Debates of March 23rd, 2010

Aboriginal Affairs

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have changed their minds on a lot of things lately: the national anthem, community access sites, the distribution of parliamentary junk mail.

First Nations University is another example of where the government needs to change its mind. No one is asking the Prime Minister to support the mistakes of the past. No one condones those mistakes, but they are past. They are now fixed, thanks to courageous people like Chief Lonechild and the president of the University of Regina, Dr. Timmons.

Will the Prime Minister give the new regime, not the old one but the new one, a chance?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course we continue to support aboriginal learners across the country. Even at First Nations University, two-thirds of the students there receive funding under our post-secondary education programming. Of course, all institutions can apply for funding under the Indian students support programming which is available to all post-secondary institutions across the country.

They are talking about the old days, as though this occurred many years ago. It was a week ago when we found out that hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing out of the scholarship program designed for kids. In the last week, the administrator has been dismissed. Problems still continue there. There is more work to be done.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the financial situation at First Nations University has changed. The minister knows that.

The new arrangement puts money management in the hands of the University of Regina. First Nations University will concentrate on its academic work, which has always been high calibre. There are thousands of success stories of people who are now contributing to Canada as doctors, dental technicians, lawyers, social workers, teachers and scientists.

I ask again, why is the government so determined to kill rather than fix this vital educational institution?

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

Mr. Speaker, just to counter the impression that the Liberals are leaving, it is important to know that less than five per cent of aboriginal learners go to First Nations University in Canada. It is not as though there are not other options. More important, as the education minister from Saskatchewan has said, there is no firm proposal on the table.

I hate to say it, but this is typical of the Liberals, which is they pull out the pocketbook, sign on the bottom line, tear off the cheque and say, “Why don't you see how you can spend it”.

Tax Harmonization

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the matter of harmonizing the GST, the federal government is doing everything in its power not to conclude an agreement with the Government of Quebec. Quebec did indeed harmonize its sales tax, despite what the federal government is suggesting. The result is that Quebec is still waiting for the $2.2 billion that the federal government owes it for harmonizing its sales tax in 1992.

Will the Prime Minister admit that he has no intention of concluding an agreement on harmonizing the GST and paying the $2.2 billion he owes Quebec?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are seeking to conclude such an agreement with the Government of Quebec. We have signed agreements with five other provinces. These agreements are working well. There are obligations and arrangements with other provinces. We are seeking to reach a similar agreement with Quebec. I hope we will get there by negotiating in good faith.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is no need to look for an agreement when there has been one since 1992. In budget 2006, this same government said that Quebec had harmonized its sales tax with the GST and that other provinces needed to do as Quebec and the Maritime provinces had done. The Prime Minister needs to stop looking and start re-reading the budget 2006 speech and he will see that he owes Quebec $2.2 billion, period. That is the truth.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. The leader of the Bloc is talking about two types of agreements with five provinces. We have agreements that have created a harmonized tax that is administered by the federal government. To that end, we have given money to the provinces to fulfill our obligations. As far as Quebec is concerned, it administers the two taxes separately and we pay Quebec every year for that.

Post-secondary Education

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Conservative government refusing to compensate Quebec for harmonizing the GST and the QST, but it has also not made any provision in its budget for increasing transfers for post-secondary education and social programs in order to return to the 1994-95 indexed level.

Does the government understand that because of its stubbornness Quebec is losing at least $800 million a year in post-secondary education transfers?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that we are continuing our discussions with the Quebec finance minister on true harmonization.

[Nicolas Dufour, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister put in the wrong tape.

In addition to depriving Quebec of post-secondary education transfers and cutting some research programs, the government has now decided to cut post-doctoral fellowships, which will now be taxable, thus drastically reducing the meagre income of these students. This decision runs the risk of creating a brain drain as well as discouraging leading-edge research.

Why does the government have such a lack of vision when it comes to research?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the university community very much welcomed the creation of 45 million dollars' worth of post-doctoral fellowships. Indeed, it was the university community, including the university leadership in Quebec at Laval and McGill and others, that asked for this. Now some are suggesting that at $70,000 a year a post-doctoral fellowship ought not to be taxed. Say that to the rest of the Canadian people who earn $70,000 a year and pay their fair share of Canadian taxes.

Broadcasting Industry

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the CRTC was supposed to settle the battle that is going on between the broadcasters and the cable companies. The broadcasters are saying that they cannot deliver local programming without getting a cut of the cable companies' profits. The cable companies are saying that the broadcasters are spending too much on American TV. The fact is that they are both right and the CRTC did not solve either of the problems.

Why will the government not simply instruct the CRTC to stand up for the public interest and solve this dispute instead of leaving it entirely to the government's big corporate broadcasting and cable friends?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what position exactly the leader of the NDP is expressing. Obviously we asked the CRTC to look at that question. The government itself has indicated in the past that we would obviously have concerns with taxes or fees imposed upon consumers. The CRTC has delivered some recommendations and is taking this matter to the courts for further opinion. We will watch for the outcome of those deliberations.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the other problem with this decision is that the CRTC has failed CBC/Radio-Canada.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage is forcing the CBC to cut services and lay off staff. He said that the public broadcaster must compete with the private sector on a level playing field. Yet the CRTC has given money to the private sector but not to the CBC.

Can the Prime Minister make sense of this for us?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is not up to me to explain the decisions of the CRTC, which is an independent body. In fact, the CRTC examines the funding of private networks in Canada; that is what it studies. The CBC is another matter altogether, as it already receives $1 billion every year from taxpayers and the Government of Canada.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is the Conservatives' record on this. They precipitated a crisis at CBC that has forced the shutting down of local broadcasting and thrown hundreds of people out of work. Then the cable rates keep climbing despite their promises that deregulation was going to do something about that. More money than ever is being spent on U.S. programming instead of being invested in Canadian creativity.

The question is, will the Conservatives let their cable buddies go out and gouge Canadians increasingly with increased fees, or will they stand up for Canadians for a change?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have a feeling the position of the leader of the NDP is evolving as he asks his questions.

I would point out two facts in response to that. The first is that this government has funded the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to record levels, $1.1 billion per year. In the case of the decision by the CRTC, it is seeking further advice from the courts. The government has indicated we are obviously concerned about anything that would impose fees upon consumers without their consent.

Afghanistan

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

Mr. Speaker, this morning before the justice committee, the Minister of Justice refused to say that solicitor-client privilege does not apply to Mr. Iacobucci's employment with the government. This fits into a three year pattern of deny, deflect and delay. Conservative stamina for subversion seems to be limitless, but we will continue to seek the truth.

Can the minister tell the House, will the minister be able to silence Mr. Iacobucci by using solicitor-client privilege?

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

Mr. Speaker, the government was very clear, of course, that it will co-operate with Justice Iacobucci and make all relevant documents available to him.

His will be an independent, comprehensive, proper review of all these documents. I know he will want to work as expeditiously as possible. The opposition should let Justice Iacobucci do his work.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the minister refused to answer the question.

The Minister of Justice said today that Mr. Iacobucci has received some documents and that he will be able to receive any documents that he needs, but who determines need?

Is it the government's position that Mr. Iacobucci will receive every single document he asks for from 2001 to today from any department, PCO, PMO and the Afghanistan task force?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to refer the hon. member to the terms of reference. These questions are answered there.

As I have indicated before, Justice Iacobucci will have access to all documents. I have been very clear this goes back to 2001, the beginning of our involvement in Afghanistan. This of course should have the support of the hon. member.

Broadcasting Industry

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the ruling handed down yesterday by the CRTC on fees totally excludes CBC/Radio-Canada. We all know that its television budgets are heavily dependent on commercial revenues, which have been declining for all broadcasters. Still, there will be one rule for the private sector and another for CBC/Radio-Canada. The private networks will be able to negotiate a fair value for their signals, but not CBC/Radio-Canada. The private networks will get additional revenue streams, but not CBC/Radio-Canada.

The minister thinks this is all right and says nothing. Why?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, this was a CRTC decision, not a government one. Our government has always put the consumer first. That is why we asked the CRTC to consider what distribution fees would mean for Canadians. We are concerned that Canadians will have to pay higher taxes and useless fees.

About the CBC, here is what Hubert Lacroix said yesterday, “I have a good relationship and I really like the Minister of Canadian Heritage. I think he is on the ball with regard to these issues”. The CBC understands that we get results.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in regard to CBC/Radio-Canada, the minister is saying now that this was a CRTC decision. He is washing his hands of it. But when the government does not like a decision by the CRTC, it does not hesitate to say so and even change the decision. That says it all.

Hubert Lacroix said he was disappointed, staggered, furious. He said this would even force the corporation to reduce its programming and services.

Instead of washing his hands of it, could the minister tell us where CBC/Radio-Canada should make cuts? Should it cut jobs? Should it cut regional stations? Should it make cuts everywhere?