Joe Volpe

[Infrastructure, June 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, one can hear a lot of colourful language in public transit stations. Sometimes it is the chorus of people speaking in different languages at the same time. Sometimes one hears language that would be defined, well, as coarse.

However, there is nothing pretty about the language that the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities hurled toward the city of Toronto and, indeed, its citizens. When discussing the only infrastructure application Toronto submitted to the federal government, a modern light rail streetcar fleet, the minister stated that Toronto should go—well, I will not parrot the minister in giving directions.

When in the Harris government, he often displayed contempt for Toronto. The minister has changed his role now, but not his views. Torontonians are appalled at the government's coarse, dismissive, flippant attitude toward us. The minister and the government clearly are not willing to work with Toronto, but Liberals are.

[Royal Canadian Mint, June 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is not that difficult. We do not need to wait two weeks. He can do a lot better than that. He could put in a call to the board of directors. After all, seven of the nine members are Conservative appointments, five of them are big contributors to their campaigns. In fact, the chairman was a big contributor to the two campaigns of the Minister of Finance's leadership runs in the province.

What is the government trying to hide? Surely, the Conservatives must have their phone numbers. Surely, they are still on good terms. Are they trying to hide the fact that they are botching the mandate?

[Royal Canadian Mint, June 4th, 2009]

Speaking of prudence, Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Transport, confronted with an unaccountable discrepancy in the Mint's inventory, said, “I refuse to rule anything out” when asked if this was a case of shoddy accounting or theft, which is Incredible.

Again, in order to restore confidence in the Mint's security system, how long has he known about the missing gold? What has he done about it? When did he advise the Minister of Finance about the loss?

[Tobacco Act, June 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I find that my colleague is a lot more learned on this debate than any member of the government side has been prepared to demonstrate and so, I am going to ask her, because she took great pains to make distinctions between correct activity and that which contravenes the law. Now, one of the problems that we have had in fighting smoking and tobacco usage, of course, is getting the appropriate partners.

Some would argue, as I know she would, that some of the legitimate retailers, mom and pop shops, in some of the major cities, have been our greatest allies in deterring young people from purchasing because they refuse to sell. In fact, those proprietors of those stores are already under great surveillance and they do the very best they can to discourage the use of cigarettes, cigarillos and other tobacco products.

What has happened with the emergence of the great contraband trade is that we no longer have a distribution system that is willing to be compliant with the law and, in fact, is in a position where it can be surveyed by law enforcement officers. I am talking about that illegal distribution system. I know she would want to take a moment to point out that legitimate retail operations have been our allies and we are losing them because this act does not address that distinction.

[Tobacco Act, June 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Laval—Les Îles for her rather enlightening speech.

I would also like to ask her a question about the government's responsibility. She noted that ironically, the government had not yet targeted the real problem.

That real problem is associated not only with price point but with the consequences of that price point. She has noted that as taxes go up in order to increase the price of cigarettes, there is a consequent diminution of smoking, but there is as well there is an equally significant and troubling consequence, and that is the emergence of the contraband trade and those who are best equipped to address contraband, not only manufacturing but distribution. They are, by and large, associated with criminal elements who manufacture and distribute other equally noxious products.

French uses “noxious“ to talk about harmful products, but it is not the same in English.

My colleague used the language that is employed in the drug trade in reference to them.

The reason I say that this is ironic is because this is a government that has come forward on getting tough on crime, doing the right thing on criminal issues. As the member has indicated and other colleagues from the Bloc as well have noted, the contraband trade is worth at least $3 billion per annum in cigarette distribution.

There is a loss of $2 billion to the federal and provincial treasuries but not a penny has gone, at least through this bill, toward putting together a strategy for enforcement, for going to the root of the manufacturing and distribution systems, for putting in place a methodology and system to arrest, charge, and then incarcerate or otherwise punish those who would go against the intent of the legislation and the convention, which is, as my colleague has said, the health of young people initially and obviously their continued health as they get on in life.

I wonder if she would comment on this absolute abdication of responsibility, when it comes to doing the right thing from criminal activities and the imposition of the right laws to prevent criminal activity.

[Tobacco Act, June 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member who just spoke not only about smoking, but also about the problems the federal and provincial governments have preventing tobacco use and the criminal activities linked to tobacco. He spoke briefly about strategies, which he thinks are not yet comprehensive enough, and I agree, and about how to make them much more effective.

I would like him to take a few more minutes to explain and give more details on the strategy needed to target organized crime groups and organizations that, as he mentioned, are often found in predominantly aboriginal areas, as well as tobacco imported from the United States.

Does he have detailed strategies? The government is not at all interested in this subject. In fact, I see that no government members want to speak on this topic.

[Tobacco Act, June 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I will cede the floor to my colleague who made an intervention on health prevention that I think merits expansion.

He talked about the ways we would be proactive in terms of delivering the message of a smoke-free society. I am wondering if he would comment on that, given that he also has some experience with many of the enterprises that initially objected to those kinds of measures and strategies in the retail industry, whether they were in the entertainment business or the food business.

[Tobacco Act, June 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I want to compliment my colleague on his intervention with respect to the health issues associated with smoking and the abandonment of smoking.

There are two issues I wish to raise, and I hope there will be enough time for him to address them. He alluded to one of them and that is the issue of contraband cigarettes and all that they impose on the system. The other issue is enforcement.

My colleague has already acknowledged that the bill has a considerable amount in it that needs to be addressed and reviewed. Imposing fines such as $50,000 for infractions is a very important issue, but most people who are involved in anti-smoking strategies admit that enforcement of these measures is more important.

Other governments in the past have discovered that the most common measure for promoting anti-smoking has been to increase the price of legitimate cigarettes. What has happened is that those cigarettes have been replaced by ones from less legitimate manufacturers and retailers, in the process criminalizing a lot of people who engage in the manufacture, sale and distribution of illegitimate cigarettes. There is nothing in the bill that addresses a mechanism to ensure that contraband distributors and sellers of the product are put in the target area. Today there are a lot of people who will actually deliver contraband cigarettes to the home. They will arrange meetings. They have phone numbers. They hand out business cards.

I know my colleague is going to look at this in committee, but I wonder if he would comment on this a bit further because the bill deserves to be supported if it includes all the dimensions of an anti-smoking strategy.

[Royal Canadian Mint, June 3rd, 2009]

It is clear, Mr. Speaker, that nobody on that side is in charge and prepared to assume responsibility for what is going on.

We have had continuous faulty accounting of the nation's finances, security lapses and now lost gold and silver. We do not know if the affair at the Mint involves faulty accounting or a gold heist.

While the Minister of Finance is living in a world of fantasy numbers, could the Minister of Transport tell the Canadian public when this pot of gold will be found?

[Royal Canadian Mint, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not hold himself to the same standards that he expects of everyone else.

The list of government mismanagement just keeps growing. Today we learned that gold and other precious metals are unaccounted for at the Canadian Mint and yet the police have not been called in to investigate.

Canada's reputation for confidence is taking a beating at home and abroad.

Is the Minister of Transport prepared to tell Canadian taxpayers how much gold and silver is missing? What is the value? Will he conduct an investigation? Will he make the findings of an external audit immediately available to the public?