Debates of March 19th, 2010

Health

[Michelle Simson, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, in the Speech from the Throne, the government said that it would change the national anthem; 48 hours later, it is not. Two days ago, the government flipped then flopped on ten percenters and cap funding. Yesterday, we witnessed its about face on Canada's maternal health initiative.

When members of the G8 meet next week in Hull-Aylmer, will the government commit to honouring all of Canada's past maternal health promises and commitments?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat the answer offered only a few moments ago. As the Minister of International Cooperation said yesterday, this government has all along made itself open to any and all options that will save the lives of women and children, and this does include contraception.

The G8 leaders will talk about, discuss and aim to agree on a way forward to tackle child and maternal health at the upcoming summit.

[Michelle Simson, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a simple yes or no will do.

Will the government commit today to include sexual and reproductive health rights, particularly access to family planning, including contraception, as part of Canada's G8 maternal and child health initiative?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)]

Mr. Speaker, I think the answer is quite clear but I will state again that this government is not reopening the debate on abortion.

Medical Isotopes

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, AECL is once again revising the return to service date for the Chalk River reactor, which has not produced isotopes since it was shut down last May. We heard this week that only 51% of the repairs are done and the remaining welding is extremely technical. In fact, AECL is currently assessing the recommendations from an expert review conducted earlier this week.

Will the minister finally admit that there is a growing crisis with the supply of medical isotopes?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that no one is more frustrated than our government with the slow progress of this project and the continued delays that are completely unacceptable. The health and safety of Canadians remains our top priority.

The security of isotope supply is a global issue requiring a global response. That is why our government led the way in the creation of the high level group on medical isotopes to make the global supply more secure and more predictable.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, if the government was truly worried about Canadians' health, it would not have put a hold on the nuclear reactor project, and the Prime Minister would not have halted isotope production. It is clear that the government has no idea what it is doing. The minister is not even following the recommendations from her own expert panel. Thousands of worried Canadian families are asking how their loved ones will be able to get treatment when needed.

Why is the government abandoning them?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, in May 2008, the Government of Canada accepted the decision of the board of directors of AECL to discontinue the MAPLEs project and that remains the government's view.

In terms of action items, our government has told AECL that its highest priority must be to return to service the National Research Universal as quickly and as safely as possible.

In addition, the Minister of Health is working with the medical community to manage the supply of available isotopes and maximize its use of alternatives.

Firearms Registry

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is committed to effective gun control and over the last three years the government has introduced legislation to make our streets safer and tackle violent crime.

The government introduced mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes and reverse bail provisions for serious offences. These are important steps to get tough on crime, steps the previous Liberal government never took that were long overdue.

We know that criminals do not register their illegal handguns. Would the parliamentary secretary inform the House on an important step to ensure that responsible gun owners are not criminalized?

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

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

Today, the Minister of Public Safety announced that this Conservative government is planning to extend the current amnesty so that we can continue to bring even more Canadians into compliance with the existing system. We will continue to separate honest, hard-working responsible gun owners from criminals who operate outside the law and do not register their illegal handguns.

We are targeting criminals, not law-abiding citizens. We are focused on keeping our streets and communities safe, not harassing hunters in the bush.

Code of Conduct

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, time and time again the Conservatives say one thing and do another.

They call for extreme sentencing for drug charges but then suddenly fall silent when it is one of their own. They tightened airport security but do not think it should apply to them. Beyond the boot throwing or the attempt at booze smuggling, cabinet ministers have verbally abused the airport security personnel who work hard at their difficult jobs.

When will the Prime Minister finally impose a code of conduct that is enforceable against his cabinet ministers?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I will not repeat the answer I gave earlier because I know the member for Windsor—Tecumseh heard it.

People at our airports, whether they be airport screeners, whether they work for the airlines or whether they work for the Airport Authority itself, have a very difficult job in a challenging time. They deserve the support of all Canadians. Those of us who serve as members of Parliament and as ministers of the Crown have a special responsibility in this regard.

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the new security measures in airports, and the new Conservative tax that accompanies them, do not upset only ordinary passengers. We have all heard about the Minister of State for the Status of Women's boots in Charlottetown. Now there is the story about the bottle of tequila belonging to the Minister of Veterans Affairs at the Ottawa airport. We are in Ottawa, not Mexico. The rule is clear: 100 millimetres is the maximum.

Will the Prime Minister force his ministers to follow a code of conduct so that they act with dignity at Canadian airports?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it is not appropriate, nor did the minister ask for any special treatment. He, as well as I know all members of this House, strongly support the airport security rules unequivocally.

We should work together in a non-partisan fashion with all Canadians to ensure that our airports are safe and that we work in a co-operative fashion with those people who are charged with that important public responsibility.

Telecommunications

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, CD sales are plummeting, although people are still listening to music. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage passed a Bloc Québécois motion to authorize the collection of royalties on the purchase of devices like iPods in order to compensate artists for their creative work. The Minister of Industry called such royalties “totally inappropriate”, although they have existed in the Copyright Act since 1997, particularly for blank CDs.

What does the industry minister propose to prevent artists from being deprived of their creative revenues?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we find it quite astounding that the Bloc, the NDP and members of the Liberal Party want to impose a punitive tax on iPods, on home computers and on PVRs, on the basic electronics that Canadians are using.

We want to build a more productive Canada. We want to meet the productivity challenge in this country, and one of the ways we will do that is by being a technology leader, not by taxing technologies. That is ridiculous.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is the first time I have ever seen the parliamentary secretary to a Minister of Canadian Heritage turn his back on artists. So much for his credibility.

Someone else who has lost all credibility is the Minister of Industry. He stated on the CBC on December 3 that he had downloaded 10,000 songs to his iPod. Yet he still refuses to say whether he paid for all 10,000 musical files.

Will the industry minister admit that what is “totally inappropriate”, as he said, is not paying royalties and, instead, stealing the work of artists, whether he does it once or 10,000 times?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, we have been pretty clear on it. On the other side of the House, it is here a tax, there a tax, everywhere a tax tax. They look at this and say that here is an opportunity to put a tax on something, frankly, that everyday Canadians are using.

Have they talked to any constituents to see if they would actually support paying a $75 iPod tax? I have. They do not agree with it. They think it is absurd.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are not creating jobs. They are killing jobs: 150 jobs in Cape Breton, representing $4 million for an economy with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

With the backlog of citizenship claims in the system, Conservatives did the unspeakable. They laid off 150 workers at the citizenship and immigration processing centre in Sydney. Immigrants are left waiting while unemployment rises.

Why would the government do something so senseless?

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, since this government took office in 2006, we have invested more funding into this ministry in all areas, whether it be refugee status claims, citizenship or foreign credentials. Whether it be in this country or outside of this country, no one has paid more attention to new citizens, landed immigrants and refugees than this government.

[Mark Eyking, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, there is more. There is a trend here. EI processing jobs are being centralized from Cape Breton. We lost a labour safety officer. Marine Atlantic just cut an entire back shift of over 100 jobs. That is a lot of spin-off jobs. When will the government stop the bleeding and invest in Cape Breton instead of killing jobs?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I have some great news for the people in Cape Breton and the people in Newfoundland and Labrador. After years and years of inaction and neglect, the federal government is finally making major investments in Marine Atlantic. Through budget 2010, the federal government has indicated that it will put in hundreds of millions of dollars of new funds.

Where the Liberal Party failed Cape Breton and Newfoundland and Labrador, this government is delivering like no government has in recent years.

Shipbuilding

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, while the shipyard in Lévis, Quebec, is dying and more than 1,500 employees were laid off in February, the Conservatives' shipbuilding strategy is going nowhere.

Atlantic Canada expects to lease ferries; the Arctic is still waiting for patrol ships to protect our sovereignty, not to mention the replacement of HMCS Protecteur, which has been put on ice.

Why is shipbuilding not a priority when the need is so great?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I will read from the Speech from the Throne where it states that the government recognizes:

...the strategic importance of a strong domestic shipbuilding industry, it will continue to support the industry’s sustainable development through a long-term approach to federal procurement.

As part of Canada's economic action plan, the government did announce an investment of $175 million for the procurement of new Coast Guard vessels and to undertake vessel life extensions and refits for aging vessels. The government took action to extend the structured financing facility until 2011 and invested an additional $50 million in the program.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, with great respect to the parliamentary secretary, a throne speech means absolutely nothing if it is not in the estimates or in the budget.

We were promised three armed icebreakers but the government misled us. It promised the Diefenbaker but we do not know where it is. It also promised the JSS for replacement of military vessels. These are worth billions of dollars in investment.

Could the parliamentary secretary please tell us where in the estimates and in the budget the investment is for these important vessels?