Debates of Oct. 17th, 2012

National Defence

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defence can try to play with words and talk about professional development and an exchange program as much as they want. The truth is that there are Canadian soldiers involved in combat in Afghanistan.

In spite of the motion Parliament adopted and in spite of the Prime Minister's promises, they authorized the use of Canadian soldiers in combat roles. This is a political decision that they hid from Canadians.

I am therefore calling on the Prime Minister to immediately withdraw all Canadian troops who are still involved in combat missions in Afghanistan.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for some time now, our operations in Kandahar have been training operations. Clearly, there is no Canadian combat mission—

[A child is heard crying in the gallery.]

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The right hon. Prime Minister still has the floor.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have heard much worse noise here from adults.

To finish my answer, I would like to add that exchanges with other NATO allies have been standard practice for a long time. We are talking about half a dozen people.

There are no black helicopters here. There is no secret combat mission.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister is so confident, as he says is, that Canada has the best food inspection system in the world, I wonder why his government would not accept the very simple amendment that is now being considered in the Senate that would allow a third party, namely, the Auditor General, to do the review with respect to the activities of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the whole system, instead of asking the minister to do the review, because the minister has already said that everything is working fine, everything is just great.

Why not let the Auditor General do that job?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party, as an experienced parliamentarian, should know that the government does not direct the work of the Auditor General. The Auditor General can audit this and any number of other agencies. In fact, as part of the government's performance stemming from the Weatherhill report, there will be an expert review of the events here and to ensure the processes of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency remain the best in the world.

Ethics

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Prime Minister could now tell us exactly what his standards are with respect to the conduct of ministers.

There is substantial evidence now that there was overspending in the last election by the member for Labrador, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, by over $20,000 in a campaign that had a limit of $80,000.

This is not simply a question about Elections Canada. This is a question about the standards of the Prime Minister of Canada with respect to the conduct of his candidates.

Instead of buying elections, why not a byelection?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as was conceded some time ago, there were errors in the filings of the official agent in this case. That was the individual responsible. A new official agent was named. That agent has been working for some time with Elections Canada to correct these problems.

If the hon. gentleman wants to talk about standards, it was the Liberal member for Guelph whose campaign was found to have made $5,000 in illegal robocalls. That was a clear decision. No action was taken.

The member told us that Adam Carroll would no longer be a staffer and he had no sooner said that and they brought him back into the Liberal Party.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the official agent mentioned by the Prime Minister was just appointed to an important federal government board. Those are the kinds of standards they have. That is the issue. This is not about a few dollars. We are talking about $20,000 that was illegally spent in excess of the limit established by Elections Canada. It is obvious that the election in Labrador was bought. What is the Prime Minister going to do?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have known for quite some time that there were errors in the Elections Canada filings. That is why a new official agent was named. The official agents are responsible in such cases.

However, the leader of the Liberal Party wants us to adhere to a completely different standard to his own. His party accepted a member whose staff broke the law by making robocalls during his campaign. He also accepted an employee who had to resign.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, XL Foods has told its employees that they will soon be unemployed again. In response, Brooks city council is releasing its plan to deal with the crisis. It is making plans and consulting the people affected. That is what a responsible government does and that is what the minister should be doing. Instead, he evades questions and makes up answers.

What will the minister do to help workers and farmers now bracing for the fallout from this crisis?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, food safety remains our first priority and rebuilding consumer confidence after these issues have been dealt with at the Brooks plant. CFIA is conducting an in-depth analysis as we speak.

Having said that, I met with a lot of the industry participants yesterday in ongoing meetings. We are meeting at least two or three times a week to discuss these issues and find alternative movement for our cattle stocks.

[Malcolm Allen, NDP, Welland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, their first priority is actually buying television ads and then cutting food inspection. That is the real reality of their priorities.

I know many members opposite count the Alberta leader of the opposition as their friend. Yesterday, she said that this made-in-Ottawa fiasco was becoming a humanitarian crisis.

Are the Ottawa Conservatives so out of touch that they cannot even hear the warning sounds coming from their friends in Alberta? Why is the minister ignoring farmers, ignoring cattlemen, ignoring local communities and ignoring the concerns of Canadian families?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing no such thing. I have been working on a daily basis with the member representing the Brooks area. He has been in touch with his folks at home. We have extra staff in there from human resources to make sure all these folks have applications in for their EI. Some 500 or 600 have been processed already.

I continue to meet on a biweekly or triweekly basis with the cattle industry to ensure it has the ability to move forward on this issue. We are very positively and proactively working on these issues.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they have money to spend on propaganda, but not on farmers.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister gave the minister a free pass. According to the Prime Minister, the minister is not responsible for food safety because he does not personally inspect the meat. Setting aside this ridiculous statement, the minister is responsible for defending farmers' interests. Farmers are worried by the inaction of the minister, who is doing nothing but defending his own reputation.

Where is the assistance plan for the cattle industry?

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, we do not just talk, we actually act. I had a conference call with my provincial counterparts as late as yesterday afternoon. We talked about the issues in the pork sector, as well as the--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Agriculture has the floor.

[Gerry Ritz, Conservative, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Definite leadership material there, Mr. Speaker. We look forward to that.

Having said that, we continue to work with all parties affected throughout this issue and we look forward to solutions very soon.

The Budget

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

Mr. Speaker, the failures keep coming.

The last time the Conservatives introduced a budget implementation bill, there were hundreds of things hidden in it: attacks on the environment, on seniors, on the unemployed, on the Auditor General.

Will the Conservatives be honest with Canadians for once, or will they table yet another Trojan Horse with disastrous consequences?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question, which is the first question I have had this session, not that the economy is not important for our country.

When we do a budget we follow it up with two budget bills, and we do that every year. The second budget bill is ready and will be introduced shortly. It contains, not surprisingly, measures that are in the budget.

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

Mr. Speaker, I hate to attack the minister's fragile ego but Parliament still goes on when he is not here. The opposition has been asking questions despite his lack of attendance.

Let us try this challenging line of logic. Budget bills should be used for what things that are in--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. There is far too much noise on both sides today. The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, budget bills should be used for things that are in the budget, but last spring the Conservatives--