House of Commons Hansard #125 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was environment.
Wayne Marston NDP Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON
Mr. Speaker, members can cheer and clap on the other side, but I ask what happened to that Prime Minister. The government's report on human rights in Colombia shamefully has nothing on human rights. Yet since that trade agreement came into effect, 17 trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia.
I will ask again, will the government now consider for the next report, an independent assessment on human rights in Colombia?
Ed Fast ConservativeMinister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway
Mr. Speaker, unlike the NDP, this government remains focused like a laser beam on the issues that are important to Canadians. Those issues are economic growth, job creation and long-term prosperity.
We are very pleased that Colombia has ratified its trade agreement and it is now in effect. We continue to respect human rights. We hope to draw Colombia, as we engage with it, into the family of nations that actually do have a robust human rights regime.
Leon Benoit Conservative Vegreville—Wainwright, AB
Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader is not just calling the jobs created by the resource sector in western Canada a “disease”. He has upped the ante and said that the ring of fire in northern Ontario and the shale gas in the Maritimes are all part of a problem. In his latest rant against western Canada, he called anyone who disagrees with him a messenger of our government.
Will the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities tell the House about the direct and indirect jobs that are created through responsible resource development right across this great country?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader said that the disease is now spreading beyond oil sands workers and now includes natural gas workers in the Maritimes, and forestry workers in northern Ontario. It is a pandemic of jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for which his only cure is a carbon tax. One thing is clear. If Canadians are suffering from a disease, it is that they are sick of his talk of higher taxes and shutting down jobs.
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, each day more westerners raise their voices against the government's ill-conceived and unconstitutional Senate reform. Even Roger Gibbins, head of the Canada West Foundation, warns against this unfair plan, which would leave Alberta and British Columbia terribly under-represented, with only six senators each in a 105 elected member Senate.
Why is the Prime Minister and his democratic reform minister weakening British Columbia and their province of Alberta?
Tim Uppal ConservativeMinister of State (Democratic Reform)
Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we know where Canadians stand. Canadians support term limits for senators and Senate elections. That is why we introduced the Senate reform act.
Frankly, it is not surprising to hear the opposition members say anything to justify dragging their feet on Senate reform and supporting the status quo in the Senate. They know they are wrong on that side of the issue and that is why they are afraid to vote on it. We call on the opposition members to stop hiding behind their empty rhetoric and bring the Senate reform act to a vote. We want Canadians to have a say in the Senate. Why do they not?
Annick Papillon NDP Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, through a series of draconian cuts, the government is abolishing 45 positions at Parks Canada in Quebec City, a city recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
What is more, the Conservatives are emptying Quebec City of thousands of artifacts, which is another harsh blow to Quebec City and to our credibility with UNESCO.
In the meantime, the government is spending millions of dollars on festivities to commemorate the War of 1812 and the Queen's jubilee. Yet, just this morning our archeologists made some important discoveries in Quebec City.
Why is this government depriving Quebec City of its heritage and its history?
Peter Kent ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I provided an answer to this question when it was raised by the Bloc Québécois more than a week ago. That answer is we appreciate that these valuable artifacts should be on display, where possible, in museums appropriate for their exhibition. In the short term, there is no location. They will be stored. They will remain in Quebec. We are looking at a number of opportunities for those artifacts to be displayed again in museums in appropriate locations in Quebec.
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
Mr. Speaker, our government is focused on creating jobs and long-term economic prosperity. The NDP is playing politics with food safety.
Currently, changes are being proposed that would streamline red tape in the processing sector and help cattle producers earn a living from the marketplace while maintaining the integrity of Canada's food safety system.
Could the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food explain to the House how the NDP's reckless comments are hurting the processing industry and misleading Canadians? When it comes to agriculture, the leader of the NDP and his caucus do not know anything about agriculture. It is time to wake up and tell the truth.
Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, what a great question. I want to thank the member for his work on the agriculture committee.
Of course, Canadians and consumers know we would never jeopardize our food safety. Our largest manufacturing sector, the food processing sector, like our resource sector, is now under attack by the NDP. Contrary to the NDP's fearmongering, Canada's hard-working food processors would never allow dead stock or road kill into our food system. Farmers and industry agree. The comments by the member for Welland and his party are irresponsible, an absolute insult to the hard-working professionals who ensure the safety of Canadian food from farm to fork.
While this government focuses on ensuring the safety of Canadian food, the NDP must apologize for misleading Canadians and attacking our—
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives say they want to improve first nations' mental health, they table a budget that does the exact opposite.
Instead of giving people the proper tools, the Conservatives are taking them away, like the First Nations Statistical Institute.
There is a huge need to address first nations' mental health concerns. First nations' mental health issues have been identified as one of the top six priorities of Canada's new mental health strategy. However, with no money and no data, how can we possibly hope to have success in addressing the mental health problems that Canada's first nations face?
Leona Aglukkaq ConservativeMinister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
Mr. Speaker, the answer to the issue of the National Aboriginal Health Organization is very simple. The three elected aboriginal leaders wrote to me and asked me to wind down that organization. I accepted their recommendation and we are working on that.
Our government commits $30 million a year on aboriginal health research available to all Canadians.
The member is well aware that we recently released the mental health strategy for Canada. We will be following through on implementation.
Jean-François Fortin Bloc Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives can no longer hide the scope of their proposed changes to employment insurance in Bill C-38.
Their new brainwave for weakening the system, according to what the Minister of Finance is saying, seems to be to force the unemployed to take jobs that do not correspond to their aspirations or their qualifications and that are not even in their region. The Conservatives have real contempt for workers' expertise.
Instead of permanently undermining the employment insurance system, why does the federal government not agree to the request of the Conseil national des chômeurs et chômeuses and transfer responsibility for employment insurance to Quebec?
Ted Menzies ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, every policy that we have put forward in the last three budgets to promote jobs and growth in this economy, the member and his colleagues, in fact all members on the other side of the House, have voted against.
We have EI in place as a tool to help those people who have lost their jobs.
It certainly does not help when initiatives, such as the EI hiring tax credit for businesses in this country, are put forward and the opposition votes against them. That is unacceptable.
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB
Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify the record from statements by members today. The member for Yukon stood on a statement about the UN special rapporteur. His visit did take him to northern Canada. He went to Gods River in northern Manitoba and I--
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Members should be aware that clarifying the record is not a point of order, but subject maybe for an S.O. 31 or a question for a future question period.
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, during question period, the Minister of State for Finance misled the House by suggesting that there were 32,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who could not take 1,500 jobs for a mine in St. John's—
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Order, please. I have not heard anything that is a point of order yet. Is the member asking him to table something?
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, this is either a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts, or an outrageously negligent comment about Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, similar to what the Prime Minister said a few years ago when he talked about—
Ted Menzies ConservativeMinister of State (Finance)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify. I was simply giving an example that there were 32,500 people in Newfoundland who were not working—
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
I have an excellent idea. Perhaps tomorrow the members interested in his question can ask questions and maybe the minister could respond to them, but I do not think it is a point of order, and question period has ended.
Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 12 petitions.
Bernard Trottier Conservative Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the reports of the Canadian branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, respecting its participation in the bureau meeting of the APF, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from February 8 to 10, 2012; the executive committee of the APF Network of Women Parliamentarians, held in Athens, Greece, from March 14 to 16, 2012; the meeting of the APF Education, Communication and Cultural Affairs Committee, held in Brussels, Belgium, from March 29 to 31, 2012; and lastly, the Conference of Presidents of the APF America Region, held in Toronto, Ontario, on April 13, 2012.