Debates of May 18th, 2007

Committees of the House

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

Mr. Speaker, the obstruction playbook was written by the opposition, which has held up, as I said, justice bills at committee, not in the rest of the House, 252 days for mandatory penalties for gun crimes, 214 days for the Criminal Code and 175 days for age of protection.

Those are things we committed to do for Canadians and those are things Canadians want. They want stronger communities and safer communities. The opposition pulls out every stop it can to obstruct and then it gets upset when a matter gets debated for two hours at committee.

We will work hard to get our agenda through because Canadians want to get tough on crime.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us get real here. The 200 page playbook came from the Conservative government. It is too bad that its so-called climate change plan was not as comprehensive.

The Conservatives have a plan on how to manipulate witnesses but no plan for job losses. They have a plan on how to obstruct debate but no plan on how to deal with skyrocketing prescription drug costs.

I am asking the government House leader to table this playbook so Canadians can see just how petty, vindictive and undemocratic the government really is.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me say what Canadians want to see this Parliament do. They want to see this Parliament deliver on legislation to make their communities safer by getting tough on crime. They want to see us deliver on Senate reform, the term limits in the Senate, that has been stalled for a year by the Liberals in the Senate.

When they have something they want passed, in 43 seconds they pass a Liberal private member's bill without allowing one Conservative to speak. That is not exactly what I would call deliberative consultation.

On Senate reform, a year without even touching it is the Liberal approach to delay and obstruction.

Foreign Affairs

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, two Canadian brothers, Mohamed Kohail who is 22, and his 16-year-old brother, Sultan, are being held in a Saudi Arabian jail facing execution.

Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell this House if any Canadian officials have visited these two brothers, what condition are they in and what is being done to ensure that these Canadian citizens receive due process?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his genuine concern. We have had four visits now with the boys in Saudi Arabia. We are very concerned about allegations of mistreatment there.

They will have continued consular access as well. They have legal representation there. We have made representations to the Saudi government about our concern for their well-being and we will continue to do so.

The member does know that this is a case that is before the court and, for privacy reasons, I will not get into the details of the case itself.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister had indicated that they will receive attention. I, as well as the member for Pickering—Scarborough East, have written the minister about these two brothers.

The government's track record, of course, is of concern to this side of the House and I am sure to all Canadians with regard to situations in China, Mexico and the United States.

Therefore, I would ask the minister to assure the House that appropriate legal representation is being provided and, in particular, that our officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia visit the brothers and monitor this case on a daily basis.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly will provide those assurances. We will continue to have consular access.

As the member knows, the legal representation is not provided by the Government of Canada. However, we will continue to work with our officials at the Saudi Arabia embassy and with the two young Canadians.

As well, we are having political consultations with the Saudi Arabian government. We have in the past, as the member would know, expressed concerns about allegations of torture. I can assure the member that we do take these allegations very seriously and have expressed that specifically to the Government of Saudi Arabia.

Committees of the House

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the government makes no effort to respect the fact that Canadians elected a minority Parliament. It is instructing Conservative chairs of parliamentary committees to obstruct and disrupt those committees for partisan advantage. It condones and rewards abusive behaviour. It even counsels witness tampering and intimidation. This is contempt for democracy, akin to Richard Nixon.

Why will the minister not at least be honest enough to table his manual of dirty Conservative tricks?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have already talked about the success of the Liberals in resisting our agenda to make our streets and communities safer on justice. I have talked about their resistance on democratic reform. On the private member's bill the other night the Liberals refused to even allow Buzz Hargrove to speak at the Liberal dominated Senate committee. That is their idea of an open, full process.

A year of delay and obstruction over there and yet they can get their own bill through in 43 seconds. I guess the senators want to keep the month of May open. I do not know what they have in mind. It must be busy over there in May.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals offered to expedite over 70% of the justice bills in the House. It is now public that the government's deliberate plan is to cause a dysfunctional, chaotic Parliament.

The Conservative budget is a failure, its political leadership on the Afghan mission is in disarray, its climate change policy is a complete dud and its 200 page plan to intimidate Parliament is twice as long as its whole strategy on science and technology.

Will the minister just admit that he is trying to blame Parliament for complete, utter Conservative incompetence?

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

No, Mr. Speaker, but I am happy to blame the Liberals for complete, utter delay and obstruction, as they have done in the Senate. I have talked about their unwillingness to deal with Bill S-4, which they have punted off until June. They dealt with Bill C-288 in 43 seconds.

I found out why the Liberals want the month of May available. I saw this memo that says that the Senate has reserved the services of Mr. Jean Luc Lavallée. Mr. Lavallée will be giving chair massages every Thursday afternoon during the month of May in the Senate, May 17, 24 and 31, from 1 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. I thought they were sitting then but apparently they are sitting in massage chairs at that time, which is why they cannot deliver on Bill S-4.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Quebec's intergovernmental affairs minister, Benoit Pelletier, publicly called on the government to withdraw its electoral boundaries readjustment bill because he says he is concerned by the decline in Quebec's weight in the House of Commons.

Does the government intend to take action in response to Minister Pelletier and withdraw its bill?

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

Mr. Speaker, our approach is based on principles. I want to quote an article by Jean-Marc Salvet, in Le Soleil, where he says:

—the bill to readjust electoral boundaries rests on indisputable logic. It is based on a sacred principle in parliamentarianism, which is equal representation of the people.

Our bill is fair. That is our government's approach.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister also mentioned protection for Quebec and accommodations that take into account its status as a nation.

Does the government intend to go back to the drawing board and introduce a bill that takes into account the motion of this House that recognizes Quebec as a nation?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of our motion recognizing Quebeckers as a nation, but we are also proud of our bill on democracy and democratic representation.

I want to quote Jean-Marc Salvet in Le Soleil:

What would happen if the ridings in Quebec had more people than those elsewhere in Canada? We would hate to see the vote of a Quebecker have less weight than the vote of an Ontarian. We would demand corrective measures. As it turns out, the members from Ontario represent 21,000 more people on average than members from the other provinces. Disparities like that do not—

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

The Environment

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Arnold Schwarzenegger's environmental advisor says that Canada's plan to fight greenhouse gases is a bad plan, because it too closely resembles the American plan, which tries to water down the Kyoto targets and does not take immediate action on the problem of global warming.

Why does the government insist on copying the American plan, thus weakening the world consensus regarding the Kyoto protocol?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the long rant by the hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie is inaccurate. We have a real plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, in absolute terms, over the next 13 years. Canada's efforts will surpass those of all countries. It is good news to know that Canada will participate in global initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This the first time any real measures have been taken since the Kyoto protocol.

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is the only person who is defending this version of the plan. Everyone is against the government's plan. Rumours are circulating about the government's possible purchase of the Mackenzie pipeline, which is currently owned by private interests, to save it from potential bankruptcy.

Is this purchase not another way for the government to help out its friends in the oil sector? Would it not do better to spend our billions of dollars on developing clean, renewable energies, such as wind energy?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, one of the Bloc's nearest and dearest—a man who talked about the importance of supporting the Bloc during the last election—is at the head of a large union. I am referring to Buzz Hargrove.

Of the plan put forward by the Conservatives, he said:

It's realistic. They understand it is going to have to be a long-term solution that will take some time.

For 13 years here in Ottawa, the Bloc has failed to reduce greenhouse gases. The good news is that there is a new team from Quebec in town and it is delivering the goods for Quebeckers.

[John Godfrey, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, reports this week suggest that senior American and Canadian officials are refusing to endorse a G-8 statement supporting the reduction of greenhouse gases to 50% below 1990 levels by 2050. Worse, they will not allow the G-8 to recognize the United Nations as the best body to negotiate future action on climate change.

Will the minister demonstrate that he actually understands and supports the findings of the International Panel on Climate Change and guarantee that Canada will say so at the G-8?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly support the science and findings of the report released by the United Nations a few months ago in Paris. I had the chance to hear from some of the scientists first-hand. Many of them are Canadian. They spoke passionately about the need to take action.

I have to say when it comes to the G-8 that this government does not believe that a 50% reduction by 2050 goes far enough. We think we can do better.

[John Godfrey, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is only because the government takes 2006 as its starting point, not 1990.

Canada remained silent for weeks and our reputation suffered internationally. The Prime Minister and President Bush share several viewpoints and even share some advisors. They also have in common their refusal to take action on climate change.

Will Canada take appropriate action and bring the Untied States back to the discussion table or will the government go along with Mr. Bush's attempt to undermine the fight against global warming?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, this government always acts appropriately. It will push all countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

What we will not do is follow what happened with the Liberals. I was reading some quotes by Sheila Copps the other day. Sheila Copps said, “I remember very well when” Jean Chrétien “was getting tremendous push back from...all of those attached to the natural resources”, including the member for Wascana. She said that they “were viciously against Kyoto”.

This is not a Conservative and not one of our union boss friends, but the former Liberal deputy prime minister, the former Liberal minister--

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Churchill.