David Anderson

[Canada-Panama Free Trade Act, February 4th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I was a little bit concerned. We are all familiar with the battle that the NDP has with free trade agreements and its opposition to virtually all of them. We have seen that in the past here in the House.

I was struck by my colleague's comments as I came into the House. He talked about the fact that we are only picking losers for the deals in these free trade agreements. We are working on free trade agreements with dozens of countries, including countries like India and Morocco. I do not know if the member is familiar with the announcement last week that we are initiating a free trade agreement with Morocco and of its importance for western Canadian durum and wheat producers.

Does the member consider India and Morocco as loser countries as well?

[The Environment, February 4th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc knows full well that it benefits from oil sands, as well as everyone else in Canada.

It is the second largest oil reserve in the world. It is responsible for the creation of almost 150,000 jobs across Canada. All the provinces benefit from that.

As I mentioned, we put $10 billion into clean energy over the past few years. We will continue to protect the environment and we will continue to work toward new clean energy projects.

[The Environment, February 4th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we are so enthused about this that everyone wants to get up and answer the question.

We are very proud of the $10 billion that we have put toward clean energy over the past five years. We have created jobs, we have provided a cleaner environment, we have served consumers and we have saved consumers money.

Given that we are in an economic recovery, we are reviewing all our programs. The member opposite will have to wait for the budget, as does every other Canadian.

[Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, February 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy is staggering. For 13 long years, the Liberals starved that organization of funding and support. Our government is continuing this transaction process. We are going to get it done as quickly as possible and it is going to be done for the benefit of the industry, for the clients and for the employees.

[Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, February 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing nothing of the sort. Our government is continuing the transaction process in order to establish a more competitive CANDU, Inc. under private ownership and to protect the interests of Canadian taxpayers. We hope to conclude this process as quickly as possible in order to provide certainty to AECL employees, to clients and to the industry.

[February 1st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the real stretching is done by the member opposite who opposes basically every good initiative that we take and then later supports them.

It does not have to be that way for the citizens of Edmonton—Strathcona. If they really want an effective MP and they want to protect the small businesses in Edmonton, there is an option. There is a young guy out knocking on doors and working very hard. I want to congratulate Ryan and Lianne Hastman. They had their first baby on January 22, 2011, a little guy named Henry. I also want to acknowledge the tremendous work that Ryan has been doing in Edmonton—Strathcona. He has been out knocking on doors trying to convince people it is important for them to have a government member to represent them. He will, I am sure, be delivering the appropriate policies in the House of Commons after the next election both for energy efficiency and otherwise.

[February 1st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if others are as annoyed as I am with the NDP members when they oppose programs time after time and then tell us how good our programs are and that they want them to continue.

This is another example of where this government led the way, the NDP members fought it at every point and then later decided that they really liked what it is that we would do.

The Government of Canada has taken significant steps to advance the clean energy technologies that the member is speaking of and to create jobs for Canadians. Our clean energy initiatives are part of a comprehensive long-term approach to improve Canada's competitiveness and to ensure that we will continue to be a clean energy superpower and a leader in green job creation.

Since 2006 our government has committed more than $10 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build a more sustainable environment. We have invested in green infrastructure, energy efficiency, clean energy technologies and the production of cleaner energy and cleaner fuels.

We are extremely pleased with the success of our eco-energy initiatives, including the home energy retrofit program. After launching the eco-energy retrofit homes program in 2007, we expanded the program's budget under the economic action plan to a total of $745 million.

As of January 2011 over 639,000 homeowners have undertaken pre-retrofit evaluations with over 440,000 grant applications received in support of energy efficiency upgrades. This program has paid out almost $600 million to homeowners, with the average homeowner receiving a grant of more than $1,300.

Not only do these retrofits reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they have saved homeowners money by reducing power bills. In the middle of a global economic downturn, it helped create good well-paying jobs for hard-working Canadians.

This program is part of the focus of the responsible economic action plan, an overall plan that has created almost 450,000 jobs and has helped Canada weather the global economic downturn better than any country in the G7. Our wider eco-energy and clean energy initiatives are part of that plan. I am proud of Canada's energy sectors helping to lead the recovery of the Canadian economy.

However, as members know, in the last speech from the throne we committed to review our energy efficiency and emissions reductions programs just as everyone else reviews their programs. We want to make sure our programs continue to be an effective and efficient use of Canadian taxpayer dollars. In this economic climate I think we should all be on the same side when it comes to efforts to ensure the effectiveness of federal government programs.

It is important that members understand that while this review is under way, money for the eco-energy initiatives, including the home energy retrofit, continues to flow. The funding will continue until the end of this fiscal year, paying out a total of $300 million to homeowners currently in the program and it is continuing to support the home renovation industry. It is not just in the riding of the member for Edmonton—Strathcona, but across Canada that we are delivering economic and environmental benefits.

[Criminal Code, December 13th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I do not have a full 10 minute speech, but there are a couple of things that have come to the discussion today that need to be addressed. I am not sure if the members opposite, particularly the member for Churchill, were uninformed or deliberately trying to give the wrong impression about the bill, but I got the sense that the member for Churchill seemed to be implying that Roxanne Fernando's death did not come about as a result of her refusal to have an abortion.

It is important to point out that the crown prosecutor at the sentencing hearing was very clear when he talked about the fact that this was specifically a motive by these young men who took her life.

We need to remember that a young lady lost her life over this issue. We have heard people this morning say this is all covered in the Criminal Code. Her murder was covered in the Criminal Code and these young men are serving their time for that, which they rightly should be doing, but the issue of coercion was not covered in the Criminal Code. Those men were not charged with that.

We need to refocus the debate today back on the element of coercion and the fact that women should not be coerced in their dealings with their children. It is not in the interest of women or children to pretend otherwise.

We need to be clear this morning that the debate has been about the issue of coerced abortion. This is not a bill about abortion and restricting abortion rights. I think those folks who have indicated that either do not understand the bill clearly or are trying to perform some mischief.

As we heard just a few minutes ago, other countries have felt it is important to bring this level of protection. I heard the member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex talk about the fact that Germany has brought in protection on this issue; that Italy has felt it is important that women be protected in this area; and that France also has seen that this is an important issue in terms of protecting women and children.

In this country we need to have a better and more honest debate than we have had on this.

There are states in the U.S. that have taken this up as something they feel is important to protect women's rights.

I will wrap up by encouraging my colleagues to support the bill. It is an important bill. When my colleague presented the bill I said during questions and comments that this is a necessary bill. I thought it was necessary then and I think it is necessary now.

I encourage my colleagues in the House to stand and support the bill and see it pass second reading.

[Business of Supply, December 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I am getting a little tired of the Liberal inconsistency here today. The member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca asked a question during my speech about our commitment to environmental issues. He never mentioned anything about the raw sewage being dumped into his own harbour.

The member for Vancouver Quadra has also been very inconsistent. She has not mentioned here today that she has been a friend of oil and gas development in the past. In 2005, in the New Westminster Record, she said that she was a proponent of the development of oil and gas expansion as long as it was done in a sustainable, environmental and management approach. She said, “We make sure we do it with the sound science and protect the ecosystem as we go along”. There is certainly the assumption there that she does support oil and gas development. We certainly would not know that today.

I am just wondering why she is flip-flopping. Does she really think that her voters are naive enough to continue to support her when she keeps flip-flopping on her position?

[Business of Supply, December 2nd, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I do not think we need to take lectures from the members across the way about representing our constituents. I will bring a couple of illustrations into this. On Bill C-300, the mining bill that would be so damaging to Canadian industry, Canadian economy and Canadian jobs, and the NDP members fought against that.

The free trade agreements, particularly the one with Colombia, which our western Canadian farmers desperately needed for their special crops, the NDP members fought and fought against it and took as long as they could to see that stop.

The long gun registry is another example. Since coming here, I do not think I have ever seen anything that was handled as cynically as the NDP handled the long gun registry, allowing a few of their members to vote with us so the others could oppose it and ensure the bill was defeated.

Another example would be the economic action plan. Yesterday the leader of the NDP begged us to increase, improve, expand and continue our economic stimulus plan after he had opposed it at every turn.

When it comes to listening to Canadians, we will not take any lessons from the New Democratic Party. We have the environmental assessment process in place for these projects so everyone gets a chance to participate and government can make the best decision.