Debates of March 10th, 2011

International Co-operation

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, to be clear, I am assuming that the hon. member is asking particularly about that one funding decision, not about everybody I spoke to in those two months.

Regarding that, as I have indicated, I consulted with my staff. I got full briefings from the department. I have not specifically had any conversation with the minister of immigration, because it was not directly related to development or his responsibilities.

I made the decision. I wanted to make sure that taxpayers' dollars were being used—

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here we go again. We have asked 90 questions, and she has yet to give a direct response. We will continue to raise this issue.

Why, to this point, has the Minister of Immigration been the only one to explain the government's decision when he spoke about KAIROS and Israel? Did the minister discuss the speech that he gave in Israel with the Minister of International Cooperation?

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, there were no conversations regarding KAIROS between me and the minister of immigration.

However, this is really important. I have answered the hon. member's question, but again I want Canadians to know how we are spending their money. Today I am pleased to announce that Canada is supporting the Afghan-Canadian Community Centre where 1,800 people have received literacy training; 85% of them are women and 83% of the graduates have received employment.

Natural Resources

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, along with the NDP and Canadian doctors, now the Confédération des syndicats nationaux also opposes the mining and export of asbestos. Unfortunately, the Conservatives and the Bloc continue to support this industry for the worst political reasons. The asbestos industry is ruining Quebec's and Canada's reputation around the globe. It is time to create a transition plan for the workers in the region.

Will they put an end to the hypocrisy and stop funding the industry?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, for over 30 years, Canada has supported the safe and controlled use of chrysotile, both nationally and internationally. Recent scientific journals report that chrysotile asbestos can be used safely in a controlled manner. It is a question of managing the risk.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known and Canada's policy on asbestos is morally and ethically reprehensible. Asbestos is banned in most countries, and yet Canada exports, dumps I should say, 200,000 tonnes per year in under-developed and third world countries.

Today Quebec's largest labour group joined the international efforts to ban asbestos. Yet the Minister of Natural Resources and the Bloc Québécois still defend the asbestos cartel.

Will the minister stand up for the safety and health of the industrial workers of the world or will he side with the corporate serial killers that are exporting this made in Canada epidemic?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, there is a great deal of confusion about this issue, which is contentious, to say the least. Let me be clear: we are talking about chrysotile asbestos fibre and the controlled, safe use of that substance. The illnesses seen in the past resulted from the misuse of various fibres, including chrysotile, since their use was not properly controlled. What we are saying is that for the past 30 years, we have supported the safe use of chrysotile fibres in a controlled setting. I repeat: it is a question of managing the risk.

Pensions

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

Mr. Speaker, our government has been focused on protecting Canadian workers since coming to office in 2006. We have introduced the wage earner protection program to provide support for Canadian workers who face a bankrupt employer while still being owed wages, termination and severance pay. We have made unpaid wages a super priority in a bankruptcy and the Minister of Finance is working with his provincial counterparts to reform Canada's pension system.

Can the minister please update the House on the reckless efforts of the opposition in this respect?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, of course, last night the Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition ganged up again and supported en masse Bill C-501 that would ensure, and listen to this closely, folks, that CEOs and their friends get a larger share of the remaining assets while workers are left with little or nothing.

As a government, we have implemented the wage earner protection program to protect workers' severance and termination pay. But that is what they have been working on, this multi-million dollar severance plan for their CEO friends. That is what they work on when they are not trying to engineer—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Laval—Les Îles.

Government Communications

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is no end to the arrogance of this Prime Minister. The Conservatives wanted to limit the privileges of this House. They use government resources to engage in politicking. They even engineered a major electoral fraud. And now the Prime Minister wants officials to no longer refer to the Government of Canada, but to the “H government” instead.

The Government of Canada does not belong to him; Canada does not belong to him either. Does the Prime Minister understand that what he is doing is an abuse of power and that he is insulting all Canadians?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, this is a practice that was used for a long time by different governments. In fact, the practice was supported by the former clerk of the Privy Council. It is a practice that was used by president of the Privy Council. This is no different.

Public Safety

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, leaders of various first nations communities and police chiefs are speaking out about the proposed cuts to police services. The Conservative government intends to cut funding for police services in Quebec by 19% when this essential service is already underfunded.

Why is this government, which claims to be tough on crime, refusing to shoulder its responsibilities in aboriginal communities?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government continues to support the first nations policing program. I have personally spoken with the Assembly of First Nations' National Chief, Shawn Atleo, to confirm our government's commitment to this important program. A proposal for renewal of the FNPP is a part of the budget process, a standard yearly exercise.

I know that the member for Wascana wants to stand and ask another question. The member for Wascana just keeps rattling on and on. Perhaps he could actually get up and ask an intelligent question.

Official Languages

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we have seen this government’s contempt for Canada’s democratic institutions. Now it is official languages’ turn. I quote the Chief Operating Officer of Service Canada: “… the administrative structure of the Atlantic region is unilingual.” In the Atlantic region there is an officially bilingual province and there are over 450,000 francophones. That does not seem to be enough for the Conservatives to require that the Atlantic region administrative structure be bilingual. This is an affront to language rights.

Is the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development prepared today to designate the Atlantic region administrative structure bilingual?

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

Mr. Speaker, every Canadian, in every region of the country, has the right to government services in the official language of their choice. Our government is committed, in accordance with the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality, to ensuring that every Canadian has that right to government services in the official language of their choice. When problems or concerns are raised here in the House or elsewhere, we take concrete measures, and we will certainly find solutions for any problems there are.

Government Priorities

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-led coalition is flinging baseless rumours and innuendo to justify the opportunistic election it so desperately wants. Unfortunately, as it tries to throw mud, its own ethical breaches are leaving it dirty.

Could the parliamentary secretary update this House on the priority of this government?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the priority of this government is the economy and jobs. We are getting it done on both of those subjects. We have had six consecutive quarters of growth. We have had five million Canadians invest in the tax free savings accounts--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please.

The parliamentary secretary has the floor. We will have some order.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, five million Canadians have invested in tax free savings accounts, and 460,000 net new jobs have been created since July 2009. Unemployment is two points lower than in the United States for the first time in a generation.

That is the reason we are in and they are out.

Access to Information

[Helena Guergis, Independent, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been a year since the Prime Minister advised the country of unsubstantiated allegations against me and asked the RCMP to investigate. The result was a set of flimsy allegations that had absolutely no substance, and the RCMP file was closed. I have made an access to information and personal information request under the Privacy Act to receive a copy of the RCMP report to provide some insight to my constituents. It is an extremely frustrating process.

PCO, DFAIT, and the Lobbying Commissioner were all given the deadline of February 28 to respond. The Lobbying Commissioner has responded, but PCO and DFAIT have not. Could the government confirm that it will delay no further and release this information?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please.

The hon. government House leader.

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am quite surprised to see the member for Malpeque giving the member for Simcoe—Grey a standing ovation. I thought I had seen everything.

Let me say to the hon. member for Simcoe—Grey that I will certainly take her question to the appropriate authorities, and we will do everything we can to ensure that all of the access to information laws are followed. I can only tell the member for Simcoe—Grey that at least she does not have to make an access request to the CBC because then she would never get anything.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order, please.

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of two ministers from Manitoba, the Hon. Bill Blaikie, Minister of Conservation; and the Hon. Andrew Swan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!