House of Commons Hansard #145 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was libya.
Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women
Mr. Speaker, with regard to the member's comments about the Information Commissioner's report, as I said, I received the report in February and immediately asked our department to implement all of the recommendations. All five recommendations have been fully implemented.
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government is a proud defender of the regions of Quebec. Unlike the member for the Plateau and his political party that is obsessed with urban issues, we care about the concerns of Quebeckers in all the regions.
Could my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, explain to us what the government is doing to fight crime in all of the regions of Quebec?
Daniel Petit ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question.
As members know, our Conservative government understands the regions of Quebec and takes action on their behalf. That is why we introduced Bill S-10 to impose minimum penalties for individuals who sell drugs to our children near school grounds.
Unfortunately, the leader of the Bloc and his leftist urban elite are against that. They would rather see criminals out on our streets. Fortunately, our Conservative government shares the values of Quebeckers in all the regions. Our government continues to defend them and not to defend the rights of criminals, as the Bloc is doing.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, a new day, a new promise broken by the Prime Minister, who said that he wanted to clean up Canadian politics.
There is a well-known crook in the Prime Minister's inner circle. He wanted to make his girlfriend rich with money meant for first nations communities. The Prime Minister hired this man and trusted him.
How many other crooks does this government trust?
John Baird ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I think it is a bit rich for the member to stand and talk about broken promises.
I have a good friend in Timmins, Ontario, who listened to election campaign commitments from this member, not in one election, not in two elections, but in three elections, where he made a solemn pact with the voters to stand in this place and vote against the wasteful long gun registry.
Finally, when his constituents needed him, he exposed an act of electoral fraud by breaking faith with his constituents. I do not need to hear about broken promises from this individual member.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, that answer speaks to the broken moral compass of the government.
In my riding, I have kids who have open sores on their bodies because of the treatment that they get on reserve. But instead of help, their misery is a jump-off point for a convicted fraudster and his gal pal to make millions.
The Prime Minister gave this guy an all access pass. He had the inside scoop on cabinet shuffles. Why would anybody believe a government that allows influence peddlers and convicted felons into its inner circle?
John Baird ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, why would the member's constituents trust him? This is a member who committed massive electoral fraud, not once, not twice, but three times. Let me say, his constituents will be convicting him in the next election.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order.
Hon. members should refrain from suggesting any other hon. member has been engaging in fraud.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please.
“Fraud” is a different word. We have not heard that lately.
The hon. member for Chambly—Borduas.
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, transitional measures were put in place in 2000, after the employment insurance economic regions were inadequately reconfigured. Certain regions, like the Lower St. Lawrence and north shore areas, have a blended unemployment rate, which was adopted in an effort to correct this error until the next reconfiguration. These transitional measures are now being phased out gradually.
Will the government renew the transitional measures until there is a fair reform of employment insurance?
Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, they are called transitional measures for a reason. They were extended to give unemployed workers an additional solution. The transition period has been extended until economic recovery begins.
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is transitional until something better comes along. This “something better” has not come yet, and the government has extended certain pilot projects to buy time until the election. Instead of proposing piecemeal measures, the government should undertake a sweeping reform of the employment insurance system to increase benefits and make it easier to access the system.
Will the government use the budget to improve the employment insurance system and provide better support for vulnerable workers?
Diane Finley ConservativeMinister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Mr. Speaker, we have tabled three budgets that included measures to help workers and the unemployed. These measures include five additional weeks of employment insurance benefits, help for long-tenured workers and help for self-employed workers.
Yet these people who claim to defend the rights of workers and the unemployed voted against each of these initiatives. That is shameful.
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, after four months of stonewalling Parliament, the Conservative regime continues to hide the true costs of their U.S.-style prison bills. It is treating this Parliament and Canadians with contempt. Canadian taxpayers have a right to know how much these U.S.-style prison bills will cost.
How can Canadians believe anything in tomorrow's budget when the Conservatives continue to fudge the books, and hide the true costs and the real numbers?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, we make no apologies for investing in our prison institutions. Unlike the Liberals, we recognize the need to improve our facilities in order to make them modern and safe for our staff.
As I have mentioned on many occasions, the cost that we are investing is $2.1 billion over five years. That is $1.8 billion in respect of operating costs and $800 million in terms of construction costs.
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, that minister told Canadians that his prison bill would cost $90 million. Now he is talking $2.1 billion. Canadians cannot trust the government's numbers. It is a government that has spent Canada into a $56 billion deficit and now it continues to hide the true cost of its prison bills. The Conservatives are ignoring the Speaker's ruling. They are asking MPs to vote on legislation without telling us what the costs will be for Canadians.
How can we trust anything in tomorrow's budget when the Conservatives continue to fudge the numbers and hide the true costs from Canadian taxpayers?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, this is a member who prepared a document for the committee, a motion that was deficient. Then he comes to committee and attempts to remedy the situation, and not only does he attempt to remedy the situation by trying to insert things that were not in the motion, he deliberately misrepresents what people have said in the past.
The record is very clear about what I said. I told the member in committee and he still continue to come back to the House, deliberately misleading the House.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
The hon. Minister of Public Safety knows that we cannot suggest that any hon. member would deliberately mislead the House. That is unparliamentary. We will deal with that after question period.
The hon. member for Outremont.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Minister of Finance has in his possession a seven-page document signed by the Quebec finance minister, Raymond Bachand. The document suggests solutions to all of the contentious issues being disputed by the Quebec and federal governments regarding compensation for sales tax harmonization.
What excuse will he come up with now for refusing to resolve this issue? Is it because he would rather announce it during an election campaign, rather than in the budget?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, negotiations between Quebec and the federal government are going well. We are making progress, but both sides recognize that we still have work to do. We will continue negotiating.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, the real reason the Conservatives are stalling is that they are afraid that the Bloc might actually vote for the budget in that case and that is the last thing they want.
There is nothing left to settle. It is all in the document.
Quebec's offer is entirely in accordance with established precedents. Only Quebec has never been compensated. The government's refusal has nothing to do with economics or legal matters; it is purely political. Anyone can create a problem and then try to pass himself off as a hero for putting out the fire that he himself started.
Quebeckers are not fools. The time to resolve this matter is now. What are they waiting for?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the hon. member that now is the time to resolve the issue, but to resolve the issue, there has to be the type of detailed arrangements that were made with the other provinces that harmonized recently, and that in fact were made with the Atlantic provinces that harmonized some years ago.
These things cannot be done shooting from the hip or on the back of an envelope. They have to be done carefully to get to the conclusion that we all want.
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Mr. Speaker, this morning Bloomberg pointed out that thanks to Canada's economic action plan, we had the fastest growing economy with the lowest deficits in the G7. We are also the first country to recoup all job losses from the recession.
The praise continued:
Foreign investors rewarded the government with record purchases of Canadian bonds in 2010 and with the G-7’s best performing currency over the past two years.
The author also said he is very concerned about the opposition trying to force an unnecessary election.
Could the minister please inform the House if Canadians should also be concerned about an unnecessary opposition-forced election?