Debates of June 8th, 2007

Festivals and Special Events

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, my minister has stood in this House time and time again pointing out the fact that we have committed $60 million over the next two years which is new money, new money that requires the ability of being able to track it and ensure it is going to the people who need it. It is that simple. It is new money. The money that is presently flowing is from the current program.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women stated, “It is a new program; there will be new rules and the program will not be strictly limited to festivals”.

The coalition spokesperson, Mr. Fournier, is afraid they will have to start all over again and, at this rate, it will take two years.

What is the Minister of Canadian Heritage waiting for to transfer the monies for festivals to Quebec, given that all the needed infrastructure for managing them is in place?

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the previous administration, our government takes taxpayer dollars very seriously. We will ensure the program is well designed and is properly under control.

However, I would point out again that in 2006-07, the government has funded 247 projects in the province of Quebec. We have given $13 million to events and festivals.

The money under the current programs is flowing. We will get the new program right and ensure that Canadian taxpayers--

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

Order, please. The hon. member for Papineau.

1995 Referendum

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Chuck Guité has confirmed that the federal pamphlet promoting the federalist option was paid for by the Privy Council at a cost of several million dollars. Curiously, the government claims that it cannot put an exact figure on this one operation.

Since the government is saying that it cannot put a figure on its propaganda expenditures, is that not a good reason to set up a public inquiry to clarify things for the government?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about something that happened 12 years ago. The government has changed since then. Canada now has a government that is working closely with the Government of Quebec in the spirit of open federalism. That open federalism is resulting in positive solutions for all Quebeckers and Canadians.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Federal institutions are funding the government's federalist propaganda. The HistoriCanada game has a direct link to Historica Minutes, which present a biased version of Canada's reality.

Will the Conservative government acknowledge that despite its claims, it is still making propaganda, as the Liberals did before it?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the opportunity to be in Quebec City to take part in the swearing-in of the new Lieutenant Governor, with my former National Assembly colleagues.

When I saw my former National Assembly colleagues, I remembered the 1980 referendum, when the Parti Québécois government flooded Quebec with advertising and signs with slogans such as “Je m'attache au Québec”. Has a figure been put on those expenditures?

The Budget

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, since the Minister of Foreign Affairs has conveniently forgotten his inconvenient words of a couple of weeks ago, allow me the opportunity to remind the House. He said:

We will not throw a member out of caucus for voting his conscience. There will be no whipping, flipping, hiring or firing on budget votes....

Is this 180 degree flip more an example of the lack of influence that the minister has at the cabinet table or did he actually think that his former caucus colleague would surrender his principles, as the minister did?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member has been here for awhile he should know that was not in fact the budget vote. The budget vote will take place next week.

However, with respect to that particular comment, I had hoped and fully expected that the hon. member would continue to work with other members of the Atlantic caucus and with the Minister of Finance to see that we follow through in finishing this discussion with the Province of Nova Scotia, with our premier, direct discussions which I continued yesterday.

The member opposite may be chirping from the cheap seats but, unlike him, we are actually getting the job done for Nova Scotia.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, that is certainly no consolation for my colleague from Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley.

The one thing about screwing up time and time again is that people get upset when the government screws up and does not admit it, and then tries to sell them that it is doing them this great favour.

The people of Nova Scotia are not stupid. They know up is not down and they are not buying what the minister is trying to sell. The minister has done nothing but hurt Nova Scotians since he assumed his responsibility. When will he finally do something that will benefit Nova Scotians and resign?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will ask the hon. member to try to keep his Celtic temper in check. I know he is getting very exercised over there and the rhetorical flow is starting to come. He is smiling now that he has sat down and is off the camera. The righteous indignation is leaving his body.

As we all know, the budget delivers $95 million more this fiscal year and millions more next year. We have delivered deals on health care, the environment and transportation. The money is flowing into the province of Nova Scotia, more than we have ever seen, certainly in the last 13 years under the abysmal representation of that member and his government.

Atlantic Canada

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I can hear the lines from the mouth of the Minister of Foreign Affairs this weekend when he goes home to face the music for his actions up here. They will go something like this: black is white, night is day. Conservatives haven't the slightest hope in Atlantic Canada in the next election.

However, a hard dose of reality awaits the member and his colleagues. A new poll shows that Conservative support in Nova Scotia has gone down the toilet.

My question is simple. What did the Conservatives expect? What did they expect when they turned their backs on Atlantic Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, what has gone down the toilet, as we have seen this week, is the quality of questions coming from members opposite. The hon. member has his cute quips. He can put on his floppy shoes, his red nose, throw a tent over the whole opposition and continue the clown show but the reality is that Nova Scotians know full well that the representation they are getting in this country today from this government far surpasses anything that happened under the corrupt, arrogant and entitlement days of the Liberal Party.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we Cape Bretoners are not buying that. Nova Scotians are not taking it either. The minister needs to go back and ask them. They know the Minister of Foreign Affairs has betrayed them. The complete inability of the minister to defend his province is now plain for all to see.

I will give him another chance. When will he resign as minister of neglect for the province of Nova Scotia?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member should quit while he is behind.

As the words are falling from his mouth, he knows they are not true. As the words are falling from his mouth trying to defend the terrible record of the government he was a part of for so many years in comparison to the transparent, straightforward, getting the job done government of the Conservative Party, he should be ashamed.

The member should go back to Cape Breton and back to egg farming where he knows he might be able to crack a few eggs.

Agriculture

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for years Canadian farmers have had a difficult time competing against unfair U.S. subsidies.

As a result of years of Liberal inaction, our corn producers in particular have been hit hard. I know the corn producers in my riding of Kitchener--Conestoga have been battling hard to scratch out a living and to raise their families.

Would the Secretary of State for Agriculture tell this House what our government is doing to stand up for producers against the U.S. and its unfair subsidies?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Secretary of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, these subsidies continue to pose economic harm to our producers, especially our corn growers. This is unacceptable and we encourage action.

That is why I am pleased to announce that our government will be requesting a WTO dispute settlement panel be established on the issue of U.S. agricultural subsidies. Canadian farmers deserve a level playing field.

While the opposition talks about supporting Canadian producers, this Conservative government is getting the job done.

Africa

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, our Prime Minister wants to wear the mantle of mediator. He imagines himself to be a bridge.

After this week's sorry display of weak leadership and rehashed promises at the G-8 summit, Canadians know that Canada's place in the world is more diminished than ever.

We stand with the nations that water down their international promises. Two years ago the world promised $50 billion to Africa. We are $30 billion short. Now the richest nations are saying that they will up it to $60 billion, but we are not to ask for details or deadlines.

When will the government announce details and deadlines for aid to Africa?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we have seen on so many important files when it comes to international aid, the budget is going up for Africa. In fact, the aid for Africa reached $1.7 billion last year. The numbers are going up. The base line budget has increased again this year.

Canada is well on track to meet its Gleneagles commitments. Canada will double its international assistance to 2010 and will in fact double its international assistance to Africa by 2009.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, millions of people will go without food today and 16,000 people infected with HIV, malaria and TB will die today while the leaders of the richest nations bid farewell at elegant cocktail parties and slap each other on the back for a self-proclaimed job well done.

Promises made four years ago have not been kept. G-8 promises from two years ago in Scotland have not been kept. We are $30 billion short of the goal, with no way whatsoever to determine which nations owe what and when. Why did Canada not insist on real goals with real results for Africa?

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

Mr. Speaker, with the greatest respect, I am sure that the hon. member had breakfast this morning. I am sure that the hon. member herself has been to a few of those cocktail parties that she tries to show such disdain for.

In fact, with respect to Africa, this government has made significant commitments that increased the funding, with $450 million to support efforts to strengthen health care systems and $250 million to the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, $150 million of which will be specifically focused on Africa.

The Prime Minister also announced support for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. There was World AIDS Day money announced by the Minister of International Cooperation, with $120 million for 20 projects in Africa. These initiatives--

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Bill Blaikie]

The hon. member for Mississauga East—Cooksville.

Veterans Affairs

[Albina Guarnieri, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in December 2005 the Prime Minister gave his word to 150,000 veterans that they would receive immediate and full compensation for potential exposure to defoliants at Gagetown.

The Minister of Veterans Affairs promised to deliver a compensation package by fall 2006. In January he said it was weeks away, then it was the spring, and then this week he voted for a budget that did not identify a single dime for agent orange compensation.

I ask simply why he cannot keep a deadline and why can he not keep a promise and keep the Prime Minister's word to Canada's veterans?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to resolving the agent orange problem. The issue is in the cabinet process at this time. At an appropriate time, an announcement will be made.