Debates of Feb. 4th, 2008

Manufacturing and Forestry Sectors

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I guess there is going to be a big difference in the House coming in a couple of days. For the first time, we will see the opposition get up and defend something that we have supported for a long time since the budget.

I will add that the measures put forward in the mini-budget are additional to the help we are bringing to the economic sectors of our country, the manufacturing and the forestry sectors. I am looking for their support.

Government Contracts

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance acknowledged breaking the rules when he handed a contract over $100,000 to Hugh MacPhie, a former Mike Harris aide who supported the minister in his bid to become leader of the Conservative Party of Ontario.

How many times does the minister intend to break the rules to give contracts to friends of the provincial Conservatives?

Was that man responsible for the brilliant line about Canada running from the Rocky Mountains to Newfoundland?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, from sea to sea to sea, as I said a few minutes ago when I was asked the same question, the value for money element was there, the work was done and the compensation was earned. What was not done was the administrative functions were not properly followed. That has been fixed.

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

Mr. Speaker, last summer the minister gave a $24,900 contract to Rohit Gupta just 24 hours after he left his PMO job. That is only $100 below the level where the competitive bidding process would have been required.

Obviously the minister's $2 million office budget is not enough to satisfy his voracious spending appetite, so he has created a scam that allows him to hire as many political staffers as he wants.

When will he stop giving taxpayer money to his friends?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the value for money was provided.

With respect to the earlier matter, the administrative provisions were not followed. As I have said four times now, and I urge the member for Markham—Unionville to listen, that has been corrected.

Guaranteed Income Supplement

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance prefers to use $10.6 billion to pay what he owes the banks rather than paying what he owes seniors, thereby breaking his party's promise to make full retroactive payments to correct the mismanagement of the guaranteed income supplement program.

Why does the Minister of Finance insist on paying the banks so much, some $10.6 billion, when he is not even able to use $3.1 billion of his surplus for seniors?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member opposite has heard, because other members have heard, that as seniors are preparing their income tax forms this year, what they are seeing are very substantial tax reductions relating to income pension splitting in particular.

This is very important for seniors who have pensions in Canada. It is a significant reduction of great assistance to them. It is fundamental tax reform in Canada, which we brought in some time ago.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

[Christian Ouellet, Bloc, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation currently has close to $7 billion in surplus that logically should be used for building affordable housing units and social housing. The billion dollars the Bloc proposes for building housing would not come from the budget, but from the CMHC surplus.

Will the minister take this Bloc suggestion that does not affect the budget?

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

Mr. Speaker, the fact is the government is deeply concerned about the plight of people who do not have housing in our country. That is why today, through social housing, the affordable housing initiative, the housing trust, the first nations housing trust, the homelessness partnering strategy and the residential rehabilitation assistance project, the government is spending more money on helping people get that housing than any government in history. We are extraordinarily proud of that record.

They did not get it done. We are getting it done.

Canadian Forces

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

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's latest examination of military health care proves that the government is failing Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan. Uncertified health practitioners are not allowed to treat civilians but are allowed to treat soldiers while a shortage of resources has forced many to go outside the military for medical help.

How can the government claim it is standing up for our soldiers when their health care service is breaking down?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very serious question and I thank the hon. member for the notice she gave.

In fact, we have already moved very quickly to implement some of the recommendations of the Auditor General's report. We thank her for that important work. We continue to work with her office to see that the necessary psychological support will be available to officers and to all members of the Canadian Forces.

We recognize that this is a serious matter. We have now a large number of returning veterans. This is something our country will have to come to grips with very quickly. We are taking steps to double the number of spaces and treatment that is going to be available to those veterans.

Chile

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I understand an earthquake hit Chile with great force earlier today. Given the large number of Chilean Canadians living in Canada who will be concerned about their loved ones, could the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade please comment on the government's reaction to this news?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Secretary of State (Foreign Affairs and International Trade) (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct. Initial reports indicate that an earthquake hit Chile with a magnitude of 6.5. Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected by this natural disaster.

There are 1,361 Canadians who are registered with the embassy in Santiago. Our operations centre in Ottawa is closely monitoring the situation and staying in close contact with our embassy in Chile. Our hard-working consular officials in Chile are standing ready to assist Canadians on the ground affected by this disaster.

Afghanistan

[Dawn Black, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has blamed the military for not allowing information to be disclosed about Afghan detainees. It has even tried to blame its own lawyers.

The law established by Parliament is very clear. It is the minister who is the ultimate decision maker on information disclosed. Now we learn through La Presse, not through the minister, that Canadians are considering building their own prison in Kabul.

Will the government make it clear today that it is the one hiding information on torture and abuse of detainees and not Canada's military?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, Canada is not in the business of building prisons. We are in the business of building capacity with the Afghan government. We want to help the Afghan people have a secure state. That is our position.

Why does the member opposite not want an open, transparent debate on the Afghan mission?

Canadian Human Rights Act

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity deserves an opportunity to respond to allegations made recently by Ezra Lavant, who is head over heels for the Liberal motion that would gut the Canadian Human Rights Act. Mr. Levant says that the Secretary of State supports his view that “these commissions are violating human rights, not protecting them”.

Knowing their shared history and personal relationship, I thought it best to clarify the Conservative position on this illogical Liberal motion.

Could the Secretary of State clearly state today that all Conservative MPs will vote against the motion and that he personally condemns the motion in the strongest possible terms?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity)]

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely on the public record defending freedom of speech. This government and this party believe in our constitutionally entrenched and protected rights to freedom of expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. We will always defend those freedoms, those ancient freedoms.

Canadian Forces

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General said that mental health resources in the Canadian Forces are inadequate to help our soldiers.

Post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by our soldiers returning from combat, and particularly from Afghanistan, is a serious concern.

Why does the government continue to ignore the critical need for mental health services for our soldiers? Why are they being denied essential health services? Why will the Conservative government not support our troops when they need it the most?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I think the member opposite would have to agree that one would be hard pressed in the last 25 years to find a federal government that has been more supportive of Canadian troops.

With respect to her serious question, rigorous post-examinations are done upon return from deployment. Rigorous examinations are available to officers and members when they return. We do follow-up every three to six months. Upon their return, there are personnel available for operational stress related illnesses.

We will continue to do everything to support and protect our troops.

Afghanistan

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week at the foreign affairs and national defence committees, the government members proposed joint committee meetings to study the Manley report.

Canadians deserve a frank and constructive dialogue on this extremely important issue. Shockingly, the Liberals and the other opposition members voted against openness, frankness and transparency. Are those members concerned that the testimony of panellists would reveal that their positions on the Afghan mission simply are not feasible?

Could the Minister of National Defence explain to the Liberals and to the other opposition members why they should reconsider allowing for public hearings on the Manley report?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, that was a good question from the member for Burlington.

It seems perfectly logical that members opposite who have been calling for a more open, transparent and substantive debate on the subject of Afghanistan would welcome the opportunity to have their former deputy prime minister appear before a committee. Although some members of that committee referred to the panel as elitist, it seems logical that they would want to have a realistic and substantive debate rather than suggest that the committee should just gloss over these issues.

We welcome, and in fact invite, the leader of the Liberal Party to unleash his members and let them vote for this debate to take place.

Lumber Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, $400 million in sales, $700 million in payroll, $4 billion in processed products, $500 million in tax revenue, 29,000 jobs, 35,000 producers—this is the significant economic contribution made by Quebec's private lumber producers that is being threatened because the Conservatives have ignored the impact of the crisis on this sector in their trust.

These producers, who have lost $70 million over two years, are on the brink of bankruptcy and are desperate.

How will the trust help these producers, these owners, continue to harvest the forest when this trust completely ignores them?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as we have been able to convey since we signed our first agreement with New Brunswick, we will be able to work on these issues in partnership with the provincial and territorial governments.

I remind my hon. colleague that even she and the members of her former party, the Bloc Québécois, resisted and voted against $12 billion for Quebeckers in the mini-budget that was tabled and passed in this House.

I would hope that this time around, they will see the light and support it.

Foreign Affairs

[Johanne Deschamps, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the population in the Gaza Strip, where a partial blockade has been imposed since Hamas took control of the area, has been enduring deprivation and hardship for quite some time. The humanitarian situation in that region is getting worse, with the recent intensification of the Israeli blockade, not to mention the fact that Palestinian attacks in Israeli territory have resumed.

Does the Government of Canada intend to join its voice to those of the European Union, the UN Secretary-General, Egypt and humanitarian organizations, and ask Israel to immediately put an end to the blockade, and remind it that it must respect its international obligations—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.