House of Commons Hansard #7 of the 40th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was riding.

Topics

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order, please. We have to be able to hear the answer of the government House leader. The member for Malpeque has a supplementary coming up. The government House leader has to be heard.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

Jay Hill Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

So much for the new decorum, Mr. Speaker.

The facts are that the size of our cabinet has not increased. What we have done is add ministers of state--

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order, order. The government House leader has the floor. We will have a little order, please.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

Jay Hill Conservative Prince George—Peace River, BC

Mr. Speaker, I will try again. We have added ministers of state for specific policy areas. It is important in this time of economic challenge that we have ministers who are focused on seniors' issues, focused on women's issues, focused on business and tourism, science and technology, and regional development.

Is the hon. member actually suggesting that these particular Canadians are not worthy of a minister?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE

Mr. Speaker, so much for responsible spending. Let me be specific. Let us turn to P.E.I.'s regional minister who is currently attempting to break an office lease signed by the former regional minister, the now Minister of Defence, to move the office to her riding 30 miles away; shopping for new offices, shopping for new furniture, and worse, Conservatives are lined up at her door and receiving high-salaried patronage appointments.

Will the Prime Minister stop his wasteful cabinet excess?

The EconomyOral Questions

November 26th, 2008 / 2:25 p.m.

Prince George—Peace River B.C.

Conservative

Jay Hill ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for the P.E.I. wheat board over there.

What I have already said is true. We have added ministers of state for specific policy areas. We do not apologize for that at all. Our cabinet has not increased. Our ministers of state are focused on addressing the needs of Canadians. I urge the member to wait until tomorrow and we will see who wants to lead by example.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago, the Prime Minister would not hear any talk of a deficit and would not even use the word “recession”. Now, on the eve of the United Nations climate change conference, the Minister of the Environment is suggesting that the economic slowdown, which he denied a few weeks ago, could take priority over the fight against climate change.

Would the Prime Minister not do better to listen to the UN Secretary General, who has said that the economic crisis should not serve as an excuse for inaction in the fight against climate change?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Calgary Centre-North Alberta

Conservative

Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the hon. member. As I have already said, I am going to attend the meeting in Poznan, where Canada will support the development of a new agreement under the auspices of the UNFCCC, as we did during the other negotiations in Copenhagen and Poznan.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, it took a minute to figure out who was responsible for the environment on the other side.

I believe that since the environment and the economy are connected, the measures proposed to deal with the economic crisis must also support sustainable development. The government, which is on the oil companies' payroll, needs to make a fundamental change of direction.

Will the Prime Minister take advantage of his economic statement to propose measures that promote sustainable development?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Centre-North Alberta

Conservative

Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, as the government said in the throne speech, we are committed to reducing Canada's greenhouse gases, and in particular, in the context of renewable energies, achieving by 2020 perhaps as much as 90% of Canada's electricity from non-emitting sources. This will clearly require investments in renewable energy, whether we speak of geothermal energy, solar energy, the bringing on of new hydroelectricity. These are all issues with which the government will deal in the days ahead.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, economic development and the environment are linked. Paper mills and forestry companies realized this and made considerable efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. What they want now are absolute targets and for 1990 to be the reference year, so we can have a real carbon exchange.

Big businesses see the value of Kyoto. Why does the government not see it?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Centre-North Alberta

Conservative

Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, these issues will be raised in Poznan. Climate change continues to be a major priority for Canadians. As I already said, I will attend the meetings in Poznan. I will approach the primary players during the negotiations at this conference. Clearly, we have principles, and I want to make people understand Canada's position at this conference.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, next week in Poznan, the 14th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will open. The Minister of the Environment has used the economic situation to lower expectations and justify his inaction.

Instead of using the economic crisis as an excuse for not doing anything, could the minister tell us what Canada's negotiating position will be in Poland come December?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Centre-North Alberta

Conservative

Jim Prentice ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, we disagree. We inherited three realities. First of all, there is the current international economic situation. Second, there is a new president-elect in the United States. Third, there are the negotiations in Poznan, which will conclude in Copenhagen. The conference that will be held in Poznan is very important. It is very important to me and to the Government of Canada.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is becoming increasingly clear that the government does not know how to deal with the current economic crisis.

The only new measures it wants to introduce are minor economies of scale, symbolic measures. We are ready to do our part.

Has the Prime Minister now realized that these measures—supposedly “leading by example”—will not fix the problem? Not enough is being done. When will we see concrete measures, concrete actions to fix the current economic crisis?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Macleod Alberta

Conservative

Ted Menzies ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, speaking about leading by example, the example was set by the finance minister a year ago by reducing taxes for Canadians, $21 billion in tax relief in this year alone. That sort of leadership provided 2% of the GDP. That leadership, I would suggest, led to what the United Kingdom did just this week, and that is almost exactly the same thing.

I wish the hon. member would watch what this government is doing, and that is leadership on the economic front.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, a comparison between what Great Britain is doing and what the Canadian government is doing simply does not wash. Great Britain is taking bold and strong action of a very significant kind. Here we see virtually nothing. In fact, what he does not seem to understand and what the government does not understand is the so-called permanent stimulus approach they have taken underlies the recession that we are seeing now. It is a wrong-headed approach. Even the Premier of Ontario is now saying that across the board corporate tax cuts will not get the job done.

When are we going to see some real action, some real stimulus in the economy?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Macleod Alberta

Conservative

Ted Menzies ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, I would remind hon. members that all of the things I spoke about, all of the stimuli that this government has put forward, the NDP voted against. If we could have a little help in this House, we might actually instill some enthusiasm in Canadians that the end is not near. We have some positive outlooks. We have job layoffs and we realize that, but this year alone, we have 200,000 net new jobs. The NDP voted against the stimulus that assisted that.

Automotive IndustryOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, sometimes I wonder what world the Conservatives are living in over there. There are 15,000 more jobs that we are going to be losing in the auto sector in the upcoming year, and yet we get these bromides from over there. The forestry sector is in the context of collapsing before our very eyes.

What Canadians are asking is, is this a government that is willing to stand behind the auto sector and the forestry sector, or does it just want to bellow in the House of Commons with meaningless comments?

It is time we got some real action. It is time that Canadians who want some help in the economic crisis got some help from the government with EI reform.

Automotive IndustryOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario

Conservative

Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, that comes from a leader of a party that voted against all of the things we did for the forestry sector, all of the things we have done already for the auto sector. We are engaged with the auto sector. The member is an individual who, when he was a Toronto councillor, wanted to ban each and every single car in the city of Toronto from getting to the city in the first place. That was his answer for the auto sector. I wonder if the CAW heard of that one.

Automotive IndustryOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON

Mr. Speaker, what our auto industry needs is a coordinated, concurrent effort with the United States. Anything less than that will result in the protection of U.S. jobs at the expense of Canadian jobs. Anything less than that is only going to worsen the new Conservative deficit.

Will the Conservative Minister of Industry tell us exactly with whom in the Bush administration and in the new Obama economic team he has met to ensure that Canadian jobs are protected and not siphoned across the border?

Automotive IndustryOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario

Conservative

Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, I would remind members of the House that the president-elect, the premier of Ontario and the Prime Minister of this country are all saying the same thing. We need long-term sustainability. We do not need back of the envelope plans. We need a business plan and a business model that will work for the future. Barack Obama is saying that. Dalton McGuinty is saying that. The Prime Minister is saying that, and we are proud of our Prime Minister.

Automotive IndustryOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Conference Board of Canada stated that Canada will lose up to 15,000 more auto assembly jobs, which means 100,000 lost jobs in total by the end of 2009, 100,000 Canadian jobs. The U.S. Congress on its own will not protect Canadian jobs. That is the responsibility of the Conservatives, but all we hear from that minister is empty rhetoric.

How much longer will workers and their families have to wait before that ineffective Conservative minister finally acts to protect the auto jobs in this country?