Debates of Dec. 4th, 2009

Afghanistan

[Jean Dorion, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian soldiers believed that Afghan authorities were uncooperative because they were covering up acts of torture. By halting the transfers, they exposed the Conservative government's incompetence. Since then, the government has been trying to cover up its failure to ensure the safety of Afghan detainees.

Does the government agree that it is high time to launch an independent public inquiry?

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard from one individual, Mr. Colvin, who had a point of view. We have heard from three top Canadian generals. We have heard from the top diplomat in charge of that whole operation. We have heard from three very senior public officials who were deeply involved with that operation. All the evidence from their side points to the fact that there has not been a single substantiated allegation of abuse of a Canadian transferred detainee.

The government has acted responsibly. The Canadian military has acted responsibly. It is time to stop dragging the military through the mud and support it.

The Environment

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP notes the change of direction by the government, which has done an about-face and given up its weak intensity targets. It was about time. Now that the government has listened to reason, it needs to move on to the next step. Canada must make a commitment to have fixed targets, with the same reference year as the rest of the world: 1990.

Is the government ready to show it is serious about fighting climate change? Will Canada support binding targets with 1990 as the reference year?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the environment is a tremendously important priority for Canadians and an important priority for our government. We want to see an agreement in Copenhagen that is effective, and we will work to ensure Canada does its share.

I would remind the member opposite that in the spring of 2007 the government committed to an absolute reduction. It is unfortunate he did not read the plan at that time.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us listen to what the rest of the world is saying about Canada. Monday's Guardian newspaper stated:

[We] watching the astonishing spectacle of a beautiful, cultured nation turning itself into a corrupt petro-state. Canada is slipping down the development ladder, retreating from a complex, diverse economy towards dependence on a single primary resource, which happens to be the dirtiest commodity known to man....In Copenhagen next week, this country will do everything in its power to wreck the talks. The rest of the world must do everything in its power to stop it....Canada now threatens the wellbeing of the world.

Is that the Canada the Conservatives want on the world stage? Is that the Canada they want for our children?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, this government, like Canadians, believes the environment is an important responsibility. Canada, as an industrialized country, is prepared to do its fair share.

Instead of trying to run down the country, why do we not put politics aside, stop the blame game and work together on this important agreement in Copenhagen?

Afghanistan

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Richard Colvin's testimony was supported by two Canadian officers who the defence minister repeatedly says he trusts.

CBC released transcripts of interviews with General David Fraser and Lieutenant Colonel Putt. Here is a direct quote, “We were detaining the local yokels and handing them off”.

We also learned Canadian detainee transfers were stopped this year because the Afghans refused to accept them due to insufficient evidence of wrongdoing, directly contradicting what the defence minister told the House on November 23.

It is time the cover-up ended. When will the government call a public inquiry?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite something for the NDP to get up and raise this issue. Let us look at Michael Byers who ran in Vancouver Centre as one of the NDP's star candidates, an official spokesman for the NDP in the last election. He wrote a letter accusing General Rick Hillier of possibly committing war crimes.

The NDP members should stand in their places and distance themselves from these outrageous allegations against a great Canadian hero who wore the uniform for a generation, who epitomizes the very best in Canadians. Shame on the NDP.

The Environment

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister always says the same thing: India and China have to make the first move. What has that gotten us? Lip service on his visit to India and a reluctant trip to Copenhagen to avoid losing face in front of 65 other heads of state.

Having been ridiculed by China, is he still going to tell the Chinese to make the first move, when their reduction targets are more ambitious than his?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can barely believe my ears when I hear a Liberal member critique the environment policies of this government. The Liberals were in power for 13 years and did absolutely nothing.

The only party that is working hard, working with our international partners for a new international agreement in Copenhagen, is this party. That member needs to get serious about climate change.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister described his climate change plan as a “two-page summary”. He actually said that.

For four years, the Reform-Conservatives have hidden behind emissions intensity targets. Isolated, in full damage control, they now flip-flop and announce absolute caps are needed to produce absolute reduction. Really? While Canada continues to slip in the trillion dollar a year clean tech market, the Chinese signed a $250 million carbon capture and storage deal with the United States.

When is this recklessness going to end?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is not just me who says that the Liberals did absolutely nothing. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development said that when it comes to protecting the environment, the Liberals make bold announcements and then before the confetti hits the ground, those promises are forgotten.

The Liberals need to stop playing their political games. They need to get serious about climate change.

We are going to Copenhagen. We want a new international agreement. We are going to do our share. We are working hard.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, four years, three ministers, no credible plan. Each time a new minister starts, bold statements are made, but when it comes time to deliver, the Conservatives balk.

In 2007 the Conservative government said that in order to meet its target, large industry would have to reduce emissions by 49 megatonnes in absolute terms from 2006 levels by 2010.

Could the minister tell the House if Canada will even meet the Conservative target by 2010?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada is going to Copenhagen with the targets that we announced two years ago, 20% absolute reductions by 2020 using the 2006 baseline.

President Obama recently announced identical targets. The European Union targets are calculated at a reduction of only 14%. What is being proposed by the opposition is a 39% reduction.

The opposition wants to tax Canadians and kill the economy. We are the ones standing up for Canadian jobs and for a cleaner environment.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, asking if we are on track to meet a target is a simple question, and if we were, it would receive a simple answer.

The planet is running out of time and the government is running out of excuses.

Copenhagen represents the most important international meeting since the second world war. Now that the Prime Minister has agreed to go, will he do something to assure Canadians he will be representing us with clean hands and a credible plan?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is what that member's leader said about the environment, “I think our party has got into a mess on the environment”. The Liberals did get into a mess.

We are cleaning up that mess. We are working hard for a cleaner environment. We are working hard for Canadian jobs. Thank goodness this government is getting it done on the environment.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment has announced absolute caps on greenhouse gas emissions, but no legislation that would make the measure binding. In addition, he is keeping 2006 as the reference year, instead of 1990. In short, his announcement is just a lot of talk that has Steven Guilbeault of Équiterre saying Canada's targets have no value.

Does the minister realize that, without a binding regulatory framework and 1990 as the reference year, his 20% target will never be achievable or enough?

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

Mr. Speaker, hopefully the member has been listening and is aware that we are working on a continental approach harmonized with North American targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an absolute 20% reduction by 2020. These are the toughest targets in Canadian history.

Canada is doing its part working hard with its international partners. We are going to work hard for a new international agreement on climate change in Copenhagen.

We all need to work together and stop the politics. Let us start working hard together.

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

Mr. Speaker, I can see that the minister has not listened to what Quebec wants. Using 2006 as the reference year instead of 1990 will wipe out 16 years' worth of efforts by industries in Quebec.

Does the minister realize that what he will propose in Copenhagen goes against Quebec's economic and environmental interests and benefits western oil producers instead?

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

Mr. Speaker, setting crazy targets will not get anything done for the environment. It has to be a balanced approach. There have to be realistic targets. The North American harmonized approach on climate change is an absolute reduction of 20% by 2020.

That member needs to listen. She needs to participate. All parties in the House need to work together for a new climate change agreement in Copenhagen.

Firearms Registry

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Heidi Rathjen, a survivor of the École Polytechnique massacre, deplores the hypocrisy of the Conservative government, which, on one hand, is commemorating the tragedy, but, on the other hand, is trying to dismantle the firearms registry. She says what the Conservatives are doing “is a slap in the face to the victims of the Dec. 6 massacre and all victims of gun-related crimes”.

Why does the Minister of State for the Status of Women not intervene with her colleagues who are trying to dismantle a registry that does help to prevent violence against women?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, the members of the opposition should be ashamed of playing politics on subject of the death of women. Violence against women is unacceptable. We must break the silence and break the chain of violence in all its forms. Whether physical, verbal or psychological, violence is unacceptable in any form and we are working with all women in Canada and Quebec to ensure that women are able to stand up—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The hon. member for Jeanne-Le Ber.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not politicians who are denouncing this government, it is the survivors of the Polytechnique tragedy. These women have more courage in their little finger than the entire Conservative caucus combined.

Nathalie Provost, one of the victims injured by a bullet at Polytechnique, is surprised 20 years later that we are even questioning the need for gun control. She is distressed that the government is so attentive to the gun lobby and so reluctant to listen to those who are trying to eradicate violence.

Why is this government insisting on dismantling the firearms registry?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we think a great deal about violence against women. That is why we have introduced a number of bills to keep our communities safe, including legislation to eliminate conditional sentences for serious crimes such as sexual offences.

On this side of the House, we are standing up for the women of Canada.