Debates of April 9th, 2008

Afghanistan

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, clearly anyone who has been following this story for some time would know that the message coming from Canada has been very clear.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Did you tell them, Peter?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

The member should calm herself.

Mr. Speaker, the message has been very clear. We have spoken to our NATO allies consistently, including the Secretary General of NATO. We have been in constant contact with our NATO allies on the issues of troop deployments and equipment.

The motion before Parliament was communicated very clear. The member should clue in.

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for the term "transparency" to be truly meaningful, one must practice what one preaches. Why then, despite a motion passed by this House calling for the principle of transparency to be applied to our mission in Afghanistan, is the government not putting this principle into practice?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we are putting our principles into practice and into action. That is clear. A motion was passed in the House with the support of our Liberal friends opposite. We are working to implement the motion.

I would like to congratulate the Prime Minister on the success of the Bucharest meeting; it was a huge success. We have the troops we need, and we will soon have the equipment we need to ensure the success of the mission and to end it, as planned, in July 2011.

Manufacturing Sector

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

Mr. Speaker, day after day, the Minister of Finance can see the results of his failure to act. Manufacturing jobs are disappearing by the thousands in all regions of Quebec. In a display of acute inefficiency, the minister has set up a $1 billion trust and is spending $20,176 per job lost in Alberta and only $2,276 per job lost in Quebec even though Alberta has lost just 2% of jobs to Quebec's 34% over the past three years.

When will the minister put an end to this unfairness by investing money where jobs have actually been lost?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

In 2007 alone, Mr. Speaker, Quebec had a 2.4% job growth rate above the national average. It is Quebec's best showing in five years in terms of new job creation. Since our government came to office over 813,000 new jobs have been created, over 14,000 new jobs in the month of March alone. We stand on that record. We are proud of the sound economic fundamentals in Canada.

[Jean-Yves Roy, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec was tooting his own horn about phase two of his eponymous plan. Phase one of his plan was so effective that since he took the job two years ago, Quebec has lost nearly 45,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Is the minister aware that two times zero is zero, and that if the second phase is anything like the first, the manufacturing jobs crisis will only get worse in the regions of Quebec?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, since the Bloc Québécois appeared in this House 17 years ago, the only thing they have done—and I was here in 1991—is ask question after question after question, without ever achieving any results for Quebec.

To date, over 150,000 jobs have been created in Quebec since we came to power two years ago. And the tools are in place to support the economic development of the regions.

Aerospace Industry

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, RADARSAT-2, a state-of-the-art satellite that was paid for with more than $400 million of public money, is at risk of being sold to American interests. But, even if the company says we will have the same access to the data, that is not what the United States' law says. For example, if there are floods in Quebec and the United States at the same time, American interests could come before our own safety.

Will the Minister of Industry stop this sale, or will he put the interests of the United States before those of Quebec?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, this is not the case. The question is premature. I am studying the matter and examining the sale of MDA under the Investment Canada Act. In accordance with the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act. Canada will continue to use the RADARSAT-2 satellite.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, ATK, the company that wants to buy RADARSAT-2, is one of the largest weapons and munitions manufacturers in the United States. This company manufactures missiles, munitions and landmines. It is also involved in the militarization of space, and there is proof—ATK has been involved in the American missile defence shield.

How can the Minister of Industry believe that selling such a state-of-the-art satellite to an American company that manufactures landmines and is involved in the militarization of space would be advantageous to Quebec and Canada?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I would point out to the hon. member that the transaction is a proposed transaction. She will be aware from my previous statements in the House that any decisions which I have made or will make in the future with respect to this matter are governed by the Investment Canada Act. I will abide strictly by the requirements that are imposed in law under that statute.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, the IMF has just reported that the global financial crisis could result in losses of $1 trillion. Serious governments, like the British and the Americans, have prepared detailed plans of action which they will be discussing at the G-7 finance meeting this Friday.

What concrete plans or ideas will Canada's government be bringing to the table?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure, if the hon. member has an opportunity to read the IMF report, which I have, he will see that Canada and the performance of this government are complimented.

We have been specifically chosen by the IMF as an example of what governments should do because we did it on a timely basis last year on October 30 with the economic stimulus that this country needed to create jobs. That is exactly what we did. As I said, we were lauded by the IMF in its report released today.

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

Mr. Speaker, so it sounds like he will be G-7 window dressing with nothing concrete to put on the table on the global crisis.

Canadians expect their governments to show leadership in global economic affairs, like when the previous Liberal finance minister jumped on the global stage and successfully pushed for the G-20, an assembly of the 20 largest nations in the world.

Other than fancy trips for ministers, what is the point of being a G-7 country if the government has no ideas and nothing to put on the table?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite really should read the report before he asks questions about it.

Another example used by the international community reflecting on Canada's leadership is with respect to the non-bank-backed asset backed commercial paper and the Montreal accord, and the work on that accord led by Purdy Crawford, a great Canadian, who has developed in the private sector, with the facilitation of the Bank of Canada and the governor and the Department of Finance, a solution to that which we hope will pass with the investors on April 25.

Canaccord made an important announcement today with respect to the private investors. I hope--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for London West.

Automotive Industry

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Ontario government has pledged $17 million to keep open and expand the Ford plant in Essex. Ford is waiting for the federal government to match this or the project might not go ahead.

Will the government commit $17 million for the Ford plant in Essex, yes or no?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, let us make sure that the record is clear.

That hon. member has sat on her hands for 13 years in relation to the issue of competitiveness. She sat on her hands for the 2008 budget that contained the automotive innovation fund. In 2007 she voted against the best manufacturing budget we have seen in a generation.

Her efforts could only be described successful in the way that Churchill described Liberals: lurching from failure to failure with enthusiasm.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that certainly did not answer the question that was asked.

Can the minister answer the question? Will the government commit $17 million for the Ford plant in Essex, yes or no? Try again.

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy is astounding. If it had been up to that member, there would not be a fund at all to fund anything. She should leave Ford to me. She should be in the House to vote on other matters that are before the House.

As for the record that she has left, she is going to have to be accountable to her constituents. She has left the faintest footprints with respect to industry in Canada.

Tibet

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is a growing consensus in the international community on the need for a principled response to the human rights situation in Quebec, or in Tibet.

Only yesterday, Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. We have to be able to hear the question. The hon. member for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington has the floor. We will have a little order please.