Raymond Simard

[Government Programs, February 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the last time this government was swimming in surpluses, it reacted the way it always does: it gave students a pittance and it made cuts in essential programs designed for people who need them the most. The funding for the court challenges program and other programs for linguistic minorities has been cut irresponsibly.

Who is going to be the next one to suffer this year? Who is going to be the government's next victim?

[Government Programs, February 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Liberals the government inherited one of the largest surpluses in Canadian history.

The Minister of Finance promised students there would be money for them in the last budget, but he let them down with only a paltry $80 for books when the cost of books runs in the hundreds, even thousands of dollars.

Students need money in September so they can pay for tuition and groceries. Will the finance minister guarantee that he will do more to put money directly in the pockets of students than the paltry $1.50 per week he came up with last year?

[Prime Minister, February 23rd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, after being shamed in the House, Conservative members still persist in continuing to cast aspersions, even outside the House.

The Conservative caucus chair, duly following his PMO's instructions, even concluded that the father-in-law of the member for Mississauga—Brampton South is a suspect. It is yet another example of the government's complete disregard for the truth.

Is the Prime Minister suggesting that the RCMP and CSIS got it wrong when the member for Mississauga—Brampton South was security cleared as a privy councillor in 2005?

[Prime Minister, February 23rd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable that there are government leaks aimed at creating misunderstandings, fuelling fears and casting aspersions on someone. The Prime Minister's attempt to use protected information to cast aspersions on a member of this House is also unacceptable and offensive. The Prime Minister's Office distributed the article published in the Vancouver Sun to the media, before the Prime Minister even rose in the House.

Why did the Conservative Party go to so much trouble, without even verifying the facts?

[Firefighters, February 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are deeply saddened by the tragic incident in Saint Boniface on Sunday evening where two firefighters lost their lives and several others were seriously injured.

That evening, I was being kept abreast of developments as they unfolded and was relieved that Mr. Chartier's family was in fact safe and out of danger.

Unfortunately, we were later informed that Captain Thomas Nichols and Captain Harold Lessard, veterans of the fire department, were not as fortunate and lost their lives, ensuring no one else was caught in this inferno. Mr. Ed Wiebe remains in critical condition and three other firefighters are recovering from their injuries.

We sometimes take for granted how dangerous a job this is. The fact that these firefighters would risk their lives and enter a residence engulfed in flames to assist their colleagues or to ensure no one is left behind is admirable and a testament to their courage.

These firefighters are heroes and should be recognized as such. On behalf of all colleagues in the House, I wish the injured firefighters a speedy recovery and offer my deepest condolences to the Nichols and Lessard families.

Today we honour their memory. We will never forget their unselfish act of heroism.

[Minority Francophone Communities, February 2nd, 2007]

When he was the leader of the official opposition, the Prime Minister signed a solemn commitment that read in part as follows:

—I acknowledge that linguistic duality is one of the foundations of Canadian society and that the official language communities, and more particularly, the francophone and Acadian communities, are one of the pillars of this duality and consequently of Canada. By doing so, I agree to take every means necessary for the Government of Canada to promote their continued development.

When he became Prime Minister, he quickly set to work, and minority communities have been suffering ever since: $5 million in cuts to status of women; $6 million in cuts to the court challenges program; $18 million in cuts to literacy programs; and closure of nine centres in Manitoba.

On Tuesday, at the Standing Committee on Official Languages, we learned that another program was threatened.

The Réseau Santé en français, which is extremely successful, is very concerned that its funding will not be renewed for 2007-08.

The Prime Minister must reverse this decision and finally honour his solemn commitment to minority francophone communities.

[Business of Supply, February 1st, 2007]

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. I fully understood the speech given by the Minister of the Environment. However, the question was put to the Prime Minister. When it comes to the issue that has the greatest impact on Canadians at this time, it seems to me that the Prime Minister of a country could rise in the House and show his support for the Kyoto protocol.

It is not up to the Minister of the Environment to speak for the Prime Minister. He has a certain responsibility to answer to Canadians. If he ever wants to be elected with a majority government, he must stand up.

[Business of Supply, February 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, not only do I know the member's riding very well, but I had the pleasure of working up there for 18 years during the summertime and other times with my work. I had to drive on winter roads, so I know the situation extremely well.

If people are not bringing in materials by winter roads, the cost of bringing them by plane is abhorrent. No one can imagine the additional costs that would have to be incurred to bring materials up north.

The whole system is absolutely essential to the transportation system in winter. One of my NDP colleagues said the same thing a little while ago. Global warming is having an impact. It is not only an environmental disaster, it is also an economic disaster. When the Conservatives figure that out, maybe then they will move on this issue.

[Business of Supply, February 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that if the Prime Minister were proud of his accomplishments, he would have said that he supported Kyoto and change. Yesterday there was dead silence in the House of Commons.

What the hon. member was speaking about does not affect climate change at all. It is something completely different. What the Conservatives are proposing to affect climate change is totally different from what the Liberals are proposing.

It seems to me that if there would not have been pressure from this side of the House and the Canadian public, the Conservative Party would not have reintroduced most of the Liberal programs. EnerGuide is finally back. I am not sure what it is called these day, but it was certainly a Liberal program, with some cuts to it. Most programs that have been reintroduced have had cuts as well.

Thank God the Liberals introduced some programs that the Conservatives could copy. Otherwise there would be absolutely nothing on the table right now.

[Business of Supply, February 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Newton—North Delta, my very capable colleague.

I am very pleased to speak to the motion today. Like many colleagues here, I think some votes are more memorable than others. The vote on Kyoto, which happened in December 2002, was a very memorable one for me. I was sitting in the corner to the right of me and a group of pages were lined up along the wall on both sides. They were not working because it was after hours. I asked them why they were here. They said, very clearly, that it was a very special day in Canada's history and they wanted to be here for that. I will never forget that vote and that is why I am very proud to speak to the motion.

This issue is probably one of the most critical right now, not only for Canada but for the world. It has become a priority in the world as a whole, and 168 countries signed the Kyoto protocol. Every MP has to take this very seriously. The first step when we try to find a solution is to admit there is a problem. I believe that is at the core of what is going on today.

We are way beyond the point of having to convince people that global warming is a problem, but it seems that we still are. We must believe in the science. We must believe in our experts who are giving us the proper information. Every report that has come out lately has unequivocally indicated that we are in a global warming phase and it is caused by human beings. However, it seems the governing party does not necessarily agree with it.

As early as yesterday, when the Conservative members were coming out of their caucus, some of them were asked whether they believed in global warming. They indicated that they had to reserve judgment on that, which I cannot believe. We are not talking about three or four years ago when there was no information available. We are talking about yesterday. It is absolutely unacceptable. We have to believe that climate change exists if we are to believe there is a solution for it. How can Conservative MPs be the last people on earth to acknowledge that this exists?

If I am not mistaken, I saw a program the other day about a poll in rural China. As we can imagine, not a lot of those people have access to a lot of information. However, the number one priority with peasants in rural China was the environment. Probably for obvious reasons, people in China are having huge issues with the environment and it is probably affecting their daily lives. However, if it is the number one priority for people in rural China, it seems to me that members of Parliament on that side of the House, who should be aware of what is going on in the world, should be aware that it is a major issue.

One of the problems I see is the difficulty for the troops to be on board when the leader is not, and that is quite obvious. We saw it yesterday in the House of Commons. We asked the Prime Minister 18 times what he thought about Kyoto and would he reinstate it because he had put it totally aside. We did not get a clear answer. With those questions were 18 quotes from the Prime Minister indicating his disdain for this international accord. The Prime Minister called it a socialist plot. He still speaks about the so-called global warming issue. It is absolutely ridiculous.

Despite that, we seem to be seeing some movement on this. There seems to be a bit of a born again environmentalist movement happening right now. We wonder if it has anything to do with the latest polls, which show that it is the number one issue with Canadians. It bothers me, as a member of Parliament, that a government would react only when it sees a poll. Before that, the environment was probably number 86 or 87 on the list of the Conservatives. It was not even in the top 20. That is a very bothersome indication.

It certainly begs this question. If the Conservatives had a majority government right now, would they make this total about-change right now? I think the answer is no. It is pretty obvious that if the government had a four year mandate, it would not be reinstituting some of the policies brought in by the previous government. I think that is a scary thought for most Canadians.

The Prime Minister seemed to indicate that he prefers a made in Canada solution. It is quite obvious that his clean air act was an absolute bust. Even the National Post criticized it. The National Post never criticizes the Conservative government. That probably gives us the extent of how bad it actually was and how bad a policy it was.

We all realize that greenhouse gas emissions have no borders. The made in Canada solution is not the solution, and that has been quite obvious. This is why 168 countries have signed on to this international agreement.

I will speak briefly to Canada's reputation in this whole thing. Our country has taken one heck of a shot in the last little while because of our abandonment of Kyoto. There are other issues as well. The government's policy on foreign affairs has also been quite radical and disturbing. However, where we probably have been affected the most is with regard to the environment. I believe it is the first time in the history of our country that we have failed to honour its obligations to an international treaty.

I have constituents who have come back from Europe, one from France. People are asking what is happening in Canada. They cannot believe what is going on here. Obviously we are not the only people who are aware that there is a problem. Other countries are very much concerned with Canada's attitude toward the environment and other issues as well.

Canada has always been a leader on the world stage. We have never had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to attend events or to lead them. We have always been a world leader when it comes to this. The conference in Montreal last year, chaired by our new leader, is a classic example of optimism when it comes to the environment. Canada showed its leadership and on the world stage, it picked up our image. We were a leader, not a follower, when it came to Kyoto.

We also have to build our credibility in terms of the damage that was done by the previous minister of the environment. The meetings in Bonn and Nairobi were outright disasters. At the same time, I really do not blame the previous minister of the environment. She was not given anything with which to work. She was told to go out there, stall and pretend that we liked Kyoto but not commit to anything. I feel badly for her. She was hung out to dry. We know that all the policy comes out of the PMO.

It is very important to know that Canadians want us to respect our obligations to Kyoto. That is pretty obvious right now.

We have all had our personal experiences with climate change. Last year I had the pleasure to visit Churchill. It was my first trip there. People here have indicated that the north is probably the first and the most obvious place to be hit by climate change. I did not think tundra melted, but in fact we saw 100 year old buildings that were tilting and falling apart because of that. The science is there, but also we are seeing it with our own eyes.

I also had the privilege of visiting the icebreaker, the CCGS Amundsen, which is an icebreaker that has been converted to an environmental laboratory. Dr. Barber from the University of Manitoba, along with his colleagues from the Université de Sherbrooke, talked to us about the north. He showed us the polar ice caps and the degree to which they have been reduced.

These are facts, and the experts in the world are confirming exactly what is going on out there.

They also talked about the disappearance of certain species of fish and the overabundance of other species. Global warming is changing things around to where it is denaturalizing nature as we used to know it.

Regarding the opening of the Northwest Passage, some people may say that economically this is not a bad thing for Canada, but we have to find other ways to build our economy. We should not count on global warming to be melting our northern passages.

We have all seen green Christmases. We are there almost every year now. It was 16 degrees in Montreal around Christmastime this year, which is totally abnormal. We have all seen the severe storms around the world, which is something that did not happen 10 or 15 years ago. These days it happens more frequently.

I will speak quickly to two things that we in Manitoba should be supporting to achieve our objectives.

The east-west power grid is something our party supported wholeheartedly the last time. We have 5,000 megawatts of power right now. Ontario needs 25,000 megawatts. It is clean energy. We should support this wholeheartedly.

The second project is a $200 million investment in wind power in St. Leon, a small town. This is a huge investment which is very important for that town. Farmers also get an economic spinoff because they receive $4,400 per windmill on their property. It added 100 megawatts of power to the grid in Manitoba.

Wind power and developing new hydroelectic power is absolutely critical. There are ways to achieve Kyoto.