Debates of March 6th, 2009

Justice

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I am sure you would agree, the excesses of demagoguery eventually end up looking foolish, pure and simple. Is the minister's representative trying to say that the millions of people and hundreds of countries around the world that have fought to abolish the death penalty did not have sympathy for the victims?

The government has 30 days to appeal the decision. Can the government give us the assurance here today that it will not appeal this decision—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas).

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the member that it would be nice if all of the opposition parties showed as much concern and compassion for the lives of victims and their families as they do for the perpetrators.

Afghanistan

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) rejected the idea of appointing a special envoy to Afghanistan. At the same time, his superior, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, contradicted him.

Who is right? Who is wrong? What is the Conservatives' real position on this?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)]

Mr. Speaker, we look forward to the minister's return to tell us about his highly successful trip to the Middle East and NATO.

Every country has to make its own decisions as to how they organize their engagement in Afghanistan. Some countries have a special envoy. Canada has asked other countries to consider more troops and development. Our brave men and women have been doing the hard work in Kandahar and this has earned Canada the diplomatic clout, unlike the Liberals when they were preoccupied with their soft power fantasies.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs for the Americas is not very good without a teleprompter.

The fact is that yesterday in the House the minister of state said that any person who supported the idea of an envoy to Afghanistan did not have faith in our diplomats there. Yesterday, at the same time, his boss, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, supported the idea of having an envoy.

Does the minister of state believe that the government no longer has faith in its diplomats in Afghanistan and how can this government on the same day take two positions on an issue as important as Afghanistan?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the hon. member to check Hansard. That is a complete misrepresentation of the answer. We have confidence in our foreign affairs professionals, even if the opposition does not.

Justice

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a federal court has ruled that the government must seek clemency for a Canadian sentenced to death in the United States. Will the justice minister abide by the court's decision?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)]

The hon. member must have been out of the House when I gave my previous answer, Mr. Speaker. The government is currently reviewing the court's decision and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is giving Canada a black eye, clearly. History is clear. Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976 and in 1987 the Mulroney Conservative government held a free vote on its reinstatement. Again, Parliament said no, but guess what the Minister of Justice did? He voted in favour of the reinstatement.

Is the minister still in favour of bringing back the death penalty in Canada?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)]

Mr. Speaker, that question is not worthy of a response.

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, the EI work sharing program is designed to avoid layoffs by offering EI income benefits to workers willing to work a reduced workweek while their employer recovers. Yesterday the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development was pleased to announce that the EI work sharing program has been extended by 14 weeks to a maximum of 52 weeks.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development tell the House how our extension of the work sharing program was received?

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I can advise the member and the House that this initiative has been received very well. Here is what the Forest Products Association of Canada had to say:

—extending the work-sharing program will keep thousands of forest-sector employees gainfully employed until market conditions improve, help workers retain valuable skills, position companies to take full advantage of the eventual economic recovery, and lessen the impact of layoffs and mill closures on communities.

That is what employers want. That is what employees want. That is what Canadians want. We are taking action to protect jobs and to keep Canadians working.

The Environment

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of the Environment finally admitted that his $1 billion so-called renewable energy fund was entirely devoted to the most expensive and unproven option, carbon capture.

I am worried that the minister is unaware that carbon capture is not a renewable energy. Simply calling it a clean energy fund does not make it so.

Will the minister tell Canadians if there are any legitimate plans to invest in real renewable energy such as wind and solar, or will he simply call the fund what it truly is, just another Conservative greenwash?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, this is another example of the NDP not reading the budget.

Our budget includes $1 billion for green infrastructure, $300 million for eco-energy retrofits and $1 billion for clean energy programs such as carbon capture and storage.

We are working with the U.S. administration, President Obama. We are world leaders in carbon capture storage. The member needs to support the budget.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, recently when asked, the minister was unable to even define what he believed green energy to be. We know that coal plants using carbon capture require 30% more coal to run and are 50% more expensive to build.

The government must be held to account for bringing in the most environmentally backwards budget in a generation.

Does the government really believe in an energy future where we need 30% more coal just to keep the lights on?

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the member voted against the Great Bear Rainforest. He has not read the budget. He said that he would vote against it regardless.

The good work with the clean energy dialogue continued with President Obama, our Prime Minister and our Minister of the Environment this last week in Washington, D.C.. We are working hard.

Why is the NDP continually trying to obstruct moving forward on a clean and green environment?

Arts and Culture

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government has slashed funding for Quebec culture, but it always seems to have enough money to spend on federalist propaganda. Recently, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages added $372,000 to the Historica Foundation's budget even though the organization already gets $17 million in federal funding to carry on the work of the now-defunct Canadian Unity Council.

Maybe the government should be a little less buddy-buddy with Canadian propaganda mercenaries and pay a little more attention to what our artists need.

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, it seems like an appropriate time to remind the member of our government's economic action plan.

Over the next two years, our government will be investing $530 million in the arts, more investments in heritage and culture than any government in Canadian history. It represents a 10% increase over the next two years in arts and culture funding, money that will support arts and culture from coast to coast, including Quebec.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government is obsessed with using history for partisan purposes. The government has already trivialized the significance of the conquest and attempted to rewrite history. Will the government finally understand that we do not want it teaching its version of history to 14-year-olds by funding the Historica Foundation?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member likes talking about taxpayer-funded propaganda. I have an example of exactly that kind of propaganda funded by the Bloc Québécois. This is from an extreme, racist paper that called Barack Obama a dog, issued threats of violence against Quebeckers and supports an extremist agenda.

The Bloc Québécois should stop spending taxpayer dollars on that kind of extremist propaganda.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, filmmaker Jacques Godbout has criticized the Conservatives' under-funding of the National Film Board. As usual, the office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages says that everything is fine and that the NFB does not need additional funding.

When will the Conservatives let the NFB regain the prestigious reputation it once enjoyed?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the government is investing in heritage and culture in our country and that includes investment in telefilm and television programming and also new media.

This government supports arts and culture. We support telefilm.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the numbers belie what the Conservatives would have us believe. The NFB's budget has shrunk by $14 million over the years. As filmmaker Jacques Godbout put it, it was once an extraordinary institution; now, it is an endangered one.

Will the Conservatives help the NFB retain its status as a relevant institution in the digital media era?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I see the Liberal member is quite excited about this. She should be excited because over the last 10 years there has been an increase in funding to the National Film Board by over $9 million. That is roughly 15%.

I know why the Liberals are excited. They are excited because we are putting more money into arts and culture than any government in history. We are standing up for arts and culture.