Debates of March 2nd, 2007

Afghanistan

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

Mr. Speaker, again, I will not interfere with the investigations. We will let the investigations go their course and whatever the result will be, it will be published and made public.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, at the request of a Liberal MP, the Auditor General is going to examine the recent awarding of billions of dollars in military contracts without any tendering process.

Why did this government not take the time to do things right, in a transparent fashion, for such significant procurements? And please spare Canadians the gratuitous personal insults in the response.

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, the process we used is called advance contract award notices.

If my colleague from Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine does not agree with that process, she should know that this process, which we used to purchase the C-17 planes, is the same process that was used 3,264 times by the Liberal government. If she has problems with the process, she did not say anything about it when her government used the process more than 3,000 times.

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

Mr. Speaker, it was the Auditor General herself who said that this process does not allow for competition. The government should have known that there would be problems with appointing a former representative of an arms merchant as Minister of National Defence. It is like asking a pyromaniac to be a fire chief. Sooner or later, people are going to wonder.

How could the government appoint a lobbyist for the arms industry as Minister of National Defence?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, this process is competitive, it is effective, and my hon. colleague knows that. She knows that because when the Liberals were in power they used this exact same process in fiscal year 2005-06. In that fiscal year, they used this exact same process 3,264 times. If this process is unfair, then my hon. colleague said nothing 3,264 times when her own government used this process.

We are going to re-equip our military after 13 years of Liberal cuts and we are going to do it in an effective, transparent way, and we are going to be damned proud of it.

Aerospace Industry

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, to avoid antagonizing their federalist friends in Ottawa, the Quebec Liberals are lowering the bar for the Conservatives and curtailing their demands regarding the Boeing military contract spinoffs for the Quebec aerospace industry.

Does the government intend to act responsibly and ensure that Quebec will receive its fair share of the Boeing contract, which should be about 60%?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is determined to maximize the economic benefits of our investments in the army. The crux of the matter is that the military needs new equipment after having been neglected by the Liberal government for 13 years.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago Minister Bachand acknowledged that Quebec's share of the aerospace industry is about 60%. Today, to please his Conservative friends and prevent them from losing face, he is lowering the bar and would be satisfied with fewer spinoffs.

Does the Minister of Industry plan to stop repeating his mantra of having confidence in the capabilities of the Quebec aerospace industry and instead concentrate his efforts on ensuring that this sector obtains its fair share of 60%?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government believes that the aircraft are needed to support our troops found throughout the world.

However, the Bloc Québécois feels otherwise. In fact the member for Saint-Jean said that the purchase of aircraft was a needless waste; but now he would like to benefit from it. I am somewhat confused.

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in Sherbrooke, in Jean Charest's riding, people are mobilizing in order to tell the government they deplore the lack of guaranteed spinoffs for Quebec in the C-17 procurement contract. Some 75 people who work for AMF, the Machinists Union, ICP Sherbrooke and Sherwood-Drolet have sent letters in which they speak out against the lack of commitment by the Conservative government in this matter.

Can the Prime Minister explain to this House why Quebec will not receive the 60% of spinoffs it deserves?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I remind everyone in the House that this procurement will give the military people who serve Canada the equipment they need. If it were up to the Bloc Québécois, how many new planes would we have for Canada? It would be zero. How many jobs would we have for the Quebec aerospace? Absolutely zero. How many economic benefits would we have for Canadian industry? Zero.

The government is committed to giving the best equipment to our men and women who serve us proudly in the Canadian armed forces.

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there are people who truly do not understand the questions, who understand absolutely nothing.

Workers in Sherbrooke are calling on the government to intervene in order to get assurances from Boeing that the Quebec companies will get 60% of the industrial benefits from the C-17 procurements.

Do they have to be any clearer, or will the minister finally understand what the people of Sherbrooke and Quebec are asking for?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's new government is finally doing what it needs to do. If we can remind everybody, we are standing up for the military and for our industries across the country.

Our armed forces right now fly around in 40 year old Sea King helicopters and Hercules cargo planes that are just as old. Literally, flights have to be booked in such a way that these aircraft do not hit their maximum flying hours while in the sky. Maintenance for these has become a $60 million cottage industry unto itself. The next hangar for these Sea Kings and Hercules are at the War Museum. We want to provide our honourable men and women who serve our country—

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

The hon. member for Nanaimo—Cowichan.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is arguing against equality and safety for first nations children. The minister told reporters last week that the government already gave an awful lot of money to first nations. However, his department determines how that money can be spent, and it is not spent on preventative programs for children's security and well-being.

Why does the government continue to discriminate against status Indian children living on reserve?

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the member is incorrect in her statement. Our government is very supportive of first nations children on reserve. In fact, there is a federal funding project for $445 million in the years 2006-07 for the purposes of supporting children on reserve in relation to CFS.

We will continue to act where the previous government did not. I look forward to being part of that process.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is continuing evidence of the government turning its back on Canadians living in poverty. Of the $125 million announced for first nations children and family services, $16 million of that funding pays the department's own costs each year.

How can the taxpayers trust the government when it increases pay for more bureaucrats, not for more services?

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, again, unfortunately, the member does not have her facts correct. We have pursued with a model that continues to be modified. We are looking at other provinces in Canada that have seen success in dealing with first nations reserves in the area of child and family services.

However, our project does bring $417 million into first nations reserves throughout Canada, and we will continue to be very active on this front.

Official Languages

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government seems to find bilingualism irritating.

In the armed forces, senior officers will no longer be required to be bilingual.

[An hon. member]

Shame.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

The Minister of National Defence's reaction is worrisome. He said that the only reason there are bilingual and francophone brigades is to comply with the Official Languages Act.

When will the Prime Minister realize that there are two official languages in Canada?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Official Languages agrees with us that the previous government's comprehensive approach failed. After 13 years of the previous government's inaction, the commissioner is expecting results and this government will deliver. We believe in linguistic duality and we are working toward that goal.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence does not care about French. Now, the Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages' failure to act is even more insulting.

The Commissioner criticized how slow this government has been to implement the official languages plan, a plan designed to double the number of bilingual Canadians, not halve it. Why is the minister, who supported the action plan, now saying that it will take years for the Conservative government to put this plan into action?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, this makes no sense, but it looks like the previous government does not even have enough charisma to tell the truth in this House.

[An hon. member]

Come on.