Bill Casey

[Question No. 128, May 13th, 2005]

With regard to the public disclosure of government support funding on websites managed by Western Economic Diversification Canada, the Federal Economic Development Initiative in Northern Ontario and the Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions: ( a ) do these organizations post notices or have pages for the purposes of "proactive disclosure" of public funding information on their public websites similar to those of the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency and, if not, why not; ( b ) has Treasury Board issued directives to these organizations concerning the proactive disclosure of information about the distribution of government support funds; ( c ) if there have been Treasury Board directives requesting that the organizations post this information on each of their public websites, by what dates are they expected to comply with the Treasury Board directives; and ( d ) what are the specific obstacles or challenges for each of these organizations in creating or placing this information on their public websites?

(Return tabled)

[The Budget, May 13th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals really wanted to debate the budget, there would be more than only less than half of them here today.

If Canadians want to see how interested the Liberals are in debating the budget, all they have to do is look at the legislative calendar for last month and this month to see the priority the budget debate has had. It is behind the border services debate, the debate on statistics, the debate on patents and the debate on the quarantine bill.

The Liberals do not want to talk about the budget. They do not want to vote on the budget. Let us have a confidence vote on Monday.

[The Budget, May 13th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about yesterday, because all of us came to the House to talk about what was on the projected order of business. The projected order of business said that we would talk about the budget, both budgets, the Liberal budget and the NDP budget. We came here with members prepared to debate the budget and what did the Liberals do? They pulled the budget and put on a concurrence motion.

Why will the Liberals not stop playing games and have a vote on Monday?

[Privilege, May 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, if I inadvertently made statements I should not have, I certainly apologize for that and withdraw them.

We went on for some time and allegations were made that a Conservative member of Parliament deliberately mailed a householder into another riding, which he did not do. He did not deliberately do that. It was not his fault. The House of Commons postal unit came to our committee and apologized for it, but if I did say anything that I should not have said, I certainly apologize. I did not mean to do that.

[House of Commons, May 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, in the last 20 days, the Liberals have made an incredible number of campaign promises at a rate of $36 million per hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

After the Liberals lost the vote last night the Globe and Mail said, “The government is testing their limits of legitimacy.”

Before they spend another dime, the Liberals must absolutely restore their legitimacy through a confidence vote. Will the Prime Minister call for a vote of confidence today?

[Message from the Senate, May 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to welcome Kelly, Leslie and Brian to Ottawa if they are here. We certainly want to make them feel welcome.

Just in rough numbers, Quebec has seven times the population of Nova Scotia, but it gets thirty times the museum funding. That is not right and it is not acceptable.

I do not know whether the Department of Canadian Heritage has skewed the regulations and the criteria to favour Quebec or what, but it does not make sense, it is not fair and it is not acceptable for Quebec to have 37% of the funding and Nova Scotia to have 1%. It has thirty times the funding and seven times the population. Something is wrong.

I would put my volunteer museums and their quality up against any professional museum in the country in management and the ability of the curator to bring in quality displays that reflect our heritage and history. I do not see any reason why those Nova Scotia museums--

[Message from the Senate, May 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to follow up on a question I asked on February 18 about museum funding. It is interesting to note that this would come up at this time because we have just spent the last hour talking about heritage lighthouses across Canada. Now we will be talking about another aspect of our heritage.

I was alarmed when I came across statistics in Heritage Canada that showed that Quebec receives 37% of all federal museum funding and the province of Nova Scotia, part of which I represent, receives just a little over 1%. I could not believe this was the case. Quebec received 59 individual grants last year while Nova Scotia only received four. The statistics are about the same for the year before.

When I previously asked the minister my question she said that some provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec where several national museums are located, required greater support.

I take total exception to that. It is simply not fair that one province gets 37% of all program funding for museums. It would not be fair for one province to get 37% of funding for anything but especially not for museums.

Even though the minister said that Ontario and Quebec have important historic facilities, I beg to differ. Nova Scotia shares some of the oldest parts of our federation. We share history from the French, the Acadians, the English and our first nations peoples throughout the whole province. We have dozens of museums and heritage sites that deserve just as much attention and just as much from the federal budget as the province of Quebec. Nova Scotia has a unique seagoing heritage. We have shipbuilding throughout the province of Nova Scotia, which is unique.

In my riding, in which there is a lighthouse, Spencers Island is the community where the Mary Celeste ship was built. This ship was found sailing on the sea with all its sails up and all the tables set but nobody was on board. It has been well documented in the Age of Sail Museum which is also in my riding. This museum is manned by volunteers who do an incredible job of gathering up information reflecting the history of the area. They have captured it well. This museum is one example of the 33 museums in my riding, and it is a dandy. I take my hat off to the people and the volunteers who work so hard e to make the museum a success.

After I raised the question in the House, I had a visit from officials from Heritage Canada. They explained that this funding was demand driven and so on but I still say there is something very wrong with the system when one province receives 37% of the funding and my province of Nova Scotia receives 1% of the funding. There is no justification for that. If it is application driven, then Heritage Canada is doing more to obtain applications from Quebec than from Nova Scotia and the other provinces.

I will continue to push on this issue. Perhaps I could get a clarification on why one province receives 37% of the heritage funding for museums while Nova Scotia receives 1%.

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to Make Certain Payments, May 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for the hon. minister too. However, having said that, let me note that he said this money is not to buy the NDP's votes. Why was it not in Bill C-43? Why did it only crop up in Bill C-48 when the government needed the 19 votes so it could get its budget passed? Two weeks ago, it was not there. It is there now just because the Liberals need to buy NDP votes.

As for the Conservative record, that is a good point. I wish we had had more success than we did when we were in power, but there is not an expert or an economist in the country who does not give the credit for balancing the budget to the establishment of the GST and free trade. I challenge the minister to stand up and tell us about one innovative or imaginative policy, such as the GST or free trade, that the Liberals came up with and that helped them balance the budget. They balanced the budget on the backs of Brian Mulroney's accomplishments.

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to Make Certain Payments, May 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this budget is not going to cause as much trouble for us as it will for generations down the road, because a lot of these items are locked in. These are operational programs that the government is announcing. They are locked in and they will carry on for a very long time. If at the end of the day we have a deficit this year, and I do not know how we can avoid it with the rate at which the government is spending now, then we will pay, our children will pay and our grandchildren will pay for a very long time.

This comes down to common sense. No responsible Minister of Finance and no responsible Prime Minister would say on Saturday night, “Okay, we will give you 6,000 million dollars, and okay, we'll give the NDP 4.6 thousand million dollars for the 19 votes to get us through the next couple of months”. It is incredibly irresponsible. It lacks all common sense and responsibility.

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to Make Certain Payments, May 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, first, let me make it clear that unless there are petitioners there is no hope at all for the member.

I also compliment Mr. Nash on his accomplishments. As an old car salesman, I feel some affinity for Mr. Nash, who is only 6'1” tall by the way. Be that as it may, he is a little shorter than the member was saying, which is something like the Liberals are doing with their budget, only it is far short of what we need and what this country needs.

There is no hope for the member and there is no hope for the budget.