Debates of April 20th, 2009

Taxation

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leader finally let the cat out of the bag about his real intentions regarding taxes. He plans to raise them. Canadians should be very worried by these comments. Liberals have never met a tax they did not like.

Would Canada's Minister of Transport remind the House of the actions this government is taking to wisely spend Canadian tax dollars while also acting to reduce the tax burden on Canadian families in a time of economic uncertainty?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I share the real concerns of the member for Burlington. All of us on this side of the House are doing everything we can to promote economic growth and job creation and encourage more jobs, more hope and more opportunity. However, the one thing we learned in the province of Ontario before 1995 was that raising taxes kill jobs. It led to less hope and less opportunity.

I implore the leader of the Liberal Party to stand in this place and promise the people of Canada that he will not raise their taxes or at least have the decency to say how much he will raise them, when he will raise them and which ones he will raise.

Health

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the listeriosis crisis claimed 21 lives almost a year ago and the government is still scrambling for answers.

Instead of fixing the problems of an underfunded Food Inspection Agency, the government is stretching it even further. At a time when its own agency reports that there are not enough inspectors, the government is cutting up to 15% of the CFIA budget for inspectors.

Will the government commit to the necessary funding to ensure that the CFIA fulfills its mandate to protect the food that Canadian families put on their tables?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to underscore that the CFIA budget has only increased under our government. CFIA has more resources available now than it has ever had before. Under the previous Liberal government, food safety funding was cut in 1994 and again in 1995. If that was not bad enough, it cut it again in 2005.

Under this government, CFIA staffing has gone up by 14% since March 2006 and we have increased its budget by $113 million.

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government is robbing Peter to pay Paul. At the end of the day, our food is just as unsafe for our kids as it was last year.

New Democrats are calling for further investment so that we will be prepared for an emergency and have enough inspectors on the front line to do the job.

A high-quality emergency outbreak fund already exists, so why should its creation come at the expense of food inspectors? This does not make sense. How many more crises will Canadians need to endure before the government learns its lesson?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, I can only repeat what I just said. The CFIA budget has increased under this Conservative government. It has more resources now than it has ever had before. We have increased CFIA's budget for food inspection by $113 million. We have hired an additional 200 inspectors and have increased CFIA staffing by 14% since March 2006. We are taking real action.

Rail Transportation

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday President Obama presented a plan for the construction of 10 new high-speed rail networks, one of which could directly link Montreal to the United States. In the meanwhile, the Conservative government, rather than taking action, is reiterating that it is currently undertaking feasibility studies of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor even though it has been examining the project since 1992.

Will the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities promise today that his government will support President Obama's project in order to link Quebec City and Montreal to the future American network?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are working co-operatively with the Government of Quebec and the Government of Ontario because we respect provincial jurisdiction. We are working on a plan to revise the figures that were done in recent years. This is an important partnership.

We will not simply push aside the Government of Quebec, the Premier of Quebec and the elected representatives of Quebec and work with a foreign government. We are going to work constructively with our friends in Quebec.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, given that everyone in Quebec is asking the minister to take action, it will not be a problem and he will take action. Is that what we are to understand?

Important municipal and environmental players are very pleased that the Obama administration realizes that green transportation will have a greater role to play than motor vehicles in future economic development.

When will this government show the same type of leadership and long-term vision by demonstrating a similar interest in high-speed trains?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are presently working with our colleagues from the Quebec government and the McGuinty government in Ontario. It is very important that we determine the costs before proceeding. That is the Conservative way of doing things. We do not operate like the previous government, which made election promises without knowing the true costs of the project.

Government Assistance

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

Mr. Speaker, conditions are still precarious in Manitoba. Dikes have been built, people have been evacuated and homes have been damaged. More than 1,900 people have registered as evacuees, 1,300 from first nations communities.

Will the Minister of Public Safety confirm the flooded first nations in Manitoba will qualify for the same federal assistance as the province and municipalities?

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

Mr. Speaker, before I answer the member's question, I will take a moment to thank the Prime Minister for coming to Manitoba last week to survey the areas affected by the flooding. As members know, my riding of Provencher, as well as many others, have been affected. Having the Prime Minister come to Manitoba to get a sense of the situation on the ground was very important to local residents.

The Prime Minister committed federal assistance for this disaster. This government is prepared to stand with all our agreements in respect of first nations people and non-first nations people.

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

Mr. Speaker, I take it that means 90% to first nations communities as well.

Since the flood of 1997, the federal government and the province of Manitoba have undertaken preventative measures, including upgrades to the Manitoba floodway. Damages experienced this year are approaching the same level as 1997. The threat of further damage and future flooding still exists.

What specific mitigation measures is the government planning for those who live outside of Winnipeg, both north and south?

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

Mr. Speaker, not only did I have an occasion to speak with the Prime Minister about that very issue, but I spoke at some length with the premier of the province of Manitoba. He appreciates the assistance and the co-operativeness of the federal government at this important time.

The Prime Minister has indicated that we will be there to deliver the assistance that Manitoba needs. We will work together with the province to achieve an equitable resolution of the complaints.

Forestry Industry

[John Rafferty, NDP, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday AbitibiBowater declared bankruptcy, putting 11,000 more forestry jobs at stake, including hundreds in Thunder Bay and Fort Frances.

Under the government's watch, over 45,000 forestry jobs have been lost, whether in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, Mackenzie, B.C., or Iroquois Falls in northern Ontario. Our forestry industry is eroding and the government has yet to offer real solutions for workers and their communities.

When will the government stop making deals on the fly and work with us to come up with a national strategy to save Canadian forestry jobs?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, we understand the Canadian forest industry is facing several challenges, both domestically and globally. In particular, the situation with AbitibiBowater represents internal business decisions and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on those.

However, we are working to help the forestry industry in a number of different ways, including bringing new financing to the industry, developing markets, developing new products and helping the communities that are affected by the downturn.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, why enter into a piecemeal agreement with the Quebec government rather than adopting a national strategy? Forestry companies in Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia and Ontario have the same problems. They need access to credit to continue operating.

Why not provide loan guarantees to companies such as Black River Logging, in Manitouwadge, which will allow them to survive, prevent further layoffs and support the economies of local communities?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, that is specifically what we have been doing over the past year. We have put measures in place to address the financing issues with which the forestry sector is dealing.

We have partnered with the industry in order to support product innovation. We realize that the industry is going through a change and there is going to be massive change in the products it will be selling later. We have been working with them to develop those new forest products. We have been working to develop value-added programs to strengthen this sector as well. We are supporting the marketing products internationally.

We are getting the job done for the forestry industry.

National Defence

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the waters off the Horn of Africa have become extremely dangerous with pirates attacking merchant and other ships.

In 2008 the International Maritime Bureau estimated that there were 111 pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia. Canada has ships in the Gulf of Aden as part of a NATO anti-piracy mission.

Could the minister tell the House what we are doing to help the international effort to combat pirates in the waters off the coast of Somalia?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, as part of our NATO commitments, Canada has been very active in fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa. In fact, this past weekend the HMCS Winnipeg pursued, caught up, boarded and disarmed a pirate vessel that was attacking a Norwegian tanker. This is the third disruption of piracy activities in which the Winnipeg has been involved in the last month, surely a source of pride for our country.

Last fall, the HMCS Ville de Québec answered the call of the World Food Programme and safely escorted food to feed 400,000 people, over six months deterred 11 pirate attacks and has provided much stability with respect to the mission for safe passage off the coast of Somalia.

We can all be proud of the work of our navy in this regard.

Employment Insurance

[Anthony Rota, Liberal, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the last 300 workers from the Domtar plant in Dryden are getting laid off. Union president, Nick Chasowy, is trying to help his members get through the Conservative government's bureaucracy, with no response from Service Canada. The Conservative MP from the area agreed to meet with union members, but did not bother to show up.

Workers feel jilted and abandoned. When will the HRSD Minister stand up for the men and women of northern Ontario?

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

Mr. Speaker, we want to help as many Canadians who need our help and we want to do it in a prompt manner. That is why we have been taking on extra staff to deal with the burgeoning number of EI claims. That is why we have extended our call centre hours. That is why our Service Canada officials are trying to meet with every company possible that is facing layoffs so we can avoid them if possible with our work-sharing programs. If that is not possible, we will work with them to expedite the application process for employment insurance so Canadians who are suffering get the benefits they need as quickly as possible.

The Environment

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, President Obama made a clean break with the Bush approach to the environment. The American Environmental Protection Agency recently found that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and well-being, a finding that lends weight to the American President's decision to impose absolute greenhouse gas reduction targets without delay.

Will the Minister of the Environment follow in the United States' footsteps by getting rid of intensity targets and announcing plans for absolute greenhouse gas reduction targets, the only approach that would support the existence of a carbon exchange?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, we have worked with the United States and other countries. We are committed to setting up and implementing an action plan based on four fundamental principles.

First, we have to balance environmental and economic protection. We have to adjust our long-term priorities regularly. We have to develop and implement clean technology. And we have to ensure that a majority of companies currently using dirty technology will get on board.

Health

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as hundreds of thousands of Canadians lose their jobs, they are also losing their much needed work-based drug coverage plans.

Last week, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reported that Canadians paid close to $30 billion a year for their medications. That is almost $900 for every woman, man and child.

Canadians could barely afford their medications in the best of times. How can they be expected to manage in these very difficult economic times? When is the government going to finally implement its long-promised national pharmaceutical strategy?