House of Commons Hansard #132 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was veterans.
David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the retrofitted clean air act includes a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. It has targets. It has timelines. It has a clear framework for action. It brings Canada to the forefront of international trading, it ensures investments in clean technologies right here at home, and it outlaws hot air.
Will the minister get the job done and pass the clean air act in the House before the end of April?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, this government has a comprehensive plan to fight climate change, and we are actually doing action, not just talking. The member's own deputy leader said his leader just did not get the job done, and this is a member who this week voted against a budget containing substantial funding to help fight climate change.
Let us look at what one of my good friends said about the budget and some of the announcements contained in it. He said that the environmental announcements contained in the budget were “a great day for hard-working Ontario families”.
Does the hon. member know which friend of mine said that? Dalton McGuinty.
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, for weeks the Prime Minister has been saying that he will soon announce his so-called made in Canada plan for greenhouse gas emissions, including all of the targets, but Canadians are still waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
Even more disturbing is the fact that the government kept its plan secret and refused to include it as part of the rewrite of Bill C-30. Why has the Prime Minister shown Parliament so much contempt? Does he think the work of the committee is beneath him?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, we appreciate the hard work of all members of the committee who considered Bill C-30 at this stage, before it even had been debated in the House.
We are moving forward with a comprehensive climate change action plan. We have come forward with initiatives for the first time to provide funding for the provinces in our ecotrust announcement. That is something the Liberals voted against. We came forward with some strong initiatives on eco-transportation. The Liberals voted against it.
We came forward with substantial investments in our budget, with $4.5 billion of new funding for the first time for a comprehensive plan to fight climate change, and the Liberal Party has voted against it again.
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, just because he is speaking does not mean that he has something to say.
The Prime Minister fought all attempts by both Houses to take concrete action on climate change. He refuses to make any announcements about his plan for tackling global warming. Why? Because he does not have one. In fact, the actions of the Prime Minister are nothing more than a sad show and his ministers are just puppets.
This government is incapable of even establishing one objective. It is incapable of doing anything. On this very day, why not adopt and support its own bill—
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite must be rather concerned because, after his own private member's bill cleared the House of Commons, his own leader usurped him presenting his sixth plan for climate change.
We have been rolling out initiatives to fight climate change, part components of our major plan. I was pleased to be in Quebec to announce funding to help the Quebec government implement its plan to fight climate change. I was also pleased to be in Toronto where we announced funding for Ontario.
I want to tell the member what the Ontario premier said. He said, “Today's announcement is good news for Ontario's economy and the environment and a great example”--
Ken Epp Conservative Edmonton—Sherwood Park, AB
Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.
Last December, the government passed a Federal Accountability Act which included changes to the Access to Information Act that make government more open. Canadians were glad to hear that some of these changes will take effect on April 1.
Would the President of the Treasury Board now tell the House when crown corporations will also become transparent to Canadians?
Vic Toews ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell the House that on September 1, the Access to Information Act will apply to all crown corporations, including Canada Post and the CBC.
When it comes down to this, it is Canadians' money they are spending and it is only right that Canadians know how it is being used.
I would also like to note that we are bringing into force the Public Service Disclosure Protection Act on April 15. People who see problems in government need to know that they can speak up. Today's announcement means that whistleblowers can honestly and openly report government wrongdoing without fear of reprisal.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, many people are raising questions about the so-called consultation process on electoral reform. The minister stood in the House and said that these consultations were designed to avoid special interest groups and involve a cross-section of Canadians.
Those were nice words but this week we learned that special interest groups were in fact being contacted to participate in the consultations. This is not the open process promised. It is just another broken promise.
What action will the minister take to repair the damage to the process so that it is genuinely open, transparent and fair?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, this was an unacceptable situation. The subcontractor, whose work was in question, was not authorized and has been terminated.
The consultations will continue. We have a panel in place that will ensure that the methodology is acceptable. I look forward to receiving the report in the summer.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, but that is just not good enough. Democratic reform is about ensuring that every vote Canadians cast is actually fair.
We also have learned that the Frontier Centre has links on its website to stories about how democratic reform is “a fad”, and people like Brian Crowley, on its board, recently appointed to the Department of Finance and a regular donor to the Conservative Party.
One should not need to be a Conservative Party donor to participate in discussions about how to reform our democratic system.
Will the government cease and desist this tainted process and start over again with a new, non-partisan citizens consultation process?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, this is an entirely independent process and there is absolutely no ideological litmus test. I know the New Democratic Party would like one because they already know the answer. They have a particular prescription they want Canadians to adopt.
We want to hear what Canadians have to say. We have a robust agenda on democratic reform, including limiting Senate terms to eight years instead of the current potential 45 years, and including consulting Canadians so they can actually tell us who they want to see representing them in the Senate.
We invite the NDP, the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois to support us in getting this robust agenda on democratic reform through the House of Commons and the Senate.
Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Mr. Speaker, Bernard Shapiro was always a thorn in the side of the ethically challenged Prime Minister. Everyone remembers how the Prime Minister was loath to cooperate with Mr. Shapiro when he investigated the Prime Minister's conduct on the scandalous floor crossing of the Minister of International Trade.
With a growing number of Conservative scandals, will the government commit that it will not name John Reynolds as their new nominee to be the ethics commissioner while he is under investigation?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I heard the hon. member asking a question about the floor crossing of a minister of human resources in the previous government and how that was dealt with by the Ethics Commissioner, but we want to thank the Ethics Commissioner, Mr. Shapiro, for serving as Canada's Ethics Commissioner. The Government of Canada appreciates Mr. Shapiro's contributions and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours.
The government intends to move as soon as possible to appoint a new ethics commissioner who is fully qualified and we will submit that for consideration by the House of Commons.
Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Mr. Speaker, last Wednesday, the member for Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont delivered a statement to the House that attacked the executive director of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada. This attack came exactly one week after Monica Lysack appeared before a Commons committee as a witness. The member used his position as a member of Parliament to attack a Canadian citizen after a committee appearance, knowing she would have no opportunity to defend herself against his statement.
Does the member's outrageous attack really represent the government's position on child care?
Lynne Yelich ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, the government's position is that Canadians know that their new government is spending more on early learning and child care than any other federal government in history.
We have increased child care transfers to provinces and territories to a total of $1.1 billion. We are listening to the real experts, the parents, who asked for choice in child care. We are delivering it and that party is voting against it.
Brent St. Denis Liberal Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canada's victory at Vimy was not only a symbol of the emergence of our military excellence, it was a defining moment in our history, a milestone in Canada's coming of age. We are proud that the red ensign flag, under which Canadian troops fought and died during the first world war, will be flown at the Vimy Ridge Memorial.
However, beyond this symbolism, what concrete measures will the government take to support our veterans as they celebrate the 90th anniversary of Vimy and what measures will it take to educate all Canadians about this monumental event in our history?
Gordon O'Connor ConservativeMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, our government is very proud of our veterans and of the contributions they made to our country. Members will note that in the upcoming fiscal year, we will be spending half a billion dollars more on veterans than the previous government spent on veterans. We will continue to improve all the care packages we have for the veterans as we go into the future.
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament who brought to light the insulting policy that took away the danger pay from our wounded soldiers in Afghanistan just because they had to leave the combat area, there is, I think we will all agree, an inequality that must now be addressed.
Will the Minister of Veterans Affairs act to correct the denial of a lifelong pension to our wounded soldiers who cannot return to active duty and will never earn the necessary years of service to get one due to their injuries?
These soldiers gave their all for Canada and now they are facing the daunting challenge of having to find other employment and have very little to fall back on.
When will the minister act and do the right thing?
Gordon O'Connor ConservativeMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, as I said before, this government is committed to looking after its veterans. We will look at each case and, if there is injustice, we will correct the injustice.
Vivian Barbot Bloc Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday, the Minister of International Cooperation told the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development that both she and her government believe that the objective of international aid is to provide effective aid and not to increase international aid to 0.7% of GDP, a commitment nevertheless made by Canada.
Can the minister explain why it seems so difficult for her government to increase international aid and at the same time to ensure that it is effective?
Ted Menzies ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and Minister of International Cooperation
Mr. Speaker, I would once again remind the House, as we have many times, that it is this new Conservative government that is trying to rebuild the depleted official development assistance budget that the Liberals brought us down to.
We used to be, in the former Conservative government, 0.5% of GNI. The former Liberal government took us down into the low twos. We are trying to rebuild that so we can help the other people who need our help in the rest of the world.
Vivian Barbot Bloc Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the Minister of International Cooperation that it represents a commitment made to the international community. I would also like to remind her that, in its 2006 election platform, the government indicated that it would substantially increase Canadian aid, even up to the OECD average. There are no signs in the last budget that these commitments will be honoured. A promise is a promise.
The needs are great and expectations high. Why is it so difficult for the minister to provide effective aid and at the same time honour commitments made?
