House of Commons Hansard #81 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was spam.
LaVar Payne Conservative Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, this week is Small Business Week which recognizes the entrepreneurial men and women who put their dreams into action and help grow our economy. Could the Minister of Industry please let us know what this government has done for Canadian small business?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank the hon. member for Medicine Hat for all that he does to defend the interests of Canadian small business. I would also like to thank those Canadian entrepreneurs who, through their hard work, dedication and vision, generate the jobs and economic growth that is making Canada a competitive modern economy.
Our government is there with them. We are lowering taxes and reducing regulations. We are making it easier to access financing. We are increasing international trade opportunities. We are doing all of that with the lowest deficit in the G7 and the best fiscal position.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, in Canada's campaign for a UN Security Council seat, the Conservatives snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They have no one to blame but themselves. The government failed to make an impact at the G8 and G20. The Conservatives went to Copenhagen and actually worked against climate change. They turned their backs on Africa, abandoned their own citizen in Guantanamo Bay and failed on foreign aid.
What is the government going to do to rehabilitate Canada's reputation on the world stage?
Peter Kent ConservativeMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
Mr. Speaker, as the House has heard today, this government is proud of our principled foreign policy positions. We were disappointed last week, but we ran and are proud of our principled campaign for the Security Council seat. I will say that Canada will continue to demonstrate a strong and constructive leadership on the international scene and our commitment to the United Nations and to the Security Council.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, the first thing the Conservatives have to do is admit they have a problem. Every day they campaigned, we lost support for a Security Council seat. For almost a decade the United Arab Emirates have hosted our troops on their soil, but the government has now squandered this important relationship with a key Middle Eastern ally.
Have the Conservatives even met with the ambassador to work this out, or are they content to play amateur politics? What are they going to do to deal with this problem? What are they going to do to deal with the problem of global representation for Canada and the UAE?
Peter Kent ConservativeMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
Mr. Speaker, first let me say that the hon. member is either deliberately or naively misinformed on our campaign for the Security Council seat. With regard to the United Arab Emirates, the Government of Canada always chooses arrangements that are in the best interests of the people and the taxpayers of Canada. Let me say that the deal offered by the UAE was not in the best interests of Canada.
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the multi-purpose arena for Quebec City, the Conservatives’ shilly-shallying has been a disgrace. On the one hand, the hon. member for Lévis—Bellechasse says that advance seat sales are enough to meet the government’s requirement for private sector participation. On the other hand, the Minister of Finance and the Minister responsible for the Quebec City region are saying now that there will have to be a major contribution from the private sector.
Instead of looking for a way out, what is the federal government waiting for to join with the Government of Quebec and the City of Quebec and announce its financial participation?
Christian Paradis ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, the Minister responsible for the Quebec City region had a positive and constructive meeting with the mayor of Quebec City on October 8. At that meeting, there was mention of how important it was to get private sector participation. As we have always said, we will study this project in the entire context of the various requests from all over the country.
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, Mayor Labeaume needs an answer before December 31. After that, Quebec City’s Olympic bid could be compromised.
Will the government be fair to Quebec City and treat it the same way it treated Toronto by announcing its financial pledge to the construction of the multi-purpose arena in Quebec City?
Christian Paradis ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, we receive requests of this kind from all over the country. This one must be evaluated in view of the big picture and the similar projects elsewhere in Canada. To that extent, the federal government has a role to play. If we have a role to play, it must be done fairly and with a view to our fiscal constraints and general affordability.
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Mr. Speaker, the United Arab Emirates have given the Canadian Conservative government the boot out of Camp Mirage, leaving the defence minister scrambling to find an alternative location to serve Canada's operations in Afghanistan.
Moving a base on 30-days' notice, less than a year before the Canadian Forces withdraw from Afghanistan, is an expensive logistical nightmare.
The minister has indicated that discussions are under way for a new location. What is the cost to move out of Camp Mirage and into a new base on such short notice?
Peter Kent ConservativeMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
I would be glad to answer the hon. member's question, Mr. Speaker, but I will remind her, as she may have heard earlier during question period, that the government does not comment on operational matters concerning the deployment of Canadian Forces personnel abroad.
Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL
Mr. Speaker, this is another embarrassing example of the government's incompetence and inability to negotiate with our international partners.
The Canadian Forces have been guests of the United Arab Emirates since 2001. The Prime Minister cut the Minister of National Defence out of negotiations, giving preference to the opinion of the government House leader.
Not surprisingly, Canada is now in a foreign policy debacle entirely of the government's making.
Why is the government creating obstacles for our soldiers and enormous costs for Canadians instead of being competent and negotiating with our international partners?
Peter Kent ConservativeMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
Let me remind the hon. member again, Mr. Speaker, that the Government of Canada always chooses arrangements that are in the best interests of Canada and Canadian taxpayers.
I will say again that the deal offered by the UAE was not in the best interests of Canada.
Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance is clearly not in touch with reality.
Two years ago, he denied the looming economic crisis. Now, in his fiscal update he says the crisis is over, even though one and a half million Canadians are still out of work.
The minister's friends on Bay Street may be doing better, but the crisis is not over until there is a recovery for the middle class.
When will the government quit hiding behind part-time job numbers and get serious about creating full-time, family-sustaining jobs?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I hate to correct the member, but there were 37,000 net new full-time jobs in Canada last month.
The economic action plan continues to work. We continue to implement the economic action plan: the tax reductions, the EI measures, and the stimulus measures in ridings all across Canada, including the riding of the hon. member opposite.
Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON
Mr. Speaker, those lines do not fly here, and they do not fly in Hamilton.
In just two weeks, 1,000 steelworkers are likely to be locked out by a company whose purchase of Stelco the Minister of Industry approved. The minister said that he has “a lot of sympathy” for the workers, but that there was nothing his government could do.
Steel workers do not need sympathy. They need a steel sector strategy that will protect Canadian production and Canadian jobs.
Will the minister admit that signing off on the foreign takeover by U.S. Steel was a mistake and apologize to the hard-working men and women of Local 1005 for bungling this file?
Tony Clement ConservativeMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, as fate would have it, I was in Hamilton on Friday announcing a wonderful new initiative for McMaster University, local researchers, and local workers. Because of this initiative, McMaster and Hamilton will be at the forefront of the automotive research sector, producing better cars, better composites, and better car batteries.
That is how we are supporting the people of Hamilton: new jobs, new opportunities. This is something for our kids and our grandkids. That is what this government is all about.
Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canada is an open and generous society.
Every year we welcome hundreds of thousands of immigrants from around the world. They work hard and play by the rules for the opportunity to live, work, and raise a family in our great country.
Unfortunately, our immigration system has been under attack. Human smugglers are treating our country like a doormat. The problem is growing and must be stopped.
Can the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism tell the House how our government is going to prevent this abuse of our immigration system?
Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Citizenship
Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to commend the Thai authorities for their recent successful action to help interdict apparent human smuggling. We know that Thailand has been a transit point for the dangerous exploitation represented by the criminal syndicates running the human smuggling business.
We resettle more refugees than any other country in the world on a per capita basis. We receive more immigrants than any other developed country, but we will not allow exploitive human smugglers to violate our immigration laws or compromise the fairness of our immigration system. We will take action against them.
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Mr. Speaker, this government promised recreational infrastructure, then turned down thousands of qualified projects across Canada. In B.C. alone, almost half of the proposals were rejected. Instead this government wasted millions of dollars in B.C. for expensive action-plan signage that it forced communities to install.
The minister obviously considers self-promoting signs more important than inner-city playgrounds for kids. Why?
Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely incorrect. There were a number of projects that were accepted across this country, creating jobs from coast to coast to coast.
What is interesting is that the member opposite, together with the members opposite, voted against any money for any arena in any part of Canada.
This government is getting it done for Canadians.
Daniel Paillé Bloc Hochelaga, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' securities commission project is facing increasingly fierce opposition. In addition to Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta, other provinces are hesitating to sign the agreements, which is forcing the minister to eliminate his deadline.
Does the government realize that it is not the deadline that is putting the provinces off, but the entire project, which is both useless and harmful to the economy, investors and entrepreneurs?
The minister needs to show some humility; his sinister ship is sinking. He needs to abandon it and withdraw it immediately.
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, it is an initiative with voluntary membership that respects the jurisdictions of Quebec and the other provinces. We will continue along this track.
Alex Atamanenko NDP British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are demanding farm-fresh, organic and local food. Farmers want to know that the food they grow will have a market, yet large corporate interests are always ready with a legion of lobbyists to kill any bill that might threaten their profits and control.
My Bill C-474 will ensure that alfalfa and wheat farmers do not lose their markets. Will the minister continue to cave in to threats and intimidation from the powerful biotech industry, or will he support Canadian farmers?