House of Commons Hansard #37 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was conservative.
Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, our initiative will focus on training and support for front line health workers, on treating and preventing disease, and on screening for and treating sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-AIDS.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, clearly initiatives aimed at the spread of HIV and AIDS would also protect mothers by increasing their access to ongoing treatment. Surely, the prospect of ending mother-to-child transmission is a goal that we can all get behind. We need to get behind the full plan, not just one element of it.
Why has the government been ducking this issue? We want to know if the government will listen to the experts and get behind the full goal and the full program of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015. It should get behind not just some little part of it, but the full deal.
Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, as I just told the House, our initiative focuses on screening for and treating sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-AIDS, as well as proper medicine, obstetric care and training for front line nursing staff.
Siobhan Coady Liberal St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport is not correct when he claims that ministers voluntarily handed over documents. An email from a public servant tells a very different story. This is a quote from one assistant deputy minister, who said, “The MP for St. John's South—Mount Pearl has put forward a motion...produce all papers and records from Patrick Glémaud and Rahim Jaffer...we may not be given much time to respond”.
Why has the government not yet produced any documents in the Department of Natural Resources, the home of over $1 billion in green funds?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the government has been very forthcoming. We have submitted information to the committee and to the independent Commissioner of Lobbying so they can make a determination as to what the facts are. We established an independent Commissioner of Lobbying. She has in place a tough new regime that this government legislated. She will look into the matter and make a determination, as is appropriate.
Siobhan Coady Liberal St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Mr. Speaker, transparency does not mean one tells when one is caught. This is more stonewalling on this issue. The government has been anything but transparent.
Why did the Conservatives pressure bureaucrats to fast-track the files of Mr. Jaffer and his business partner? Why will the Conservatives not even answer simple questions?
Let me try one more time. Who wrote on the Dragon Power proposal, “From Rahim, submit to department”? It is a simple question. Who wrote it?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we are having all of this debate in the House because this government released all the documents in question. There is no document in question or fact that has been put forward that any money was given to any of these projects. That is a high ethical standard.
What a difference from the previous Liberal government. This individual got nothing. Previous insider Liberals got millions of dollars and then they kicked it back to the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party was forced to write a $1 million cheque to the taxpayers when it got caught with its hand in the cookie jar. We have $1 million back. Today is the day when every other Canadian has to pay their taxes. It is time the Liberal Party paid its debts.
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, half a dozen ministers have been linked to Rahim Jaffer's schemes. His files received privileged treatment and political staff pressured our bureaucrats to fast-track his requests and arrange high level meetings for him.
But there seems to be something missing. We are still in the dark about Mr. Jaffer's efforts with Natural Resources Canada, which oversees major green subsidy programs.
Does the government expect us to believe that Mr. Jaffer lobbied everyone but the Natural Resources Canada officials?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, there were such priorities and such pressure that no money was given to any of these projects. That is the amazing thing. Canadians at home can see the difference. No money was given to any of these projects, but when Liberals were in power, literally millions and millions of dollars went missing.
The Liberal Party got kickbacks. The Liberal Party was so embarrassed by this that it actually wrote a cheque for more than $1 million to the taxpayers. That is $1 million down and $39 million to go. I ask my friend to stand right now and tell us where the $39 million is. Canadians want their money.
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Keephills project received $342 million from Natural Resources Canada.
We also know that Rahim Jaffer used the name of the former minister for the status of women in making representations to Environment Canada about this same Keephills site.
But the government still has not disclosed the communications between Mr. Jaffer and Mr. Glémaud and the Natural Resources Canada officials.
Do Canadians not deserve full disclosure now that we know the extent of Mr. Jaffer's scheming with Conservative ministers?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Hull—Aylmer is making some very serious allegations. If he has any evidence, I encourage him to hand it over to the commissioner of lobbying, who is an independent commissioner. If he has any serious allegations, I encourage him to forward them to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and the RCMP.
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is so blinded by its partisan ideology that it does not see any problem with appointing as a judge a commercial lawyer for the Hells Angels. In addition to hiding this fact at the time of his appointment, Justice Jacques Léger, this former president of the Conservative Party, was scheduled to preside over the trial of four members of the Hells Angels. The least we can say is that Mr. Léger, or should I say “Mr. Heavy”, has poor judgment.
How can the government claim to get tough on criminals when it appoints one of their own lawyers to the Quebec Court of Appeal?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)
Mr. Speaker, all judicial nominees are referred to the Minister of Justice by one of the 17 judicial advisory committees across the country, and each of these committees are made up of eight members. All judicial nominee are subject to a very serious and in-depth investigation by the RCMP. We are abiding by these rules very well.
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, like the Liberals before them, the Conservatives are acting as if the government belonged to them. They put their friends on the government's payroll, sometimes as judges, and sometimes as senators. Also, when making government announcements, they have no qualms about printing the Conservatives' logo on the cheques, as if the money for bridges and roads came out of the Conservative Party's coffers.
When will the Conservative government stop mistaking the interests of the Conservative Party for the public interest?
Andrew Saxton ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been clear on where he stands.
As he said last October, the use of party logos on ceremonial cheques is improper. We accept the commissioner's recommendations and will look at strengthening Treasury Board policies as they relate to government announcements.
Let us not forget that at the end of the day, the Ethics Commissioner said there was no violation of any code or any act.
Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are trying to fool us when they claim that they care about women's health. The reality is very different. By refusing access to abortion to women in developing countries, they are directly contributing to increasing the already high risks associated with clandestine abortions for women in Africa and Latin America. In these regions, 95% of all abortions are unsafe.
Does the government realize that its ideological stubbornness regarding abortion is irresponsible and threatens women's health?
Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, our government is trying to save the lives of women and children in the developing world in a manner that unites Canadians, instead of dividing them.
I realize this is a principle the Bloc has a hard time embracing, since its primary objective is to split the country.
Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives refuse to see the numbers. Do those who defend such regressive policies know that an African woman is 65 times more likely to die from an abortion than a North American or European woman?
Does the government realize that its policy on abortion will contribute to making this tragic situation even worse?
Josée Verner ConservativeMinister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, Sharon Marshall, from World Vision Canada, said that, every day, 8.8 million children die from causes which could easily be prevented with actions that cost very little money. She added that the voice of these children has stopped being heard since this debate was reopened in Parliament and in the media.
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is jeopardizing thousands of Canadian jobs with its plan to sell our world-class nuclear technology to foreign interests. Backroom deals, shrouded in secrecy, and driven by Republican ideology are not in the public interest.
Does the minister not realize that selling off AECL without consulting the industry is setting the stage for another Avro Arrow fiasco?
David Anderson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board
Actually, Mr. Speaker, the fiasco was the Liberals in government for 13 years and refusing to fund AECL properly.
Our government is restructuring AECL as part of an effort to strengthen Canada's nuclear industry, and position it to retain and create highly skilled jobs. We are investing $300 million in its operations to help strengthen Canada's nuclear advantage.
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Speaker, the government's real scheme to sell off our world-class Candu technology is becoming clear. Instead of entering into a private sector partnership as promised, senior industry insiders report the government is secretly negotiating an outright sale.
This culture of deceit and deception is deplorable. Why are the Conservatives hollowing our another key segment of our economy and jeopardizing thousands of Canadian jobs?
David Anderson ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows what he is saying is just plain rubbish. He has been at committee when we heard clearly that AECL needs to restructure in order to remain competitive. As part of that ongoing restructuring, investors were invited to submit proposals for AECL's commercial reactor division.
It needs strategic investors to seize new opportunities here at home and around the world. We are prepared to see it through so that it gets that opportunity.
Lawrence MacAulay Liberal Cardigan, PE
Mr. Speaker, the devastating announcement by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of a 63% decrease in the snow crab quota in the southern gulf has left the industry reeling.
Could the minister tell the House and the industry, how did the biomass get in such a mess? Who dropped the ball? If this information is true, is the minister prepared to step up to the plate and assist the people involved in the snow crab industry who will lose millions of dollars?
Gail Shea ConservativeMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, a sound evaluation of this resource was taken into account with all available information, including the results from the whole fishing season. I remain confident that the science is right in this instance.
Our priority is the conservation of that stock so that fishery is healthy into the future. Surely, the member is not saying that we should be allowing overfishing of the crab.