Debates of March 1st, 2007

National Defence

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I am once again surprised by the sudden interest of my colleague from Bourassa when we talk about economic spin-offs in Canada from military contracts. When he was at the cabinet table the first thing he did was cancel the contract awarded by the former government of Brian Mulroney for procuring helicopters to replace the aging Sea Kings. That was the first thing he did.

What was the fallout? Zero benefit for Canada, a loss of $3.8 billion in economic spin-offs and $570 million in penalties.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to wish the Minister of Industry a speedy recovery because the way he is negotiating, I know he has chronic knee pain.

The Minister of National Defence has already admitted that, as a lobbyist, he met with an officer of his department to sing the praises of the Stewart & Stevenson trucks. The irony: do you know who has final say on approving the technical requirements of military procurements? The Minister of National Defence himself.

Can the lobbying minister give us the name of the officer he met with to sell his trucks? Why did the minister not withdraw from this file? Does he want to ensure that his former clients get the contract?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member for Bourassa is always looking for a scandal. Perhaps he should look in the mirror, or perhaps he should look in the Gomery report, in which he is named. That person is one of these bottom-feeders who is always looking for a scandal. There is no scandal here.

The Environment

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, The Globe and Mail reports that the Liberal environment critic has praised a carbon tax that would cost Canadian families $100 billion, yet the Liberal leader has stated that he is opposed to a carbon tax. They flip and they flop.

Could the Minister of the Environment tell the House if he thinks that forcing Canadian families to pay $100 billion in higher taxes is good policy?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

No, Mr. Speaker.

The leader of the Liberal Party said that he was against a carbon tax. The deputy leader of the Liberal Party said that he was in favour of a carbon tax. Then the leader of the Liberal Party said that he was rejecting a carbon tax.

Now we learn that a big battle is taking place right within the Liberal Party caucus to bring in a big tax whack called a carbon tax on Canadian families. Let us be very clear. The only thing standing in the way of a large, mother of all tax increases, is the Conservative Party and the Prime Minister.

Canadian Wheat Board

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, representatives of Real Voice for Choice have come to Ottawa this week to speak on behalf of 70% of western Canadian farmers who support the Wheat Board's single desk.

The minister refuses to meet with them personally. The minister is also saying that the Wheat Board is supplying grain to Algeria at a low cost. The minister has the actual sales numbers, which he should not reveal, but if his published statements are opposite to the actual sales figures, opposite to the truth, will he apologize to farmers for issuing the slander and will the minister also commit to meet with representatives of Real Voice for Choice and hear their concerns?

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

Mr. Speaker, I heard about the real voice for change group. They met the other day. I think there were about 30 of them who got together. It was a completely non-partisan event. David Orchard introduced the Leader of the Opposition and it just went on from there.

Afghanistan

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday it was reported that Brigadier-General Tim Grant signed a new agreement for the handling of prisoners in Afghanistan. The agreement is reported to include a role for the Afghan independent human rights commission to monitor detainees.

I asked for a new agreement for detainees at the very first sitting of this Parliament, in question period, because the existing agreement did not live up to Canada's human rights obligations.

Will the minister table this new document in the House before the March break? When will he release this new agreement to the Canadian people?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member sounds outraged that we actually have the human rights group involved in our handling of detainees. However, I will table a copy of the document as soon as I get it.

Income Trusts

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has a $25 billion hole in his budget. Thousands of ordinary, hard-working Canadians were devastated by the minister's bull in a china shop attitude toward income trusts.

Will the finance minister, before it is too late, adopt the recommendations of the finance committee and deal with these aggrieved Canadians and restore their hard-earned money in the budget?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, what we will not do is bring in a $20 billion tax increase for Canadians, as suggested by the critic for the environment opposite. That would be a 20% tax increase for working families in Canada, or four points on the GST. The Liberals could increase the GST to 10%, if they wanted to raise $20 billion.

We went the other way. We reduced taxes over two years by $20 billion in budget 2006, one of the largest tax decreases in the history of the country.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it appears that the bull is still loose. That is just precious. We get legislation but no compensation. This is typical of the bully government, the bully Prime Minister and the bully finance minister. Instead of being prudent and careful, they bulldoze everything in sight.

Will the finance minister help these devastated people and compensate them in the budget?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of bull going on. We took real steps to reduce taxes in budget 2006. We reduced the GST by a full percentage point, which in and of itself is a tax reduction, a permanent tax reduction year after year for Canadians of more than $5 billion. We also took more than 650,000 working Canadians totally off the federal tax rolls. That is a true tax reduction for those Canadians. They are taxed zero.

Official Languages

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a Senate report has warned us that the Olympic Games may be an embarrassment for Canada in terms of the use of French. The Commissioner of Official Languages tells us that the CRTC is not meeting its obligations in respect of official languages, and the Minister of National Defence does not even believe in bilingualism in the armed forces.

When is this government going to realize that in Canada, in our country, there are two official languages—not one, but two, and I can even name them if the minister wants?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is firmly committed to promoting the linguistic duality of Canada, whether through the transformation model announced by my colleague the Minister of National Defence or during the 2010 Olympic Games.

Now, how can the member justify a $100 million cut to the official languages budget when the Liberals were in power?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how can she explain the brutal cuts to official languages in the case of the court challenges program?

The Commissioner of Official Languages finds it difficult to reconcile the minister's intentions with the actions of the government to which she belongs.

In other words, the minister says one thing and her government does another. She talks about linguistic duality, but her colleague the Minister of National Defence abandons francophones in the armed forces. She says she wants to support communities, but her Prime Minister cancels the court challenges program.

How does the minister feel, knowing that she has no credibility, no power and no authority in her own portfolio?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have signed nearly $1 billion in agreements with the territories and provinces: agreements on services for the minority communities in Canada, and agreements with the communities to enable them to promote their activities.

We are committed to official languages. We supported Bill S-3, and I am satisfied that my colleagues are going to fulfil their responsibilities in relation to official languages.

Aviation Safety

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport is in the process of implementing an aviation safety system that would have airline companies do their own inspections.

How can the minister say that his approach will not affect safety when airline companies will be the ones to decide for themselves what they are not doing correctly and to come up with their own requirements for changing the way they do things?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to explain to my honourable colleague that the proposed changes will improve the aviation system and safety nationwide.

The new system is an add-on, an umbrella, that adds to the existing system. It is important to understand that we have not reduced the number of inspectors. On the contrary, we have raised it. We have also found that the number of accidents has decreased.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we heard from the president of the Canadian Federal Pilots Association, and now it is the former aviation security commissioner, Mr. Moshansky's turn to sound the alarm.

In a statement delivered yesterday before the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities, he claimed that not only is Transport Canada preparing to make cuts to the current inspection system, the department is actively working to destroy it.

Does the minister understand that fewer inspectors means a greater risk of disasters, not greater safety?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to review and listen to parliamentarians' deliberations that took place yesterday. This expert's testimony could not have been clearer. He said that the proposed system, the system that is now in place, will improve transportation safety. Personally, I think that safety is the most important thing. We will keep doing what we are doing.

The Environment

[Nancy Karetak-Lindell, Liberal, Nunavut, NU]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of the International Polar Year. Thanks to the Liberal budget of 2005, there are $150 million this year for Canadian research projects in the north. However, the Conservatives have done nothing. They have abandoned Canada's polar regions. They eliminated the Arctic ambassador. They failed to invest in icebreakers and a deepwater port, as promised.

With global warming harming the north, why should Canadians trust the government to help northerners?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for drawing to the attention of Canadians the commencement of International Polar Year and the initiative of this government in putting forward $150 million of federal funding for 44 Canadian research projects. There are two priorities: climate change and improving and protecting the health of northern aboriginal communities.

This government will get things done. We will move forward in a way that the previous Liberal government never did.

Canadian Forces

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 1998 the House of Commons defence committee asked the government to put in place a real pension plan for Canada's reserve force. Nine years have passed and the reserves are still waiting.

Canada's reserve force is the last large federal public sector workforce without a pension plan. Our reserves are a key part of our defence team in our country. The Lincoln-Welland Regiment in my riding, as well as reservists across the country, deserve a pension plan.

What is the Minister of National Defence doing and what he has done to correct this injustice.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada's reservists do exemplary work both at home and abroad. We are particularly proud of their outstanding performance in Afghanistan.

It gives me great pleasure to announce today another step that the Conservative government is taking for our men and women in uniform. Reservists will now benefit from a pension plan effective today, March 1. In excess of 21,000 reserve force members will now be entitled to a pension. This change will improve the quality of life of our reserve members, encourage people to join the Canadian Forces and those members currently enrolled to continue their service.