House of Commons Hansard #100 of the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.

Topics

HealthOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC

Mr. Speaker, if the Minister of Health claims that he cares about people who use drugs and the issues they face, then he will respect the decision of the court. The medical, scientific and now legal conclusions just could not be any clearer. Insite is a life-saving facility and harm reduction is an essential component of Canada's drug strategy.

When will the minister put aside his personal ideological position, respect the court's decision, and get to work on changing Canada's drug laws to allow access to health facilities such as Insite? When is he going to do that? He is taking too long.

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario

Conservative

Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario

Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich for the member from the New Democratic Party to start lecturing us on ideological positions. That is its bread and butter over there, but we on this side of the House are here for public policy.

We are here to help our kids and prevent them from getting on drugs in the first place. We are here to help addicts. We think the best public health is when we get addicts off the drugs, to treat them, to treat them as human beings, and to be there with the passion. That is what we believe on this side of the House.

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order. I urge all hon. members to exercise a little more self control. We are wasting time and no one wants to waste time in question period.

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario

Conservative

Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario

The hon. member for Mississauga--Brampton South.

Canada-U.S. RelationsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Mr. Speaker, the NAFTA-gate report indicated that there were Americans who had access to the Obama memo, yet they were never interviewed. These interviews were said to be “beyond the scope of the investigation”. This is especially troubling with recent reports alleging that the son of a Republican congressman with strong links to the PMO had the memo before it was leaked.

Why did private investigators feel that talking to these Americans was not worth their time? Who are they covering for?

Canada-U.S. RelationsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

York—Simcoe Ontario

Conservative

Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform

Mr. Speaker, as the report that was undertaken by the Clerk of the Privy Council indicated, there were media sources that did not cooperate and there were others where there was no point in approaching. The real issue is the question: “If he had evidence? If he had anything to raise?”

Liberals were the ones talking about this issue in the House. If they thought this was in question, they should have brought it to the attention of the investigation. In fact, I seem to recall they were concerned that the investigation was too thorough and taking too long. We make no apologies for a thorough investigation and one, I might add, that cleared the Prime Minister's chief of staff.

Canada-U.S. RelationsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Mr. Speaker, the report was a whitewash, no matter what the government claims. The NAFTA-gate report leaves the leak of the Obama memo strangely unresolved.

According to the report, investigators thought about calling the Associated Press but decided not to, claiming lack of jurisdiction. They used the same excuse to avoid talking to Americans who had access to the memo.

How can we accept the findings of this report if private investigators could not be bothered to pick up the phone and make these calls?

Canada-U.S. RelationsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

York—Simcoe Ontario

Conservative

Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member belongs to a party that claims to stand up for public servants, yet he stands in the House, under the privilege provided to members of the House, and smears the reputation of the top civil servant in this country, the Clerk of the Privy Council, by describing his work as a “whitewash”. I believe it is now time for that member to apologize, the same way that his leader has had to apologize already on a number of occasions for his comments.

JusticeOral Questions

May 28th, 2008 / 2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, we do not hear much from the President of the Treasury Board these days. He keeps a low profile in Manitoba. He does not answer questions in the House. His parliamentary stand-in takes the heat on Conservative election financing.

Is the President of the Treasury Board, and wannabe future judge, avoiding questions on election financing because he was convicted of violating the election laws in the province of Manitoba?

JusticeOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Niagara Falls Ontario

Conservative

Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, I welcome that member to the justice file. I think this is the only issue that she has raised.

If she wants to get involved in justice issues, instead of worrying about no appointment, maybe she could go back and talk to law enforcement agencies in Winnipeg who are quite concerned about auto theft and youth crime. Maybe those members could begin by explaining why they helped gut the private member's bill sponsored by the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle that had mandatory sentencing for people who steal cars.

Why does she not go back to Winnipeg and explain that?

JusticeOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I suggest the minister read the bill I sent over to his office yesterday that I tabled some weeks ago.

The Prime Minister is seriously lacking in judgment if he thinks Manitobans will roll over and accept this hypocritical appointment. The Treasury Board President named the panel that will decide on his own judicial appointment. The Conservative government is planning to appoint a man to the bench who pleaded guilty to breaking the law.

Why is it that behaviour the Prime Minister finds unacceptable for a cabinet minister qualifies him to be a judge in Manitoba?

JusticeOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Niagara Falls Ontario

Conservative

Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, that member has discovered the justice issue and is now drafting a private member's bill. I hope those members have decided to help support cracking down on auto theft, tackling identity theft, and mandatory sentences for drug crimes.

The government has a slightly different agenda. We are doing something that has not been done in this country for a long time. We are standing up for victims and law-abiding Canadians. That is our agenda.

Shipbuilding IndustryOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Serge Cardin Bloc Sherbrooke, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on International Trade's report on the free trade agreement between Canada and the European Free Trade Association is clear. It says: “—the Canadian government must without delay implement an aggressive Maritime policy to support the [shipbuilding] industry—”. In fact, that is the only recommendation in the report.

How will the Minister of Industry act on that recommendation, and when will he do so?

Shipbuilding IndustryOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Vancouver Kingsway B.C.

Conservative

David Emerson ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the free trade agreement with the EFTA countries has the longest phase-out in Canadian history built into it in terms of a 10 to 15 year phase-out for the shipbuilding industry.

My hon. colleague, the Minister of Industry, has replenished the structured financing facility that supports the shipbuilding industry. There is something in the order of $8 billion of publicly procured ships in the order books that will be coming down to our shipyards over the next 10 years.

Regional DevelopmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec asked for a review of the Pôle Québec Chaudière-Appalaches file to ensure that the organization was not treated unfairly. The minister's decision to stop providing financial support to non-profit organizations with an economic development mandate has raised a number of concerns throughout Quebec.

Will the minister step back from his Conservative ideology, tell the people of Quebec what they want to hear, and restore funding for all such organizations to previous levels?

Regional DevelopmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière Québec

Conservative

Jacques Gourde ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec

Mr. Speaker, Economic Development Canada's mandate is to support economic development in Canada, and that is what we are working to achieve.

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, the government today smacks of cover-up and now it needs to reconcile its stories. Up to now the story has been that this is a matter of private life, but the Minister of Public Safety has said that if it were a matter of security, he would not say so to Canadians. Therefore, which one is true?

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

York—Simcoe Ontario

Conservative

Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform

Mr. Speaker, I think the Liberal leader was here so he should surely know that no such thing was said by the Minister of Public Safety. He simply said that people who were concerned about national security did not talk about these kinds of meetings in a public forum. That is all he said, nothing more than that, and nothing else has changed.

Aboriginal AffairsOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago the House was dealing with a number of key pieces of legislation that would directly affect the lives of aboriginal people in Canada.

The bill on matrimonial real property on reserve is about correcting an obvious inequality and protecting the vulnerable in the event of a marriage breakdown. We are also dealing with the bill on our government's commitment to extend the same human rights protections to first nations on reserve, which all other Canadians enjoy.

Would the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development update the House on the progress of these and other legislative initiatives that would improve the lives of aboriginal people in Canada?

Aboriginal AffairsOral Questions

3 p.m.

Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon B.C.

Conservative

Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians

Mr. Speaker, we are making good progress on many pieces of legislation, but I particularly like to highlight the progress on Bill C-30, a historic bill on specific claims. The bill is now in the Senate. It will have hearings again tonight on that. It is going through because the government and the Assembly of First Nations are working closely together on that bill. We co-drafted the bill. It addresses wrongs that go back decades and decades.

We are extremely proud to have all party support to once again look after the needs of first nations. It is time to get the job done for first nations in our country.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister continues his summer spinning tour of Europe, meeting with the Conservative Chancellor of Germany who has committed her country to spending $800 million to protect the world's forests, to establish a national home retrofit program and to meet Germany's climate change targets.

Could the government summon the courage to commit to putting a real price on carbon? When will the government stop damaging the environment here at home and ruining our reputation when abroad?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Langley B.C.

Conservative

Mark Warawa ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely wrong. He knows Canada now is a world leader in the fight against climate change.

The Prime Minister is in Bonn, Germany. In fact, the United Nations today awarded the Prime Minister an award on Canada's contribution to biodiversity, again a world leader.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC

Mr. Speaker, instead of being a leader on environmental and climate change issues, the Prime Minister is embarrassing us in Europe, just as the Minister of the Environment did in Bali before the holidays. The Conservatives are always quick to look for an excuse, so they are blaming their own mismanagement on 13 years of Liberal inaction and incompetence.

The problem is that their plan does not have a fixed, absolute cap. Without that, we cannot reduce greenhouse gases. When can we expect to have a real plan?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Langley B.C.

Conservative

Mark Warawa ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, the NDP record on the environment is unbelievable. In the budget the government wanted to end the subsidies for big oil sands, the big oil producers. The NDP is supporting the Liberals to have that continue. This government stands against it.

With regard to the Great Bear Rainforest, there are $30 million for biodiversity. What did the NDP do? It voted against that. It supports the big oil companies.