House of Commons Hansard #121 of the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was documents.
André Bellavance Bloc Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, this government is obsessed with uniformity. There is no room for individuality. That is true of raw milk cheese, and it is also true of the organic products for which the federal government refuses to recognize Quebec certification, even though it is much stricter.
When will this government realize that Quebec producers and consumers are the first to suffer from its uncompromising attitude?
Pierre Lemieux ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture
Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out what we have done for milk producers. Under article 28 of GATT, we took measures to limit the amount of milk protein concentrates entering this country, we introduced competition standards for cheese in order to guarantee the presence of Canadian milk in Canadian cheese, and we promised to invoke specialized WTO safeguards.
Borys Wrzesnewskyj Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians remember with pride the role that our 1,000 observers and mission leader, former prime minister John Turner, played during the 2004 election in Ukraine.
In January 2010, the first presidential election since the Orange Revolution will take place. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has asked for Canada to send 500 observers this time but the minister only announced 60. The congress is disappointed and the NGOs in Ukraine are worried.
In 2004, we stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine. Why not in 2010?
Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member that even this time Canada will stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. We are extremely happy with the elections that are taking place there. We will keep monitoring and we ensure that it will be a transparent and fair election.
Borys Wrzesnewskyj Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is a symbolic gesture, not a real commitment. Sixty is one-tenth of 2004's number.
Mr. Davidovich, the former deputy chair of Ukraine's electoral commission, who refused to sign off on the previous fraudulent results, recently came to Ottawa. Our House gave this democratic hero a standing ovation. He is terribly worried. He flew here from Kyiv to raise the alarm.
In 2004, Canada showed international leadership. Canadians were heroes in the streets of Ukraine. However, last week the minister refused to meet Davidovich. Why? Why will she not listen to his expert advice?
Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell the hon. member that a lot of members on this side of the House were in Ukraine during the Orange Revolution. I remember that the member for Edmonton East was out there.
A lot of members on this side are very much interested in Ukrainian democracy and we will continue to support Ukrainian democracy. I can assure the member that we will stand with Ukraine as well.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, the European Union has leaked details of the secret ACTA negotiations in Korea and guess what? It has exposed the industry minister's so-called public consultations on copyright as a total sham, because ACTA will deep six Canada's ability to establish copyright policy. Further, it will strip thousands of citizens from the right to even use the Internet under the idiotic “three strikes and you are out“ policy.
The government has no right to negotiate away our domestic copyright laws. Will the minister table in the House the mandate letter that was given to the negotiators to start the ACTA talks?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, despite the hon. member's fear-mongering, the Government of Canada has not adhered to or agreed to anything in the ACTA negotiations. The ACTA negotiations are in fact subservient to any legislation that is put forward in the House.
In good faith, I and my colleague, the hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, talked to the people of Canada, talked to stakeholders about a future copyright bill. We are proud of the fact that we have had that consultation because we got some good ideas, even from some NDPers.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, the ACTA provisions read like a wish list for the U.S. corporate lobby because it will override any flexibility for WIPO, it will gut our domestic copyright policies and it will criminalize thousands of Internet users through the three strikes provision.
Canada needs a minister who is willing to stand up for the innovation agenda, not a minister who is acting like a hand puppet for the U.S. embassy.
Why will the minister not table the ACTA negotiations so we can open it to public scrutiny?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants to read more about it, he could go to Michael Geist's website.
The fact is that anything that goes on in ACTA is completely subservient to what we as parliamentarians decide on this issue. We have gone further in terms of ensuring the public is aware of the issues involved in copyright renewal and reform than any other government and we are proud of that record.
Rodney Weston Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, a year ago, as the global recession was hitting our shores, the Liberal Party attempted to overturn the election results of two months earlier by promising cabinet seats to the NDP and a veto power to the Bloc Québécois.
Thankfully, this reckless coalition was rejected by Canadians and our government. The government Canadians actually voted for was able to continue its work of steering Canada through the global recession.
Could the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities please remind the House of all the measures that we have introduced to help Canadians?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
It is just as clear now as it was then, Mr. Speaker, that a Liberal-led coalition would have been a disaster for this country.
When Canadians saw the leader of the Liberal Party sign a pledge, a letter to the Governor General supporting a coalition, they went to the streets and protested.
Thank goodness that did not happen. We have Canada's economic action plan. We have an unprecedented partnership with provinces and municipalities where we are putting aside partisan politics and delivering for communities.
We have things like the first time homebuyers tax credit, the home renovation tax credit and we have the jobs and growth that have come from that great plan. I congratulate the Minister of Finance.
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, there is a double standard. When CN management asks for arbitration in a labour conflict, the minister comes back with a fresh new bill. The union representing the workers of the Canadian War Museum and Museum of Civilization have been demanding arbitration for quite a while, but the minister does not even hear them.
Is this because the Conservatives just do not care about the employees of our cultural institutions?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, it is always our hope that parties will come to a resolution and an agreement without any intervention.
Our mediator has been working with both of these parties since before the strike began and we will continue to pressure both sides to come to an agreement on their own.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Minister of National Defence refused to answer a very simple question. I will ask him once again.
Given that NATO announced today that Canadian soldiers will be leaving Kandahar in early 2010 and going to a neighbouring district, can the Minister of National Defence confirm that this redeployment will not change the July 2011 end date of the mission for all Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway
Yes, I can confirm that, Mr. Speaker.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, why is the government riding roughshod over first nations when it comes to education?
Recently, first nations learned that INAC was considering five options for post-secondary student support funding, including removing all first nations control over funding and putting it under direct government control. Worse still, first nations did not hear it from the minister but from the website of the U.S. company commissioned to write the recommendations.
Will the minister tell us which option he is considering and how first nations have been consulted?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, this is hardly a surprise. It was in the 2008 budget that a review of post-secondary education must take place. This House passed that in 2008. The documents she is referring to, of course, were posted. The company did its work. The documents have been posted and they are publicly available.
Again, no decisions have been taken by the government. The discussion continues on both the internal audit of the post-secondary education programming itself, and ideas have been coming forward from first nations and others across the country on how that service could be delivered and that money could be delivered more efficiently.
It is very public and first nations know that is exactly how we are going about it.
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Mr. Speaker, China is one of Canada's largest export markets for top quality agriculture products. Recently, however, with the H1N1 virus, China actually took some pretty serious challenges to thicken the border against our pork production. The Prime Minister, as we speak, is on his way to China.
I am wondering if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture could tell this House what the negotiations have come up with and how they are going with China to reopen the border to Canadian pork products?
AgricultureOral Questions
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario
Conservative
Pierre Lemieux ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that effective immediately China has agreed to lift the ban on all imports of pork products into China from Canada.
This is great news for our pork producers who now have renewed access to a $50 million a year market. Our government said that we would work nonstop until we resolved this issue and we have.
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, if it is not a double standard, I do not know what is. When CN management asked for arbitration on labour conflict, the minister leapt to her feet saying, “Ready, aye, ready.”
The union representing the workers at the War Museum and the Museum of Civilization have been demanding arbitration for quite awhile but their pleas fall on deaf ears at the minister's office. Is this because the Conservatives just do not care about the employees of our cultural institutions?
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, as I said, as a government we are always hopeful that parties will come to a resolution without intervention.
When it comes to the museums strike, we continue to pressure both sides to come to a resolution. The public should know, though, that even though there is a strike ongoing at the museums, the museums are still open for visitors.
In terms of CN, this is a vital part of our transportation system and an integral part of our economy. If there is not a resolution, we must move forward with back to work legislation.
John Rafferty NDP Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON
Mr. Speaker, the government's feeble response to the unfair black liquor subsidy for U.S. pulp and paper was too little, too late.
Now a U.S. internal revenue service memo says that U.S. producers will be able to qualify for an amount equal to twice the amount of black liquor through a new loophole in the farm bill. That means a new $25 billion super subsidy.
What will the government do now, before that new subsidy comes into effect, to protect Canadian mills and protect Canadian families and workers against these unfair and unjustifiable U.S. trade practices?
Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, the government did act quickly in response to concerns from industry with respect to the black liquor issue. We responded with a $1 billion pulp and paper green transformation program.
We are keeping very close tabs on what is happening in the United States. I have had conversations with Secretary Chu on the matter and our officials are engaged with the United States at all levels.
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order regarding the legitimacy of a document circulated to members and referred to in a statement by the member for Vancouver East last Thursday in this chamber. The member was referring to a recent trip by her, the member for Gatineau and the member for Etobicoke Centre to the West Bank and Gaza. The document circulated has the words “House of Commons/Chambre des Communes” prominently at the top.
The members refer to themselves as a parliamentary delegation when in actuality only opposition members participated in the trip.
The members in the text of the document refer to themselves as the Canada-Palestine friendship group but it is only noted inside and not on the cover of the document.
The member for Vancouver East claimed in her statement to the House last Thursday that the report had been presented. This implies the approval of Parliament in gathering the data and that the report was tabled in Parliament. In fact, the report was neither sanctioned nor reported officially to Parliament, nor indeed can it be. In fact, it was circulated to all members from the office of the member for Gatineau.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask you to review the facts and find that the members for Vancouver East, Gatineau and Etobicoke Centre have misrepresented the mandate of their group and the approval of Parliament of their report and findings.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask you to find that the members have violated the order of the House in the misrepresenting of their report to the House. There is no indication of whether the report actually represents the Canada-Palestine friendship group. The group is not identified as the source of the document. The three members refer to themselves as “a parliamentary delegation” which also implies they were commissioned by Parliament. They refer to their Canada-Palestine friendship group as the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Association.
Members of the House would know there are several parliamentary associations. Identification as a parliamentary association is approved on application to the Board of Internal Economy and provides access to parliamentary budget funding for travel and support.
Parliamentary friendship groups do not have such access or privilege. In fact, buried in the report is the admission that the members travelled on their own to the Middle East and paid for their own trip.
Parliamentary associations can and do report on their activities to the House by tabling reports but parliamentary friendship groups do not.
I further ask the Speaker to instruct these members to strike the words “House of Commons/Chambre des Communes” and “Parliamentary Delegation” from the cover of their document and to clearly identify themselves as the Canada-Palestine friendship group as the source of this very biased report.
I thank you for hearing my point of order, Mr. Speaker.