Debates of Jan. 28th, 2013

Family Literacy Day

[Sana Hassainia, NDP, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday across Canada, we celebrated Family Literacy Day, an initiative designed to help adults introduce children to the joys of reading and writing. It is also an opportunity for parents to make reading and writing part of their family's routine.

In my riding and elsewhere in the Canadian Francophonie, literacy organizations teamed up with libraries and parents to promote reading together as a family.

In particular, I would like to thank the following organizations for their efforts: the Fédération canadienne pour l'alphabétisation en français, Frontier College, the Table des responsables de l'éducation des adultes et de la formation professionnelle des commissions scolaires du Québec and the Fédération québécoise des organismes communautaires Famille. I would also like to thank the following organizations in my riding: Alphabétisation IOTA, Le Fablier and L'Ardoise.

I encourage all of my colleagues to do everything they can to support family literacy.

Donald M.E. Hamilton

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a sad occasion to mark the death of a great broadcaster, a great Canadian and, most importantly, a great friend.

Donald M.E. Hamilton passed away peacefully on December 2 in Victoria with family by his side.

He started out life in Ontario then moved out west in the 1960s, where he became a pioneer in FM radio. Recruited by the Moffat Broadcasting group, he led fledgling CKLG radio and CFOX FM to unprecedented success in Vancouver's competitive rock music market.

From there, Don's enthusiasm and larger than life personality drew respect from his colleagues, who elected him president of the B.C. Association of Broadcasters. He later served on the board of the CBC.

A lifelong Conservative, Don served as B.C. campaign chair for Robert Stanfield, Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney.

Don was also a great speech writer. Although he will always be remembered for his commitment to community and national affairs, above all he will be cherished as a family man and a loyal friend.

As Don once reminded me, “Be bold old friend, be bold”.

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, last week was the one-year anniversary of the Crown-first nations gathering, where the Prime Minister promised to reset the relationship with aboriginal people through consultation and co-operation, to close the gaps in educational outcomes, to bring safe drinking water to every reserve community, and to make progress on advancing claims resolution and treaty implementation.

Unfortunately, there has been no substantive change or progress on these commitments and many outcomes are getting worse. Furthermore, the Conservative government still stubbornly refuses to fulfill its legal obligation to consult with aboriginal peoples in Canada on matters that may impact their inherent and/or treaty rights.

Aboriginal and non-aboriginal people in Canada are frustrated with the government's litany of broken promises.

After seven years of Conservative rule, action is long overdue.

The Prime Minister must rebuild the trust of aboriginal peoples in Canada on a foundation of co-operation and progress rather than empty promises.

John Wise

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on January 9 we were saddened by the passing of the hon. John Wise. He was well-known for his active life in the community and his political accomplishments, but most loved for being John Wise the person, the friend, the mentor.

John Clayton Wise was a dairy farmer, a local reeve and the warden of Elgin County. He was a member of Parliament from 1972 to 1988 and was the minister of agriculture in two prime ministers' cabinets. Just being all of that would be an incredible accomplishment for most people, but John was much more.

John was the husband to Ann for 54 years. He was a loving and devoted father to Susan and Elizabeth and a loving grandfather to Jess and Grant. John was all of these things and more.

John Wise was my friend and mentor. I will miss his advice, but mostly our community and country will miss the man. My thanks to John.

Data Protection Day

[Charmaine Borg, NDP, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Today Canada, along with many countries around the world, is celebrating Data Protection Day. As our societies are becoming increasingly digitized, the Internet is playing a much larger role in the economy, education and civic engagement.

Digital technologies allow families and friends to connect more easily; business people to market their products more quickly; students to learn more; and activists to network and exercise our democracy more effectively.

However, Canadians face serious threats, as we saw recently when the government lost a significant amount of personal data.

On Data Protection Day, it is important to reflect on one crucial lesson: government must be proactive in developing strong,transparent laws and policies to protect the personal information of Canadians in the public and private sectors. Cleaning up spills after the fact is too little too late.

That is why the NDP continues to call for measures to protect Canadians' personal data. It is time to be proactive on this issue so that Canadians can enjoy a personal data protection system that is trustworthy and recognized around the world.

Durham

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great excitement and a profound sense of duty that I stand today to thank the people of Durham for their confidence in me as their member of Parliament.

In many ways, the small communities of Clarington, Scugog and Uxbridge perfectly represent the small towns, villages and people that built our country. In Newcastle, the visionary Massey family first built farm machinery to till our soil, and eventually Massey Ferguson tilled the fields of Canada. In Uxbridge, Lucy Maude Montgomery penned most of her Anne of Green Gables novels, telling one of the first quintessentially Canadian stories. Port Perry grew up alongside the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. At the centre of this community is the idyllic and popular Lake Scugog, which some say took its name from the Mississaugas' word for “waves leap over a canoe”.

From the past to the present, Durham remains a proud and important part of Canada. I am indebted to the people of Durham, and particularly to my wife Rebecca and children Mollie and Jack, for providing me with the support and confidence to join this House of Commons.

The Economy

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as I travelled throughout my riding during the last six weeks, people indicated to me how pleased they were with our Prime Minister and our government. Our government will continue to focus on what matters to Canadians: jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity for all.

Since the height of the recession, Canada has created over 900,000 net new jobs. That is the best growth in the G7, testament to the strong leadership of our government. That also stands in stark contrast to the Liberal Party, which has no economic plan, and the NDP whose economic plan is a $21 billion job-killing carbon tax.

Canadians can rest assured that our government will continue to focus on jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity, and we will continue to make Canada an island of stability in a troubled global economy.

Abortion

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago, in the landmark Morgentaler decision, the Supreme Court recognized a woman's right to choose. Today, New Democrats recognize and thank Dr. Henry Morgentaler for his commitment to protecting a women's right to reproductive choice. Thanks to Dr. Morgentaler's fight, a generation of Canadian women has had access to choice.

We acknowledge the health care professionals and service providers who still take risks to perform abortions. We stand in solidarity with advocates and women fighting to support women's reproductive rights.

Today, 25 years later, a vast majority of Canadians support a woman's right to choose, and that is why the Conservative government has veiled its attempts to roll back women's reproductive rights. We must remain vigilant: challenges to accessing abortion care in Canada still exist. Women's reproductive rights are fundamental to the struggle for the full equality of women here in Canada and abroad.

Today, as we celebrate this important anniversary, we must commit ourselves to ensuring that future generations of Canadian women have reproductive choice, for all of us.

New Democratic Party of Canada

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in a scene reminiscent of Custer's last stand, the New Democrats bravely stand in the way of strong economics and common sense in their continued insistence that Canada is suffering from the Dutch disease. They have faced an unending barrage of attacks, starting with the Canadian Building Trades, which said that the NDP would be very bad for workers and the entire Canadian economy.

The New Democrats continued their hopeless defence when the Governor of the Bank of Canada said their argument was “overly simplistic and, in the end, wrong”.

The Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters was clear in saying, “The fact is that all Canadians stand to benefit in very real ways from the wealth created by these developments and by their suppliers”.

Ontario's finance minister made it clear that “Alberta's oilsands are a valuable resource...that helps fuel the Canadian economy...”.

Finally, we have the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a highly respected think tank, that recently released a report indicating that the resource sector is a boon to Canadian manufacturers.

Will the NDP continue its hopeless fight, or will it finally surrender and abandon its assault on common sense economics?

Richard Garneau

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to acknowledge the work of an exceptional man, a pillar of the journalism community, who certainly had a great impact on Quebec society.

Richard Garneau passed away on January 20 at the age of 82, depriving us of his eloquence, professionalism and love of sport.

Richard Garneau called games on La Soirée du hockey for 23 years and was a commentator at 23 Olympic Games. He spent most of his long career with Radio-Canada and became an ambassador of the French language.

When Richard Garneau introduced us to great Olympic athletes from Slovakia, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere, with names that only he managed to pronounce properly, we discovered the diversity of our world and Canada's and Quebec's place in the global community.

A great champion of the French language is gone. It is up to us to take up the torch of excellence that he passed on to us.

The Economy

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP members have been busy during their six-week break from Parliament scheming to implement a job-killing $21 billion carbon tax upon the people of Canada. The NDP's proposed carbon tax would kill jobs and raise the price of gas, groceries, electricity and everything else.

While the NDP has been concentrating on implementing its carbon tax, our Conservative government is focused on jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity. In fact, Conservative MPs and cabinet ministers conducted over 200 meetings across Canada during the six weeks, focusing on jobs and economic growth so that we can build a budget for all Canadians. It should come as no surprise that Canada has the lowest debt burden of any country in the G7 and the top job creation record, with over 900,000 net new jobs created since July 2009.

People can count on our government to stand up against the NDP's job-killing $21 billion carbon tax.

Senior's Athletic Achievement

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Murdock Hiscock who, at 70 years old, is an avid cross-country runner and an inspiration in the sports community in Newfoundland and Labrador. Murdock is from Fortune in my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's.

In addition to maintaining his own active lifestyle, he has consistently championed the benefits of physical activity. In 2011, he helped form a group to motivate others to get active.

Mr. Hiscock suffered a heart attack in late 2011 and within just four months was back running and winning. He began an impressive winning streak, placing first in three provincial races and second in a fourth race.

A familiar face at the Tely 10 race in St. John's, this year Murdock dedicated his race to his late daughter, Juliette, who was training to run with her father but was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. Murdock was awarded the Dr. John Williams Award for his outstanding enthusiasm and vigorous encouragement of others to get involved.

I ask all members to join me in recognizing Murdock Hiscock, who has consistently shown that perseverance and commitment can help deal with the most tragic of circumstances.

New Democratic Party of Canada

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on this first sitting day of 2013, I would like to wish you and all members of this House a happy new year.

As Canadians look forward to 2013 with hope and optimism, a dark cloud looms on the horizon. A new $21 billion job-killing carbon tax is still on the table for the NDP. In fact, the NDP leader has been clear on his plans to impose this massive job-killing carbon tax. Only last year he said he was proposing a system of carbon pricing that “will produce billions”. This NDP job-killing carbon tax would raise the price of everything for Canadian families, including gas, groceries and electricity.

My constituents do not want this new scheme that will take money from their pockets and put their jobs at risk. That is why I stand firmly with my Conservative colleagues against the NDP leader's job-killing carbon tax.

Conservative Party of Canada

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, holidays are a time for family and friends to spend valuable time together. However, they are also a time for reflection, to take stock of the year that was.

For Conservatives, 2012 was filled with lowlights: environmental protection laws gutted; EI and government services cut; a generational reduction to old age security; the largest meat recall in Canadian history; the F-35 fiasco; the selling off of our resources to China; and minister after minister caught up in ethical scandals.

How have the Conservatives started the New Year? By breaking conflict of interest rules and stuffing even more of their Conservative cronies into the unelected and unaccountable Senate. In contrast, New Democrats elected a new leader in 2012 and assembled an opposition that is focused, energized and united.

While Conservatives start 2013 plagued by scandals and mismanagement, New Democrats will offer practical solutions and proposals to build a fairer, greener and more prosperous Canada for all.

Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the past six weeks I have had the opportunity to speak and consult with hundreds of constituents and hard-working Canadians. One thing is very clear. They do not want to see the NDP's $21 billion carbon tax.

We all know that the NDP leader is planning to generate billions through a carbon tax that would increase the price of everything for Canadian families, including gas, groceries and electricity. It is written in black and white in their election platform, and the NDP leader actually promised to go beyond the NDP's carbon tax scheme to win the party's leadership. Last March he also clearly stated that of course he had a cap-and-trade program that would produce billions.

Canadians can count on our government to lower taxes so they can keep more of their hard-earned dollars in their pockets. We will continue to oppose the NDP leader's $21 billion carbon tax scheme.

Mali

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by wishing you and your team a productive parliamentary session in the interests of all Canadians.

Can the Prime Minister please update the House on Canada's involvement in the ongoing mission in Mali?

Can he confirm that his government will consult the House of Commons and parliamentary committees on this matter?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the short answer is yes.

As I think most parliamentarians will know, the government has been very clear that it will not undertake a Canadian combat mission in Mali. At the same time, we are providing technical assistance to the French and other military forces who are there. We have committed heavy lift aircraft to that engagement, which is being done under a United Nations mandate.

Of course, through this chamber and through committees, we will be consulting with parliamentarians on any further steps that need to be taken.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, current unemployment rates in first nations communities are as high as 80%, and half of the homes in those communities are in a dismal state. Schools and students in those communities receive 30% less funding than those elsewhere.

Last year, during meetings between the Crown and first nations, the Prime Minister promised to renew the nation-to-nation relationship with first peoples. He promised meaningful consultations; he never listened. He promised to attack these problems; instead, he attacked the chiefs.

Will the Prime Minister finally agree to take meaningful action on this matter?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government has put forward several unprecedented, meaningful measures for Canada's aboriginals. We have built new homes, created new schools and constructed new potable water systems. We have also resolved a number of land claims. Of course, there is still a lot to be done. Nevertheless, we will pursue our agenda in co-operation with positive partners.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised meaningful consultation. Gutting environmental protection for thousands of lakes and rivers on aboriginal territory is not meaningful consultation. Cancelling thousands of environmental assessments over the objections of first nations is not meaningful consultation.

The Prime Minister promised respect on a nation-to-nation basis. Will the finally agree to Prime Ministerconsult, and to listen, on the environmental protection of first nations' lands and waters?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, protection of aboriginal treaty rights and consultations in these various processes are in fact enshrined in the very laws that this government has passed through the Parliament of Canada. On top of that, we have made unprecedented investments into things that will make a concrete difference in the lives of people, in skills training, in housing on reserves, in potable water, in schools, in treaty rights, in the protection of the rights of women and in the resolution of many land claims as well.

We will continue to work with those positive partners who seek to make progress.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives respected the treaties or the nation-to-nation negotiating principle and consulted with aboriginal people before introducing bills that have a direct impact on their rights, there would be no such thing as Idle No More.

The political inaction that has lasted for decades under both the Liberals and the Conservatives is no longer an option.

Today, I introduced a bill to ensure that Canadian laws are consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

When will this become a reality?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are working in partnership with first nations on the issues addressed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We continue to work with willing partners on shared priorities, including education, economic development and access to safe drinking water.

Our government continues to take action because we believe that first nations deserve the same opportunities as all other Canadians.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, why did the Conservatives endorse this declaration in 2010 and then ignore it? Conservative inaction is being criticized by first nations and other Canadians from coast to coast to coast today.

The NDP is listening. The NDP values consultation. My bill ensures that our laws are consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Will the Prime Minister or the minister agree to support this important initiative?

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows we have been working in partnership with first nations for seven consecutive years. Since 2006 we have delivered on our promise to improve accountability and transparency. We have settled over 80 land claims. We have invested in over 700 projects that are linking aboriginals in Canada with jobs, job training, counselling and mentorship programs.

We are proud of our record. We will continue to support first nations so they can achieve the prosperity they deserve.