Dean Del Mastro

[September 15th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I love the CBC. On Sunday night I watched the Canadian Country Music Awards and thought it was fantastic. I am looking forward to Hockey Night in Canada. I think it is starting in September this year and I cannot wait. I cannot wait to see all my favourites on CBC appearing on Saturday night. That is a great tradition in my house and probably has been since I was too young to be able to answer this question.

I have been gifted in some regard with a memory that goes back more than just the past few weeks or months. I can remember back to 1993 and 1997. I can remember how the Liberal Party treated the CBC.

I can look at how this government every year since coming to power in 2006 has increased the funding to CBC. Since coming to power, this government has increased the funding to CBC. It is more money than the Liberal Party provided in any of its three 2005 budgets.

Let us be clear. What we did not do was what the Liberals did in 1993, which was promise to increase funding and then cut the funding. In 1997 they once again promised to increase funding and then cut the funding.

How much did the Liberals cut? That is a great question. It pains me to answer it. They cut $400 million from the CBC, a lot of money. What was the outcome? Four thousand people lost their jobs. So much money was cut that the president of the CBC quit his job.

That Liberal member may call that orderly. It was just done in a fashion that allowed the Liberals to cut here and there. Whatever.

That is simply not the case. What we are looking at right now is a situation in which all broadcasters, private and public, have seen their revenues decline because we are in an extraordinary economic time. There is no question about that. Their advertising revenues have fallen off. Key industries that spend money on advertising in large quantities, such as the auto industry, have had difficulties, and we know about them. It is not spending money.

The CBC has a plan. This government has provided record funding to the CBC in excess of $1.1 billion and it is moving forward. This type of misinformation that the Liberal Party member is spreading is simply not true.

The executive board of the CBC has indicated that even if loans had been granted, these difficult decisions in difficult times would have to have been made. Difficult decisions are being made by Canadians in this country from coast to coast. It is not something that we enjoy. These decisions are necessary.

This government stands by the CBC with a firm commitment to make sure the broadcaster has a bright future.

[Business of Supply, June 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we have stood in the House and defended the rights of employees and employers in this country against the 360 hour standard, because we do not think the 45 day work year is in Canada's interests.

One of the things that we have been very clear on is that we have stood behind EI. We have put more money into it. We are putting in an extra $5.5 billion. We are running a $5.5 billion deficit in EI. We are processing claims in less than two weeks. The public service has gotten behind this government's initiative. Those public servants have done a heck of a job getting money out to Canadians.

What is important is we have held the payroll taxes, taxes on small business, taxes on business in general, taxes that everyday Canadians who go to work have to pay.

I would like to know, will the member keep in mind the weight on small business, on employers and on everyday Canadians who pay these deductions? Will he keep that in mind when he is moving forward, or is he going to look at the NDP and Bloc plan that would substantially increase payroll taxes in this country? I can tell the member that the people in my riding do not want to pay it.

[June 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, and as I have indicated, we have already increased funding to the CBC, but the member also knows that the Bloc came forward with two economic stimulus packages. Neither of them targeted any money to the CBC. Thank goodness that in our economic action plan, in our budget, we did put more money into the CBC, and the member knows that. The member also knows that she voted against it.

It is really difficult to say put more money into the CBC and when a budget comes forward that actually puts more money into the CBC, she voted against it and claimed it was in the interests of Quebec. I thought the member wanted Radio-Canada and the CBC in Quebec, but when more money came forward, she voted against it. It is really confusing.

I do not know where to go with the member's questions on this, or questions on the arts, and so many things. On the one hand Bloc members forget completely about this when it comes to their stimulus plans, and on the other hand they vote against more money. They are really confused.

[June 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is not clear why the member keeps asking the same questions when she is getting the straight goods on the answer. She could look it up herself if she did not believe the answer, but she knows the truth. She knows that the CBC is receiving in excess of $1.1 billion from this government, which is more than it received from the previous government, substantially more than it received from the previous government.

She also knows that the executive vice-president, Richard Stursberg, of the CBC said that an extension of a line of credit, and I am reading from her question, or a loan to CBC would not have had any impact on the job decisions that were being made at the CBC. She is simply not being forthcoming with the House. Despite the fact that the member continues to get the exact answer. Why is it the exact same answer? Because it is factual, because it is the truth. That is why we keep giving the same answer. The CBC is receiving more than $1.1 billion from this government.

I did go into this last week and I am very encouraged on the one hand by this debate because I am always encouraged when the Bloc Québécois stands and sees the value in national institutions like the CBC. Maybe in her supplemental she might talk about some other Canadian institutions or things about Canada that are really valuable to Quebec, maybe having a Canadian passport, Canadian citizenship, maybe that is really important in Quebec. I believe it is. It is certainly important to Canadians in other parts of the country and I believe it is something that Quebeckers cherish greatly. Perhaps she would talk about the RCMP, a great institution that has provided so much to the country, the Canadian Forces, or maybe national museums, several of which are located in Quebec.

I gather the Bloc would also stand and support these national institutions and that is really encouraging because Canada is such a great country with great strengths. It is wonderful that we can talk about national institutions. The CBC, for example, a Conservative creation, is a public broadcaster that tells Canadians our story and has done so since it was created in the 1930s.

Our government made a promise in the last election that we would maintain or increase funding to the CBC. That is what we have done. We acknowledge that there are challenges in broadcasting right now. In fact, the member was part of a committee that worked on a broadcast study that should be tabled shortly in the House, so we know full well what is going on as the member does as well.

She also knows the truth with respect to the CBC. She knows there are headwinds facing all the broadcasters, that advertising revenues have declined, but government support for the CBC has in fact increased. She knows that full well.

[CBC/Radio-Canada, June 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, that is consistent with what we always hear from the Liberal Party: spend, spend, spend. The Liberals say that they will raise taxes and bring in an increase to the GST. They are going to get it all from Canadians because they are going to keep on spending.

Our government has put stable funding behind the CBC, more funding than the Liberal Party ever provided. Tax Freedom Day came 19 days earlier this year thanks to our Conservative government. We will not follow a Liberal example.

[CBC/Radio-Canada, June 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our support for the CBC remains unwavering. We made a commitment in the last election that we would maintain or increase funding for the CBC. We have kept that commitment because we keep our election commitments.

The Liberal Party does not keep its election commitments, like in 1993 and 1997. In both cases that party promised to increase funding to the CBC and actually cut it and 4,000 jobs were lost.

We keep our election commitments. When it comes to the CBC, the Liberals cannot be trusted at all.

[The Economy, June 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government has taken unprecedented and extraordinary action to accelerate the job-creating investments in Canada's economic action plan. Because of our unprecedented action, families and businesses in every region of Canada are now paying less tax, we are helping the unemployed, and major job-creating projects are already breaking ground.

This is in very sharp contrast to the Liberal plan of raising taxes. The leader of the Liberal Party announced a few months ago, “We will have to raise taxes”. This harmful policy is in addition to his promise to impose a job-killing carbon tax and increase the GST. Canadians do not want that, and that is why they trust our Conservative government to manage the economy.

Because of our government's prudent management of the country's finances and economy, we have managed to retain the smallest deficit compared to GDP of any G7 country.

Canada's economic action plan is internationally recognized as the right response to this economic challenge.

[June 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, not to debate this, but I would be happy to table the late show question on which the member is rising. I can assure everyone that it has nothing to do with what he is speaking about.

That being said, I am happy to be able to talk about this government's record. I am really proud of our record of standing four-square behind the artists, standing four-square behind the cultural community in this country, in Quebec, in Ontario, in the west, in the Maritimes, everywhere. We put our money behind the promises that we made to Canadians and the promises we made in the last election.

What is really concerning is that when we put the money behind the arts, and that money is flowing equitably right across this country, the Bloc Québécois members voted against it. That is something they have to respond to. That is something they will have to explain in the next election, whenever that happens. They will have to explain to artists in Quebec why they voted against it, why they brought forward two economic plans and there was not a mention of the artists. That is what they will have to explain.

[June 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, that was an interesting point brought forward by the member. Unfortunately, it is not the point that he actually suggested that he wanted to attend here for the adjournment debate this evening. What he actually wanted to talk about was international travel, but then he came in and talked about something that was kind of entirely different from international travel. So, that is interesting.

However, I am here to talk about support for the arts and I am happy to discuss support for the arts. We have the member for Lévis—Bellechasse here. Do members know why he is here? Because he supports the arts in Quebec. He strongly believes that the arts is important to the cultural fabric of Quebec, just like it is important to the cultural fabric of this great country.

No government has put more support behind the arts than this government. Whether it is our support for festivals, whether it is our support to the Canada Council for the Arts, whether it is our support to cultural spaces, this government put more money behind the arts than any government in history.

And do members know what was really missing? The Bloc came forward with a couple of economic proposals, one in November and another one I believe in late April, and the Bloc did not mention the arts at all. The Bloc never mentioned the CBC or Radio-Canada. Apparently it is really important to the Bloc. I am glad the Bloc is standing up for national institutions. I think my colleagues agree with that.

We believe in a strong Canada, and that is what the CBC and Radio-Canada bring to Canada, but we also believe in the arts. That is why we have put so much money behind the arts and that is why we stand four-square behind all those who make Canada so culturally vibrant, who give us this unique identity in the world, who are really trendsetters in the world. We look at Canadians who are so successful on the world scene, whether it is in acting or in singing or indeed in drama, and in dance, we know that Les Grands Ballets, for example, is going to receive $2.7 million this year from this government, more money than it has ever received, and I am proud of that. As it is going around and entertaining audiences, not just in Canada but internationally, Les Grands Ballets is representing Canada, and we are so proud.

I guess perhaps the reason why we are on a different question, a question entirely different from what the member suggested that he would talk about is because the Bloc has not been talking a lot about the arts. We came out with our economic action plan, and I alluded to it earlier, and today it is 80% implemented. I will tell members that the record of the Department of Canadian Heritage is outstanding in implementing our economic action plan. We are getting the money out the door and we are supporting artists with it.

However, the reason why Bloc members are not asking that question is because they do not like the answer. They do not like it when they are being called on the fact that they forgot about artists in Quebec. The leader of the Bloc Québécois is going to receive $20 million of support for the arts in his own riding this year from this government. And he forgot about them in his two economic statements. No wonder they do not want to talk about the arts anymore. When it comes to arts in Canada, this party remembered them, that party voted against them.

[June 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the statements by the member are patently false. Anybody who can use an adding machine or perhaps a calculator would know that 1.1 is more than 1.

It is certainly more than what the Liberal Party put in place. That is what we have done. We have provided more funding to the CBC, stable funding to the CBC. The CBC has been the recipient of public funds for over seven years. That is pretty stable. However, one thing that I do not have a selective memory about is the Liberal record. In 1993 the Liberals promised more money and delivered less.

By the way, if they want to talk deficits, let us talk Trudeau, with the highest percentage of GDP to debt. The budgets he brought forward were awful, a disgrace. He was leading this country down a road to destruction, but thank goodness some Conservatives got in there and got this country back on the path, but we did not cut health care funding. We did not cut education funding.

That is what the Liberals did. They cut transfers to the provinces. They also cut funding to the CBC and 4,000 jobs were lost at the CBC. The CBC has never recovered from the Liberal record of shame.