John Baird

[Shipbuilding Industry, December 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to a competitive shipbuilding industry. We certainly want to make Canada an attractive place. We recognize the huge global pressures in this sector and are committed to an ongoing review of our policies to ensure that they are met.

If I could ask the member from the Maritimes for his support of our defence minister's defence policy, we are starting to rebuild our navy with three joint support ships. Those ships will be built right here in Canada.

[Aeronautics Industry, December 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry has indicated the government's continued and ongoing support for the aeronautics and defence industries. I know this issue is tremendously important in Quebec but it is also important in Ontario.

The minister has been looking at enhancements and improvements that we can make to the technology partnerships program so it can meet the needs of a competitive Canadian industry. Aeronautics employs some 75,000 people in Canada and the defence industries employ more. This is incredibly important and the minister will be coming forward, in short order--

[Aeronautics Industry, December 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this is obviously an issue we are very concerned about and I know the member opposite shares our concern. What we are trying to do is build an economy in Canada with low taxation and with low regulation that will help encourage economic development and create more jobs.

[Federal Accountability Act, December 8th, 2006]

moved the second reading of, and concurrence in, amendments made by the Senate to Bill C-2, An Act providing for conflict of interest rules, restrictions on election financing and measures respecting administrative transparency, oversight and accountability.

Mr. Speaker, we should all note that we are joined in the House today by the Parliamentarian of the Year, the member for Wascana. Mr. Speaker, you can see the Christmas spirit is infecting all of us.

I am very pleased to rise today on the return of the federal accountability act to the House of Commons from the Senate.

Canadians told all of us during the last election that they wanted government to be cleaned up. I believe that the Prime Minister has shown immense leadership and statesmanship in making this issue, integrity and ethics in government, his number one priority. Nine weeks after taking office, we tabled comprehensive legislation. Nine months later, I believe we are on the cusp of history.

I want to thank all members of the House for all of their work on the bill. Specifically, I want to thank the member for Vancouver Quadra. While we have not always agreed, he has always been an honourable member and a fair member to work with, and I appreciate that.

I also want to single out the former Bloc Québécois member for Repentigny, Benoît Sauvageau, and other members of the Bloc, including the member for Rivière-du-Nord and the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain. Benoît Sauvageau showed great leadership throughout the committee hearings in dealing with this bill.

The NDP member for Winnipeg Centre has shown a great commitment to accountability. I think it is safe to say that we would not have gotten to this stage without his leadership, and I want to single that out.

I also want to thank the member for Nepean—Carleton, my parliamentary secretary, for all of his work, and indeed all members of the House and a few members of the Senate.

We are on the cusp of a historic piece of legislation that I strongly believe will change the culture of Ottawa from a culture of entitlement to a culture of accountability.

There are 13 themes in this bill: reforming financing of political parties; banning secret donations; strengthening the role of the Ethics Commissioner; toughening the Lobbyists Registration Act; ensuring truth in budgeting with a parliamentary budget office; making qualified government appointments; cleaning up procurement of government contracts; cleaning up government polling and advertising; providing real protection for whistleblowers within the public service, which is something that is very important to my constituents in Ottawa West—Nepean, as I know it is to the constituents of Kingston and the Islands; strengthening the access to information law; strengthening the power of the Auditor General; strengthening auditing and accountability within departments; and creating a director of public prosecutions. All of these will contribute to the building that culture of accountability.

The public's trust was egregiously violated in recent years and I do not agree with the amount of time the Senate took, but at the end of the day, it has passed this bill. We have worked cooperatively.

I want to single out the leadership of Senator Don Oliver, who chaired the Senate committee and a huge amount of effort went into that. I wish to acknowledge as well the member for Dufferin—Caledon in this House, but Senator Oliver has shown great leadership, and I have enjoyed getting to know and working with Senator Day as well.

This bill is now ready for royal assent following this debate. Much work will lie ahead in the implementation of this bill. We will do our best to work hard and to expeditiously see some of these reforms brought in, in short order, and others just following that. We will work night and day to ensure that the implementation is done right and that we continue to build on the culture of accountability.

Today is not the end. Today is the beginning. We all must share in ensuring that accountability is in place and we must remain eternally vigilant. As parliamentarians, all members of the House, our number one job will be accountability and oversight, and we can never forget that.

I do also want to speak about the public service briefly. The Public Service of Canada rose to the challenge to assist us with this piece of legislation, almost to show the new government and the new Prime Minister what they could do.

My deputy, Wayne Wouters, the secretary of the Treasury Board, worked very hard. He made one brilliant decision to put Susan Cartwright, one of our senior associate deputy ministers, in charge of this. Joe Wild, our legal counsel, worked night and day, as well as my own office, led by my chief of staff, Chris Froggatt, and my director of parliamentary affairs, Garry Keller. I want to thank the public service across the nine departments who worked very hard to get this done. Bruce Carson in the Prime Minister's Office was also a huge help.

I genuinely believe that Parliament will be able to look back at this piece of legislation and say that we did the right thing. All parties worked hard together as Canadians expect of us. Canadians should be very proud of that and of the accomplishment of the federal accountability act.

[Bank Act, December 7th, 2006]

You are going to like it.

[Bank Act, December 7th, 2006]

It just passed the Senate.

[Liberal Party of Canada, December 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we must examine the actions of the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party and its candidates accepted over 139 cheques for more than $5,000 each in the last eight months. The new leader of the Liberal Party accepted loans totalling over $400,000 and placed one of these individuals in charge of his transition team. It is true that the new Liberal leader learned about politics from Jean Chrétien.

[Whistleblower Protection, November 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we want to create a culture within our public service where the men and women who serve Canadians and serve our government have the confidence that if they step forward to report wrongdoing, their concerns will be taken seriously. They will also have freedom to do so without fear of repercussions of losing their jobs or facing a demotion.

We have brought forward the most comprehensive, meaningful whistleblower protection ever tabled in Canadian history. Not a single union stepped forward before the Bill C-11 committee hearings, the Liberal bill to support it.

A lot of hard-working public servants are proud of our measures to protect whistleblowers.

[Regional Economic Development of Canada, November 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize on this side of the House that in communities across Canada, whether they be in the Maritimes, out west, in Ontario, Quebec, or in the north, it is incredibly important that economic development and economic growth be a priority.

In my province, we learned a lot. We learned what happens when one overgoverns, overregulates and overtaxes. We saw the damage that Bob Rae did to Ontario. The member opposite could be part of the solution if he could go to Montreal and his convention and ensure that Bob Rae does not have the opportunity to do to Canada what he did to Ontario.

[Public Works, November 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it was announced yesterday that this contract was signed by the previous Liberal government, before Ms. Buckler began working for that company. She no longer works there. It is unfortunate that the Bloc Québécois continues to reiterate these false allegations.