Dean Del Mastro

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, March 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member has elected to go back in time, so let us do that. Let us take a walk back through time.

Let us go back to 1993 and the Liberal red book where the Liberals promised they would make no cuts to the CBC and that they would commit to stable funding. Now let us look at what they did over the next four years: $414 million in cuts made by the Liberal Party to the CBC and 4,000 jobs lost.

Remarkably, it was during a similar period of time that they were running the sponsorship program. Almost the same amount of money that was cut from the CBC they took for themselves, a remarkable strategy.

[March 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, of course arts and culture is not exempt from the challenges that we see in other places in the economy. However, one thing I can say and one thing the Bloc member will never say, because she has no interest in saying this but it is the truth, is no government has ever provided more support to arts and culture in this country than the one of which I am a part.

If the Bloc brought forward its budget, although it will never bring forward a budget because it will never be in government, and if it actually saw something behind arts and culture that it would support, I would be surprised. It voted against a budget to put more support into arts and culture than any budget in history.

It is indefensible. I hope artists rise up and vote largely against the Bloc because it does not support them.

[March 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to stand and speak to this question. The Bloc Québécois has no legitimacy on this issue at all. In fact, it has no legitimacy on any arts and culture issue because it continues to vote against arts and culture in Canada.

No matter how much money we put in, and our government has invested more money in arts and culture than any government in Canadian history, the Bloc has chosen to vote against artists. It has no interest in talking about the truth. It does not even have any interest in listening to the Canada Council for the Arts on the money that it is investing in promoting arts abroad.

This is really about that. It should be about truth, but it is not. In fact, it is about manipulation. It is about trying to get a partisan gain, trying to cut things up, pit people against people. That is the Bloc's game on this. Our government is investing more money in arts and culture, into artists, into festivals, into the support of artists and into the generation of new artists in our country than any government in history.

I cannot understand why the member continues to stand every day and spin the tales that she weaves. It is clearly not true.

I listened to what she had to say with respect to the Canada Prize. She said that why not just spend all the money sending our artists abroad, that why would we want to bring any artists here and that why would any artists come to Canada and be capable of winning a prize or earning any money.

Is that not the essence of trade? Is that not the essence of exporting our arts, that we might actually open our ears, our eyes, our hearts and our minds to international artists as well? Is that not something worth promoting in our country? Is it not worth promoting excellence? Is it not worth promoting that type of culture right here in Canada, that we are centre of excellence?

That is my Canada. It is not the Bloc's Canada. I do not know what the Bloc is really after. It is really just about divide and conquer. For me it is about building, it is about uniting and it is about supporting arts. Our government is about that.

[Italian-Canadian Recognition and Restitution Act, March 24th, 2009]

That's right.

[Government Funding, March 13th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we honour the service of our police regularly on this side. We stand up for them and provide them support in all the areas the police ask for support, including hiring more officers. That is something this government did and we had no help from the NDP on that.

I point to the more than $500 million of support that this government has provided to the 2010 games, games that are on budget and on track. We are supporting British Columbians through everything we are doing, including the economic action plan. I cannot understand why the member has voted against British Columbia at every opportunity he has had to do so.

[Government Funding, March 13th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I find the question really incredible from a member from British Columbia who actually voted against Canada's economic action plan. The economic action plan is going to invest in British Columbia. It is going to extend EI benefits to British Columbians. It is going to invest in infrastructure, roads, bridges, sewers, everything that British Columbians need.

The member voted against it and now he stands up on this issue? I cannot understand it. He votes against British Columbians.

[Liberal Party of Canada, March 13th, 2009]

Thank you for hearing my voice.

Mr. Speaker, I want the Liberal leader to know that imposing a job-killing carbon tax and hiking the GST is no plan--

[Liberal Party of Canada, March 13th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, hear my voice; there is no need to put on your earmuffs for this Standing Order.

Much like the common garden snake, the Liberals have too thin a skin. They seem to forget, or they want people to forget that only three short months ago they were in league with both the separatists and the socialists. In fact, they liked separatism so much that one of their senators took up the cause for Newfoundland. They ran their election on a job-killing carbon tax, even as the world economy was heading into uncertainty. Canada would be suffering now if a carbon tax were in place.

The Conservatives have cut taxes. We have provided help for those hardest hit and invested in roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

The other side of the House has no plan--

[March 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the member made reference to polls in Quebec. I would argue that the polls in Quebec are meaningless. What matters is that the Bloc Québécois is voting against the interests of Quebeckers consistently.

Budget 2009 is good for the people of Quebec in so many ways, not just in arts and culture, but right across the board. There are investments in science and technology and the extension of EI. Who would vote against the extension to EI? The Bloc Québécois did. That is who voted against it.

There is also significant investment in infrastructure, in things that matter, including roads, bridges and sewers. These things will build the future of Quebec. The Bloc Québécois members voted against that, and they stand here trying to confuse the issue, trying to cloud the issue, trying to misrepresent what the government is doing.

The government can stand proud on what it is doing with heritage. It can stand proud on arts and culture, because no government in the history of Canada has ever been more supportive.

[March 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we have worked very hard to help the member through the very significant investments we are making. Apparently the member and her colleagues have no interest in reading the budget or in looking into the very significant investments we are making in the arts. The member specifically referenced travel abroad.

Her constituents and the constituents of the Bloc in Quebec should know that the Bloc has voted against budget 2009. Budget 2009, Canada's economic action plan, contains $276 million in new money, but of course that is not all of the money for the arts. The $276 million is new money. The member is unaware that there is $276 million in new money. There is $540 million in total, of which $276 million is new. It will go to help ridings from coast to coast and it will support the arts from coast to coast.

The member referenced international travel. The member should know, and in fact artists know, that we have increased the funding to the Canada Council for the Arts up to $181 million. That is a 17% increase. That was a fund of just $100 million only a few short years ago. It is now $181 million, thanks to the leadership of our Prime Minister, our finance minister and our great new young Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.

Everywhere he goes, artists from coast to coast, after meeting the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, are very impressed with his leadership and his direction. People are very excited about where he is taking this file and about the progressive nature of the way we are taking this file.

Canadian culture is a world-leading export for Canada, but it is also something we are proud to promote right here in Canada. That is why we have invested $100 million for summer festivals. Those summer festivals will occur from coast to coast in this great country, from north to south and from east to west, and we will be behind those festivals. We are also behind so many things that the artists are doing.

I want to go back to the Canada Council for the Arts for one moment. The investment we have made there has increased to $181 million, $13 million of which they are spending on international travel, but the balance remaining, $168 million, is going to artists right here. They are investing it right here, in artists and in arts and culture right here. That is artists helping artists, and our government is standing behind the Canada Council. We are backing them up.

The Bloc is voting against the Canada Council, and I would like to repeat that statement for the people in Quebec, because the Bloc does not run anywhere else. The Bloc has voted against increases in funding for the Canada Council for the Arts. The Bloc Québécois has voted against increases in arts and culture, and it campaigns as a party that supports arts and culture. Well, the Bloc cannot support arts and culture in Quebec and come to Ottawa and vote against funding increases for the Canada Council and so many other things, such as summer festivals. The member should apologize to the arts and culture community in Quebec for consistently voting against its interests.