House of Commons Hansard #45 of the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was french.
Ken Dryden Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, is the minister saying that the child care providers of Napanee and Halifax-Dartmouth are not telling the truth?
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, the truth is that the member did not create a single space when he was the minister.
The fact is that this government is spending $5.7 billion in direct payments to parents, money to providers and money to provinces. That is three times as much as the previous government provided for child care. We are getting the job done. The Liberals failed.
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Mr. Speaker, with the U.S. economy weak and the Canadian dollar strong, the government should be looking at ways to boost the troubled tourism industry and bring tourists to Canada.
Could the minister explain why the State of Nevada spends more on promoting Las Vegas than the Conservative government spends on tourism?
Diane Ablonczy ConservativeSecretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)
Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that this government spends $800 million a year promoting tourism. That is nearly $1 billion and in fact our support for tourism has increased. The member knows that. I do not know why he is complaining because we are getting the job done when the members opposite did not.
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House what the Conservatives have done to the tourism industry. They cancelled the individual GST rebate for tourists. Their poor relationship with China has left Canada one of the few countries that is not an approved destination.
This status would allow one million more visitors to come from China, but the Conservatives have bungled our international relationship. Why is this vindictive, dishonest, and incompetent government determined to destroy our tourism industry instead of expanding it?
Diane Ablonczy ConservativeSecretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite should not get carried away with his own overblown rhetoric.
He knows very well that the Minister of International Trade was in China in January and very strongly addressed the ADS situation. He also knows that we have a tourism convention program which deals with the GST issue. That has been in place for nearly a year and the industry likes it very much. It is working very well.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, like the Bloc Québécois, the Premier of Quebec has reaffirmed that the Conservative plan is insufficient, saying and I quote, “more needs to be done, including in regard to taxation and research and development”.
Yesterday in the House we adopted a report of the Standing Committee on Finance that also calls for tax measures to be implemented as quickly as possible for the manufacturing sector, including the refundable tax credit for research and development.
What is the government waiting for to comply with the express will of the House and immediately implement these measures, using the $10.6 billion surplus expected for the current fiscal year? Immediate action is needed.
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, quite to the contrary, we took immediate action when my colleague, the Minister of Finance, tabled the 2006 budget and said he would correct the fiscal imbalance. That means an additional $400 million this year, and more than $600 million, $700 million, $1.1 billion for Quebec under the equalization formula. To that should be added the funding we passed yesterday in the House to help our communities. We are delivering the goods and they are delivering nothing.
Paul Crête Bloc Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the economic slowdown in the United States is getting worse, which means that there will be more difficulties ahead for the economy as a whole and especially the manufacturing sector. After Jean Charest and the CSN, now the FTQ is calling on the federal government to invest more without delay.
Does the government not understand that it must assume its responsibilities and immediately provide more assistance for the manufacturing sector out of the current year's surplus? We are no longer in 2006; it is 2008 now. A recession is looming if the government fails to act.
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I think the Bloc Québécois must have a screw loose.
When we passed the mini-budget, we provided nearly $12 billion in tax cuts of all kinds in anticipation of an economic slowdown. The government acted, the Minister of Finance acted: $12 billion in cuts to the GST, $12 billion in cuts to personal and corporate income taxes. That is action. The Bloc, unfortunately, just stands there empty handed. Nothing for Quebec.
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' plan to help industry is not designed to provide direct assistance to those who lost their jobs. The Conservatives do not believe in government assistance to industry, as proposed in the Liberal plan announced in November 2005. Instead, the Conservative government wants to redirect affected communities toward different industries. It is all fine and well to retrain workers, but how are they expected to find a job if the main industry in their community is gone?
Will the Prime Minister announce once and for all funding not only to retrain workers but also to create jobs, as part as a plan that takes into consideration the needs of the regions?
Monte Solberg ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Social Development
Mr. Speaker, any time there are job losses in a community, it is very difficult for the individuals involved and obviously for the communities. That is why we have stepped up with the community development trust, which has won the support of the House.
We have put in place new labour training arrangements with the provinces with $3 billion over the next six years. That is $800 million more a year for training through community colleges and universities.
We are investing more in training today than any government in history precisely because we know that workers have the potential to contribute in this country. The member should have that same faith in those workers.
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Mr. Speaker, last Friday a staff member left the Canadian Wheat Board as a result of a vote by the Wheat Board directors.
Yet, on Monday the Leader of the Opposition and the ultimate conspiracy theorists in the NDP made outrageous accusations against the government and misled the House.
Unbelievably, they refuse to recognize that 62% of western farmers voted for marketing choice. Now they will not recognize that the Wheat Board directors have the right to vote on their own staffing issues.
Will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food please correct the record in response to the opposition's baseless accusations?
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Finally, a question grounded in reality, Mr. Speaker.
The opposition has certainly been publicly exposed as being wilfully negligent on this issue. Canadians would be far better served if it used its meagre resources and its meagre intelligence to get our crime bill through the Senate.
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, former justice minister Alan Rock said that if he knew then what we know now, he would never have paid Brian Mulroney the $2.1 million settlement in the defamation lawsuit.
He was duped, he was bamboozled, he was outfoxed, and he rolled over way too early. Now we want our money back.
What concrete steps is the government taking to recoup the $2.1 million defamation lawsuit settlement that it paid out to Brian Mulroney that it never should have paid?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, as everyone in the House knows, the government asked Professor Johnston to look into the matter and provide terms of reference for an inquiry, and look specifically into the matter that has been raised by the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.
If there is further evidence that is before the ethics committee, Professor Johnston has indicated he will look at that evidence and, in doing his ultimate terms of reference for an inquiry, he will take those into account I am sure.
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, it was the culture of secrecy that allowed corruption to flourish during the Liberal years and it is worse than ever on this second anniversary of the Conservative cabinet.
There is still no access to information reform. There is still no public appointments commission. There is no parliamentary budget officer.
Corporate lobbyists are running amok all over Parliament Hill in a revolving door between the Conservative Party and the big lobbying firms. Now $120,000 to write a lousy speech.
Nothing has changed since Brian Mulroney's days. The boys still need to make a living.
How much longer do the Conservatives intend to perpetrate and maintain--
LobbyistsOral Questions
Vic Toews ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, in response to the abuses of the lobbying situation under the Liberals, this government took some of the strongest action of any government in the world.
The new lobbying rules will ensure that Canadians know who is lobbying, when and on what issues. They will also put an end to the revolving door between minister's offices and lobbying firms.
We are very proud of the steps that we have taken and we appreciate the support that the member gave us in putting that forward.
Presence in GalleryOral Questions
The Speaker Peter Milliken
I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Serik Akhmetov, Minister of Transport and Communications for the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Presence in GalleryOral Questions
The Speaker Peter Milliken
I would also like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Barry Penner, Minister of Environment for British Columbia.
Presence in GalleryOral Questions
The Speaker Peter Milliken
As part of marking the celebration of the two year countdown to our 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of three athletes: hockey gold medallist Jayna Hefford, free style skier Jeff Bean, and sledge hockey paralympian Ray Grassi.