Debates of March 17th, 2010

Rights & Democracy

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the part about Rights & Democracy. I invite my colleague to carefully read the legislation governing Rights & Democracy, particularly subsection 13(3).

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's obsession with controlling everything knows no bounds. By appointing Gérard Latulippe and infiltrating Rights & Democracy, the government manipulated the situation in order to subjugate this organization, which is supposed to be independent of any government.

Why will the government not admit that it took control of Rights & Democracy and that it now expects that organization to sing the praises of the Conservative government?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to answer these questions when I appeared before the parliamentary committee. On October 29, 2009, the people of Rights & Democracy had the opportunity to appear before the committee, which was satisfied with the responses it heard.

Yesterday, I invited my colleagues to show some openness and invite people from Rights & Democracy, who are willing to meet with them to discuss the issues that concern and interest them.

Employment Insurance

[Claude Guimond, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the new Conservative member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. The hon. member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques.

[Claude Guimond, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the new Conservative member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup confirmed on a local radio station that the transitional employment insurance measures in eastern Quebec would not be extended.

He bragged about being generous, but now he is telling unemployed workers to find a third part-time job. He promised to stand up to the Prime Minister, and now he will not even dare ask that the transitional measures be extended.

How can the Conservative government claim to be helping the unemployed, when it is adding more weeks without income?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, we are currently examining the issue of transitional measures. We know that some regions in Quebec are experiencing more difficult employment insurance conditions and could benefit from some additional weeks.

We are examining the situation. The decision has not yet been made. But I remind members that this measure has been extended five times since 2000. Let the government examine it.

[Claude Guimond, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, instead of proposing solutions to help the unemployed, the Prime Minister's token Quebecker in Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup went after seasonal workers by criticizing the fact that these workers regularly collect employment insurance at the expense of people who work 12 months a year.

Since the problem that was identified in 2000 is still an issue, why eliminate the transitional measures for workers in eastern Quebec?

[Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, in recent months, we implemented six or seven different measures to support regions and workers while our country was in the midst of a recession. We implemented at least six or seven measures to help them. Each time, the Bloc voted against those measures.

The government has implemented measures to support the economy, and they have worked: 21,000 new jobs were created in February, and the unemployment rate in Canada decreased from 8.3% to 8.2%. We are heading in the right direction.

International Development

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has confirmed what we have feared all along: the government's commitment to maternal health ends when it comes to reproductive health. Unbelievably, the minister suggested that birth control has nothing to do with saving lives. Perhaps the minister is ignorant of the fact that according to the United Nations population fund, lack of adequate contraceptive services is responsible for 1.5 million deaths in developing countries every year.

Why does the government not care about saving the lives of these women and these children?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, we should be clear that this government does care about women and does care about the health of women. We have chosen to focus the world's lens on saving the lives of mothers and children. We know what we can do by providing clean water, vaccinations and better nutrition. As well the most effective way is the training of health care workers and improving access for those women. That is what we are going to do.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is wilfully ignoring the research which shows that over 215 million women who would like to have access to contraception cannot get it. Providing access to contraception to those who want it would avert over one-third of the maternal deaths in the developing world.

Has the minister informed our G8 partners that Canada's so-called signature priority is doomed for failure because Conservative Party ideology does not think that birth control has anything to do with saving lives of women and their children?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, I have talked to my colleagues in all the G8 countries and they have applauded the initiative that we are putting forward. Every one of these enlightened countries, the donor countries which are making a difference in developing countries, knows that there are actions we can take that will actually make a significant difference in the number of mothers who are dying in childbirth and in their postpartum terms. We are also addressing the lives of those children under the age of--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Winnipeg South Centre.

Status of Women

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

Mr. Speaker, the ineffectiveness of the Minister of State for the Status of Women is astounding. In 2008 she told us she was developing an action plan for Canadian women. Last May she said the plan would be completed soon. We have been waiting; we have been watching. Now we learn that her three identified priorities, or pillars as she calls them, are her action plan.

Those are just empty words. Where is her real action plan?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Minister of State (Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear. We completely restructured Status of Women Canada. We introduced three pillars of focus: economic security, ending violence against women, and women in leadership and democracy.

We continue to engage with Canadian women in grassroots organizations across the country to develop partnerships with the newly created partnership fund in line with and in support of our three pillars. In addition, we did introduce Canada's economic action plan. Within it are a number of benefits for Canadian women, including the changes to EI benefits for self-employed of which the majority are women. Would the member not agree that is significant?

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

Mr. Speaker, I invite the minister to read the Liberal pink book. It has a real action plan for all Canadian women developed after a consultation process. It is not three pillars unilaterally thought up over lunch.

The Minister of State for the Status of Women deflects questions on child care, pay equity, the court challenges program, maternal health, and housing. Is she responsible really for anything, or is her job to sit in the screen shot during question period?

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Minister of State (Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, what I can say to the member is that we on this side of the House, we Conservative women, were not relegated to the pink back room with a pink pad of paper and asked to write down for the third time a list of pink broken promises made by the previous Liberal government.

What we have done is we have increased the availability of those grassroots organizations across the country which are able to deliver to the most vulnerable women in Canadian society.

Public Safety

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that this Conservative government is committed to fighting crime and protecting Canadians so that our communities are safe places for people to live and to raise their families.

Since coming to office, our government has accomplished a great deal when it comes to cracking down on crime and better protecting Canadians. Thankfully, the Liberal senators are no longer able to abuse their majority in the Senate to delay and obstruct important law and order bills.

Could the Minister of Public Safety update this House on another important measure that this government has taken to further protect Canadians?

[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 important file.

I am very pleased to announce that today in the Senate, we have introduced a bill regarding protecting victims from sex offenders. This bill will strengthen the national sex offender registry and the national DNA data bank. It also includes important measures to ensure that sex offenders are properly identified so that police have the tools to do their job.

Our Conservative government has listened to the concerns raised by law enforcement and victims' groups, and we have taken action. When last in the House, the opposition decided to support this bill. We are calling on Liberals in the Senate to do the same.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. I know it is Wednesday, but the Chair is having difficulty hearing the questions and answers. I encourage hon. members to show some restraint, despite their enthusiasm for helping one another with questions and answers.

The hon. member for Trinity--Spadina now has the floor.

Child Care

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last night on YouTube, the Prime Minister was reminded that his failed Conservative child care policy is “an insult to any family that actually relies on it”.

The government's failure is so noticeable that international organizations such as the OECD and UNICEF rank Canada dead last in the provision of early learning and child care.

When will the government stop insulting working parents with bogus talking points and actually create new child care services for families?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should keep up to date. That report was actually written not about this government, but the study period ended in 2005 under the previous government.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what our government has done. We have created and introduced the universal child care benefit. It offers $100 a month for each child under the age of six, so that parents can get their choice in child care. On top of that, we delivered $250 million to the provinces to help them create spaces, and they have announced over 85,000 of those so far.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, actually there is a new OECD report.

The fact is that parents have not been given any choice because there were no new child care spaces in this budget, not one.

Every dollar invested in child care puts $2.30 back into the economy. That is over 10 times more than the Conservatives' tax breaks to their buddies in the big oil companies.

No more talking points. Does the minister have the courage to admit her family policies are failing hard-working families and their children?