Debates of May 7th, 2008

Foreign Affairs

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians want to know that when they are in difficulty overseas, they will have a government that stands up for them.

Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, is holed up in the embassy in the Sudan. He is unable to come home and clear his name. He cannot get a passport. He cannot get his name off the no fly list. He is caught in no man's land.

Will the government put him on a plane, fly him home and allow him to clear his name, or will it continue to pick and choose which Canadians get its support overseas?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague must know, Mr. Abdelrazik is currently on the United Nations' list of suspected terrorists, because he is suspected of being affiliated with al Qaeda and the Taliban. He cannot travel to Canada because he is presently on that list.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, can the minister explain to the House why he is on that list? What evidence was used to justify putting him on the list? Otherwise, this infringes on the freedom of a Canadian citizen.

What will be done to bring Mr. Abdelrazik back so that he may resolve this situation?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to answer my colleague's question. This man is on the list of suspected terrorists. Why? Because he is suspected of being affiliated with al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

That being said, we continue to provide consular services to Mr. Abdelrazik and we will continue to do so.

400th Anniversary of Quebec City

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, representative of Queen Elizabeth II, has gone to France on behalf of the Canadian government to inaugurate the festivities of the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. Madam Jean said she hopes France will “look beyond Quebec”. I think France should look beyond Michaëlle Jean. She even said that her goal was to make Canada an authentic nation.

Does the Prime Minister realize that the 400th anniversary of Quebec City is a celebration of Quebec City and the Quebec nation, and not the Canadian nation?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Governments of Canada and Quebec and Quebec City are working together so that we may all celebrate together the importance of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City.

The Governor General was referring to the importance of the relationship between Canada and France, just as the Bloc does by participating in the Parliament of Canada.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are elected members. That is not the same as a monarchy, which is anti-democratic, archaic and folkloric. I do not imagine France would be represented by the Count of Paris. Monarchy is ridiculous.

That said, the Queen's representative even emphasized that the festivities surrounding the 400th anniversary of Quebec City are celebrating France and Canada.

Does the Prime Minister realize that we are talking about the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, the cradle of the Quebec nation? Are we not celebrating the Quebec nation, and not a ridiculous monarchy?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, after much hesitation, the leader of the Bloc voted in favour of recognizing the Quebec nation within a united Canada.

The leader of the Bloc is giving me an opportunity to say that 400 years ago, in Quebec City, our country was born in French. The founding of Quebec City is also the founding of Canada. The Governor General is today's successor to Samuel de Champlain, the first Governor of Canada. All Canadians are celebrating this very important event in our shared heritage.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on the federal government's Internet site for the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, the Prime Minister states, after the absurdities we have just heard, “—for the founding of Quebec City also marks the founding of the Canadian State.” Nothing is further from the truth. In 2008, we will not be celebrating the birth of Canada but the founding of Quebec City, the cradle of the Quebec nation.

Does the Prime Minister realize that the federal government's maladroit attempt to use this occasion for his own political purposes is an insult to the Quebec nation?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the only ones trying to take advantage of an historic event, an extremely important event in the country's history, are the members of the Bloc Québécois who are attempting once again to rewrite Canadian history.

All of us in this House know that Quebec was the first city, founded 400 years ago, and that Quebec gave rise to Canada. That is what we are celebrating together.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is rather curious that the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is rising to defend the Queen and the monarchy but that he is unable to rise to defend his own election expenses.

The visit of the “almost-queen” to France, just like the content of the government's Internet site, clearly shows the federal government's desire to usurp the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Quebec City.

Why is the Conservative government, which recognized the Quebec nation, hijacking the 400th anniversary celebrations to do some Canadian nation building? That is a disgrace.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, on two occasions, Quebeckers solemnly voted on the country's future. Quebeckers said yes to Canada. They said that they did not want or wish to remain all alone and isolated. The Bloc Québécois is an outdated political party. Here we see the permanent leader of a political party with no future in Canada.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the UN has announced that it would be looking into the government's failure to report Canada's CO₂ emissions. The UN had given the government one month's notice of the need to comply. There are severe consequences and penalties for failing to comply. Canada faces suspension from the carbon exchange. This would prevent Canada from taking advantage of golden opportunities to invest in sustainable development.

Is the government refusing to publish the data requested by the United Nations because it is opposed to the principle of a carbon exchange? Is that the reason?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think the leader of the New Democratic Party is referring to the international registry under the Kyoto protocol. He knows that the previous government refused for over a decade to set up such a registry. This government has put someone in charge of this file, and we are working on setting up a registry.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have had many investigations of the government for ethical breaches but now we have the United Nations investigating Canada for breaches of the rules in registering greenhouse gas emissions.

Whether it is obstructing climate change bills here in the House or subsidizing its friends in the tar sands to the tune of billions of dollars, the fact is that the government is creating irreparable damage to the climate and for future generations.

Now, it is compromising our ability to participate in the climate exchange, the cap and trade system that is essential for fighting climate change.

Does the Prime Minister know no bounds when it comes to breaches of accountability?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Government of Canada is in the process of establishing the registry to which the leader of the NDP speaks. It has been in that process for some time. Nothing was done on it for the first 10 years. We have taken that responsibility and are moving forward.

The leader of the NDP also mentions subsidies to the oil sands. He should know that the government eliminated those in budget 2007 but, unfortunately, the NDP and the other opposition parties voted to keep them.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, as someone born in Quebec City, I am proud that Quebec City is considered to be the cradle of francophones in North America, the cradle of Quebeckers, French Canadians and all Canadians.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Even before Quebec City was founded by Champlain, there were aboriginal peoples there. The figures released yesterday by the Auditor General are a national disgrace. We had signed the Kelowna accord with all the provincial and territorial governments and the first nations.

Will the Prime Minister admit that, by destroying the Kelowna accord, he has made things worse?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, as the former Indian affairs minister, Bob Nault, recently wrote in a national newspaper, “the Kelowna accord was not going to get the job done for first nations”.

He knew that and I think even the Liberals knew that. That is why we are taking precise, concrete measures to help. There was nothing in the Kelowna accord that addressed specific land claims, nothing about clean water programs and nothing about a joint federal-provincial agreement on child and family services.

We are taking concrete measures because aboriginals deserve more than a communiqué.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

It was a historic accord between the Government of Canada, the first nations and all the governments of the provinces and territories addressing a whole range of issues that would have made a great difference.

Will he admit that in killing the Kelowna accord he made things worse for aboriginal people?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, we do know what made it worse for aboriginal people. For example, in the Auditor General's report yesterday, she detailed that for 13 years the Liberals kept the same child and family service program in place that continued to take children away from aboriginal families and refused to change to a prevention model, which our government has started to do already by signing the agreement in Alberta.

Aboriginal people deserve better. They deserve a different system and they deserve a different government than they used to get from the Liberal Party of Canada.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last year the Conservatives tarnished Canada's international reputation when, for the first time in Canadian history, they voted against a human rights document and refused to ratify the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Now they are working against a similar document at the Organization of American States.

The government is hiding behind legal wrangling and nitpicking.

What is the real reason that the Conservatives have refused to join the rest of the world in supporting the human rights of aboriginal peoples?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, when that document came forward we identified some problems with it beforehand. Four countries voted against it, 11 countries abstained, 35 other countries did not show up for the vote and many other countries issued dissenting opinions on why the document was flawed and did not apply in their own country.

We believe we should take concrete measures within our own country. I wish that the members opposite would take the steps necessary to protect the human rights of aboriginal people on reserve. They have gutted the bill and have made it so that first nations are not covered properly. That needs to change.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for attempting to provide an answer. He referred to the example of the United States. I want to ask the minister: given all the other members of the international community, does he take the United States as a model?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure exactly what the member means but what I can say is that Canada does recognize aboriginal rights as entitled within our own Constitution.

When I met with ambassadors last week in New York, I went down the list of concrete measures that we were taking, including things that were never in the Kelowna accord: the Indian residential schools settlement and the truth and conciliation commission now headed by Justice LaForme.

We keep taking concrete measures on water, on education, on child and family services, on Indian residential schools and on a market housing initiative this week.

Aboriginals deserve concrete measures, not communiqués from the Liberals.

Heritage Buildings

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after the fire that destroyed the armoury in Quebec City, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages said that this building should not be left in a state of disrepair that would not be appropriate for the 400th anniversary celebrations. Yesterday in Le Soleil, that same minister said that no plans could move forward before the investigation is complete.

Is the minister saying that the site will not be restored for the start of the celebrations?