Debates of Nov. 17th, 2011

Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, I see my hon. colleague has his tinfoil conspiracy hat firmly on today.

All the member for Peterborough is doing is asking for accountability. CBC receives a lot of money from taxpayers and taxpayers want to know how the money is being spent. It is very simple and very straightforward.

With regard to parliamentary committees, they can ask for any document they want or any witness they want to come before committees to fulfill that mandate.

The member for Peterborough is standing up for taxpayers and the member for Timmins—James Bay is standing in his way. Why is he fighting against the interests of taxpayers? That is the question that should be answered. Why is he against taxpayers' interests?

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government really has a strange way of doing things. On the one hand it lets one member do whatever he wants and request documents that are the subject of an ongoing court battle. That undermines the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches. What is more, the parliamentary law clerk deemed that this was unlawful. On the other hand, the President of the Treasury Board said, “oh, sure”, promising to hand over handwritten documents that he himself used to authorize $50 million in spending for gazebos in his riding. We are still waiting for those documents.

Will he hand them over today?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, by attacking the member for Peterborough, what the NDP is doing is showing that it has no regard for the accountability of the CBC or other organizations. It has no regard for the needs of taxpayers across the country. The member for Peterborough is doing his job. It is as simple as that.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am sad to see that the President of the Treasury Board has a new spokesperson today. So that he fully understands the question I just asked, I will try to be as simple and clear as possible. Canadians have a right to know exactly how that money was distributed in Parry Sound—Muskoka. The member for Parry Sound—Muskoka has 242 forms sitting in drawers in his constituency office in Huntsville. Twice, he told everyone that he would hand them over.

Will he keep his word and finally hand over these documents?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, what an astonishing double standard by the NDP.

The President of the Treasury Board and the former minister of infrastructure appeared before a parliamentary committee and testified with regard to this matter.

All the member for Peterborough is doing is saying that the CBC should be accountable before committee.

All we are saying is that the CBC should be elevated to the same level of accountability and responsibility as the President of the Treasury Board has already demonstrated.

The NDP demanded accountability from the President of the Treasury Board and he answered the call. All we are doing is asking for accountability from the CBC. It is pretty straightforward.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in September, I wrote to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development to outline the Liberal position on any Conservative legislation on first nations water. There can be no bill without meaningful consultation and no bill without adequate and sufficient resources.

Will the minister commit today to these basic principles advocated by first nations and parliamentary committees, as well as the government's own expert panel on safe drinking water?

When will 100% of first nations have access to safe drinking water and the capacity to maintain them?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, in regard to the Liberal motion today and the whole question of first nations water and waste water, we do intend to introduce legislation this year on water and waste water.

This is a recommendation that has come forward from Senate committees, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development and every other expert who has looked at this whole question of providing appropriate water and waste water on reserve. That is what--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the United Nations declared that access to clean water was a basic human right. For the community of Red Sucker Lake to access water, it is quite the challenge. Unlike most Canadians, people do not go to the kitchen and turn on the water. It involves pails and leaving the house. These types of conditions are unacceptable. We need strong federal leadership on this issue.

Does the government actually have a plan, a strategic timeframe, that would ensure that quality water is—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been taking action to improve first nations communities' access to safe drinking water and reliable waste water. We had a national first nations water action plan.

The Liberals have no credibility on this issue. We inherited a mess after 13 years of Liberal government. We have invested $2.5 billion since 2006 in first nations water and infrastructure. We have done a national assessment. We know where our focus and priorities should be.

The Economy

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, another Canadian winter will soon begin and families are already wondering how they will survive. With heating costs continuing to soar, too many families will have to choose between keeping warm and having food to eat. This is not a choice that Canadian families should have to make.

Why is this government not listening to the New Democrats and removing the federal tax on home heating? Why does it not give families a break this winter?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the NDP is talking about jobs and the economy, and asking how we can help families when they have bills to pay. I will say it once again: we must ask the New Democrats why they continue to go to Washington and elsewhere to eliminate jobs. It is through these jobs that Canadian families will be able to pay their bills. One has to wonder why the NDP is always trying to eliminate jobs in Canada that would help families to pay for everything they need in this world today.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that answer will not help families heat their homes. Even the government's Conservative cousins in Ontario know that listening to New Democrats is the right thing to do. They agree with taking the sales tax off home heating, but the out-of-touch government does not get it. Canada gets cold; heating one's home is not a luxury.

When will the government get onside with its Conservative cousins and work with New Democrats to give families a break?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the House about the 120 taxes that were cut so that Canadians could keep more money in their pockets to pay for all of these things. There are $3,000 more in the hands of Canadians today thanks to this government. Every single time we put a measure forward, the NDP voted against it.

Let us think about those jobs that the NDP is trying to kill. There are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the oil sands and the NDP is trying to kill those jobs. These are jobs that families need to pay for home heating. Let us not forget the GST. Who voted against that? The NDP.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, after years of Liberal inaction on first nations water and waste water, the NDP consistently voted against critical investments in first nations communities. The opposition is finally taking notice of this important issue.

Can the minister update the House on what action our government has taken since coming to office?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, finally a sensible question.

Our government is committed to taking action to improve first nations communities' access to safe drinking water and reliable waste water treatment facilities. We have invested $2.5 billion since 2006.

I am proud to announce today that in addition to those ongoing commitments, we are also providing an additional $5.5 million to support infrastructure improvements in Manitoba's Island Lake community. In fact, my officials will be meeting with the Island Lake first nations tomorrow. We are getting—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I noticed the member for Mississauga East—Cooksville, during the presentation of petitions, put in a petition to completely cut off CBC/Radio-Canada. What was astonishing was that sitting next to him was the member for Calgary West, gleefully applauding the fact that the Conservatives are going to eliminate CBC/Radio-Canada.

My question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. He talks tough to us about how he wants to support the CBC, but it is not us he has to talk to, it is the people behind him. They are the problem.

This is a simple question. The member for Calgary West--

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages has the floor.

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, God forbid Canadians sign a petition.

If my colleague wants me to adopt the Liberal position on the CBC, that radical right-wing paper, the Toronto Star, said that the CBC was treated shabbily by the Liberal government, downsized, underfunded, abandoned. Another newspaper said that the Liberal policy toward the CBC was to gut it, kick it in the teeth and leave it hanging by a thread.

That is the Liberals' policy. They cut the CBC by $400 million. If the member's position is that we should adopt the Liberal position, maybe he should put a petition forward on that.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. There is far too much noise. The chair is having an increasingly difficult time hearing both the question and the answer.

The hon. member for Edmonton—Strathcona has the floor. We will have a little bit of order.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when is an advocate for aboriginal children considered an enemy of the state? Apparently, when she files a human rights complaint about wilful underfunding of welfare services for first nations children.

That is all that Cindy Blackstock of Canada's First Nation Child and Family Caring Society did. Since that day, more than 19 justice and other federal officials have accessed, inappropriately, her status Indian file and personal information.

Why is the government spying on Cindy Blackstock?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, we take Canadians' privacy very seriously. I have asked my deputy minister to report on whether privacy rules were respected in this case.

Science and Technology

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government has invested more in science and technology than any other Canadian government in history. We are pleased that Canada leads the G7 for our support of higher education, research and development. The reputation of our government is unmatched.

Can the Minister of State for Science and Technology and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario please update the House on what our government is doing to ensure that Canada's research reputation is protected?