House of Commons Hansard #195 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was industry.

Topics

Foreign InvestmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster.

Foreign InvestmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC

Mr. Speaker, we know the Conservative position all right: sheer incoherence and incompetence. That is the Conservative position. The Canada-China FIPA is just another botched Conservative negotiation. The FIPA guarantees CNOOC the right to expand its ownership of the oil sands, just like any other company in Canada. If anyone tries to stop it, CNOOC can sue for millions of billions of dollars.

The Conservatives refused to consult Canadians on the FIPA or on Nexen. Unbelievably, Conservatives even chose to leave it up to the Chinese government to provide openness and transparency. It is incredible.

Why are the Conservatives so contemptuous of the views of ordinary Canadians? Why do they—

Foreign InvestmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The right hon. Prime Minister.

Foreign InvestmentOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the problem with the ideologues over there is that they do not bother to read anything. If they had read the foreign investment promotion and protection agreement, they would understand that Canada has exempted the Investment Canada Act from the application of that. We retain full authority and we have been very clear that there will be no foreign government takeovers of entire sectors such as the oil sands or anything else.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said the following, “I find it sad, that some in Parliament are backtracking on the F-35 and some are talking openly about cancelling the contract, should they get the chance.... Cancelling a contract that way would be completely irresponsible”.

Will he now apologize to Canadians for deceiving them before, during and after the election, and finally admit that there never was a contract in the first place?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Edmonton—Spruce Grove Alberta

Conservative

Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women

Mr. Speaker, the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat has been set up to manage this process to ensure that transparency and due diligence is done in the lead-up to the decision to replace our CF-18s.

At this point, no money has been spent on acquiring any new aircraft to replace the CF-18s, and we will not be spending any money to replace the CF-18s until all of the seven-point plan by the secretariat has been implemented.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON

Mr. Speaker, apparently the government's position is that it has never spent money on a contract that never existed in the first place. The Minister of Public Works seems to be awfully fond of her new-found refresh button for the F-35. Apparently, it was inoperative prior to the Auditor General's report.

Will she use her new button to apologize to Canadians for the Conservatives' shameful abuse of their trust? Will she use her new button to restate the statement of requirements? Will she use her new button to refresh DND's website to say that the F-35 is not the only option? Will she do it before the button wears out?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Edmonton—Spruce Grove Alberta

Conservative

Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated, the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat has been set up to manage the process to ensure maximum transparency, due diligence and independent oversight of the process to replace our CF-18s. At this point, no money has been spent on the acquisition of any new fighter aircraft.

In terms of the options analysis, it will be a full evaluation of choices and not simply a refresh of the work that was done in the past.

Aboriginal AffairsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON

Mr. Speaker, the outrage of first nation leaders across this country is not only understandable, but justified. This paternalistic government refuses to listen to or partner with first nations. It has broken their trust on education, housing and water, on the tragic gaps in health outcomes, and with an insulting lack of consultation on the mountain of legislation it is imposing on first nations.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence expressed her frustration with a hunger strike here in Ottawa. Will the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs be meeting with Chief Spence?

Aboriginal AffairsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Kenora Ontario

Conservative

Greg Rickford ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

Mr. Speaker, we have a strong desire to continue working in partnership with the first nation leadership to improve the quality of life in Attawapiskat.

In fact, by the end of this year we will have spent over $131 million in that community. We started the construction of a brand new school to benefit more than 500 students. We have built, delivered or renovated more than 60 homes and we remain committed to supporting this community. We urge the chief and council to accept our repeated offers to develop a long-term housing strategy.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' lawyer and their spokesperson have found a new excuse. Instead of denying their involvement in the massive electoral fraud in the last election, they are now defending themselves by saying that, after all, it is not very serious because only a few people were affected by these tricks.

Really now, that makes no sense. It is like saying that hundreds of people were deprived of their right to vote and it is not serious because it really did not affect many people. In our opinion, fraud is fraud.

Will there someday be a law that gives the Chief Electoral Officer more power to investigate misdeeds and fraud?

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, to the contrary, there has not been, in all the evidence submitted by the Council of Canadians, one single solitary witness in any of the six ridings who has stated that they were not able to vote in the last election. That is because this is not about phone calls or elections. The real fraud is that the Council of Canadians is taking the hard-earned money of working Canadians through union contributions to fund a politically motivated and ultimately inaccurate attack on the Conservative Party.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, it must be the magic of the holiday season, because the hon. member seems to be living in a fairy tale.

The problem in this story of electoral fraud is that the Conservatives seem to have lost their data in the mists. This complicates Elections Canada's work because they do not have all the documents and tools they need to do the job. Someone, somewhere, tried to make a last-minute save by taking advantage of the fact that the Chief Electoral Officer does not have enough power. The fact that the Conservatives are dragging their feet instead of working with us to give him more power makes us think they have something to hide.

When will they do the right thing? When will they fix the loopholes in the law?

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, there is not a single person who is a single witness who has come forward in this case to say that he or she was not able to vote. Therefore, the only party that has something to hide is the NDP, which after taking $340,000 in illegal union money now refuses to allow transparency, and we know why.

For example, CUPE, which gave $50,000 in illegal money to the NDP, is also financing the Council of Canadians in favour of this particular lawsuit.

The real fraud against Canadians is the abuse of workers across the country by the NDP's union bosses.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Mr. Speaker, speaking of illegalities, the Conservative Party is in Federal Court today. Instead of doing the make-believe thing, maybe it should try an honest answer for a change.

Here are some actual facts. The Conservatives provided scripts and the call list to RMG, whose operators then directed voters to go to poll locations, sometimes kilometres away, without ever saying that they were working for the Conservative Party. Also, RMG's data has been purged. The evidence has been destroyed.

Rather than a cover-up, when will the Conservatives start coming clean with Canadians? Who are they covering up for at Conservative Party headquarters?

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, we ran a clean and ethical campaign in the last election. By contrast, the question is this. Who is the NDP covering up for?

After financing part of its last election campaign with $340,000 in illegal union money, the NDP now has a union-sponsored, politically-motivated junk lawsuit that it has brought before the courts, partly funded by CUPE, which gave $50,000 in illegal money to the NDP, and CUPW, which recently financed delegates to go to an anti-Semitic conference in Brazil that advocated the release of one of the world's worst terrorists.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where those guys are coming from. They are facing Federal Court for voter fraud and they have the little guy from Nepean, who has his book of conspiracy theories, to throw one out there.

We know that in Nipissing—Timiskaming, where the Conservatives won by 13 votes, there was widespread voter fraud. We know that. We know that Guelph was not an isolated incident. We know investigations are going on in 56 ridings and that the calls have been traced back to the Conservative Party headquarters.

Who are the Conservatives covering up for? Someone on that side knows who was involved at Conservative Party headquarters, and he or she should come clean.

41st General ElectionOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like someone over there is an expert in conspiracy theories. The only problem with the member's theories is that they are never followed with any evidence. He makes baseless allegations that are unsupported by any facts.

What I am sharing with the House is factual. We know that CUPE gave $50,000 in illegal union money to the NDP. The party was forced to give it back. We know that CUPW sent delegates down to an anti-Semitic conference in Brazil that advocated the release of a terrorist. All of that is public. In fact the union, which supports the NDP, is bragging about it.

Those are not theories; those are facts.

SportOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canadians, particularly children, are spending more and more time sitting on the couch watching television or playing on the computer, as opposed to playing outside or getting involved in sport. Being active and participating in sport are essential parts of building healthier and stronger communities and a healthier Canada.

One way we are doing this is through our support for not-for-profit organizations, like ParticipACTION, that work so hard to promote sports and physical activity in Canada.

Can the Minister of State for Sport please tell the House how our government is supporting ParticipACTION's motto, “Let's get moving”?

SportOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Bramalea—Gore—Malton Ontario

Conservative

Bal Gosal ConservativeMinister of State (Sport)

Mr. Speaker, finally, here is a nice question from the member for Barrie.

Our government is working hard to get families and children physically active. Today, I was pleased to announce continued record level funding for ParticipACTION, as committed to in economic action plan 2012.

Kelly Murumets, CEO of ParticipACTION, stated:

We are delighted with the Government of Canada’s commitment to ParticipACTION and we applaud their support for the promotion of physical activity and healthy living.

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Robert Aubin NDP Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, NDP MPs are not the only ones who are worried about the major staff cuts and service reductions at VIA Rail. Rumbles of discontent can also be heard within the ranks of the Conservatives.

Admittedly, I am rarely in agreement with my colleague from Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, but I have to say that we are in agreement on this matter. Even though we are not in the midst of a spending spree, there is no reason to let services in the regions lapse.

Will the Minister of Transport listen to the concerns of Canadians, concerns that are shared by his colleagues, and ensure that rail services continue to be provided to all Canadians?

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia Manitoba

Conservative

Steven Fletcher ConservativeMinister of State (Transport)

Mr. Speaker, VIA is an arm's-length crown corporation that develops schedules based on demand. In the region the member is describing, demand has fallen by 50% in the last 15 years. VIA actually is going to make adjustments and, by doing so, respect taxpayers' money. VIA is subsidized by hundreds of millions of dollars. I know the NDP does not think that is a lot of money, but taxpayers do.

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON

Mr. Speaker, this holiday season many families will not be able to visit their loved ones by train. Belleville, Sarnia, Kitchener, Stratford and Cornwall are all losing service. The iconic route called Canadian between Toronto and Vancouver has been cut back. Communities feel they have been abandoned.

Where are the Conservative members from these communities? Why are they not speaking out? Why are Conservatives allowing VIA Rail to walk away from its mandate to provide service nationwide?

Rail TransportationOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia Manitoba

Conservative

Steven Fletcher ConservativeMinister of State (Transport)

Mr. Speaker, VIA Rail is an arm's-length crown corporation that develops schedules based on demand. The demand in those routes has gone down, and some of those routes are duplicated with the GO Train. Some are duplicated with bus service. VIA Rail provides a service, but so do other services in the same vein. So no matter what, Canadians will be able to get from point A to point B, and we will ensure that taxpayers' money is respected.

Aboriginal AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC

Mr. Speaker, today aboriginal leaders will be taking part in more than 13 rallies across Canada. December 10 will henceforth be known as the national day of action and solidarity against the legislative agenda of the Conservatives who are attacking the rights of first nations and failing to consult with them.

When will the Conservatives finally follow through on the promises made at the Crown-First Nations Gathering?