House of Commons Hansard #174 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was nation.
Colin Carrie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, our hearts go out to patients who have had adverse drug reactions. Our government has taken a leadership role in working with the provinces and territories to develop ways that we can work with them to address this issue. We do see it as a very significant part of the Canadian health care system.
Djaouida Sellah NDP Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' inaction puts many Canadians at risk.
The Conservatives have failed to respond to hundreds of reports revealing serious side effects associated with drugs commonly sold in pharmacies. Over 600 cases have been identified of children suffering from serious, and even fatal, side effects. Hundreds of families are worried and they deserve information about this troubling situation.
Will the Minister of Health conduct an investigation?
Colin Carrie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the member should know that in Canada drugs are not allowed to be sold until scientists working with Health Canada have verified that they are safe when used as directed. Once approved, these drugs are subject to regular scientific review based on the latest information available. Canadian families should always speak to their family physician before taking any prescriptions or providing one to any children.
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Mr. Speaker, today in Winnipeg, provincial cabinet ministers joined Canada's aboriginal leaders for a two-day meeting on missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls. Three federal cabinet ministers were invited. None are attending.
AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo has said:
Striking an independent and inclusive National Public Commission of Inquiry would demonstrate a clear and focused commitment to achieve positive change for and with Indigenous peoples.
Will the government commit today to calling a public inquiry on the tragedy of over 600 missing and murdered aboriginal women?
Kerry-Lynne Findlay ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Safety were in Regina to meet with their provincial and territorial counterparts where this matter was a major topic of discussion. Our government attaches great importance to the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women. We are working with those counterparts to further develop strategies, coordinate efforts and share expertise on the issue.
In January 2012, a comprehensive missing woman report was released providing 52 recommendations. The province has recently acknowledged that our government has already implemented most of those recommendations at the federal level. We are taking this seriously and we are taking action.
John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON
Mr. Speaker, media reports describe Sub-Lieutenant Delisle's responsibilities as, “I prepare all the threat assessments for the ships when they deploy overseas, to any port”. That means that a Russian spy was communicating some of our most important military intelligence to his masters.
Instead of letting this spy scandal leak out article by article, why does the minister not convene a judicial inquiry so that Canadians and our allies can have their confidence restored in our security system?
Bernard Valcourt ConservativeAssociate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) (La Francophonie)
Mr. Speaker, that question has been answered before in the House.
As the member knows, this matter is before the courts and it would be improper to comment on it at this time.
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, people from Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are suffering through some of the longest and worst commute times in North America. Residents are either dodging falling concrete from Toronto's Gardiner Expressway or a giant sinkhole in Ottawa, and water quality is at risk in hundreds—
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, water quality is also at risk in hundreds of towns.
At a time when cities are desperately in need of investment in transit, roads and water systems, the Conservative government removed $2 billion from the infrastructure budget.
How do the Conservatives justify these nasty cuts?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the member should know, just as the FCM does, that this is a case of responsible accounting and only that. It does not indicate a cut to any infrastructure program. The federal government does not grant funds to proponents until projects are completed.
Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, we will make another attempt at getting an intelligible answer.
Canada's infrastructure is in bad shape. In Quebec, outdated water mains are exploding under pressure, overpasses are falling apart and collapsing, and ports, like the one in Trois-Rivières, are waiting for funding for development projects.
While stakeholders are being told to wait until 2014 because there is no more money to fund current programs, we have learned that $2 billion from the 2011 budget—which was supposed to be allocated to infrastructure—has not been spent.
How can the minister justify this situation?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, they seem to be experts at misleading Canadians.
The provinces and cities fund projects because roads and highways have always been a provincial area of jurisdiction. The NDP has it all wrong.
The bills are being paid for as they come in. The provinces and organizations look after this. The bills are paid when the work is complete. Projects have been well managed over the years. That is a fact. There have been no cutbacks to infrastructure programs.
Rodney Weston Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of Financial Literacy Month in Canada. With the recent global financial turbulence and the introduction of more financial products and services, financial literacy has become more important than ever for Canadian families. It means more money in their pockets and not in those of the banks and others.
Could the Minister of State (Finance) share the actions that our government is taking to promote financial literacy right here in Canada?
Ted Menzies ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, indeed, financial literacy is very important to Canadians. That is why we have chosen November as the month to highlight the importance of being able to provide to Canadians a source of information so that they can make informed decisions for themselves. Unfortunately, much of the consumer protection legislation that we have put forward, the NDP has actually voted against.
Our initiative is giving Canadians better tools and more transparency when dealing with banks. We have also put in place credit card reforms to ensure that Canadians are better protected. However, as I have said, unfortunately, the NDP seems to like to vote against all of these protections.
Dominic LeBlanc Liberal Beauséjour, NB
Mr. Speaker, two former high-ranking Afghan officials have been invited to Canada to speak at a university conference in Ottawa. Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials told them they had to travel to Pakistan to get their visas, which could be akin to imposing a death sentence on them.
Can the minister explain why this would not be qualified as a special circumstance and authorize visas to be issued in Kabul so that their lives would not be put in jeopardy? Why is the government effectively denying entry to Afghans who some years and months ago were allies of Canada?
Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Citizenship
Mr. Speaker, the article upon which the question is based is inaccurate.
We issue visas very frequently to visiting Afghan officials who, if they have permission from their own foreign ministry or ours, can drop off their application directly at our mission in Kabul. Those who do not, typically courier their applications to our processing centre in Islamabad. No one has to travel there unless they are called in for an interview, which is not the case with respect to applications like these.
One of the individuals who was mentioned in the article has not applied for a visa, either at Kabul or Islamabad, and I understand the visa application of the other individual is before decision makers at Islamabad as we speak.
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB
Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday the Minister of Industry insulted the people of my riding.
When I asked him about Vale's “more bad news” announcement for Thompson, Manitoba, all he did was regurgitate talking points about cutting red tape and the Conservative carbon farce.
This one-sided foreign ownership deal with Vale highlights the failure of the government's net benefit policy. What kind of takeover policy means the loss of hundreds of Canadian jobs?
When will the Conservatives admit that their foreign takeover policies are a failure, and will they work with stakeholders to bring Vale to the table to protect Canadian jobs?
Christian Paradis ConservativeMinister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)
On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, we believe in foreign investment that provides a net benefit for Canada. We have our businesses in the global supply chain and we have a solid environment for business here. We have low taxes. We are opening market opportunities.
It is the total opposite of what the NDP is proposing: a global and job-killing carbon tax of $21 billion on the shoulders of Canadians. That would kill the economy, every single region of this country, and we will not go down—
David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Mr. Speaker, in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day, Canadians across the country will take time to remember the sacrifices made by those who selflessly served our country in defence of our core values and freedoms. Canadians from coast to coast to coast will visit war memorials on November 11 and pay their respects to Canada's fallen soldiers. These war memorials are sacred ground and should be treated with the utmost respect.
Could the Minister of Veterans Affairs update the House on the government's support for our war memorials?
Steven Blaney ConservativeMinister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, our Canadian war memorials should be treated with the utmost respect. That is why yesterday our government's members supported Bill C-217, an act to protect war memorials and cenotaphs in Canada, rightly brought forward by the member for Dufferin—Caledon.
I would have liked the New Democrat members to set aside their ideology out of respect for our fallen soldiers.
Unfortunately, the NDP voted against the bill. They voted against penalties for those who intentionally defile permanent tributes to Canada's fallen heroes.
Veterans and the fallen deserve better from elected members.
Sylvain Chicoine NDP Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC
Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the railroad has played a key role in Canada's history.
Yet, as the country's 150th birthday approaches, the Conservatives are refusing to recognize Exporail as a national museum, despite the fact that a report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recommended that the House recognize it as such in 2007.
Exporail is a source of pride for my riding, the entire region and railroad enthusiasts throughout Canada.
Why are the Conservatives refusing to give this museum the status it deserves?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows, the committee did bring forward a 150 report, which will be somewhat of a road map to help celebrate the best country in the world, Canada, on our 150th birthday.
Unfortunately, when we brought forward to the House the creation of two new national museums, one in Winnipeg and the Pier 21 Museum of Immigration, the NDP voted against it. We recently brought forward a new $25 million investment for the new Museum of Canadian History. The NDP members, without even seeing the legislation, have already said they will be voting against that as well.
When it comes to cultural spending and funding for artists—
