Debates of April 29th, 2009

Fisheries and Oceans

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I will be pleased to respond to the motion when I receive it and I will respond with the very same answer I just gave the hon. member.

Foreign Affairs

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has a track record of leaving citizens high and dry when they are abroad. This time it is a family that has been without their father and husband for 13 months while Pavel Kulisek is left to rot in a Mexican prison cell based on spurious evidence.

Will the courts in Canada need to force the indifferent Conservative government to get involved, the same way they did for Omar Khadr, or will the minister stand up for a Canadian citizen who needs his help now?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the House that we understand and sympathize with the plight of the family of the accused. They are in difficult circumstances.

The hon. member, again today, seems to be using the research of a second-rate current affairs program that presented a very selective, one-sided tabloid example of journalism.

I want to assure the House that we are actively monitoring Mr. Kulisek's case and we are liaising with Mexican authorities to ensure his right to due process is respected.

[Dan McTeague, Liberal, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have another question for Ted Baxter.

The minister of state said that the Mexican justice system is what the Mexican justice system is. Given what he now knows, that Canadian, Pavel Kulisek, was arrested on the sole testimony of a disgraced and twice-convicted former police officer with ties to the Tijuana cartel and prosecuted by an attorney who is currently in prison for taking bribes from the same drug cartel, will he finally stop attacking first-rate investigative journalists in this country, stand up for that Canadian and show some class?

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

Mr. Speaker, when I worked for the television program in question as a producer and a reporter, we examined the facts in a fair and balanced manner.

Let me tell members, this program slandered the Government of Mexico, whose ministers are risking their very lives in the fight against drug and crime cartels. This same program slandered our foreign affairs professionals and the consular services that they are providing for the accused in this case.

Employment Insurance

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the current EI system penalizes new mothers. The anti-stacking provision prevents mothers who have secured maternity and parental benefits from accessing regular EI benefits if they lose their jobs.

I brought forward a bill that would finally bring fairness to working mothers by eliminating this unfair provision. I challenge the minister to adopt my bill, which would fix these inequities, before Mother's Day. Mothers deserve more than chocolates and flowers this Mother's Day. They deserve fairness and action.

Will the minister accept this challenge?

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

Mr. Speaker, I challenge the hon. member and her party colleagues to do the right thing for a change and stand up for workers in Canada.

Our economic action plan included many enhancements to the EI program. It included an extra five weeks of regular benefits. It expanded work sharing, which is now protecting 80,000 jobs a year. We are offering training for those who are EI eligible and for those who are not.

The NDP voted against every one of those things. If it were up to the NDP, people would have no more benefits.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, mothers in this country cannot wait for the minister to understand what is at issue here. The current EI system discriminates against women because of gender and family status. This issue is about equality, something that our Constitution guarantees for all women in this country. Laid-off mothers cannot afford to go to the court to fight for their rights, nor should they have to. In this recession, EI is an important economic driver, and women deserve the same access to it as men. Any government that is committed to fairness for mothers would fix the system immediately.

The government has fast-tracked important legislation before. Will it do so now for women?

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

Mr. Speaker, because of the global economic recession, we worked very hard to accelerate the passing of our economic action plan. However, it was the NDP that delayed that. It was the NDP that delayed getting workers, all workers, an extra five weeks of regular benefits if they were unfortunate enough to lose their jobs. It was the NDP that voted against enhancing working sharing to protect 80,000 jobs. It was the NDP that voted against providing training for workers so that they could get back to work.

Pork Industry

[Merv Tweed, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we have all heard about the influenza disease that is spreading around the world. However, what is of concern for my constituents is the risk to our pork producers based on unfounded trade barriers.

Would the Minister of Agriculture tell the House what the government is doing to protect our pork producers?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Brandon—Souris for the great job he is doing for the pork producers in his riding, and of course, all of Canada.

Trade must be based on science. Our pork is safe. My colleague, the Minister of International Trade and I continue to work on a science-based regime with our trading partners around the world to keep our trade flows, our trade alleys, open. We are proud to do that job on behalf of the great pork producers in this country.

Western Economic Diversification

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has discovered that the Conservatives have funded everything from flagpoles to school murals through Western Economic Diversification Canada. Meanwhile, they have slashed almost half of WEDC's funding.

How can the minister justify drastic cuts to funding that would diversify the western economy when she is spending the funds on projects that do not even meet her mandate?

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification)]

Mr. Speaker, western Canadians should be concerned that that Liberal member thinks investing in forestry, mining and agriculture is a waste of money.

Western Canadians should be concerned that the Liberals think economic development in the west is a waste of money.

More important, western Canadians should be concerned about the Liberal leader who said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

Government Expenditures

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

Mr. Speaker, by refusing to justify 60% of the chartered flights taken by the former minister of state for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and member for Jonquière—Alma, the Conservative government is giving credence to the claim that chartered flights were being used as a taxi service between Ottawa and that riding. We have information indicating that the new minister has adopted his predecessor's practices for travel between Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean and Ottawa.

My question is simple. Can the current Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec) and member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean deny this?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be the Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec). I am required to travel to various regions of Quebec and I am pleased to also travel to ridings represented by members of other parties.

Our government represents the entire population. Thus, I will continue to travel. People live in different Quebec ridings. We, the members of the party now in government, will continue to do our work.

The Environment

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, since the Conservative government took office, it has denied, reneged and dragged its feet on climate change. Now we see the results. Environment Canada has reported that, between 2006 and 2007, Canada's emissions of greenhouse gases increased by 29 million tonnes. That is 5.5 million more cars on the road in one year.

Will the minister stop stalling and immediately impose binding absolute reduction targets on the major emitters, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is well aware of the clean energy dialogue that is ongoing between our Prime Minister and President Obama in the United States. We are getting it done on the environment, but the big questions are, why did the NDP oppose $1 billion for green infrastructure, why did it oppose $300 million for eco-energy retrofits, why did it oppose $1 billion for infrastructure on carbon capture and storage, and does it support the job-killing carbon tax of the Liberal leader?

Political Financing

[Rob Clarke, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, there has been some concern that politicians can take advantage of a loophole in the Canada Elections Act that allows them to use political loans to circumvent contribution limits, giving wealthy individuals greater influence over the political process.

Can the Minister of State for Democratic Reform tell us what the government is doing to ensure our continued commitment to improve accountability in financing of political parties?

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, our government is following through on its commitment to increase standards of accountability and transparency in political financing.

Yesterday our government reintroduced legislation to ensure that political loans are subject to the same scrutiny as other political contributions. This bill will help fight the perception that wealthy individuals can still buy influence and that the rules can be skirted easily if one has enough money.

The bill makes changes to the Canada Elections Act that will create uniform and transparent rules for the use of loans and limit the influence of wealthy individuals on the political process. It is time to ensure full transparency in political loans.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Chris d'Entremont, Minister of Community Services for Nova Scotia.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Royal Assent

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. I have the honour to inform the House that a communication has been received as follows:

Rideau Hall

Ottawa

April 28, 2009

Mr. Speaker:

I have the honour to inform you that the Honourable Thomas Cromwell, Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, in his capacity as Deputy of the Governor General] signified royal assent by written declaration to the bill listed in the schedule to this letter on the 28th day of April, 2009 at 4:59 p.m.

Yours sincerely,

Dorothy Grandmaitre

for Sheila-Marie Cook

The schedule indicates the bill assented to was Bill C-2, An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the States of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland), the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Republic of Iceland, the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Kingdom of Norway and the Agreement on Agriculture between Canada and the Swiss Confederation.

The House resumed from April 28 consideration of the motion.

Opposition Motion—Harmonization of QST with GST

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

It being 3:07 p.m., pursuant to order made Monday, April 27, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion of the hon. member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain relating to the business of supply.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #56