John Baird

[Public Safety, May 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, let me say very directly to the Leader of the Opposition that, regrettably, security costs money. This is not money we want to spend; this is money that security experts tell us we must spend.

There are literally tens of thousands of people who will be convening in our biggest city, Toronto. We have an important responsibility to keep these people, who are coming from right around the world, safe. It is not just the 30 leaders, it is the tens of thousands of people who join them. We are committed to doing just that.

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the Canada Marine Act, all port authorities, including the Toronto Port Authority, are autonomous entities under the strategic direction and management of its board of directors. The board has the authority to define hospitality and travel expense policies and to ensure compliance with these policies. The board has the authority to set contract amounts such as those for professional services.

Under subsection 37(1) of the Canada Marine Act, a port authority shall make available for inspection by the public, at its registered office during normal business hours at least thirty days before the annual meeting, its audited annual financial statements and those of its wholly-owned subsidiaries for the preceding fiscal year.

Subsection 37(2) of the act requires that the financial statements shall be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and consist of at least the following:

(a) a balance sheet;

(b) a statement of retained earnings;

(c) a statement of income and expenses; and

(d) a statement of changes in financial position.

Futhermore, Subsection 37(3) of the act requires that the annual financial statements shall set out the total remuneration paid in money or in kind to each of the following persons in that year by the port authority or its wholly-owned subsidiary, including any fee, allowance or other benefit:

(a) the directors;

(b) the chief executive officer; and

(c) the officers and employees whose remuneration exceeds a prescribed threshold.

The Toronto Port Authority has satisfied these requirements by making the information publicly available at their annual general meetings, as well as publishing statements from 2007 and 2008 on their website.

Should additional financial information related to the Toronto Port Authority be required, please contact the Toronto Port Authority at 60 Harbour Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 1B7.

[Budget Implementation Legislation, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, no, we will not.

The all-party House of Commons finance committee, chaired by the member for Edmonton—Leduc, who is doing a great job by the way, gave great scrutiny to this important piece of job-creating legislation, and the committee passed this budget bill without amendment. That is a committee that we have a minority on.

It shows there is all-party support for this great bill. Let us start creating more jobs. Let us start creating more opportunity. Let us get on with our economic action plan.

[Budget Implementation Legislation, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what type of initiatives she thinks we are trying to hide.

Would it be the $500 million in transfer protection payments to the provinces? Would it be funding for organizations like Genome Canada, Pathways to Education Canada, or nefarious groups like the Rick Hansen Foundation? Would it be important reforms to protect federally regulated pensions and much more?

We presented a budget. I know the NDP members decided to vote against it before they even read it. We want Canadian families to get these benefits right away, and that is why we are working hard on their behalf.

[Infrastructure, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it is 2010. We do not believe that municipalities should be dumping raw sewage into our lakes, our rivers and our oceans.

This government is going to take action to phase these regulations in over the next 20 or 30 years. We are going to ensure we stand up and protect our water, something the previous Liberal government failed to do.

I hope the people of Parkdale—High Park will watch who is fighting for them. It is certainly not the members on that side of the House.

[Infrastructure, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his question. Mr. Speaker, do you know how many days it has been since the infrastructure critic asked me a question? It has been 175 long days.

What have we done in those 175 days? We have announced $100 million to help the great city of Hamilton increase its capacity to make water safe. I have met with Peggy Nash several times about projects that affect her former constituents.

We have created a lot of jobs, a lot of hope and a lot of opportunity. We are going to continue to do just that.

[Taxation, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, there has recently been released an independent University of Calgary study that has confirmed what we have been saying all along, that the Liberal leader's tax plan would kill jobs.

In fact, the study that was released today says that the Liberal tax hike would lead directly to the loss of some 233,000 jobs. It called the Liberal plan to raise taxes “seriously misguided, putting Canada's tax competitiveness at a disadvantage among OECD countries”.

In a period of economic uncertainty, Canada's economy cannot afford Liberal tax hikes.

[Offshore Drilling, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we all take our environmental responsibilities incredibly seriously. The coast of British Columbia is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We have tough regulatory regimes in place and we are always prepared to make them even tougher.

[Financial Institutions, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, there is an honest difference of opinion between this government and the New Democrats. They want to tax more. They want to spend more. We want to ensure that low taxes help to create jobs, help to create hope, and help to create opportunity. That is why the government has made a significant effort to bring down taxes to make it as easy as possible for Canadian businesses to create jobs.

We are already seeing some unprecedented success. Just last month, 108,000 people got the call, and the voice on the other end of the phone said, “You got the job”. That is 108,000 people who will be able to provide for themselves and their families. We will not let up on creating jobs and more opportunities.

[Public Safety, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I say to the House that the leader of the NDP is a great optimist, clearly, from his comments.

We are inviting world leaders from the G8 countries to meet in Huntsville to discuss the important need to boost the world economy. We are inviting the world leaders from the G20 to visit the city of Toronto.

The reality is that in a post-9/11 environment, security will not come cheaply. We are committed to ensuring that those world leaders are safe and secure so that those important discussions can take place. We are also committed and concerned about the security of the people of Toronto and Muskoka, and we will do what it takes to ensure that they are safe.