House of Commons Hansard #54 of the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was internet.
Josée Beaudin Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC
Mr. Speaker, although young people represent only 16% of the labour force, 28% of unemployed workers are under the age of 25. But they are the ones who have the toughest time qualifying for employment insurance because they need to have worked sometimes up to 910 hours.
Will the government understand that a threshold of 360 hours for everyone would be fair to young people and would be an effective way to stimulate the economy?
Jacques Gourde ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and to the Minister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, we have invested in training the labour force so that young workers are better trained for the future, and they are paid to take that training.
The facts speak for themselves. Statistics Canada reported that in April we started to turn the corner, and that not only is the unemployment rate stabilizing, but new jobs are also being created across Canada.
The Bloc voted against all these measures.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is Canadian workers who are bearing the brunt of the government's conservative ideology. If it is not lowering corporate taxes, it is hell-bent on driving down the wages of Canadian workers. It proved it yesterday. Auto workers have already given huge concessions, yet the Conservatives are ordering them to give up even more or get no help at all.
GM workers need a solution that is fair and equitable. Why is the government not advocating for a balanced approach for these workers who need help?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the government's economic action plan is putting more money into the economy. We are cutting taxes. That has a positive effect. We are making major investments on infrastructure in every corner of this country.
At every stage of the way we can count on the NDP to not look at the plan and to vote against it, and that is an absolute disgrace.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is not just workers that are getting squeezed by the government. It is also retirees.
A Quebec Superior Court ruled yesterday that AbitibiBowater can cease paying pension liabilities, putting pensioners at the back of the line. Yet at the height of the crisis this same company thanked its CEO with a whopping $17.5 million pat on the back.
These workers have paid into their pensions for years, and now they are behind the banks and the hedge funds.
When will the government commit to protecting the retirement savings of Canadians?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we respect provincial jurisdiction, and obviously it is a real concern for any Canadian when they have challenges in their economic circumstances.
That is why, though, it is absolutely essential that our government take a balanced approach, that we continue to cut taxes and put more money in the pockets of hard-working Canadians.
This government has come forward with many initiatives to cut taxes, particularly for senior citizens, particularly for those relating to retirement income, such as pension splitting. Those initiatives are tremendously important.
What we cannot do is change the course and do as the Liberal leader would have us do, raise taxes and take a bigger bite out of hard-working Canadian families.
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Mr. Speaker, at the height of the crisis in the forestry sector, AbitibiBowater decided to reward its outgoing president with a large cheque for $17.5 million. The government did absolutely nothing to put a stop to excessive bonuses in the public sector, and it certainly has no intention of doing so in the private sector.
When will the government stand up and protect Canadian workers and their families, and put their interests first, before the interests of their friends on Bay Street?
Ted Menzies ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, unlike the member's party over there who voted against the budget, an economic action plan that actually helped Canadians, we have put in place a proactive approach dealing with pensions.
However, I remind the hon. member that she should be speaking to her provincial colleague, because AbitibiBowater has a provincially regulated pension plan.
Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government repeated the mantra that Abousfian Abdelrazik is on a UN watch list that prevents his return home. This watch list, however, expressly authorizes Canada to repatriate Mr. Abdelrazik, and the UN has made it clear that it is the government's own decision and not the watch list that is preventing Mr. Abdelrazik's return.
Why is the government continuing to breach the charter, violate Mr. Abdelrazik's rights and compound that parliamentary felony by misleading Parliament on the facts and on the law?
Laurie Hawn ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member opposite that Mr. Abdelrazik is on the resolution 1267 list as an individual associated with al-Qaeda.
The UN resolution 1267 Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee was established for the purpose of overseeing the implementation of sanctions imposed on people who are associated with terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, terrorists such as those who perpetrated the horrific acts of 9/11, which killed 25 Canadians.
This government strongly supports the fight against terrorism and takes seriously its responsibility for the safety and security of its citizens as well as our international obligations under the United Nations.
This matter is currently before the courts. We cannot comment further.
Irwin Cotler Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Mr. Speaker, the only reason this case is even in court is because the government refuses to honour its obligations under the charter and refuses to protect a Canadian citizen. Canadians have a right to know why this government is not protecting its citizens and why it refuses to accept the findings of its own security services. Mr. Abdelrazik has nothing to hide.
Why is the government shirking its responsibilities and what is it trying to hide?
Laurie Hawn ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Abdelrazik's case is a complex matter. It began under the watch of the previous Liberal government.
Mr. Abdelrazik is on the United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 list as an individual associated with al-Qaeda and is therefore subject to a travel ban and asset freeze.
There is a process that allows Mr. Abdelrazik and his lawyer to seek his delisting. Mr. Abdelrazik is at our embassy in Sudan. We continue to provide him with consular assistance.
As this matter is currently under litigation and is therefore before courts this week, we will not comment further.
Mark Holland Liberal Ajax—Pickering, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised RCMP officers pay parity with other police. He signed a contract and then ripped it up. He broke his word. The Prime Minister promised an additional 2,500 police on the street. He broke his promise. The Canadian Police Association called it a betrayal.
Then, yesterday, more. The Conservatives appealed a landmark case empowering RCMP officers with a choice of collective bargaining, blocking them from a democratic right held by every other police force.
When we count on them for so much, ask them to risk their lives, why does the government turn its back on our police?
Andrew Saxton ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, that issue is before the courts and so, I cannot comment on it. However, what I can comment on is what we are doing for the RCMP.
We are increasing the number of officers in the force, not laying them off like the Liberal government did in the 1990s. We have increased spending for training, not cut it like the Liberals. We have increased funding for cadets, again, something the Liberals did not get done. We have introduced tough new legislation designed to protect police officers in the line of duty, again, something the Liberals did not get done.
Mark Holland Liberal Ajax—Pickering, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is before the courts because the Conservatives put it there. They had a choice. That is where they sent it.
To police officers, trust is everything. Their word is their bond. The government broke that trust. It broke its promises and kicked police morale in the stomach.
How can we recruit new officers to the RCMP when we have a Prime Minister who says that they should not be paid as much, or even have the same democratic rights as every other police force? How can we ask police officers to keep our streets safe, to risk their lives to stand behind our communities when the government will not stand behind them?
Andrew Saxton ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, our party is proud to say that we have more former police officers standing on our side of the House than any other party.
That is a member of a party that said that police officers had no place on judicial advisory committees, that they did not have the right, like other Canadians, to have input there. That is a member who, with respect to issues on house arrest, would allow arsonists to burn down houses, and then go home and enjoy the comforts of their own homes.
The Liberals are the ones who are soft on crime. We are the ones who are taking action against criminals.
Robert Carrier Bloc Alfred-Pellan, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister might be happy about Wayne Wouters' appointment as Clerk of the Privy Council, but some of us remember the part he played in the 1994-95 cost-cutting plan that led to draconian cutbacks, particularly in transfers to Quebec and the provinces.
Does this appointment signal that the Prime Minister is getting ready to make deep cuts, like the Liberals did in 1995?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question.
First, Mr. Wouters is a public servant who makes decisions according to government policy. As the hon. member mentioned, the Liberals were the ones who decided to cut transfers to Quebec and all of the provinces by slashing Canadians' health funding. The outcome of that has been disastrous.
I would like to thank Kevin Lynch, who was with us through many of our successes, including the reduction in taxes. We will not let his legacy of lower taxes under our government be reversed by the Liberals.
Nicolas Dufour Bloc Repentigny, QC
Mr. Speaker, if the past is any indication of the future, this appointment is bad news and should give the post-secondary academic community cause for alarm. In 1995, the Liberals cut that sector's funding ruthlessly.
Does this government appointment not send Quebec a clear message that it should forget about the $800 million per year it wants to restore funding levels for post-secondary education and social services?
Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology)
Mr. Speaker, let me remind the hon. member that this government put forward the Vanier Canadian graduate scholarship program for post-secondary education. In fact, I want to congratulate McGill University for getting 11 of these world-class scholars. Laval got 8, L'Université de Montréal got 11, and the list goes on. However, what these universities should know is that member and the Bloc voted no. They did not want them to get any of this stuff. We did.
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the case of Omar Khadr, the government lawyers and legal advisors who are working to challenge his rights have so far spent more than 1,700 hours on the case. The Conservatives have assigned all these resources to the case solely to shirk their responsibilities.
How can the minister justify devoting so much effort to violating the basic rights of a Canadian citizen, a child soldier, but so little effort to enforcing his own laws and the international conventions that require that he repatriate Omar Khadr?
Laurie Hawn ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, our position on this has not changed. Mr. Khadr is facing very serious charges. There is a process that is underway in the United States. It is a process that President Obama has endorsed. It is a process that we intend to let continue to its conclusion. The matter is before the courts and we will say nothing further.
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, Louise Arbour, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has said, “The government is not meeting its obligations to Canadian citizens abroad whose right to return home is being denied.” She was referring to Mr. Khadr and Mr. Abdelrazik.
Will the Canadian government be smart enough to remove the obstacles to their returning to Canada? Section 6.(1) of the Charter clearly states: “Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.” There is no need to spend another half a million dollars on legal fees to realize that and act accordingly.
Laurie Hawn ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, everybody is entitled to their opinion. The fact of the matter is that the situation has not changed. Mr. Khadr is receiving consular services. He is being attended to in a humane way. There is a process underway. We intend to let that process go to its conclusion. We will support the result of that process whenever it happens.
John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has been calling on the Conservative government to act immediately to ensure regional fairness in employment insurance. Today we have one more advocate for that position.
There are some complaints that there's too much of a patchwork (across the country). That's something we should be open to.
Who said that? The member for Barrie, the Conservative in Barrie.
When will the government listen to unemployed Canadians and their own MPs, and make the necessary changes to EI?