Debates of Oct. 22nd, 2009

Infrastructure

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, before she makes any false accusations and talks about deception, I would like the member first to understand that we are talking about an independent crown corporation, namely, Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., which followed a fair, open and transparent process that did not involve any cabinet ministers whatsoever. Is that clear enough?

Pensions

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

Mr. Speaker, today, along with the member for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, our pension critic, I presented our plan to protect pensions: increase the guaranteed income supplement, strengthen public pension plans to double benefits, create a facility to adopt orphaned pension plans, and create a system of pension insurance to guarantee a minimum income in case of bankruptcy.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to consider these ideas?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government must always consider the costs of these types of reforms. I do not know the costs, and I do not think this information is included in the NDP's proposal.

That said, we are talking to Canadians and to the provinces regarding pension reform. It is obviously a very important subject, and we will consider all ideas.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was outside this building with pensioners, long-term disabled individuals and former Nortel employees. They are really losing hope that they are going to be able to get their full benefits and pensions. The Prime Minister seems to believe that he has no role to play here or no responsibility, but that is not the case.

Could he tell the workers of Nortel that the government will take action to ensure that the unfunded liabilities of their pension plan will be established as secured debts and not unsecured debts? That is action the government could take and tell us about it today.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

First of all, once again, Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the NDP knows, the pension plan in question is under provincial, not federal, regulation.

In any case, the NDP and others have raised important questions about the situation of pensions in Canada. There are rules in place. We are consulting with Canadians and the provinces on how to strengthen those rules. We will look at a wide range of options.

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

There is an urgency here, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to cases like Nortel and many others. We need the government to take action now.

Last June an NDP motion received the support of all parties in the House. It gave a sense of hope to Canadians who were concerned about their retirement security. Here is what we called for, which was supported by all parties: expand and increase the CPP, OAS and GIS; establish a pension insurance program; and ensure that pension funds go to the front of the line of creditors whenever there is a bankruptcy.

His own party voted for it. Why not take action now? The consultation has gone on an awful long time.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, these are complex and sometimes expensive matters that involve a large number of Canadians who do have opinions on these issues. The government is looking closely at them, as are the provinces which regulate 90% of the private pension plans in this country. We look forward to working with the provinces on some important reforms going forward.

Infrastructure

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Prime Minister why he is letting his ministers abuse their government authority on infrastructure spending.

The people of northern Ontario, who have been hard hit by the economic downturn, are being shortchanged so his Minister of Industry can give a double helping to his riding and that of the other Conservative in the region. Could the Prime Minister explain to hard-working unemployed people elsewhere in the north why he thinks they are only worth half as much assistance as those in his Conservative ridings?

Will the Prime Minister discipline his ministers, will he make them start treating Canadians fairly, or are they just doing what he wanted them to do in the first place?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the recreational infrastructure projects, as well as all the other infrastructure stimulus, are designed to help Canadians across this country, northern Ontario and southern Ontario, participate in the economic recovery.

More jobs and more opportunities are the things we are focused on on this side of the House. You do not have to take my word for it, Mr. Speaker. The deputy premier of the province of Ontario, his former Liberal colleague, said that he was quite satisfied that things were done equitably here in the province of Ontario.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I can understand why the minister wants to hide behind the other minister, but I do not understand why the Prime Minister is nailed to his seat when his Minister of Industry is getting the most money in the region: $36 million. It is double the average for eight opposition ridings in the north.

Why is the Prime Minister punishing the unemployed and children's recreation programs in certain ridings just because they did not happen to vote for him?

The pattern is clear. The government is exploiting the recession to create a slush fund for its own gain. Will the Prime Minister now tell his ministers to stop?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the member conveniently does not reference the announcements that I made in Sault Ste. Marie on behalf of the Government of Canada to help the infrastructure of that city, and the announcements that I made in Thunder Bay for the same thing, infrastructure for that great northern Ontario city as well.

However, here is what George Smitherman had to say. He explained it when he said:

--the fact that there are 450 municipalities, many of them small, meant that there were more requests in the mix for smaller communities.

This means that they had to be distributed a little bit more to rural Ontario. We have been fair and equitable. That is what the deputy premier--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. The hon. member for Mississauga South.

Natural Resources

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's guide for ministers states:

--a public office holder should not participate in a political activity where it may reasonably be seen to be incompatible with the public office holder’s duty...or would cast doubt on the integrity or impartiality of the office.

Since the September 24th political fundraiser for the Minister of Natural Resources was organized by a lobbyist who is registered to lobby her, how can the Prime Minister deny that the minister was in breach of his guidelines?

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, our government always takes these types of allegations very seriously. The government prides itself on accountability and ethics, and that is why we strengthened the powers and responsibilities of those arm's length agencies.

The minister in question is committed to working with the Ethics Commissioner and obviously she is going to abide by whatever ruling comes out of that investigation. Furthermore, since the Ethics Commissioner is now looking into this matter, it would be improper for me to comment any further.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Ethics Commissioner has no jurisdiction over the Prime Minister's guidelines, contrary to the government's disinformation campaign.

The minister is already under investigation by two officers of Parliament. Furthermore, the Prime Minister's guide states:

Compliance with these Guidelines is a term and condition of appointment [as a minister].

Given the clear violation of the Prime Minister's own guidelines, what sanctions will the Prime Minister impose against the Minister of Natural Resources?

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member himself is the one who referred this issue to the Ethics Commissioner, so I find it more than passing strange that now he wants some unilateral action before she has even looked into the matter.

As I said previously, the minister is committed to working with the Ethics Commissioner and of course will abide by whatever ruling she comes up with.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, because of the new Liberal-Conservative coalition, Canada may show up at the Copenhagen climate change conference empty handed, while scientists, ecologists and business people are urging the government to take action. If we are not careful, Canada is once again going to look like the class dunce.

Will the minister finally decide to set absolute reduction targets at 25% relative to 1990, as the KYOTOplus coalition is demanding?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have admitted that the NDP and the Bloc's climate change action plan is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The NDP and the Bloc do not have a plan for Canada. The Bloc and the NDP should be serious for once and support our government. Our plan is balanced, with real and achievable targets. Our targets are also North American and we are working with the United States on climate change.

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

Mr. Speaker, if it is a publicity stunt on this side of the House, then the government's plan on that side is smoke and mirrors. That is the reality. What is more, the U.S. administration could adopt measures to ban dirty oil.

When will the minister stop protecting the oil companies by giving them less stringent intensity targets, and start adopting absolute greenhouse gas reduction targets for everyone? When? That is the question.

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc should drop its partisan ways. Our plan is simple. We are going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 by investing in clean energy such as hydroelectricity and wind energy and in green technologies such as carbon storage and an integrated North American emissions exchange system.

The hon. member from the Bloc is just a spectator and is not aware of our work and our investment.

Nortel

[Luc Desnoyers, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry said that he can do nothing for Nortel pensioners under federal regulations and told them to turn to the Quebec and provincial governments. The minister cannot wash his hands just like that. For example, the federal government could take trusteeship over the pension plans in federal jurisdiction to prevent these funds from being liquidated while the markets are low.

Why is the government shirking its responsibilities?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, pensioners across Canada are facing challenges. That being said, my colleague, the Minister of Finance, has put in place a process to consult the provinces, territories and Canadians on comprehensive changes that would improve our federal pension plan.

[Luc Desnoyers, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Nortel is being dismantled and its best assets are being sold for bargain prices to foreign interests. In the meantime, the Conservative government refuses to review our foreign investment act so that Nortel divisions would be subject to automatic review, which is strictly a federal jurisdiction.

Why is the Minister of Industry refusing to take action to protect the pensions of Nortel retirees?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Nortel's situation is part of an international process that is before Canadian courts and also before the courts of the U.S. and Great Britain. There is a process taking place that we must respect. At the same time, we must respect provincial jurisdictions. I am surprised to hear the Bloc member asking the federal government to intervene in a provincial jurisdiction.

Afghanistan

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence has avoided answering questions about detainees all week. If he acted responsibly, as he claims to, he would have no problem answering the questions: who received Richard Colvin's reports, what was in those reports, and when did he become aware of them?

Does the minister really expect Canadians to believe that he receives thousands of reports, some of them about torture, and he does not read a single one of them?