Dave Van Kesteren

[Criminal Code, May 3rd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I will make this quite short. We have all been watching this with quite some interest. I have listened to the member's speech. We share the concern, as he does, that we really have to adjust our attitudes.

I recall an incident not that long ago when we were discussing the punishment of crime. I would like the member to comment on some of the remarks that I heard. There was a reference to prison as repression. I heard that reference a number of times from the Bloc.

Would the member care to comment on that? Is there something I am missing here? Have we turned a page in history?

[Agriculture, April 23rd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, farmers want to do their part to help the environment. They want to invest in facilities that will transform their crops into biofuels, but these facilities are expensive and capital is not readily available or accessible.

What are the Minister of Agriculture and the Secretary of State for Agriculture doing to help farmers help our environment?

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today China's official news agency is reporting that Huseyin Celil has been sentenced to life in prison and the deprivation of all political rights, as well as a second sentence of a further 10 years in prison.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs inform the House of the government's reaction to this news?

[North Buxton, February 9th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have a town in my riding of Chatham-Kent—Essex called North Buxton, and in that town there is a church and in that church a bell has hung since 1850.

North Buxton was one of the safe havens around Chatham that served as the home for escaped slaves who came to Canada on the underground railroad. The vision of its founders was to establish an entirely self-sufficient and prosperous black community, thereby quieting the then commonly accepted notion of black inferiority.

When a group of resolute blacks from Pittsburgh heard of this place, they donated this lasting symbol of freedom, along with a letter that concluded:

...and when the bell, with its solemn tones, calls you to the House of God, remember your brethren who are in bonds; and let your prayers ascent to God, that he may, in his own good time, break every yoke and let the oppressed go free.

[Marriage, December 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have the utmost respect for my colleague, the hon. member from Windsor. I am a rookie and I understand that he has much more expertise in these areas than I have. I refer to what was said before. When the Supreme Court ruled on this issue, it left that one clause open. It said that this is an issue for Parliament to decide. Therefore, I leave the member with that.

I say that this was not done in a fair way. This was something that was not fairly represented to the people of Canada. Let us do it right tomorrow. Let us vote, let us have a chance to discuss this, and let us have a chance to look at this fairly, as we ought to.

[Marriage, December 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the hon. member's concerns, but again, it needs to be repeated, there are those who are saying that it can withstand a challenge. If we are going to look at this fairly, the motion gives us an opportunity to look at this again. We are talking about discussing the motion again. If we go through the whole procedure and after committee we come to the conclusion that no, this is not the direction we want to go, then we can do that.

Tomorrow we have an opportunity to do what we have not had before and that is the opportunity to vote with a clear conscience. Every one of us has to answer this question. What has been the message of the majority of our constituents, the people with deep seated beliefs for whatever reason? If the member can say that the majority of his people have said do not revisit this again, then the member is doing what he said he would do. If not, then you are doing the same thing you did last time. We ought not do that in this place.

[Marriage, December 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to make a brief presentation of my own feelings and that of my constituents as well.

I am a new member, as are many of the members here. When I first sought election in 2004 this issue was one which my constituents were really not aware of. There was some indication that there would be a vote. At that time the member of Parliament in my riding indicated that he would vote with traditional marriage, but that was not the case. As a result, in the next election there was an incredible surge from my constituents, an incredible uprising of people who felt that they had been deceived and had been let down by their member of Parliament. I think largely as a result of that, I am here today.

I can say that bar no other issue, this has been the number one reason that people write to me and people talk to me. Let us not kid ourselves, this is a big event.

It was not a surprise that we as a party promised during the last election campaign that we would revisit this issue, so here we are today. The Conservative Party has done what it said it would do. We have brought forward a motion that gives an opportunity to those who are on the other side from all parties to vote with their conscience.

We can argue until the cows come home whether or not this is constitutional, but we all know there is a large segment of the population, our constituents, who are telling us that they want this issue revisited. They want us to look at this again.

Our leader, the Prime Minister, offered this very simple motion. It is something on which we can all agree. Let us look at this issue again and debate it. Let us give this a proper place in the House, so that all our constituents can feel at ease with whatever decision is made.

I lay the challenge out to my colleagues on the opposite side. I understand there are pressures and we all have these pressures to do the right thing. We have heard from members on the other side. I understand there are conflicting views. It has been said and it bears repeating that this is an institution which for a millennium has been the same. There has never been a question. We have provided means for those who want to live another lifestyle. This is a free country and we understand that. Yet this institution, this basic building block of our society is being challenged. It is that question we are faced with today.

We are all at the threshold of a decision tomorrow. Where will we go? Will we duck under constitutional amendments and will this hold up in the charter, or will we do what our constituents have asked us to do, to look at this issue again and say, “Yes, let us revisit it”. Let us be fair about this. I am going to have my opportunity, as are other members, and let us bring this out one more time and let us talk about it.

I challenge and urge members to listen to their constituents, as I am going to listen to my constituents. Again it bears repeating that every day I receive letters asking me to please revisit this. I am sure other members are finding the same thing. I ask members to do the right thing tomorrow and give their constituents the voice that they expected to be given.

[Business of Supply, November 28th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. As I stated before, the cash transfers to provinces and territories are in addition to the support that the Government of Canada provides through tax transfers. In 2007 alone the tax transfer component will total $12.4 billion, an amount that will continue to grow in line with provincial and territorial economies.

We will also provide $1 billion over the next five years to improve Canada's ability to respond effectively to pandemics. We all know that is a looming situation that could strike at any time. This government recognized that and set aside the funds to work for those things.

This money will provide Canadians in every region with a publicly funded health care system they need and rely on.

[Business of Supply, November 28th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the member opposite that our first promise was not to health care. Our first promise was to accountability. We would encourage the member opposite and his party to speed that process through the Senate and to speed it through here as well.

Health care is a top priority of this government and we have demonstrated that. We demonstrated that today with the new announcements for the first nations. I am pleased to report, as all will be pleased to hear, that this government will be working in conjunction with our natives and with the minister in charge of that portfolio to aid in the work on diabetes and the terrible plague that has come upon our people on the reserves. That is just another example of how this government has moved forward.

We have acknowledged what the Liberals have done but we have added to that and we are doing much more.

If the hon. member would just have a look at what we have done and the things that we have accomplished he would see that we are moving forward and we are doing a whole lot more than we promised.

[Business of Supply, November 28th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, at the outset, our government is committed to publicly funded health care and to working with the provinces and territories to provide Canadians in every region with timely access to quality health care services.

Contrary to the assertion of my Liberal colleague, the new government has not broken its promise, a promise repeated in budget 2006 to reduce medical wait times and to provide the necessary funding and resources to achieve the goals of the first ministers' accord on health care renewal.

The Government of Canada demonstrated its commitment, as did all provincial and territorial leaders, at the September 2004 first ministers meeting. They agreed on an action plan, based on a number of principles, including those found in the Canada Health Act, and access to health services based on need, not ability to pay.

The 10 year plan also set out continued accountability and provision of information to make progress transparent to citizens as a core principle of the action plan. All first ministers signed the plan, a key signal of their commitment to this historical agreement. All first ministers indicated their support for the reporting provisions contained in the 10 year plan.

These reporting provisions will provide Canadians with meaningful measures of progress in all areas of health care renewal.

As the Prime Minister emphasized, the focus is now squarely on delivering our commitment to reduce wait times. This government, together with the provinces and territories, gave the people of Canada our word and now we must deliver. The urgency of this has been underlined by the Supreme Court's Chaouilli decision.

This commitment is backed by $41 billion in support of the 10 year plan to strengthen health care. That is $41 billion in sustained, growing health care funding to help ensure that provinces and territories have the resources they need to provide Canadians with timely access to essential quality health care across the country.

In budget 2006 our new government committed to this increase in transfers to provinces and territories.

To further strengthen accountability and ensure an enduring commitment to renewal by future governments, a parliamentary review will take place in 2008 and 2011 of the progress made in implementing the 10 year plan. These funds build on the significant reinvestments in health, beginning with $21.1 billion supporting the September 2000 first ministers' agreement on health renewal and by $36.8 billion supporting the 2005 accord on health care renewal.

I will take a moment to outline how the $41 billion in increased transfers is being directed to strengthen publicly funded health care and support provinces and territories in their ability to ensure that all Canadians continue to have access to health services based on need, not ability to pay.

First, the bulk of this funding is being provided to increase the Canada health transfer. It includes: an additional $3 billion in the Canada health transfer in 2004-05 and 2005-06, closing the so-called short term Romanow gap; a new, higher base for the Canada health transfer of $19 billion, which includes $500 million for home care and catastrophic drug coverage; and an automatic escalator of 6% applied to the new Canada health transfer base of $19 billion effective in 2006-07, which is an unprecedented move to ensure predictable and growing health funding.

As hon. members know, the Canada health transfer provides provinces and territories with the flexibility to design and to deliver their own health programs, while at the same time respecting the important national objectives included in the Canada Health Act: public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility.

By strengthening the Canada health transfer with a $19 billion base and applying a 6% annual escalator, we have more than satisfied the recommendations of the Romanow Report on the Future of Health Care in Canada. The annual 6% escalator was agreed upon as an appropriate number to track growth in health expenditures over the medium term.

The most recent report released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information on provincial and territorial health expenditures confirms that federal support is growing at the right and appropriate pace.

The second investment strengthening health care is through a $5.5 billion wait times reduction transfer over 10 years to reduce wait times and improve access for Canadians to quality health care. The first five years of this transfer have been provided through the $4.25 billion wait times reduction fund. Operating principles are in place for the wait times reduction fund to guide the use of the fund and to allow for clear communication between governments and their citizens. These priorities include clearing backlogs, training and hiring more health professionals, building capacity for regional centres of excellence, expanding appropriate ambulatory and community care programs and expanding tools to manage wait times.

Besides the wait times reduction fund, beginning in 2009-10, $250 million will be provided through an annual transfer to provinces and territories, primarily to support health and human resources.

As a result of these $41 billion in investments, total federal cash transfers in support of health are scheduled to rise to $30.5 billion in 2013-14. This represents a significant and continuing federal investment in the Canadian health care system.

The health council, created following the 2003 accord, will serve as an objective observer of the health care renewal process. First ministers of jurisdictions participating in the health council agree that the health council's mandate be expanded to include preparing an annual report on the health status of Canadians and health outcomes, and report on progress of elements set out in the plan. The council will ensure that Canadians know how governments are doing in terms of implementing the 2003 and 2004 agreements.

However, this is not all that we have been doing.

These recent actions are only a part of the federal health care funding story. These cash transfers to provinces and territories are in addition to the support of Government of Canada transfers through tax transfers. In 2006-07 alone, the tax transfer component of the CHT will total $12.4 billion, an amount that will continue to grow in line with provincial and territorial economies.

In addition, in budget 2006 last May, we also committed to doing our part to implement the Canadian strategy for cancer control. We will invest $260 million over the next five years to help improve screening, prevention and research activities and to help coordinate efforts with the provinces and with cancer care advocacy groups.

We also provided $1 billion over the next five years to improve Canada's ability to respond effectively to pandemics and other public health emergencies.

All of this is money providing Canadians in every region with the publicly funded health care system they need and rely on. A publicly funded health care system is vital to Canadians and the government has taken numerous concrete steps to support it, in collaboration with provinces and territories.

We will continue to work with our provincial and territorial counterparts, stakeholders and the Canadian public to ensure that we have a health care system that provides timely access to the quality care Canadians need, when they need it and, furthermore, that Canadians are informed of the progress we are making.

I urge all hon. members to consider my remarks today when debating this motion.