Debates of Feb. 8th, 2008

Afghanistan

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is not in the business of building prisons in Afghanistan or in any other foreign country. We have a very good arrangement with the Afghan government and we are meeting all international obligations. The judge in Vancouver confirmed that and we accept her judgment.

We are going to get on with implementing the policy. That has never changed. The actual implementation will be up to the Canadians on the ground in Afghanistan. They are doing a great job. We respect them. We appreciate their great work and we wish the other parties would do the same.

Medical Isotopes

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that MDS Nordion informed the Department of National Resources about the medical isotope crisis on November 22, 2007. If we are to believe the minister, before he found out about the emergency, MDS Nordion knew, the hospitals knew, the doctors knew. Everyone knew except him.

In a situation where, according to the minister, each day that passes further jeopardizes the lives of people in need of isotopes, how can he explain that he ignored the seriousness of the situation for more than 10 days?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Liberal member, at least that opposition member was at the committee, so she would know full well that the timelines the minister gave and the ones that MDS Nordion gave were identical.

The reality is the opposition members cannot have it both ways. They cannot say to us one week that we should not have acted and then come back the next week and say that we did not act soon enough. It just makes no sense.

Canadians are thankful that this government showed leadership and acted and they are thankful that Parliament supported us in that decision.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the minister is trying to put the blame on everyone but himself. With the Conservatives, it is always someone else's fault.

Will the minister admit that his vendetta with the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was an attempt to sideline anyone who does not see eye to eye with him on nuclear energy?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, now the member is beginning to focus on the real issue here. The real issue was why the regulator was not willing to work with everyone else to protect the health of Canadians. One of the witnesses yesterday said:

There never was, and there does not exist, a substantive nuclear safety risk at the NRU reactor at Chalk River.... Parliament's swift actions averted imminent harm to patients and the well-being of Canadians. I remain proud of the way that was handled by Parliament.

I too am proud of the way that issue was handled by this Parliament.

Government Contracts

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first we learned that the finance minister broke the rules with an untendered speech writing contract to a Conservative buddy for $22 a word. Worse, now we find out the department is pushing the limits, awarding 72 contracts since the last election at just under that $25,000 limit, ducking the tendering process. Were these also to Conservative cronies?

The dishonest government is desperate to have an election before it is found out. Well, bring it on.

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I am always confused by the enthusiasm of the member for Halton for an election. He said that if members cross the floor, they should be subject to a byelection. He crossed the floor, and would not put himself through a byelection. Now he is calling for an election, bring it on.

Guess what? Byelections are happening on March 17. If the member steps down today, we can fit him in.

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in this House before, I am happy to--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, order. We have to be able to hear the question from the hon. member for Halton or the government House leader will be at a loss for an answer.

The member for Halton has the floor to ask a question and we will have some order, please.

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government wrapped itself in a flag of accountability during the last election. If the parliamentary secretary for the minister will not answer this question, let me put it to the President of the Treasury Board.

When are we going to start looking after Canadians' money? Will he remember whose money it is? It is not the money of the Minister of Finance, but of the people of Canada who are watching this. Will the minister be held to account?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, accountability is about doing what one said one would do. We are doing what we said we would do. That gentlemen does not seem interested in doing what he said he would do, but of course he is the one who said to a parliamentary committee, “No one cares what I campaigned on”. Those are his words, not mine.

Let me say what we have as a result of that budget that those individuals worked on. We have a labour market that is performing strongly. Over the past 12 months, nearly 337,000 jobs have been created. Unemployment is at a 33 year low. The share of adult population with a job is at a record high. It is a great economic record. That is why he is not talking about it.

Election Expenses

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the elections commissioner says that Conservatives and only Conservatives ran an election financing scam to violate spending limits. But that is no surprise. The Prime Minister went to court back in the 1990s to fight spending limits, in that famous case of Harper v Canada. Back then he said:

Is it the Mulroney version of responsibility: “to heck with the facts, I will wait until the next election”?

Flouting the law, flouting the truth, hoping an election will wash away the dirt; why has the Prime Minister become the Brian Mulroney he once despised?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the question of election financing is a serious matter, one that should be treating all parties equally. What has taken place is the hijacking in the procedure and House affairs committee by the other parties for partisan purposes, one that has been commented on very unfavourably, where they are saying, “Don't look at us. We may do the exact same things. There may be affidavit evidence saying that our election spending practices are exactly the same, but we don't want to be studied. Only look at those guys”.

We believe all our practices are legal. We have always believed that. If they believe they are legal, open up their books. Open up everybody's books and treat everybody equally.

Government Accountability

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Next, Mr. Speaker, they will be firing the elections commissioner.

It is a dishonest government begging for an election before it gets caught. The Conservatives want to stifle investigations into their ethical failures: safety regulators fired to hide Conservative incompetence; untendered contracts to cronies and friends; Conservative interference in civic elections; and their election financing scam to violate national spending limits by a million bucks, and swipe an extra $700,000 in tax paid subsidies.

Why will the government not come clean about Conservative corruption?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the most sweeping federal accountability act ever in Canadian history was delayed by that party for a year as the Liberals sought to chip it away and eliminate its provisions, especially those on, guess what, election financing, because they did not want them to apply to them. It took the NDP to get those in place.

Reducing the GST from 7% to 6% to 5% was opposed by the Liberals, except for when they do not even bother to do their jobs and vote. On lower income taxes, they voted against it. On business stimulus, they voted against it. On more money for post-secondary education, they voted against it. That is their record.

The Economy

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, global economic uncertainty has Canadians concerned, but our Conservative government has taken prudent, proactive action to cut taxes, reduce debt and make strategic investments to ensure our economy remains strong, the strongest in the G-8 as a matter of fact.

But what do the doom and gloom tax and spend Liberals want to do? They want to engage in excessive, unfocused spending to send Canada back into deficit and raise taxes on hard-working Canadians. I cannot understand it. What Canadians do not want is reckless Liberal spending and they do not want higher taxes.

Today, Statistics Canada released evidence of how our government's proactive approach is getting results. Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his passionate question.

We did take proactive action to stimulate the economy. The Liberals disagreed with that. They would rather spend us into deficit and raise taxes. That is the wrong course of action.

The action we have taken has stimulated the economy to bring unemployment to a 33 year low. In January alone, over 46,000 new, good, high paying jobs were created, full time employment.

Government Contracts

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the ink was not even dry on the Federal Accountability Act and the finance minister was running roughshod over Treasury Board guidelines, giving away huge untendered contracts to his Queen's Park buddy and also abusing the under $25,000 rule.

When the Liberal minister pulled the same stunt, we did not even get to ask questions in question period because it hit the newspapers on a Friday and by Saturday that minister was turfed out of cabinet.

There have to be consequences for breaking faith with the Canadian people. Will the Minister of Finance fall on his sword and resign, and if he will not, why does the Prime Minister not do it for him?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear and very consistent on this. I will repeat that there was good value for money that was provided. Unfortunately, administrative functions were not followed, but that will be changed in further contracts.

But let me talk about the budget that we are actually talking about in this contract. There was money that was provided to Canadians, tax reductions to Canadians, pension income splitting for seniors, something they have been asking for for years.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, value for money? Do not make me laugh; I have chapped lips. That $122,000 is two years' salary for the average family of four. Besides, the minister is missing the point. This is not about value for money. It is about ignoring and running roughshod over Treasury Board guidelines.

Any finance minister who would squander that kind of money on a single speech is not fit to be the guardian of the public purse. Political interference in government contracts has been at the heart of every scandal in recent years. There have to be consequences. The minister should be relieved of his duties.

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

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about consequences since we took power in 2006. We have provided $140 billion in tax reductions to Canadians, individually and corporately. We have reduced personal income tax down to 15%. We have provided a tax back guarantee of $2.5 billion by 2012-13. We are increasing the basic personal amount to $9,600, something the Liberals never even thought about.

Infrastructure

[Paul Zed, Liberal, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's big city mayors are meeting in Ottawa today to discuss how they can avert the looming crisis in municipal infrastructure.

The government has done nothing to help Canada's communities with the $123 billion infrastructure deficit that they face.

In December, this House passed a motion calling for action by the government to make the gas tax permanent.

The government should stop insulting our mayors. When will it act and give cities the funding they previously received from Liberal governments?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we have closely consulted with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. We were able to craft, build and design a new building Canada program, $33 billion, to help municipalities and to work with the provinces in terms of developing new programs and fixing projects. We have framework agreements in place, and we are getting the job done.