House of Commons Hansard #33 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was refugees.

Topics

Balanced Refugee Reform ActGovernment Orders

6:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

The hon. member for Sault Ste. Marie will have three minutes remaining when the House returns to this matter.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

6:30 p.m.

Liberal

Shawn Murphy Liberal Charlottetown, PE

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to attempt to get an answer, an answer I have been trying to get for the last month. I want a straightforward, honest answer to a commitment, which was set out in the federal budget tabled by the finance minister on March 4.

Before I get into details, I want to remind the House that the budget is the financial agenda of the government for the upcoming fiscal year. Literally thousands of hours go into the preparation of each budget, and thousands of eyes see and review the budget before it is tabled. Facts are checked, double-checked and triple-checked. Millions of dollars of man and woman hours are spent preparing the budget. As a result, members of this House, members of the Senate, and all Canadians are entitled to assume that the budget is accurate, correct and factual.

On page 242 of the budget, which the government wants passed by this House and the Senate, it contains the following commitment:

Upgrades to infrastructure at the University of Prince Edward Island will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy.

The announcement was received enthusiastically by UPEI and all people living in Prince Edward Island. Then things started to get a little wobbly. The Minister of Finance in the House said proudly that the budget was accurate, but the department of industry was a little bit different. It said it was not $30 million, it was $2 million. All we had to do to get to the $30 million was use a multiplier of 15.

When this was explained to be absolutely ridiculous, it came forward the next day with another explanation that we could take another project at the college that was done a year before, add them up and we would get to $10 million or $11 million, that would be close enough, and we could forget about it.

No attempt was ever made to compute how the 300 jobs were calculated or arrived at. I am going to read it again because I want to be absolutely clear. The budget stated:

Upgrades to infrastructure at the University of Prince Edward Island will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy.

One would think that I, as a member of Parliament, and the people living in Prince Edward Island, along with the people affiliated with the University of Prince Edward Island would be entitled to an honest, straightforward answer.

If it was a major screw-up, tell us. If the decision was correct, or the statement was correct in the budget, and it was subsequently reversed by the finance minister or the Prime Minister, tell us. However, we are not getting that.

I am asking people who are watching this on television tonight to listen to the answer. What we are going to hear is spin. It will not deal with the question. It will not deal with the $30 million. It will not deal with the 300 jobs. It will go on and talk about other projects.

The parliamentary secretary tonight will read a statement, prepared by the department of industry, approved by the Prime Minister's Office and will, over the next four minutes, continue this culture of deceit that we are seeing with the government.

I am going to read it again for the third time:

Upgrades to infrastructure at the University of Prince Edward Island will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy.

My question is straightforward and simple. Is the $30 million commitment and the creation of 300 jobs accurate? If it is not accurate, and we know it is not, why was it included in the budget?

6:30 p.m.

Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont Alberta

Conservative

Mike Lake ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that today in his question, the member for Charlottetown uses the wording “will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy”. I would note that when asking questions in the House, he used different wording. He said, “received $30 million in new money for infrastructure upgrades”. There was very different wording in his questions that precipitated this adjournment proceeding tonight.

I want to clarify the question raised by the member for Charlottetown surrounding the level of funding provided to the province of Prince Edward Island under the knowledge infrastructure program. In particular, I would like to clarify certain numbers reported in the fifth report to Canadians.

The knowledge infrastructure program is providing significant short-term stimulus in local communities across Canada by investing in infrastructure at universities and colleges. Through the program, we have committed $2 billion over two years to 536 different projects in every province and territory in Canada. This has been more than matched by contributions from the provinces and other sources, resulting in total project costs of roughly $5 billion.

Prince Edward Island has received funding for two KIP projects, one at Holland College and one at the University of Prince Edward Island. The project at Holland College includes major renovations to the Charlottetown Centre and the construction of a new centre for applied science and technology. The total cost of this project is $17 million, of which the federal portion is $8.5 million.

The project at UPEI includes $4 million for major infrastructure upgrades, of which the federal government is providing $2 million. The total federal funding for PEI under the KIP program is therefore $10.5 million over two years. Because my colleague from Charlottetown seems to be confused as to the content of the fifth report to Canadians, specifically an item on page 242 of that document, I appreciate this chance to offer some clarity on the matter.

From page 242 of the fifth report to Canadians, it is clear that investments in P.E.I. under the KIP program will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy. Under this program, UPEI and Holland College together received a total of $10.5 million in federal funding. When matched with provincial funds, this amounts to $21 million for Holland College and UPEI together.

Even when assessed under the most conservative assessments of the impacted stimulus funding, we arrive at a total economic benefit to the Island economy of $31.5 million. We have never claimed that the project at UPEI has received anything other than $2 million in KIP funding matched by the province.

I regret the confusion resulting from the member for Charlottetown's misreading of the fifth report to Canadians. We do hold in high regard the provincial governments and partnering institutions for working with us on these projects. These projects are of great importance to students and faculty at both UPEI and Holland College.

6:35 p.m.

Liberal

Shawn Murphy Liberal Charlottetown, PE

Mr. Speaker, he said I misread it, so I am going to read it again for Canada to listen to. It says, “Upgrades to infrastructure at the University of Prince Edward Island will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy”. It could not be any clearer.

The parliamentary secretary did exactly what I predicted. It was spin. We continue this culture of deceit. He did not talk about the budget. He talked about some other document called a fifth report. I am not sure exactly what he is talking about. The only thing he talked about, which I suspected, was this $2 million committed to the University of Prince Edward Island. He went on about projects in other provinces and other projects in Charlottetown. He went on to spin the thing and he never mentioned how the 300 jobs was computed and added into the budget.

I will give the parliamentary secretary one last chance to answer the question. Is the $30 million commitment to the University of Prince Edward Island and the creation of 300 jobs accurate? The wording is very clear and we know right now from the words of the parliamentary secretary that it is not accurate. If it is not accurate, why was it included in the budget?

6:35 p.m.

Conservative

Mike Lake Conservative Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, AB

Mr. Speaker, what is not clear is what the hon. member is actually asking. He has asked two completely different things, using two completely different sets of numbers.

Today he refers to the fifth report to Canadians, which uses wording such as “--will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy”. But the member has repeatedly asserted in question period that the budget contains a statement with the wording “--receive $30 million in new money for infrastructure upgrades”. That is very different wording. The budget simply does not state that.

Once again, let me reiterate the facts for the benefit of all hon. members and those many thousands of Canadians who will be viewing this tonight.

The University of P.E.I. is receiving funding under KIP to update essential physical infrastructure to several of its campus buildings. The total cost of these upgrades is $4 million, of which the federal government is providing $2 million.

KIP is also providing funding to Holland College to undertake a major renovation of the Charlottetown Centre and to construct a new centre for applied science and technology. The total cost of this project is $17 million, of which the federal portion is $8.5 million.

Taken together, federal funding for P.E.I. under the KIP program totals $10.5 million over two years. This funding is generating jobs and other economic benefits to the Island, while at the same time renewing important--

6:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Barry Devolin

Order. The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:40 p.m.)