House of Commons Hansard #63 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was elected.
Julian Fantino ConservativeAssociate Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, this is a program that is in development. There will be issues ongoing until the final product is delivered to Canada, which is years hence, at which point all these issues will be rectified. That is what Lockheed Martin is working on. That is what we are all working on.
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, since the start of the Durban summit, Canada has been the laughingstock of the world. The Minister of the Environment must have had enough because he is changing his tune. He is saying that Canada wants a binding agreement on climate change by 2015. To do that, the Conservatives will have to do a major about-face.
Are they finally going to commit to doing their part for the environment or are they going to continue improvising a strategy to avoid being accountable to Canadians?
Michelle Rempel ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, Canada is a nation of 33 million people that emits less than 2% of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions. In spite of this, Canada is not a laughingstock. It is a world leader in saying we need domestic action at home. We have done that. We have also committed to coming to the table and saying all major emitters need to be part of this agreement.
This is not a laughingstock matter. This is something our nation should be proud of. I would ask my colleague opposite to respect our country.
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising that the parliamentary secretary may not have speaking notes to the minister's announcement because he is making up policy on the fly.
Yesterday he changed his tune. He is now lecturing countries, saying that they have to join a binding climate deal for 2015. The government has no credibility after doing its best to sabotage the Durban talks. Now I think it is just trying to save face.
Instead of its job killing approach or its members lecturing by themselves, alone in the corner, why will the government not try co-operating with the world community to work toward an energy economy future for Canada and the world instead of making up climate change policy on the fly?
Michelle Rempel ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about lecturing, my colleague opposite travelled to the United States and lectured the United States, lobbying against our jobs here in Canada.
What we are doing with regard to climate change is asking all major emitters to come to the table.
Some 2.5 billion people are not represented under the Kyoto agreement. We need a new agreement. This is what we are asking for. We are committed to it. We are very happy with this process.
Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON
Mr. Speaker, when consumers buy organic, they expect these products to be actually pesticide-free. Organic farmers want customers to be confident the food they buy has not been cross-contaminated. This undermines the confidence of consumers and puts organic farmers and the industry seriously at risk.
What is the government doing to protect organic produce from cross-contamination and to ensure consumers have confidence in this great organic industry?
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian organic industry is world-class. We have new organic standards that this government put in place that, of course, protect the integrity of the organic sector moving forward. There is constant testing being done to ensure the efficacy of the organic label is intact. We will continue to do just that.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, Attawapiskat is not alone. Sadly, housing conditions on many reserves in the province of Manitoba are deplorable. Whether it is vulnerable children or vulnerable seniors alike, something needs to be done.
I often wonder whether or not the minister has a comprehensive understanding of the housing conditions and the stock on the reserves across our country. I look to the minister and ask the minister today to share with this House the actual condition of housing on our reserves in Canada.
Does he have any sense of the severity of the problem? Will he table those--
John Duncan ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, I have a good sense of housing across Canada. I have been on many reserves across Canada.
That is why we have been working with willing partners and making major investments to improve the quality of life for our aboriginal people. We have made targeted investments in priorities, like education, water and housing. We build over 2,000 homes and renovate over 3,000 more every year on reserves. We continue to work in collaboration to invest in practical and innovative solutions.
John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON
Mr. Speaker, the minister's story on the search and rescue taxi keeps changing. First, the Minister of National Defence told the House it was a pre-planned demonstration. Not true.
Then he said the flight was needed to get him to an urgent announcement, or more accurately a re-announcement, which the Minister of Public Works and the member for London West were apparently not fit to do by themselves. Also not true.
Four days is plenty of time to arrange for a boat and a car to an airport. Will the government be dispatching a search and rescue mission to Brussels to find yet another story or will it just let the lawsuits fly?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased that the Minister of National Defence will be representing Canada at this very important NATO meeting. He has a lot of skills, expertise and experience in this regard, and he will do an honourable job representing the country.
Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS
Mr. Speaker, there are two inaccurate versions of the same helicopter search and rescue story. The first, a preplanned exercise. No.
The second, a last-minute trip to get to an urgent announcement. No.
The travel request was made in time to arrange transportation by boat and car to get to the airport.
Is the government going to dispatch another search and rescue mission to come up with a third version for the minister or will it finally admit the truth?
Julian Fantino ConservativeAssociate Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, the truth is that we are going around and around, and people are piling on, but the story has not changed.
One more time and as has been said many times, the minister was—
Julian Fantino Conservative Vaughan, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that Liberals ask the question and then they are hypocritical about hearing an answer.
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Order, order. I would encourage the minister to avoid using words such as that, which obviously cause disorder.
The hon. associate minister has the floor.
Julian Fantino Conservative Vaughan, ON
Mr. Speaker, one more time and as has been said many times, the minister was called back from a personal vacation to go to work.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, last week, the government sent a third party manager to Attawapiskat, but it did not say that the manager would cost $300,000 a year. That is what the Prime Minister gets paid.
How can this small community pick up the bill? How can the government justify forcing such an impoverished community to pay this unreasonable salary when it can barely pay for its own basic services?
John Duncan ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, our government has a plan and we are taking concrete actions. We are committed to ensuring the residents of Attawapiskat, especially the children, have warm, dry and safe shelter.
It is clear that significant investments in the community have not resulted in an adequate standard of living for the residents. We believe that we need to be accountable to taxpayers and that is precisely why we have put in place a third party manager.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, on the question of accountability, Conservatives sent in a bean-counter with a box of doughnuts to take control of Attawapiskat, but they did not tell anybody that the community is now on the hook for over $300,000-a-year, which is what the Prime Minister gets paid, just so this guy can cut cheques in an impoverished community. No wonder they put the run on him in Attawapiskat.
Now we are hearing in the community that key support services are going to have to be drained to pay for this guy. How, in God's name, is that value for money?
Will the minister advise the House how long this man will be forced on this community and how long this impoverished community will have to keep paying his salary?
John Duncan ConservativeMinister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, we make no apologies for wanting to get value for taxpayers' money. Unlike the NDP, we are determined to get results for first nations.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, they did it again. Trust the Conservatives to not learn a lesson.
A few short years ago, they misled all of us about the border infrastructure fund. The Auditor General called this action non-transparent and they agreed.
Now we find out that another fund has been used as a back door piggy bank. The government has quietly transferred $170 million from the green infrastructure fund to other federal departments.
Will the President of the Treasury Board stand and explain why he just cannot get it right?