Debates of May 12th, 2010

Offshore Drilling

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the question I asked was about the 1972 moratorium. It is the 1972 moratorium. It was the Exxon Valdez and now it is the Gulf of Mexico.

Under the circumstances there is absolutely no guaranteeing safety on the west coast in terms of offshore drilling or tanker traffic. That is why the 1972 Trudeau moratorium is absolutely important for British Columbia and for Canada.

Do the Conservatives support the Trudeau moratorium of 1972 on offshore drilling and the 1972 tanker ban on the B.C. coast?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we cannot be any clearer. Thanks to the leadership of a Conservative government, in 1988 there was an exclusion zone. That is tremendously important not just to people in British Columbia but to all Canadians, and this government has no plans to reopen this. That is important and those are the facts. The scaremongering of the member opposite will not change that.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is meeting today with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. We know that one of the objectives of the meeting is to lobby for a seat for Canada on the UN Security Council. But since it came to power, the Conservative government has been at odds with a number of UN positions.

How can the Prime Minister aspire to sit on the UN Security Council when he still has not signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, as the Secretary-General has recognized, Canada is one of the largest donors and contributors to UN activities on security, human rights, development, responsibility and accountability. Canada's role within the United Nations is very important to our sovereign country.

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

Mr. Speaker, last fall, the Prime Minister did not even deign to speak at the UN climate change summit, even though a number of world leaders did, including President Obama.

How can the Prime Minister aspire to sit on the UN Security Council when he has not taken any real action on climate change and he has even questioned its existence?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, Canada is a strong supporter of the Copenhagen accord, which is the first agreement to include all the major emitters. I hope the Bloc Québécois and the other opposition parties will also support this very important international agreement.

International Co-operation

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

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian government's campaign to join the UN Security Council is not doing that well over in Africa. Its failure to invest in that continent in terms of international aid—reduced from 14 to 7 priority countries—has been strongly criticized. Furthermore, its backward position on women's health has no credibility.

Does the government realize that its conservative policies at the international level are hampering its campaign for a seat on the Security Council?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, I want to get the facts on the table. In fact, under this government, we have met our commitment to Africa and doubled that commitment to $2.1 billion a year. Forty-five per cent of CIDA's aid goes to Africa. Sixty-two per cent of our food aid goes to Africa. Fifty-five per cent of our agricultural support goes to Africa. Fifty-one per cent of our multilateral aid goes to Africa.

Because of Canada's G8 commitment to save the lives of mothers and children, the majority of that support will go to Africa.

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

Mr. Speaker, when he was in opposition, the Prime Minister blindly supported the United States' illegal and immoral war in Iraq, when the UN Security Council opposed such unilateral action. Clearly the Prime Minister does not believe in multilateralism.

How could he possibly think that Canada has any chance of joining the Security Council when he has so little respect for the multilateral decisions made by the UN?

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

Mr. Speaker, we will it leave to the members of the United Nations to decide when the time comes to vote on the non-permanency to the Security Council in the fall.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation

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

Mr. Speaker, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference is under way, but the Conservative government is in the process of selling nuclear technology to states that are not getting on board with nuclear non-proliferation. That has to have the UN Secretary-General very concerned.

Will the Prime Minister tell Ban Ki-moon that he can count on Canada to be fully engaged and fully a part of his plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think the government has been clear in the past. This is a long-term result that all of us would like to see. There is a lot of work to be done to get there. We are concerned today with nuclear weapons that are proliferating in the hands of both some dangerous states potentially and non-state actors. Those are the challenges with which the government is seized.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada is lobbying for a seat on the UN Security Council. Our chances would be better if the government showed some leadership concerning major global issues, but Canada now ranks 57th in contributions to UN peacekeeping missions. That is shameful.

The UN has issued a direct appeal to Canada on several occasions, asking for help in the Congo, for instance.

Will the Prime Minister finally respond positively to this direct appeal?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is committed. Our Canadian Forces are participating in six United Nations international missions, including our contribution to the mission in Afghanistan.

I hope the NDP will also one day support this United Nations mission in Afghanistan.

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

Mr. Speaker, just at the moment we are leaving it, that is a bit of a bizarre proposition.

Ban Ki-moon had another very tough message for the government. He said that Canada had to live up to its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. He also said that Canada had to show leadership on the whole issue of climate change. He is right to say that climate change poses an existential threat to all of us and that Canada has an important role to play.

Therefore, the Prime Minister has to make a choice. Is he going to listen to his advisory panel to downplay climate change at the G20, or is he going to put it on the agenda like the UN Secretary—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what advisory panel the leader of the NDP is talking about. I can certainly say there have been consultations with all of the members of the G20 and the G8. I anticipate that all important subjects, including climate change, will be covered at the summit.

The position of the Government of Canada is very well known. We are strongly supportive of the Copenhagen accord, which for the first time in history involves commitments from all major emitters. I hope the NDP and the opposition parties will finally get on board with this international climate change accord.

The Environment

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I just met with the Secretary General of the United Nations. He was very open and made it clear that Canada must take a leadership role regarding climate change at the G20 summit. The Conservative government has not done anything about climate change in four years, but it has one last chance to show some leadership in Toronto.

Will the Prime Minister listen to what the UN Secretary General had to say and make climate change a central issue on the G20 agenda?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I already answered that question when the Liberal leader was not here.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please. We will have some order. The Prime Minister is seeking to answer the question that was asked. I did not hear the words complained of, but we will deal with that after. We have to proceed with question period.

The right hon. Prime Minister has the floor.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I hear that it is the Liberal leader's birthday. He apologized.

I just answered that question. There have been discussions among the members of the G20 and G8, and I expect that there will be discussions on all major issues, including climate change. Canada's position is clear. We support the Copenhagen accord.