John Baird

[G8 Summit, October 17th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, it will not come as any surprise to that member or to the House that I categorically reject the premise of the member's question.

What we do know is that I approved 32 public infrastructure projects to support municipal, provincial and airport authority infrastructure in that region.

As the Auditor General has reported, every dollar was accounted for in terms of the municipalities that incurred these infrastructure expenses. The Auditor General has come forward and made reports on how we can be even more accountable and more transparent to Parliament. We have completely accepted her good recommendations.

[Foreign Affairs, October 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that Canadians who are also citizens of Tunisia are free to vote in Canada during the Tunisian elections, if they are eligible. The important thing is that Canada could not be part of a foreign constituency. However, there are more than a dozen countries that have participated in elections here in Canada, and Tunisia was free to do the same.

[Foreign Affairs, October 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the members of the committee are free to do their work. That is up to them. I will leave those decisions to the members of that committee. While I am here, I would like to congratulate the hon. member on her new position as the foreign affairs critic for the official opposition. I am happy to work with her.

[President of the Treasury Board, October 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I will not cede sovereignty over Hans Island. We will not send an ambassador to Hans Island because Hans Island is part of this great country. We will not allow the NDP to sellout our sovereignty and give away an island. Shame on this member.

[President of the Treasury Board, October 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I say to my friend from Winnipeg Centre that it will not come as any surprise to him that I disagree with the premise of his question.

The Auditor General did review this issue and came forward with a number of observations on how the government could be more open and transparent. No one argues with her good judgment. We have accepted all of her advice.

The good news I can report is that on all 32 public infrastructure projects every single dollar was accounted for and they all went to public infrastructure projects.

The good news is that all of these infrastructure projects, as part of Canada's economic action plan, have created hundreds of thousands of jobs. Even in September, 61,000 net new jobs were--

[G8 Summit, October 7th, 2011]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[G8 Summit, October 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, that of course is not the case. The $50 million was allocated in budget 2009 as part of Canada's economic action plan. The goal was to spruce up an already beautiful part of our country so we could present our best face to the world. People at these summits stay over 100 kilometres away from the exact summit site. There was also, as is traditional for these types of initiatives, funding made available to thank the region for hosting the world. All 32 of the projects came in on or under budget.

[Foreign Affairs, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we are disappointed with the decision of UNESCO's executive body and urge all members of UNESCO to reject this unilateral action. The long-standing position of the Government of Canada is that we support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that the solution must be negotiated at the negotiating table between both parties. That position has not changed.

[The Environment, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we have ongoing discussions with our neighbours to the south on this and other issues that are important to the Arctic.

Obviously, this government will always stand up for Canadian sovereignty and fight for what is right. We have an incredibly important responsibility to ensure that our environment is protected and nowhere is that responsibility more important than in the Arctic, which has a very fragile ecosystem.

[Canada-U.S. Relations, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been working very hard with President Obama to try to make the border less thick which will help the manufacturing sector and so that individuals can pass freely across the border.

We were very pleased to see the Liberal Party begin to stand up and fight for free trade. It was only 23 short years ago that every Liberal member ran in the fight of their lives to stop free trade, to try to stop more jobs, more hope and more opportunity.

I am so excited to see my friend from Beauséjour standing up and being so passionate about free trade. I congratulate him and welcome him aboard.