House of Commons Hansard #108 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was farmers.

Topics

FinanceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order. The hon. member for Random—Burin—St. George's.

FinanceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL

Clearly, Mr. Speaker, the truth hurts.

FinanceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

FinanceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order, order. The hon. member for Random—Burin—St. George's has the floor. We will have a little order, please.

FinanceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL

Mr. Speaker, this is a finance minister who cannot admit the truth. This Queen's Park denier's historical rewrite did not fool Ontarians and it will not fool Canadians. Next he will be telling us that there is no $54 billion deficit; that he never hired crony speech writers; that he did not cut food inspectors, leading to listeriosis; that there was no fake lake; that there was no income trust flip-flop; and that seniors have been better off under his watch.

When will the minister stop his sorry excuses? Why do Canadians have to suffer again for his failures?

FinanceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Whitby—Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, it is apparent that the member for Random—Burin—St. George's did not experience in Newfoundland the cuts that were done by the federal Liberal government in the 1990s, but I can tell her that the people of Ontario did.

We felt it having to reduce the number of teachers and the number of nurses, and not being able to build the hospitals that the people of Ontario needed. I know the member for Toronto Centre lived through that. Apparently the member from Newfoundland did not.

The people of Ontario in Vaughan voted earlier this week because they remembered.

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, when asked about the transfer of children to the Afghan secret service, the Conservative government replied that the transfer protocol has been changed, that the children were transferred to a juvenile detention centre and that 280 visits were conducted. That is important information, but there is one piece of information missing.

How many children were captured and handed over to Afghan authorities?

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, as I said, when Taliban insurgents kill and injure Canadian soldiers and it is suspected that these Taliban are under 18, there are special procedures. There is supervision and special detention. We have not been informed of any cases of abuse of these prisoners.

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister knows many things. He knows that there has been no abuse. He knows that there are special detention centres. He knows that there is a new transfer protocol. He knows that there may be some prisoners under 18 years of age. He knows all this. Surely he must know how many children have been transferred. Will this show up on WikiLeaks or somewhere else?

Could he tell us before we get this information from other sources? It seems a simple thing to me to say how many children have been transferred. He knows so many things; he must know this.

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the objective of our policies is to protect the Afghan people and the safety of our soldiers. At the same time, we must ensure that prisoners are treated in a manner that respects our international obligations. According to our information, that has happened in all the cases referred to by the Bloc leader.

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC

Mr. Speaker, when the government announced that the mission in Afghanistan would be extended, the November 16 press release stated, and I quote: “The Canadian Forces will support training of the Afghan National Security Forces by providing up to 950 trainers and support personnel...at facilities centred on Kabul”.

But Lieutenant-General Marc Lessard contradicted that information this morning, saying that a number of Canadian soldiers will have to work outside Kabul.

Are they trying to hide something from us? How many military personnel will be deployed outside Kabul and what will their role be?

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Pontiac Québec

Conservative

Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say once again that the government is complying in every respect with the resolution that was passed here in March. We will end our combat mission in Kandahar next year, in July. We will replace that mission with a contingent of 950 Canadian soldiers who will be tasked with training. I would like to remind the hon. members that this training will be based in Kabul.

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC

Mr. Speaker, that is not what Lieutenant-General Lessard said this morning. He said that they will be stationed elsewhere.

Former Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier said that it is heresy to consider training the Afghan army without going into combat with them. That is what he said in the newspapers.

Does the decision to have troops serve outside Kabul not confirm exactly what Rick Hillier said? The government cannot say that it is training the military and, at the same time, say that it is not going into the theatre of operations with them. That is just not done, according to General Hillier. What is the government's response?

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Pontiac Québec

Conservative

Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is asking questions and he ought to listen a little to the answers. The Government of Canada's policy is established here. I explained the government's policy to him a few moments ago. Nine hundred and fifty soldiers, trainers, will be based primarily in Kabul.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, there is more bad economic news. The trade deficit is soaring, our over-valued dollar is pricing Canadian goods right out of world markets, and our economy is almost at a standstill, growing at a mere fraction of the rate of the U.S. economy.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that the promised jobs from the stimulus program have not been realized, a big surprise there.

Instead of bringing the recovery effort to a halt, why will the Prime Minister not extend the stimulus program to create jobs?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to answer a question about jobs. Unlike other advanced industrial economies, Canada's economy has recouped almost all of the jobs lost during the recession. In fact, there are 430,000 more people working today than there were a year and a half ago.

In terms of the stimulus program itself, we know for example that 200,000 jobs have been created just through the work sharing in the EI program alone.

I think this is a record to be proud of. That is why we are strongly supportive of Canada's economic action plan. We are obviously working with our partners to finish stimulus projects.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, numbers do not lie. The Conservatives were way off in their projections for job creation. There are 250,000 fewer jobs per year than they predicted, which would translate into salaries totalling $11 billion every year.

Why does the Prime Minister continue giving the gift of tax cuts to large corporations? When will we see more full-time jobs created? When will we see some help for SMEs, for the industries of the future and for research and development? Where is the activity we need right now?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, there is a big difference between our government and the opposition coalition, and our objection to tax increases. On the contrary, we support tax cuts and will continue lowering taxes, and we are achieving positive results compared to others. Unlike other countries, our economy has created jobs over the past year and a half. We have created 430,000 jobs in Canada thanks to our tax cuts.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives just are not listening. The fact is the economic stimulus is not creating the jobs that they are talking about. The economy is bleeding away billions of dollars in lost salaries.

Think of the economic impact that those wages could have had in stimulating this economy, Mr. Speaker. It is a lost opportunity. In Austria, the Netherlands and Germany, the unemployment rate is dramatically lower than it is here. It shows that we can be doing better and they do not depend on the tar sands to create the jobs.

When will the government come to its senses and extend the stimulus deadlines, restart the stalled economy and get people back to work?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I hope the leader of the NDP goes home tonight and actually listens to his question. Having said the government's policies are a failure, he demands that we extend them.

The NDP is a party that voted against the economic action plan, now understands that it is a success and wants us to move forward. As we have said, we will be flexible in dealing with our partners on the stimulus deadline.

Taseko Mines LimitedOral Questions

December 1st, 2010 / 2:35 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Holland Liberal Ajax—Pickering, ON

Mr. Speaker, we know that the decision to stop Taseko's Prosperity mine involved five cabinet ministers. Each must answer for the cabinet leak that left Taseko's shares plunging and insiders getting rich.

I ask the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, when did she sign off on the Taseko mine rejection? Who in her office knew about the decision? Has her office handed over any and all information about the deal to the RCMP and the PCO?

Taseko Mines LimitedOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, there the member for Ajax—Pickering goes again, speculating, making wild accusations.

It was only on October 8 that he had to stand in his place and apologize and retract statements on other smears that he has made. We will await those similar apologies in the future.

Taseko Mines LimitedOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Holland Liberal Ajax—Pickering, ON

Mr. Speaker, after seven weeks of doing nothing, the government needs to start providing answers. It should be sorry to the investors who lost their shirts and are getting those kinds of answers from the government.

I am directing these questions to specific ministers. Are they capable or even allowed to answer the questions? Do they need the protection of a human cabinet shield, or will they stand in their place and provide answers?

I ask the Minister of Indian Affairs, when did he sign off on the Taseko mine rejection? Who in his office knew about the decision? Has his office handed over any and all information to the RCMP and the PCO?

Taseko Mines LimitedOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite has any information on this issue that he would like to place before the House after question period, we certainly would be prepared to agree to that. If the member opposite wants to expand on his wild speculations, let him have the intellectual honesty and the courage of his convictions to step outside and make any accusations he would like to make.

Taseko Mines LimitedOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Denis Coderre Liberal Bourassa, QC

Mr. Speaker, let me give this a try in French.

We know that the cabinet decision to block Taseko Mines' Prosperity project was made via a walk around, which means that four ministers had to sign off on it for it to be considered a cabinet decision. The Taseko affair is within the purview of the following five departments: Environment, Natural Resources, Indian and Northern Affairs, Fisheries and Oceans and Finance. My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources.

When did he sign off on rejecting the project? Who in his office knew about it? Did his office provide information about this matter to the RCMP and the Privy Council? Is he brave enough to stand?