Debates of May 2nd, 2008

Gasoline Prices

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

Mr. Speaker, there are two ways to deal with this issue.

One is to slap on carbon taxes, raise income taxes and raise the GST to put it back where it was or raise it an additional point. That is what the NDP and the Liberals in the House would do.

Another way of dealing with it is to lower taxes: to lower the GST, to lower income taxes, to raise personal exemptions and let Canadians keep their money. We have done that. Canadians support us because that is what they want to happen in this country.

TQS

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, everyone in Quebec agrees that the information services provided by TQS are essential to regional news and diversity. Everyone, except the minister, who does not seem in the least interested in the future of TQS, its workers and the information they provide.

Why is the minister refusing to send a clear message in support of TQS and its regional newscasts?

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I would like the member and all members to know that our minister is following this situation very closely. She has sent a letter to the CRTC chairman asking him for the details of the process he intends to follow.

As a matter of fact, last Friday the CRTC announced that it is going to have public hearings on this issue commencing on June 2. Our minister is fully aware of this and is fully engaged with this issue.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' biofuels plan will actually help fight world hunger. Biofuels are helping our economy, giving us more revenue to help the rest of the world.

NDP members, in their usual weather vane way, have now broken their promise to farmers on biofuels. Shame on them for doing that. The Bloc and the Liberals, or should I say the powerless and the power hungry, are stumbling and contradicting themselves on biofuels.

Can the Secretary of State for Agriculture tell us how the Conservatives' biofuels plan will help us fight world hunger?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Secretary of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, our plan for biofuels permits us to counter the world food shortage. When we reach our biofuel targets, 95% of Canada's arable land will continue to produce food. Biofuels stimulate the economy and they will provide the means to do more for the planet.

Canada is one of the two most important donors to the world food program. This is no small matter.

Therefore, the NDP is wrong, the Bloc has no power and, as for the Liberals, as usual we cannot believe them.

Kamloops Airport

[Denise Savoie, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is getting a bad reputation for promising one thing and delivering another. We just need to ask the people in Kamloops. City officials there were told the new airport was approved. Even though the government committed $6.6 million, one city councillor put it best by saying that the government is really just tap dancing now.

Will the minister stop trying to shuffle the blame onto Kamloops local officials and tell working families in Kamloops when the promised money is coming and that no administration fees will be charged?

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

Mr. Speaker, the community economic development initiative is investing more than $33 million to strengthen and diversify the economies of B.C.'s forestry dependent communities. It will enable communities such as Kamloops not only to survive but thrive in the global economy over the long term.

That community economic development initiative is of course part of the federal $200 million mountain pine beetle program that our government launched in 2007. Already that program is doing much to help control the spread of the pine beetle, recover as much economic value as possible for the timber destroyed by the beetle, and protect forests and communities from the risk of wild fire.

It is just one example of how we are standing up for resource based communities. We are doing our part to help out communities like Kamloops.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Ken Boshcoff, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Indian Affairs was at the United Nations yesterday attacking the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. In full damage control mode, he shut aboriginal Canadians out of the media conference.

However, he cannot hide from the fact that more than 100 legal experts signed a letter refuting the government's rationale for voting against the declaration. Will the minister admit that his bogus excuses are a complete betrayal of Canada's aboriginal peoples?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. Canada voted no because the declaration is flawed. It lacks clear, practical guidance for states. It contains provisions that are incompatible with Canada's constitutional framework.

This government is working to get the job done for first nations by improving the quality of their drinking water, by finally settling the residential schools dispute, and by building more housing for first nations. This government is delivering more for first nations and Inuit than the Liberal government did in 13 long years.

Status of Women

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the executive director of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, Lise Martin, had to leave her job when her operating budget was cut in half after the government withdrew its support for Status of Women Canada's research and advocacy mandate.

Can the Minister of Status of Women explain why Status of Women Canada does not have a line item in its budget for organizations that do research on women and its researchers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the House that our government increased the budget for the women's program by $20 million this year, an increase of 76%, the highest increase ever. We are also helping all organizations and women in Canada, unlike the Bloc, which will never be able to do anything here in 113 years.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Ottawa South is rising on a point of order.

Oral Questions

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in a response given by the Minister of the Environment to a question put to him, I think he referred to the pipeline through the Northwest Territories, the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, as a pipeline that would transport petroleum.

Just for the record and for his own information, it does not actually transport petroleum. It will be transporting natural gas.

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Petroleum products, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the member for Ottawa South for supporting this Conservative government. Everywhere I go over the next six months I will be sure to give credit to the Liberal Party of Canada, and specifically the member for Ottawa South, for keeping the Prime Minister and this government in office.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I do not think either sounded like a point of order to me.

Status of Women

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women in relation to the main estimates.

Persons With Disabilities

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions between the parties, and I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion.

I move:

That, in the opinion of the House, the government should ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, signed by Canada on March 30, 2007, following requisite consultations and procedures with provincial and territorial authorities, and that Parliament and the Government of Canada take appropriate measures within their competence to ensure Canada's full compliance with the convention.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Does the hon. member for Winnipeg North have the unanimous consent of the House to propose this motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

(Motion agreed to)

Status of Women

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table petitions from my riding collected by student volunteer, Marissa Caucci, from Villa Maria High School.

The petitioners call upon the government to redouble its efforts to protect women's rights, including in particular: to enact pay equity legislation; to initiate gender budgeting policy; to reinstate the court challenges program; to combat the disturbing incidence of poverty among women, and combat violence against women, particularly trafficking; to initiate a comprehensive child care and affordable housing strategy; and to address gender disparities in matters of social and economic rights while protecting aboriginal women.

In conclusion, the petitioners remind the government to heed the clarion call of the Vienna convention that, “Women's rights are human rights and there are no human rights which do not include the rights of women”.

Sri Lanka

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present a petition signed by 660 students from York University and from my riding of Etobicoke Centre.

Last year the designated peace negotiator of the Tamil side in the Sri Lankan conflict, Mr. Thamilselvan, was killed by a targeted Sri Lankan air force strike. Soon afterwards, the Sri Lankan government withdrew support for the peace process, leading to descent into even greater violence, and now all out civil war.

The petitioners urge the Prime Minister to show leadership by engaging in multilateral diplomatic efforts to help secure a ceasefire and bringing about hope for war ravaged Sri Lanka by pushing for renewed peace negotiations.

Canada has the capacity to be a leader in advancing the cause of peace in this war-torn region.

Aboriginal Children

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition that is signed by people from Brochet, Manitoba and Edmonton, Alberta to implement Jordan's principle.

They say that it is the right of all Canadian children to access universal health care. Canada is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and first nations children residing on reserve do not have the same access to health care services as all other Canadian children.

They are calling on the government to follow through on Jordan's principle so that all first nations children residing on reserve receive the same health care services as other Canadian children.