Debates of Dec. 8th, 2009

International Aid

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, KAIROS is a Christian coalition of faith groups, ranging from the Mennonite Central Committee to Catholic, Protestant and evangelical denominations. For decades it has promoted social justice in Canada and across the world, helping people by putting their faith into action.

After 35 years of funding from Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments, KAIROS had its funding cut off because it dared to criticize the Reform-Conservative world view. Thirty-five years of funding is gone.

When will the government stop punishing good people with whom it disagrees?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, since day one of taking office, our government was committed, and is committed, to making Canada's international assistance effective. We have not only made promises like the previous government did, but we are actually acting on aid effectiveness. We are making a real difference and that means making a difference in the lives of those who are living in poverty.

As the Auditor General has said, we need to be more focused. We need to have a set of priorities and we have to follow through on them. That is exactly what this government is doing.

[Frank Valeriote, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, KAIROS has been funded for 35 years, has been recognized for its good work by successive Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments, putting its faith into action from fighting climate change to promoting human rights by helping victims of rape in the Congo.

At a time when the government has wasted $100 million in a few short months on partisan advertising, how do the Conservatives justify cutting $7 million over four years from KAIROS, a cut that will cripple this internationally respected organization? Will the minister apologize to KAIROS for this ill-treatment?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, aid effectiveness means making a difference, having an impact on the lives of those living in poverty, over a billion people who are now in extreme hunger. That is why we announced $30 million for more food aid.

Members of the opposition benches also agree with our actions because they have said that if success is to be measured in terms of numbers of lives saved, we must focus on outcome-based, proven, cost-effective solutions that work to prevent needless suffering and death. We cannot afford to funnel money into an unaccountable abyss and--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Nickel Belt.

Industry

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if a foreign corporation does not fulfill its obligations, the government will take it to court. At any rate that is what the Minister of Industry replied to the member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl yesterday regarding the failure by United States Steel Corporation to honour the agreement in the takeover of Stelco, which is exactly the same type of situation Xstrata and Vale Inco find themselves in.

I have a very simple question. Why hide the agreement between the government and Xstrata and Vale Inco? Why not take Vale Inco and Xstrata to court?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, in fact the agreement between the Government of Canada and Xstrata has expired. The hon. member probably knows that already. With respect to answering directly his question, the reason I do not share the particulars of the agreement between the Government of Canada and those investor companies is that it would be against the law to do so.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, foreign mining giant Xstrata has just announced it is shutting down the copper smelter in Timmins. This is the same company that slashed 700 jobs in Sudbury in defiance of its obligations under the Investment Canada Act. Under the act, a company must prove itself a net benefit to Canadians before it is allowed to walk away with our resources.

We warned the government about Xstrata and it did nothing. Will it go after Xstrata the way it is going after U.S. Steel, and stand up for our copper and nickel communities of the north?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, indeed in my responsibility as minister responsible for FedNor, I have already had a discussion with the mayor of Timmins to, on a go-forward basis, deal with how we can best help that community in the state of this terrible loss of jobs. I would say to the hon. member opposite, he demands that we live within the law. We are living within the law and the hon. member is trying to get me to defy the law, which I will not do. That is not good for anybody, least of all Canadians.

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Mr. Speaker, our government responded to the global economic downturn by introducing Canada's economic action plan, a plan to stimulate the economy, create jobs for Canadians and help businesses weather the economic storm. Strong businesses are the backbone of our economy and Canada's economic action plan is helping these businesses by providing the tools necessary to become strong, innovative and prosperous.

Would the Minister of Industy please inform the House of what our government is doing to support the growth and expansion of tech companies?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, indeed today I was pleased to announce a $75 million investment by the Government of Canada for a new venture capital fund. The fund will be a total of $300 million.

This will help Canadian companies grow, expand and create new jobs for Canadians. They will be able to promote their economic activity for new markets, expand production capacity and provide additional working capital. This is another fine example of the economic action plan growing jobs for Canadians.

Ukraine

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

Mr. Speaker, under a previous government, Canada has had a special relationship with Ukraine, including assistance with free and fair elections. For the presidential election in January, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress has asked for 300 observers, as in the past, but the Conservative government only wants to send 60.

I have seen first-hand trained Canadian volunteers play a crucial role in the Ukrainian elections. Last week, Mr. Davidovich, the former head of the electoral commission, told MPs how important a strong international force is for a fair result or democracy will be threatened.

Will the government now change its mind and properly support the right number of Canadian observers for the next Ukrainian elections?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the question is not the number of people who should be there. The importance is the contribution that Canadians make toward that effort. We do so through different organizations. We do work in co-operation with the European Union as we are going forward with this file.

I know that those members do not appreciate the work that Canadians are doing there. That is why they are doing all the yelling and screaming, but we are getting it done and in the right way of doing it.

International Co-operation

[Johanne Deschamps, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, NGOs are asking the Conservative government today to maintain funding for KAIROS.

For 35 years, this organization has worked with CIDA to promote human rights. The cuts to KAIROS and the threats hanging over Alternatives come as we learn that the Prime Minister is preparing to create his own organization to promote sound governance, thus adding to the organizations already working in this field.

Why is the government scuttling organizations that have a proven track record?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, we want to ensure that our international assistance is effective, transparent, accountable and that it is going to make a real difference.

We are in fact supporting the building capacity of justice systems. We support the human rights commissions in many countries. We also support ombudsmen who fight for those who do not enjoy all the benefits to which they are entitled.

Employment Insurance

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the latest in a long line of Conservative government failures is the EI retraining program for long-tenured workers. The Conservatives bragged it would help 50,000 of those thrown out of work in the manufacturing sector, but it did not. Because of the ridiculous restrictions, only about 6,000 have so far managed to jump through all of the hoops.

The economic crisis started last year, not this year. Was the program about helping Canada's unemployed or just pretending to help? Will the minister remove this unreasonable restriction?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned about helping all those who have been unfortunate enough to lose their jobs in this global economic recession. That is why almost a year ago we brought in five extra weeks of benefits, but the NDP voted against it. We brought in an expansion of work sharing to protect Canadians' jobs, but the NDP voted against it.

We also brought in assistance for long-tenured workers recently. Because we know that they are having trouble getting jobs, we are offering them additional training in unprecedented amounts because we want to get the job done.

Economic Development

[Ed Holder, Conservative, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, southern Ontario has been hit hard during this global economic crisis and my city of London is not immune.

I know this is why our government created the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. It allows us to stand up for workers, stand up for businesses and stand up for communities like London and other areas across the region. It provides programs that allow them to take advantage of opportunities as the Canadian economy recovers.

With so much going on, would the Minister of State please inform the House about recent investments made under the southern Ontario development program?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Yes, I will, Mr. Speaker. Let me just tell the House that the government continues its investments through FedDev.

We recently put $8 million into the London International Airport; over $5 million into COM DEV's brand new, made-in-Canada micro-satellite technology; $12 million to provide workers in the manufacturing sector with advanced skills training; and 54,000 new jobs in the last six months.

That is this government getting it done for businesses, communities and the people of southern Ontario.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of a number of distinguished visitors, first, His Excellency Gordan Jandrokovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Croatia.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I would also like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Daniel Shewchuk, Minister of the Environment and Minister of Human Resources for Nunavut.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I would also like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of Commissioner William Francis, Territorial Commander for Canada and Bermuda of the Salvation Army.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!