Debates of March 15th, 2010

The Environment

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case. I am surprised by my Bloc colleague's comments. We have not shut down the foundation; we have extended its mandate to 2012 so that it can report on the work funded with public money. We have supported climate change efforts, and the Bloc Québécois should recognize that.

Afghanistan

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

Mr. Speaker, the government is trying to shirk its responsibilities by asking Justice Iacobucci to have a look at the documents concerning the torture of Afghan prisoners.

Yet on December 10, 2009, the House called upon and ordered the government to hand over those documents.

Does the government not see that in order to respect the will of this House and protect the secrets that could jeopardize our soldiers, it could simply hand over those documents to the parliamentary committee, which could first examine and study them in camera?

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

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the government is responding to the House order of December, which is why we are making all those documents referred to available to Mr. Justice Iacobucci. We all have a stake in the safety and security of Canadians here. I think the hon. member should welcome the efforts and the work of Mr. Justice Iacobucci.

Justice

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government paid for the distribution of several studies that slam the government's policies in the fight against crime. The government's bogus solution, minimum sentences, are especially criticized, because they “undermine the legitimacy of the courts and the prosecution process” and undermine “equality before the law”.

If the government considers those studies credible enough to be widely distributed, why does it not implement their recommendations and, for starters, stop proposing more minimum sentences?

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

Mr. Speaker, we welcome research from all different areas. I am still perplexed why the Bloc members would not support a bill that was cracking down on people who traffic in children. This is a mystery to the House and certainly a mystery to everybody in their constituencies. That being said, we get input from many different individuals and we will continue to stand up for victims and law-abiding Canadians, and so should the hon. member and his party.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have falsely claimed in their budget that they would ensure all Canadian women, including aboriginal women, would be safe and secure, but that same budget slashed funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and 134 community projects across Canada are in jeopardy. The Native Women's Shelter of Montreal might have to close at the end of this month.

How can the Minister of State for the Status of Women stay silent as her government ignores the pleas of aboriginal women?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to fulfilling the terms of the Indian residential schools agreement. That agreement did have $125 million over a five-year period. In this budget we were pleased to announce a further $199 million, which will not only allow us to fulfill further obligations under the Indian residential schools settlement but will also ensure that appropriate healing and other services are provided to the survivors of the Indian residential schools.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, research projects are great, but it is shelters and organizations, like the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, that protect women from being murdered and kidnapped.

The Native Women's Shelter of Montreal has been around for nearly 25 years and helps hundreds of aboriginal women.

When will the minister finally defend these vulnerable women?

If the minister will not do so, who will?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, I already announced that we have put further funds into services that will be provided for aboriginal people and residential school survivors. We have also announced in the last budget the creation of a further, I believe it was, six shelters for aboriginal women who have been affected by violence. We have created another six shelters. There are further funds allocated to the health department to make sure appropriate services, such as psychiatric help and other healing services, are provided to aboriginal women.

Status of Women

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, section 705 of Canadian aviation regulations sets out a four-level scale for incidents at our airports. A level-three incident includes “argumentative or...disorderly” behaviour or repeated “belligerent behaviour”. Now we learn that the Minister of State for the Status of Women is telling colleagues she might try to sue airline and safety officials for not keeping private her very public tantrum. In light of these facts, why is the minister still a member of the cabinet?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the member and this House that the minister in question has no intention of making any lawsuits.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, again I commend to the minister section 602 of the regulations. The list of prominent Conservatives speaking out against the minister's behaviour is growing. Senator Duffy rebuked the minister for her description of P.E.I. as a “hellhole”. Deborah Grey called it a “hissy fit at an airport” and Kory Teneycke called it “diva behaviour”. Tom Flanagan said her actions were “outrageous...not compatible with being a minister”.

Does the Prime Minister really believe there is no one else on his backbenches who would be an adequate replacement for this minister?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said in the House in the past, the minister in question, our colleague the Minister of State for the Status of Women, has made a sincere apology to the people in question. They have accepted it. I think that calls for all of us to accept the apology and move on. I do wish, however, the member opposite would listen to Mike Duffy, Tom Flanagan and Deborah Grey on other issues.

Public Safety

[Rick Norlock, Conservative, Northumberland—Quinte West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that the Conservative government has always made the safety and security of our communities and families a top priority. In those unfortunate and stressful times when an emergency strikes, Canadians expect a rapid and effective response. Dithering is not an option. Key decisions need to be made by the appropriate people, and they need to be made quickly.

Could the Minister of Public Safety tell the House what the government has done to formalize emergency planning so that Canadians are safe in the event of an emergency?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his support and hard work on this very important file.

Canadians expect that the federal government's response to an emergency will be seamless and that key decisions can be made quickly and effectively when disaster strikes.

That is why today this Conservative government has released a federal emergency response plan. This plan provides an integrated response for emergency management. Furthermore, this plan also takes the important step of coordinating responses across levels of government and private organizations.

Canadians can be assured that we are taking care of their safety.

Afghanistan

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

Mr. Speaker, the terms of reference for retired Justice Iacobucci outline what we already know. This is a stalling tactic to delay and avoid accountability on Afghanistan torture. In fact, the only thing we have learned is that this will be a very expensive stalling tactic.

Mr. Iacobucci's interpretation of documents will not be guided by the constitutional powers of Parliament. His report will go only to the minister, and there is still no commitment to actually produce any documents for Parliament.

Why will the government not respect Parliament and let the Afghanistan committee do its work?

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

Mr. Speaker, we want the hon. member's party to let Mr. Justice Iacobucci do his work. He is going to undertake a comprehensive, complete review. We are responding to the House order. One of the things I like is that it will go back all the way to 2001. It will go back to the beginning of our involvement in Afghanistan.

We want to have a complete picture, and we can count on Mr. Iacobucci to provide that for us.

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

Mr. Speaker, the terms of reference outlined are a continuation of the government's secrecy on the whole matter, hiding the facts and disrespecting the rights of Parliament. The government even has Mr. Iacobucci reviewing Canada's annual human rights reports on Afghanistan, when the United States state department posts its on its government website.

When will the government stop hiding the facts and let Parliament get at the truth?

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

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth than the allegations made by the hon. member.

Again I point out that he can and should have complete confidence in Mr. Iacobucci, who will have unfettered ability to have a look at all the relevant documents and make recommendations on those. This should have the complete support of that member and the NDP.

Aboriginal Affaires

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the report by former Justice Croteau obtained by La Presse found that the federal government owes the Nunavik Inuit an apology and compensation for the behaviour of police officers during the systematic sled dog massacres that the Inuit had to endure during the 1950s and 1960s.

Does the government intend to take responsibility and apply every one of the recommendations in this report?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, I did see that the report was tabled, but I have not had a chance to review it yet.

I do know that this is one of several reports that have been made on this investigation, some of which precede my time in this office and some even precede our government.

The RCMP has been engaged, as well, to perform an extensive and exhaustive study of documents it possesses in an analysis of that, to try to make sure we can do the right thing toward the Inuit not only in Quebec but in all of our northern regions.

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada is currently examining the possibility of reducing the number of points of entry for the food mail program from 20 to 5. The Val-d'Or airport, the longest-serving and best equipped, could lose its status as a point of entry as a result.

Can the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development assure us that the Val-d'Or airport will continue to serve northern Quebec and Nunavik in the food mail program?

[Chuck Strahl, Conservative, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that we are examining options on improving the food mail service. It has come under quite a bit of criticism over the years as not being responsive and not really being a 21st century model of delivering nutritious food to the north.

We have had a system that was based on the old mailing system, basically a subsidy to Canada Post. We have been examining options that would increase the amount of food and the selection of nutritious food for northerners. That work has been ongoing.

We have had a special ministerial representative and reports from everyone from airlines to the Val-d'Or municipality. They have all given us advice on how we might improve this program. We are looking at how we might do that shortly.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, George Bush Sr. reneged on his famous promise to not bring in new taxes. He said:

“Read my lips: no new taxes”.

He found the courage to admit that, in fact, he was raising taxes.

Despite claims to the contrary, the Conservatives are raising taxes.

Why does the government not show the same courage as George Bush Sr. and admit that it is increasing taxes?

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, indeed we are lowering taxes, unlike what the opposition wants to do.

Let me put it in very simplistic terms so the hon. member can understand. For an average family of four, we have reduced the tax burden by $3,000.