Debates of April 29th, 2009

Government Spending

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

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that the Liberal Party would criticize us in these times of economic uncertainty.

When there are forces of protectionism breathing down the necks of Canadian workers, the best thing we could do is employ people to fight on the front lines on our behalf.

The previous Liberal government did this. It spent more. It engaged Bill Clinton advisers. Other governments around the world spend more on this. This is nothing more than a distraction from the Liberal Party leader's own words when he said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

On this side, we will not raise taxes. We will protect Canadian jobs instead.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the Conservatives use the TV time to talk about the banking system. The hon. member will separate his shoulder patting himself on the back about the banking system, when Canadians know it was successive Liberal governments that stood up for banks.

Half of that frontbench fought tooth and nail to deregulate the banks in this country. If we had listened to them, if they had their way, we would be in the same mess as the Americans are in.

Why do they not quit playing politics and stand up for the people of this country?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals want to blame us for everything that is going on in the economy and then take credit for everything that is going right. That is an example of the Liberal hypocrisy.

We have defended our financial institutions. This party and both of its legacy parties opposed any bank mergers. That is our record. We pressured the Liberals to back down from allowing those to go ahead, but more than anything, they are trying distract from what their Liberal leader said. He said, “We will have to raise taxes”. Those were his words on April 14.

We will never raise taxes on this side. We will cut them and we will keep creating Canadian jobs.

Goods and Services Tax

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to harmonizing the sales tax and the GST, the Prime Minister says he wants to negotiate in good faith with the Quebec government. Yet, his Minister of Finance declared, in a letter sent to the media, that the federal government does not intend to compensate Quebec unless the federal government becomes responsible for collecting its sales tax.

How can the Prime Minister say that he wants to negotiate in good faith when his Minister of Finance has set a condition for providing compensation to Quebec?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec signed an agreement with the federal government about fifteen years ago. The two levels of government respect this agreement. Since then, we have signed agreements with Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. The Minister of Finance was clear. If Quebec wants such an agreement we are prepared to negotiate in good faith.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister says that he will negotiate in good faith does this mean that Quebec must forego collecting its sales tax? The agreement was working well and even the federal government, whether Liberal or Conservative, boasted over the years that Quebec had harmonized its tax. Now they are finding all sorts of excuses to avoid giving Quebec what is being given to Ontario.

When the Prime Minister says he will negotiate in good faith does that mean that Quebec must forego collecting its sales tax, yes or no? The question is very clear. He must be able to reply.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, negotiating in good faith means negotiating with the other partner. That partner is not the Bloc Québécois; it is the Government of Quebec. We intend to negotiate with the Government of Quebec.

Securities

[Jean Dorion, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during a parliamentary committee meeting yesterday at the National Assembly, the Quebec finance minister and the CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers again spoke of the efficiency of our decentralized system of securities regulation, which also has the support of the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD. They also expressed strong objections to the Conservative's plan for a single Canada-wide securities regulator.

Will the Minister of Finance give up on this totally counterproductive plan, which no one in Quebec wants?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have the most sound financial system in the world and that is the view of the World Economic Forum. Certainly, the IMF uses our financial system as one of the most sound in the world.

We have one glaring deficiency in that system. It is in the area of securities regulation, where we have 13 separate securities regulators. We will move forward, as set out in the first budget bill, with the plan for a national securities regulator with willing partners, willing provinces, and willing participants.

[Jean Dorion, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec Minister of Finance and the CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers are concerned about the potentially negative impact of creating such a single commission, in part because of the loss of expertise this would represent for Quebec.

Will the Minister of Finance admit that the purpose of this plan is to centralize the financial sector in Toronto and to strip Montreal of its expertise?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, absolutely not. The intention, with willing partners, is to create a national securities regulator to better serve the country, the Government of Canada acting within its area of jurisdiction and respecting the jurisdiction of the provinces.

I spoke with the minister of finance in Quebec just before question period. We agreed on a plan going forward with respect to negotiations concerning harmonization. I am sure we can have constructive discussions on other issues as well.

Canada Pension Plan

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lost $20 billion last year. Nevertheless, its directors paid themselves multi-million dollar bonuses.

These people have played around with retirees' money and lost billions of dollars, yet they are rewarding themselves with millions of dollars. That is indecent.

Does the Prime Minister support these bonuses? Does he or does he not support these directors?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is a cooperative entity governed by the provinces together with the federal government. There is a triennial review with respect to the CPPIB. That review was last done several years ago.

However, it is a joint opportunity for the provinces and the federal government to work together to set out the overall plan for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which has done a relatively good job given the circumstances of the global economy in the past year.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in other words, the Prime Minister intends to do nothing about these directors of the Pension Plan, who have lost $20 billion of the savings of Canadians. It was there to protect their retirement. He is willing to do absolutely nothing while they pay themselves millions of dollars in bonuses.

That is indecent and unacceptable. I would ask the Prime Minister to stand up and defend such an unconscionable act.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I think most Canadians would find it unconscionable to have politicians interfering with the operation of the Canada Pension Plan and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Professionals are hired to deal with that. Certainly, we do not want people, even members of the NDP, deciding on what the investments ought to be for Canadian pensions.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians looking at this are going to say that this is fundamentally unfair and wrong. They have seen it with the corporate executives in the United States. Down there, the Americans took some action to stop this kind of thing.

Here, we have a government that is unwilling to stand up to these managers of the pension fund who lost $20 billion. Yet, they are going to get a reward of millions of dollars and the government will do nothing about it. What kind of government do we have here? Take some action to restore some fairness to the pension system.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the Pension Board, that is operated independently from government and it should be operated independently from government. It has invested the pension plans of Canadians with a remarkably successful track record.

With respect to the broader issue of executive compensation, the Prime Minister and the other leaders of the G20 have agreed on the executive compensation review under the financial stability board of the G20. Work is being done on that subject.

Health

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the swine flu is spreading day by day. Cases have turned up in over 20 countries on four continents. Canada has made arrangements to get travellers out of Mexico, but has made no arrangements for them upon their return to Canada.

Why does Canada not simply find a fast, effective and recognized way to take the body temperature of every traveller returning from Mexico?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the member that we have taken further measures and have obtained the cooperation of the Mexican authorities to conduct medical exams on workers before they leave Mexico to come to Canada as part of the seasonal agricultural workers program. We are looking for other opportunities to perform medical exams on other temporary workers from Mexico.

The member may already be aware that Mexican visitors staying for a brief period of time do not need a visa to come to Canada.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I received a call from a concerned constituent. His son is a medic who worked through SARS. His best friend just returned from Mexico and was not screened on his return. He was asked no questions about where he had been or if he had a cough or a cold.

Does the Minister of Health have a plan for all flights coming to Canada, not just the direct flights from Mexico?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, it is the practice of our Canada Border Services officers to screen all individuals arriving in Canada for the purpose of assessing their health, that includes assessing them for symptoms.

Right now they are on particular alert for symptoms of human swine influenza in people arriving from Mexico. In the event where they assess that symptoms are demonstrated by someone, quarantine officers from the Public Health Agency of Canada get involved and the appropriate steps are taken.

Social Programs

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government puts politics before people. We hoped that when the enabling accessibility fund was set up, that politics would be put aside in the interests of Canadians with disabilities. Unfortunately not.

Of the 89 applicants for major funding, only 2 received money, and guess what, both were in Conservative held ridings, including one in the riding of the Minister of Finance. Overall, 94% of all funding has landed in Conservative ridings. That is politics first and people second.

Can the minister explain why $34 million of the $36 million allocated went to Conservative ridings? Is nobody safe from the partisan politics of the Conservative government?

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

Mr. Speaker, the EAB, the enabling accessibility fund, has been a great success in helping create opportunities for people who otherwise would not have those opportunities. The facilities are accessible and allow for the full participation of all citizens in this country. The awards were based on applications and the quality of those applications. We are proud of the job we are doing on the EAB.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, only two of the 89 requests for funding were approved, and both of those were in Conservative ridings. What a surprise.

And the other big surprise? The Minister of Finance is a former director of the centre that received $15 million.

When was the minister informed of that connection? Will she submit all correspondence exchanged between the Minister of Finance's office and her own about that funding?

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

Mr. Speaker, one has to admit that is pretty rich coming from the Liberals who lost the 2006 election because 100% of their sponsorship money went to Liberal friends. Their hypocrisy is unacceptable.