Debates of June 7th, 2013

Government Expenditures

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is trying to mislead the House. Departments have always been, and are still, responsible to report to Parliament through the normal processes: the public accounts, main estimates and the quarterly financial reports. The Auditor General reaffirmed that in committee when he said “We didn't identify anything that would cause us to say that we felt that anything was going on outside of those processes”.

These are the facts. Those are the words of the Auditor General.

Mining Industry

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Prime Minister Cameron, at the upcoming G8 summit, will be pushing for transparency. He wants to shine a light on company ownership, land ownership and where money flows from and to. The United States has tough legislation on transparency for mining companies and the European Union will be close behind. However, the Conservatives have pushed back on transparency. When will they get on board and push for more transparency for Canadian extractive companies?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to openness and transparency and we continue to take Canadians' right to access very seriously. In fact, we are making it easier for Canadians to access information by filing their requests online. The government completed a record 43,000 access to information requests in 2011-12, nearly double that of a decade ago.

However, the real important information here is that one million more Canadians are working today than during the recession.

International Co-operation

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria contributes more than any other organization to reducing the number of new infections in developing countries. We are at a turning point right now, a point where we might finally be able to control these diseases. That is why the fund has asked donors to increase their efforts. The United States and Switzerland have already committed to increasing their contributions significantly. Will Canada follow suit?

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that our development is focused and effective. Canadians expect accountability with that. This is why we have untied our food aid and at the same time we have doubled our aid to Africa.

Our contributions to the global fund to fight TB, AIDS and malaria are at unprecedented levels. Canada is paid up on all of its contributions to the funds that we have designated. In fact, the minister contributed an extra $20 million just last week.

Government Expenditures

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am impressed. I did not think the government could come up with one action that would waste money, hurt the Canadian Forces, and inflate the Prime Minister's ego all at once.

The new Conservative blue paint job on the Prime Minister's plane means the Canadian Forces can no longer use it for military operations.

Will the Conservatives use some of their secret party money lying around the PMO to reimburse Canadian taxpayers for this wasted $50,000?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as has been explained in this place very often, the Airbus had to go through routine maintenance. This repainting had to be part of the routine maintenance. It is a small proportion of the overall cost, and it was done with a view to promoting Canada, promoting Canada's interest abroad, in our best traditions, as we have always done.

We have spent 80% less on Challengers and transport for ministers than that party. We will take no lessons from the Liberals.

International Trade

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, it is widely known that Nigel Wright, prior to his removal from the Prime Minister's Office, was really the one in charge of the CIDA and the TPP trade files.

We also know, by Premier Dunderdale's statement, that in meetings with her, Nigel Wright tried to draw concessions out of the province on the fisheries.

Who is in charge in the Prime Minister's Office of the trade files now, and will the Prime Minister assure us that there will not be concessions on fisheries, on supply management, and on drugs?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the member has it all wrong. There has been no linkage between the Churchill Falls issue and our trade agreement.

In fact, the trade agreement with the European Union is going to produce significant benefits for Atlantic Canada. That member should know that. He is from Malpeque, from Prince Edward Island. He should understand that there is going to be a very significant seafood and fish package that would be made available to fishers in the region.

It is expected that this agreement would add $12 billion to our GDP. It is expected to add 80,000 new jobs to our Canadian economy. That is—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Terrebonne—Blainville.

Privacy

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

Mr. Speaker, in her report released yesterday, the Privacy Commissioner was clear: Canada has fallen behind when it comes to privacy matters.

The law is quite simply archaic, because it was designed before Internet fraud, cyberbullying and the theft of personal information, which now dominate the headlines.

The NDP introduced Bill C-475, which seeks to bring the Privacy Act into the digital age.

Why not support these practical solutions?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, naturally we thank the commissioner for her report. Our government is truly determined to protect Canadians' privacy.

That is why we introduced Bill C-12, which strengthens guarantees to protect personal information and implements the committee's recommendations. With all due respect, the bill introduced by my colleague does not cover all these aspects.

We will take the time to carefully study the commissioner's report. However, I would ask the NDP to support Bill C-12, which addresses the committee's findings.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Conservatives do not take the privacy of Canadians seriously. The commissioner herself has raised concerns about Bill C-12. To paraphrase the Privacy Commissioner, the Conservatives are taking a soft approach when it comes to protecting Canadians' privacy online.

The commissioner made it clear. The present lack of oversight for online snooping is putting Canadians' privacy at risk.

When will the Conservative government agree that we need a tougher law, better oversight, and reporting mechanisms? When will the Conservatives start protecting Canadians' privacy online?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture)]

Mr. Speaker, we thank the Privacy Commissioner for her report, and we indeed have taken measures to have tougher measures. That is why we introduced Bill C-12, which would improve privacy safeguards.

It is unfortunate that the opposition decided to play political games and needlessly delayed the bill.

We seek the support from the opposition. Everything covered in this bill is in response to what was recommended by the committee. I urge the opposition to support Bill C-12 immediately.

International Trade

[Colin Mayes, Conservative, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is known around the world for its top quality beef and pork. Unfortunately, despite several rulings by the World Trade Organization, the United States has failed to abandon its discriminatory country of origin labelling requirements, hurting industry and workers in both our countries.

Could the Minister of International Trade please share with the House how our government is standing up for the beef and pork sector and hard-working Canadians who depend on it?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Okanagan—Shuswap for his tireless efforts in standing up for our Canadian beef and pork producers. Today our government is launching the next phase of our fight against discriminatory county of origin labelling rules. Our government, with the full support and active engagement of Canadian industry, has fought against unfair treatment since the very beginning. Canada's beef and pork exporters can count on our government to continue to stand up for their interests.

Health

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the overwhelming clinical evidence is that safe injection sites like InSite save lives. Canada's highest court unanimously said that the Conservative government's efforts to shut down InSite broke the law. The Minister of Health, who has never bothered to set foot into Insite, decided to double down on Conservatives' ideologically driven war on drugs, with rules that would make it harder for new centres to open.

Why does the minister continue to let ideology rather than evidence dictate health care policy in Canada?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, our government believes that it is important that local voices be heard before decisions are made to put a supervised drug consumption site where illegal drugs are used, in any neighbourhood. Yesterday, I was proud to announce that we have introduced the respect for communities act, which makes certain that local voices are heard. We do not think a supervised drug consumption site should be created in any residential neighbourhood without consultation.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is sadly lagging behind other nations in its research funding as a percentage of GDP, and with productivity and research so directly related, how can the government make such drastic cuts to basic research and say with a conscience that it is focused on productivity? Why is the government not listening to the B.C. fruit growers, and others in the agriculture sector, about the need for federal investment and basic long-term research? What is the government's long-term planning process to fill critical research positions at the Summerland Research Station?

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to identify that the department is committed to research, and as programs sunset other priority areas, such as innovation, markets and competitiveness continue to be supported in our agricultural policy framework called Growing Forward 2.

Growing Forward 2 has announced a $3 billion investment, over five years, in science and innovation, markets and competitiveness. The department will continue to perform research in areas where it is needed and of higher risk, and the department will collaborate with its partners in industry and academia to leverage priority research.

The Economy

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder on what exact date the Leader of the Opposition travelled to Alberta to deliver his now infamous Dutch disease speech. I am wondering if he can confirm that he personally approved of that text and, I wonder, did his principal secretary Karl Bélanger pen any of those remarks. I wonder if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment can confirm that our government will not set up a $21-billion taxpayer-funded super secret slush fund, which the NDP has so strongly advocated for.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Peace River for his Perry Mason-like crisp and focused questions.

Our government's sector-by-sector regulatory approach has helped to virtually stop the growth of greenhouse emissions in this country. Instead of wanting to raise a $21-billion super secret slush fund to increase the size of government on the backs of Canadian families and industry, have no fear, our economic action plan has helped to lower taxes and create over one million net new jobs since the depths of the recession, including over 54,000 new jobs for young Canadians in May alone.

Housing

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week, we learned that the Shawinigan hospital is having issues with pyrrhotite. The Conservatives will probably try to pass the buck by saying that hospitals are under provincial jurisdiction. However, I urge them to read the National Assembly's unanimous motion calling for federal help on this matter. The federal government compensated pyrite victims, so there is no reason that pyrrhotite victims should not be compensated too. All levels of government are responsible for supporting people in crisis.

Will the government stand by as a hospital deteriorates to the point where it has to be closed?

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

Mr. Speaker, the pyrrhotite issue falls under provincial jurisdiction.

In August 2011, the Government of Quebec launched a provincial program to provide financial assistance to homeowners coping with pyrrhotite damage. People concerned about the pyrrhotite problem should contact the province's housing corporation, the Société d'habitation du Québec.

Ethics

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives refuse to say what the secret one-million-dollar fund managed directly from the Prime Minister's Office was for.

Was it used to pay back Senator Duffy's illegal expenditures, the irresponsible expenditures of former minister Oda—who was buying $16 orange juice—or the $45,000 in illegal contributions received by former minister Penashue?

One cannot help but wonder whether this secret fund is used to cover up the scandals tainting the Prime Minister and his entourage.

Will the Prime Minister show some transparency and tell us what this fund was used for?