Debates of Feb. 11th, 2013

Health

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservative government continues to drag its heels, Alzheimer's will become a major public heath problem in the not too distant future.

According to a recent U.S. study, the number of people suffering from Alzheimer's will triple by the year 2050, which means that approximately three million Canadians will be suffering from dementia. Treating dementia is no easy feat. A pan-Canadian strategy needs to be put in place to battle dementia.

Will this government work with the NDP to devise such a strategy?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, our government is making investments with the provinces and territories by increasing health care transfers to $40 billion at the end of the decade.

We are also making significant investments in health research. At the moment, we are funding about 10,000 research projects across the country, and we have increased research in Canada to $1 billion per year.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, too many Canadian families will have to deal with Alzheimer's. I know it only too well. My mother suffered from it before she died.

We are ill-prepared to deal with this debilitating diseases that puts pressure on caregivers and our health care system. There will be 1.5 million affected within a generation.

Dementia costs over $33 billion a year. These costs could escalate to $293 billion a year.

Will the Conservatives agree with the NDP and act now?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, our government is making significant investments in health transfers to the provinces and territories. At the end of the decade, it will reach $40 billion. That party has voted against those transfers.

At the same time, we have increased health research to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in this area. Again, that party voted against it.

The Budget

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as part of our government's continued focus on jobs, growth and long-term prosperity, today the Minister of State for Finance will host an innovative cost-effective round table to consult directly with Canadians on the economy.

This groundbreaking telepresence pre-budget consultation will use new video-conferencing technology to allow our government to gather important feedback from community and local business leaders from coast to coast to coast, all the while saving taxpayers' dollars on travel spending.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance please update this House on how technology like telepresence is helping more Canadians be part of the budget process?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, innovative cost-effective consultations like telepresence and online submissions are allowing our government to exchange ideas with more and more Canadians in a very cost-effective way. As we prepare for economic action plan 2013, I would like to encourage all Canadians to take the time to share their views on how to position Canada to prosper over the long term, by visiting www.fin.gc.ca.

One thing I do not think we will be hearing about is Canadians begging for the NDP to impose a $20 billion carbon tax.

Veterans Affairs

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, Charlottetown had two big snow jobs this weekend, one from mother nature and the other from the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

Backpedalling from closing nine district offices, the minister hatched a plan. He came to P.E.I. under the cover of night. His mere presence, unannounced, amounted to a grim reaper moment, unnerving employees wondering what further misery he was bringing.

True to form, as the minister of symbolism, he announced that he would open a wicket line for vets, calling it an “access office”. Would the minister tell the House if his new wicket will include case managers to help veterans?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I was really glad to meet with Mayor Clifford Lee from Charlottetown, Liberal minister Roach from the Ghiz cabinet, as well as many veterans at the Royal Canadian Legion. I also had good fish and chips in a local brewery.

It is more than obvious. We have more than 1,000 great employees on the island, in Charlottetown, working for veterans. Is it not obvious that our veterans should have access to them?

Search and Rescue

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the Prime Minister claimed that the decision to close the Kits Coast Guard station was made in the interest of public safety. However, the people responsible for public safety on the coast contradict the Prime Minister's claim. Police, fire chiefs and coast guard officials have all agreed that closing the station will put mariners lives at risk.

Why will the government not listen to public safety experts and British Columbians and reverse this reckless decision?

[Keith Ashfield, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, we have listened to search and rescue experts, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Coast Guard. This question has been addressed thoroughly.

Vancouver will continue to have an abundance of federally funded search and rescue assets available to protect and save lives. British Columbia is served by 13 search and rescue life boats, 2 hovercraft and 2 helicopters.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs appeared before the Senate committee on aboriginal peoples on Bill C-27. During the meeting, Liberal Senator Nicholas acknowledged the difficulty in getting information out of her own first nations leadership and Liberal Senator Sibbeston said that he supported the bill. Yet, near the end of the meeting these same Liberal senators walked out of the meeting denouncing the bill.

Could the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs please remind the House of the importance of this particular bill?

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

Mr. Speaker, first nation members have asked for greater accountability and transparency for public funds. Our government has responded to these calls with the first nations financial transparency act. It would provide community members with the tools they need to hold their band governments accountable.

We are disappointed that the Liberals are opposed to transparency and accountability for band governments for the tax dollars they receive.

Veterans Affairs

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after promising Colonel Neil Russell, a 33-year veteran with the air force, a long-term care bed in Parkwood Hospital, Veterans Affairs is now backtracking. Colonel Russell will have to pay the province for the bed.

This is a betrayal of the men and the women who have served our country. Veterans are not a provincial responsibility. When will Veterans Affairs Canada stop this demeaning and adversarial process and take care of all of our veterans?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to confirm to the hon. member that we take care of all veterans, and especially those who have an injury that requires long-term care. That is why we are providing them with our community beds throughout the country, where they want and as they want it.

I invite the NDP member to support our initiative. We are seeking their support. We are investing as much as we can for veterans. We would like to have their support once in a while.

Employment Insurance

[Jean-François Fortin, Bloc, Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in less than an hour, Quebec's employment minister will be meeting with the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development to discuss EI reforms.

Like unemployed workers and business people, Minister Maltais is concerned about the dramatic impact the new measures will have on critical sectors of the regional economy, since Quebec is home to 40% of the seasonal jobs affected by the reforms.

That is why the Quebec minister is once again asking Ottawa to provide her with all of the studies on the impact that the reforms will have on Quebec.

Will the minister finally acknowledge the harmful impact that the reforms will have on Quebec and pull the plug on measures that discriminate against the regions?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, there are seasonal workers in all regions of Canada.

The changes to the system will help seasonal workers find jobs during the off-season. They will be better off than if they were not working. The reforms are good for them and for their families.

Presence in the Gallery

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of a delegation from the Yukon, led by the Hon. Darrell Pasloski, Premier, and the following ministers: Brad Cathers, Scott Kent and Mike Nixon.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Response to the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in R. v. Tse Act

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-55, An Act to amend the Criminal Code.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Finance

[James Rajotte, Conservative, Edmonton—Leduc, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the fifteenth report of the Standing Committee on Finance pertaining to its study of tax incentives for charitable giving.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

I would like to thank all members of the committee for their work on this report, as well as the analysts, clerks and all other committee staff who made the report possible.

Public Accounts

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present in both official languages the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in relation to its study of Chapter 4—Regulating Pharmaceutical Drugs—Health Canada of the fall 2011 report of the Auditor General of Canada.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-472, An Act to amend the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act (death benefit for parents).

Mr. Speaker, the reason for the introduction of this bill is that, if we take Afghanistan as an example, 158 individuals passed away, giving their lives to the service of Canada. The immediate spouses of those who were married were entitled to the supplementary death benefit of, I believe, more than $270,000. However, for those individuals who were not married, the estate received nothing.

It is time that on the battlefield we recognize that, whether a soldier is married or not married, it should not matter to the estate where the supplementary death benefit goes. This legislation would change that. It would basically make all of our men and women in the services who die in the line of duty for their country equal under the compensation benefit to ensure that their estate would receive the supplementary death benefit.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Wind Turbines

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present this petition from constituents mostly in the community of North Gower, who ask that there be a moratorium on the Marlborough wind farm project, which will add as many as 10 industrial wind turbines, some as close as 800 metres to dwellings in the North Gower area.

Understandably, along with reports of health problems related to those turbines, this has led residents to call for this moratorium, and I present the House with this petition in order to encourage that outcome.

Windsor-Detroit Crossing

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions.

The first petition calls for the new border crossing in the Windsor-Detroit corridor to have a bike lane. Hundreds of people are signing petitions and are supported by the cyclists in Michigan as well and by Michigan elected officials at all levels.

Pensions

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition signed by thousands of people with regard to the age of eligibility for the OAS being changed from 65 to 67. The petitioners are objecting to this practice and want the government to rescind this as an issue.