John Baird

[Infrastructure, October 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the House of Commons mandated the Prime Minister with two important goals: first, to fully implement the economic action plan of the Minister of Finance. He has done yeoman work with the assistance of his ministers and MPs, and with the public service in doing just that.

He also had a second important responsibility with which the House entrusted him, and that was to report back to Canadians on that important work. He did that in Cambridge, Ontario. He did that in Saint John, New Brunswick. The Prime Minister never makes any apology for getting off Parliament Hill and listening to the real voices of Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

[The Environment, October 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to working with all of our major trading partners and with international maritime organizations to have better standards, so we can have cleaner air with respect to our transportation systems, particularly in the area of maritime transportation.

It is essential that we work together with the United States because we do share a common border, we do share the Great Lakes, and we are committed to working constructively with the Obama administration and with leaders in Congress on achieving this important public policy goal.

[The Environment, October 19th, 2009]

Cap and trade.

[Infrastructure, October 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I say to the member opposite, if she has any evidence, if she has any facts with respect to the outrageous allegations she is making, if she wants to stand up in her place and prove me wrong, and prove that this is not a drive-by smear, let her do it.

Let her stand in her place. Let her table the allegations she has made. Better yet, let us see if she has the guts to make those allegations outside this place.

[Infrastructure, October 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely clear that the government did not give this company a contract. That is not what happened.

The real reality is that the government in fact made no such contract with this company. There is a crown corporation that operates at arm's length. No minister or minister's office had any involvement in this matter.

If the member opposite wants to stop her drive-by smears, she should put some evidence upon the table, or is she not concerned with the facts?

[Infrastructure, October 19th, 2009]

No, Mr. Speaker.

Let us be very clear. The members of Parliament who support our economic action plan should be very proud of its achievements. Members of Parliament should not apologize for their achievements.

Here is what the Prime Minister said:

Listen, we are the government... I don't see why we can't try to get credit for what we do. I hope we do so. There is nothing to be ashamed [of] in that.

Do members know who said that? It was Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

[Infrastructure, October 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, there is no reason to jump to the conclusions that the Leader of the Opposition does. If he has any evidence of any wrongdoing, rather than pontificating in this place, he should put his facts on the table and be accountable for those.

We have been completely open, completely transparent with the infrastructure spending that we have made. The grant in question was made by a crown corporation, with no lobbying and no involvement whatsoever by my office or the office of the Minister of Public Works.

[Infrastructure, October 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would find it very interesting if the member opposite, the Leader of the Opposition, would say that outside of this place.

Neither the minister nor his office had any involvement with this contract. It was done at arm's length from the government by the crown corporation in question. Like all crowns, this crown is expected to operate in a clear and open manner when awarding contracts.

The member opposite, the Leader of the Opposition, makes some very serious allegations. I would challenge him to put the evidence of those allegations before this House immediately.

[The Economy, October 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's economic action plan is getting results. It is stimulating the economy. It is protecting and creating jobs. In just over 100 days, we are already seeing progress as our government continues to implement Canada's economic action plan.

Because of our swift actions, 90% of the plan is already being implemented. Funds are being committed to 7,500 projects, and 4,000 projects have already begun in the first six months of our 24-month plan.

Other measures of Canada's economic action plan that have already been implemented include reducing the tax burden on Canadian families and businesses through such measures as the home renovation tax credit and the first-time home buyers' tax credit; assisting the unemployed by extending EI benefits, making it easier to qualify for EI, and expanding EI training programs; investing in the economy of the future by upgrading infrastructure; expanding graduate student internships and investing in green technologies.

Our efforts are having a real and positive effect. We are seeing stabilization and the early beginnings of a recovery. This recovery is fragile. We are not out of the woods yet, which is why it is crucial that we continue to implement our plan. Canada came into this recession on a strong footing with a strong, solid, long-term fiscal position. We paid down debt, allowing our government to introduce the largest stimulus package of all the G7 countries.

Our taxes are falling, making Canada a more attractive place to live, invest and do business. Thanks to our tax relief measures, tax freedom day now arrives 20 days earlier than it did when we took office. The world is noticing. Under the leadership of our Prime Minister and our Minister of Finance, Canada's economy has been the envy of the world.

Euromoney magazine heralded the member for Whitby—Oshawa as their finance minister of the year, saying that we have been lucky to have him to enhance our “reputation for sound fiscal policy that takes full account of social justice” and keep “the financial sector out of the chaos”.

[Natural Resources, October 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it was this government which strengthened the independent officers of Parliament in the areas of ethics, lobbying and cleaning up the sorry state of political fundraising we inherited from the previous government.

We do have an independent commissioner of ethics. We do have an independent commissioner of lobbying. The member opposite has asked for their opinion and we look forward to receiving it.