Debates of March 3rd, 2008

Agriculture

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Brandon—Souris for his excellent work on this issue. I can assure him that I am introducing legislation this afternoon to give the 62% of western farmers the freedom they have been demanding. I call on all parties to support the growing demand from western Canadian barley growers for market freedom.

Only the opposition believes that by taking away rights, they somehow empower farmers. We do not believe that. We know they deserve the right to market and fill those opportunities that will give them better return on their investment.

Ethics

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, lawsuits are flying, reputations are at risk and people's good names are being sullied. The Cadman affair is spiralling out of control.

The director of public prosecutions was created for the express purpose of independently investigating politically charged situations just like this. For the sake of all those concerned, will the justice minister agree to assign an independent person from the director of public prosecutions office to determine whether charges should be laid,and if a criminal prosecution should ensue?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been trying to get the director of public prosecutions in place. I know the resistance we received in moving forward with the appointment earlier did not come from this government; it came from that party over there.

We hope later today we will have a director of public prosecutions in place, if members opposite will allow that to occur.

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the House leader understood the system, the acting director could take on this role, but he probably does not understand that.

To put an end to the attacks from the Liberals on Mr. Cadman's family reputation, to stop the stonewalling by the government, will the Minister of Justice direct the director of public prosecutions to hire independent counsel to conduct an investigation and recommend as to whether prosecutions should be taken against Mr. Finlay and Mr. Flanagan?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the role of the public prosecution service is to prosecute when a charge has been laid. The investigations are done by the RCMP.

That being said, I have no doubt this matter will probably end up in court, but the people answering charges will be the leadership of the Liberal Party.

Federal-Provincial Relations

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

Mr. Speaker, this weekend the finance minister took the unprecedented step of trashing the investment climate of his own province, telling the world to avoid investing in Ontario. With the livelihoods of Ontario families at stake, he remains mired in his personal vendettas of the past.

When will he start working with Dalton McGuinty and when will he stop fuelling the long, tired, unproductive era of federal–provincial bickering?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is a question of fact.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Are you the bickerer or the bickeree?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Whitby—Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Wascana is being very noisy today. He should take a rest for a moment.

The reality is the highest taxes on new business investment in Canada are in the province of Ontario. The reality also is the major part of manufacturing is in the province of Ontario. The result is the policies of the McGuinty government are harming manufacturing in the province of Ontario at the very time that we need to stimulate growth. He needs to reduce corporate taxes in Ontario and he needs to do it now.

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

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like he is running for the leadership of the Ontario Conservative Party.

Imagine that foreign investors are looking to build an automobile plant in either Ontario or Michigan. Now, imagine that Michigan happily shows them a video of the Minister of Finance saying that they should not invest in Ontario.

Why is the Minister of Finance not working to make life easier for Ontario families, instead of boosting his ego by provoking former political opponents?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we cannot ignore the facts. Mr. McGuinty's own task force on competitiveness says that Ontario has the highest taxation on new business investment, not only in Canada and in North America but among developed economies.

What needs to be done is to reduce corporate taxes. Who said “corporate tax cuts are one of the best strategies to attract investment and help manufacturers battered by the high Canadian dollar”? The member for Markham—Unionville.

Arts and Culture

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government's ideological true colours may be showing now more than ever.

There are concerns from the artistic community that right-wing lobbyists have influenced new guidelines regulating grants to the cultural sector. These new guidelines would allow the government to arbitrarily decide which productions would be deemed offensive and therefore could not receive financial assistance.

Exactly who, apart from Mr. McVety, was consulted in the preparation of these new Conservative guidelines?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that I have never met the individual that the member mentioned earlier.

Now, the member should remember that these measures were introduced under the former heritage minister, Sheila Copps. Our government pursued them in 2006, and received the support of all the parties in this House. I wonder why all of a sudden the member is asking questions.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am talking about the new guidelines this government is planning to introduce, which, by its own admission, were influenced by a campaign mounted by Mr. McVety, who is well-known to the Conservatives. He even went as far as to say that his production censorship campaign was in line with Conservative values.

Why are the Conservatives listening only to Mr. McVety? Is it because he is a Conservative? What about others, such as the artistic community? Will they listen to them?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, that is pure hypocrisy on the part of the member opposite, who keeps denouncing this measure even though he knows full well that it was put forward under the previous government.

That said, members of the cultural community and the industry were meeting with officials earlier this afternoon to obtain explanations.

Now, I would like the hon. member to tell me whether or not he intends to support a tax credit for films promoting juvenile pornography, excessive violence or hate propaganda targeting specific groups of people.

Transport

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec government made the right decision in 2004 to participate in a feasibility study on a high speed train between Montreal and New York. The Premier of Quebec, Jean Charest, is reiterating his interest in such a project. His government would even be willing to assume more than its share of the costs for the tracks.

Does the federal government intend to cooperate with the Quebec government to create a high speed train between Montreal and New York?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is already supporting the Quebec government's initiative, as well as the Ontario government's initiative to get the study from seven years ago back on track—if I may use that expression—to examine, in fact, the possibility of updating the data bases and moving forward.

The Government of Canada is actively participating in this initiative. We will of course have the opportunity to share the findings of that report when the work is completed.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the State of New York is open to the project and the Premier of Quebec is prepared to invest time and money to complete it.

Does the federal government intend to concretely support this high speed train between Montreal and New York, which would complement the development of the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, thereby making Montreal a hub for passenger rail travel in North America?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we have not received any requests from the Quebec government concerning the so-called “Bloc express”.

We know full well that the Leader of the Bloc Québécois has always preferred to favour the State of New York over the rest of Canada. We, on the other hand, will concentrate on the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, passing through Montreal, Ottawa and other parts of Canada.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of International Trade.

We have learned that the employment insurance, the capital gains tax exemption, the small craft harbours program and even the gas tax card for Canada's fishers are being challenged at the WTO. If found illegal, this could have disastrous consequences to the industry.

Will the government fight back against this disastrous attack on the inshore fishery and ask our negotiators at the WTO to start to stand up for our inshore fishermen?

[Loyola Hearn, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the member that the draft text recently put forth in relation to this issue is inappropriate and it is controversial. We certainly will stand up. Not only Canada but every fishing nation in the WTO would never go along with that stuff.

The problem is that it has not been on the go since last week or last month. It has been on the go since 2001.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, residential schools mark a sad period in our nation's history for generations of aboriginal children.

We have heard stories of abuse, loss of language and culture, the effects of which are present even to this day. It is the time to turn the page on this sad chapter. It is time to bring about greater reconciliation between the government and churches that ran the schools and those who attended them.

My question is for the Minister of Indian Affairs. What is the government doing to make this happen?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, it was my privilege last evening to attend a function at the Museum of Civilization with church leaders who launched their own campaign to raise awareness of that sad chapter in Canadian history known as the residential schools era.

The government is committed to the residential schools settlement. We have already paid out over a billion dollars to students. We are setting up the truth and reconciliation commission. The Prime Minister has promised an apology on behalf of Canadians that will be meaningful and respectful. It is time to move ahead with the truth and reconciliation.

I congratulate the church leaders on the work they have done.

The Environment

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative-Liberal wrong-headed budget gives over $250 million to promote pumping carbon dioxide into the ground, a high cost, uncertain method known as sequestration. Also the fossil fuel industry does not have to clean up its own environmental mess.

The government gives nothing new to help working families deal with sky-high energy bills through energy conservation measures, nothing for remote communities for wind power and no more money for solar energy.

When is the Conservative-Liberal government going to stop shovelling dollars to the big polluters and start helping average Canadians?

[Gary Lunn, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we do not need to take any lessons from the NDP.

Carbon sequestration is one of the leading technologies. We take CO₂, which would normally go in the atmosphere, and put it in the ground where it came from, not to mention the fact that we have committed more money in renewable energy and on energy efficiency.

We are taking concrete action that will reduce CO₂ emissions, unlike previous governments after 13 years of letting them rise by 35%. We are getting the job done on behalf of all Canadians.