House of Commons Hansard #163 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was provisions.

Topics

The BudgetOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

The BudgetOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. Let us not have a repeat of yesterday. The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley still has the floor.

The BudgetOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, the foreign affairs minister has a certain set of skills that are unique to his position.

Last spring, the Conservatives presented a bill that not only killed more jobs than it created, it weakened environmental protection, gutted the Fisheries Act and further cut EI to Canadians. Across the country, people were clear in saying that this was not how Parliament should work.

However, it is not too late for the Conservatives to do the right thing. Will the government work with opposition parties and respect Parliament, do what even the Prime Minister used to believe and allow parliamentarians to do their jobs?

The BudgetOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Whitby—Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance

As the member opposite knows, Mr. Speaker, the budget this year is an economic action plan for 2012 and beyond that. We have had the first budget bill and now we will have the second budget bill to complete the work that was outlined in the budget.

The results of all of this have been the creation of more than 800,000 net new jobs.

We will continue with the plan as will be contained in the second budget bill to create more jobs, more growth and more prosperity in Canada.

Election ExpensesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance's Machiavellian process of introducing mammoth bills is no more acceptable than the schemes used by the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, who completely ignored the spending limits during the last election. That reminds me of something. Oh yes, the thousands of dollars the Conservatives overspent in 2006. That is it.

We learned that an airline had to write off over $15,000 in expenses so that the overspending would not be too excessive. This is getting close to buying an election.

I would like to know what the department promised in exchange for the miraculous disappearance of these invoices.

Election ExpensesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the official agent who made the mistakes has already been replaced and the new agent will provide answers to the unanswered questions.

We have disagreements all the time in the House of Commons over various issues. There is one very fundamental question that comes up, though, about a member of the official opposition donating 29 times to the hardest line separatist party in Quebec. It is a very simple question but a very important one. Does he believe in a united Canada? Is he a federalist?

Election ExpensesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, I see that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is concerned about the transportation problems of the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, but he clearly is not taking this very seriously.

Clowning around is fun for a bit, but after a while, the person loses credibility—although he does not have much left to lose. They are not going to improve their reputation by covering their tracks. The Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs' campaign clearly made some serious mistakes.

Can the minister justify going over the Elections Canada spending limit by 21%?

Election ExpensesOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I already answered that question and the answer remains the same. However, the member across refuses to answer the question that Canadians are posing to him. He donated, not once, not twice, but 29 times. He is the gift that keeps on giving. The problem is that he keeps giving to the separatists. He could put the whole matter to rest by simply rising and saying that he is a federalist and he believes in a united Canada. Why will he not just do that?

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL

Mr. Speaker, no amount of bafflegab can erase the unethical financing scheme that helped elect the member for Labrador in the last election: $24,000 worth of flights for $7,000 is clearly not fair market value, and apparently this deal was brokered by the member's brother-in-law months after the election was over. All they could afford to pay was $7,000 after all their misspending.

I want to know what the government is doing to hold the minister to account for his rule-breaking election campaign.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the member for Labrador, the minister, is a man of tremendous integrity who was elected to serve the people of Labrador, and we stand behind him.

The member across the way is part of a party that funnelled illegal tax subsidized money to the Broadbent Institution which, this week, spoke about the NDP's plan, “Green taxes, such as a carbon tax, and higher taxes on natural resources”.

Why will the member not recognize that the people in Labrador, in fact, people right across this country, want a low tax plan for jobs and growth, not high taxes that will put them out of work.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL

Mr. Speaker, we have an old refrain here, “Conservative Party stepping in to scapegoat a supposedly inexperienced official agent”. He proved unable to competently run a local election campaign within the rules, but Reg Bowers was still so well regarded by the Prime Minister that he was awarded with a plum appointment to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. He is qualified, apparently, to help direct the billion dollar oil industry but not competent to keep a local riding campaign on budget.

Why did the Conservatives reward someone for breaking all the rules with a plum patronage post?

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I have already told the opposition that the official agent has been replaced by a new one, who will provide the proper information to Elections Canada.

With that said, the NDP engaged in an illegal process to forward tax-subsidized money to the Broadbent Institute. That same institute has revealed that the NDP's carbon tax plan would devastate, not Canada in general, but Newfoundland and its new prosperity in particular.

Why will a member for Newfoundland not stand up for the taxpayers and the hard-working people from his province?

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL

Mr. Speaker, this is more Conservative disregard for election laws. The plot thickens around the member for Labrador: overspending, corporate donations, fraudulent invoicing and illegal loans. The minister overspent by $20,000. This guy lost by less than 80 votes. He bought the election.

Election spending is the responsibility of the candidate. Now that he has gotten rid of the official agent and given him a posh patronage job, he should fire him from the C-NLOPB as well.

I ask, will the member take responsibility for his own actions and resign?

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the member has the audacity to ask about illegal loans. An illegal loan is when someone takes money from a powerful interest and refuses to pay it back. Then it becomes an illegal donation. Interestingly, there are four Liberal leadership candidates who have done just that over the last six years, amounting to almost a half a million dollars in illegal money.

Why will that member not help clean up the half million dollar ethical mess and stop throwing rocks when he lives in a little red glass house?

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL

Mr. Speaker, I guess that member has forgotten all about the in-out that he stood behind.

The government cannot humorously repeat that it is co-operating with Elections Canada. The member for Labrador is a cheater. He tried to fix—

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

EthicsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The hon. member for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte.

Treasury BoardOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

Gerry Byrne Liberal Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

I would like to ask, is it consistent with Treasury Board policies and guidelines for the Government of Canada to continue to provide ongoing discretionary language training expenses, as well as ongoing travel status expenses, to a member of the public service who has been otherwise subject to a termination order by the Public Service Commission of Canada, and is it within Treasury Board guidelines to provide funds for legal services to an employee to assist the employee in contesting such a ruling by a federal institution at the Federal Court?

Would the Treasury Board president please answer this question?

Treasury BoardOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

South Shore—St. Margaret's Nova Scotia

Conservative

Gerald Keddy ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade

Mr. Speaker, I listened very closely to the hon. member's question, and the hon. member would know, number one, that this is not a political issue; number two, the public court record states that the commissioner found problems with the way the public service ran its hiring process but did not find any political interference by ministers or ministerial staff. He would also know that the matter is now before the courts.

Foreign InvestmentsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Hélène LeBlanc NDP LaSalle—Émard, QC

Mr. Speaker, the CNOOC-Nexen deal is going from bad to worse.

This week, the Conservatives announced that Simon Kennedy, the director of Investment Canada, will be replaced as soon as the takeover bid is approved, which is another way of ensuring that no one will have to answer for this decision.

The Conservatives have had an uncoordinated approach from the start. They have prevented Canadians from joining the debate and they have not defined the concept of net benefit. I have a simple question.

Do the Conservatives think that a foreign government should have control over Canada's natural resources?

Foreign InvestmentsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Cambridge Ontario

Conservative

Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear about this. The government has always, and will always, act in the best interests of Canada and Canadians. This transaction will be scrutinized very closely.

I will mention to the member opposite that the Investment Canada Act already provides for issues to protect national security.

Foreign InvestmentsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have good reasons for doubting the government, because it has failed Canadians every time.

Take Hamilton, for example, where U.S. Steel broke promises to employed Canadians and, when meekly challenged by the government, was able to get the Conservatives to give way simply by making more promises. What about the broken promises of Rio Tinto, the broken promises of Vale? Time after time after time the government backs down, rolls over and does not enforce conditions.

Why are Conservatives asking Canadians to trust them on Nexen when they cannot get it right anywhere else?

Foreign InvestmentsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Cambridge Ontario

Conservative

Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)

Mr. Speaker, the NDP sent an anti-trade mission to Washington to advocate against Canadian jobs. The NDP has opposed every trade deal we have ever brought before this House, including free trade with the United States.

Let me be clear. The opposition members want to politicize this review so that they can impose their anti-trade, job-killing agenda on the country and scare away all foreign investment.

Foreign InvestmentsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC

Mr. Speaker, the majority of Canadians oppose this takeover. On this side of the House, we are actually listening to Canadians. The Conservatives should give it a try sometime.

Why would Canadians support this deal when the government simply will not give them any answers to questions like: will the Conservatives protect jobs, the environment and our resources? Why do the Conservatives never enforce conditions on any deal?

We do not know the answers because the Conservatives refuse to bring this deal before the public.

When will the Conservatives do the right thing and hold a full public review of this takeover? When will they listen to Canadians?

Foreign InvestmentsOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Cambridge Ontario

Conservative

Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)

Mr. Speaker, we obviously have listened to Canadians, and that is where we bring up our economic action plan, which has produced 800,000 jobs in this country. It is about decreasing taxes.

We have listened to Canadians, who have said very clearly that they do not want a $21 billion carbon tax that would hurt seniors, students and small business.

We are in fact going to look at this bill very carefully and, as always, we will do what is in the best interest of Canada and Canadians.