James Moore

[Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, November 16th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, what we support, believe in and applaud is the member for Peterborough's efforts to hold CBC accountable for the money it gets from taxpayers.

The committee the member is referencing can decide its own business, what witnesses to call and what documents to ask for.

What the member for Peterborough is simply doing is what he promised his constituents he would do, which is to stand up for value for taxpayers' dollars. Unlike the member for Timmins—James Bay, who promised he would stand up in the House of Commons and vote against the long gun registry, he has a record of standing up for his constituents; the member opposite has a record of abandoning his.

[Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, November 15th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the integrity of the member for Peterborough on this issue and standing up for taxpayers cannot be challenged by the member opposite, who campaigned time and again to vote against the long gun registry, stood in his place and betrayed his constituents.

The member for Peterborough campaigned on and asked for a mandate to come to Ottawa and fight for taxpayers. He kept his word.

This member asked for a mandate to come to Ottawa and defeat the long gun registry, and he betrayed his constituents.

I will stand by the member for Peterborough every single day of the week.

[Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, November 15th, 2011]

It is neither, Mr. Speaker. The member for Peterborough was mandated by his constituents to ensure that the CBC is accountable.

We on this side of the House applaud the member for Peterborough for his hard work on behalf of taxpayers.

He was elected, re-elected, and elected again to stand up for taxpayers and to ensure that money is being spent appropriately by the CBC. He is doing his work, and we applaud him for doing so.

[Copyright Modernization Act, November 14th, 2011]

A couple of points need to be cleared up, Mr. Speaker.

First, the hon. member opposite said that our government had cut funding for museums. That is not true. We have created two new national museums, increased funding for existing museums and for local museums across the country.

Second, she mentioned PromArt and Trade Routes, two programs costing $7 million. It cost $5 million to deliver $2 million worth of benefits. We eliminated those programs, took that money, gave it to the Canada Council for the Arts, which now has its highest budget ever. We have increased the Canada Council for the Arts budget by 20% with regard to copyright. Therefore, her facts are just wrong. I do not know who wrote her speech, but it is just wrong.

With regard to copyright, the only proposal the NDP members have talked about, and she mentioned it again and again in her speech, is the need to compensate artists, that artists have a right to an income.

The reality is the only proposal that the NDP has put forward on that measure is private member's Bill C-499, by the member for Timmins—James Bay, and it does call for a new tax on consumers. It says that people are downloading MP3s and in this transaction we need to tax that and that money should be collected into the private copying levy and distributed to artists.

I mentioned this as well to the member from the Bloc Québécois, but how does that work with iCloud? How does that work with streaming services? On the proposal from the NDP to compensate artists, even if one agreed with the premise, which I do not, how does that proposal work with streaming media? It is technologically impossible for the proposal of the NDP members to even achieve what they pretend it will achieve. How does it work?

[Copyright Modernization Act, November 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I was not going to participate in this debate but I need to given that the Bloc, the Liberals and the NDP have all commented on a copyright bill with regard to this idea of extending the levy.

My Bloc Québécois colleague calls it a levy.

It is astonishing to me that a member of Parliament would stand in this place with so much enthusiasm and speak in favour of something, the technology about which he clearly has no idea of what he is talking about. People do not download MP3s and burn them onto discs anymore. Therefore, the idea of an iPod tax or a levy for MP3s, which is what the Bloc Québécois has been proposing for years, does not work. How does his proposal work with Stitcher and iCloud and the new streaming media advances that are being made right now?

The Bloc Québécois and the NDP proposals with regard to the idea of an iPod tax, as we call it, or extending the private copying levy, make absolutely no sense whatsoever to anybody who has even the simplest understanding of how technology works.

[Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, November 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking here about accountability and the responsibility of the CBC to be in tune with its needs and to be open to the public about the money it receives from taxpayers.

That is what the Parliamentary Secretary is doing and that is what our government promised to Canadians during the last election campaign. We are asking for the CBC's receipts because it must be accountable. It was the same with our Bill C-2, under the former government. The CBC must show taxpayers that it will act responsibly with the money it receives from them.

[Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, November 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, our government and the member for Peterborough were elected to look out for taxpayers. That is what he has been doing. He deserves the applause of the House on all sides for standing up for taxpayers. That is what he has done.

The CBC receives a lot of money from taxpayers. Our government believes that the CBC, the Wheat Board and other organizations have to be accountable for the money they receive from taxpayers. That is what the member for Peterborough has been fighting for. That is what we will continue to pursue with all government departments and agencies, including the CBC.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, November 3rd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my Conservative colleagues, but disappointingly not opposition colleagues, in commending the member for Peterborough for demanding accountability at the CBC. This is something that our government said that we would do.

The truth is the CBC receives a lot of money, and our government has been clear. If it is to receive that money, then it needs to be accountable for it. That is what the committee is investigating and that is what the member for Peterborough is standing up for.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the 2010-11 Report on Plans and Priorities shows a reduction of up to 578.6 FTEs from 2010-11 to 2013-14 when compared with the 2011-12 Report on Plans and Priorities.

The Report on Plans and Priorities is a planning document on key departmental priorities.

The arts, culture, official languages and sport are and will remain a priority for the Government of Canada.

Our priority continues to be to serve Canadians by ensuring that we remain efficient and cost-effective in the delivery of our programs and services.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, November 2nd, 2011]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are demanding accountability at the CBC. For shame.

For Canadians watching question period today, this is very instructive. The NDP started question period by saying we should not spend more money on fighting crime. Then it said we should not spend more money on the Canadian Forces so that they have the equipment they need. Now the NDP stands up and says, “However, let us give hundreds of millions more to the CBC”.

That tells us everything we need to know about that party versus where Canadians stand.