Blake Richards

[Canada Grain Act, October 8th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Canada Grain Act.

However, it is a sad day, in fact, a very sad day when the opposition plays games once again with the livelihood of western grain farmers with this motion to hoist this very important bill.

The facts are simple, Canadian farm families deserve to be treated equally across the country, but the current legislation forces western Canadian producers to pay costs that are not imposed in other regions. It sounds kind of like the Wheat Board, which also applies only to western Canadian farmers, but yet the opposition seems so intent on forcing it on western Canadian farmers.

Bill C-13 would contribute to building a lower cost, more effective and innovative grain sector. This legislation is based on the agriculture committee report the opposition parties helped to write.

Conservative MPs on the agriculture committee, including myself, are ready and willing to get down to work, to roll up our sleeves, and work on Bill C-13 at the agriculture committee. It is just too bad the opposition parties are not willing to do that work and treat all regions equally. It is what our farmers would expect.

In committee there will be ample opportunities to work on this bill, but the opposition has decided to collude to hoist this bill which will essentially kill the bill to the detriment of our western grain farmers.

The amendments the government is proposing to the Canada Grain Act and the Canadian Grain Commission are evidence of our commitment to grain producers. Canada's quality assurance system for grain provides a key competitive advantage for our farmers. The amendments we are proposing would build on that competitive advantage.

When our global customers choose Canadian grain for processing, they count on consistent quality and cleanliness with every delivery. This world-class reputation that our Canadian grains enjoy around the globe has been earned. First and foremost it has been earned through the hard work of our farmers, but grain handling companies, research scientists and the Canadian Grain Commission have also played a role in building that golden reputation.

Our edge in the marketplace is all about quality. Much of the responsibility for the quality of Canadian grain resides with the Canadian Grain Commission and the quality assurance system it administers under the Canada Grain Act.

The grain industry is changing, and the legislative tools required to keep the industry competitive need to change along with that. The Canada Grain Act has not changed substantially in almost 40 years, but the marketplace has certainly evolved.

We have a major new customer for grains in the form of the biofuels industry, supported by initiatives put in place by this Conservative government. We have quality management systems to allow parcels of grain with specific qualities wanted by buyers to be kept separate through the handling system. We have niche marketing and processing of grains in Canada, and we now have a broader range, in fact, a much broader range of crops in western Canada.

In the mid-1990s, the reform of the Western Grain Transportation Act triggered a wholesale diversification as some producers opted to switch to other crops, such as oilseeds, pulse crops and horticultural crops. Today, wheat accounts for only one-third of our crop land. In the 1950s, three-quarters of our land was in wheat.

Some of the changes being proposed include: inward inspection and weighing of grains will no longer be mandatory. There is no reason to require something that is not necessary, particularly when the cost comes out of the bottom line of farmers in the grain industry.

Currently, the Grain Commission is required to inspect and weigh each railcar or truck lot of western grain that is received by licensed terminal elevators. The industry has been calling for change in this area for some years now because the mandatory inspections impose costs and they are not essential to ensure grain quality.

Inward inspection and weighing will no longer be mandatory. Instead, shippers of grain will be able to request an inspection at their discretion, letting them choose when they feel the benefit justifies the cost.

Elevators would also be required to allow access to private inspectors when an inspection is requested, and the Canadian Grain Commission would be authorized to provide grade arbitration if the parties to a transaction request it. This means that if there is a dispute about the grade, the Canadian Grain Commission would be available to impartially determine the grade.

Let us be clear. This does not mean grain would go through the system without inspection. Outward inspection would still be required when grain is loaded into vessels for overseas export. Export vessel shipments would continue to require certification by the Canadian Grain Commission based on inspection and weighing by Canadian Grain Commission personnel.

With the bill in place, our customers will be assured that they can continue to have confidence in Canada's grain quality assurance system. The Canadian Grain Commission would continue to regulate the grain handling system for the benefit of our producers. It would continue to license grain handlers and dealers. It would continue to require them to have proper grading and weighing equipment and to properly document purchases, and continue to ensure that producers have access to grade arbitration by the Canadian Grain Commission.

The bill would actually enhance farmer protection by extending Canadian Grain Commission grade and dockage arbitration to farmers delivering to process elevators and grain dealers. Currently, if a producer disagrees with the grade or dockage for a grain delivery at a licensed primary elevator, the producer can ask the Canadian Grain Commission to determine the grade and dockage and make a binding decision. The grain producer is paid according to this decision. The bill before us proposes to extend this service to deliveries to all licensed grain handlers, including process elevators and grain dealers.

Farmers have never had this protection before and with these amendments we have put farmers first, which I would call the opposition parties to do as well. It is simply shameful that the three opposition parties will not consider the interests of farmers first. They have shown time and time again that they just do not care about the concerns, wants or needs of western farmers.

Let me delve into a few other examples. The opposition members had the opportunity to stand up for farmers but, once again, failed to do so. I want to talk about a vote we had just this week on Bill C-51 and an element contained in that bill. It has been a brutal year for producers in parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta particularly. Producers in west central Saskatchewan got off to a very poor start due to a dry fall and very low snow coverage. This was compounded by a cool, dry spring, resulting in low water supplies and poor pasture and hay growth. Things were certainly no better in my part of the world, in central Alberta, where producers faced seeding without any significant rainfall since the summer of 2008.

There is no denying that the risks and unpredictability of farming will always be there. The last thing a producer who is battling drought needs is a bill from the taxman. That is why the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister of Finance worked together on provisions to allow those producers, forced to sell off their breeding animals due to the drought, to defer the tax on that income for one year. In 2009, we proposed to expand the program to include areas hard hit by excess moisture.

For 2009, the ministers have already announced tax deferrals for producers and some of the municipalities hardest hit by the drought in Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and areas where excess moisture is a big problem in Manitoba. This will help producers in these areas replenish breeding stock in the following year. However, yet again, the opposition Liberals voted against the best interests of western Canadian farmers.

Let me talk about one other area where this is the case, and that is the Wheat Board. Again, this only applies to western farmers and yet we have members from other parts of the country who seem to have decided that they know better and they know what is best for western Canadian grain farmers. They think they know better than the farmers what they should do with their products and the choices that they should be able to make for the market, and they want to limit those choices.

Our government wants to see farmers choose how they market their products, whether they choose to use the Wheat Board to market their products or whether they choose to sell those products on their own. That is a fundamental right that everybody in this country should enjoy and yet opposition parties tell us that western farmers just cannot decide for themselves.

[First Nations Cadet Program, October 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this debate on the motion before us today.

Effective crime prevention initiatives have been a priority for our government since we were first elected in 2006. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to speak about some of the ways we have been helping young people at risk avoid becoming involved in criminal activities and also talk about funding cadet programs in first nations communities.

Young people present our hope for the future. This is especially true in the case of aboriginal youth, the fastest growing segment of our population and a rapidly expanding pool of in-demand talent.

The first nations population is growing three times faster than the national average, with half of all aboriginal people being under the age of 25. Equipped with the right skills and education these young people can seize new economic development opportunities being created in first nations communities. They can also help to fill the thousands of jobs that are opening up as more and more Canadians reach retirement age.

Unfortunately, too many aboriginal youth currently fall short of their potential. They are more likely than their non-aboriginal peers to be both victims of crime and to be arrested and incarcerated for crime. In fact, they are almost eight times more likely to be in custody than their non-aboriginal counterparts.

Research tells us the most persistent young offenders have a history of abuse or neglect, problems in school, early substance abuse, anti-social behaviour, delinquent peers and inadequate adult supervision. Research also provides solid evidence that crime prevention works with these at-risk youth.

Effective prevention programs have proven to be able to reduce arrests of youth by up to 70%. This is one key reason our Conservative government has taken some very decisive action to strengthen and refocus the national crime prevention strategy.

We have made sure that our programs are targeted, effective and long term. We have also taken steps to ensure that funding for the crime prevention strategy is permanent rather than subject to the sunset provisions which the previous government had put in place.

Under the previous national crime prevention strategy, funding went largely to initiatives focusing on raising awareness among young people in general, and other projects such as those designed to help community organizations study the extent of delinquency in their area.

This translated into funding that lacked focus and often went to well intentioned but hardly specific enough initiatives. Under the previous crime prevention strategies, permissible funding was often too small and for too short a period of time, thereby limiting the potential for community-based projects to achieve real measurable results.

Today, the national crime prevention strategy has a renewed mission and core activities that provide a sharper focus on crime prevention. Funding is targeted to address high-risk and high-priority crimes, populations and places. Longer term and more intensive projects are now being funded with a view to reducing the likelihood that at-risk persons will offend. Projects to implement direct interventions with vulnerable children, youth and their families are being supported rather than more general awareness campaigns or social activities.

The idea is to help young people at risk to address circumstances or personal characteristics, such as drug, alcohol or other substance abuse, aggressiveness or violence and dysfunction in families, any of which might lead them down the wrong path and into a life of crime.

Our goal is to make sure that we achieve concrete results by supporting evidence-based projects that will help those most at risk achieve their full potential and make smart choices.

Hon. members will know that as part of our effort to strengthen and refocus the strategy, our government set up the northern and aboriginal crime prevention fund where crime rates unfortunately are often three times higher than elsewhere in the country.

The fund supports innovative and culturally sensitive crime prevention practices that reduce offending among at-risk children and youth. It helps to develop tools and resources tailored to aboriginal and northern populations, and to disseminate this knowledge across communities.

Especially important is that it helps to build capacity at the community level to develop or implement culturally sensitive crime prevention practices among aboriginal and northern populations.

How has the government been doing with the new strategy so far?

Between January and September of this year alone, our government has invested nearly $74.4 million in 46 crime prevention projects across Canada, many of them targeted to helping aboriginal youth. I will talk about just a few.

Our government is investing in a project in Vancouver that provides aboriginal youth between the ages of 12 and 23 with positive alternatives to gang involvement. This initiative is a collaboration between the Vancouver police department and a number of aboriginal organizations.

Our government is also investing in Winnipeg's Circle of Courage project which helps reduce gang violence and criminal activity by enabling aboriginal participants to learn practical life skills and strengthen their connection to their culture to help protect them from gang influences.

Also, the Seeds of Change Youth Inclusion program in Halifax is helping 14 to 18 year olds at risk of criminal involvement to develop new skills, to help with their education and focus on drug prevention and conflict resolution so young people can increase their social skills and sense of belonging.

The Aboriginal Women's Association of P.E.I.'s program Gathering Together is working to reduce in first nation communities incidents of violent crime and property crime associated with substance abuse. This program involves communities, families, service providers and youth in culturally sensitive activities that develop the skills needed to support effective crime prevention and reduction.

The Government of Canada has already done a lot to keep kids at risk out of trouble, and we are going to do a lot more.

The motion before us today asks the government to examine cadet programs in this regard. I would like to give hon. members a brief background into the Hobbema cadet corps which is active in Alberta, in the constituency of my colleague, the member for Wetaskiwin. This cadet corps is a shining example of such programs at work.

In 2005 the RCMP developed and implemented a cadet corps program for the community of Hobbema. It was conceived as a comprehensive crime reduction measure to educate first nations youth on the dangers of gang activity, drug abuse and the associated violence. The program has been a remarkable success.

The cadet corps program recruits young aboriginal people and advises them on positive choices and alternate ways to overcome the challenges and obstacles that prevent them from moving on in their education, or which serve to frustrate their career goals and opportunities.

In partnership with youth, the community and local police, the program provides culturally sensitive, tailored guidance while instilling discipline and providing experience, all while showing trust and respect to everyone involved. Cadets in this program become role models for their peers and the younger generations in their communities.

I will outline some of the success that this program has already seen.

School attendance has risen and crime has been significantly reduced in the community as a result of this cadet corps program. The program has received national and international interest from aboriginal, academic and policing communities for its focus on youth empowerment and its corresponding reduction in crime.

The bottom line is that Canadians want us to invest in what works and make sure we get the biggest bang for our buck. That is what our focus will be.

I want to thank and congratulate my colleague from Wetaskiwin for bringing forward the motion which highlights the potential of cadet programs. It clearly dovetails with our government's plans to strengthen crime prevention among youth.

In fact, I am already seeing how such a program could be beneficial in my own riding of Wild Rose, which is home to the Stoney Nakoda reserve.

I am encouraged by the fact that the three bands in Wild Rose have indicated the priorities for their reserves are education and economic development.

This summer our Minister of Indian Affairs announced that a new school will be built in the community of Morley. Our Conservative government is already showing our commitment to assisting first nations in Wild Rose to meet their objectives. But there is still more work that needs to be done.

This weekend I will be doing a ride-along with the Cochrane RCMP's rural section on the Stoney reserve. Unfortunately, the officers of this section report that the level of crime on the reserve is significantly higher than the rest of the area that they cover.

The benefits that are proven to flow from the establishment of a cadet corps would be welcome in this community. I would dearly love to see them realized for my young constituents in Morley and on the Stoney Nakoda reserve. Most important, they are benefits that would be generated by the first nations community itself, and on its terms.

Based on the early promise of projects such as those in Hobbema, I am optimistic that we will find lasting solutions to youth crime problems, and in the process, continue to build safer communities for Canadians.

I encourage all hon. members to support this initiative.

[Petitions, October 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of presenting two separate petitions signed by people from all across Canada calling for greater freedom in the use of natural health products.

[Petitions, October 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today to present petitions on two separate subjects.

The first petition is signed by 229 petitioners, many of whom are from my riding of Wild Rose.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to support Bill C-391, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act (repeal of long-gun registry). In so doing, they call on all parties to do the right thing in support of law-abiding farmers, ranchers and hunters, and finally abolish the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry.

[Firearms Registry, October 1st, 2009]

Madam Speaker, when the Liberals first proposed the federal long gun registry, they claimed that it would cost taxpayers $2 million, but the real price tag has been $2 billion. They claimed it would fight crime, but it has really only penalized law-abiding hunters, farmers and ranchers, since everyone knows criminals do not and will not register their guns.

The registry has failed to save a single life and it has been an abysmal failure. It has diverted resources from law enforcement efforts that would keep Canadians safe from real criminals.

Our Conservative government has made several attempts to abolish the registry only to have opposition parties stand in the way at every turn.

Now is the time for members opposite to admit their error, to stand up for law-abiding firearms owners, and to do the right thing by supporting Bill C-391 sponsored by my Conservative colleague from Portage—Lisgar to finally abolish the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry.

[Taxation, June 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this Conservative government has responded to an unprecedented global recession with unprecedented action. We have provided the largest fastest stimulus package in the G8. We have given Canadians an additional $20 billion in tax cuts.

While we are taking action, the leader of the Liberal Party is suggesting that he would raise taxes. He solidified this when he declared “We will have to raise taxes”. He said that he would even reverse the Conservative government's cut to the GST, taking more out of the pockets of Canadians when they need it most.

The leader of the Liberal Party is also pushing his job-killing carbon tax, a carbon tax that the Liberal Party voted to make one of its main policy commitments. This does not come as any surprise. After all, the leader of the Liberal Party even refers himself as “a tax-and-spend Liberal”.

Under our Conservative government, the only way taxes will ever go is down.

[Petitions, June 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present a petition signed by a number of residents from my riding of Wild Rose and from neighbouring areas. The petitioners are calling upon the government to support a universal declaration on animal welfare.

[Airdrie Centennial, June 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the community that I am proud to call home is celebrating its centennial on September 10 of this year.

Airdrie is proud of its 100 years of progress and has certainly come a long way since the first homesteaders arrived to begin building a community that has now become one of Canada's fastest growing cities.

The celebration of this heritage has already begun. Centennial events have been ongoing for months and will only intensify in September with a homecoming weekend, including concerts, historical re-enactments and a centennial legacy art project, among many other events.

I ask the House to join me in congratulating the city of Airdrie and the organizing committee that has pulled together months of great community events on the occasion of the centennial anniversary.

I know that Airdrie will enjoy even greater prosperity in the next 100 years ahead.

[Cenotaph Vandalism, June 16th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, residents of the city of Airdrie, including myself, were disgusted this week to learn that vandals had desecrated a cenotaph dedicated to the memory of our war veterans.

A concrete cross that sat atop the memorial was found broken and in pieces on the ground. The RCMP said a lot of force would have been needed to cause such damage, marking this as a deliberate and targeted act.

This senseless damage done by cowardly individuals dishonours the memory of the brave men and women whose sacrifice made possible our present-day rights and freedoms.

This desecration has inflicted pain and sadness on our entire community, our veterans and our soldiers still serving. I know that my fellow citizens of Airdrie share my tremendous respect for our veterans' valour and sacrifice and they are outraged by this terrible vandalism in our community.

I ask members of this House to join with the citizens of Airdrie today in strongly condemning this shameful act of vandalism and disrespect.

[Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, June 8th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have asked for strong leadership on the economy to help them through these tough times. In response, the leader of the Liberal Party has promised to raise taxes. He wants to increase the GST, impose a harmful, job-killing carbon tax, and eliminate the universal child care benefits.

He even said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

He said that Canada had become a laughingstock of the world and now he wants to become the prime minister.

He called himself an American and now he wants to lead Canada. He called our Canadian flag a pale imitation of a beer label and now he pretends to be a patriotic Canadian.

How dare he call Canada a laughingstock. We Conservatives are here because we love Canada.