Debates of March 10th, 2010

Afghanistan

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, it is not an inquiry.

With respect to redactions and advice with respect to these documents, these are reviewed by non-partisan public servants. Mr. Iacobucci will have complete access to these, a complete review. I think the member should have complete confidence in Mr. Justice Iacobucci on this issue.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as early as 2005, the former second-in-command at the Canadian embassy in Kabul warned the previous Liberal government that detainees transferred from Canadian to Afghan custody were at risk of torture. While in Afghanistan, she wrote three different reports to sound the alarm.

How can the Conservatives deny having, like the Liberals, turned a blind eye to abuse perpetrated in Afghan prisons since 2005?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the events in question took place three years ago. Let us be clear. Soon after, we replaced the Afghan prisoner transfer agreement that was criticized in allegations and remarks by the ambassador.

Perhaps the previous government was too busy handling communication issues, like the sponsorship scandal, to address this matter.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, having learned that the government was warned back in 2005—that was five years ago—about the possible abuse of Afghan prisoners, in violation of the Geneva convention, we now have to get to the bottom of things.

Now more than ever, there has to be a public inquiry to look into this sordid affair and have all documents turned over to the parliamentary committee as soon as possible.

What is the government waiting for to comply with the motion passed by this House on December 10?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the government acknowledges that it is appropriate that decisions on the disclosure of information be reviewed independently for the government. This is why we have asked Mr. Justice Frank Iacobucci to undertake an independent comprehensive and proper review of all the documents at issue. That should have the support of the hon. member.

Haiti

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

Mr. Speaker, this government claims that it is expediting procedures to welcome Haitians quickly under the family reunification program. Things are dragging, and there is no sense of a real desire to process files more quickly. Refugees from Kosovo were processed more quickly in 1999.

How can the government claim to be speeding things up, when there are still not enough staff at the embassy in Port-au-Prince to meet the record increase in the number of applications?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, the entire public service, including Citizenship and Immigration Canada, has made an incredible effort. Dealing with huge challenges following the earthquake in Haiti, including the accelerated processing of family sponsorship cases, we announced that all cases of sponsorship of family members of Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are in Haiti will be processed as soon as possible. We can do it. We have already processed hundreds of cases.

As our mission in Port-au-Prince suffered damage, our processing ability is limited because of the earthquake. We are, however, doing our best.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the case of Ms. Hippolyte of Beauport is troubling. She has cancer and wants to bring her sister to Quebec to help her out. With buildings in Haiti devastated, Immigration Canada denied the sister entry because she had no real property. Her Conservative MP for Beauport—Limoilou, equally unsympathetic, was not prepared to do anything.

Will the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, who has promised to help Haitians, put a stop to these bureaucratic eccentricities to make it easier for them to come here?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. She is not, perhaps, aware of the Privacy Act.

It does not permit me to discuss the details of individual cases, unless the party in question has signed a statement authorizing me to reveal information in respect of them. I am not at liberty to discuss the details of an individual's case in the House of Commons without such approval.

Government Spending

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we must not downplay the Public Works Canada contract. Since 2006, the Conservatives have already extended it twice. In fact, the agreement that would have ended in 2011 has already been extended to 2013.

Florists have told me that it should cost $1,000 and not $2,000, for the types of plants purchased. Then there was a doorbell at $1,000. I hope it is a loud one.

Why are they spending $1,414—more taxpayer money—for three blinds? Why have work done after normal hours, which is more costly?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, like any other Canadian, I found these expenses to be over-the- top. This type of contract is awarded and managed by the department and not by the minister. For that reason, I have asked the deputy minister to examine all these expenses.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government claims to be tightening its belt, but it is clear that the Conservatives would rather cut services and international aid rather than make cuts to their own contracts.

Why spend $36,000 a year for an extra cleaning of the minister's office? There is an existing cleaning contract, and another cleaning is being done during the day, which costs $36,000 per year.

Can the new Minister of Public Works and Government Services promise to be cleaner than her predecessor, so that only one cleaning per day is needed?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I, like any Canadian, find these expenses to be over-the-top and, frankly, extravagant. These contracts are competitively awarded, but they are managed and awarded by the department. I have asked my deputy minister to review all of these expenditures.

Air Transportation

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on April 1, taxes on air travel are going up. In the past, the Minister of Canadian Heritage called this measure an air tax, describing it as a total rip-off and suggesting that it would hurt small airports in particular.

Does the Minister of Finance agree with his colleague's description of his new tax?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we have come forward with additional security measures that are required to keep Canadians safe. That is one of our fundamental responsibilities at Transport Canada.

We have said two things. One is that the government will be completely transparent on all the funding that will be collected by these charges. It will be a user fee principle. We are prepared to report back in an open and transparent way to the transport committee of the House of Commons.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let us recap some Conservative tax hikes that are coming our way: April 1, higher taxes for flying on an airplane; January 1, a punitive 31.5% tax on income trusts; and January 1, EI premiums begin a $1,200 rise for a two-earner family over four years. This is from a government committed to not raising taxes.

Does any Conservative have the courage to stand up and admit to any of these tax hikes?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, no Prime Minister and no Minister of Finance has done more to cut taxes for hard-working middle-class families than the two sitting in the front row of this legislature.

Let us be very clear. For hard-working Canadian families, tax freedom day, that day where Canadians stop working for the government and start working for themselves, arrives more than two weeks sooner than it did just four years ago.

Cutting taxes creates jobs, more hope and more opportunity. That is why the country is on such a strong economic footing compared to every other country in the industrialized world.

Haiti

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, today HMCS Athabaskan begins its return trip to Canada after working since January 19 to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of earthquake-damaged Haiti. This government dispatched the Canadian Forces to provide relief during this crisis.

Could the minister provide the House with an update on Canada's response to the disaster in Haiti?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, within 20 hours, members of the Canadian Forces were on the ground in the wake of the earthquake, assessing needs and delivering help to Haiti.

Thanks to this government's purchase of the C-17 aircraft, load after load of equipment and disaster relief was brought to Haiti. Then over 4,000 Canadians were brought home. We built runways, cleared roads, rescued people trapped in buildings, produced over two million litres of water and delivered almost one and a half million meals. Canadian Forces medics treated over 22,000 patients, delivered babies and performed surgeries.

All Canadians can be proud of our military, our aid workers and our diplomats who responded so compassionately in Haiti.

Government Spending

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the new Conservative motto should be “Do as I say, not as I do”. And they want to give us a lesson on government spending? Why not get on a plane to go to Tim Hortons? Why not freeze all ministers' budgets, but increase the budget of the Prime Minister's Office by 21.9%? Why not take away judicial discretion in cases of serious offences, like cocaine possession, except of course when the offender is a former Conservative MP, in which case why not give him a break?

Do the Conservatives not see the common thread in all of this—the hypocrisy?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, we plan to maintain spending in all government departments, including the Prime Minister's Office and Privy Council Office, in accordance with our budget.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is right, with plants that cost $2,000 and a doorbell that cost $1,000.

Reform Party moralizers are now ready to take their pensions, but despite being in power are refusing to protect the pensions of hard-working Canadians.

Serious time for serious crime, but if one is part of the Tory family, no treatment, no time, just a $500 fine. Does the government even realize that Canadians can see through its tough on crime rhetoric?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we know for sure that being on tough crime has never been a priority for the NDP. I think we can all agree on that. I want to get consensus where we can.

The issue that the hon. member is talking about, and again he is new to this area, is something investigated by the provincial police, heard in a provincial court and handled by a provincial prosecutor. As always, we are very careful not to intervene or interfere with any cases.

However, if the NDP has discovered that this is a priority now, we welcome any suggestion from that party to strengthen our criminal justice system.

Infrastructure

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government is incapable of being open and flexible when it comes to Quebec. Most Quebec municipalities were holding elections last fall and the federal government refused to transfer all the money to Quebec, which meant that an agreement was required for each project, yet now it is stubbornly demanding that projects be completed by December 2010 or March 2011, depending on the program.

Why is this Conservative government refusing to accommodate Quebec municipalities so that they can benefit fully from federal funding?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our main priority in Quebec and across Canada is to create jobs and hope and stimulate the economy. That is why we are spending the money now. We cannot wait another year to create jobs, and that is why we are taking action.