Debates of April 24th, 2009

Mont-Mégantic Observatory

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I was shocked to learn on April 6, 2009, that the National Science and Engineering Research Council is putting an end to the $325,000 subsidy it provides every year to the Mont-Mégantic Observatory.

The eastern slope of Mont-Mégantic is in my riding. In the course of the various activities organized by the observatory staff, who have always invited us, I have seen for myself how this astronomical hot spot has become an important asset, not only for our region, but for all of Quebec.

The observatory straddles the line between my riding and the Mégantic—L'Érable riding. In our local media, the hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable, the Prime Minister's political lieutenant in the Quebec, has admitted that he is completely powerless to reverse the decision, adding that it was not his government`s fault. In my opinion, it is clear that this cut can be traced back to this government, which has an ideological view of scientific research and gives in to pressure from creationists.

Taxation

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that the Conservatives are the only ones they can trust to soundly manage this economy during the financial crisis. Our economic action plan will stimulate the economy and put money back into the pockets of Canadian families. We have already reduced taxes by $20 billion. This is in sharp contrast to the Liberal leader's promise last week, when he said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

Canadians are troubled that the party opposite thinks that taking money out of the pockets of Canadian families is something that will help the economy recover. Now we know that the Liberals will raise taxes, impose a carbon tax, raise the GST, and end the universal child care benefit.

The Liberal Party needs to be clear with Canadians. The leader should stand up in the House today and tell Canadians how much he will raise taxes, and who would be forced to pay them.

Bloorview Kids Rehab

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Bloorview Kids Rehab is Canada's largest children's rehabilitation hospital. Dr. Robert Carmichael heads up the world-class pediatric dental clinic and Dr. George Sándor coordinates the oral and maxillofacial surgery. Notably, Dr. Sándor has developing leading-edge stem cell treatments using a patient's own stem cells to grow bone on a frame, which is implanted into the patient. Once the bone has grown and developed its own blood supply, it is harvested and implanted into the facial area being rebuilt.

Dr. Sándor must travel frequently to Finland, where he has obtained $3.2 million in research funding. He would like to patriate that new technology to Canada because we are falling behind in stem cell-based tissue engineering. Unfortunately, his many applications for government funding have not been supported.

I strongly encourage the government to look into this important matter. The entire dental team at Bloorview Kids Rehab is among Canada's best and it is making a big difference in the lives of disabled children with special needs.

Justice

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we can always count on the Bloc members for surprises. They surprised us by being the only ones—yes, the only ones—in this House to vote against families and, just recently, against children as well.

The Bloc voted against Bill C-268 sponsored by my colleague from Kildonan—St. Paul, which will protect children from criminals who try to abuse, exploit, hold and even sexually assault them.

It is always surprising to see that the Bloc can find ideological reasons to oppose everything, even common sense and harsher sentences. The Bloc members really must be living on another planet if they believe they are defending the interests of Quebec and its youth by refusing to vote for a bill that would protect our children.

Under the circumstances, we can understand why the member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup wants to leave the Bloc as soon as possible.

Genetically Modified Food

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian organic standards prohibit the use of genetically modified organisms in organic production. Crops with any detectable GMO contamination cannot be certified organic. For this reason, the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate has opposed introduction of GM alfalfa into the environment.

Should this be allowed, it will be impossible to prevent contamination of non-GM alfalfa. This crop will no longer be able to be used by organic farmers as a legume for nitrogen fixation in crop rotation.

GM alfalfa could also cause serious damage to the market for hay and pellets as well as to organic farming. Canada is the world's leading producer of alfalfa pellets and cubes. We will lose a large share of the market if our product contains GM alfalfa.

On behalf of organic farmers, I am asking the minister to reverse the decision to approve the sowing of GM alfalfa in the environment and to abolish imports into Canada of GM alfalfa or GMO contaminated alfalfa.

For the sake of our organic farming industry, let us do the right thing and prohibit GM alfalfa in Canada.

Taxation

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party is showing time and time again that it is out of touch with Canadians.

The ability of Canadian families to spend their hard-earned money is key to stimulating our economy. Conservatives know this, economists know this, and Canadians know this.

The Liberals however just do not seem to get it. Canadians told the Liberal leader they want to keep their hard-earned money and in response last week the Liberal leader announced that he will have to raise taxes.

Now that he has revealed his new tax-hike policy, the Liberal leader must fully disclose the details of his plan to Canadians. Which taxes will the Liberals raise, by how much will they raise them, and who will have to pay these higher taxes?

Goods and Services Tax

[Luc Desnoyers, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Liberal Party attempted to woo Quebec on March 22 with such sweet nothings as, “I need you, I have seen the nation reflected in you, I promise to defend your aspirations”, but he quickly returned to the same old lines of his predecessors.

When Quebec's interests are contrary to those of Canada, federalist leaders have never gone to bat for Quebec. Harmonization of the GST is one of the best examples of that.

How can the leader of the Liberal Party accept that, for harmonization, Ontario receives $4.3 billion whereas Quebec, which led the way, is deprived of $2.6 billion? How can the leader of the Liberal Party explain that the Liberal government, in 1997, gave $961 million to the Maritimes for harmonizing the GST, while refusing the same thing for Quebec? Liberals, Conservatives, they are all the same.

Fisheries

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the need for ice compensation for fishermen and for plant workers from the northeast coast of Newfoundland to the Northern Peninsula and Labrador is self-evident. Thick pack ice has enveloped this area for weeks now and there are absolutely no signs that it will move off any time soon. This has prevented fishermen from participating in the fishery and from earning a livelihood.

This past week the minister responsible finally acknowledged the situation in the House and said on record that a response was forthcoming. My expectation of the minister is as follows: that the program be launched immediately; that it provide full EI benefits at each applicant's previous EI benefit rates; that it be available for a period of not less than 10 weeks of additional benefits; and that the program changes be brought in to make this a permanent feature of the EI system, so that fisheries workers will not have to endure the anxiety and frustration of waiting for a reluctant government like this Conservative administration on the needs of working families like these fishermen and plant workers.

Taxation

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it appears that the Liberals are actually consistent on an issue. They want to raise taxes.

They like high taxes and their leader just last week said, and I want to repeat the quote that he made, “We will have to raise taxes”. I respect their honesty: raise the GST, impose a job-killing carbon tax, and take away the universal child care benefit. They have tried to deny all of these statements by trying to cover it up after they accidentally blurted out the truth.

There is a reason they are called tax and spend Liberals. That is what they do. They tax hard-working Canadians and then they spend, spend, spend.

Conservatives are taking action to help Canadian families with our economic action plan. Liberals are trying to help themselves to Canadians' hard-earned tax dollars.

How much would a Liberal government cost Canadians? We want to know. We need an answer. We need to know. What taxes will the Liberals hike, how much will they raise them, and who is going to pay for them?

Foreign Affairs

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs a question about the Khadr case.

Mr. Justice O'Reilly's judgment is really quite straightforward. He says that there is such evidence of systematic mistreatment of this prisoner at Guantanamo that there is now a positive obligation on the part of the Canadian government to make representations to bring him home.

I would like to ask the minister a very simple question. What is it in Mr. Justice O'Reilly's decision that the Government of Canada now takes objection to?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to see my colleague from Toronto Centre. We have not seen each other for the last couple of weeks.

On this specific issue, Omar Khadr faces very serious charges. We all know that. As a matter of fact, last night we were able to see television footage of Mr. Khadr's alleged building and planting of explosive devices that were actually planted in Afghanistan. Those devices are the devices that basically have taken the lives of young Canadian men and women.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is extraordinary. The minister just said that, instead of abiding by a Federal Court judge's ruling, the government has decided to continue its personal attacks on this young man, who was recruited at 13 and taken prisoner in Afghanistan at 15.

I will repeat my question, which, despite being very straightforward, remains unanswered. What is it in the decision—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Unfortunately, I must interrupt the hon. member for Toronto Centre.

The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, my response is straightforward: this man has been accused of very serious crimes. Last night, we saw video footage of him building bombs to kill Afghans, civilians and Canadian soldiers.

We will analyze the court's decision, and we will most likely appeal it.

Sri Lanka

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees referred to the 12 square kilometre zone in Sri Lanka, where 50,000 people are now trapped, as the gates of hell. Yesterday the Indian foreign minister was in Colombo. Others have gone to Colombo.

Would the minister not think it wise now for Canada to have a delegation, I would argue led by the minister himself, go to Colombo to urge a pause in the fighting to allow for humanitarian assistance, and to ensure that over the next 48 to 72 hours we do not see a true, genuine, deep catastrophe--

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his support on this issue.

As the House knows, we are very active on the file. We have seen this issue take place over the course of the last couple of decades. As a matter of fact, it is a conflict that has left a lot of civilian casualties. A lot of families are heartbroken by this.

We have called upon our allies. I have personally called upon Ban Ki-moon as well as David Miliband and others to help and step up the humanitarian aid. That is what is uppermost now.

The Economy

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, within the last 24 hours both the Bank of Canada and the IMF have been deeply pessimistic about the Canadian economy. The recession is intensifying. The economy is shrinking three times faster than projected. Joblessness is headed toward double-digit levels. Canada will not get back to where it was in 2007 until 2011.

As reported yesterday, is the government preparing a new budgetary update for September, or better still for June, before it has to make its second probationary report to Parliament on its failing record?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have Canada's economic action plan. The hon. member should allow that plan to work. What we will not do is what the leader of the Liberal Party has said, “We will have to raise taxes”. Those were his words. He did not say, “We might raise taxes”. He did not say, “We could raise taxes”. He said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

The hon. member should rise and explain which taxes will the Liberals raise, when will they raise them and who will have to pay.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, in January 2006, the Conservatives promised never to tax income trusts. Nine months later, they did exactly that. They slapped a 31.5% Conservative tax on the savings of two million Canadians. They destroyed $25 billion in value, with no shred of justification. They were incompetent. They were dishonest. Now they are just as incompetent and dishonest about the recession.

Where is their plan to get back the 380,000 jobs Canadians have lost while the Conservatives have been in office?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member is clearly trying to distract from his leader's own words, “We will have to raise taxes”. He should indicate which taxes, when and who would pay.

That is not the first time that the Liberal leader has said something of the sort. He called himself a “tax-and-spend, Pearsonian, Trudeau Liberal”. He said, “I'm not going to take a GST hike off the table”.

Given that he admits the Liberals will raise taxes, which taxes will they raise, when will they raise them and who will have to pay?

Foreign Affairs

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the Federal Court ruling in the Omar Khadr case, the Prime Minister showed unbridled ideological stubbornness when he said he was considering filing an appeal even though he had not had time to study the ruling.

Is the Minister of Foreign Affairs aware that because of the Conservatives' obstinacy and mean-spiritedness, Canada, in the eyes of the world, is shirking its obligations and violating the rights of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I absolutely disagree with my colleague's preamble. We are considering appealing the decision once we have examined it.

It is important to remember that this individual has been accused of very serious crimes, Yesterday, a news program on the English networks showed this man apparently in the process of making the same sort of bombs that have taken the lives of a number of our soldiers, including Karine Blais, who died last week.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, even President Obama feels that justice is not being served at Guantanamo, and he is in the process of closing it. This is the second time in just a few weeks that the Federal Court has forced the government to meet its obligations to Canadian citizens in difficulty abroad. Former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour has condemned the government for acting in bad faith in cases such as Omar Khadr's.

Do the Conservatives understand that the only way to render justice and save face is to abide by the court ruling, comply with Canadian and international law and repatriate Omar Khadr?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, my thoughts and those of my colleagues are with the family and friends of Karine Blais, who will be laid to rest today.

We will appeal the decision. This individual was arrested for serious crimes, including setting bombs. We will study the decision and likely—