Dennis Bevington

[Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, March 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her presentation on this very important issue. I want to go back to some of the discussion about the future of Canadian shipbuilding and the future of developing the Arctic and the kinds of vessels that are required there.

Taking the situation where there is no protection in Canada for the development of new technology that has to be employed on these ships, what company would invest in Canada? What company would put the effort into Canada when it could be undercut by so many other countries around the world for the same type of technology, the same type of advanced work that is required to build the types of vessels that will be used in the Arctic in the future?

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from my neighbouring riding, the member for Yukon, for an excellent presentation on the requirements of climate change research in the north and the tremendous importance to the north and to the rest of the country in setting our future direction.

Having taken that in, why does the member think that the government is so reluctant to continue funding and working on these important research issues? Why is the government closing the tap for these organizations that provide this information and provide the basis of understanding these enormous issues?

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the investments we are making in science and technology in this budget, in some cases they are investments that perhaps are not lining us up with what is going to happen in North America. The American administration is going to invest billions and billions in renewable energy. We are going to miss out on that with the kind of work done in this budget.

[Mackenzie Valley Highway, March 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories the single most discussed and called for infrastructure project is the completion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Recently, NWT leadership of all stripes has come out strongly in favour of the highway. Building the highway would bring many jobs for northerners and its benefits would last for generations to come. Benefits to northerners would be increased economic development and a lower cost of living. It would benefit Canadians as the highway would reduce the cost of developing our natural resources.

One of the holdups for completing the highway is the confusion over which government has the authority to build it. I will be consulting northerners on a private member's amendment to the Northwest Territories Act, which will clearly place the jurisdiction for new highway construction with the Northwest Territories.

However, the NWT still needs help from Canada to make this project happen.

The Mackenzie Valley Highway offers a win for all interested and involved in northern development. It is a legacy investment of the first order, a chance to apply principles of strategic development to our region and a chance to do the right thing for the NWT and Canada.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her very thoughtful discussion of research in Canada and the lack of federal government support for it. Very clearly, I am interested in the arctic research component that this country needs. We need to be engaged internationally, working with countries to establish the baseline for arctic research right across the world.

However, what we have here with the Conservative government is an attempt to use arctic research as some kind of status symbol by creating a single point arctic research centre in the North rather than investing in an arctic research initiative that would continue the great work of the International Polar Year and would deliver us the kind of information we need to make a success of arctic research. Perhaps my colleague could comment a little more about how she sees arctic research going in this country.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague's concern about this issue goes back a number of years. In 2006, he made a report on science and technology for the Liberal Party renewal commission. In that report, he suggested at that time that there is no process within our federal government to allow the development of a national science and technology strategy.

Canada does not have a national science strategy, so quite clearly something has carried on from the previous Liberal administration to the Conservative administration, which turns its back on the development of a national science strategy.

Is this an issue that speaks to the nature of how both these parties view our economy as a branch plant economy, as an economy that is tied more to North America than an economy that can stand on its own feet with its own research?

[Petitions, March 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from the people of the Northwest Territories calling on the Conservative government to stop its plan to eliminate the environmental protections and the protections of the rights of navigation under the Navigable Waters Protection Act found in Bill C-10.

My constituents go on to indicate their displeasure with this provision being attached to the budget implementation bill and the elimination of the opportunities for extensive examination of this important right of Canadians and committees. This petition contains 63 signatures of people from across the Northwest Territories.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, March 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are in a situation now. We have a coalition of sorts between the Liberals and the Conservatives over the budget. We hear some protestation on their part about this part of the budget.

Some of the comments I have heard today suggest that those members probably support what the Conservatives are doing with the Navigable Waters Protection Act. They are not standing up against it. Quite clearly their leader, who leans very much toward the Conservative side of the House, is supporting it as well.

I do not think we should be surprised by what the Liberals are doing here. It is part of their new leadership. As such, we have to accept that.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this week, while the Conservative government has been playing defence on the international stage over its handling of the tar sands, another report was issued, outlining how their out of control development is damaging the Athabasca-Slave-Mackenzie watersheds.

This latest report adds to the mounting evidence that toxic chemicals from tar sands development are the cause of increased cancer rates in Aboriginal communities situated downstream, but the government does nothing.

When will the government take action to protect Canadians who are dying of cancer from tar sands pollution in our waterways?

[Business of Supply, February 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democratic Party put amendments forward at the committee level, which followed the same general direction the motion today follows, and the Liberals did not support them. Now they have come forward with this motion as cover.