House of Commons Hansard #116 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was korea.

Topics

Agriculture and Agri-FoodOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Battlefords—Lloydminster Saskatchewan

Conservative

Gerry Ritz ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

Mr. Speaker, of course we cannot control what the Americans are going to do, but having said that, we continue to work with our Horticultural Council. I have had discussions with its American counterparts under the RCC umbrella and under a number of other auspices. We continue to move horticultural products back and forth across the borders. We are talking about some $7 million that have been used under this program over the last number of years. It is not a large number, but we want to make sure that when our horticultural guys deal on the American side, or for the same thing when they reciprocate up here, that everybody has the ability to be paid for that top quality produce.

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Dany Morin NDP Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC

Mr. Speaker, Apotex will finally quarantine drugs from a plant in India and stop distributing them in Canada. For that to happen, it took a media crisis and the NDP asking the minister a lot of questions. The government's negligence and lack of transparency have cast doubt on our entire drug oversight system.

The Minister of Health is lying low and refusing to specify which drugs have been quarantined. Can she commit to making that list public? Canadians have the right to know.

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Edmonton—Spruce Grove Alberta

Conservative

Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, the transparency framework we have put in place is continuously evolving, and I have asked Health Canada to post inspection summaries for any of the inspections it does on plants.

It is true that today and yesterday we have put a voluntary quarantine on Apotex products coming out of its plant in Bangalore, India. I will not tolerate any drug safety risks for Canadians. I asked Health Canada to act, and it did.

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC

Mr. Speaker, the framework she talks about is evolving to the point that it simply does not work. The fact is that Canadians should not have to rely on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to protect our prescription drugs.

Public safety must be paramount, and Health Canada's secrecy must stop. Health Canada has yet to let Canadians know which drugs it quarantined yesterday. Why is the minister so opposed to increasing transparency? Will she publicly disclose details to Canadians about which drugs have been quarantined and why?

HealthOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Edmonton—Spruce Grove Alberta

Conservative

Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, the appropriate action has been taken. We have ensured, upon learning about any of the safety issues around the Bangalore, India, plant that Apotex runs, that we have quarantined all products coming out of that plant, and they will not be able to be sold.

I expect Health Canada will take any further action necessary and work with provinces and territories on any distribution of drug issues.

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is saying no more wives and husbands from abroad until 2015. Imagine getting married in July 2011, and being forced to wait for three years before finally being told by immigration that the file is now ready for visa issuance. Well, not by the government; the government has put a freeze on issuing visas for wives and husbands until the end of this year.

Why is the minister being so cruel to families?

Citizenship and ImmigrationOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Ajax—Pickering Ontario

Conservative

Chris Alexander ConservativeMinister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, that was a spectacularly inaccurate question. There was not a shred of truth, not a single fact in place.

What is true is that this government has taken action to reduce backlogs and to speed processing times that were left to us by the Liberals. We have done it in the field of parents and grandparents where in only three years we have processed well over 50,000 applications. By the end of this year, it is going to be 70,000 applications, as well as over 40,000 super visas. We are talking about over 100,000 parents and grandparents here. That is double or triple the rate we ever saw under the Liberal Party. We have done that while taking terrorism seriously.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government's pipeline policy has been an utter failure. One result of this incompetence has been a dramatic increase in oil shipments by rail. We all know the dangers of that. Industry predicts oil shipments by rail will increase by sevenfold to 1.7 million barrels a day in the next few years.

Does the government have any plan to ensure Canadians are not put at risk as a result?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Halton Ontario

Conservative

Lisa Raitt ConservativeMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question from the opposition member, because we have been doing so much on this file since 2006.

We have issued protective disclosures to ensure that we have safe tank cars. We want to make sure that operations are as safe as possible in Canada.

We know that we are going to responsibly develop our resources in this country. We know that we will sign more free trade agreements in this country. Transportation of these goods in a safe manner is extremely important as well, and we will continue to work on that.

Fisheries and OceansOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Philip Toone NDP Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC

Mr. Speaker, in July, the Ocean Breaker, a factory ship, was seen fishing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We have a regulation prohibiting factory ships from fishing in the gulf, and there are no exceptions. A permit was issued, contrary to DFO's own regulations.

This is not healthy management, it hurts local fishers, and it proves that the minister has not given up on her latest attempt to eliminate the fleet separation policy.

Why did the minister issue that permit?

Fisheries and OceansOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Egmont P.E.I.

Conservative

Gail Shea ConservativeMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, not at all. This area has been subject to a redfish fishing moratorium since 1995.

However, in 1999 the decision was made to allow for a small 2,000 tonne test fishery to support science and the monitoring of stocks.

The division of access of this test fishery was split between larger and smaller vessel fleets according to the historical access prior to the moratorium. Inshore fishers have participated in this test fishery most of the years since it has been implemented. Recently I have heard concerns from several industry members of the presence of larger vessels. Therefore, I have asked that this issue be examined as part of a recently formed DFO working industry group on redfish.

Fisheries and OceansOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Ryan Cleary NDP St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL

Mr. Speaker, it is amazing. The policy on banning factory ships has just vanished into the Conservative air from the DFO website. It is gone.

Let us get this straight. The minister okayed this huge trawler coming into the Gulf of St. Lawrence just months after Atlantic Canadian fishermen rallied to stop her attack on fleet separation. It is as though the minister is trying to do through the back door what she could not do through the front door.

Why is the minister making policy for well-connected Conservative friends, like the Sullivans, instead of protecting the fishermen and the families of Atlantic Canada?

Fisheries and OceansOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Egmont P.E.I.

Conservative

Gail Shea ConservativeMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member did not hear my answer.

This is a test fishery with a 2,000 tonne quota for the entire fleet, large and small ships. The larger ships had opted not to participate in this test fishery for the last few years, and this year they did.

This is currently being reviewed.

HealthOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Mayes Conservative Okanagan—Shuswap, BC

Mr. Speaker, as many of my colleagues know, my son-in-law and daughter were some of the first responders to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, so it has been very encouraging to see the government take a leadership role on the world stage when it comes to the global public health threats posed by Ebola.

Canada's medical expertise is respected all over the world, and the generosity of Canadians working with non-governmental organizations in West Africa is going a long way to fight against this disease.

Could the Minister of Health please give the House an update on Canada's latest contributions to combat the Ebola outbreak?

HealthOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Edmonton—Spruce Grove Alberta

Conservative

Rona Ambrose ConservativeMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Okanagan—Shuswap and his family for the work that they have done in this area. Canada remains committed in the fight against Ebola and remains there for the global response.

I am pleased to inform the House that Canada is investing, as of this morning, an additional $30 million for our humanitarian partners in the region. This will include the Red Cross and many others to improve treatment, health care, nutrition, and of course, save lives.

Preventing further transmission of the Ebola virus is essential in controlling the current outbreak. We will continue to explore ways to support health care workers on the front lines.

TaxationOral Questions

3 p.m.

Liberal

Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC

Mr. Speaker, we all know that Revenue Canada is losing billions because of widespread international tax evasion, but what are the Conservatives doing? They are dismantling the teams of experts who counter this phenomenon and harassing charitable organizations that disagree with them. If the Conservatives have nothing to hide, then why are they unwilling to give the Parliamentary Budget Officer the information he needs to assess the scale of this problem?

TaxationOral Questions

3 p.m.

Delta—Richmond East B.C.

Conservative

Kerry-Lynne Findlay ConservativeMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member opposite mentioned the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Just this morning he released his opinion that we were giving everything we needed on CRA for the fighting of international tax evasion and that we were getting the job done for Canadians.

Contrary to the premise of that question, and I have stated this before in the House, we are not reducing the number of our auditors, especially in international tax evasion. We have actually increased the complement by 750 since we took office. By our managerial changes, we will add another 10.

As far as charitable organizations, we will go forward. Charitable organizations in Canada need to respect the law and we need to ensure they do it.

National DefenceOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Robert Chisholm NDP Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS

Mr. Speaker, in May, the Federal Court ordered the Treasury Board to revisit the case of Major Marcus Brauer.

The Chief of the Defence Staff, the Canadian Forces Ombudsman and the Grievance Board had already declared that the Treasury Board's decision to deny him benefits under the home equity assistance program was unjust.

It has been four months. Actually it has been almost five years. What is the holdup? Why is the government being so unjust to military families? When will it do things right by the Brauer family?

National DefenceOral Questions

3 p.m.

Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario

Conservative

Tony Clement ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we will comply with the Federal Court case. I am informed that the review is under way and will be completed soon. Then the government will consider the review and act accordingly.

TelecommunicationsOral Questions

3 p.m.

Conservative

Ted Falk Conservative Provencher, MB

Mr. Speaker, many residents living in my riding live in rural communities that do not have access to telecommunications that many of us enjoy, expect and take for granted, like high speed Internet.

I am pleased that our government has introduced the connecting Canadians program and I am sure that will address many of the issues, not only in my riding of Provencher but across Canada.

Could the Minister of Industry give us an update on that program?

TelecommunicationsOral Questions

3 p.m.

Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam B.C.

Conservative

James Moore ConservativeMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, the connecting Canadians program addresses a serious concern. I am pleased that my colleague from Provencher is raising an issue that I know is of serious concern to him and his rural constituents in southern Manitoba.

The gap that is far too often the failed market circumstance in rural parts of the country, northern communities, often aboriginal communities, is something we need to address as a government. Our connecting Canadians program will do that.

We have put greater than $5 million forward. We are partnering with the private sector. We are moving forward to ensure that all Canadians, no matter where they live, will benefit from high speed Internet access.

We are the 2nd largest country in the world in size and 37th largest in population, but to connect us together is a real accomplishment.

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

NDP

Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC

Mr. Speaker, for years now, young people in the Portneuf region have always been able to count on l'Autre Cartier, a homelessness prevention organization that does wonders. However, backlogs in the processing of applications to the skills link program have deprived that organization of crucial funding. L'Autre Cartier will soon be forced to shut down, and the youth who live there will be forced onto the streets.

The Minister of Employment and Social Development is responsible for preventing such debacles. Can he explain why his department is putting community organizations like l'Autre Cartier in jeopardy?

Social DevelopmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Calgary Southeast Alberta

Conservative

Jason Kenney ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism

Mr. Speaker, this government has made unprecedented investments in housing for those in need, notably with our new housing first program, which has been a great success, by all accounts.

I am not familiar with the specific file that the member is talking about. Generally, when members want to talk about specific files, it is better if they submit them in writing or discuss them with me, because I am not familiar with that one right now. If they provide me with a letter, I will be able to answer in detail.

Government ContractsOral Questions

3 p.m.

Independent

Brent Rathgeber Independent Edmonton—St. Albert, AB

Mr. Speaker, the government has spent more than $20 million on media monitoring contracts since December 2012, notwithstanding maintaining any army of 3,300 communications staff across all government lines.

Given that this in-house communication staff costs nearly $263 million every year, why does the government need to outsource another $20 million in media monitoring services? Has the government never heard of Google Alerts?

What do all of these people do?

Government ContractsOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Parry Sound—Muskoka Ontario

Conservative

Tony Clement ConservativePresident of the Treasury Board

Mr. Speaker, it is important for any government, and certainly this government takes it seriously, to understand what Canadians are telling the media and to understand the various people in the parliamentary press gallery, but also all the other sources of media these days, aside from the parliamentary press gallery.

This is part of how we inform ourselves and make informed decisions, and we will continue to do so.