Debates of Sept. 29th, 2009

The Economy

[Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I asked for a number and clearly got no number.

We have been asking for numbers for months now. We still do not have the numbers for fiscal 2008-09. We do not have last year's numbers, let alone the numbers for this most recent overload of taxpayer paid pat-themselves-on-the-back advertising.

Either it is fiscal incompetence or the government is trying to hide something. Could the member confirm that at the very least the government spent over a million dollars in one day yesterday alone?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I can confirm when it comes to construction projects around Canada in every province and territory, in municipalities across the country, we are getting a lot of money out the door. We are restoring hope and opportunity. We are creating jobs. That is good news for the people of Canada.

Every single premier of every province and territory and municipal leaders right across the country have all put aside politics to work with this government. It is time the member for Willowdale joined that great group.

Infrastructure

[Peter Braid, Conservative, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, members of the Liberal Party have continued their major, unwarranted attack on the hard work of the small towns and big cities across our country, this time in my region of Kitchener—Waterloo. It is clear that the Liberal leader will say anything to force an unnecessary opportunistic election that Canadians do not want.

Could the transport minister please tell this House how our government has been working with the municipalities in the Kitchener—Waterloo region to create jobs and provide economic stimulus to help fight this recession?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, for too long the people in Kitchener—Waterloo were left out. They are finally getting their fair share of infrastructure spending and public profile in this country.

More than $108 million to support 16 projects in the region has been committed. The officials had full rein to begin spending money the minute those announcements were made.

Let me talk about Hazel McCallion, the mayor of Mississauga. She is not only starting infrastructure spending, she is not only engaging in construction projects, she is the first mayor in Canada to begin to complete infrastructure stimulus projects. She is getting the job done working with this government and Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Afghanistan

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the government's handling of the allegations of sexual abuse of young boys by the Afghan national army on our Canadian Forces base is a national shame.

The narrow scope of the military's NIS report amounted to a whitewash and said that the chain of command did not know anything about it. However, we now know that this is not the case. Now there is corroboration that the military brass knew about this as far back as 2007.

Canadians deserve to know, how long has the minister had knowledge of this tolerance of sexual abuse in Afghanistan?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am quite surprised by the tone and tenor of the hon. member's comments.

The Canadian Forces take these allegations very seriously. They have been given clear direction to report, stop, prevent any abuse they would see.

It is absolutely intolerable in this country as it would be in Afghanistan. To suggest that an independent arm's-length body like the National Investigation Service of the Canadian Forces would come up with a whitewash or is covering something up is absolutely disgusting as well.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the sexual abuse of young boys is a serious matter.

There are now reports that military police were told not to intervene in such matters, and they had the belief that if they were to intervene they would not be supported by the chain of command.

We have a grossly inadequate NIS report and a board of inquiry report sitting with the military since May. The military should not be investigating itself in these matters.

Will the minister order an independent inquiry? What does he have to hide in not doing so?

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

Mr. Speaker, to suggest that sexual abuse against small boys, or anyone for that matter, is intolerable is something on which the member and I can agree. But to suggest somehow that the Canadian Forces or the independent bodies are complicit in covering something up is also intolerable. The member should know better, having practised law.

These arm's-length bodies are there to get to the bottom, to be transparent, to be open, to gather information. Rather than cast spurious allegations on the floor of the House of Commons, he should wait for that board of inquiry to report.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in a recent decision, an immigration board member attacked the rights of francophones when he said that the right to obtain evidence in French is conditional on the demonstration of irreparable harm to the appellant. Yet an individual's right to be tried in French, in Montreal, is non-negotiable.

How can the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism accept the remarks of a board member who is saying that we are being deprived of our right to obtain documents in French, but not to worry, because this will not cause any harm?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, as I have pointed out many times, the IRB, IRB members and IRB decisions are independent of the government. It is a quasi-judicial organization. It would be irresponsible of me as minister to comment on any IRB decisions. Except of course, the government fully supports the letter and spirit of the Official Languages Act.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the decision has been handed down, and it is now up to the government to take action, because the individual whose rights have been violated and his lawyer, who asked for the evidence to be translated into French, plan to appeal their case. They will face lawyers paid by the federal government, specifically, by the minister's department.

Will the minister instruct his own lawyers to recognize an individual's right to be tried in French in Montreal?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, our position is that the Official Languages Act must always be implemented in all areas, including the IRB.

Of course, IRB and Federal Court decisions are independent of the government.

Industry

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask about the government's intimidation tactics when dealing with private and public institutions.

Last December during Hanukkah celebrations, an aide to the Minister of Industry tried to block our leader from attending a non-partisan event at a Jewish school for disabled children in Toronto. When this became public, the government said it was taking the issue very seriously, but it would not provide details.

Could the minister provide those details today, or are we to infer that his office did in fact interfere?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the allegation is a serious allegation and we took it seriously. I believe the individual is no longer at the ministry of industry.

Science and Technology

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there may be a pattern here.

Yesterday we heard that the office of the Minister of State for Science and Technology suggested to officials at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council that its future funding was at risk if it did not agree to a second funding review of a conference on the Middle East.

I want to be very clear that I am not questioning the second review; I am questioning the use of pressure tactics by one of the minister's officials against an arm's-length academic research council.

Why is the minister intimidating public officials by threatening to cut their budgets?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Mr. Speaker, the member will be happy to know that the social sciences council has clearly stated that email is inaccurate.

Let us look at the facts. The fact is that the Liberals cut funding to the sciences and technology community by over $400 million. The fact is that this government has increased funding by $7 billion in the last three years.

The fact is the Liberals do not care about the economy. They do not care about science. They obviously do not care about the facts. All they care about is an unnecessary election.

Heritage

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government was caught hocking rare heirlooms on a website that usually sells broken desks. It turns out that these artifacts did not even belong to Canada.

A mirror that the government pawned off for $200 has cost $23,000 of taxpayers' money to get back. A vase that the government sold for $500 has cost us $50,000.

Would the government simply admit that it does not understand or care about the value of Canada's heritage collections?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, what occurred of course was wrong. Those actions took place independent of this government, independent of my ministry. While we were not involved in those transactions at all, we are taking responsibility in ensuring it does not happen again.

What happened is not in the interests of taxpayers; it is not in the interests of our heritage. We are taking action to correct it in the future.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, that is the government that lost the gold at the mint and then sold off the silver at Rideau Hall.

When the Conservatives had the bright idea, they would not even wait for an appraisal. That is the rub. They were like bumpkins in a pawn shop. Tea cups that were worth $250,000 were sold off for $250.

I would like the minister to tell us what steps the government will take to ensure that our heritage collections are protected under his watch.

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, those transactions took place without any consultation whatsoever with our government.

We are reforming the process by which these assets will be taken care of in the future. We are going to ensure that this does not happen again.

This government has an unprecedented and untarnished record of standing up and protecting Canada's character, culture, our heritage, and ensuring that all our assets are treated with the due care they deserve. We are changing the process. What happened in the past will not happen again, because we are taking action.

The NDP can make all the noise that it wants; this Conservative government will always take action to protect Canadian heritage.

International Aid

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the weekend typhoon Ketsana unleashed a devastating blow to the Philippines. The worst tropical storm to hit the region in almost half a century has affected over 108,000 people. Reports this morning indicate there is a death toll of 240 people, with many more missing.

Aid agencies around the world are scrambling to send money and supplies. Could the Minister of International Cooperation tell the House what Canada has done to help?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada and Canadians across the country are deeply concerned for the people in the Philippines who have been affected by the typhoon. We immediately provided $50,000 to the Philippine National Red Cross on the ground. Today I am announcing that Canada will make up to $5 million available for emergency and humanitarian assistance.

I can assure Canadians, and particularly the Filipinos in the Canadian community, that Canada and this government will monitor the situation, do its part with compassion and do it responsibly.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, illegal U.S. country of origin labelling continues to financially ruin Canadian hog and beef producers, yet the minister remains confused, thinking a press release accounts for action.

In May, the minister announced that he was going to take the fight on COOL to the United States administration. It never really happened. What do livestock producers have to show for his illusory work? Hog exports to the United States are down 60%, cattle exports are down 20%, farmers are going broke.

When is the minister actually going to challenge COOL and stand up for Canadian farmers?

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

Mr. Speaker, many of us, including the member for Malpeque and I, had the opportunity to attend a luncheon hosted on the Hill by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association. Its members gave a glowing account of what this government is doing for them on country of origin labelling, on marketing around the world.

In fact they had great things to say. But there are two things that really concerned them: one was the hypocrisy of the member for Malpeque in voting against drought deferrals, and the other was him and his leader dragging them into an unnecessary election when we are making progress on COOL. They are upset and I do not blame them.

Guaranteed Income Supplement

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that in addition to spending years depriving tens of thousands of seniors of the guaranteed income supplement, the federal government is maintaining the administrative hurdles for those who experience a drop in income. Some individuals have to wait 28 to 30 weeks for their supplement to be increased.

When does the minister intend to put an end to these unjustified delays and give seniors living below the poverty line the money they are entitled to?