James Rajotte

[Supply, April 25th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I will just pick up on what the minister said in terms of moving this to a general discussion of the industry on what should be done and what the government policy should be. We did have a discussion at the industry committee after September 11 as to what should be done to ensure that the industry does survive and in fact thrive. Some of the suggestions included reducing corporate taxes, especially removing nuisance taxes like those on air conditioning, and of course ensuring border access and border security.

One specific suggestion I want to ask him about is the elimination of the $1.3 billion capital tax. That was suggested by the official opposition at the industry committee. Later it was suggested by the finance committee. It was endorsed by the Liberal members on the finance committee. I want to ask him whether he endorses the elimination of the $1.3 billion capital tax.

[Supply, April 25th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for bringing the motion to the House today. She has asked for a substantive debate on this issue, which is very good, but looking at the auto industry in general, although it is concentrated in Ontario and Quebec, what specifically would she propose to ensure that the auto industry continues to grow and remain healthy across Canada? Is she proposing tax reductions or government assistance?

[Petitions, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by Canadians from Edmonton and the surrounding area. They call on parliament to pass legislation to provide for the taking of samples of blood for the benefit of good samaritans and persons who administer and enforce the law. The law would protect good samaritans, health professionals and security and emergency professionals.

[Petitions, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure today to present two petitions to the House.

The first petition is signed by practitioners in accountancy and taxation from across Canada. These citizens call on the federal government to formally recognize professional compilers who have met an agreed minimum standard. This would allow the public to distinguish qualified practitioners from those who have no proven competency in the profession of taxation.

[Government Expenditures, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Alliance believes in encouraging business to business competition, rather than government interference in the marketplace. We also believe in disclosing how taxpayers' dollars are being spent.

Two disturbing stories have appeared recently regarding Industry Canada and subsidies to business. Industry Canada approved $99.6 million in spending on March 12, 2001, for Pratt & Whitney. However, Industry Canada blocked the disclosure of further information about the investment that was sought through a follow up access request. I would remind the House that Pratt & Whitney is a company whose sales increased in 2001 to $2.6 billion.

General Motors of Canada has suggested it receive more government money for R and D. Yet GM Canada is the second largest corporation in Canada and recently revved up production at 12 plants to meet increasing demand. Clearly, the new Minister of Industry has some work to do to ensure he is not squandering hard earned tax dollars.

It is about time the government reversed its industrial policy of giving handouts to multi-million dollar corporations and embraced the Canadian Alliance vision of decreasing the tax burden on all Canadians.

[Government of Canada, April 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, these access to information documents state that in June 2001 a draft paper had been written by the ethics counsellor on the leadership campaign issue. Yet the final guidelines were delivered by the ethics counsellor to the Prime Minister on April 12. These guidelines had been ready for nearly a year.

Why did the Prime Minister allow almost a full year to pass before receiving these guidelines and why did he not make the draft guidelines public last year?

[Government of Canada, April 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, through an access to information request we have learned that in June 2001 the ethics counsellor asked that a draft letter be prepared to be sent out to ministers to advise them on how to conduct fundraising for their leadership campaigns.

Could the Prime Minister tell Canadians if ministers who are raising money for their leadership campaigns were informed of these draft guidelines? If they were not notified, why have these guidelines not been enforced?

[The Environment, April 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that there is not a clear consensus in cabinet on this issue. There are different signals, particularly from the industry minister and from the natural resources minister, on the issue of Kyoto ratification.

In fact, the industry minister said “I'm not comfortable until we get some reliable information on that...the impact of Kyoto on the economy. The decision has to be based on facts, not on ideology and not on theory”.

The industry minister is responsible for productivity and competitiveness, yet he has no figures on how Kyoto ratification will affect productivity. If he has no figures or reliable information, how can the government possibly continue to support ratification of the Kyoto accord?

[The Environment, April 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry recently stated in Alberta that he has serious reservations about ratifying the Kyoto accord. He was concerned about the impacts on productivity, investment and our standard of living. He vowed to serve as industry's advocate in cabinet and publicly favoured an approach based on innovation and technological advances.

Will the parliamentary secretary reaffirm his minister's public opposition to the Kyoto accord?

[Tourism Industry, April 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, for many years now Canada has been experiencing a growth in its economy and an increase in the number of working Canadians. Much of this success is a direct result of the significant work of the Canadian tourism industry and its 159,000 businesses.

Currently 99% of tourism businesses meet the Statistics Canada definition of a small or medium sized enterprise. A full 97% of these are small companies. The Canadian tourism industry is a major pillar of the national economy, outperforming the general economy both in terms of revenue generated and employment growth over the past decade, an impressive record.

I congratulate the tourism industry on its contribution to the Canadian economy and commend the tourism representatives present here in the House today for their dedication to the viability and sustainability of this dynamic industry.