Dave Van Kesteren

[Liberal Party of Canada, March 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, students across the country are sad to see the end of the March break and so is the Liberal leader.

In this House we have taken care of what matters to Canadians. We have implemented our jobs and growth budget that will protect the jobs of today while creating the jobs of tomorrow.

While we work to create jobs, the Liberal leader's tax and spend road show promises to kill jobs. The Liberal leader can take as many breaks as he likes, but it will not change the fact that his alternative to our jobs and growth plan is higher taxes. We know this because he said it. He told Canadians, “We will have to raise taxes”. Canadians know that higher taxes kill jobs.

When the Liberal leader chooses his tax and spend road show over the work of this House, he proves what we have been saying all along: the Liberal leader is not in it for Canadians, he is only in it for himself.

[Canada Labour Code, March 18th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, a paragraph in the Speech from the Throne states:

Our Government will also offer tangible support to innocent victims of crime and their families. It will give families of murder victims access to special benefits under Employment Insurance. It will introduce legislation to give employees of federally regulated industries the right to unpaid leave if they or members of their families are victimized by crime. And our Government will introduce legislation to make the victim surcharge mandatory, to better fund victim services.

I wonder if the member would care to make a comment on that particular quote.

[The Economy, March 4th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to my colleague from St. Catharines. Among all the other wonderful incentives that were brought forward in the throne speech, I caught the mention of shipbuilding. Both of us share a shipbuilding tradition in our ridings. This is very important for my riding of Chatham-Kent—Essex.

Could the member further elaborate on the government's plans and what we can expect to see as a result of this new initiative in shipbuilding?

[Employment Insurance, November 6th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I am very proud to announce that Bill C-50 has received royal assent.

This means that unemployed long-tenured workers can now receive between five and twenty extra weeks of EI while they search for a new job. These Canadians have worked hard and paid premiums for years. They deserve our support now when they need it most.

Unfortunately, the Liberal leader voted against support for these Canadians and their families. He needs to explain why he does not think these Canadians, who have given so much to our country and so much to our economy, are deserving of this support.

When it comes to helping Canadians and their families weather the global economic storm, Canadians know that they can count on our Conservative government to deliver results.

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, September 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I, too, listened to the member's passionate speech and I thank the member for his passion. In my riding of Chatham-Kent—Essex there is a refugee family that came from Colombia about 10 years ago. Yaneth, who was a prosecuting attorney, was driven out of her country by the corruption. I know that she was so pleased to meet with the Colombian president. I want to tell the House how thrilled she is about the prospects.

What does the member see as the future for law-abiding people in Colombia? What can they expect with this new agreement?

[Highgate Fall Fair, September 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, September 26, I was pleased once again to attend the Highgate fall fair.

Highgate is located at the eastern border of my riding of Chatham-Kent—Essex, a charming village founded by Scottish settlers in the mid-1800s. It has celebrated the harvest with a country fair for the last 155 years.

This year we started with a parade, then enjoyed the local politicians squirm as they tried to outbid each other for an award-winning pie and then wandered about checking children's agricultural displays, animal attractions, old farm equipment, antique cars and fire trucks. We capped it off with some really great country barbecuing of hotdogs and hamburgers.

It was a great time again this year at the wonderful Highgate fair that has been enjoyed for 155 years.

Congratulations Highgate. We will see Highgate again next year as it celebrates 156 years of country hospitality.

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, September 15th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I want to direct the line of questioning to something the member was talking about concerning the importance of trade in this hemisphere and to contrast that with what we have done in the past.

Could the member touch on the impact President Chavez is having on some of the other countries with what he is doing as opposed to what Canada plans to do through free trade?

[Patent Act, June 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to address Bill C-393, An Act to amend the Patent Act (drugs for international humanitarian purposes) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, which aims to modify certain fundamental aspects of Canada's Access to Medicines Regime.

Canada's Access to Medicines Regime's stated purpose is to improve access to lower cost, Canadian-made generic versions of patented drugs and medical devices to address public health problems in developing countries. It was designed to achieve this humanitarian objective, while respecting Canada's international trade obligations and maintaining the integrity of Canada's patent system.

Members of the House view Canada's Access to Medicines Regime as a key component of Canada's long-term approach to addressing serious public health problems that affect many developing and least developed countries, such as HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics. In addition to Canada's Access to Medicines Regime, this approach includes significant contributions from the Government of Canada to other global mechanisms and alliances which have come into existence in recent years and have become leading instruments for procuring lower cost drugs to respond to the needs of developing and least developed countries.

For example, the government has contributed more than $500 million to the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It has also pledged another $450 million to the fund over the next three years. In addition, the government is working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund the development on an HIV-AIDS vaccination.

The government has serious concerns with Bill C-393's proposed modification to the regime's legislative framework. If passed by Parliament, the bill will result in the elimination of many of the key operational elements in Canada's Access to Medicines Regime in order to adopt a very broad, one-licence approach. This could have serious negative implications for continued pharmaceutical investment and growth in Canada. In addition, many of the bill's proposed legislative changes may not be in keeping with the spirit of the World Trade Organization decision on which Canada's Access to Medicines Regime is based.

This decision was the result of years of intensive international negotiations by members of the World Trade Organization. Those negotiations sought a solution to international patent obligations that impeded the export of critical medicines from countries with pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities to countries without.

In August 2003, WTO members reached a landmark decision. They agreed to waive two of the patent obligations in the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, known as TRIPS, in order to improve access to patented drugs and medical devices needed to address public health problems in developing and least developed countries.

Canada's regime is one of the nine regimes in existence to have implemented the World Trade Organization decision, but it is the only one to have successfully authorized the export of drugs to a developing country. This important event occurred on September 24, 2008, when a Canadian drug manufacturer, Apotex Inc., sent approximately seven million tablets of HIV-AIDS therapy to Rwanda.

In 2007 the government completed a statutory review of the regime as part of this process. It reviewed all public input in Canada's Access to Medicines Regime. That input included the extensive written submissions received in response to a 2006 consultation paper on the regime, expert testimony heard at separate hearings by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in April 2007, and I was a part of that committee, as well as input from developing countries at a workshop organized by non-governmental organizations.

In December 2007 the Minister of Industry tabled a report on the results of the statutory review in Parliament. The report concluded that insufficient evidence was accumulated to warrant making changes to the regime at that juncture.

This conclusion remains valid today, since the case for making legislative or regulatory changes to Canada's Access to Medicines Regime has still not been made. The fact that Canada is the only country today to see drugs shipped to a country in need under its access to medicines regime demonstrates that our system does work.

However, for Canada's Access to Medicines Regime to be used again, another country in need must inform the World Trade Organization of its intent to import lower-cost versions of patented pharmaceutical products under the terms of the August 2003 WTO decision.

The government has and continues to encourage developing and least developed countries to use the system and hopes that such a notification happens. In the meantime, however, it will continue to support Canada's access to medicines, while fighting diseases and helping improve public health conditions in the developing world through other initiatives in the government's long-term comprehensive strategy on access to medicines.

It is for these reasons that I urge all hon. members of this House not to support Bill C-393.

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2009]

Madam Chair, I would like to thank the minister for her excellent explanation of the central role that Canada and DFO play at the international table. Clearly, collaborating with other nations is necessary to further press Canada's interests forward while providing the best results for Canadians.

It is important that we continue to consider the environment and the sustainability of our waters, and we must do so together with other countries, as well as at home in Canada.

This was touched upon briefly, but could the hon. minister provide another example of what DFO's international work has achieved in terms of sustainability of key fish stocks, particularly Pacific salmon?

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2009]

All right, Madam Chair. Let me wrap up by saying that DFO's work is central to these efforts that are important during these difficult economic times.

The House can be assured that our government will continue to lead and collaborate with like-minded countries. This government will promote and defend our interests and produce the best results for Canadians.

I do have a number of questions that I would like to ask the minister.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is working with international organizations and other countries around the world on issues that affect our waters. Our oceans and fresh waters are an integral part of our national landscape and provide so much for Canada and Canadians.

I am interested in knowing more about how having our country at the table benefits Canada and its citizens. Could the minister please elaborate on this and explain to the House and Canadians the tremendous results achieved by actively pursuing our international strategy?