David McGuinty

[Telecommunications Transparency and Fairness Act, October 29th, 2009]

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Telecommunications Transparency and Fairness Act, October 29th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-555, An Act to provide transparency and fairness in the provision of telecommunication services in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present my private member's bill, the “get connected fairly act”, which would direct the Minister of Industry to amend the conditions for PCS and cellular spectrum licences.

It would also require the government to direct the CRTC to gather information, seek input and make a major report on competition, consumer protection and consumer choice issues relating to telecommunications services in Canada.

I believe this goes some distance in addressing what many Canadians see as unfairness and a lack of transparency in monthly charges for services.

There have been discussions among the parties, and I would like to ask for unanimous consent to give this bill the same number it had in the 39th Parliament, which was Bill C-555.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, October 28th, 2009]

With respect to the isotope crisis due to the shutdown of the NRU reactor at Chalk River: (a) what is the government's long term plan to ensure reliable isotope production in Canada; (b) what is the government's short term plan to provide isotopes for Canadian tests; (c) will the government license the McMaster Nuclear Reactor as part of its short term solution; (d) how many medical tests have been postponed due to the shortage; (e) how many medical tests have taken place with substitute materials, such as thallium, since the shortage began; (f) what are the total additional costs to date incurred as a result of these alternate tests; and (g) will the government be reimbursing the provinces for these additional costs and, if so, when can they expect payment?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, October 28th, 2009]

What is the total amount of government funding since fiscal year 1998-1999 up to and including the current fiscal year, allocated within the constituency of Ottawa South, listing each department or agency, initiative, and amount?

[Government Advertising, October 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, what the Conservatives are focused on is a hundred million borrowed dollars for a disinformation campaign. Here is what leading editorial boards are saying:

The federal government preaches accountability, but is being only selectively transparent about its own spending activities. In addition to being bad public policy, this opacity does a disservice to democracy.

Why will the Prime Minister not stand up himself in his place and defend his record, instead of hiding behind his court jester?

[Government Advertising, October 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we have already established what $100 million can buy when it is not being used for partisan advertising. Canadians are rightfully outraged in the face of such flagrant blue waste and they want to remind the Prime Minister that it is not his money.

Here is an idea. Why does the Prime Minister not call in the Parliamentary Budget Officer or, better yet, call in the Auditor General to make a full accounting of his advertising spending and then let Canadians decide whether or not this propaganda campaign is good value for taxpayer money?

What does he have to hide?

[Ethics, October 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's horse called accountability, the one he rode to Ottawa on, has apparently died.

Infrastructure money is disbursed like points in a Conservative rewards program. There are over 60 investigations before the Ethics Commissioner. There is a minister under investigation for improper ties with lobbyists and federal agencies. There is a Conservative senator linked to key players in an emerging scandal.

Is this what Joe Clark meant when he said that these Conservatives were “a private interest party in a public interest country”?

[Ethics, October 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have spent 12 times more on meaningless sloganeering than on real information on H1N1. At 12 times more, that is $100 million.

The Prime Minister may think that it is his money, but it is not. Taxpayers should know that $100 million buys a year's salary for 1,700 public health nurses. It buys 10,000 ventilators, or it buys 35,000 days of ICU beds.

Why does the Prime Minister insist on wasting borrowed money on partisan advertising while Canadians struggle to deal with this pandemic?

[Ethics, October 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the facts: $100 million spent on partisan propaganda without accountability; infrastructure monies distributed as though they were rewards points; more than 60 investigations by the Ethics Commissioner; a minister under investigation for his ties to lobbyists and federal agencies; a Conservative senator linked to key players in a scandal.

When are the Conservatives going to clean up this ethical mess?

[Government advertising, October 26th, 2009]

So says the minister, Mr. Speaker, who fired 8,500 nurses in Ontario. That is a bit rich.

What is most obscene is that the $100 million propaganda campaign is being paid for with borrowed money. Let us continue: $100 million buys 1,000 affordable housing units; salaries for 1,700 public health nurses to fight H1N1 for a year; 50,000 doses of chemotherapy drugs at a time when Canadians with cancer are suffering while they are on waiting lists.

In the face of so many needs, why is the Prime Minister obsessed with self-promotion? Why is greed put before need and politics before people?