Debates of Dec. 3rd, 2008

Economic and Fiscal Statement

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Madam Speaker, absolutely, and I want to thank my hon. colleague for that question. I think he said it quite well. If we look at, for example, what was referenced by my hon. colleague, the situation with president-elect Obama, he has worked on an economic stimulus package with both the Democrats and the Republicans. He wants to bring both sides together. So, we know that he is united. This Parliament is divided, not united.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to rise in the House for the first time in this 40th Parliament. The good people of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound have elected me for the third time. I am very humbled and honoured by the trust my constituents have once again shown in me and I sincerely thank them very much.

Madam Speaker, I would also like to congratulate you on your recent appointment. You will do a great job.

Constituents ask me from time to time about the pins that we all wear on our lapels. The top one represents the honour it is for each and every one of us to sit in this great House and represent our different ridings.

Even more important than that pin is the one below it. It stands for everything that this country is all about. Right now there is a lot of sadness in people's hearts across this country, and certainly in my riding, about the potential for this so-called coalition to rip the heart out of Canada. That bothers me deeply.

The Speech from the Throne and economic update we have heard in recent days were very welcome news for the people of my riding. The speech made it very clear that this government recognizes the international financial woes that threaten the livelihoods of hard-working Canadians and their families.

In my riding there have already been signs of an economic downturn. Some of my constituents have already been negatively affected by it. While my constituency is one of the largest agricultural ridings in the country, especially when it comes to beef production, my constituents also rely on a number of manufacturers and on the tourism industry for their livelihoods. It is because of these industries that the actions of this government are so deeply felt in my riding.

It is also why I am proud to be standing on this side of the House representing a government that truly understands the challenges ahead and has been working to protect Canadians from an economic crisis since October of last year. It is why I am proud of the policies that flowed from our throne speech and in last week's economic update by the Minister of Finance.

I want to thank the minister for his careful stewardship of Canada's finances during these troublesome economic times around the world. It is thanks to this government, led by our current Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, that Canada is well prepared for the rough waters ahead. In fact, Canada is in a better position than any other G7 nation to weather this economic storm, all because of the actions and changes implemented by this government in the last year or more.

Does that mean we are going to be immune to any effects around the world? Absolutely not. I think ordinary Canadians understand that. However, if ordinary Canadians have to watch their spending, their government must also set an example. It cannot disrespect them by wasting their tax dollars. If businesses large and small must investigate ways to save money, then their government must do the same. I applaud this government for seeing the importance of this principle of fairness. I hope that everyone responsible for government budgets will ensure that the taxpayers' hard-earned dollars are wisely spent.

Yes, stimulus is needed, and the Prime Minister and the finance minister have been acting for the past year, as I said, to ensure economic stimulus, including targeted tax cuts and infrastructure spending to build Canada.

I and my colleagues on this side of the House were elected in part because of the policies put forward by my party, policies that were realistic and very helpful.

We did not threaten our economic stability in the last campaign, but instead focused on targeted spending for those who needed it most. We need to continue this process with carefully targeted infrastructure and stimulus spending that will actually benefit our Canadian economy.

I was happy to hear in the Prime Minister's speech last week a recommitment to increase slaughterhouse capacity for our livestock industry. I talked earlier about my riding, which is the second-largest beef riding in the country. I am a beef farmer by trade. After the problems in the livestock industry in recent years, particularly in beef and pork, and starting with the BSE in 2003, this announcement is welcome news. Our livestock producers will benefit greatly from increased slaughterhouse capacity, as it will assist them in getting their product to market.

Farmers from coast to coast know that this government is committed to cutting red tape and eliminating waste. Along those same lines, it is very important to dismantle the long gun registry. Farmers who own firearms are not criminals and should not be treated as such. I am both a farmer and a hunter, and farmers and hunters in my riding and across this country have for too long paid the financial and social costs for the crimes of thugs in Canada's large cities. The long gun registry is a prime example of wasteful bureaucratic legislation and a gross misuse of taxpayer money.

If this separatist-backed coalition were to happen, the gun registry debacle would not get dealt with, something we have indicated we will do in the next few months, and many law-abiding Canadians would become criminals in the new year.

I want to remind the House of some of the important steps our finance minister has taken in the past month and in his economic update to ensure stability in the Canadian economy.

To help maintain the strength and stability of our financial system, this government has taken steps to free up liquidity so that financial institutions can continue lending to consumers, homebuyers and businesses at an affordable cost. Our measures maintain the availability of long-term credit through the purchase of mortgage pools through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, at no cost to taxpayers.

We have created a backstop, the Canadian lenders assurance facility, to ensure that our financial institutions are not at a competitive disadvantage internationally.

To prevent a U.S.-style housing bubble, we have put in place new rules for government-guaranteed mortgages.

Building on previous action taken by this government to ensure the continued competitiveness of the financial sector, the economic statement includes measures to provide solvency funding relief to federally regulated private pension plans. That is something I have heard a lot about.

To help seniors cope, the economic statement proposes a one-time change that would allow RRIF holders to reduce the required minimum withdrawal by 25% for this tax year. Although most RRIF holders have only a portion of their assets in equities, the change recognizes the impact of recent market declines on those assets.

We are enhancing credit availability through crown agencies for Canadian businesses.

We are accelerating and doubling infrastructure funding this year in order to ensure stimulus for Canada's economy. I would like to thank and congratulate the minister for doubling this funding. Some people have no idea of the importance of infrastructure projects in my riding.

We are carefully planning other steps to stimulate the economy and fend off the economic woes faced by our neighbours. This is the largest investment in infrastructure in over 50 years. That is a long time.

In the economic statement, the government committed to consult with provincial and territorial leaders on the best way to accelerate infrastructure projects to help further stimulate the Canadian economy.

Again, if this separatist-backed coalition were to come to be, this initiative to double our infrastructure funding and get it out to municipalities in the first couple of months of 2009 would not happen. We need to make it very clear that it will not happen. That would be a travesty. My municipalities cannot wait any longer.

Since forming government, in this year we have taken unprecedented action to stimulate the economy, and here are a number things we have done since 2006.

We have reduced the federal debt by $37 billion. They want to wipe out $30 billion of that in the first few days of this so-called separatist coalition government.

We will have reduced taxes by almost $200 billion over 2007-08 and the following five years.

By 2010 we will have reduced the tax rate on new business investment to the lowest level in the G7. That is great.

We have made historic investments in job-creating infrastructure. We have invested extensively in science and technology and in education and training, which is something very dear to my colleague's riding of Cambridge.

As I mentioned, the government took early action to help stimulate the Canadian economy through tax cuts of nearly $200 billion over the next five years. It is the largest investment in 50 years.

Our plan strikes the right balance. We are restraining spending and protecting our economic future. I feel very confident that we will overcome the current economic turmoil and have a much stronger economy coming out of it.

I am also pleased to hear from the Prime Minister a recommitment to the banning of bulk water transfers or exports. I heard someone bring this up in the House today, over in the corner.

Canada's fresh water is one of our greatest natural resources. All of us must do all we can to protect it from speculation and abuse. In our country's history we have learned many lessons about our rich natural resources. We must put all those experiences together to ensure that our country protects this precious resource.

I live on Georgian Bay, which part of the Great Lakes. My grandchildren and my family are there. It means a lot to everybody up there. My riding's geographic location in regard to all the Great Lakes makes both the quality and the quantity of fresh water very important.

We must also ensure that Canadians are safe. We must ensure that communities have the tools they require to deal with the social and criminal problems of today.

We must work to ensure that drug dealers who infiltrate our schools and threaten our children are held responsible for their actions, and that those who innocently get caught up with the wrong crowd have access to programs that will change their lives for the better.

The difference must be clear. Those who commit violent crimes should not be met with handfuls of excuses and the comforts of home. Instead they should be met with a strong, efficient criminal justice system. One of my new colleagues from Manitoba is a former police officer. If there is anybody in this House who understands what I am talking about, I am sure she does.

The mandate of this justice system must be to hand down appropriate punishment for violent crime. It must not confuse help with leniency. Constituents in my riding have demanded this approach, and I applaud the recent Speech from the Throne for addressing this very important issue.

Lastly, I fully support the idea of making the Senate more accountable to Canadians. Changes to our upper chamber are needed to modernize the institution and to meet the democratic expectations of Canadians.

On this subject, in recent days we have heard more about this separatist coalition that is coming about. It is becoming clear that there is a distinct possibility that we are going to end up with six new senators from the province of Quebec, senators who will be separatists. Madam Speaker, can you imagine that? The people in my riding have not heard that yet, but they are going to go crazy. They are going to go ballistic. It is unbelievable.

The difference between success and failure for small businesses may lie with our votes in this House. The difference between a healthy family farm and a for sale sign may come down to the policies that we craft here.

With that in mind, I ask all hon. members to reflect on the importance of the work we do here and to remember to put Canadians first, and not our politics. We must all work together.

A strong message was sent on October 14. That message was not to have a separatist-backed coalition in this House; it was in fact to have this government.

Some of my colleagues and even some of the future members of this separatist coalition have told me they are getting a lot of emails. I am going to read some of the examples I am getting. I have received literally 200-300, and that number is climbing daily. Not very long ago I received an email from one of my staff informing me that I have received 255 new ones, and I have not seen her since two o'clock. That shows how fast they are coming in.

This email is from Barb of Owen Sound:

I'm usually one of the silent majority, but everyone who I know, had the same initial reaction as myself. VERY ANGRY! This is totally irresponsible. After... [a recent] election, these three idiots think the Canadian people will thank them for making our country, an unstable third world country

Remember, Madam Speaker, that I am reading this. I am not saying this.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. We have witnessed a lot of disreputable conduct in the House, but I would ask the member to retract what he just said. He has no business referring to leaders of parties in this House as “idiots”. That is unparliamentary language.

Madam Speaker, I will ask you to try to restore decorum and bring a level of civility that is certainly missing. “Idiot” is not a word that is used in this House to speak about any leader of any party.

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I would ask the member to refrain from using words such as that. We cannot do indirectly what we cannot do directly.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, I never called anyone that. I simply was reading an email. But I can tell you that was an example of--

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. While you were listening to the point of order by the member for Timmins—James Bay, the member for Cambridge made an unfortunate reference to the member as a “pompous moron”. I think you may have heard that. When I asked him what he said, he said, “You heard what I said”.

I believe in the Standing Orders that all hon. members are to be treated with respect and dignity in this place and I would ask the member to please withdraw that reference to the hon. member.

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I would ask the members, particularly at this time, if we could listen to each other respectfully. I did not hear that comment but I will allow the hon. member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound to continue.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to be clear on the record that I did not call anyone that nor have I ever called anyone that in the House. I am simply reading. I just want everyone who reads Hansard to know that.

Just to carry on. It states:

--but to use it as an OBVIOUS power grab is in my opinion TREASON against the Canadian people. ...My late father was a member of the Liberal party, voted as a delegate at conventions, contributed to the Liberal coffers. ...He taught me to vote for the person most responsible.... He would be horrified (at the stupidity). The Liberals are committing suicide on this issue. They have not thought of what is better for the country....

I could not have said it better myself. She goes on to say:

Do they not realize, the Canadian people were not complaining about what Mr. Harper was doing, because they voted for him and trusted him.

She then goes on to say:

An action of this magnitude did not occur just after the throne speech, it has been planned for a long time! The coalition--

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I would ask the hon. member to refrain from using the name of the Prime Minister.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

My apologies, Madam Speaker, and I should know better.

She says:

--is insulting the intelligence of the Canadian people by denying this is a COUP planned very carefully.

I can back this up. The Liberal candidate in my riding, who many people said that his mouth would probably get him or his party into trouble eventually, admitted in last Saturday's daily paper in my riding that, “This coalition was being discussed during the September election but we were told to say nothing about it.

It obviously backs up what Mrs.Taylor was saying. She feels that they are greatly misreading the emotional response coming from the public and she is worried that some overstressed, unemployed person is going to snap over this.

She says, “I will do my best to convince the Liberals what a mistake they are making”.

I can go on. I have another one here from Elizabeth and Garry sent to the Governor General. They say:

Please do not let this move by opposing parties come into being, it is ANARCHY.

I have another one from Howard and Kathy. It states:

We wanted to express our shock and dismay by the attempt of the Liberal and NDP parties to overthrow the results of the recent election and seize power in what can only be described as a “bloodless” coup. These parties claim to represent the Canadian people but in fact it is quite clear that they only represent their own narrow ambitions. Their actions are typical of Third World dictators who use the democratic system to overthrow it.

I have another one from Roger and Maureen from Tobermory, Ontario, at the very tip of the Bruce. It states:

...I totally protest what the opposition parties are trying to do. They have no mandate to lead the government. This backroom deal is undemocratic.

Obviously they don't care about what is good for the country and only care about gaining power and playing politics.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate you on your appointment to the Speaker’s chair.

I would like to know your views on the relevance of what my colleague is saying to the subject currently being debated, namely the government’s economic and fiscal statement. My colleague is reporting various views and opinions about the opposition coalition, which may well defeat his government.

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I want to thank the hon. member for Hull—Aylmer and will say this.

The Speaker already ruled on this. The subject of this debate is quite broad and a certain latitude is therefore permissible.

I would like to remind the hon. member that he had only 30 seconds left, so I will give him the 30 seconds to conclude.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, I will conclude by finishing this email. I would also ask that since the member over here is worried about discussing the coalition, I will look forward to him standing in his question time and telling us that he does not support the separatist-backed coalition. The last part of the email reads:

It would be disastrous...especially in the economic hard times facing everyone.

I hope by our written protest this will help in some way.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Madam Speaker, on page 50 of the economic statement, there is a chart that shows that the projected deficit will be in the range of about $6 billion in the next fiscal year. That is also based on an assumption that the growth rate for that year is 0.3%, which happens to be higher than any other forecasted economic growth rate, and it ranges anywhere from zero percent down to a -2.2% negative growth.

I wonder if the member could give us his thoughts as to why the economic outlook uses a growth rate for Canada in the coming fiscal year that is way beyond the expectations of any credible expertise.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, I do not have the book right in front of me and I have not memorized it, although there is some great reading in there and some great work by the Minister of Finance.

However, some of things I talked about, the things that the government has done in the last year and a little bit to get this country in better shape to weather an economic storm, are some of the reasons, I am quite sure, that those kinds of objectives and figures are laid out in there. The member revealed the honesty in that page, where the minister has provided the number for the deficit.

I can remember a government, not too long before us, whose tradition was to announce to the Canadian public that there was a $1 billion or $1.5 billion surplus and yet, when it came down to the end of the year, it was usually somewhere between $10 billion and $13 billion. It was basically not coming clean with the public and it felt that the money was its little bag of goodies that it could spend as foolishly as it wanted. Lord knows, we all know it did that at times.

[Alan Tonks, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his re-election. He, indeed, does come from a beautiful part of Ontario.

The budget makes some very strong recommendations to create credit for the manufacturing sector and our exports, in particular in the automotive industry and aerospace, which are equally important right across the country. The expansion of the EDC and BDC to allow for additional credit is a step in the right direction.

However, both the aerospace and automotive industries have required more credit to accelerate a stimulus. Why would the government not have come forward immediately when it was apparent that there was a crisis in those sectors with suggestions as to how they could make a difference? That is what was being looked for—

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The hon. member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member across the way and I have had some great conversations while travelling and I congratulate him on his re-election.

As to the part about the auto and aerospace sectors, when it comes to the auto sector, we are the mouse in bed with the elephants, so to speak, when it comes to our neighbours to the south. Of course, we all know that in the auto sector, 90% of all the cars that we produce in Canada go there. I think most people know that the Americans usually buy somewhere between 11 million and 11.5 million cars a year but that is down to about 10.5 million this year.

My point in bringing this up is that President-elect Obama has indicated that he will be coming out with a package. In discussions that the Prime Minister had in Washington just a few short weeks ago with the G20, it was decided by 20 well-respected world leaders to follow a plan. The Prime Minister is doing that at this point and I believe it would be very prudent to bring out a plan on the auto sector. The finance minister has indicated it is coming. It will come in due time and I believe it will coincide with the Americans.

A lot of people in my riding and across the country want something for the auto sector, not as a handout but as a leg up, and it needs to have strings attached to it.

[Gérard Asselin, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, I want to try to put myself in your position. It must be difficult to preside over the House and prevent the Reform Party from reading the emails and letters it receives from its voters. When a member does not have anything substantive to say about the economic statement, he just reads his correspondence. We could do the same thing. The Public Service Alliance, the Canadian Federation of Labour and the FTQ are all in favour of the coalition.

There is therefore virtually nothing substantive left to say about the economic statement. It announced cuts for the political parties, but that was withdrawn. It announced a freeze to pay equity for women, but that was withdrawn. The Prime Minister made it known through his finance minister that he would remove the public service’s right to strike, but that too was withdrawn. So what is left in this famous little document? Where are the requests that the Bloc sent to the finance minister regarding an economic recovery? Where in the statement are the Quebec National Assembly’s requests, as forwarded by the Premier of Quebec? There are reasons why the main stakeholders in Quebec unanimously support the coalition and are asking the Bloc Québécois to make the House work. The government has lost all credibility and no longer enjoys the confidence of the House.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is obvious that members across the way do not like to hear what Canadians think, whether it is my riding or across the country. I am sure they are hearing from a lot of federalists in their ridings, the same as I was reading. I make no apology for passing on the comments of my constituents in this great House.

I came here to protect this great country, not rip it apart. The member across the way should be ashamed of belonging to a party whose sole goal is to do just that. I will not apologize for anything that I said.

One thing he said was that enough has been said and there is no more to say. He is right. After some of those comments, there is no more to say. People have had enough of this crap.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Madam Speaker, I think it is not acceptable for a member to make assumptions about what a party will do and say that a party wants to destroy a country because it wants to build its own.

I would ask that the member withdraw his remarks.

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

That is a point of debate and I am going to allow it. I think the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound had in fact finished his answers.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, beware of December 1, because 300 years ago Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the British parliament, but just this last week, Guy Giorno succeeded in blowing up the Conservative Party.

What we are seeing here is the rage of reform that has been kept in a box, under wraps and told to keep its hatred of other regions to themselves, to be polite, because it would all work out and the coalition is falling apart.

My hon. colleague sat in the House, but clearly he does not understand the role of the democratic system in a parliamentary democracy. The language of using “coup”, “taking power” and “seizing power” speaks perfectly to the reform rump who never believed in the parliamentary system of Canada in the first place, who believed that this place should have been used to usurp the role of Parliament, and that is what it came to do. The reform were kept in a box for two years but now the box has been opened and the ugly children of the Reform Party are running wild in the streets.

I would ask my colleague if he respects the will of the House of Parliament, will he tell his now disgraced leader to hold a vote in the House, so the House can make the decision on Monday night and then we can move on and bring forward a government that is willing to put its partisan games outside the House and--

[The Acting Speaker, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I would like to give the hon. member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound the opportunity to answer. He has 40 seconds.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, when the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay mentions reform, I presume he means the Reform Party and I will make no apologies. One thing about the Reform Party, at least it believed in democracy, not like the member who belongs to a socialist, borderline communist party. I would like to hear the member for Timmins—James Bay stand up and tell the House that he is not going to be part of a separatist--