James Moore

[Government Accountability, November 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, when she was out of politics a couple of years ago, worked at the Canadian Auto Workers. When she was working at the Canadian Auto Workers, the Canadian Auto Workers commended the federal government for its commitment to the Canadian auto industry, saying “This will ensure that the Canadian industry is protected. ... This is a very sound decision....”, meaning the investment the member just chastised.

That is what she said just two years ago when she worked at the Canadian Auto Workers Union. That is what they said in praising our government, and we are proud to stand with Canadian auto workers.

[Government Accountability, November 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is not at all what the Auditor General said.

My colleague is clearly asking the question, what was the purpose of the investment and what did it do? Well, it secured almost 500,000 jobs in Canada's auto sector. That is what it did. For the auto sector, and directly for these two firms, Chrysler and GM, it protected 52,000 jobs in Canada. That is what this investment did.

The Auditor General has put forward four recommendations. We have already implemented two of the four. We are going to follow through on the other two.

Let there be no doubt: we are very proud of the work that we have done to protect and build Canada's auto sector.

[Automotive Industry, November 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, all the funds were spent to secure Canada's auto footprint for the future, and my hon. colleague knows that. The money that was loaned to these firms has been paid back to the Canadian taxpayer as an investment by the Government of Canada into the auto sector. We have secured Canada's manufacturing base in the auto sector well into the future.

Ken Lewenza, president of the Canadian Auto Workers, commended the federal government for its commitment to the auto industry. He said:

This will ensure that the Canadian industry is protected....

We know the NDP is a wholly owned subsidiary to the Canadian Auto Workers. Maybe they should pay attention and listen to them on this file.

[Automotive Industry, November 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case at all. The Auditor General said that this industry is essential to Canada's future. The automotive industry is essential to Ontario and to Canada.

We make no apologies for investing in and protecting Canada's automobile industry. The investments that we made protected tens of thousands of jobs in the province of Ontario and secured Canada's auto sector for the future. If my hon. colleague does not believe that, she should talk to her colleagues from Windsor West and Windsor—Tecumseh, who have praised this government for the action that we took to protect Canada's auto industry.

[Consumer Protection, November 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we do not direct the Competition Bureau in its investigations or the timeliness of its investigations. However, this is a very good moment because if the biggest concern we have in our country right now, according to the questions from the opposition, is a lack of choice in coffee, we are doing pretty good as a country. It is a good sign.

Added to that, we have given the Competition Bureau extra powers. In fact, as has been reported by the Competition Bureau in its annual report, the estimated dollar savings per annum to consumers by the bureau, because of the new powers we have given it, are $572 million in the pockets of consumers. We are standing up for consumers in every way.

[Telecommunications Industry, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case. We have implemented a number of measures to protect the interests of consumers.

It is very interesting. It is the same question in English and in French, but members complain that the number of complaints against telecommunication firms has gone down because our government has put in place measures to stand up for consumers. Therefore, because consumers are better protected, complaints are going down and somehow this is evidence that consumers are not being defended.

The fact is, because of more competition, because we have put in place measures that protect Canadian consumers, complaints are going down and prices are going down. There is more competition and Canadians are winning.

[Telecommunications Industry, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we have taken a number of actions when it comes to the telecom policy that have clearly benefited Canadian consumers and the evidence is right before the member if he chooses to read it. The Wall report, which is the authoritative report on Canada's telecom industry, reports that our government's measures on spectrum transfer licences, on our spectrum auctions, on our tower sharing policy, everything that we have done to inspire competition, have led to a reduction in the average cellphone bill for Canadian consumers by 22%. We are delivering for Canadians.

[Manufacturing Industry, October 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking action and we have taken action in the past. We announced new measures in budget 2014 to ensure that our system and our economy, which both rely on manufacturers, are in good shape for the future.

We have a number of measures in budget 2014 that speak directly to the item that the NDP is raising in the Parliament of Canada. Unfortunately, NDP members have said they will vote against the budget, before they read it; they will ignore the advice from the experts; and they will ignore the advice from the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association who, on the very front lines of Canada's manufacturing community, has said these measures in the budget that we have before the Parliament of Canada are in the best interests of Canadian manufacturing.

It is time that the NDP stands with us and stands with them.

[Manufacturing Industry, October 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in 2013 Canada went from sixth to second in Bloomberg's ranking of the best places in the world to create jobs based on the growth that we have seen in manufacturing which, this year, is up 25% since the dearth of the recession.

Further to that, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association, if she is looking for action, pointed to this year's budget that is before the Parliament of Canada, that the NDP is free to vote for, and noted that budget 2014 will assist manufacturers and exports in finding and training skilled workers, lowering regulatory costs and help win major new investments in Canada to create jobs.

[Gasoline Prices, October 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government has taken action when it comes to prices at the pumps. We have put in place the Fairness at the Pumps Act. We have put in place a regulation after consultations with the folks in northern Ontario and elsewhere to ensure that the regulation is meaningful for everyday consumers.

My colleague thinks that gas prices should somehow be regulated or that there needs to be an ombudsman. This is an area of provincial jurisdiction and I would encourage him to call the provincial premier and suggest that idea.

We on this side of the House believe in taking action to support consumers and put more money in their pockets by lowering taxes, which we have done, and by preventing any company from gouging consumers through our legislation, which we have done.

We continue to ensure that consumers are adequately protected at the pumps.