Debates of March 24th, 2009

World Tuberculosis Day

[Glen Pearson, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is World Tuberculosis Day. TB kills 1.7 million people each year. That is one person every 20 seconds. Many of these are among the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations, particularly women, people living with HIV and aboriginal people.

The tragedy is that we know how to fight this epidemic and treating TB costs as little as $20 per person for the life-saving drugs.

In a time of economic crisis, developing countries are hit hard as they feel the effects of the downturn and a decrease in aid dollars. As fiscal belts are tightened, it is important to note that studies show investing in TB control is one of the most cost-effective public health investments that can be made.

The World Bank acknowledged the economic imperative to treat TB in an impact study that showed scaling up funding to fight TB would not only prevent unnecessary sickness and death, it would be cheaper than maintaining the status quo. Canada has been recognized as a leader in TB control, but we are wavering. Canada's actual spending is down $30 million in 2007.

We know how to fight the epidemic and treat the disease in Canada. I would like to ask all members of the House to fight this--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Beauharnois—Salaberry.

Nancy Leduc

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

Mr. Speaker, the 2009 Winter Special Olympics were held last February 7 to 13 in Boise, Idaho in the United States. Over 3,000 athletes from 85 countries competed in seven sports.

Ten athletes from Quebec took part in these games, constituting the largest Quebec representation since the event was created in 1977.

One member of this delegation was Ms. Nancy Leduc, of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, in my riding, who participated in the snowshoe race event. Ms. Leduc, with her coach Ms. Johanne Noël, went through a stiff regimen of five days’ intensive training per week to prepare for this competition. Her efforts and perseverance bore fruit, for she returned home with three medals, one gold and two bronze.

On my own behalf and that of the Bloc Québécois, I salute Nancy. She is an example of courage and determination for us all.

Post-Secondary Education

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, post-secondary education is important to northern Manitoba and to Canada.

In northern Manitoba we have one of the youngest populations in Canada. People in the north tell us that post-secondary education is key to our future. As a former researcher and instructor at the University College of the North, I have seen the issues firsthand. Canadian students need support.

Aboriginal students across Canada have been calling for adequate funding for their studies and the need for the federal government to respect that education is a treaty right. In terms of research, students, researchers and academics across Canada have decried the cuts and ideological earmarking of research funding. The refusal to see commitments to all research as integral to our economic recovery is damaging to us.

Finally, we need a comprehensive approach to support post-secondary education. We need a long-term commitment to support our institutions, researchers and students in terms of infrastructure, programming and access.

A plan for a strong economic recovery ought to place a priority on post-secondary education.

Human Trafficking

[Joy Smith, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, March 25, will mark the 202nd anniversary of the enactment of the Slave Trade Act by the British Parliament. While this monumental act led to the end of the Atlantic slave trade, there are more humans enslaved today than at any given moment throughout history.

Human trafficking is a modern day slave trade that holds over 27 million men, women and children in captivity, and generates more revenue annually than Nike, Google and Starbucks combined.

Dr. David Batstone, co-founder of the Not For Sale Campaign, has led modern day abolitionists to combat human trafficking. I am pleased to commend Dr. David Batstone, Professor Benjamin Perrin and the students of the University of British Columbia Human Trafficking Working Group as well as the Canadian Religious Conference for launching the website, slaverymap.ca last week, a tool to track human trafficking cases in Canada.

I would invite hon. members and all Canadians to visit the website and help end slavery once and for all in our nation.

Vincent Massey Collegiate

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

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, the Manitoba Association of School Trustees 2009 Premier Award for School Board Innovation was won by Vincent Massey Collegiate in Fort Garry, in Winnipeg, given for its alternative energy array project.

Guided by a student-led sustainable development committee, the school made alternative energy and sustainability a priority for learning and action. After establishing a weather station on the roof of the school and collecting data for nine months, student research determined what energy sources should be focused on and what type of equipment was required to meet those needs.

The goal was to establish a small-scale wind turbine, solar cells, a green roof and a greenhouse. The wind turbine was launched in the fall of 2008. The green roof and solar cells are to be launched in the spring of 2009 and 2010.

Their goal, as stated in their application for the award, is to create a learning environment where—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I am afraid the hon. member's time has expired.

The hon. member for Edmonton Centre.

Military Spouses

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the military spouse.

While the military member is thousands of miles from home, it is the military spouse who manages the home front.

Whether it is taking the kids to lessons, getting maintenance done on house or car, dealing with bills, attending parent-teacher interviews, taking a sick kid to emergency, tucking in the kids and telling them that daddy or mommy will be home soon, whether it is waiting for the phone call or email from halfway around the world or controlling the gnawing fear when it does not come as expected, whether it is being there for a friend who has lost his or her mate through service to Canada, or living in fear of the black staff car in the driveway, or putting on a brave face when his or her spouse returns early to Trenton, it is the military spouse who bears the burden of service every bit as much as the military member.

It is the military spouse who deserves a medal, because he or she is every bit as heroic as those who wear the maple leaf.

As poet John Milton wrote in the 17th century:

They also serve who only stand and waite.

Truer words were never spoken, and we should all remember the military spouse in our thoughts and prayers.

Kevin and Vince Nells Papatie

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate Kevin and Vince Nells Papatie of the Algonquin community of Kitcisakik on the production of their respective short films L'amendement and Petit Prince. Young filmmakers crossed Canada in a mobile recording studio, Wapinoki Mobile, allowing young people from aboriginal communities to express their culture through film by means of video and musical productions.

L'amendement by Kevin Papatie, which concerns the loss of the Algonquin language, won the award for best film in an aboriginal language at the imagineNATIVE 2008 festival in Toronto, as well as a prize at the FILMER A TOUT PRIX festival in Brussels, Belgium. The short film by Vince Nells Papatie, Petit Prince, will be screened at the Native American Film + Video Festival in New York later this week.

I join with my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois in extending our congratulations. Kevin and Vince can be proud.

National Black Engagement Days

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of National Black Engagement Days. In this historic event, the leadership of the national black community will be meeting with ministers, other members of Parliament and senior government officials.

This event highlights our government's strong commitment to Canada's cultural communities. By engaging in dialogue with these pioneering men and women, we are laying the foundation for strong and powerful relationships with one of Canada's most vibrant communities.

I am honoured to have this chance to participate in National Black Engagement Days as it gives me the chance to better understand the intricate fabric that makes up this beautiful country.

Please join me in honouring the delegation that is in Ottawa today. They are all an inspiration, and I hope this is only the beginning of a new phase of engagement with Canada's black community.

CBC Cape Breton

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, CBC Cape Breton is a vital part of our island. It provides a unique voice for Cape Bretoners and it is vital to open discourse and democracy. It provides the island with a town square where people of all walks of life gather daily to share news, culture and their ideas.

Programs such as Information Morning with Steve Sutherland and Laurel Munroe, and Mainstreet with Wendy Bergfeldt, provide Cape Bretoners with a link to their neighbours, their culture and the world.

It means that somebody in Sydney can understand the concerns of somebody in Inverness. It brings together rural and urban, and it bridges cultures both old and new.

Cape Bretoners have suffered many economic blows over the years, but we have taken strength in our culture. CBC Cape Breton has been there during our triumphs and our tragedies.

I want all members to join with me in calling on CBC to keep CBC Cape Breton as a local independent voice well into our future.

Seal Hunt

[Rodney Weston, Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Green Party leader Elizabeth May recently came out in support of a Liberal bill that would ban the seal hunt. May's position on the seal hunt is especially concerning given that a Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition would have appointed her to the Senate, allowing the anti-seal hunt bill to move to the next stage and putting the hunt's future in tremendous jeopardy.

All they need is one more senator to support this Liberal bill to lead to it coming closer to being adopted and the seal hunt banned, which just happens to be the goal of Liberal campaign boss Warren Kinsella.

Canadians should also be aware that all of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal and NDP members of Parliament signed that coalition agreement, so they would have been responsible for putting May in the Senate to advance this anti-Newfoundland and Labrador, anti-Canadian debate.

Water

[Denise Savoie, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today I congratulate Bill Goers, recipient of the fourth annual World Water Day award. Bill was recognized at Victoria's Toast to Tapwater event for bringing back to life Fernwood's Spring Ridge community well, one of the first public springs to be protected in B.C. in the 1800s.

Through this toast to public water, Bill and the Greater Victoria Water Watch Coalition want government to understand that public water is critical to our collective future.

They ask that the federal government show leadership on the global stage and recognize water as a human right, that Ottawa address the lack of clean water in first nations communities, wanton waste of water in tar sands development, unsustainable escalation of the bottled water industry, and the alarming pressure for privatization of our dwindling fresh water resources.

Bloc Québécois

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada’s economy is going through a virtually unprecedented period of crisis. Quebeckers are suffering and they expect the Bloc members who were elected to treat their hard-earned money responsibly.

So while Quebeckers suffer, what does the Bloc do? Well, just imagine Bloc members heading off on nice holidays down south at taxpayer expense.

We asked some legitimate questions yesterday of the Bloc tourists but did not get any answers. In view of their inability to deliver the goods for Quebec in Ottawa and really advance the interests of the Quebec nation, we are entitled to demand an accounting. If the Bloc does not do any good for Quebec in Ottawa, it certainly will not do any better in Washington.

On behalf of the citizens in my riding, I officially deplore this shameful waste.

Liberal Party of Canada

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last weekend the Liberal leader waffled on at great length before his party workers but had nothing specific to offer Quebeckers.

He says he wants to improve the employment insurance system, which was butchered by the Liberals, but does not have anything in particular to propose. He says too that he was the first federalist politician to recognize the Quebec nation, but he refuses to say what he intends to make of it. Even worse, he describes the fiscal imbalance as ancient history when the Quebec National Assembly agrees unanimously that it should be dealt with.

While the Bloc Québécois was making clear, detailed proposals for jump-starting the economy, the Liberals were content to sit back and support the Conservative budget without even deigning to propose any amendments to meet Quebec’s particular needs.

Is this the kind of leadership that the Liberal Party of Canada is offering Quebeckers? It is nothing but empty words. A lot of talk but little action.

La Francophonie

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on March 20, 70 governments and member states honoured the French language during the International Day of La Francophonie. Canada took the opportunity to celebrate French as the country's second official language.

Today, the Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie is in Canada. I am delighted that the Université du Québec en Outaouais has honoured him with an honourary doctorate, and I am very pleased that Mr. Diouf has paid us a visit. I hope that this event will prompt our government to confirm its commitment to the international Francophonie.

The Conservative government has withdrawn Canadian aid from several countries that are members of La Francophonie, so it will have a hard time convincing its partners that it keeps its promises to respect democracy and support development in francophone nations.

Government Policies

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is taking unprecedented steps with our economic action plan. Yet someone does not believe the Conservative government's effort to cut the GST from 7% to 6% to 5% puts money back into the pockets of hard-working Canadians. That measure helped prepare Canada for this global recession by stimulating the economy years ago, yet someone wants to raise the GST.

Our Conservative government knows cutting taxes while putting money into shovel-ready projects is one of the best ways to stimulate the economy. Yet someone wants to slow down the process of putting shovels in the ground and getting infrastructure projects working. Meanwhile, someone wants a job-killing carbon tax that will have a negative impact on the Canadian economy.

That someone has a senior adviser who considers Canada's seal hunt “appalling and more trouble than it is worth”, and a senator from Ottawa Centre on behalf of the Liberals wants to end the hunt and tell 6,000 families just “to find something else to do”.

That someone needs to put the needs of Canadians first. That someone needs to do a better job of being the Liberal leader.

Employment Insurance

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there were 24,000 new claimants for employment insurance this January. That is bad enough, but thousands more Canadians are losing their jobs and are not able to claim EI even though they paid into the system.

The government is trying to patch EI with duct tape while evading the real issue, which is eligibility.

Will the government adjust the eligibility requirements so that all Canadians, wherever they live, can claim EI when they need it?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party should know that eligibility for EI is determined by the region in which one lives, according to a formula. As, obviously, employment conditions become more difficult, eligibility becomes easier.

This is the government that has put additional moneys into EI. This is the government that has ensured that people who need EI during this recession will be able to access it for a longer time to get more training. We have brought in new additional EI training. Also, we have ensured that EI cheques get out faster.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I take that as a no, so I will rephrase the question.

Lots of Canadians have paid into EI but when they lose their jobs they cannot get the benefits they need when they need them.

Again, is the Prime Minister prepared to review eligibility requirements for EI so the system is fair, because it is about fairness here, for all Canadians?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition should know that those who are not eligible for EI it is often because they did not pay into EI in most cases because they are not participants, and, of course, there are cases where they do not have sufficient hours.

However, this government has brought in important enhancements to EI. The Leader of the Opposition was asked for some proposals for the budget but he did not provide any, which is why we have moved forward with the proposal to increase the number of weeks of eligibility.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps asking me for proposals. It is as if he wants me to do his job. I would, of course, like to do his job when the time comes.

However, I will the question again. Is he saying that the fact that the unemployed are not eligible is their fault?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, of course we are not saying that and that is why this government has been acting to help the unemployed during this recession.

What we are saying is that whether somebody is prime minister or not, when they are elected to have responsibility in this House during a recession, they are here to help Canadians, not just to try and play on bad news for their own strategic advantage. It is irresponsible and Canadians see through it.

Forestry Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are doing nothing to help the forestry industry, yet the Canadian auto industry is getting close to $4 billion in loans. In the past two years, 25,000 jobs have been lost in Canada's pulp and paper industry.

AbitibiBowater is in the 11th hour. We could see massive layoffs and plant closures in Quebec and Atlantic Canada while the Conservatives have remained silent on the issue. After months and months of crises, why is the forestry industry still waiting for much needed help?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, we have answered this question many times.

I would like to take the precious time the opposition member has given me to remind her of all the positive measures we have announced for the forestry sector: $1 billion over two years to help communities; more money and resources for Export Development Canada, to facilitate assistance for companies such as forestry companies; $8.3 billion for the Canada skills and transition strategy; $2 billion to expedite construction at our colleges and universities; and $170 million for new forestry products and marketing programs.

We are getting the job done.