Brian Jean

[Natural Resources, March 26th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I applaud President Obama's directive last Thursday to expedite approval for the southern leg of the Keystone pipeline.

As we await news on the rest of the route, we must continue to look west, east and north for increased export opportunity for Canada. By selling 99% of our oil to one customer, we discount our oil price by $15 to $40 a barrel. That is billions of dollars in discounts every year. This is why we need to find out more about foreign influence intervening in domestic policy.

The Senate's ongoing inquiry into the involvement of foreign foundations in Canada's domestic affairs is about ensuring openness, transparency, disclosure and enforcement in the charitable sector.

Whether we agree with exporting our resources throughout the world or not, the decision is about Canadian jobs, the Canadian economy, Canadian prosperity and Canadians' quality of life.

Canadian policy should not be made by foreign trusts for foreign priorities. Canadian policy should be made at home by Canadians in the best interest of Canada.

[National Flag of Canada Act, March 14th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for the bill, for working with Canadians and listening to Canadians with respect to changing the bill.

I have a fond respect for the flag. My father was in the Second World War. I remember learning how to fold the flag and raise it on the flagpole in our backyard in every home we had. I wonder what the member's earliest memories are in relation to his attachment to the flag. What brings him here today to honour Canadians, our troops and all of Canada with this bill?

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, March 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, most of the members who are asking questions today did not hear any of that evidence. I did hear the evidence. I heard overwhelmingly from victims who stand up for this legislation.

What is interesting is that the only time this bill was time limited in committee was on a motion moved by the NDP critic. Clearly those members must have a different idea today than they did before.

I ask the minister, who stood up for victims during committee? What did the victims of crime overwhelmingly say about Bill C-10?

[41st General Election, March 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP and the Liberal Party continue their baseless smear campaign. It is clear that they have no information to back up their claims.

After a week of unsubstantiated attacks in the House of Commons and in the media, the facts remain clear, Elections Canada has confirmed that polling locations were changed at at least 127 locations, representing 1,000 polls, and potentially affecting nearly half a million Canadians in the 2011 federal campaign.

Liberal supporters received calls from people who identified themselves as calling from the Liberal Party of Canada, and the Liberals have claimed that in some ridings Liberal supporters received calls at inconvenient times that could be described as harassing from people who identified themselves as calling from the Liberal Party of Canada. The Liberals have claimed that these calls originated from the United States. The Liberal Party is the party that sourced its phone calls from the United States during the last election.

The facts are clear. The Liberals must prove that these calls were not in fact made by the Liberal Party.

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I hope we never get to see what an NDP government could do with public funds. It would be pretty embarrassing indeed.

The proposed amendments to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act aim to establish the financial literacy leader within the agency. There is already an agency involved. It is a key step in addressing the task force's recommendations.

However, the difference between our government and a potential NDP government is not just that our government would not waste taxpayers' money on wishes and wants, but also that the NDP or the Liberals would impose what they wanted, what its leadership wanted, on Canadians instead of listening to Canadians as we are doing with this legislation. We are going to appoint a coach, someone who can listen to Canadians, someone who can understand and work with stakeholders and other agencies across Canada, including financial experts.

We are going to listen to them and then bring forward legislation based on stakeholders' best wants and desires in the best interests of Canadians.

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I could not help but snicker when the member talked about this government wasting money, because nothing could be further from the truth. An NDP member suggesting that a Conservative government would waste money is bizarre indeed.

We know that many of these initiatives are currently under way in Canada and have been for some time. In fact, some things are taking place in high schools across this country with web-based systems.

Clearly, the task force that launched public consultations with Canadians in February 2010, with its over 17 sessions in 15 communities across this country, did receive input from Canadians.

We are not starting off from ground zero. We clearly know what caused the global economic recession. We clearly understand that we have to help Canadians educate themselves on how to move forward with their own personal finances and how to be more successful, so that we can continue to have that leadership position in the world not only as a government that is keeping a strong country and keeping Canadians safe, but also as a country that continues to enjoy an excellent quality of life, second to no one else in the world. Canadians can do that by being educated with our help.

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad he brought up the amount of $40 million, as I think I heard, because that is still what is missing as a result of the sponsorship scandal of a government he was a member of at the time. I am not going to take lessons from him.

However, we have a government with a Minister of Finance who is the number one finance minister in the world. We have a country that is the best off of any country in the world, and that is under the leadership of this Prime Minister, this Minister of Finance and this cabinet. We do not need to take lessons from someone who left us far behind and left the provinces far behind. We are going to move forward with a government and a cabinet that shows leadership in the world and clearly has a strong economy for Canadians.

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I always find it amusing when the member for Malpeque stands on his feet because, of course, I am from western Canada and that particular member wants to make it legal to sell marijuana but wants to keep it illegal to sell wheat. I have always found that to be interesting from that member's perspective.

I am not going to take any lessons from that particular member who was part of a government that cut $25 billion in social transfers to the provinces and, certainly, I am not going to take his expertise—

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see this particular New Democratic member not criticize the issue as it relates to financial literacy, as the Liberal Party did previously. We all clearly know now that the global economic recession is causing significant problems in the world economy as a whole. That is a result of personal finances primarily and the inability of people to keep track of their personal finances and to be able to manage those properly. That is why this bill is so important.

However, before we start with the entire 30 recommendations, I would say it is just like picking a coach for a hockey team. Before one picks the entire team, one first picks the coach so that the coach can be part of the rest of the team. In this particular case, I would say that is exactly the issue, and I hope that answers the member's question.

If people do not know that, though, I would point out that this particular bill deals with the importance of having tools and knowledge so that Canadians will be able to make responsible financial decisions for their future. Clearly, our belief as a government is that Canada's future is based on Canadians as a whole and their success depends on their own good management decisions, and we are going to help them with those decisions.

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, March 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this subject. I especially want to take the time to thank the member for Edmonton—Leduc, the chair of the finance committee, who was very instrumental in the initiation of this bill.

I understand why the member from the Liberal Party does not want this bill to go forward, a seriously co-operative bill resulting from working with the provinces and territories. The Liberal Party's idea of co-operation was to take $25 billion from the provinces back in the 1990s for social care, education and infrastructure.

As we know, when the Conservatives came to power, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities actually identified that there was a $123 billion deficit. The Liberals are the third party and they clearly indicated that the $123 billion deficit on infrastructure in the country was as a result of past practices of federal and provincial governments. For the most part, we all know why provincial governments could not invest in infrastructure. It was because $25 billion were taken by the previous federal Liberal government, of which the member was an active participant.

Before I continue, I would like to move the following motion. I move:

That this question be now put.