House of Commons Hansard #63 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was information.
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, hate crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and transsexual Canadians are rising faster than those against other groups. Hate crimes against GLBTT people are far more often violent.
Will the government work with community groups and police to put in place policies and educational programs to prevent these crimes and protect GLBTT Canadians? Will the government ensure that specific data is gathered regarding hate crimes against members of the trans community?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member does not want to foster hate. I indicated to him what this government is doing.
I know something that he could do. Why does he not get the leadership of his party to stand up and apologize for the hateful comments that were made toward Israel. That would be doing the right thing on that member's part.
Daniel Paillé Bloc Hochelaga, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government has run out of ideas so it is offering $10,000 to anyone who can do its job and come up with ideas on how to save public money. I have a good idea to submit and this time I will do so free of charge. This will also prevent the Minister of Finance from trampling on Quebec's authority.
Why does the government not avoid wasting $350 million to create a federal securities commission, when the current system already works perfectly well, as pointed out this morning by the Quebec and Alberta finance ministers?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, this is a voluntary initiative that has always respected regional jurisdictions. It will continue in the same manner in the future. We respect the jurisdictions of the other levels of government.
This matter has now been referred to the Supreme Court of Canada, which will deal with the issue of the legislative competence of Parliament to legislate in this area.
Daniel Paillé Bloc Hochelaga, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Quebec and Alberta ministers reminded the federal minister that there is nothing to corroborate what he is saying when he maliciously exploits the victims of Earl Jones. If he really wants to protect investors, he should amend the Criminal Code and stop claiming that a federal commission could have prevented the Earl Jones fraud. Fighting fraud comes under federal jurisdiction.
This morning Raymond Bachand and Ted Morton basically told the minister to do his job and let them do theirs. When will the minister start doing his job?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, there were a lot of victims in Quebec in particular, unfortunately, arising out of the Earl Jones scandal and the Ponzi scheme that he operated in Quebec. As Joey Davis of the Earl Jones victims committee said: “We support the idea of a single national regulatory body overseeing organizations. We definitely support the Canadian securities regulator initiative. Ottawa has been far more responsive to our plight. I have more faith in the federal government”.
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Mr. Speaker, for over four years first nations, Métis and Inuit people have heard much from the government, but they have seen very little action. Two years ago an apology for the tragedy of residential schools was to be a turning point.
Unfortunately, it was just a brief exception to the rule. Now thousands of children are in care, a growing education gap for students, and funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation has disappeared. Now a broken promise to recognize the rights of indigenous people on the world stage.
I ask the minister why the hollow words?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, I have been here for 17 years and if empty promises from the Liberals could solve problems in aboriginal circles, there would not be any problems. We have listened to this for a long time.
What we are hearing now, for example, from Chief Bill Montour, Six Nations, is: “I'm used to dealing with the Liberals but you can't get anything done”. Dealing with the Conservatives, that is how they got their water plant. That is how they had more successes in Six Nations country because we can do business. We can never out-promise the Liberals, but we actually get the job done.
Todd Russell Liberal Labrador, NL
Mr. Speaker, $57,000 spent on a fake lake would close the educational funding gap for 28 first nations students; $208,000 for the northern oasis would close the gap for 104 students in the real north; the $186,000 fake lighthouse would have helped 93 real students; and $6 billion in Conservative corporate tax cuts this year alone would close the funding gap for 300,000 first nations students for the next decade.
I ask the minister, fake lakes or real action? What is his party's priority?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, while the hon. member fakes the indignation and talks in grand terms about what he wished he had done during 13 years of Liberal rule, we have been working for example with the people from Barriere Lake. This last year we built new teachers' residences. We put $500,000 in housing repairs, new fire trucks, new service trucks, school repairs, a multi-purpose youth centre, and other equipment.
When we work together in good faith with first nations, good things happen. When the Liberals talk about it, nothing happens and they did it for 13 long miserable years.
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, Canadians depend on the assisted human reproduction industry watchdog to protect their health, but that watchdog does not have much bark or bite.
The agency has a $10 million budget, yet it has publicly stated that it is not doing its job.
Its meetings are closed to the public, and it frequently meets with industry representatives, but it has ignored patients for years.
When will the minister stand up for Canadians and demand some accountability from this agency?
Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, our government has been transferring funding to the provinces and territories where health care is delivered to first nations and Inuit people. This year alone it is $25 billion. We will continue to work with the provinces in improving the health outcomes of aboriginal people and Inuit.
As to first nations' health, as the member is aware, this morning at committee we were discussing the additional investments we are making to address the health outcomes of aboriginal people on first nations reserves.
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Mr. Speaker, the government claims to care about violence against first nations women, but its actions tell a different story. Iqaluit has the highest rate of domestic violence in Canada, but when it comes to funding, the only woman's shelter in the territory, the cupboard is bare. Yet again, Conservatives are ignoring the most vulnerable.
When will the government members stand up to protect first nations women? When will they put their money where their mouths are?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, it is tremendously important that we address the issue of violence against aboriginal women. That is why we announced in the last budget $10 million specifically for that. That will be rolling out shortly. We also invested $30 million to fund a network of women's shelters. We have added five new shelters to the network across Canada.
Of course, there is more to be done and all of us need to be conscious of the need to be sensitive to the situation, which is why we should do things like pass the matrimonial real property rights legislation because that will allow aboriginal women to have the rights that every other Canadian takes for granted.
Mike Allen Conservative Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
Mr. Speaker, budget 2010 laid out a clear plan to return to a balanced budget. We froze departmental operating budgets, cancelled raises for the PM, ministers, MPs and senators, and are pressing ahead with tough strategic reviews to identify savings.
Could the President of the Treasury Board further explain to the House how this Conservative government is demonstrating leadership in controlling spending.
Stockwell Day ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway
Mr. Speaker, along with the means that have just been described to us which will get us to a balanced budget by the year 2014, we also want to give our public servants, especially those who work on the front lines, the opportunity to provide proposals. They have often communicated to me that they have ideas on how programs on which they are working could be delivered in a more efficient way and at a reduced cost.
We are going to make that available to them, to bring forward a business plan to propose how they can do that. Then that working plan would be audited and 10% of the savings would go to the workers and 90% to the taxpayers.
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the government's treatment of aboriginal peoples has consistently fallen short. But its broken promise to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is perhaps its most shameful act yet.
The hopes of Canada's first nations, Métis and Inuit have been dashed in mere months. Canada was once a leader in human rights, recognizing the worth and value of every Canadian. Today we fall short of the standard we once set.
Why did the Conservatives break this promise?
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. We said in the throne speech that we are going to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It would be consistent with the Canadian Constitution, of course, but we will be doing that. We are consulting with the national aboriginal organizations right now. We will be doing that in short order.
But the real question is, why will the Liberals not support things like matrimonial property rights? Why will they not support water legislation so first nations have the same quality of water as anyone else in this country? Why do they oppose us on things like the inclusion of aboriginals under the Canadian Human Rights Act?
They talk a good line, but they do not care about aboriginal people.
Francine Lalonde Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is calling on the Minister of Foreign Affairs to meet his legal obligations in the case of Nathalie Morin, the young woman being held in Saudi Arabia with her children. Under its international obligations, the Government of Canada cannot ignore or be a party to violations of someone's rights.
Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs take advantage of Saudi King Abdallah's presence at the G20 summit to finally demand that Nathalie Morin and her children be returned to Canada?
Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has clearly stated that it is his wish that this matter be settled. Our government is doing everything it can to facilitate this file. Most recently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs met with the minister of health from Saudi Arabia to raise this issue. We will continue raising this matter with the Saudi authorities.
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives can find billions to stage the G20 photo op and millions for a fake lake, but nothing for the small businesses suffering from the lockdown of the largest city in Canada.
There will be no compensation for any property damages and it will take businesses up to seven years to get help. Yesterday 150 small businesses met to discuss the issues, but the federal representative did not even show up.
When will the Conservative government stop stonewalling and ignoring the needs of small businesses or does it just not care?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I thought my hon. colleague had a wonderful opportunity to set the record straight and to correct and apologize for the statements made by her party regarding Israel but, unfortunately, she did not seize the opportunity.
Phil McColeman Conservative Brant, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals continue to show how their party is out of touch with Canadians and farmers. The Liberal members for Ajax—Pickering and Malpeque continue to support the ineffective prison farm system and the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry.
Unlike the Liberals, this government places the rights of law-abiding Canadians above the rights of criminals.
Would the Minister of Public Safety inform the House why the prison farm system and the long gun registry are so ineffective?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his strong support of our farmers and of all law-abiding Canadians.
Our government does not believe that a program in which less than 1% of released offenders ever find work in the agricultural sector is effective or helps our farmers. We want to find skills for prisoners that they can actually put to use when they are back out on the street.
We also do not support the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry like the member for Malpeque does. He should apologize and vote against it.