Debates of Feb. 26th, 2007

Anti-terrorism Act

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak here today in order to clarify the government's motion to extend the clauses of the Anti-terrorism Act that are about to expire.

The motion is not about security certificates. It is about the security of Canadians. It is not about detainees in Kingston or the war in Afghanistan. It is about the right to be protected from terrorist attacks. And it most certainly should not be about partisan politics. It is about providing two important tools to Canada's law enforcement authorities to assist in the investigation and prevention of terrorist attacks, nothing more.

The extension we are proposing does not in any way threaten civil liberties. In fact, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the constitutionality of these provisions.

The Liberal Party should stop the partisan games. Do what is right. Do what is right to defend the safety and security of Canadians. Vote to defend the Anti-terrorism Act.

Cluster Munitions

[Dawn Black, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday thousands of Canadians will take part in a national day of action against cluster bombs and landmines. Events and demonstrations across the country will include making piles of shoes, representing all the lives and limbs lost to mines and cluster bombs, and collecting signatures urging the Conservative government to take a leading role internationally against cluster bombs.

Late last week the Government of Canada belatedly gave its pledge to destroy its stockpiles of cluster munitions and joined with other countries agreeing to a process that will forever ban these weapons, which indiscriminately kill and maim. Ninety-eight per cent of the victims are civilians and twenty-seven per cent are children.

The Ottawa convention banning landmines came into effect eight years ago this week and Canada led the world in that fight. In the fight against cluster munitions, Canada is being dragged along rather than showing the way. It is time for Canada to show it can be at the forefront of disarmament again. It is time to show real leadership.

Health Care

[Paul Zed, Liberal, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for the establishment of the Medical Education Training Centre at the Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation in Saint John. We must ensure that this school is established immediately so enrolment can commence in the fall of 2008.

There is widespread bipartisan support for this project, from New Brunswick health care workers, from the Moncton, Miramichi and Fredericton hospital authorities and from Premier Shawn Graham, who supports the immediate establishment of this school.

Currently, there is an acute shortage of doctors in New Brunswick. The Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation in Saint John is a national leader for health care and a centre of excellence. It is the natural place for the establishment of our medical school.

I once again urge the Minister of Health and the federal government to provide funding that will help make this project a success. By working together as a team in Saint John, we can build a stronger community.

Ski Competitions

[Johanne Deschamps, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it was a memorable weekend for two Quebeckers who earned gold medals for skiing. On Saturday, Érik Guay earned the distinction of being the first Quebecker to earn a gold medal in world cup downhill skiing. The next day, Jasey-Jay Anderson won the gold medal at the world cup of snowboarding in the parallel giant slalom event.

Érik Guay, from Mont-Tremblant, is currently ranked fifth in downhill for the season and 13th overall. His bronze medal, won on Friday, made him a favourite to win gold the next day. He will dedicate the next few days to training for upcoming competitions. This athlete, still recovering from injury, can be proud of his performance, and especially of his tenacity and perseverance.

Jasey-Jay Anderson, also from Mont-Tremblant, won the gold medal during the world cup of snowboarding. It is his first medal in two years.

The Bloc Québécois is very proud of the performances of these two athletes from Quebec and we wish them many more victories during the rest of the ski season.

Academy Awards

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last night Canadians were given a reason again to be proud. Torill Kove, one of our Canadian filmmakers, won the Oscar for best short animated film for The Danish Poet. This is the second time that Ms. Kove has been nominated, but last night's award enshrines years of successful work in animation, scripting and directing.

Norwegian by birth, this woman passionately transformed her childhood hobby, drawing, into a creative force. Her studies at Concordia University in Montreal, begun in 1982, led to her first Oscar nomination in 1999 for her short animated film My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts.

Last night's Oscar will be added to a number of other awards, including Kodak awards for the films All You Can Eat, Fallen Angel and Squash and Stretch.

On behalf of all Canadians, I extend my sincere congratulations to Ms. Kove and thank her for once again showing the world that Canada is the place for artists to showcase their world-class potential.

Leader of the Opposition

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Dolittle has done it again. The Liberal leader has flip-flopped on whether our troops should risk their lives in Afghanistan. He has now taken three contradictory positions on the mission.

First, as a former government minister, the Liberal leader helped send our troops into harm's way in Kandahar. Then, in opposition, he voted against that same mission. Now Dr. Dolittle says that he wants the troops to stay for another two years, something he voted against only two months ago. The Liberal leader is playing politics with the lives of our troops.

What kind of man puts our troops into battle as a minister, votes against their mission while they are risking their lives for it and then reverses himself again to support the mission when it suits him?

Dr. Dolittle cannot be trusted to lead our troops or keep us safe when he changes his mind every time he sees a new poll. The Liberal leader did not get the job done. He will never get the job done.

Anti-terrorism Act

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election, the Prime Minister wrote to the Canadian Arab Federation that in order to have balance between public security and rights and freedoms, “We believe there needs to be periodic reviews by Parliament of the Anti-terrorism Act”.

Why has the government not done a full review of the act, despite having received a comprehensive report from the committee of the House over five months ago on how to improve the act?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the committees of both chambers have been studying the bill and the committee has been given an extension to study the bill.

In the meantime, the government has proposed extension of the existing provisions of the act. We did so with the support of the Leader of the Opposition until a couple of weeks ago when he abruptly flip-flopped his position on the issue, ignored the facts, ignored the advice of leaders of his own party and ignored the need for compromise.

However, late last week members of the other place suggested a specific compromise on this legislation. Would the leader of the Liberal Party agree to that compromise suggested by his own colleagues?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister must understand, we cannot extend today and worry about rights tomorrow.

As far as anti-terrorism is concerned, the government has a duty to use an effective, fair and rational approach.

Does the Prime Minister agree that his immoral and demagogic behaviour of last week undermines his credibility when it comes to finding an effective, fair and rational approach for Canada?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court has already ruled that these things respect civil rights and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Leader of the Opposition should also respect this ruling.

I see that last week, the Liberal Party accused the RCMP of working with the government to leak information to the media. The journalist in question has denied this allegation. This is an attack against the RCMP. It is another attempt by the Liberal Party to discredit the RCMP, and the Liberal Party should apologize to the RCMP.

The Prime Minister

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite legitimate to attempt to discover how such a leak occurred, a leak that tarnished the reputation of a family, with the complicity of the Prime Minister.

Last Friday, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada posted on its website—a site paid for with public money—an outrageously partisan press release basely attacking all members of the opposition.

Is the Prime Minister now going to tell us that, after saying that he wants to politicize judges, he now wants to politicize the public service?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it sounds to me like the leader of the Liberal Party has just repeated the charge, the charge being that the RCMP is somehow working with the government to leak information to the media. In fact, the journalist in question has denied this.

The RCMP, as everybody in the House knows, conducts its investigations independently of the police. This is an outrageous, unsubstantiated slur against The Vancouver Sun, the journalist, the RCMP and once against blocking justice for the Air-India families.

In response to the allegation about the website, I spoke to the minister. He is willing to change the statement “soft on terror” till the Liberal leader—

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

The Speaker: The

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is seeking to conceal or make us forget the fact that he scandalously impugned the reputation of a member of the House last week.

I return to the issue that we are discussing, which is the House and Senate committees have been reviewing Canada's anti-terror legislation. They have come up with suggestions to improve it. The government has ignored those recommendations.

The question before the House should not be to sunset or not to sunset. The question is how to fix Canada's anti-terror laws. Why is the government failing to live up to its responsibilities?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, up until two weeks ago we would have been able to agree on re-passing former Liberal legislation. I point out that I just offered, in this question period, to adopt the recommendations of the Liberal Party's own Senate report last week. I understand the leader of the Liberal Party is not interested in compromise.

Since the deputy leader apparently is, would he be interested in working together to pass legislation based on that compromise?

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore has the floor. We would all like to hear his question.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as the leader of our party has often stated, we are willing to work with the party in power, with the government, in order to find sound solutions to our problems.

Will the Prime Minister commit today to propose measures to replace those that expire this week?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government has already proposed several possible compromises to the Leader of the Opposition. Up to now, he has refused these compromises and threatened members of his own caucus who wished to protect Canadian citizens against terrorism.

If the leader of the Liberal Party is not prepared to support his own legislation, will the deputy leader of the party support the compromise proposed by his Senate colleagues?

Quebec Elections

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Jean Charest suggested that equalization and federal transfer payments would be eliminated should the Parti Québécois be elected. According to Le Devoir, Mr. Charest said, “There is every indication that the money will be cut significantly the day the PQ comes to power”. During a press conference, the Prime Minister said that this was an interesting debate.

Can the Prime Minister tell us what he finds so interesting about this debate? Does he agree with Mr. Charest?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I read the Premier of Quebec's comments. I think that what he said is not at all what the leader of the Bloc is suggesting. The Premier of Quebec is a very serious man and he is perfectly capable of stating his own position.

As Prime Minister of Canada, I have no intention of getting involved in Quebec's elections.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, nevertheless, it is his duty to clarify things. Mr. Charest also stated that the day after a sovereignty referendum in Quebec, the federal government would cut Quebeckers' old age pensions and the guaranteed income supplement, even if Quebeckers continue to pay their taxes until negotiations begin.

Does the Prime Minister agree with Jean Charest?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc decided not to run for the leadership of the Parti Québécois. That would have been his opportunity to participate in provincial elections. The leader of the Bloc has proposed a lot of funding for Quebec in the environmental file. The government promised to give the Government of Quebec even more. That funding will be in the budget.

Will the leader of the Bloc support his own policy?

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is being vague. I am simply asking him to tell us, here in this House, whether he can correct the comments made by Jean Charest, who is using blackmail in the middle of an election campaign.

Can the Prime Minister simply confirm to us that as long as Quebeckers are paying taxes to the federal government they will in turn be entitled to payments from Ottawa? We are simply asking him to confirm that.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous Liberal government, this government recognizes the fiscal imbalance between governments in Canada and is committed to rectifying that fiscal imbalance; that is, moving to fiscal balance in Canada, which we will do on March 19 in the budget.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since the Minister of Finance is responding, I have another question for him. It is important to know what he thinks exactly.

There is a budget coming up on March 19. Does he have two scenarios in mind: in other words, does he have one scenario if the Liberals win in Quebec, and another if everything points to a PQ win in Quebec? Does he have two scenarios, or just one? This will answer the question.