Debates of June 7th, 2010

G8 and G20 Summits

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not the case. Those are not the facts.

The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario have been working with the business community to capitalize on an amazing opportunity to showcase Canada to the world. Some 3,000 world-leading journalists are going to visit Canada.

We have an amazing opportunity to show what a great place Canada is to visit and what a great place Canada is to make investments. We are very proud of that. We will continue to show off this great country both at the G8 and the G20 and to the many thousands of visitors who will see the spotlight on Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, the billion dollar boondoggle is ballooning. The ShamWow minister is out making sure he gets a $100,000 gazebo for his riding. The government is getting a boat with G20 money, but it will not float for two years, for heaven's sake. Get this. We have a government that has to create an artificial lake when Canada has more lakes than just about any other country in the world. It is the taxpayers who are going to end up at the bottom of the fake lake with a fake Muskoka behind them.

How can the Prime Minister justify wasting taxpayers' dollars this way? It is absurd.

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are tremendously proud to be hosting the world at the G8 and the G20. Some 8,000 delegates as well as some 3,000 media from around the world will convene on Muskoka and Toronto. Canada is a major player. We are a world leader. We are proud to welcome these folks.

We also have an amazing opportunity. Television networks from around the world will be focusing on Canada. We want to showcase the very best that this country has to offer, whether it is in the great region of Muskoka or whether it is in a world-class city like Toronto. We are proud of that. We are excited about that. We look forward to welcoming the world to this great country.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry is engaging in fiction when he pretends a steamboat for which he authorized $400,000 was never meant to be a G8 project. The local municipal council passed a resolution to support the “SS Bigwin Steamship Restoration Project as a G8 Summit Project”. The website of the boat's builder even says that funds have been requested from “the G8 legacy program”.

If hauling out a sunken steamboat can be billed as G8 spending, how much more money is being squandered in this massive Conservative boondoggle?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, for a party and a caucus that aspires to be government, it is shocking and shameful how ridiculous that party's research is. That particular project was never approved for G8 funding, never got G8 funding and was not part of the G8 funding. For those members to say otherwise is false and it shows once again why they are not fit to govern.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I would be really happy to table all the documents and articles from the minister's local paper.

The minister somehow thinks it is important to state that the steamboat is being restored using a different slush fund, not the G8 one. His riding is awash in excessive spending when neighbouring ridings have trouble affording essential infrastructure.

How much of the G8 boondoggle spending is sucking money from other program spending?

When will the minister come clean on how much money the government is spending to try to get him re-elected?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of summit funding, when the hon. member's predecessors were in government, they gave money to the Bluenose for the Halifax summit.

That is okay, but according to the false logic of members opposite, it is not okay to do something for this summit. That is the tired ridiculous logic of the Liberal Party of Canada, which proves once again why the Liberals are on that side, rather than on this side.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, there was a time when the Conservatives claimed to be good managers. They have now proven that they are spendthrifts and completely incompetent. The worst thing is that they are spending billions on billions of dollars not for Canadians' benefit, but to further their partisan interests.

Why is the Prime Minister using the G8 and G20 meetings just to promote the Conservative Party?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we are working to support our regions, to support Canadian tourism, to support many things Canada is known for. That is our goal. We are proud of our country.

On the other side, the Liberals complain, but when they were in power, they did exactly the same thing.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the government is spending $275,000 on washrooms 20 km from the summit, $400,000 on a 1910 steamship and $2 million on an artificial lake in the middle of the city; it makes you think of Gilligan's Island. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have run up the biggest deficit in Canadian history.

Why is the Minister of Industry spending so much of Canadian taxpayers' money just to get re-elected?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

As I said already, Mr. Speaker, we are proud of our regions. We are proud of our country. We are showcasing that to the world with the G8 and the G20 summits.

When the Liberals were in power, not only did they fund the Bluenose and some other infrastructure projects for Halifax, but they also put in $3 million extra for Halifax after the summit was over. That is how proud they were of Halifax.

They should not be coming to us when we are spending money for tourism, for business development and for the future of Canadian business. We are proud of that, because that is what good governments do.

Shell Canada

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Shell Canada clearly has no intention of negotiating the sale of its Montreal East facilities. Under the leadership of the union, two offers were presented to save this refinery. The Government of Quebec has announced its intention to continue putting pressure on Shell.

What does the Minister of Natural Resources intend to do to get Shell to negotiate with serious buyers?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we have always supported the union's efforts in this matter. This is sad news, but we understand that work is ongoing. We will monitor the situation closely. We are very sympathetic to the situation the workers are currently experiencing. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister seems more determined to defend the interests of the oil sands in the west than to help the workers in Montreal East.

Can the Prime Minister tell us what instructions he has given the Minister of Natural Resources to ensure that Shell acts like a good corporate citizen?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, this government has been involved in the issue from the beginning; no one can deny it. The union said so itself this weekend. I repeat to my colleague that what is happening is serious. We are sympathetic to the workers' cause given this sad situation they are going through. Again, we will continue to monitor this situation very closely.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and many members of the international community are insisting that Israel accept an independent international commission of inquiry into the attack by the Israeli army on a humanitarian aid flotilla. Even in Israel, there are calls for an external investigation so that Israel is not both judge and judged.

Will the government ask Israel to accept an independent international inquiry?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada supports an impartial, credible and transparent inquiry into the incident that occurred last week. However, we will not support a biased process that seeks to have Israel alone bear the blame.

Governments and international organizations, including ourselves, should not make premature judgments before knowing all the facts. Furthermore, the Israel government today announced that it will conduct an investigation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to the Minister of Foreign Affairs that Turkey, which had nine citizens killed in the attack, is insisting on an impartial international inquiry.

The UN Security Council has asked that resolutions 1850 and 1860, requiring humanitarian aid and food to be sent to Gaza on a regular basis, be respected.

Will the Conservative government demand that the two UN Security Council resolutions be respected by Israel?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we remain very concerned about the Gaza situation, especially the provision of humanitarian aid to meet basic needs. The Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization. The Government of Canada provides humanitarian assistance to Gaza only through the UN and other international organizations in order to comply with Canadian anti-terrorist legislation.

Offshore Drilling

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has already cost BP nearly $2 billion. On seven different occasions so far the minister has refused to confirm that Canada has a response plan in place should such a disaster happen in Canadian waters.

Can the minister at least tell us if a security deposit is required before drilling is authorized, and if the answer is yes, how much is required?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, it is sad to see my colleague trying to scare Canadians.

We have one of the most rigorous legal systems in the world when it comes to offshore drilling. Furthermore, the oil rigs used by the Canadian offshore drilling industry, as well as the equipment and the training given to employees to use them, must all meet the strictest regulatory standards, which are among the best in the world. That is why offshore drilling companies must have an emergency response plan and contingency plans approved by regulatory authorities before any drilling will be authorized.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, apparently he has no idea what is going on.

Canadians are worried by the government's inability to manage an offshore spill like the one devastating the gulf coast. The minister refused seven requests to provide a plan on how the government would respond to a major spill off our coasts. The best he can come up with are lame PMO talking points and a feeble attempt to shift responsibility.

Could the minister at least assure Canadians that if there is a spill in our waters, the oil companies involved would assume 100% liability for all cleanup costs and all damages?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's regulator has scrutinized each drilling application. Each applicant company must have a safety plan, an environmental protection plan, an emergency response plan and a backup contingency plan.

Canada's regulators may audit the company's safety and emergency management system at any time.

So my colleague should stop trying to discredit a credible, independent organization like the National Energy Board and its 50 years of experience assessing drilling projects.

The Environment

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the Prime Minister does not want to talk about climate change at the G20.

He promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 52 megatonnes, but only delivered a tenth of that.

He promised to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels, but when he returned from Pittsburgh, he denied that these subsidies even existed.

Why is he the only G20 representative who still ignores the opinion of the scientific community regarding climate change and its effects?

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised that the hon. member would have the temerity to raise the subject of climate change inaction by the government in the House.

In 2008, when the Liberals signed their coalition document, they called upon the government to sign an international agreement to reduce emissions and to work with the United States.

Since that time, we have signed an international agreement, the Copenhagen accord, and we signed the clean energy dialogue with the United States. We have actually reduced our emissions by 2%. We brought in a series or regulatory actions for light vehicles, trucks and heavy trucks. We are working on all sorts of other emissions, doing all of the things that they asked us to do. What is the problem?