Debates of Feb. 5th, 2008

Community Development

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said last week, the government has made an important announcement with the community development trust. We made important announcements both in New Brunswick and in Saskatchewan.

This is something that we promised in our throne speech. I know that the party opposite opposed it, but it is something that we promised and were determined to act upon.

I said last week that we saw no need to delay this if we could get the support of all parties and continue to sign agreements with the provinces. I am pleased to see that the House of Commons passed that program today.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Prime Minister did not answer the question. The question is, why did he wait a month? He says he saw no need to delay this, so why did he wait a month? There is no answer to that. In fact, our workers have been waiting for two years. Two years ago, the Conservative government killed the $1.5 billion Liberal plan for our forestry industry and now our workers are paying the price.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Why this lack of action, this indifference, unless his laissez-faire ideology is just a do-nothing policy?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I must remind the Leader of the Opposition that when we announced the community development trust a month ago, the House of Commons was not sitting. That is why we were unable to adopt these measures.

Nonetheless, when the House came back, I indicated that the government wanted to adopt these measures. We are in the process of finalizing the agreements with the provinces. We now have support from all the opposition parties and I am happy to see that.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows he did not tie this to the opening of the House, but to the budget. Everyone knows that.

We have proposed to do what Canada's competitors, the United States and Europe, are doing, and that is to make targeted investments in our manufacturing and forestry sectors to stimulate the economy and create jobs and green technologies right here in Canada.

The finance minister says that he is not capable of identifying winners. With our plan, Canadians are winners.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I did not hear a question.

What I did hear and what I always hear from the leader of the Liberal Party is that no matter what we do, the Liberals are against it. Whether it is reducing taxes or paying down debt, they are against it. When it is spending money, it is always not enough, not enough, and they always want to spend more money.

Let me tell them that the way to manage this economy through difficult global times is not as the Liberal Party would do: to drive us into deficit.

Automotive Industry

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the auto sector in central Canada is having a very tough time and ministers in the government are wasting time with an argument about what to do about it.

The industry minister is quoted as saying that some help might be possible but the finance minister said he has already done enough. This argument is ridiculous. In my riding I have seen two plants close and I do not want to see a third close while the government works out what it is going to do.

Who speaks for the government? The Minister of Industry or the Minister of Finance?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have arrived lately at concern about auto policy in this country.

It is interesting, for example, that when the government reduced the GST by two points, reducing the price of an automobile for a consumer by $600 in the case of a $30,000 automobile, they did not support that.

On all of the other initiatives that the government is undertaking, whether it is infrastructure, regulatory harmonization or the harmonization of fuel standards, the Liberal Party was nowhere to be seen in the past, and it did not deal with this issue.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has warned Canadians that now is not the time for heavy spending. That is quite ironic coming from the very minister who paid his associate $122,000 with taxpayers' money for just a few months of work.

Now that he has acknowledged breaking the rules, will this minister take his own advice and will he ask his associate to return the money that was paid to him illegally?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance answered four repetitive questions I believe and stated that this company provided good value for money in the work that it did in support of this budget. Administrative functions were not followed with respect to contracting, but those procedures will now be followed.

Manufacturing and Forestry Industries

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has seen the light and has finally agreed to present his plan to help the manufacturing and forestry industries without waiting for the budget. He has shown that it is possible to act quickly and that he has the means to do so. Therefore, he is in a position to improve the aid package, which is what everyone wants.

Rather than use the existing $10.6 billion surplus to pay down the debt, will the Prime Minister agree to improve his aid package, thereby helping communities and workers affected by the crisis?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last fall, our government helped the manufacturing sector to the tune of $8 billion by lowering taxes. Here in the House of Commons, we have just allocated another $1 billion to help these struggling sectors, as we promised to do in the Speech from the Throne.

Unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois voted against the Speech from the Throne and our promise. Nevertheless, I am pleased to see that the Bloc Québécois has finally decided to support this aid package.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is one step forward, and we have won the first round now that he has dropped his odious blackmail. In the meantime, there is still a $10.6 billion surplus.

Of course we have to pay off the debt, but rather than spend everything on the debt and the military, should the Prime Minister not help the people and the regions affected by this crisis? Would that not make more sense? Would that not be more responsible?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government is so unlike the opposition. We are in a balanced position thanks to tax cuts, debt reduction and investment in a number of programs and measures to help the economy.

We just passed a $1 billion measure. It is easy for the Bloc Québécois to say, “We want $8 billion or $50 billion”. But the reality is that the government has kept its promise. The Bloc Québécois will never deliver one red cent here in Ottawa.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

And yet, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec stated yesterday, “—if, down the road, it is insufficient, we are still here—”. And yet everyone in Quebec recognizes that the government’s announcement is insufficient; the Minister himself admits that the manufacturing and forestry sectors have urgent needs that are not covered by the Conservative plan.

At a time when the economic outlook is getting darker, would the Prime Minister not think it wiser to use $3.5 billion out of the $10.6 billion remaining in the surplus for the fiscal year ending on March 31 now? The money has to be used now rather than putting it entirely toward the debt.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, to hear the Bloc Québécois, I am amazed that they are not actually demanding control of our currency and the ability to print dollar bills. This is reminding me of another political party we had here.

In reality, what very clearly distinguishes the actions of the Bloc Québécois from those of the government is that we are capable of doing what we were elected to do. We did it on the question of equalization and we solved the problem obviously associated with that touchy question which ruled the debates for years—

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they backtracked because Quebec, represented by the Bloc in this House, made them backtrack.

The Conservative government’s plan essentially consists of tax reductions that are of no help to companies that are not making a profit, and all that does is fatten the oil companies. If it wants concrete measures, we can give it concrete measures. All it has to do is give a refundable tax credit for research and development, and then companies that are not making a profit would be able to get tax refunds for their efforts.

What is the Minister waiting for, to implement measures like that? He can do it now with his surplus. The Standing Committee on Industry is—

[The Speaker, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, I wanted to add to that by saying equalization, but also by saying that we have solved the fiscal imbalance. That has to be recognized. I hear the Bloc Québécois lecturing us about what we should do, but where were they—where was that party?—when we reduced corporate taxes in the mini-budget, when we reduced personal taxes for Quebeckers and Canadians, when we reduced the GST and the QST? They were sitting down, obviously, as usual, and they did nothing.

We are the ones who deliver the goods for Quebeckers.

Government Contracts

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Justice Gomery was very clear about who was responsible for the contracts awarded. I quote:

—ministers are the conduit between the people’s representatives and the Crown... For every action of a servant of the Crown a minister is answerable to Parliament—

Yesterday, the Minister of Finance tried to blame public servants for his actions. A Prime Minister cannot accept that. Will he rise and condemn this questionable action? Will there be serious consequences for the minister? When will he take action?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance took responsibility for the mistake. And it is clear that the money was used for its intended purpose. The Minister of Finance has given his word that he will not make that mistake again.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I seem to recall that the Prime Minister used stronger language when he was on the opposition benches, when we used to see this kind of thing from the Liberals.

The finance minister has broken the rules. He hired a friend of the Conservative Party to write a speech for $122,000. That is $2,000 a day, $22 a word. That is cold comfort to the people who are being thrown out of work across this country in forestry and manufacturing.

The Prime Minister now refuses to punish the minister for breaking the rules, so my question then is for the finance minister. Is his friend getting the contract for the 2008 budget?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the company in question, as was stated yesterday and again today, did provide good value for money in the work that it did in support of the budget speech.

We all know how valuable budget 2007 was, how much it delivered for Canadians, and how much in tax reductions it brought to Canadians. Two members of that firm worked in the Department of Finance in January, February and March in very important preparations for the document.

Forestry Industry

[Roger Valley, Liberal, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government has finally recognized that the Liberal opposition was right. This aid package for thousands of laid-off forestry workers is urgent, but it is still too small and Canadians should not have to wait for the Conservative partisan games to get the much needed aid that they deserve.

To add insult to injury, this aid package is less than what the Conservatives left in American hands with their so-called softwood lumber deal. Why is the U.S. lumber lobby more important to the Conservative government than the Canadian forestry workers who need help?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is a very important bill that was passed in this House regarding the community development trust. Many people in this House recognized how important it was that we get it passed quickly and we appreciate that.

Let me pass on a comment from the Premier of Ontario: “I congratulate [the Prime Minister]”, McGuinty said Tuesday. “He's done something which is good for the people of Ontario. He's done something which we've been asking of him”. Those people are happy.