Debates of March 10th, 2009

Science and Technology

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, in just this budget alone, this government has put in $5.1 billion: $50 million for the Institute for Quantum Computing, the next generation of computer language; $80 million for transformative technologies; $87 million for Arctic research of all kinds; $3.5 million for internships; $87.5 million to the Canada graduate scholarships program; $250 million to modernize federal labs; $500 million for Canada Health Infoway.

I would go on, but I am losing my voice.

Child Care

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned from The Epoch Times that the leader of the Liberal Party wants to do away with our $1,200 per child universal child care benefit.

Could the minister of HRSD comment on the Liberal leader's latest pledge to take choice in child care away from parents?

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

Mr. Speaker, unlike the leader of the Liberal Party, on this side of the House we will continue to stand up for parents and give them real choice in child care. Unlike the Liberal leader, we will not take away the UCCB that provides $2.4 billion a year to families to help them provide care for their two million children.

Unlike the Liberal leader, we believe in Canadian parents and their ability to choose what is best for their children.

Automotive Industry

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, workers at General Motors are showing leadership, but after the unprecedented sacrifice auto workers made yesterday, the minister turns to them and says that it is not enough.

What is not good enough is that there is no national auto strategy, no protection for pensions, and we are just sitting by watching jobs go to Michigan and Mexico. That is what is not good enough.

When will the government admit that its inaction led us here and that it is time to do something substantial for a change?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, of course, our Minister of Industry and our Prime Minister have been showing tremendous leadership on this file right from the start.

It was recognized in a comment made by industry expert Dennis Desrosiers the other day, when he said:

[The finance minister and the industry minister] have been brilliant in how they've handled this going way back...They came out weeks ahead of the American government...They really deserve a lot of credit.

I am sure that in the follow-up question the hon. member will be giving them some credit.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, how about some quotes from all those auto workers who lost their jobs? Those are the real people that the member should be listening to.

If we had a national auto strategy like the Conservatives promised months ago, General Motors would be viable in Canada. We would not be crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. We would be taking the necessary leadership to ensure the long-term viability of the auto sector in Canada.

The CAW has shown that leadership. Now it is time for the minister to do the same.

On behalf of the workers and pensioners who have given so much, when will the government start to act and listen to them, and stop attacking the worker families who, by no fault of their own, have been thrown out of their jobs?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that everything in this budget was focused on helping those workers, helping their families, helping Canadians keep jobs.

I want to quote the NDP member for Hamilton Mountain, who on January 29, in this House, said, “Every single important piece that people in the community were looking for is mentioned.” She said that of the budget.

I want to ask the hon. member why his party would vote against a budget that contained “every single important piece that people in the community were looking for”.

Scholarships

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State for Science and Technology is once again trying to disguise reality. The budget plan clearly states, on page 107, and I quote: “Scholarships granted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council will be focused on business-related degrees”.

Will the minister stop playing with words and reconsider his ideological takeover attempt of university research, which is unanimously condemned?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, what the member is failing to do is to consider the fact that there are pre-existing scholarships. Those scholarships continue. The member laughs, but in fact the member just did not read the budget in totality.

These are new programs. The pre-existing scholarships and internships remain, and they continue every year from now on. This year we created 2,500 new scholarships and 600 new industrial internships, because that is what we were asked to do by Canadians and this—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Shefford.

Science and Technology

[Robert Vincent, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, besides the Conservatives' ideological takeover attempts, the scientific community is concerned about their refusal to respond to the financial needs of universities for research. The association's executive director, Mr. Turk, finds it bewildering that money will actually be taken away from the three granting agencies.

Will the Conservatives finally understand that preparing the future means investing in people and ideas now?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, once again I want to remind the member opposite that this government put $5.1 billion of new money into science, technology and innovation. Everything for the Canadian Space Agency, this member voted against. There is money for the Canada Health Infoway. This member and his party vote against that stuff.

There is money for cancer research. There is money for health care information. There is money for Internet and telecommunications. There is money for everything to do with improving this country's innovation. That member, along with the NDP, votes against that stuff.

Transportation

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government has billions of dollars right now to create jobs, yet to date there are no jobs and no projects. There is, meanwhile, one legacy project with great economic spinoffs, a high-speed train from Quebec to Windsor, that cries out for action. It would create 127,000 jobs in just the construction phase alone, according to several of the dozen feasibility studies that have been conducted so far.

Why not get on the job and issue a request for proposals from the private sector and get this project on track?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure this was right at the top of the priority list, if they had only got that fifth term.

We are working constructively with the Government of Quebec and with my premier, the Premier of Ontario. We recently announced we were moving forward with a study to look at the cost of this important project. We are committed to working with my premier and the Premier of Quebec to constructively evaluate this project.

The one group of people standing in the way of help for the unemployed is a group of people down the hall, the Liberal Senate. He should get them to act.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I guess that means there is no political will to do anything.

Yet in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, China, and now even Britain and the United States, they are building the future with Canadian high-speed train technology. They have experience and recognize the economic and environmental benefits of high-speed trains. Their projects are classified as nation builders.

Today in Canada we have the money, we have the expertise, but the government lacks the political will. What is it about nation building that so intimidates the government?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, that gentleman comes from a party whose notion of nation building was to cut $25 billion from our hospitals and doctors. It was to bring in the sponsorship scandal, probably the biggest destruction to national unity, certainly in my lifetime.

We have an important economic action plan. Step by step, we are getting it done, but I implore, I beg my friend from Eglinton—Lawrence, could he go down and talk to the Liberal senators and tell them to stand up for hope, to stand up for opportunity, to stand up for new jobs, and to support our economic action plan?

Arts and Culture

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

Mr. Speaker, the government has used the economic crisis to attack the CBC. Yesterday, the minister announced that the government would be cutting the new Canada media fund for the CBC. It is refusing to support the corporation's request for stable funding, and it still owes the corporation $60 million.

The result? Regional stations will have to close and jobs will be lost. Why has the minister launched a campaign to destabilize the CBC?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is completely untrue. Grants to the CBC will reach $1.17 billion this year, the largest investment in the history of our country.

I only have that report in French.

However, my hon. colleague talked about the announcement we made yesterday, about the Canada media fund and what it means for the CBC.

Here is what it means. Hubert Lacroix said:

The new Fund is designed to make sure that Canadians have access to more of the popular drama, comedy and children's programming that they want to watch, when, how and where they want to watch it.

CBC supports what we are doing. It is good for Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, if that were true, he would give the CBC the $60 million that he is sitting on. The minister's spin will not keep our local television stations going. In fact, if we look at the lack of accountability and how he stripped it from the Canadian Television Fund, the broadcasters have been kicked off, the CBC has been kicked off, independent television producers have been kicked off. He has taken a $130-million public fund and turned it into a private club for the cable giants.

Why has the minister thrown out the public interests to protect the vested interests of a cabal of the five giant cable companies?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member says we are kicking the Canadian Television Fund. The Canadian Television Fund supports the Canada media fund; it supports what we are doing. The member says he speaks for the Canadian Television Fund. The Canadian Television Fund says we are speaking for them. This reform, $310 million for more Canadian content on more platforms, is going to serve Canada's future.

The NDP members are only upset because this is a great idea that they did not think of. They voted against the budget before they read it. With $310 million for the best interests of Canadians, we are getting the job done.

National Defence

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, for years under Liberal governments the Canadian Forces suffered from a lack of financial support for essential equipment and support systems that our men and women in uniform require.

Yesterday our government continued with our agenda to strengthen the Canadian Forces with measures that will also help 250 highly skilled General Dynamics workers in Calgary.

Could the Minister of Public Works please inform the House of the important national defence contracts that were announced yesterday?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Calgary Northeast for his question.

Citizens in Calgary, as well as those in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, will benefit from two contracts announced yesterday. The first is with General Dynamics and the other with Thales Canada in order to update the Land Command Support System.

Canadians will benefit from considerable defence spending that will ensure that hi-tech jobs will be created and maintained here in Canada. We are serious about rebuilding the Canadian Forces.

Once again, where the Liberals failed, we are getting the job done.

Sri Lanka

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadians in the Tamil community are worried sick about their relatives in Sri Lanka, the Conservative government continues to look for reasons not to act. The humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's northern Vanni region is rapidly becoming a catastrophe. International crisis groups are telling us that the situation is deteriorating by the day. Yet the Conservative government is not listening.

Will the Prime Minister now commit to supporting the call to appoint a UN envoy for Sri Lanka, one who will address human rights and assist in an ongoing and lasting peace process?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, you will recall that we have been extremely active on this file. We have taken action. As a matter of fact, I have been in touch with India's foreign affairs minister as well as India's foreign affairs representatives. We have reviewed it.

My colleague, the minister responsible for international aid, also has been very active in terms of helping the needy and the civilians with a complement of humanitarian aid.

We have been very active and we are getting the job done.

Domtar

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on January 27, I asked the minister about the 425 employees of the Domtar plant, in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, who lost their jobs following a lockout. She told me to wait for the budget. I have read and reread the budget and it does not contain a solution to this problem. In this specific case, exceptions to the law apply to prisoners, but not to the Domtar workers. That does not make sense.

Will the government support the Bloc Québécois bill in order to remedy this situation and allow many workers—