Maybe his own party needs to listen more to its leader.

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Prime Minister, the chair of the Lloyds of London, Peter Levene wants the world to take urgent action on climate change. Yesterday in Montreal he said that we needed to act on climate change strictly for economical and commercial reasons.

If we act now, greenhouse gas emissions could be stabilized at the cost of 1% of GNP. If we do not act, 20% of the world's GNP will absolutely vanish. It will be wiped out.

Does the Prime Minister understand this simple math? Will he start thinking ahead and preserve our economic future by pushing for firm targets and—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of the Environment.

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking real action now to fight global warming in Canada.

Look back to 1997, when Liberal MP Gar Knutson said:

I think if 12 years from now we look back and we've failed it'll be because we didn't take any kind of urgent action in the first two to four years.

This is a stunning indictment to the previous Liberal administration.

Aboriginal Affairs

[James Lunney, Conservative, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for years first nations in our country have been asking for action on issues that matter to them. One of the most egregious issues is a backlog of unsettled land claims, some of which go back 60 years. During the 13 years the Liberals had to address this issue, they sat on their hands and did nothing.

Our government has said that we would take action to resolve this problem. Could the Minister of Indian Affairs advise the House as to what we are doing to break through this backlog of unresolved specific claims and to deliver justice at last?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, this morning I was joined by the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in tabling legislation resolving the backlog of specific claims. By setting up an independent tribunal of impartial judges, we are ensuring that there is greater fairness in the way specific claims are handled and in speeding up claim resolutions. For 60 years, first nations have asked for this.

The Assembly of First Nations and the government worked very hard on this legislation and the result is something of which the National Chief and all Canadians can be very proud.

Finally, I thank the Prime Minister and the current Minister of Industry for setting up this process.

Airbus

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, if Karlheinz Schreiber is deported before he tells his story to Canadians, the blame will be squarely on the Minister of Justice and on the Liberal chair of the ethics committee, who wasted eight days chasing his tail when he knew full well that only a Speaker's warrant would bring Karlheinz Schreiber to testify.

Why did the chair of the ethics committee choose the course of action least likely to bring Mr. Schreiber to testify? Why did he squander eight days, knowing full well the deadline for deportation was looming?

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as chair of the committee, I am the master of that committee, in terms of the order of decorum, but I serve the committee. I was ordered last Thursday to arrange to have Mr. Schreiber. I did so, in full accordance with the instructions of the committee.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight days of Conservative obstruction and Liberal dithering we are finally on the eve of having Mr. Schreiber appear before the parliamentary committee. Whether the Minister of Justice likes it or not, it is absolutely irrelevant that Mr. Schreiber is in a provincial institution.

The only question we have for him, now that we have dried our tears from being so moved when he quoted the Queen earlier, is whether he and the Minister of Justice will respect the will of Parliament or whether he will find more excuses to block it?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, again, I indicated twice now to the chair of the ethics committee that I would not stand in the way of this witness or any other witness.

Democratic Reform

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the government were serious about the principles of representation by population, it would apply this principle to Ontario as it rejigs the electoral map. However, it is not serious. When the Ontario premier calls the government to account, it insults him.

What invectives will the government House leader throw at the Premiers of Quebec and Manitoba now that they also publicly oppose his projects? Are they small-minded too?

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

Mr. Speaker, sometimes I am stunned at who the Liberals choose to ask their questions.

The member in question has a private member's bill before the House to wipe out the principle of equal representation within the province of Ontario in the House of Commons. She wants the ridings of one part of the province to be 44% better represented than the ridings in the rest of the province.

That is not what we want to do. We want to see fairness for everybody. That is why we brought in a bill to bring better representation for Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. I want to know what they propose to do other than what she proposes to do.

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this government is not applying the principle of representation by population, as it would have us believe.

The Premier of Manitoba has also expressed concern over the bill and Mr. Charest said that he fully understands Mr. McGuinty's dissatisfaction at being called the small man of Confederation.

What name will Mr. Charest be called for supporting Mr. McGuinty? What name will the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons give Mr. Doer?

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

Mr. Speaker, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario are seriously underrepresented under existing law. We are trying to change that. The Liberal Party is critical of that.

I would like to know what the Liberals would propose. Would they propose to go with the Liberal premier's option of rendering meaningless the current guarantees in the Constitution to Quebec? That is what he wants to do. Do they want to wipe out the guarantees to all the smaller provinces, or is their position really that they just do not want more seats for Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario? I think it is the last one, and now we see that that is the case.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, where is the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in all of this? Add democratic reform to the long list of subjects which Premier Charest says urgently require a first ministers meeting.

In two years, the minister has never thought to invite the premiers to a discussion with her boss. She seems to want Steven Guilbault to be right at all costs.

What does the minister do? Has she done anything since her appointment?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am right here, and on the issue of the first ministers meeting, the Prime Minister has been trying to convene a first ministers meeting since early in June, but unfortunately, the premiers' schedules did not allow for it. We are working right now with the premiers and we hope to convene a meeting in early January.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, since that government took office, it has found no topic, zero, none, important enough to convene first ministers in Ottawa for a discussion with the Prime Minister. Not surprisingly, the premiers beg to differ and have been urgently asking for a meeting for some time now.

What is the intergovernmental affairs minister so busy doing that she has not found time to convene first ministers to a meeting? Is she afraid of what the government House leader may say to insult them?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, what I have been doing is working on relationships with the provinces, because this government treats the provinces with respect, as partners in Confederation.

In fact, this country is more united than ever and that is good news for all of us. In fact, the only referendum this country will be facing is a referendum on his failed leadership in the next election.

Industry

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, ever since the acquisition of Alcan by Rio Tinto was announced, the Bloc Québécois has repeatedly expressed concerns about aluminum transformation. Yesterday, Rio Tinto announced plans to divest itself of its Alcan manufactured products division. Three Quebec companies will be affected by that decision, two of which are located in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region. Such an announcement confirms our fears.

I would like the Minister of Industry, who was foolish enough not to demand any transformation guarantees from Rio Tinto, to tell us how he intends to make sure that we do not end up with aluminum plants exporting their entire production of aluminum to be transformed abroad.

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the acquisition of Alcan by Rio Tinto was approved on the basis that it was a net benefit to Canada.

A considerable amount of work was put into that transaction. The acquisition will involve significant jobs in Canada, and increased capital investment both in Quebec and in British Columbia. All indications are that Rio Tinto will continue to observe and honour all of the undertakings which it has given both to the Government of Canada and to the Government of Quebec.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is rather ironic that Rio Tinto is looking to divest itself of its Saint-Maurice cable plant, in Shawinigan, the birthplace of Alcan. Taking advantage of the inaction of the minister, who did not impose any conditions on the company, Rio Tinto has decided to sell that plant established in Shawinigan.

What does the Minister of Industry plan to do this time, to prevent Shawinigan from becoming another city where plants export their entire production of aluminum without any transformation being carried out locally, which results in hundreds of jobs also being exported?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, quite the contrary, the Rio Tinto acquisition of Alcan has produced one of the most competitive mining companies in the world.

It is a company that has given assurances that it will be headquartered in Montreal. There will be very significant capital investment made in Canada, both in Quebec and in British Columbia, in excess of $2 billion of commitments in capital investment.

In addition, there are assurances relative to Canadians on the board of directors, Canadians in management, and we expect that there will continue to be increased Canadian employment in the economy.

Correctional Service Canada

[Brian Murphy, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Mr. Speaker, today is the day that Ashley Smith, formerly of Moncton, would have been released from prison. Tragically, she suffocated to death just a few weeks ago while in the Grand Valley Institution for Women.

Last year the Correctional Investigator raised issues about the treatment of federally sentenced women and the discrimination of prisoners with disabling mental health issues. Yet the government continues to claim that there are no discrimination issues in the criminal justice system.

When will the government take action and implement a mental health strategy for Canada's prisons, so that an Ashley Smith incident will not occur again?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, this incident indeed was most tragic. I have been in touch with the Correctional Investigator, who is looking into this. There is also, as members are aware, a criminal investigation going on.

I also have given instructions to the corrections commissioner and his people to implement a number of key initiatives which would limit the chance that an incident like that could happen again. We are taking this very seriously.

Zahra Kazemi

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 2003 Zahra Kazemi, who as we all remember was a Canadian citizen and a Montreal resident, was arrested while taking photos outside a Tehran prison. A few days later she died while in police custody.

In Iran, internal investigations have reached contradictory conclusions regarding the cause of her death. Since this tragedy happened, the Canadian government has been demanding justice.

Could the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade update the House on the Kazemi case?