Debates of Jan. 30th, 2008

Manufacturing Industry

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last month I participated with colleagues and local representatives in a round table about manufacturing jobs.

London is home to more than 40,000 manufacturing workers representing one in seven jobs in the area. Manufacturing matters to the people of London and the concerns were very real. Their jobs were at risk.

When will the government stop its inane talk of structural adjustment and laissez-faire, and show it actually cares about the workers and families who are under stress now?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I can say as the Minister of Industry, many years ago I started my own employment working at a coal mine. So any time a Canadian loses a job, it is something that I feel strongly about.

Instead of listening to the complaints from the Liberals, from the party opposite, the government is getting things done. In terms of the manufacturing sector, nothing is more important in the province of Ontario than the auto sector.

I can assure the member that just yesterday, the Minister of the Environment, Minister of Finance, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and I collectively met with the chief executive officers of the auto industry, working on making our country competitive and producing jobs for Canadians. We are getting the task done.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is rhetoric. What we need is more than a do nothing approach.

Aside from the losses of manufacturing jobs, this government fails to understand that these jobs provide many spin-off jobs in other sectors, such as retail, such as services. Lost jobs also mean lost revenue for all levels of government and increased costs for social services.

Again, I ask the government, when will it start offering manufacturing workers in our communities some immediate action and some real hope for their future?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work with all of the sectors in the Ontario economy, indeed the economy across the country, to ensure that we are competitive and to ensure that we make innovations.

If my hon. friend would read the CIBC report, she would find that many of the jobs that are being lost are being replaced by jobs that are actually of equal quality or even higher quality. I encourage my friend to perhaps focus on CIBC rather than CBC as a source to quote in the House.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Conference Board revealed that business confidence in the economy is at a 9-year low, even lower than at the time of 9/11. This is quite a reversal compared to the great hopes of Canadians before this government came to power.

After two years of inaction and 130,000 jobs lost in the manufacturing sector, why have the Conservatives not made any concrete proposals to save Canadian jobs?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, after the last Liberal budget in 2005 here is what the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters said: “The Liberal budget fell far short of what is necessary...This is a clear example of opportunity lost”. That is the record of Liberal government in Canada.

The record since we have been in government shows that we have reduced taxes for businesses dramatically to historic lows. We also brought in an accelerated capital cost allowance, all of which the Liberals voted against if they bothered to vote.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, listening to the minister's fiscal bragging is almost as if he has forgotten his disastrous fiscal past. His Ontario government ran on a balanced budget only to dump a $5.8 billion deficit on Dalton McGuinty.

Does he not know his history? From Devine and Harris to Mulroney, from Reagan to Bush, it is Conservatives that run big, fat, juicy deficits only to have Liberals come in and clean up the ugly mess.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. The hon. Minister of Finance, and we will have some order please. Order.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite's--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. Members would not want to waste time. The Minister of Finance has the floor and we have to be able to hear his answer to the question.

The hon. Minister of Finance. Order.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Whitby—Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite's memory fails him.

There is a very well-known now Liberal in Ontario named Bob Rae whose government nearly bankrupted the province of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.

I would remind the member opposite also that in the last five years of the government of which he was a member, spending went up on average 8.2% per year. In one year alone, 2004-05, there was a 14.8% increase in spending. Talk about fiscal irresponsibility.

Public Works and Government Services Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, in response to one of my questions, the Prime Minister suggested that we are asking questions about the influence peddling in his office, because the people involved are Greek. That is the same type of response we got from the Liberals to our questions about Alfonso Gagliano. Those are crass arguments.

Instead of using such arguments, could the Prime Minister simply answer my question? Did he ever meet with Leo Housakos at 24 Sussex?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there is a big difference here. This company has not received any special favours or treatment. I do not understand the Bloc Québécois' complaint.

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

Mr. Speaker, how the internal disputes in the Conservative Party between supporters of the Liberal Party of Quebec and supporters of the ADQ are being resolved is their business. What I am asking the Prime Minister is not whether their approach is working or not, or which side won, but whether or not he met with Leo Housakos at 24 Sussex Drive? It is simple. Did such a meeting take place or not?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know Mr. Housakos. I do not recall him visiting me at 24 Sussex, but I can check my agenda for the leader of the Bloc Québécois and get back to him. It is common knowledge that Mr. Housakos is a supporter of the Conservative Party.

Industry

[Susan Kadis, Liberal, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government continues its laissez-faire “I don't care” approach to the manufacturing crisis. The industry minister tells laid-off Canadians it is just a structural adjustment and they should wait for new jobs in high technology. Yesterday, we learned that high tech computer giant Dell is cutting call centre jobs in Ottawa and reversing plans to hire another 1,200 people.

Will the minister now admit that the government's do nothing approach is not working?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the members opposite did something last year. When we brought in an accelerated capital cost allowance, recommended unanimously by the industry committee of the House, that manufacturers wanted, a two year 100% capital cost writeoff so that they could get machinery and be more productive, what did the member opposite and her colleagues in the Liberal Party do? They voted against it.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, stories of children being victimized by pedophiles and online sexual predators are deeply troubling.

Great organizations like the Manitoba based Canadian Centre for Child Protection are targeting those who prey on the Internet. Yesterday, the Minister of Public Safety announced that it would receive one of the federal government's largest investments ever to a national charitable organization.

Could the minister tell the House how yesterday's announcement will reduce child victimization, increase the personal safety of children and reduce the risk of sexual exploitation?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, let me first congratulate the member for Kildonan—St. Paul on her work not only related to the protection of children but also in human trafficking.

I believe this was the single largest donation of resources to a non-government organization, being the child protection centre. It offers a service to parents and also an age sensitive based service to children related to dangers of predators on the Internet. Also, through cybertip.ca, the organization is able to pass on concerns or tips related to people who may be exploiting children on the Internet. It is doing incredible work that will reduce this type of activity.

We would hope the Liberals would hurry up and move on our legislation on this, too.

Softwood Lumber

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on October 12, 2006, a very sad day, the Conservatives sold out the softwood lumber industry. Over 10,000 good jobs have been lost since. One billion dollars was thrown away and another half billion dollars in punitive taxes were levied against businesses that could not afford to pay.

Now we find out that the U.S. lumber lobby opposes the long overdue community trust fund. Is that why the Conservatives are delaying the plan, because the U.S. gets a veto?

Why will the government not put the trust fund to a vote today and get the money into the hands of the communities that need it now?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports is one of the most protectionist organizations in all of North America. It opposes every policy that is announced in the forestry area in Canada. This one is no different.

The U.S. government has not brought this issue to arbitration. I do not expect it will.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this government has given the Americans veto power, as everyone knows.

From Trois-Rivières to Lebel-sur Quévillon, from Prince Albert to New Westminster, from Kirkland Lake to Thunder Bay, from Flin Flon to Hinton, from Kamloops to Terrace, from Mont-Laurier to Maniwaki to Témiscamingue, and many other places, communities have been devastated by this government's mishandling of this file.

Will this government stop this blackmail and help the forestry communities without further delay?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, the reason the U.S. protectionists do not like the softwood lumber agreement is that it prevents them from bringing more trade remedies against Canada. It prevents them from bringing anti-dumping cases. It prevents them from bring countervailing subsidy allegations. It constrains them and they do not like it.

Industry

[Colleen Beaumier, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, recently we have seen layoffs in the high tech sector at giants Nortel and Mitel in Ottawa and mass layoffs at NCR in Kitchener--Waterloo and at Johnson Controls in Whitby.

Despite what the minister thinks, manufacturing does matter, especially in Ontario.

Will the minister at least acknowledge this crisis? Will he act for the thousands of Canadians who are losing their livelihoods, or does he just not care?