Debates of March 7th, 2008

Official Languages

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we do have something very positive to contribute: Bill C-482. The minister could accept the truth of the Bloc Québécois' reasoning and support our bill, which would improve the language of work situation in Quebec by protecting the interests of Quebeckers—their language—and by requiring the Canadian government to comply with Bill 101 when applying the Canada Labour Code to the Quebec nation.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we on this side of the House are working hard to promote both languages in Canada.

Ethics

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in 2005, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services told a senior Ottawa journalist that his party was working on a deal for Chuck Cadman and that serious financial considerations were on the table.

He now says that we should not believe what is in the press and yet he regularly cites articles when he believes they support his position.

Will he do himself a favour and admit that he outlined this scheme to a journalist in 2005?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

No, Mr. Speaker, because it is simply not true.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is lucky the media has not produced a tape of his comments, but maybe it will.

Let us try this again. What did the parliamentary secretary mean, in 2005, when he said that his party was trying to work something out to address Mr. Cadman's family finances?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, the column that my colleague is citing from yesterday's Globe and Mail is false.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services misused the July 15, 2005 newspaper article as evidence that Mr. Cadman was planning to run again, but, once again, the government's spin is at odds with the facts. What the article actually reported was that Mr. Cadman had planned on running again until April, when he was told that he had only a few months to live.

Did the parliamentary secretary even bother to read the article or was he trying to mislead the House?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, this is really all the Liberals have left. We have been clear and consistent on the facts of this case. There was the one meeting on the 19th where Doug Finley, Tom Flanagan and Chuck Cadman got together and we made an offer to him to rejoin the Conservative caucus. That was the only offer that was put on the table. We have been clear and consistent about that. The Liberals are persistently trying to change their lines of attack because they are operating without the basic facts of the case that Chuck Cadman himself presented to Canadians.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, they can keep running but sooner or later they will need to come to account. This is the Cadman family that is giving us the facts, not them.

The article is further proof that Mr. Cadman had no intention of running again. What is worse is that the Prime Minister would have known this because he had at least two meetings in April and May with Mr. Cadman personally after he was diagnosed.

When will the Conservatives drop this fanciful idea that Mr. Cadman was going to run again and just tell us the truth and admit that they offered Mr. Cadman a bribe?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, there was no offer of a $1 million life insurance bribe. Any accusation to that effect is false. The Liberals have made the accusation but it is incorrect, libellous and we will see them in court.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, with increasing global economic turmoil, it is more important than ever that Canada's government remain vigilant and keep its fiscal house in order.

Under the leadership of the Conservatives, taxes are at the lowest level in nearly 50 years, the unemployment rate is at its lowest level in 33 years and Canada's debt burden is at its lowest level since the 1970s. More Canadians are holding on to their jobs. More Canadians are able to make future plans with confidence. More Canadians are working.

Would the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance please update the House on Canada's employment picture?

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

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the finance minister, last fall, anticipated that there would be some economic volatility so he put in $60 billion worth of tax cuts that stimulated the economy. The result of that is a 33 year low in unemployment, 43,000 new jobs, which brings us to a grand total of 800,000 net new jobs since this Conservative government took over.

Status of Women

[Penny Priddy, NDP, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, full time working women in Canada earn, on average, $39,200, compared to men who earn $55,700. This is a wage gap of $16,500. The Conservative agenda has made a $5 million cut to women's funding, eliminating funding for research and advocacy for women's equality rights. It fired 61 people working toward equal rights for women.

Why did the government ignore Canadian women in the budget and how can Canadian women trust the government?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind my hon. colleague that our government has increased the women's program budget by 76%, to the highest level it has ever reached. Furthermore, on March 4, 2008, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages allocated funding totalling $1,934,732 to seven national women's groups for projects that empower women everywhere—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bill Blaikie]

Order, please. The hon. member for Toronto—Danforth, for a supplementary question.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative agenda is clearly hurting women. Double the number of women live under the poverty line, the low income cut-off, as compared to men. Women are earning only 71% of the incomes that men earn, and that is only in their best earning years. It is worse in the rest of their earning years, leaving all kinds of women in this country behind.

We talk about aboriginal women and girls being left behind in the thousands. We talk about immigrant women. We talk about single mothers being left behind. What about senior women, for whom the best this government can come up with is to tell them to get a part time, minimum wage job in a big-box store? That is not the attitude we need. What is the government doing about this?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, women in Canada need help. That is why, this week, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages announced the following amounts: $528,800 to Women in Cities International for a project entitled “creating safer communities for marginalized women and everyone”; $479,798 to the Native Women's Association of Canada for a project entitled “violence prevention toolkit”; $358,600 so that immigrant and visible minority women—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bill Blaikie]

Order, please. The hon. member for Kings—Hants.

Science and Technology

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Dr. Arthur Carty told the industry committee that the need for a national science adviser has never been greater and that the government is “tarnishing” Canada's international reputation as a science and innovation leader by cutting that position. He also said that he is “dismayed and disappointed” that the Conservatives find scientific advice “unwanted”.

Why did the minister mislead this House by telling us that Dr. Carty is leaving voluntarily and that he supports the government's latest attack on science?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we actually found out a lot yesterday. According to Dr. Carty, the former Liberal government concocted a science adviser, a position that was underfunded and understaffed, without a clear mandate, without a job description, with a huge expense account, without a reporting structure, without results, and without access to the cabinet and the Prime Minister.

It sounds like the Liberals are still disconnected from ordinary Canadians. This is another example of Liberal misspending and mismanagement. We feel that science and technology is so important that we replaced the Liberal position. We created a position with--

[The Deputy Speaker, Bill Blaikie]

The hon. member for Kings--Hants.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this is interesting, because before Dr. Carty spoke out, the industry minister said about Dr. Carty that he has made “significant and valuable contributions to Canada's international agenda”. He told this House that “Dr. Carty is a respected Canadian whom I hold in very high regard”.

Why, then, did the Conservatives kill Dr. Carty's position? Was it because Dr. Carty, like Linda Keen, dared to speak truth to power? Is it because this government prefers ideology to evidence?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, like I said, what we killed was that Liberal position, a Liberal position that was underfunded and understaffed, without a clear mandate, without a job description, and with a huge expense account.

This gives me the opportunity to talk about what we have replaced it with. We replaced it with STIC, the Science, Technology and Innovation Council, chaired by Dr. Howard Alper, a well-known scientist. By the way, it has a clear mandate and a clear description. It has public reporting.

I want to thank that Liberal member for allowing our budget to pass and our science and technology strategy to go through. I really do appreciate his support and so do Canadians.

Government Appointments

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, at a time when there is so much work to be done on the environment, it is a shame and a pity that the minister has been distracted by his own ethical problems.

On the issue of a bribe of a federal appointment, was the Prime Minister's Office certain that this minister was telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when he did his interviews with the OPP? Did the PMO authorize the minister to intervene in the OPP's decision to send the O'Brien file to the RCMP?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am going to have to go to the doctor. I almost had a heart attack. I thought the Liberals were going to ask a question on the environment, but no, they are not there. They are asking the same silly questions they have asked about imaginary scandals all the way through, but this one has a bit of an ugly side, an uglier side than usual.

That is because the member is asking a question in which he is suggesting that not just this government but the OPP is actually engaging in wrongdoing. That is the extreme point those members have gotten to. It is why nobody takes any of their allegations seriously: because there is no basis for them. The more it is demonstrated that there is no basis, the wilder the accusations get.

The fact is that the OPP cleared the minister. There was no wrongdoing.