Debates of March 27th, 2009

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have no clearer example of Liberal math than this. We increased funding for the CBC and the Liberals call it slashing. They present themselves as defenders of the CBC and campaigned on it, but when they got into office, what did they do? They slashed the CBC by $414 million, and with the member for Wascana cheering away, they cut 4,000 CBC jobs. Shame on him for failing the CBC.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' hostility toward the CBC is a threat to regional news. Quebec City's mayor understands that. Yesterday, he condemned the elimination of his region's noon news broadcast.

Why did the minister responsible for the Quebec City region do nothing to defend the rights of her citizens?

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

Mr. Speaker, we kept the promise we made during the last campaign to maintain or increase the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's budget. That is what we did.

During the campaign, the Liberals said that a Liberal government would commit to stable funding over several years for the CBC. However, what they did was cut the CBC's budget by $414 million, which resulted in the loss of 4,000 jobs. That was the Liberal Party's agenda. We were the ones who stood up for the CBC's budget, and they were the ones who cut it.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the time, we were busy cleaning up the mess left by the previous Conservative government.

CBC employees in Quebec City are not the only ones worried about getting pink slips. People working for private broadcasters are worried too. A weaker CBC means that private broadcasters will also feel free to cut jobs in regional markets without fear of losing their competitive edge.

Why are the Conservatives chipping away at the diversity of media sources in all regions of Quebec?

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

Of course, Mr. Speaker, it is completely false. We have increased funding for arts and culture. We have increased funding for the CBC. We have created the new Canada media fund of $310 million to support the creation of Canadian content. Not only that, not only is it important for us to underline what our government is doing, but also to juxtapose it with what the Liberals are doing. Here is what someone the member supported once said: “If the CBC were to close its doors tomorrow morning, nobody would be in the streets protesting. The Liberals do not care about the CBC”. Who said that? Former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien.

Goods and Services Tax

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 1991, acting in good faith, Quebec harmonized its sales tax with the GST. Despite repeated requests from Quebec, however, successive Liberal and Conservative governments have refused to compensate it. Yet today, in a blatant bid for votes, the Conservatives are agreeing to compensate Ontario, which will get $4.3 billion.

Is the Prime Minister aware of this slight against Quebec, which is being penalized for setting an example for the rest of Canada, while Ontario, which refused to harmonize its tax for 19 years, is being compensated? It is a disgrace.

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the only disgrace is the fact that the hon. member does not actually understand the process of a harmonized sales tax with Quebec. In fact Quebec did not fully adopt a harmonized sales tax as did Ontario and as did some of the other provinces. The important thing to note is that this government has increased transfer payments to Quebec. We continue to increase them. We continue to increase health transfers and social transfers to all provinces, especially Quebec.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we understand perfectly well what is going on. Ontario will get $4.3 billion in compensation for harmonizing its sales tax with the GST. I would note in passing that a quarter of that will come from Quebec taxpayers. The Atlantic provinces received $250 million in 1997. We expect the other provinces will harmonize their taxes in order to get the same deal as Ontario. In the end, only Quebec, which led the way, will be penalized.

What is the government waiting for to give Quebec back the $2.6 billion it is asking for?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, Quebec retains full control over the design and application of the Quebec sales tax. It administers the value added tax system as well as the GST. We think it was adequately compensated. Let me also remind the hon. member that federal support to Quebec has increased 37%. We continue to support the province of Quebec and the people of Quebec.

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

Mr. Speaker, in addition to compensation for harmonizing with the GST, the fiscal imbalance remains a major issue for Quebec. We are still waiting for the federal government to come up with the $1.3 billion for post-secondary education and social programs. There is a shortfall of $1 billion for equalization and $250 million for the treatment of Hydro-Québec revenues.

Why is the Conservative government unable to correct the fiscal imbalance with Quebec, when it can pull $4.3 billion out of a hat for Ontario?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the only shortfall appears to be the math of the hon. member because transfers have not been cut to Quebec. Quebec's equalization and transfers are in fact at an all-time high. Let me give some numbers. Federal support totalled $17.6 billion for 2009-10 alone.

I repeat that we respect Quebeckers and we continue to support all people in Quebec.

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

Mr. Speaker, there is over $6 billion in outstanding issues between Quebec and Ottawa, which is also refusing to help the forestry industry. Meanwhile, the federal government has had no problem coming up with $4.3 billion to compensate Ontario and $2.7 billion to help its auto industry.

Will the government recognize that this injustice is due to the fact that the federal government is here to defend Canada's interests at the expense of Quebec's?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we would suggest and in fact argue that we respect and support all Canadians irrespective of in which province they live.

Quebec will receive $8.3 billion in equalization. I think the hon. member just said that was reduced. In fact, that is a 70% increase over what the previous Liberal government gave.

Mortgage Lending Industry

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, during this economic crisis the Conservative government is failing the middle class. We learned today that tens of thousands of responsible Canadians who have played by the rules and paid their bills on time are facing foreclosure on their mortgages through no fault of their own. About 12 alternative mortgage lenders will not renew their mortgages because capital has dried up.

Why is it that under the Conservative government a family who pays every mortgage payment on time still gets a foreclosure notice? What is the government going to do to ensure that these hard-working Canadians are not thrown out on the streets?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in fact this issue was in place during our prebudget consultations, but we must remind the hon. member that the NDP members obviously were not listening to their constituents or were not reflecting the concerns of their constituents.

We heard this in prebudget consultations. That is why we put into the budget and into our economic action plan the extraordinary financing framework of $200 billion that will provide capital to provide funds for CMHC to take over some of the loans that are in jeopardy now.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, the indifference of the Conservative government to the crisis that is facing Ontario's middle class is absolutely staggering.

Some 150,000 people have been thrown out of work and they are not getting EI. People who paid their bills on their houses are losing them.

How did the government set out to help Ontario? It paid Dalton McGuinty to harmonize a tax squeeze that is going to hit every Ontario family.

Who exactly is going to benefit from this tax squeeze on the bottom lines of Ontario families?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the hon. member should ask the finance minister of Ontario because that is an Ontario decision. That is not something that should be asked in this House.

Now that we are talking about budgets, let me remind all hon. members that in our 2009 budget we put forward an economic action plan that will in fact help Canadians.

We had to do it on our own. We did not get much help from the opposition, but we put in place a plan that will increase jobs for Canadians through providing extended EI and training for them so they can retrain for new jobs in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am sure those kinds of one-liners might work at Reform Party barbecues, but the reality is the government paid $4.3 billion to Dalton McGuinty to harmonize the tax. It is involved.

What is the hit? Eight per cent more for gasoline, 8% more for home heating, 8% more for electricity.

This might not bother the Conservatives, but it is going to hit the bottom line of every working family during the worst economic downturn since the Depression.

How can the government justify aiding Dalton McGuinty's tax grab against Ontario's citizens?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Did I miss something, Mr. Speaker? Is this not the House of Commons of Canada and not the legislature of Ontario?

The member has raised an interesting point: supporting Canadians. What did the NDP members vote against? Any of the tax cuts that we put in place. The tax cuts for small and large businesses, the NDP members voted against them. The cut in the GST from 6% to 5%, the NDP members voted against that.

Then they stand in the House and suggest that they are representing Canadians. I think not.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, not only will the government not take the easy steps to prevent the loss of jobs at the CBC, but it also appears intent on selling CBC assets; the CBC, a prized national institution so important to Canadians.

Will the minister please confirm or deny that CBC assets will soon be on the block?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course, we will work with the CBC. However, one-third of CBC's income comes from ad revenue, and ad revenue is down across the board for all people in the media. We will work with the CBC with regard to any sale of assets and make sure that is in the best interests of Canadians and the best interests of the CBC.

About job losses, let us be clear. Richard Stursberg, the executive vice-president of CBC, said that if the government had given the CBC bridge financing, it still would have had to cut 800 jobs.

So, the bridge financing would not have solved the problems at the CBC. The hon. member should know that and know her facts before she asks these questions.

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that this problem just did not arise. The government could have extended help to the CBC sooner than this. We know too well the animosity that the government feels toward the CBC. Maybe it feels it has scores to settle. This behaviour suggests an ideological vendetta against the CBC.

Why on earth does the CBC now have to choose between selling assets and selling out its people; worse, having to sell out both? In a recession, when we need stimulus to keep jobs, the government is refusing the funding to keep both at the CBC.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will just take another run at it. Maybe this time she will put her earpiece in and listen.

Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC English Services, said that if the government had given the CBC bridge financing, it still would have had to cut 800 jobs. This is a decision by the management of the CBC.

Our government kept our campaign commitment. We said we would maintain or increase funding for the CBC. We have done that in every single budget. The Liberals said that they would maintain or increase funding for the CBC. They cut $414 million from the CBC and cut 4,000 jobs. We have no lessons to learn from the Liberals on the CBC.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Mr. Speaker, in Newfoundland and Labrador, the government's refusal to offer CBC bridge financing has resulted in job losses in Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor.

The minister knows that, as a crown corporation, the CBC cannot secure a bank loan. So, with further job losses hitting small towns, and certainly in the rural regions, why is the government refusing to offer the bridge financing to CBC when it appears so willing to help its commercial competitors in this economic crisis?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will take a third run at it.

Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC, said that if the government had given the CBC bridge financing, it still would have had to cut 800 jobs. This is a decision by the CBC in order to make ends meet.

With regard to the CBC, we made a very specific campaign commitment. We kept our campaign commitment. We stand by the public broadcaster with record funding. When the Liberal government was in office, it cut 4,000 jobs at the CBC, and now the Liberals stand and claim to be defenders of the CBC. It is pathetic.