Debates of Oct. 30th, 2009

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the last negotiating session before the Copenhagen conference is being held in Barcelona next week. With the minister's approach, it is clear that Canada will arrive empty-handed.

Does the minister realize that the only word that comes to mind for us, to describe his attitude toward Copenhagen, is the word sabotage?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely wrong. This government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, working with our international partners, and working with President Obama and his administration on a North American approach.

All the member understands is a carbon tax, and he is supporting a Liberal carbon tax. Canadians said no to a carbon tax. What does he not understand about “no” on a carbon tax?

Infrastructure

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have the ability to secretly record another party's caucus meeting. They can get HD copies of the Prime Minister's audition tape on every government website. They have even found a way to turn Mike Duffy into spam.

However, when it comes to providing the Parliamentary Budget Officer with details of stimulus funding they are still in the Diefenbaker era.

Does the minister realize that providing boxes containing thousands of pages of untreated information without so much as a synopsis, much less a spreadsheet, is less than useless?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer asked for additional information. This government has approved some 7,000 infrastructure projects in every corner of the country. He asked for more specific information on those projects, and we were pleased to provide a substantial amount. We will be providing more to the Parliamentary Budgetary Officer in the future.

I can tell the House that we have run a very open and transparent infrastructure program. When announcements of projects are made, they are immediately put on the Web with their location and their dollar value in an unprecedented commitment to work with provinces and territories of every political stripe.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when people go to the Obama administration's Web site, www.recovery.gov, they can get all the information they want on all the projects they want. They can be sorted by state, project or amount spent, but not here. Canadians do not understand—and on this side of the House we cannot explain—this minister's childish attitude.

Why haphazardly send three boxes of documents instead of a database? Unless it is the old trick of burying everything under a mountain of data to hide the fact that there really is no information.

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our priority has been to work with the municipalities, to work with provinces and territories from coast to coast to coast to give the federal green light to infrastructure projects so that they can get on with construction. They can hire architectural firms and engineering firms and create jobs. We have worked very hard to ensure those funds have been distributed.

I was pleased to be in committee yesterday when the member for Winnipeg Centre said, “I think a lot of NDP ridings actually fared fairly favourably from the spending, so I have no evidence that there is any hanky-panky going on in where the money went”.

We have put politics aside and we hope the member opposite will continue to do so.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, why then are there school boy pranks with a parliamentary institution? There are 4,476 pages of untreated documents with every single page marked Protected A. What are the Conservatives trying to protect if not themselves? Are they trying to hide the fact that contrary to section 16.4 of the Federal Accountability Act, a large number of recipients have not complied with government policies and procedures, and effective systems of internal control do not exist as required? If they did, we would have an electronic version of these documents instead of three boxes full of nonsense.

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, when an infrastructure investment is made with the provinces and territories or with municipalities, it is immediately put on the Web, with its location, a description of the project, and detailed financial information and what the contribution of each level of government is.

We have worked constructively with provincial NDP governments. In particular in the territories, we have worked with Conservative and Liberal governments.

What I think Canadians do not want to see is members of Parliament pulling cheap pranks outside the House of Commons.

Health

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, what a disgrace that the Prime Minister did not take the H1N1 flu problem seriously in the spring, that he failed to ensure that the vaccine would be available on time, before the crisis, which was entirely foreseeable, and that he failed to provide a serious vaccination plan to protect Canadian families.

What does he have to say to the thousands of Canadians who could not be vaccinated, despite many hours in long lineups?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the priority has been to ensure that we have a vaccine that is safe for Canadian families.

The priority has been that the vaccine be effective in combatting what is a significant public health issue. We have more than six million doses from coast to coast to coast which have already been released to our partners, the provinces and territories. Public health nurses in every corner of the province and country are working hard to ensure that they begin what is deemed to be the biggest mass inoculation in Canadian history.

We have put the politics aside and are working constructively with the provinces and territories. I think what Canadians expect is that all parties in the House will do the same.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, what Canadians expect are serious and real answers.

The White family in Bedford have four small children under the age of three, including triplets. The mom is an elementary school teacher. They tried to get vaccinated but the lack of government planning made this impossible. After standing in line for three hours, they packed their hungry, tired, cold kids into the van and headed home without getting vaccinated.

Could the health minister tell Mr. and Mrs. White and parents like them how they are supposed to protect their kids from the risk of H1N1, and why the government has failed them?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are seeing the biggest mass immunization in Canadian history. We obviously need thousands of public health nurses, the provinces and territories, and the Chief Public Health Officer. We cannot inoculate every single person in a matter of two or three days. Public health nurses are working literally around the clock on the inoculations. Our government is working to ensure that the vaccine is safe, effective and available.

I am pleased to report to the House that there are more doses of vaccine available today per capita in Canada than there are in any other country in the world.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have known since spring that the crisis was coming. They simply did nothing and ignored it. Although the Minister of Health said yesterday that thousands of people have been vaccinated, she is forgetting that there are some 33 million Canadians still waiting for the vaccine. This week, a mother in my riding had to wait three and a half hours to get her children vaccinated. Unfortunately, that is only one example among so many others.

What is the minister's plan to ensure more rapid vaccinations, in order to eliminate the pointless anxiety being felt by families in such an appalling situation, which was created by the government?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been working with international organizations to make sure we have an effective, safe vaccine for families in all regions of the country. In Canada today, six million doses have already been made available for Canadian families. That is more per capita than any other country in the world.

Our government will continue to work with the provinces and territories to achieve real results, but the work is not done. We must continue to work diligently with our doctors and nurses.

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

Mr. Speaker, in my province, the St. George area has been virtually shut down due to H1N1. Schools have been closed and the earliest they are expected to open is the middle of next week. The principal of Fundy High School has said, “They don't understand why people can't get the shot right now and why we are not having a clinic until November 10”.

Could the government tell these worried parents why they have to wait? Why do they have to wait so long?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, this is the largest mass inoculation campaign in Canadian history. There is more vaccine in the hands of public health nurses in provinces and territories in Canada than there is in any other country in the world.

Under the leadership of Dr. Butler-Jones, the government has worked to ensure that the vaccine is both safe and effective.

We will continue to work in co-operation with the provinces and territories to get the job done.

Government Contracts

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

Mr. Speaker, this government's lack of transparency is appalling. For example, when the Parliamentary Budget Officer attempted to obtain additional information about the government's economic plan, he was inundated with irrelevant documents. Similarly, when we asked for details about Senator Housakos' shenanigans, the minister gave us long, irrelevant tirades on transparency and avoided answering our questions.

Here is a simple question. Will the government admit that Senator Housakos benefited from the contract to repair the Champlain Bridge being awarded to BPR?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to my Bloc colleague that if she has allegations to make she should submit them to the appropriate authorities and not to this House. Does she have details, specific allegations or facts that she could lay before the House? What we have seen is a partisan campaign. It is not a good thing for Canadians. Senator Housakos promptly asked for the ethics commissioner's opinion on this matter. We will wait for the independent opinion of the commissioner.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is hiding behind the so-called independence of the Bridge Corporation when he knows very well that it is stacked with the government's friends. Partisan appointments to the Bridge Corporation allow the government to control it.

When will this government give a straight answer to our questions regarding Senator Housakos' shenanigans, sanctioned by Quebec's political lieutenant?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we must be very clear. It was our government that took action to put an end to the influence of big spenders on federal political parties. It was our government that put an end to the influence of huge donations from corporations and unions. It was our government that carried out the greatest reform of the electoral system in the history of Canada. We are very proud of that. If the Bloc member has specific allegations, she must make them outside this House. In the meantime, we have not seen any of that in recent weeks.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec has said that the survival of the cull cattle slaughter industry depends on finding a resolution to the specific risk material issue. A study by the Canadian Meat Council revealed that it costs $32 more per head of cattle to slaughter in Canada than in the United States, because of Canadian SRM regulations.

What does the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food intend to do about this competitive disadvantage that he created?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is taking action for our farmers.

We are delivering real action for livestock producers. In fact, we have delivered on a promise in the budget. We are now taking applications for up to $50 million in increased slaughter capacity. Also, I would like to identify that a slaughterhouse in the member's riding is benefiting from this program and is receiving a loan from the government.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the Parliamentary Secretary needs a geography lesson. That is not my riding. Second, what I get out of his answer is that he could not care less about SRM, because that was my question. His answer had nothing at all to do with the SRM issue.

The Levinoff-Colbex slaughterhouse has been losing $4 million to $5 million a year for the past two years because of these SRM regulations, which the Americans refuse to enforce.

When will we see some financial assistance for producers and processors that would help them stand up to this unfair competition? That is my question.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are taking action for our beef producers. In fact, the Minister of Agriculture has been very busy, opening foreign markets to our beef producers. And as I mentioned, we are making financing available to slaughterhouses across the country. In fact, I have a quote here from the Manitoba NDP minister of agriculture who said:

As the chairman of the Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council, I was pleased to see the recent federal budget included money for agriculture in general and for increasing slaughter capacity specifically.

Government Advertising

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the Conservative government is the most divisive and spiteful in our history. What we have witnessed over the past few months are television, radio and print ads that promote the Conservative Party of Canada, costing Canadian taxpayers over $60 million, and counting.

The Conservatives are deliberately blurring the line between the state and a political party. Their arrogant self-promotion offends Canadians, including bureaucrats, who have never seen this type of abuse.

When will the Conservatives stop this taxpayer-funded partisan campaign and stop abusing Canadian taxpayers for their own benefit?