Debates of Feb. 13th, 2007

The Environment

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister made his announcement yesterday, Quebec's environment minister, Mr. Béchard, stated that this program gave Quebec enough flexibility to carry out its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

If Mr. Béchard made such a statement, he must have been aware of the conditions imposed by the federal government. Since it is this House that will approve or reject the program, could the Prime Minister tell us the conditions he explained to Mr. Béchard?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a very good day for Quebec and for Canada. Quebec Premier Jean Charest said yesterday about the ecotrust announcement: “I can tell you that the process as far as we are concerned is more transparent than the previous one. Now we know that the federal government is establishing a fund for the whole country. Everyone is participating in it. The other Liberal approach--”, referring to the previous government, “--unfortunately lacked transparency. Now I feel the approach is much more transparent”.

We are working with all the provinces and territories to clean up the environment.

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a huge difference between a sectoral approach and a territorial approach to implementing the Kyoto protocol.

The territorial approach is based on the polluter-pay principle. Can the Minister of the Environment tell us whether yesterday's announcement calls for a territorial approach, which is what Quebec wants?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the various provinces can find and take different approaches. That is the nature of Canadian federalism.

There is just one question. This program is supported by the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec. Will the Bloc Québécois vote in favour of Quebec's interests here in the House of Commons?

Passports

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, despite recent hirings, Passport Canada continues to be plagued by problems. People are now waiting three or four months to obtain these documents that are vitally important to them. I am referring to workers who must travel to the United States for their jobs, students who wish to continue their education, seniors who wish to enjoy their well-deserved retirement.

These delays are unfair and unwarranted. What is the Prime Minister going to do to deal with and solve these problems that he should have seen coming?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have already taken a number of steps to address the backlog.

As it currently stands, we are receiving somewhere in the range of 21,000 applications a day for passports, but we have hired upwards of 500 more employees at Passport Canada. The employees there are working around the clock to address the backlog.

We have also made available, through Service Canada offices, a greater availability to get those passports into the system. The employees there are working around the clock 24 hours a day.

I visited the office last weekend. I saw firsthand the incredible effort that is being put forward on the part of Passport Canada to address this serious issue.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Of course the employees are working, Mr. Hard--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The hon. member for Toronto—Danforth has the floor to put his question.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is trying to deflect on to the staff. When is he going to get serious about this issue?

The fact is people are having to drive all day long to get their passports. Then they are having to wait all day. The government dings them $70, a special charge, in order to correct a problem that the government itself created.

When is the Prime Minister going to take it seriously and correct the problem that the government created in the first place, and waive this extra charge which should not be there?

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

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member was referring to Peter Harder, who is taking his retirement, and I pay tribute to his long service to the Public Service of Canada.

With respect to his question, as I said in my previous answer, Passport Canada is working very hard to address this issue. We have received the report of the Auditor General, which also references the challenges. We have acted on the majority of those recommendations. We continue to make available, through Service Canada, more receiving agents and more training. We are going to have more people on the job in the coming days to address the backlog that has come about as a result of the western hemisphere travel initiative.

We are on the job. We are working hard to get it done.

Judicial Appointments

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a mockery is being made of justice and this government has decided to take no action. There are increasing numbers of vacant positions in the courts, but this government is more than happy to wait for its favourite candidates to go through the ideological appointment process.

Why is this government depriving the courts of the resources needed to dispense justice in a timely and independent manner?

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

Mr. Speaker, I should let the hon. member know that we have made, now, considerably more appointments in the last year than the Liberals made in the year 2004. So, nothing could be further from the truth. We are making the appointments as quickly but as carefully as possible.

The hon. member would also know that with the passage of Bill C-17, the Judges Act, we had another couple of dozen judges go supernumerary. So, we are making progress on it, and I am sure she will be happy about that.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Attorney General of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association and the Quebec bar association have called on the government to take action but their pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Will the minister stop imposing ideological constraints and take immediate action to appoint competent and independent judges?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are certainly doing that. We have appointed 51 judges within the last year. I appreciate that there are a couple of dozen more vacancies. We will fill those as soon as possible.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the issue is the government's obsessive ideological determination to enforce its right wing social engineering. That worries Canadians, and stacking the courts is only part of it.

Conservatives openly insult the Chief Justice. They demean the Supreme Court. They belittle the Charter of Rights and restrict access, so the rich can go to court but the poor cannot.

Why will the minister not restore a sense of fairness in the rating of judicial candidates by eliminating the ideological blood test that he is now imposing?

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

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. The judicial advisory committees have been in place in our country for about 19 years. They have gone through four or five different changes. I think all those changes have improved the efficiency.

Adding a member from the police community will enhance the process and add another perspective. I think most Canadians agree with that.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative scheme to invent social engineering in the selection of judges is not only stacking the courts, but also slowing the filling of vacancies. The Chief Justice, the Canadian Bar Association, the judicial council, universities and many others have expressed deep concern.

A year ago the Prime Minister acknowledged being driven by an ideology that many Canadians would find distasteful, and that is still true today. However, he said not to worry, that the courts, more in tune with Canadian values, would hold him in check. Why has he now removed that assurance?

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

Mr. Speaker, I take exception to the comments made by the hon. member. We have a much healthier respect for the charter than apparently that individual has, who said in the year 2000:

Pierre Trudeau believed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would bring us together. Yet the results haven't worked out that way.

Do members know who wrote that? It was the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, the deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, the bad news of plant closings and job losses continues. Yesterday, we had the Shermag plants in Disraeli and Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon, and today we have the Spielo plant in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts.

Conditions are difficult for the manufacturing industry in Quebec, and the federal government has a responsibility to do something.

Will the Minister of Industry admit that his laissez-faire economic theory, as applied in the case of Boeing, is not working, and that we have to develop an industrial strategy without delay to limit the damage in the industrial sector and stop the hemorrhage of jobs being lost that is killing our communities?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, we have, in fact, just received the news that Spielo will be closing down in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, which means the loss of 85 jobs.

Certainly, in our regions, the loss of 85 jobs is a heavy blow. Therefore this is sad news. It shows the importance of having programs to assist the economic regions of Quebec and the entrepreneurs who want to propose business expansion or start-up projects. We are going to continue on that path.

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

Mr. Speaker, the loss of 85 jobs in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts is a heavy blow, but in the last four years, 100,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Quebec, and the losses continue. That is an even heavier blow.

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has produced a unanimous report containing 22 suggestions that together comprise a complete industrial strategy, something we are in great need of.

Will the Minister of Industry abandon his dogmatic approach, which consists of giving free rein to market forces, and realize that his position demands that he take action and adopt a real industrial strategy? Will he stop hiding behind the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the hon. member that this case is a matter of regional economic development. Certainly, if the business owner comes to us for assistance of some sort to stay in operation, we will consider it seriously.

However, I would like to point out that we have created the CEDI-Vitality program, which allows business owners to receive both repayable and non-repayable contributions. That program is very popular in the regions of Quebec, and we are going to be taking a look at this situation, because, I would repeat, the loss of 85 jobs really is significant in that region.

Tire Manufacturing Industry

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 800 jobs are on the line at the Goodyear plant in Valleyfield. The Government of Quebec is ready to do its part, the City of Valleyfield is ready to join in, but the federal government is dragging its feet over an interest-free loan that would still not be enough to re-open the plant. The time has come to act in order to save the 800 jobs at Valleyfield.

Why is the federal government refusing to put an offer on the table that is proportionate to the effort by Quebec and the City of Valleyfield?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, I have here an article from La Presse of August 16, 1999, with the title: “Goodyear Employees Discouraged: The multinational tire company has put off modernization of the plant at Valleyfield”. The article says, “According to the union president, without the implementation of new technology, the future of the plant can not be ensured beyond five or 10 years”.

Why did the Bloc Québécois not intervene in 1999, eight years ago, so that the Goodyear plant would not be announcing what it is announcing today? Why did the Bloc Québécois not intervene?