House of Commons Hansard #129 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was money.
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, while the ministers are seeking solutions, decisions have to be made. Pratt & Whitney has to make its decision known by the end of May.
Are the ministers aware that, if they continue their research beyond the month of May, the sole outcome will be the loss of many jobs for the South Shore and Quebec?
Jean-Pierre Blackburn ConservativeMinister 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 government’s wish is to contribute to regional economic development. Insofar as this file remains accessible and the funds are available, we are going to do all we can to try and support the project in question, but we must of course also take budget considerations into account.
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is a government mired in illicit practices.
First it seems the public safety minister paid an MP to step aside. Now it seems the Conservatives are using government appointments to entice municipal candidates to step down.
The Conservatives' campaign chair, John Reynolds, boasted he would never lobby the Prime Minister's Office. Now he is under investigation for allegedly offering inducements in a municipal election.
Will the Prime Minister end all contact with Mr. Reynolds until the police investigation is concluded?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I think we have been pretty clear about this particular case. No such position was offered by the government. No such appointment was given by the government. No such appointment will be given by the government.
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Mr. Speaker, clearly, the Conservative government does not walk the talk when it comes to accountability.
The public safety minister does not have the courage to stand in this House and answer questions about how he got his own seat, but maybe he will answer this.
As the minister responsible for the parole board, did he or his office have any contact with John Reynolds, or the Minister of the Environment, or their staff, concerning a possible parole board appointment for Mr. Terry Kilrea?
Stockwell Day ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, that would be an absolute no, as is the response to her absolutely not factual and, I would say, untruthful and absolutely false allegation that I, or my office, or any officials at the time offered any inducement to anybody to step aside. That is absolutely false. It is not true. She should join the member for Ajax—Pickering in a full apology, especially for Mr. Hart.
Anthony Rota Liberal Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON
Mr. Speaker, a constituent of mine says that when he attempted to raise serious issues on mental health services in northern Ontario with the health minister, he was told he needed to have a lobbyist registration number. When I approached the minister, I was told the same thing.
Could the minister explain this new policy? Why should MPs or their constituents have to become or hire a Conservative lobbyist to get the ear of any minister in this government?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
Mr. Speaker, that is absolute nonsense. As I explained to the hon. member yesterday, we have something new in Canada. It is called the Federal Accountability Act.
Just because the guys on the other side of the chamber do not know what it means to be accountable and do not know what it means to be accountable in terms of the taxpayers, we know what it means and we will follow the rules, even if they are not.
Anthony Rota Liberal Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON
Mr. Speaker, they made the rules. They just cannot explain them to us.
The Prime Minister's friends, his lawyers, his strategists and all those close Conservative ties are lining up to sell access to the government, and now the health minister is getting on the bandwagon.
In 2005 the Prime Minister said, “I told my own MPs and parliamentary staff, if any of them harboured any illusion about lobbying a future Conservative government, they had better leave or make other plans”.
Why did the Prime Minister so blatantly break his own accountability pledge?
Vic Toews ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, this government is very proud of the Federal Accountability Act. We brought in the most sweeping laws in respect of accountability, in respect of lobbying. In fact, it is the opposite side that simply tried to block those rules.
This government is committed to getting the job done. The Liberals could not get the job done.
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
Mr. Speaker, I just want to let you know that no one is grumpy on this side of the House.
The people of St. Catharines and Canadians agree with this government's initiatives in establishing wait time guarantees.
Yesterday and again today the Minister of Health announced that our government is making significant progress on fulfilling its commitment to establish patient wait time guarantees.
Could the Minister of Health provide us with another update today on the success he has had?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
I would be happy to, Mr. Speaker. Of course, 85% of Canadians support wait time guarantees and this government is delivering.
Yesterday I announced $48 million for the province of Nova Scotia for a radiation oncology wait time guarantee. Today I was in Toronto announcing up to $400 million for the province of Ontario for its cataract wait time guarantee and for electronic health records.
By contrast, on the opposite side of the chamber, what did the Liberals do when wait times doubled in 13 years? Nothing, zilch, nada. We are getting the job done.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, we read in the paper today of a high-ranking Conservative allegedly offering patronage pork for political payback. Canadians have a right to know the details of the murky relationship between Mr. Reynolds and the government.
Will the Prime Minister take serious action to restore Canadians' faith in government and federal institutions? Has the Prime Minister urged Mr. Reynolds and members of his party and caucus to come forward and share what they know about this issue?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I think we have been quite clear about what happened.
The Minister of the Environment, who was identified in this matter, his response when he was approached by the individual seeking appointment was that he did not know what he was talking about it. I think that applies to some others who are asking questions here.
The fact is no such position was offered by the government. No such appointment was given by the government and no such appointment will be given by the government.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, we need more. This really is a sad day for ethics in government.
When the Conservatives borrowed Ed Broadbent's ethics package, they told Canadians that they too were concerned about accountability and scandal.
We phoned Mr. Broadbent yesterday and I want to share with the House that this is not what he had in mind when he was talking about ethics and accountability in government.
We want to know, is the government going to do politics as usual? Why will the Conservatives not live by the same rules that they want everyone else to live by? Why not?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I am puzzled by the member's question. We made it quite clear that no appointment was offered by this government and no appointment was given by this government. Perhaps he would like there to have been an appointment offered.
I think usually a scandal results from an appointment, not from the failure to offer an appointment.
Gary Merasty Liberal Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, ever so casually the Indian affairs minister insulted all aboriginal people by asserting that the fundamental goal of residential schools was education. In saying this he denies that the primary goal actually was to destroy aboriginal people, languages and culture.
The children confined to these schools, and we call them survivors today, but make no mistake that they were children, were taken from their families, taken from their communities and unspeakable acts were committed upon them.
Why does the Prime Minister refuse to apologize for the atrocities suffered by these children?
Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians
Mr. Speaker, this is the government that executed the agreement resolving the residential schools legacy.
My friend refers to the 13 year Liberal legacy of not getting the job done. The Liberals talked about an agreement but they did not get it done. They talked about early payments to the elderly but they did not get that done. They talked about a truth and reconciliation commission but hey did not get that done either.
All the Liberals did was spend 80% of the money of the ADR process on bureaucrats and lawyers. They accomplished nothing. This government will proceed and get the agreement implemented.
Gary Merasty Liberal Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
Mr. Speaker, it is amazing the magnitude of the gap between compassion and doing the right thing that the government has.
The minister knows that an apology was to follow the completion of the residential schools agreement. The failure of the government to apologize for these wrongdoings committed against innocent aboriginal children is a betrayal, an insult to the people and an insult that is manifesting itself in a tragic legacy today.
Last November, I asked the Prime Minister to apologize. I would ask him again, on behalf of my family, to apologize.
Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians
Mr. Speaker, if we are going to speak of a gap, I think it only fair that Canadians know that the gap that exists is the devastating record, as others have referred to it, of the former Liberal government in dealing with aboriginal issues, a legacy of 13 years of broken promises and inaction.
I need to point out to my friend that it is this government that has signed an agreement. The agreement did not call for an apology. We are fully implementing the terms of the agreement that were executed to put this sad chapter of Canadian history behind us.
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
Mr. Speaker, on June 6, 2006, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and all other members of this House stood in support of a motion to reinstate $20 million, plus an additional $15 million, for a total of $35 million to the small craft harbours budget.
This is not just a matter of respecting the will of the House, it is a matter of trust. The money is not in the budget and it is not in the estimates.
I ask the Prime Minister, where is the money?
Small Craft HarboursOral Questions
St. John's South—Mount Pearl Newfoundland & Labrador
Conservative
Loyola Hearn ConservativeMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the hon. member where the money was not. It certainly was not in the budget when he was in power as a minister of the former government. It was not in any budgets when we, in opposition, through the standing committee, had to force the Liberals to top up the budget.
The first thing we did when we came into government was to top up the money for infrastructure, and again this year we have topped up that budget even further.
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
Mr. Speaker, the government did not top up the budget. The minister should know that this is a serious issue. We do not want the wharves to fall down.
I asked the Prime Minister not to gut the small craft harbours program. We need to be able to believe the Prime Minister and trust the Prime Minister. It is time for the Prime Minister to stand in the House and commit to the $35 million immediately. The Prime Minister needs to make this commitment so we can keep the wharves and harbours in shape for the fishermen across the country.
Will the Prime Minister make this commitment to the fishers today?
Small Craft HarboursOral Questions
St. John's South—Mount Pearl Newfoundland & Labrador
Conservative
Loyola Hearn ConservativeMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, because of the vastness of the country, the maintenance of any infrastructure is a challenge. However, it was an extremely heavy challenge for us when we took over the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to find out that fishing infrastructure was behind by $400 million. It would take $400 million just to bring it up to par.
We will do our part in ensuring the wharves are ready for our fishermen to fish.
Francine Lalonde Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the humanitarian impact of cluster bombs is devastating. Some 30 years after being dropped, they can still injure and destroy. On February 23, some 46 countries signed a declaration in favour of a treaty to ban the use of these bombs by 2008. Canada came around at the last minute.
Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us whether this time Canada intends to play a leadership role at the next Lima Conference and join the groups working on developing a new treaty on cluster bombs?