House of Commons Hansard #104 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was training.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, rumour has it that the minister responsible for infrastructure is about to announce a six-month extension of the March 31 deadline for infrastructure projects funded by the infrastructure stimulus fund. Yet the Minister of Finance said again recently that extending the deadline would be unfair to those who met it.
Can the Prime Minister tell us which of these two versions is the official position of the government?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, for some time now, we have been encouraging municipalities and other levels of government to complete their projects, but the minister has been saying for a long time that the government will be flexible in order to ensure that these projects are completed.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the March 31 deadline threatens 353 infrastructure projects in Quebec worth a whopping $210 million. That is not small change. Can the Prime Minister confirm that he will extend the March 31 deadline for all infrastructure projects and that he will not get into a case-by-case policy?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, according to the information we have, more than 90% of projects will be completed by the deadline. The minister has said for a long time that the government will be flexible in order to ensure that these projects are completed.
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, the president of the Fédération québécoise des municipalités, Bernard Généreux, deplores the piecemeal approach of the Conservative government, which refuses to extend the March 31, 2011, deadline for all infrastructure projects. He expressed his extreme displeasure and criticized the fact that “the federal government has abandoned Quebec.”
Will the government finally listen to the call by Quebec municipalities to extend the March 31, 2011, deadline for all infrastructure projects?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I have good news for the member. We are working with Quebec's ministers and, as usual, we have good relations with that government. We are always prudent, reasonable and also flexible. There will be an announcement shortly.
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, he is a real Houdini.
One-third of Quebec's projects risk going down the drain because of the Conservatives' lack of flexibility. In recent weeks, we have given many examples. The City of Quebec will have to assume the federal share of the cost of the Monique-Corriveau library. In Montreal, the 2-22 Ste. Catherine project and the expansion of Les Deux Mondes theatre are in jeopardy.
Will the government extend the March 31 deadline for all projects, yes or no?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I thought I might be congratulated on my French today.
Certainly, what we have said all along is we are going to be fair and reasonable on this. More than that, we have been working together with the provinces and the municipalities to make sure these projects get done.
The reason is important, because we have, through the economic action plan, created 420,000 jobs in this country. Almost all of these projects are going to get done. We are going to be flexible to make sure they all get done, that jobs continue to be created and the good relationships with the provinces continue.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are still wondering why it is that we have to leave our troops in such a dangerous war zone for another three years.
Even the previous Liberal leader is now questioning whether or not we should be training the Afghan army. The Prime Minister himself said that he does not want to give a dime to the Afghan government because it is corrupt. Well, if it is as corrupt as he says it is, why does he want the Afghan government to have an even bigger army and why is he going to use our soldiers to help it get one?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, let me be clear on what I said. What I said was that we would not give a dime to the Afghan government unless we were assured that money would be used properly.
In the case of the training of the Afghan army, it just astounds me that the NDP does not understand that a secure Afghanistan taking care of its own security is vital to the global security interest, not just of the world but of this country as well.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, the number of trained Afghan soldiers has just reached 134,000, four years earlier than planned. The new objective is 171,000 soldiers. According to NATO, this objective will be met by October 2011, once again sooner than expected.
The training of soldiers is ahead of schedule. The objective set for 2014 has already been met. Why then do our soldiers have to stay in Afghanistan?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the combat mission will end next year as planned. With regard to the training of Afghan forces, although we have made progress, we have clearly not finished the work. NATO will continue with this task, which is very important for our security and that of the world.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, the truth is that the Prime Minister simply has broken his promise on this issue. The Conservative government is now scrambling to try to find an explanation. Government officials had been planning a major civilian initiative in Afghanistan, but then they were left scrambling with only days to shift gears because the Prime Minister wanted to keep the emphasis on the military.
The Conservatives promised to build 50 schools. They only built 26. Where are the schools? Where are the trained teachers? Why are we not putting the emphasis where it should be placed if we are going to build a peaceful future in Afghanistan?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the intellectual hoops through which the NDP will jump to justify its opposition to the mission in Afghanistan are really quite extraordinary. The fact is the current mission does not end until next year. As I have said, when that mission ends, we will replace it with a much smaller mission focused entirely on training.
In the meantime, as the leader of the NDP observes, we are doing important things such as building schools and educating children, but that only happens because security is provided and this is vital to make sure we accomplish these other goals.
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
Mr. Speaker, Paul Sauvé testified under oath about a kickback system within the Conservative Party. He had to give 3% of his contract to a friend in the Conservative regime, and the minister then asked him for a new cashmere coat. Paul Sauvé even had to hold fundraisers for the Prime Minister's party.
How can the Prime Minister turn a blind eye to these practices within his own party instead of calling the RCMP?
John Baird ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, when Mr. Sauvé appeared before committee, he said that the only member of Parliament that he had met with was a Liberal member of Parliament, the Liberal member of Parliament for Bourassa and it was in his position as Quebec lieutenant. Apparently the former minister was encouraging him to sell memberships to the Liberal Party to stand for Parliament. That is all I learned this week.
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is visibly trying to sweep those revelations under the rug. There is talk of corruption in the construction industry and it seems that the Conservative Party is running the show.
How can the Prime Minister tolerate this kind of organized corruption within his own party? Why has he not asked the RCMP to investigate this and why has he not suspended the Conservative operatives, staffers and minister who are implicated?
John Baird ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, let me say very directly to the member opposite, the Prime Minister has never tried to sweep under the rug the scandal that is the Liberal member for Bourassa.
Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources refuses to do her duty to disabled Canadians by reviewing allegations of funnelling support money to Conservative ridings. Yet when it comes to Conservative candidate Julian Fantino, she has no problem signing a petition not only calling for an inquiry into his actions, but calling for him to be fired as OPP commissioner.
Why the double standard? Or did she only sign for short-term political gain?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, Julian Fantino is an outstanding public servant who has served the people of Ontario in an exemplary fashion. The member will be able to tell him so personally after November 29.
Maria Minna Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Mr. Speaker, this is no small matter. The member was a minister when she signed a petition demanding that the Prime Minister's hand-picked candidate in Vaughan, Julian Fantino, be investigated. She wanted his pay docked. She wanted him suspended and she wanted him fired. Does she still hold the same view now, and if not, what has changed?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I can only state that Julian Fantino is an outstanding public servant who has served the people of Ontario in an exemplary fashion. But the question I have, and which I ask again, is what is Tony Genco hiding? Why will Tony Genco's friends at Downsview Park not release full and complete expense reports? That is what we want to know.
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, on the topic of TCE contaminated water in Shannon, the House ordered the government to produce analysis reports from the Valcartier military base's water supply system dating back to 1970. Quebec's National Assembly unanimously supports this order for the production of documents. The government has continued to refuse to make public these potentially incriminating documents.
Out of respect for Shannon's numerous victims, does the government intend to produce the reports as quickly as possible, as it has been ordered to do by the House?
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is meeting with Bonhomme Carnaval today. This is good news for Quebec City. But the minister responsible for the Quebec City region has been promising for some time to set up a meeting between the Prime Minister and Mayor Labeaume to discuss the federal contribution to the construction of the multi-purpose arena in Quebec City.
When is the Prime Minister going to give the mayor of Quebec City the same consideration as he gave Bonhomme today? What is he waiting for?
