Debates of Feb. 28th, 2007

Income Trusts

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the tax fairness plan introduced by our government by ways and means Motion No. 10 was put to a vote in this Parliament and it passed this Parliament.

I would remind the member of what the Globe and Mail said about the plan:

When the Liberals were in power, they did not grapple with income trusts.... Now, for cheap political gain, they could scuttle the Conservative's remedy. [The finance minister] tackled a difficult issue that the Liberals could not muster the gumption to resolve.

That is what the Globe and Mail said.

Official Languages

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, says that the new language system in place at National Defence was implemented because the previous approach failed, and he wonders, in this new context, what the chances are that a francophone soldier can work in his own language.

How can the Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages go along with an approach that, instead of looking for ways to reach objectives, is lowering requirements?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I had the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Official Languages with my colleague, the Minister of National Defence, who made a clear commitment to comply with the Official Languages Act and the spirit of the law. He gave a very good explanation of how he intended to do so. I encourage him to keep up the excellent work.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how could the Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages and the Minister of National Defence have the gall to claim, during their testimony before the Standing Committee on Official Languages, that Commissioner Fraser had been consulted when the new policy was developed, when he says he was not consulted and he believes that 2012 is too long a time frame for implementing the changes?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, what the member just said is completely untrue. What we said yesterday was that departmental officials and the Canadian Forces worked with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

The former commissioner, Dyane Adam, was given a presentation on the new action plan, the Canadian Forces' transformation model.

We also learned that the member has chosen his country, and that it is Quebec. Personally, as a Quebecker, I have chosen Canada as my country, within which—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Saint-Jean.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating my colleague from Gatineau for making Quebec his home. It is the most beautiful country in the world.

The Fusiliers Mont-Royal are truly a military institution in Quebec. Their courage and their military exploits are admired by all Quebeckers. They distinguished themselves during the Dieppe landing and the campaign to liberate Normandy and northwestern Europe.

How can the Minister of National Defence attack this francophone institution and threaten its linguistic integrity by combining it with six anglophone units from Montreal? Is that his new bilingualism policy?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the member is creating some fictional situation that does not exist. There is no effect whatsoever on that regiment.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not creating a fictional situation. This is reality. In October, the Minister of National Defence changed his policy for bilingualism in the armed forces, and that change set off serious repercussions in Quebec.

Does the Minister of National Defence not realize that combining the francophone Fusiliers Mont-Royal regiment with six anglophone units is in fact one more way to anglicize the armed forces?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, our transformation plan for languages will be implemented as of April 1 and it will, for the first time, achieve the goals of the Official Languages Act. Unlike that party, which was in government for years and failed year after year after year, we will succeed.

Municipalities

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the 2005 Liberal budget implemented federal gas tax revenue sharing with Canada's municipalities to the tune of $5 billion over five years. In the last year of that commitment period, municipalities will be receiving $2 billion.

Will the finance minister put forward legislation to make this $2 billion in annual contributions to our municipalities permanent?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, on numerous occasions I have had the opportunity of mentioning to hon. members of this House that over the last couple of months we have been in discussions with the provinces and the territories on this specific issue, as well as the Canadian Federation of Municipalities.

However, I will remind members of this House that it was the Conservative Party of Canada that at the time pushed for a gas tax so that it could flow to the municipalities, not the previous government.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the baloney never stops. It was the Liberals that fought for the cities and it was our government that brought that in, no one else.

In fact, it was our Liberal government that committed to delivering $2 billion annually to the cities. Will the finance minister be doing the same? I doubt it.

We have a Prime Minister who campaigned against the new deal for cities and a finance minister who downloaded millions of dollars of responsibilities to local governments. In Ontario, municipalities are still struggling from the severe budget gaps he created from his scorched earth policies.

How much longer do we have to wait for our cities to get help?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that before I came to this House, I was a town councillor lobbying the previous government to be able to get money for the cities and municipalities. Finally, it came to reason, but now I see another flip-flop on its part. The Liberals want to once again change their opinion on where they want to go with that file. We will act on that issue.

Canadian Wheat Board

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has belatedly requested from the Canadian Wheat Board the sales records to Algeria for the last 10 years. Is it not a fact that the data reveals that the price paid by the Algerians for board grains was higher than achieved by our competitors, in other words, premium prices for Canadian farmers through the marketing power of the Wheat Board?

Will the minister now apologize to western grain producers, the Canadian Wheat Board and Canadians for perpetuating a falsehood that the board was underselling to the Algerians? Will he correct the record now?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have requested and have the data of the last 10 years of wheat sales from the Canadian Wheat Board to Algeria.

If I get this correctly, the member opposite would like me to release it to the public. If that is his position, I would like him to state it in his follow-up question and then deal with the Wheat Board to follow, just to confirm that.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the minister fails--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, order. The poor Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has asked for something and the member for Malpeque is on his feet. We cannot hear a word.

The hon. member for Malpeque has the floor. We will have a little order.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the minister fails in his responsibility to declare the facts. Why does the minister allow himself to be bullied by the Prime Minister into undercutting farmers' marketing power?

The minister violated board members' freedom of speech with gag orders. The minister violated the elected board's authority by firing its CEO. The minister violates democratic principles with fraudulent and biased questions and now there is a further violation of democratic principles with a traceable ballot.

What does the minister intend to do with the information from the numbered ballots he is tracking?

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

Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to be perfectly clear. If he wants me to release the information on the Algerian wheat sales and if he is comfortable with that, I will do so. If he gets confirmation from the Canadian Wheat Board, I will be happy to move on that immediately.

Human Resources and Social Development

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB]

Mr. Speaker, our government recognizes that Canada's future competitiveness depends on developing a highly skilled workforce, a flexible labour market, as well as productive and innovative work places.

We also recognize the important role that immigrants play in our labour force. This morning the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development announced an investment of almost $3 million to support employment integration for skilled immigrants.

Can the minister please share with the House the benefits this funding will provide?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to have been present today to make that announcement. The $3 million will help provide a pathway to leadership positions in the private sector for newcomers to this country. That comes on top of $307 million that the government announced to help newcomers after a decade of frozen funding from the Liberals.

We are moving forward in different ways to help newcomers after both the Liberals and the NDP voted against it. I do not understand what is the matter with them.

North American Free Trade Agreement

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

Mr. Speaker, an American investor named Vito Gallo is going after the Canadian taxpayer for $350 million in compensation over the failed Adams Mine dump proposal.

Mr. Gallo is going after chapter 11 of NAFTA regarding a proposal that was under the city of Toronto and under the jurisdiction of Ontario. It is for the benefit of a numbered company in North York. That is quite the stretch for NAFTA.

I would like to ask the government what steps it is taking to protect the interests of Canadian taxpayers? Will it do a complete forensic audit of this company so we know exactly who stands to benefit from this massive hit on Canadian taxpayers?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right that Mr. Gallo is pursuing a chapter 11 case. We are assessing the merits of the case. We will be fighting on behalf of Canada and Canada's interests.