Debates of March 21st, 2013

Science and Technology

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, why are they walking away like this? Why reject scientific expertise? Why throw away years of such useful and important studies? Why kill Canada's role in studies to preserve ecosystems?

The Experimental Lakes facility is being completely dismantled. The Conservatives are literally killing scientific research piece by piece.

Why destroy decades of crucial research with this scorched earth policy? Why are they refusing to allow Canada to assume its responsibility for measuring the impact of climate change?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Mr. Speaker, again, this side of the House put forward more than $100 million to do exactly that kind of research.

That member and her party vote against it. They reject science, in fact inches thick of science that show the Keystone XL pipeline to be viable, and that it will create jobs for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, if you would kindly tell the opposition members, they need to stop trash talking Canada and threatening Canadian jobs on the world stage.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, here is the truth on who is scorching science.

Last week the government re-announced research dollars for a University of Alberta study on nanomaterials to enable expanded use in electronics, computing, manufacturing and health care.

Simultaneously, the government mislead Trent University into thinking it could continue directly related NSERC-funded research at the Experimental Lakes on potential environmental and health impacts of those particles. The result: a full year of data lost and a third of the public investment.

Does the government defend this as good science or good governance?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Mr. Speaker, actually my officials are working with this scientist to explore other options that do exist, because we fund science in Canada. The NDP vote against it—areas such as the Dorset Environmental Science Centre and the Turkey Lakes Watershed.

I want to ask this member, who is in fact from Alberta, how she could be in a party that goes south of the border and continues to attack Canadians, Canadian jobs and our lifestyle, when the science suggests nothing less.

The Economy

[Mark Adler, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government remains focused on what matters most to Canadians: jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. We are on the right track for Canadians.

However, Canada is not immune to the global challenges from beyond our borders. That is why economic action plan 2013 will keep working hard to grow Canada's economy and grow jobs.

While we are focused on protecting Canada's economy, the NDP has a very different plan. Would the parliamentary secretary please discuss, evaluate and comment on—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the question. Indeed, the NDP did recently release a pre-budget wish list.

This socialist spending spree included all the reckless taxing and spending that we have come to expect from the NDP, like a $21 billion carbon tax, check—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance has the floor.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Mr. Speaker, they cannot handle the truth. It includes a $21 billion carbon tax, a $34 billion tax hike on job creators and $56 billion in new risky spending.

Public Safety

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to understand the twisted logic of the Minister of Public Safety. Instead of looking after the safety of our communities, he prefers to play the apprentice television producer. There is not one Canadian who asked to watch refugees get arrested in HD. These refugees have probably gone through traumatic experiences. Exploiting people's misery is unacceptable. Border services officers do serious and dangerous work. It is not entertainment.

When will the minister stop defending the indefensible and put a stop to this dangerous publicity stunt?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, this show is about the situations faced daily by front-line border officers. The privacy of individuals is protected at all times. The majority of episodes deal with front-line CBSA officers stopping criminals from entering Canada.

We expect the CBSA to enforce Canada's laws and ensure the safety and security of law-abiding Canadians.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, every time the minister is asked this question, the diversion just gets bigger. He has a responsibility to be honest with Canadians on this question.

The minister personally approved a reality TV show that recklessly exploits immigration raids when he knows that Canadians value fair treatment, just as they value the safety of our borders and the safety of our communities. Now the minister is allowing border services to be cut while continuing to turn immigration raids into a reality TV show. When will he finally employ some common sense on this and put a stop to this program?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our government has increased front-line border officers by 26%, and that member voted against that provision. Rather than standing up for law-abiding immigrants who work hard and play by the rules, the NDP chooses to make things easier for those who defy our laws and take advantage of Canadians' generosity. In fact, NDP members even voted against the faster removal of foreign criminals act.

National Defence

[Christine Moore, NDP, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a growing number of armed forces members and their families are concerned by the announced cuts to military family resource centres. These centre are located across Canada and provide vital support to military families. These families want answers.

How much will the Conservatives cut from military family resource centres? What services will be cut or reduced? Will some of these centres be forced to close their doors because of the cuts? The families want answers.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is simple. In fact, since 2006, we have seen a 25% increase in spending when it comes to support for the military family resource centres.

I met with some of the leaders of the military family resource centre this week and thanked them for their outstanding work that they do across the country. In addition to supporting them, we have also opened 24 new joint personnel support centres.

We are proud of the priority programs we have put in place to support the military and their families, while this member and her party continue to oppose and vote against all of these improvements.

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

Mr. Speaker, I met with those same folks from the military family resource centre.

When 158 Canadian heroes paid the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefields of Afghanistan and thousands more were injured, it was the 34 military family resource centres across the country that provided the support and transition services to the families of these Canadians heroes.

I would like the Prime Minister to stand in his place, look into those cameras and tell the people who work at the MFRCs why they must pay for the ineptitude and fiscal irresponsibility of this government.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, what I would like is that once, just once in this member's long career in this place, he look military members, their families and veterans in the face and tell them the truth about his abysmal, abominable voting record of having opposed every investment this government has made in seven years to improve their lives, their equipment, where they live and where they work. All of the support that this government has provided, he has opposed, and he has worked against the improvement of the military every step of the way.

The Environment

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over half of the Canadians who were asked about the government's economic action plan advertising campaign thought that the ads were a partisan move and a waste of money.

Why not use even a fraction of the money wasted on self-promotion to save the Experimental Lakes Area program? When will the government stop funnelling taxpayers' money into Conservative propaganda and instead invest it in protecting our aquatic resources?

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)]

Mr. Speaker, it is pretty rich, again, listening to the opposition members talk about any of this. In fact, every single time we put forward support for science or our veterans or our military, they vote against it; so it is pretty rich when they reject the science on things such as the Keystone XL pipeline, which is so important to Canadian jobs and Canadians.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, they should stop trash-talking Canada on the world stage.

Government Advertising

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, by 2015, the government will have spent nearly $1 billion on partisan advertising. That is nearly three times what it spent on food safety this year, twice as much as what it spent on public health and more than 10 times what it spent on search and rescue. The Conservatives spent $1 billion on its economic action plan ads. I would just like everybody to imagine what we could have really done, what Canadians could have done with that $1 billion.

When is the government going to stop this wasteful spending of taxpayer money and put that money where it is supposed be, which is in the pockets of Canadians, helping Canadians?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I really must disagree with the hon. member. We have spent advertising dollars to ensure that the public is aware of government programs and also on public health grounds, such as the H1N1 virus and vaccines. These are important things for the health and safety of Canadians. I hope the hon. member is not suggesting we stop funding that.

Having done all of that, our spending is far below, 46% below, the spending of the last Liberal government.

Foreign Affairs

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, international pressure continues to grow for an independent investigation into the very serious allegation of war crimes that were committed in the final days of the Sri Lankan civil war.

New Democrats have long called for just such an investigation and, yesterday, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution that, once again, underscores the need for accountability.

Today, Conservative senator Hugh Segal is in Sri Lanka.

So, to the minister, will the senator be pushing the Sri Lankan government for an immediate independent inquiry into those reprehensible actions during that civil war?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, no other government in the world has worked harder, has pushed harder to ensure that there is accountability, meaningful reconciliation and a return to human rights in Sri Lanka. No other leader in the world has been more outspoken, more morally clear, on this issue than the Prime Minister of Canada. All Canadians can be tremendously proud of that.

We will continue to work through the Commonwealth, through the United Nations, to ensure that there is real accountability, meaningful reconciliation and a return to decent human rights in that country.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is essential that Sri Lanka not be rewarded for its inaction. Unless Sri Lanka complies with the United Nations' calls for an independent investigation, Canada must not participate in the upcoming Commonwealth meetings, and that is a period: no Canadian participation at all.

I have a very simple question for the minister. Would the minister make that clear commitment to Canadians here and now?