Debates of May 7th, 2008

Ethics

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite should once again be ashamed of himself.

We on this side of the House thought a well-respected member like that member would come to this place and would apologize for the truly outrageous accusations he has levelled against the finance minister. He has levelled them in number four again. The reality is the minister has done more to support the developmentally disabled, children with Down syndrome and people who need a helping hand up. Attacking the minister, his family, his children, is outrageous.

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

Mr. Speaker, there is no such attack.

However, I would point out that a new poll today says that 62% of Ontarians believe the government is hurting their economy.

Meanwhile, the finance minister will not even stand up to answer questions. Apparently that is what is called accountability under the Prime Minister. So today I am stuck with an environment minister who knows even less about economics than he knows about the environment, but I will give it a go.

What are the top four priorities in the Department of Finance's annual report? If he does not know that, what are they in the environment ministry's annual report?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the only poll that matters is the one on election day.

The last time the people of Canada were asked did they want to re-elect a crooked, corrupt Liberal government, 70% of Canadians voted against the Liberals and threw them out of office.

Elections Canada

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about elections.

Yesterday on the in and out, the parliamentary secretary wondered what his party was accused of. Let me explain.

The Conservatives tried to hide $1.3 million in national overspending on the books of local candidates. They forced local candidates to take part in the scheme where the local candidates had no control of the funds, never incurred the expenses, never knew what the ads were that were being bought, and then sought rebates; in short, election fraud.

Is the parliamentary secretary not embarrassed by having to answer for the ministers while they sit in silence with Elections Canada hot in pursuit--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board. Order, please.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, this is an example of the Liberal in and out that we refer to as the double-double--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board has the floor. We will have some order.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our next example is the Liberal double-double.

On July 14, 2004 the Liberal Party made two transfers to Rick Limoges' local campaign for $5,000 and $4,000. The next day, Rick Limoges' local campaign made two transfers back to the Liberal party for $5,000 and $4,000.

Mr. Speaker, $5,000 in, $5,000 out; $4000 in, $4,000 out. In and out, that is the Liberals' game.

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just the Liberals who are making these accusations, it is also Elections Canada and former Conservative candidates.

No minister over there has the courage to speak up because they all benefited from this election fraud. The Ministers of Finance, Health and the Environment all benefited from this scheme.

Will the parliamentary secretary stop obfuscating, stop making excuses for them and confess that his party engaged in a major election fraud in the last election?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, again and again I shared with the members across the way examples of in and out that they have engaged in. They become very defensive, but what they do not realize is they, like us, did nothing wrong. Conservative candidates spent Conservative funds on Conservative ads. They got financial assistance from the national party to do so.

Elections Canada found out because we told them. Elections Canada singled us out, so we took it to court. One day before it was to face questioning, representatives barged into our office, breaking Elections Canada's own rules, and were followed soon behind by a Liberal camera. That is the story. That is the reality. The Liberal members really have to accept it.

The Environment

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada's funding agreement for the 14 ZIP committees and for Stratégies Saint-Laurent, which are working to protect the St. Lawrence River, expired on March 31, 2008. Since then, projects related to the St. Lawrence River action plan have been approved by Quebec's ministry of sustainable development, environment and parks. However, these projects cannot be launched because of the Conservatives' ideological stubbornness in continuing to underfund these community groups.

Will the Minister of the Environment commit to meeting with the 14 ZIP committees and with Stratégies Saint-Laurent in the next few days, to renegotiate and sign a fair agreement to fund the implementation of the St. Lawrence action plan until 2010?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada provides a whole series of supports to environmental projects and objectives right across the country. We think it is important not to do everything in-house but to work cooperatively with others to seek help in protecting the ecosystems and biological diversity of this country, and that is something we will continue to do.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are precisely talking about the ZIP committees for areas of prime concern. The minister's refusal to confirm funding for these groups directly affects tangible environmental initiatives. For example, the upper St. Lawrence and southern estuary ZIP committees had to fire over 50% of their staff, because the minister refuses to sign the funding agreement.

Will the Minister of the Environment commit today to signing this most important agreement, as the 14 ZIP committees and Stratégies Saint-Laurent are urging him to do?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, we provide funding on an annual basis to groups that submit requests. There are obviously always more requests than there are funds. What this really does point out is that for 18 long years the Bloc Québécois has been in this place and has been able to exercise no power because it is on the opposition side of the House, not like 11 strong Conservative MPs who are working hard for Quebec and delivering the goods.

Disaster Assistance

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government's disaster assistance program does not cover wages lost by citizens, the repair or replacement of trailers, or the cost of food lost in a disaster. When Canadians need help, they should not have to worry about what the federal government can give them in terms of financial assistance.

Will the Conservatives change their position and pay back wages lost by disaster victims and emergency volunteers? Will they financially support the citizens to meet their basic needs, such as food, or will they abandon them?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we have a program to help the provinces when a disaster occurs. During discussions with my provincial colleagues, they told me they were satisfied with the program.

When disasters and other such problems arise, we are here to help. If there are some improvements that could be made to the program, we can explore them. However, one thing is important. We are here now for the disaster victims, since it is a very difficult time for the provinces when a disaster occurs.

Health

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, recent events have led Canadians to question the safety of the products they use and buy. On April 8 the Minister of Health tabled the consumer product safety act, which would increase fines for those who import or produce an unsafe good and which would finally give the government the ability to force a recall of unsafe products.

Canadians watched the consumer product safety act move from first to second reading in only a few days and we are pleased to see it has been referred to committee for further study.

Would the Minister of Health update this House on its progress?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform this House of what I consider to be the height of irresponsibility by the opposition party.

Last night the official opposition tabled a motion at the health committee beginning a several week study on the supervised injection site in Vancouver, which means that all the important work that the committee has to do in regard to the consumer product safety act is put in abeyance.

What troubles me is that this is the same band of individuals who said that we do not need any more research. Now they are tying up a committee with weeks of more research. Our children, our mothers, our fathers, everybody needs better safety. The opposition is preventing it from happening.

Government Accountability

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, access to information documents show that the former heritage minister wracked up phenomenal bills on limousines, flights and hotels which she kept hidden from the public.

We have extravagant limousine rides to Conservative Party meetings, flights across the country for which there are no records, and double-billed hotels for the same nights in two different cities with no disclosure.

The rules are there for a reason, to ensure accountability and transparency in government. Average Canadians play by the rules. Why does she think she can break those rules with impunity?

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister's expenses are done in accordance with Treasury Board rules. Public disclosures have been corrected where there have been problems. However, let me tell members this. The big difference between our government and the predecessor Liberal government is the approach of ministers toward their expenses.

Under the previous Liberal government, the public coffers were a piggy bank for a good time and a good meal. The government House leader's office, for example, in the last year of the Liberals spent 204% more than in the first year under the Conservatives. In the ministry of health, those ministers spent 289% more under the Liberals. The leader of the government in the Senate, under the Liberals--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Timmins--James Bay.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is not accountability. That is entitlement.

In March 2006 we have a $1,700 bill for two days of joyriding in a limousine. In August 2006, $740 for a limo trip around Toronto with no disclosure. The next day, there is another $861 to ride around Toronto with no disclosure. On November 2006, there is $600 to ride around Vancouver with no disclosure, and on March 2007, a $1,300 limo ride to a partisan Conservative Party meeting.

She has broken the trust of average Canadians. Will the government compel her to pay that money back to taxpayers?

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister's expenses are considerably lower than those of her Liberal predecessor.