Debates of March 16th, 2012

Telecommunications

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, this government has taken steps in exactly that direction over the past several budgets and the hon. member's party voted against them every time.

How do we know that we got this decision right? Let us take a look at another reaction. A new player, Mobilicity, called the decision a real victory for Canadian consumers. Meanwhile, an incumbent, TELUS, noted that the new rules “will allow all competitors to have fair and reasonable access to the critical 700 MHz spectrum in the upcoming auction”.

We took a balanced decision and consumers will come out ahead.

Broadcasting Industry

[Glenn Thibeault, NDP, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister may not understand how important the spectrum auction is to our economy and society but Canadians do. Sixty thousand people signed OpenMedia's letter to the minister calling for a set aside of spectrum for smaller companies. Instead, the minister chose to ignore consumers and new entrants, forcing Canadians to pay higher prices for poor service, especially in rural areas.

It is like a bad TV commercial. Consumers ask, “Can you hear me now”, but the minister never listens.

When will the minister finally listen to the needs of Canadians?

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, I would refer the hon. member to his own party's industry critic who said:

...we heard the intention of the government to cover 90 percent of the Canadian territory within five years. We like the idea. I come from a rural riding. There are major problems of coverage in my riding so this is something that is very dear to me...

National Defence

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, misleading Parliament has become the mantra of the government, whether it is its dishonest defence of Conservative election fraud or, as now revealed, the F-35 boondoggle.

The Auditor General will be releasing a report that will find DND has misled Parliament on the F-35 purchase.

How can the Minister of National Defence explain away this damning indictment or does the minister share the low standard set by the Prime Minister when he deliberately misled Canadians on a non-existent contract?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Kick him out.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The member knows that the term “deliberately mislead” is unparliamentary. I will ask him to withdraw that portion of his question.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I will withdraw the word “deliberate” but the Prime Minister did mislead this Parliament.

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, it is very sad to hear that kind of commentary, in all honesty.

The Prime Minister has already addressed this question himself in the House. We have been very clear. We have not signed any contract for a purchase. We, like the previous Liberal government, have signed a memorandum of understanding related to the program. It is unfortunate that the member opposite would not respect the explanation on the part of the Prime Minister.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Prime Minister and his posse of ministers told us over and over that they had a contract. In fact, on January 14, 2011, he said, “Cancelling a contract that way would be completely irresponsible. The opposition parties must stop playing partisan games with these crucial contracts.”

The government is trying to fool the public once again. It misled the public in its election campaign. Now the Auditor General has caught the Conservatives in the act, and they do not know what to do next.

What will the minister do about this “contract”? Will he tender it given that this is about taxpayers' money?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we respect the work of the Auditor General of Canada. Parliament will receive the final report in the next little while. Until then, it would be totally inappropriate for me to comment on rumours of what may or may not be in the Auditor General's report. It would be inappropriate for me to speculate and I will not do that.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the national chief, Shawn Atleo, and the former prime minister, Paul Martin, have passionately demanded that the government end the discrimination in education funding for on reserve children, a difference of $3,000 to $4,000 per child. Unfortunately, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development called the recommendations of the first nations education panel aspirational. The national chief has called for a $5 million increase.

Will the Prime Minister commit today to finally listen and include no less than $5 million in the budget for—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, our government has already made great strides in improving education outcomes for all first nations students by seeking tangible results. We are signing tripartite partnership agreements with the provinces and the first nations communities. We have developed an innovative program like the first nations students success program. These are producing real results. We continue to invest in on reserve school infrastructure, rehabilitating and replacing schools. We will stay on track with that course.

National Defence

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a British MP blasted incompetence on behalf of the Canadians for buying four used subs from the U.K. without any due diligence.

These subs have spent 10 of the last 13 years docked and are riddled with problems and yet the out-of-touch Minister of National Defence continues to say that everything is okay and he continues to pour untold millions of dollars into this “dumb deal”.

When will he admit that these subs are a failure? Will he listen to the British MP and get taxpayers their money back for this botched deal?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, this purchase was made by the previous Liberal government.

In any event, the Royal Canadian Navy has advised that in 2013 it expects to have three of the four submarines continuously available for operations. This will include a high readiness submarine on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts.

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, once again—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

We already have submarines that cannot go underwater and now the government wants to purchase planes that do not even fly. Those submarines cost $750 million—they should not be proud of that—plus the billions of dollars needed for repairs. This government—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Tarik Brahmi, NDP, Saint-Jean, QC]

How can our soldiers trust the Conservatives when they signed—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. Associate Minister of National Defence.

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the best way I can answer whatever that question was is to say that the public and our Canadian Forces can trust our government to do the right thing for them. The no defence party over there would have no appreciation for that whatsoever.

Air Canada

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every day, traveller safety is being compromised. Pilots and machinists are overworked, tired and, above all, frustrated by the government's intervention in their dispute with Air Canada. Worse still, aircraft maintenance is being done more and more by subcontractors in countries that have less rigorous standards.

Workers have a fundamental right to free and fair bargaining.

When will the minister stop violating the rights of Canadian workers?

[Kellie Leitch, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, we were acting in the best interests of the Canadian public. Our government was concerned about a disruption at Air Canada and what damage it would do to our fragile economy. The impact of an Air Canada work stoppage on the Canadian economy is estimated at about $22.4 million per week and a huge decline in the Canadian GDP of almost $1 million per week.

This government acted swiftly. We took action. We moved forward to ensure we protected the Canadian public and also all those travelling families over the March break. We are pleased with what we did. We look forward to ensuring there is no work stoppage in the future so the Canadian economy can keep growing.