Debates of Feb. 26th, 2009

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's commitment to openness and transparency to Canadians had a half-life of 24 hours. There should be a full public debate on our future nuclear policy, not some backroom deal shrouded in a veil of secrecy.

The minister's department has had the report on AECL's future since August 2008, over six months ago. Will the minister table that report now, or does “transparent public communication” only apply to others?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, we commissioned a study from the National Bank as one piece of an entire process of looking at AECL and what the best options are to strengthen our nuclear industry.

We have received the report. Our officials are studying it. I just want to make sure that we understand. It is just one part of the entire process in order to strengthen Canada's nuclear industry.

Public Safety

[Dona Cadman, Conservative, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, despite the Liberals' best efforts to convince Canadians otherwise, Canadians know it is our party that is the party of law and order.

While British Columbians are demanding tougher legislation, including stronger firearms laws, it was the Liberals who tried to defeat our legislation that enacted in May of last year mandatory minimum prison sentences for serious firearms offences.

Will the justice minister tell the House what the government is doing to advance our justice agenda to deal with the violence erupting in B.C. and across Canada?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows, earlier today I tabled organized crime legislation. It sends a very clear message to those involved in illegal activities.

People involved with gang-related murders, drive-by shootings and assaulting police officers will get the prison time they so richly deserve.

This is what is necessary to interrupt and disrupt gang activity in this country, and this is why Canadians know they can count on the Conservative government to get the job done.

Access to Information

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today's report from the Information Commissioner is a scathing indictment of the government's addiction to secrecy and contempt for accountability.

He said there was a lack of leadership at the highest levels of government. He gave the Minister of Public Safety, the Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the RCMP failing grades of “F”. That is a red alert. He gave the Ministers of Health and National Defence “D” grades.

Has the Prime Minister called these ministers on the carpet for their falling grades, or is he the highest-level barrier to open government and leadership on this issue?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are the ones who fought for the rights of Canadians to know how their government operates, opening up the Canadian Wheat Board, the CBC, and dozens of other institutions to the Access to Information Act.

Where was that individual? He was opposed to those openings.

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, three long years after the Conservatives promised to table a bill to implement the former Information Commissioner's recommendations to reform access to information, they have failed to act, but New Democrats are getting the job done.

Yesterday, for the fourth time, the member for Winnipeg Centre tabled a bill drafted by the former commissioner.

Will the Conservatives support our bill, or does the government want to move our bill as its own to ensure it finally fulfills its election promise to open up access to information?

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

Mr. Speaker, our Federal Accountability Act contains the most extensive amendments to the Access to Information Act since its introduction in 1983.

Sixty-nine new institutions are now accountable to Canadians through that act. For the first time, Canadians can see how these institutions spend tax dollars.

As for that individual getting the job done, the only thing he has been is in the way of ensuring that Canadians get to see the economy working and get to see the stimulus package we have introduced in the House.

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Information Commissioner has criticized the government in matters of access to information and spoken of a disappointing record. The time it takes to process a request continues to lengthen and can take up to 300 days in some cases. The commissioner himself acknowledges that the current legislation lacks teeth.

In light of such a poor record, what is the government waiting for to strengthen the Access to Information Act, as it promised during the 2006 election?

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

Mr. Speaker, what about the lousy record of the Bloc standing in the way of the economic stimulus package that Canadians are expecting this Parliament to deliver? Bloc members have consistently stood in the way of ensuring that Canadians are assured of their economic future.

With respect to the information act, this government has taken more steps than any government has in the past.

Pay Equity

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, contempt, slander and falsehoods are the hallmarks of the mediocre.

The President of the Treasury Board tells us that pay equity is not just about women's rights but also about family rights. The minister is so blinded by his ideology that he cannot fathom that women can have lives outside their families.

Can the President of the Treasury Board get it into his head that pay equity is not a family policy but a means of ensuring that women get equal pay for work of equal value?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is amazing having that member lecture me in respect of how we ensure that Canadians, whether they are women, men, families, or children, get to have a secure economic future when that individual stands up and votes against the economic stimulus package.

We are very concerned about the rights of women, the rights of children, the rights of men, and the rights of families in order to ensure that their economic future is secure. One of those mechanisms is the pay equity legislation that we stand behind.

Status of Women

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday I asked the Minister of State for the Status of Women what files of importance to women she was the lead minister on. She responded with how much money her department had.

Yesterday I asked the minister what gender-based analysis was done on the budget, and the reply was personal invective.

Today I am trying again. Can the minister tell Canadian women what she and her department did to ensure a gender-based analysis was done on the budget? What did she and her department do, in concrete terms, to ensure gender equity in the budget?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Minister of State (Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, the member will know, as I have already answered this question in committee not too long ago, that the Department of Finance has actually been conducting gender-based analysis on its tax measures since budget 2006.

I note for the record that it is not a coincidence that it happened when a Conservative government came into office.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that has been happening since 2004.

When the Minister of State (Status of Women) appeared before the committee, she spoke of the importance of women in the work force in non-traditional jobs.

The Conseil d'intervention pour l'accès des femmes au travail, or CIAFT, had received indications that one of its applications would be approved. Yet, when it published a press release criticizing the government's approach to pay equity, the project was turned down.

Why are the Conservatives punishing CIAFT? Is it because it denounced their position on pay equity?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Minister of State (Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, the member will know that all organizations that applied for funding that have been approved or declined are in the process of being notified.

The member will also know that I rely on my officials because I believe that they are highly professional and highly skilled. They understand what the terms and the criteria are in terms of who will receive funding from either the community fund or partnerships fund, and I respect the decisions that they brought to me for my approval.

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

The allegations against the Department of Indian Affairs are very serious, because the documents are showing that they are identifying school priorities not on the issues of health and safety but on whether or not they are in opposition ridings. This would constitute a serious breach of public trust.

What steps will Treasury Board take to ensure that children who are at risk on isolated reserves are not penalized for the partisan political gain of the Conservative Party?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, I am very surprised that the member opposite would ask that inflammatory question.

We had a committee meeting this morning. We talked about this very subject. It is very clear in the response from the department that the priorities are set by the department. It does not consider political situations. Whether they are in opposition ridings or Conservative ridings makes no difference at all. However, the fact is that we do represent most of those areas.

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

Mr. Speaker, the documents completely contradict him. This issue is not about me. It is about children at risk in Attawapiskat who were involved in a project that was in an advanced state of negotiations when the minister killed it.

This House has seen a long litany of notorious pork-barrel ministers, but it has never seen a minister who would use his office to punish children in substandard schools for how their parents voted.

What steps will the government take to rein in that rogue minister so that accountability is based on health and safety and the rights of children and not on the gain of the Conservative Party of Canada?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that the member opposite has an interpretation that is far different from reality. We also understand the concerns of aboriginal children. We have expanded school construction and other spending because we do understand.

Since 2000, the department has invested over $5 million in Attawapiskat for expansion of the high school and temporary classrooms, and approximately $1 million a year for operations and upkeep of the schools.

We are working with the community. Health Canada inspections in June demonstrated there are no health and safety concerns.

Livestock Industry

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Palliser livestock producers are having a tough time. The government's economic action plan will help cut taxes for small business and build the infrastructure that is so vital to our rural communities, but mandatory country of origin labelling, high-priced inputs and low returns have hurt the bottom line for many of these farmers.

What is our government doing to help these working producers?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Palliser is part of a dynamic team on this side of the House in government that is addressing these pressing needs for the livestock sector.

We have delivered unprecedented amounts of money to keep them liquid through these trying times. We continue to work with the administration in the United States on country of origin labelling. We are making great progress there. Of course, we are re-opening markets and reinvigorating markets that went untended for a decade under the other government.

We have restructured the market access secretariat, working with industry and our provincial colleagues. We will continue to move forward on that file.

Status of Women

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, from her previous responses, it is obvious that it is not the minister responsible for Status of Women who takes the lead role on the issues of concern to Canadian women. We want to know very simply, what has the Minister of State for Status of Women done to ensure gender equity in the budget? What role, if any, did she actually play? Will the minister of state please table in the House any gender-based analysis that was done for the budget, whether it was from her department or any other department? Was the--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. minister of state.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Minister of State (Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, I did in fact sit on the Status of Women committee for a couple of years. We did turn out a number of exceptional reports on gender-based analysis, so I am quite familiar with the process, as she is. She knows her question is not in line with how it works.

However, the member is very well aware of the fact that we announced an action plan working toward women's equality in budget 2008. I invited the committee members and all women in the House to participate in the development of that plan which will have three pillars: economic security, leadership, and ending violence against women.