John Baird

[Government Programs, September 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I want to make it very clear that we have supported the Official Languages Act.

I will also add that when I was minister responsible for francophone affairs in Ontario, and the minister of health was the minister of health and long-term care, I was very proud when I called Mrs. Gisèle Lalonde, president of S.O.S. Montfort, to tell her that the hospital would not be closed.

[Government Programs, September 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we also believe in equality of disabled children. We are spending more than $100 million more in this year's budget to provide services for families with a child with a disability.

We also support quality health care. Not only are we increasing the health care budget by 6%, we are investing more than $52 million a year in cancer control, fighting cancer.

We are also providing significant tax measures to encourage more Canadians to support charities in our country.

[Government Programs, September 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, yes, each and every member of this caucus supports the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We also believe in the equality of--

[Government Programs, September 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, again, nothing could be further from the truth. This government has not made any reductions with respect to summer employment programs for disadvantaged youth. That is something that was specifically exempt from the cuts.

I say to the member opposite that we are looking at reallocations for the budget. The member voted against our budget. He voted against providing hundreds of millions of dollars more for clean drinking water. The member voted against spending $52 million a year for a strategy on cancer control. The member voted against every single good initiative contained in our budget and he is going to have to defend that at the next election.

[Government Programs, September 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition never lets the facts get in the way of a good argument. The Leader of the Opposition had already written his supplementary before he even rose in the House to ask the first question. Let us look at the facts.

We are looking at spending to see if it meets the priorities of the people of Canada. This year we are putting $100 million more toward helping families with a child with a disability. This year we are spending some $450 million to provide clean drinking water to our first nations, something that the previous government after 13 years still could not do.

[Government Programs, September 27th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, let me make it clear that none of the cuts affect the Official Languages Act.

This government supported that important legislation. The truth is that the government is under no obligation to pay lawyers to support the Official Languages Act because the government itself will do so.

[Government Programs, September 26th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has not changed. The member for Wascana should know that is not his money; it is the taxpayer's money.

[Government Programs, September 26th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, spending wisely and spending effectively is very important. As the member knows, we had a $13.2 billion surplus.

[Government Programs, September 26th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day we think it is important to have laws that are constitutional. Instead of giving grants out to Liberal Party lawyers, we think politicians should accept their responsibility and deal with any issues that are before Parliament to ensure they are constitutional.

We have to say that things like health care, education and ensuring our seniors feel safe in their communities are also priorities and they did not receive enough attention from the former Liberal government.

[Government Programs, September 26th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is important that every taxpayer dollar is spent effectively, responsibly and accountably. We believe it is inappropriate that government pass legislation that is unconstitutional, which is why we are making the choice not to do that.