Debates of Jan. 28th, 2008

Manufacturing Industry

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they are all excited today. They missed me.

What is the government saying to the workers laid off by Belgo in Trois-Rivières, Donnacona in the Quebec City area, and Bowater in Gatineau?

It is saying, “Since you no longer have jobs or any income, wait. Wait for the budget; wait for the elections; wait.” Why does it say that? Because the government wants to play petty politics at the expense of the workers. It is a heartless government.

What is it waiting for to take action? Let it introduce its bill now and we will pass it.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that my hon. colleague may have asked a question because the Writer's Guild is presently in a lock-out.

Having said that, my hon. colleague, the Minister of Industry, has demonstrated that we have some flexibility with regard to this matter. I would point out again that it is important to help communities. That is in addition to the work that this government has already undertaken.

International Trade

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Minister of International Trade on his announcement that Canada has now concluded a free trade agreement with Peru.

This agreement is excellent news for Canadian exporters since it will provide greater market access for Canadian agricultural products, including wheat, barley and some boneless beef cuts, paper products, machinery and equipment in Peru.

However, many Canadians have raised concerns about labour rights in South America. Could the Minister of Labour please tell the House what this agreement will mean for Peruvian workers?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, when we have a free trade agreement with any country, we have a parallel agreement on labour rights. When I went to Peru I met with my counterpart, Ms. Pinilla, and we obtained an agreement on labour rights.

The agreement means that Peru now agrees on a declaration of fundamental rights, as well as the abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination. Also, we ascertained that Peru is committed to providing protections for occupational health and safety at work and, if it does not respect what it signed, there will be penalties.

Manufacturing and Forestry Industries

[Louise Thibault, Independent, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by creating the community development trust, the Prime Minister is admitting that a major crisis has been plaguing the manufacturing and forestry sectors for far too long now. He is acknowledging that these industries cannot make it on their own, despite the efforts made by the companies and the workers. His over-confidence in market forces being able to resolve everything probably came from magical thinking or the appeal of political gains.

Why does the Conservative government not act immediately, instead of staging an electoral strategy that will take months to come into effect?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to answer my colleague's question. We are talking about a very significant amount of money. First and foremost, this requires approval from the provinces, or an agreement with them.

We already know that New Brunswick has signed this agreement with the federal government. I would like the hon. member to know that we are flexible on how to proceed. In this case, I think we would be able to proceed with the communities that are in great need.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I would like to draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. John van Dongen, MLA, Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations for British Columbia, and the Hon. Jim Kenyon, MLA, Minister of Economic Development for Yukon.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Government Response to Petitions

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 73 petitions.

Foreign Affairs and International Development

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

In accordance with its order of reference of Tuesday, November 20, 2007, your committee has considered Canada's mission in Afghanistan and agreed on Thursday, December 27, 2007, to report it without amendment.

Bisphenol A (BPA) Control Act

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-497, An Act to prohibit the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in specified products and to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present my private member's bill to ban the use of bisphenol A in consumer products.

Bisphenol A is a known hormone disrupter and is something that we should take out of products that are used by children, women and people in general.

My bill would prohibit the use of BPA in food and drink packaging, including food cans, beverage cans, pop bottle tops and plastic containers, including bottled water. I believe Canadians families and some Canadian manufacturers are far ahead of government on this because they have done it already. This shows leadership by way of listening to Canadians in general. I look forward to having the bill passed.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Income Trusts

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present this income trust broken promise petition on behalf of Mr. Don Davidson of Kelowna, B.C. who remembers the Prime Minister boasting about his apparent commitment to accountability when he said that the greatest fraud was a promise not kept.

The petitioners remind the Prime Minister that he promised never to tax income trusts but that he recklessly broke that promise by imposing a 31.5% punitive tax which permanently wiped out over $25 billion of the hard-earned retirement savings of over two million Canadians, particularly seniors.

The petitioners, therefore, call upon the Conservative minority government to, first, admit that the decision to tax income trusts was based on flawed methodology and incorrect assumptions; second, to apologize to those who were unfairly harmed by this broken promise; and third, to repeal the punitive 31.5% tax on income trusts.

The Environment

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting today a petition that I am very pleased to table in this House. It was signed by more than 750 young people from the Thérèse Martin high school in Joliette. During their training, these students have become aware of today's environmental challenges and the actions that citizens and governments alike can take to make a difference, especially with respect to climate change.

These young people from the Lanaudière region have taken the time to raise their own awareness, to mobilize, and to circulate and sign this petition calling on the federal government, this Conservative government, to assume its responsibilities and, please, honour the agreement concerning the Kyoto protocol, which Canada has already signed. I am very proud to present this petition.

Justice

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table in the House a petition, one of a number of petitions I have tabled over the years that deals with the issue of date rape drugs. This is an issue that I have pushed in this House a number of times calling on the government to have tougher penalties against those who use date rape drugs to abuse women.

The petitioners are mostly from the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack areas.

The petition was actually given to me by a constituent who used to live in Abbotsford who was a victim of a coward who used a date rape drug to abuse her. She collected these signatures through a lot of hard work with a good friend of hers as part of her recovery from what she is going through as a consequence of her attack. She is an incredible woman. I know she is watching and I am very proud of what she has done and I table this on her behalf.

Age of Consent

[Betty Hinton, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege today to table, on behalf of constituents in my riding, a petition asking that Parliament take all steps necessary to protect our children by raising the age of consent from 14 to 18 years old.

I realize that this is a very meaningful issue for people in my riding and it is my pleasure to present the petition.

Canada Post

[Merv Tweed, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from people in New Brunswick and in Winnipeg. I will have many more to present in the following days. The petitioners support Bill C-458, An Act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act (library materials). The bill would protect and support the library book rate and extend it to include audio-visual materials.

Autism

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today on behalf of 150 people from my riding in support of creating extra training in our universities across Canada for autism spectrum disorder. The petitioners ask that members of Parliament look at amendments to the Canada Health Act that include more intense behavioural intervention as well as applying the principles of applied behaviour analysis.

Justice

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions to the House today. The first one is from a number of constituents in my riding of Oxford.

The petitioners request the government assembled in Parliament to immediately strengthen the Canadian Criminal Code to ensure that our nation's women and children are protected from the perpetrators of violence and sexual exploitation.

Criminal Code

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from people from across southwestern Ontario. The petitioners request that Parliament consider restoring to the Criminal Code the prudence it held prior to 1968 by removing the words “after becoming human beings” from subsection 223(2).

Firearms Registry

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, constituents in my riding are continually bringing in petitions and continued to do that over the Christmas break to request that all members of the House of Commons support legislation to abolish the long gun registry. I would like to present those today.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 103, 105, 109, 110, 112, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 125, 136, 141, 145, 146, 152, 153, 162 and 163.

Question No. 103

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

How many national, provincial or local literacy organizations were funded by the federal government for the period between 2000 and 2006, and what was the amount of money given to these organizations in each of those years?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, the amounts of funding provided to national, provincial and local organizations in the years in question are as follows:

* The distribution of funds by number of organizations is not available for the earlier years.

** Please note that 2006-07 was the first adult learning, literacy and essential skills program, ALLESP, call for proposals and, as such, was launched later in the year than calls for proposals under the former national literacy program. Therefore, fewer projects began and less money was spent in the 2006-07 fiscal year. The funding amounts for some of these projects will, as a result, appear under the 2007-08 fiscal year spending.

The government honoured all signed agreements and commitments with respect to the local and regional priorities agreed upon between the ALLESP and the provinces and territories in 2006-07. It is important to note that no projects were cancelled.

Question No. 105

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

With regard to the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) and the government's child care initiatives: (a) how many families living below the national low income cut-off are receiving the UCCB; (b) if the UCCB were delivered through the Child Tax benefit as opposed to as a taxable benefit, how many families would no longer live below the low income cut-off; (c) how many child care spaces would be provided if the taxes the government collected from families receiving UCCB were re-invested into creating child care spaces; (d) how many child care spaces have been created each year from 2002 to 2006 through the multilateral framework agreement, the bilateral agreements, and agreements-in-principle since the agreements were signed; (e) how many spaces will be created in 2007 and 2008 through these agreements; (f) why does the government continue to send child care funds to the provinces when many of these provinces have not submitted reports on how funds received have been spent, and how many child care spaces have been created as a result of federal investments; (g) how many child care spaces have been created through the Child Care Spaces Initiative in each province since the program's inception in 2006; (h) how many families are collecting the UCCB; (i) what has been the enrolment rate on a monthly basis since the program was announced; (j) what is the breakdown of income levels, in numerical and percentage terms, of UCCB recipients; (k) with regards to recipients' marital status, how many are single and how many are married or in common law relationships; (l) what is the regional breakdown of those enrolled to receive the UCCB; (m) how many women and how many men are the recipients of the UCCB in their household; (n) in what percent of families registered to receive the UCCB was the recipient the lower income earner in that household; (o) what government studies have been done on the use of the UCCB since its inception in 2006, listing any such studies, including title, author, date of publication and a brief synopsis of its conclusions; (p) what polling has been done on the use of the UCCB since its inception in 2006, listing any such polling, including title, author, date of publication and a brief synopsis of its conclusions; and (q) how many child care spaces have been created by the UCCB, by province?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), all families with children under the age of six, including those families living below the low income cut-off, are eligible to receive the universal child care benefit, UCCB. 2005 data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics indicates that 263,000 families with children under the age of six were living below the after tax low income cut-off.

In response to (b), the UCCB is intended to help offset the costs of whatever form of child care families choose.

In response to (c), the UCCB is not intended to support the creation or provision of child care services and that is why the government is transferring an additional $250 million per year to the provinces and territories to help support the creation of new child care spaces.

In response to (d), the most recent data available show that the number of regulated child care spaces in Canada increased from 370,000 in 1992 to over 811,000 in 2006.

In response to (e), since 2004, federal transfers for children’s programs have increased and provinces have made their own direct investments. It is expected that the number of spaces will continue to rise accordingly.

In response to (f), provinces and territories have primary responsibility for programs and services for families with young children, including child care, and are accountable to their citizens for their investments.

In response to (g), budget 2007 introduced two new measures to support the creation of child care spaces: an investment tax credit for businesses that create spaces for the children of their employees; and a $250 million per year transfer to provinces and territories to support the creation and expansion of child care spaces. It is expected that the number of spaces will rise as a result of these investments.

In response to (h), in October 2007, approximately 1,473,000 families received the UCCB for approximately 1,967,000 children under the age of six.

In response to (i), following is the number of recipient families on a monthly basis 2006: July, 1,384,000; August, 1,394,000; September, 1,412,000; October, 1,430,000; November, 1,442,000; December, 1,445,000; 2007: January, 1,452,000; February, 1,450,000; March, 1,460,000; April, 1,464,000; May, 1,467,000; June, 1,462,000; July, 1,469,000; August, 1,471,000; September, 1,472,000; and October, 1,473,434.

In response to (j), the universality of the UCCB means that the demographic composition of recipients mirrors the composition of the general population of families with children under six.

In response to (k), the UCCB provides direct financial support for all families with young children regardless of income level, family type, marital status, where they live or whether one or both parents work outside the home. A breakdown of family type for UCCB is not available although, according to census 2006 of the 1,486,065 families with children under six, 955,915 were married couple familes, 282,755 were common law families and 247,400 were lone parent families.

In response to (l), in October 2007, of 1,473,434 families receiving the UCCB, 21,265, or 1.4%, are from Newfoundland and Labrador; 6,150, or 0.4%, are from Prince Edward Island; 38,127, or 2.5%, are from Nova Scotia; 31,170 or 2.1%, are from New Brunswick; 335,336, or 22.8%, are from Quebec; 576,593, or 39.1%, are from Ontario; 57,617 or 3.9%, are from Manitoba; 49,449, or 3.4%, are from Saskatchewanl 174,148, or 11.8%, are from Alberta; 175,757, or 11.9%, are from British Columbia, 2,507, or 0.2%, are from Northwest Territories; 1,454, or 0.1%, are from Yukon; 2,831 or 0.2%, are from Nunavut; and 1,030 or 0.1%, are people living on "Canadian soil" abroad.

In response to (m), the target population for UCCB is the child, not the parent. Therefore, given the universality of the UCCB, it can be assumed that the demographic composition of the recipients mirrors the composition of the general population of families with children under six.

In response to (n), the UCCB is taxable in the hands of the lower income earner spouse.

In response to (o), the UCCB is a new initiative introduced in July 2006. The federal government has not undertaken any studies on the use of the UCCB since that time.

In response to (p), the federal government has not undertaken any public opinion polling on the use of the UCCB since its introduction in July 2006.

In response to (q), the UCCB is not directly intended to support the creation or provision of child care services although our investments have been used by the provinces to announce the creation of more than 32,000 new spaces.