Debates of June 20th, 2007

Equalization Formula

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have to point out that the budget was well received by most provincial and territorial governments. At the same time, the budget increased transfer payments to every provincial and territorial government this year and into the future. We have tried to base those decisions on a set of principles that everyone can understand.

We have respected special deals, side deals, that we signed before the budget. The value of those deals remains identical to the value there was before the budget was tabled. We have provided new enriched programs to others. We will not provide new side deals--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, about the claim the Prime Minister just made that he respected Atlantic accord, the Hon. John Crosbie said, “The public isn't that stupid”.

It is time for the truth. Will the Prime Minister admit that he should stop insulting the intelligence of Canadians and instead say that he broke his promise?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

I disagree, Mr. Speaker. Here are the facts. The transfers under the Atlantic accord to Newfoundland this year are exactly the same as they were before the budget and, under the new equalization formula, Newfoundland will be able to gain when that accord runs out, as it surely will under its current terms, in 2012.

I say again that every province can have the arrangements they signed before, but the new arrangement has to be available to all. There will be no new special deals only for some provinces and not for others.

Afghanistan

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians and all members of this House mourn the death of our soldiers in Afghanistan today.

The government does need to be accountable with Canadians about this mission. It is incumbent upon the government to tell Canadians how long this combat mission will last.

The Prime Minister has described his own end date of February 2009 as arbitrary. Will he now clearly say to the House how long this combat mission will last? Canadians deserve to know. Is it not time for the truth?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think the government has been extremely clear on this point. Three of the four parties of this House have agreed with this military mission to February 2009. The government has been clear.

If there is to be any military activity after that date, that would have to be approved by Parliament. This is, frankly, something the previous government did not do, but we will do that in the future. We have been very clear on that. I have communicated that to foreign leaders at the appropriate opportunities.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with the imminent departure of the Royal 22nd Regiment, the moment of truth for the mission has arrived. Canadians are entitled to hear the truth from this Prime Minister and they deserve straight answers.

Does the Prime Minister plan to extend the combat mission beyond February 2009 or will he commit to respecting the date he set that was passed by this House?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government has made it clear that the mission will end in February 2009. A new mission after that date would have to be approved by this Parliament. I must remind members of the Liberal Party that their leader said that he saw a possible role for Canada in training Afghan forces and protecting reconstruction activities even after this date.

Equalization Formula

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the members of the Bloc and myself, I would like to offer our condolences to the families of the soldiers who were so tragically lost in Afghanistan. I would also like to offer my condolences to their comrades in arms.

With respect to the fiscal imbalance, everyone in Quebec agrees that the formula should not be based on specific agreements that confer certain advantages on one province or another. There are rumours that the government is negotiating a new formula with Nova Scotia.

Does the Prime Minister agree that the only fair equalization formula is one that includes all 10 provinces and 100% of natural resource revenues?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fairest formula is the one that this Parliament and this government adopted, the one that the Bloc Québécois voted for. It is based on the recommendations that resulted from an independent inquiry by Mr. O'Brien, recommendations that were modified to honour this government's commitments, and I think that it is the fairest solution.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, all parties in Quebec's National Assembly agree that the solution to the fiscal imbalance must not be based on a temporary financial agreement but on a permanent formula. The only way to fix this is to transfer tax fields.

The Prime Minister promised to fix the fiscal imbalance once and for all. When will he acknowledge Quebec's demands and transfer tax fields?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, fiscal balance was restored by a Conservative government. This country must have a government that respects provincial areas of jurisdiction.

I would like to quote the member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, who said: “Now that the fiscal imbalance has been corrected, the provincial government will be able to announce subsidies or tax cuts.”

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised Quebec that he would limit federal spending power in Quebec's and the provinces' areas of responsibility. Then the Prime Minister watered down his promise by limiting it to cost shared programs.

The Prime Minister promised to limit federal spending power, period. Will he take action and present concrete proposals in this regard?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we have had negotiations and talks with the Quebec government and other provincial governments on the federal spending power. To this date we have not received a proposal from any provincial government.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the government has said, minister Benoît Pelletier maintains that he does not have the necessary tools to set appropriate limits on federal spending power. The latest budget deals with cost shared programs, but that is not what we are talking about. Truly limiting spending power means two things: unconditional withdrawal from all areas of jurisdiction that belong to Quebec and the provinces and full compensation. Will the government do this?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

As I said, Mr. Speaker, there is wording in our budget related to cost sharing programs and to limiting the federal spending power. It is the intention of our government, as we have with the settlement of the fiscal imbalance, to limit our spending in areas of provincial jurisdiction where it touches on obviously provincial programs.

Again, we are open to proposals. We have not yet seen a proposal from the Quebec government or any other province at this point.

Health

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues and I in the NDP caucus extend our condolences to the families of our fallen soldiers.

Our condolences also to the comrades of our soldiers.

Across the country there are Canadians now who are having to choose between buying groceries or getting the medications their doctor says that they need. Some provinces like Saskatchewan and Quebec are taking some leadership here, but the result is we are getting a patchwork quilt because there is no leadership from the federal government when it comes to prescription drug costs.

Whether or not people get the drugs they need does not depend on their illness. It depends on how much money they have, where they live, or whether they have the right disease to match up with the right province. When are we going to see some leadership on the health care issue by the government?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member no doubt is aware, we are in discussions with the provinces and territories on this very issue to see how the federal sphere of competency can be helpful in what is a provincial sphere of jurisdiction.

However, the hon. member asks about leadership. It is this government that has ensured that there has been extra spending on health care in this budget and in last year's budget to the tune of $1.1 billion last year and $1.2 billion this year. That is real leadership.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, discussions do not treat diseases and the fact is that the government has not moved at all on the whole concept of a national approach to pharmaceuticals as requested by the provinces.

I have been discussing this matter with the premiers and I can tell members that they can feel the foot on the brake. The result is that every day families spent $4 billion on prescription drugs last year, provincial governments $7 billion, and companies $10 billion. Meanwhile, 3.5 million Canadians have no coverage at all.

The fact is that we need universal prescription drug coverage now. Why will the government not get moving on it?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows very well this would be an intrusion into the provincial area of jurisdiction, so one has to deal with the provinces and territories on this issue.

In the meantime, we have acted. The federal government's responsibilities in terms of the Canada Health Act and in terms of funding of Canadian health care are in fact ensured.

We have launched a national cancer strategy. Why is the hon. member not supporting our government when it comes to a national cancer strategy? That is what Canadians should be asking.

Status of Women

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yet another broken promise by the Conservative government. During the election the Prime Minister wrote to women's groups and guaranteed that if elected, it would “take concrete and immediate measures…to ensure that Canada fully upholds its commitments to women”.

However, now the government says one thing while it does exactly the opposite. Canadians deserve answers. It is time for the truth. Why has equality been removed from the mandate of Status of Women Canada? Equality, Mr. Speaker.

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, I do not have to tell that member that she belongs to the Status of Women. She should understand that this government works on a principle of equality and that is how we run our mandate.

Official Languages

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since coming into power, the Conservatives continue to attack official language minorities. The elimination of the court challenges program is the most striking example of that. Canadians deserve to get real answers from this government.

Will the minister responsible for official languages promise, once and for all, to reinstate funding for the court challenges program for minorities?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is firmly committed to promoting linguistic duality. The latest budget earmarks $30 million over two years to help minority communities in our country. The government will continue to do its job in this area.

Child Care

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government has yet to deliver on its promise to create 125,000 new child care spaces. This betrayal is happening while Canada lags way behind other OECD countries on investments in early learning and child care.

Canadians want to be leaders not laggards. Canadians deserve answers and it is time for the Conservative government to tell the truth.

When is the government going to deliver the child care spaces it promised Canadian parents?