House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 47% of the vote.
Public Safety October 7th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the government will invest in the prison system of Canada. As a matter of fact, many of the changes that are occurring were as a result of the provincial ministers asking for those changes, and as we go forward, we expect they will support them.
Public Safety October 7th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I do apologize but there was so much noise in the House that I could not hear the question.
Public Safety October 6th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, we believe that dangerous criminals should be where they belong, behind bars. This commitment has a cost, a cost we feel Canadians are willing to invest because the cost to society is so much more. Unlike the Liberals and their NDP-Bloc coalition partners, our government understands that a safe, secure and just society is an investment worth making.
Our government is proud to be on the right side of this issue, the side of law-abiding Canadians and the side of victims who want justice.
Public Safety October 6th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the minister has been very clear. We are committed to keeping law-abiding Canadian families safe in their homes, streets and communities. That means keeping dangerous criminals behind bars, where they belong. Our Conservative government is proud to be on the right side of this issue, the side of law-abiding Canadians and the side of victims who want justice.
Unlike the Liberals who muse about reducing sentences for criminals, our government will always put public safety and the rights of law-abiding Canadians first.
Mr. Speaker, it is almost a repeat of the last group here. If the Liberals had only had one more term they would have got it done.
When my friend speaks about having all of the support back in the day when the Liberals were the majority, I am rather surprised that they did not get it done. There is obviously a reason and I am sure my friend, if he had more time, could explain to everyone why they did not get it done in those 13 years.
As I have stated, first responders are primarily employed by municipal, provincial or territorial governments and all the provinces and territories have some legal framework in place for first responders.
We have made it obvious that this government has taken measures to work collectively with our provincial and municipal partners to ensure that these brave men and women are well prepared to help Canadians when needed.
I just wish that if my friend had felt so strongly during those 13 years he would have got it done then and we would not be debating it today.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss how collectively we support the brave men and women who work as volunteer firefighters in rural communities across Canada.
First responders, such as firefighters and auxiliary police officers, play a valuable role in ensuring the safety and resiliency of our communities. As the term suggests, in emergencies first responders employed by municipal, provincial or territorial governments across Canada are often the first on the scene. These brave men and women place themselves in harm's way to serve Canadians in times of need.
We also understand that the provinces and territories have a legal framework in place for occupational health, safety and workers compensation and provide benefits to the families of workers who are injured or killed in the line of duty.
Benefits received under these workers' compensation programs may also be supplemented through union agreements or group insurance plans that provide compensation for losses incurred due to workplace accidents or death.
Faced with an emergency, Canadians expect all governments to act. Under the Emergency Management Act, Public Safety Canada, on behalf of the Government of Canada, coordinates activities of government institutions related to emergency management with those of the provinces and, through the provinces, those of local authorities.
Public Safety Canada also conducts emergency preparation exercises and provides education and training related to emergency management. The Canadian Emergency Management College in coordination with provinces and territories provides training to emergency management workers from across the country.
Under budget 2007, Public Safety Canada is contributing $2.5 million over five years to the Canadian arm of the International Association of Fire Fighters to implement a new hazardous materials training program. This initiative will make hazardous materials training available to all first responders throughout Canada. This contribution agreement is also a tremendous opportunity in that it provides a mechanism for Public Safety Canada to build a stronger working relationship with the first responders community.
Firearms Registry September 24th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his hard work on this file. I am glad that the member had the courage to stand in this place and represent his constituents.
The voters will remember those 20 coalition MPs who flip-flopped on the issue. This is the furthest we have come to dismantling the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry, and we will continue to work to scrap it.
Firearms Registry September 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve a member of Parliament who consistently represents them when it really counts.
The member for Sackville—Eastern Shore has strongly opposed the long gun registry. His constituents voted for him knowing he was clearly in favour of scrapping the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry.
Now, on the day of the vote, the member has changed his mind. But what has really changed? The registry is still wasteful and inefficient. The registry still targets law-abiding hunters.
The fact is that the only thing that has changed is the member for Sackville—Eastern Shore's desire to serve his party leader before the hard-working, law-abiding people of Sackville--Eastern Shore.
I call on the member to do the right thing by his constituents and vote to kill this Liberal boondoggle.
Mr. Speaker, as I have already indicated, my friend opposite talks about lofty promises. I just gave him one that came from him in this House. Let us see how that pans out for him tomorrow.
I would like to take the opportunity to remind the member opposite that Canada has an obligation to protect visiting heads of state in accordance with the United Nations convention that was adopted in 1973 to provide security to internationally protected persons.
The 38 world leaders and 5,800 delegates who arrived in Canada for the summits were all covered under the security provisions that were delivered. Clearly, their security was critical to the success of the summits.
The responsibility that comes with hosting events of this magnitude and the corresponding risks cannot simply be dismissed due to monetary reasons.
Security experts, the Auditor General and the Parliamentary Budget Officer have all confirmed that the security costs were reasonable and direct cost comparisons that the media and the opposition have made to other summits have been disingenuous and false.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the success of our front line police officers who were able to protect the safety of visitors and delegates during the G8 and G20 summits.
I just heard my hon. friend talking about lofty promises. I would just remind him of a lofty promise that came from him in this House on April 21, 2009 when he said:
I am particularly proud of our leader, the leader of the New Democrat opposition, who has freed all MPs to vote at their conscience and as their constituents dictate.
We will see how that pans out tomorrow.
I would like to remind the member opposite of the Auditor General's observations from May. She said, “Obviously $1 billion is a lot of money, but I think we have to recognize that security is expensive. There are a lot of people that are involved over a long period of time. We may think that the meetings only last for a few days [as my friend suggested], but all the preparations involve extensive planning, extensive coordination for months before that and I think we have to be really, really careful”.
The notion that these events, which represented the largest security undertaking in Canadian history, were restricted to a 72-hour period is not an accurate reflection of reality.
The simple fact is that security planning began well over a year and a half prior to the summits and involved the coordinated participation of several federal security partners, including the RCMP, Public Safety Canada, the Department of National Defence, the Canadian Border Service Agency, CSIS, as well as several other departments, not to mention our provincial and municipal security partners who were crucial to the provision of security for these events.
This extensive security planning process was indicative of the complexity and scale of hosting these events. Unlike the Olympics, the summits were a security event that had 38 world leaders in attendance, as well as 5,800 delegates and 2,600 journalists.
Canadians can be proud of how our security partners were able to protect the safety of Canadians, delegates and visitors to the city of Toronto and the town of Huntsville, working in what were exceptionally difficult circumstances.
Canadians can be proud of the progress that this government achieved during these meetings on global governance and opportunities for emerging economies.
The G8 was successfully refocused on its strengths: development, peace and, of course, global security challenges.
The G20 summit resulted in an action plan for entrenching the global economic recovery, including reducing global deficits, financial sector reform, progress on anti-protectionism and debt relief for Haiti. As well, it set the stage for an enhanced level of discussion that will occur at the G20 summit in South Korea this November.
Unfortunately, there are those who seek to disrupt and prevent these summits through unlawful activities. Consequently, a large scale and world-class security plan was necessary to deliver the security required.
This government has been transparent in representing the costs of hosting these important events from the outset and will continue to be. Full co-operation was granted to the Parliamentary Budget Officer to review the security cost estimates. After his assessment, Mr. Page concluded that the government had been transparent in representing the cost estimates and that they were within the range of security costs for recent G8 summits.
The government has also invited the Auditor General to review the security costs and is co-operating fully with this process. The Auditor General's report is scheduled to be released next spring.
In the meantime, as stated before, final security costs will be reported once they have been finalized.