Debates of Feb. 25th, 2009

The Economy

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. Around the world business leaders are indicating that the key issue for them is credit. Last night the President of the United States repeated this point when he said that the lifeblood of the new economy was credit.

Could the Minister of Finance please explain to us why there is no reference to this question and why did the government not deal with this question in Bill C-10?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, this is Canada's economic plan. It is over 500 pages, and the party opposite is going to support it.

It includes the extraordinary financing framework, where we will use the crown corporations, where we will deal with the most important problem facing Canadians today, which is access to credit.

I am glad the member opposite has the wisdom to support the plan to help Canadians.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister can bluster or indeed move over as far as he wants in talking to it. It will have no effect.

The simple fact of the matter is that in the survey of business, which was contained in The Globe and Mail on Monday, the universal view of business leaders was very clear. That universal view was their main concern, their principal preoccupation, was the absence of credit. It is the lack of credit which is choking our system.

The simple question is this. Why are the credit measures that he talks about, that he blusters about and throws in front of us, not contained in Bill C-10?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member belongs to a party that has no economic plan.

This is the economic plan for Canada. I invite the member for Toronto Centre to read from pages 78 to 95. He will read all about how we will provide access to credit for Canadians families, for Canadian businesses, for Canadian entrepreneurs.

He should read the budget. It is a great read. He will want to support it even more after he has read it.

Arts and Culture

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages could not say enough about the Canada Prizes for the Arts and Creativity, stating, and I quote: “This is a great project that will help unify our country.” On Tuesday, when questioned in the House about what he had said, the heritage minister denied having made the statement and even had a new version for us.

I am sure the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages tells us the truth one time in two. The question is when he told the truth. Did he tell the truth on Monday or on Tuesday?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are developing world-class prizes for the arts community. The only truth is that the Bloc Québécois will vote against any policy that benefits this country's cultural community.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister would be a great act at the Just for Laughs festival.

Yesterday, as the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages was telling the House he was investing more in culture, the Minister of Finance surprised me by shouting abuse at me and saying that making cuts to culture was a political choice because we were in a recession and cuts had to be made somewhere.

Does the Prime Minister realize that his cuts to culture are having a disastrous effect on an economic sector that was doing fairly well up to now and was creating thousands of jobs in Quebec?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this government has made choices. The fact is that overall, this government is spending more on culture than any government in the history of this country. With its ideology, the Bloc Québécois is voting against any measure to help the artistic community during a global recession. That is an ideological and irresponsible position.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, from Japan to Belgium, no less than 23 arts promoters from 17 countries have written to the Prime Minister, asking that his government reinstate assistance programs that allow Quebec and Canadian artists to tour abroad. The Prime Minister has not even bothered to acknowledge receipt of the letters.

Will the Prime Minister respond to the arguments of these international promoters who are confirming how effective those programs are and re-establish the funding for those programs?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, this budget provides $22 million in funding this year to help our artists on the international stage. Every time, it is the Bloc Québécois that votes against our artists. This year, we will spend $2.3 billion to support our artists. It is always the Bloc members who vote against this.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages is suggesting that the support programs for touring abroad are a waste.

President Obama, however, is showing transparency by promising that his entire stimulus package will be published on the Internet.

Why is the minister still refusing to make public the studies that triggered the elimination of those programs, unless the studies' findings do not justify their actions?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois talked about the Just for Laughs Festival. Here is what Gilbert Rozon, the founder of Just for Laughs, said: “By integrating arts and culture along with major events in his crisis policy, the Prime Minister recognizes the role that this sector plays in the national economy.”

We are the ones who deliver the goods for Canadian artists. It is the Bloc members who vote against them.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, frightened families in Abbotsford, Langley, Surrey, Vancouver and throughout the lower mainland are concerned that they are being held hostage by gangland violence.

What we need is a comprehensive anti-gang strategy. To be sure, we need tougher sentences for gang killings and drive-by shootings, but we also need witness protection. We need to have electronic surveillance and prevention to keep our kids away from gangs in the first place.

Can these families look forward to the Prime Minister tabling in the House a serious and comprehensive plan to deal with gang violence? Can we see that so we can discuss it?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the NDP will know, this government has made tackling crime at all levels a major priority, whether it is toughening sentences or investing in programs for youth at risk. That is why the people of Canada deserve an opposition that will actually look at these measures before deciding it will vote against them without even reading them, like the NDP does.

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

Mr. Speaker, a member of the current government said, “...we are pleased that the NDP is keeping its campaign commitment to get tougher on serious gun crimes”. The current Minister of Justice said, “The NDP, quite frankly, and I'm sure they'll tell you, they continue to support us on” these measures. The fact is that we have been supporting these initiatives.

My question is for the Prime Minister again. We need a comprehensive plan. I think British Columbians and the people of Canada know that we need certain laws made tougher but they also know that we need to focus on prevention and deterrence and it needs to all fit together in a comprehensive plan. When will we see that?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, of course we will pursue all of these matters. When these bills come before the House of Commons, I hope the NDP will not just say that it supports them but that it will actually assist us to pass them through committee instead of delaying them for months and months on end as it did in the previous Parliament.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is well-known that the NDP assisted in the passage of some of those bills. Unfortunately, when they were ready to be passed into law, prorogation came along, initiated by the government. We would have had those laws today.

Crime is a concern throughout Canada. One challenge that the RCMP is facing is recruitment. Why, then, would the government aggravate the important work of recruiting new RCMP officers by demoralizing the RCMP officers by rolling back their salaries at a time when they had already been granted wage increases and they were making plans for their families? The budget bill rolls back the salaries of RCMP officers. Why is the government doing that and making it more difficult to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the House will know that the government has treated all public servants equally in the matter of compensation.

It is interesting to hear the leader of the NDP attempting to blame the non-passage of legislation on prorogation. Prorogation was after Parliament had been sitting for three years. That is not our definition of quick action. That is why the NDP and the other opposition parties should stop blocking tough on crime legislation.

Pay Equity

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, women have been brushed aside by this government. Canada now ranks 83rd on the gender equality index. Women earn only 70¢ for each dollar earned by men, and the recession is serving only to widen the gap. Yet this government is doing nothing.

Why is the government sitting on its hands instead of helping women during the recession? Why?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, in 2004 the Liberals put in place a task force stating that they wanted proactive, comprehensive, pay equity legislation.

This government is bringing that legislation forward. They did not do it. We are getting the job down.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government is trying to use pay equity to abolish human rights.

The Conservative government's much touted infrastructure plan ignores women, especially working women.

Can anyone guess how much of the Conservatives' infrastructure spending plan goes toward building child care space facilities? Zero. All this on the heels of a UN report that blasts Canada for its failure to publicly fund child care spaces.

Why is the Conservative government refusing to help women--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

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

Mr. Speaker, for starters, we believe that both parents are responsible for raising a child. Our government has done more to assist with child care than that government ever did.

We launched the universal child care benefit to provide both parents with the choice as to where and how their young child is raised and we provided over $250 million to the provinces that have already created over 60,000 child care spaces so that parents have that choice available to them as well.

Automotive Industry

[Bonnie Crombie, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, auto workers and manufacturers who supply parts to the auto sector need leadership and they are not getting it from the government.

We have a year old innovation fund that has failed to launch, a federal adviser who took a close at his team and quit, and a government that twiddled its thumbs, attacked Ontario while tens of thousands of jobs were under serious threat and it still does not have a plan.

Will the government simply admit that it needs help? Will it support the creation of a subcommittee on the auto industry so we can finally get help to the thousands who have been waiting?