Dick Harris

[CANADA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS ACT, February 6th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for indicating that he and his party are going to support the bill. We appreciate it because we think it has a lot of value.

I know that my colleague pays attention to detail most every time he speaks and I appreciate that. I wonder about the suggestions the member had about the EI benefits and other changes that he sees could have been added to the budget. I am sure he would like to separate himself from his colleagues in the NDP who never seem to come to the House with a price on the things that they want. Perhaps the member might be able to present some pricing for the ideas that he has suggested today. He could get his point across a little better that way but also separate himself from the NDP members who never seem to attach a cost to their wish list. The hon. member knows that there is not an endless supply of money and it is good to know what it is going to cost up front when an idea comes forward.

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to suggest also for the member from the NDP that this bill will allow not-for-profit organizations to become more transparent and more accountable. This will feed out to the people in our communities who support non-profit organizations with their donations and assistance and as such, this bill will allow Canadians to have more confidence in non-profit organizations.

Does the member think that the increased accountability and transparency would serve to make organizations stronger by building more confidence in the people in our society who would support them?

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in the House today we have listened to speaker after speaker from the NDP tell us what was not in the budget. Notwithstanding the fact that they were invited to participate in the preparation of the budget and were invited to give their input, they chose not to participate much at all. In fact, a couple of weeks before the budget had even been presented, they were telling the Canadian people that they were not going to support the budget That in itself is curious.

Now I am listening to all the things they say are not in the budget. Making a shopping list is easy once they have the budget.

All these things are now a matter of Hansard, and when this debate is over, I would ask members of that party to present a priced list of all of the things they brought up and tell the Canadian people how much money the things they say are not in the budget would actually cost. I would ask that they be honest and just do it.

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is probably appropriate to remind him that in the election in October 2008, Canada was facing some serious global financial pressures. When we went to the polls, the Canadian people looked at all the parties and all the leaders and made a very positive choice. They believed that the leader of the Conservative Party was the best person, leading the best party, to guide Canada through these difficult times.

The Canadian people have spoken, and I hope the Liberal Party will join the majority of Canadians and support the budget. I appreciate the comments they have made so far about how appropriate the budget is for Canadians. I can assure them that the Prime Minister of the government will certainly follow through on the plans that we have made and he will be a very strong leader through these difficult times where global pressures have put so many challenges on our economy.

The preparation work that the government did, getting our books and our fundamental financial tools in order, will help us get through this time of challenge as well.

I am sure the member realizes that. We look forward to the co-operation from his party in these difficult times.

[Human Resources and Skills Development, January 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian workers across the country have been hit hard by job cuts and hiring freezes. Now very many of these Canadians need our help and our support to upgrade their skills so that they can compete in the job market and get the jobs back.

Can the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development please tell us what measures she expects the government to provide to help our Canadian workers?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, by contrast to some of my Liberal friends across the way, and in particular, the leader of the NDP, I want to say clearly that for the forestry industry in Canada, the sky is not falling, honest. I say that with emphasis to the leader of the NDP who believes that if we do not have a day with doom and gloom, it is just not a good day.

The sky is not falling on the forestry industry. If we talk to the leaders in the four sectors, the Canfors, the AbitibiBowaters, the West Frasers, the Forest Products Associations of Canada, they know about the challenges we have. However, they will get through this. The mills that have done their due diligence, that have upgraded their equipment, and that have put some money aside will be the ones that come out in the end. They will once again employ tens of thousands of forestry workers all across this country. I say, good for them, and we will help them get there.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite just said it, the Liberals were working on it when they were in government, but they never got it done. That is another example. They were in power for 13 long years and there were so many things that they did not get done. We came to power in January 2006 and it was not more than 30 or 40 days when we did get it done. We got the softwood lumber deal signed.

I know there is not a lot of love for the Americans on that side, nor down where the NDP members sit, but I am really surprised by that complete contrast. The Liberals did not like the softwood lumber agreement. Surprisingly, the biggest fans they have for wanting to scrap it now just happen to be the big mill owners in the southeastern U.S. It is funny that they should climb into bed with the big U.S. lumber consortium in a coordinated effort to try to scrap the softwood lumber deal.

The community development trust is doing a good job across this country. It is targeted to communities that are dependent on industry. In my neck of the woods, it is the forest industry communities that like it.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Burlington pointed out that this government has paid down $39 billion since we came to power in January 2006. That is a remarkable accomplishment.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to split my time today with the hon. member for York—Simcoe.

It is with great pleasure that I am here today to speak to the throne speech, but first there is something I really need and want to do. It is to give acknowledgement and my sincerest appreciation to all who helped me in this last election and to all who have helped me throughout the last 15 years and the last six consecutive parliaments and allowed me to represent the great area of British Columbia known as the central interior Cariboo.

I currently represent the great riding of Cariboo—Prince George, as I have for the last three elections. That riding's geography includes everything from prairies to mountains to lakes to oceans. It is a pleasure to serve that great riding and the great people who live there. I want to say to all of them, and first of all to those constituents who supported me in such a great fashion, that I appreciate it. I think I received around 55.5% of the vote, which is small by Alberta standards but is certainly good for B.C.

For the first time in six elections, I ran what could be called a textbook riding. I actually had a great campaign manager. We had computers and volunteers all over the place. I decided that after all these years, maybe I had better try what they have been telling me for the last 15 years about how to run an election, and it actually worked very well.

I thank my campaign manager, Tom Newell. He is a great guy. He knows this business, and he is a good friend of mine. I thank my staff, who stayed in the constituency office serving the constituents throughout this whole election and made me look good at that level on a daily basis.

I want to thank all the Conservative candidates across the country, my colleagues who were elected and re-elected, and our national campaign team. I want to thank our Prime Minister for his leadership, his vision and his determination to serve this country, notwithstanding the fact that we were heading into some very troubling times brought on by external circumstances. I know the people of Canada re-elected our Prime Minister because they wanted someone with a firm hand on the rudder as we move our country through these most challenging economic times.

I want to thank my wife Annie, my constant companion. She was my scheduler. She kept me sane throughout the campaign. Most of all, she walked up to the podium with me on victory night for the speech. It was just great.

I am a lucky man to have a great riding like Cariboo—Prince George. Great people live in it. It is humbling to think that they have elected me this many times, and I appreciate it. They are number one.

In addressing our government's Speech from the Throne, I wear a number of hats. One is as the member of Parliament for the great riding of Cariboo—Prince George; one is as the B.C. Conservative caucus chair; one is as chair of our Conservative national forestry caucus.

I have lived in the central interior, Prince George, for about 50 years. This area is primarily a forestry sector area. Living there has given me a broad range of perspective, particularly in the forestry industry.

The forestry industry is a key economic engine for communities in my riding of Cariboo--Prince George, for the province of British Columbia, and for the entire country.

Earlier this afternoon, I spoke briefly on how the government has responded to forestry workers and their families in these times of trouble.

It is important to note that even prior to the global economic instability that has now manifested, the forestry industry had already entered into some serious and challenging times. Rising energy costs, damage done by the ongoing seemingly never-ending softwood lumber dispute, which the previous Liberal government just simply could not handle and failed to address, and the devastating mountain pine beetle infestation particularly in B.C., have all created a perfect storm for the forestry industry.

I am so proud of our Prime Minister and our government because we understand that when a mill closes in a town, that closure affects every part of the community, and it has in my riding. Folks have had to rely on the measures that the government has put forward to help them somehow mitigate the economic pain.

That is why we have acted decisively. We have taken measures to help not only the forestry sector but all of Canada's traditional industries, and we will continue to assist these industries. We are taking measures aimed at marketing Canadian products abroad and helping businesses to innovate.

Not only did the government protect Canadian forestry jobs by getting the softwood lumber deal done but earlier this year we created the $1 billion community development trust to protect jobs and assist communities facing downturns. We worked hard with each province to identify priority areas for action. The community development trust has a lifespan of three years and right-minded communities across this country need it. We provided funding to fight the mountain pine beetle infestation.

Our government launched the targeted initiative for older workers for those who are struggling through these economic times and may be facing layoffs. We have funding available to help them adapt to perhaps losing jobs that they have held for 25 or 30 years. It is really important.

I met with folks from the Forest Products Association of Canada along with a number of my colleagues last week. We spoke about the challenges facing the forestry sector and also about opportunities. With every challenge there comes an opportunity.

Earlier this year in the report that came out of the natural resources committee, FPAC and members of committee were able to identify opportunities. Perhaps that is why we had such a great report come out of that committee, and it was a unanimous report. We all recognized that while there were challenges, there were also opportunities. We need the government to put initiatives forward that would let us take advantage of those opportunities in the forestry sector.

Our government is looking to the future by investing in innovation; creating new market opportunities, such as the worldwide promotion of wood products from Canada; and cutting corporate taxes so that our mills can stay competitive. We brought in the accelerated capital cost allowance so mills can upgrade to new, environmentally-friendly technology.

As I said earlier, the Conservative government is providing support, support in the short-term, but we are also providing things that will fix the problem in the long-term. It is important that we do that.

As the Minister of Industry said, a ready, fire and aim program is not what a Conservative government is all about. We are doing a number of incredible things that will help the forestry industry in Canada. All of these things are the reason why, in the last election, Canadians gave our party and our Prime Minister a huge mandate to govern in the way they wanted us to govern. They have confidence in us and that is why we are on this side of the House.

[Forestry Industry, November 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, these are difficult times for forest workers and their families: rising energy costs, the damage done by the softwood dispute and the previous government's failure to act and the mountain pine beetle infestation.

Our government understands that when a mill closes, the whole community is affected. We have acted decisively to help the forest sector, protecting forestry jobs by getting the softwood deal signed, the community development trust, helping forest-dependent communities, funding to mitigate the mountain pine beetle disaster, the target initiative for older workers in tough economic times, investing in innovation, creating new markets and cutting corporate taxes to keep mills competitive.

We have delivered support in the short term and solutions in the long term. This Conservative government is delivering for the forest industry. We are getting the job done for forestry.

[The Environment, June 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, those members are touchy about this one.

The member for Halton confessed yesterday that, yes, there is a carbon tax, and yet minutes later the member for Richmond Hill said no, there is no carbon tax here. We know how bad it is when even the Liberal environment critic's own brother, the premier of Ontario, will not buy into that massive tax. Can the government--