Christian Paradis

[Foreign Investment, November 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. We have repeatedly said that all foreign investment decisions are made in the same best interests of Canada. That is how our government has always acted. Since 2006, we have created guidelines for foreign state-owned corporations, and we have established additional provisions for national security issues.

This transaction will be carefully scrutinized. However, we will not use a trade or manufacturing policy like that of the NDP, which would like to impose a $21.5 billion carbon tax on the backs of Canadians.

That kills jobs, but that is not what we do: we create them.

[Foreign Investment, November 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable that the opposition is trying to politicize the reviews and the process so that it can impose its radical, anti-trade program, which would make foreign investors flee, whereas foreign investment can make our businesses part of the global value chain and create employment.

Under our economic action plan, 820,000 net new jobs have been created in Canada.

The legislation is clear. Certain factors are considered in our reviews. We will look at whether the deal provides a net benefit for Canada, in the best interests of Canadians. That is how we always proceed.

[Official Languages, November 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we did indeed commit to reviewing in committee the status of French in federally regulated businesses. We will honour that commitment in a mature and thoughtful manner, as we did last Friday with the announcement of the armoury reconstruction.

This announcement was unanimously well received in Quebec City. We preserved the historical heritage, the UNESCO designation and the French fact. This work was done well and that is our trademark. We are not trying to get out of anything and we are doing a good job.

[Foreign Investment, November 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I did not need my earplug to hear the member across the floor but I hope he will hear me this time.

I said several times that we have improved the laws. We put guidelines in place in 2007 regarding state-owned enterprises. We put in provisions with respect to national security issues. We also put in new provisions under the act in terms of communications.

What we said is that we will take the time to fully scrutinize the proposed transaction to ensure that it is likely to provide a net benefit to Canada.

[Foreign Investment, November 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. My colleague has asked a lot of questions in the House and I have said several times that a decision was rendered. As part of that decision, investors have 30 days to make additional representations.

After that, the required time will be taken to carefully examine the proposed transaction to determine if it is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.

[Foreign Investment, November 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I think that the hon. member has asked enough questions in the House to know that the investor has 30 days, from the time the decision is rendered, to make additional representations.

From there, we will take the time needed to carefully examine the proposed transaction in order to determine whether it will provide a net benefit to Canada.

[Pensions, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, that is completely false. First of all, I offer my sympathies to those who are facing these challenges.

Fortunately, these people can count on a government that has taken action in the past: we improved protections for workers, we changed the legislation to ensure that regular pension payments are made before other creditors are paid, and we also expanded the wage earner protection program, to pay severance pay up to $3,400.

I know that the member was not here during the previous Parliament, but her party voted against these changes, and that is shameful.

[Foreign Investment, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the member, there was a lot of fabrication in her question.

Obviously, every decision regarding foreign investment is always made in the best interests of Canadians. As for the potential CNOOC-Nexen deal, it is a matter of determining whether there is a net benefit to Canada. I repeat that the deal is now being carefully examined.

[Foreign Investment, November 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, our government will always act in the best interests of Canadians. What we have to do with this transaction is to see if it will provide a net benefit for Canada.

What matters is to come here and to advocate for national security provisions. When we put them in back in 2009, the NDP voted against that. We also put in guidelines for the SOEs. We have tools to fully scrutinize this transaction, and we will do that very closely.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), as of October 9, 2012, the estimated cost to conduct the 700 megahertz spectrum auction is $4,000,000 over two years. This includes salary, specialized software to conduct the auction and other supporting, operating costs.

In response to (b), Industry Canada does not estimate the potential revenues generated from spectrum auctions. However, the department has proposed minimum opening bids for each spectrum license, totalling $897,324,000. As each auction is unique and dependent on a number of external factors and circumstances, it is difficult to predict auction revenues with any accuracy. The objective of the auction is not to maximize revenues but rather to maximize the benefits to Canadians by getting the spectrum into the hands of players, in a competitive market, who will make further investments.