House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 28% of the vote.
The Environment June 8th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the hearings, as I understand it, are taking place under the umbrella of the National Energy Board. It will obviously set the terms of reference and the context. It has a very strong, robust regulatory system.
We have had testimony before the committee from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which says that the National Energy Board has the skill base to have the strongest and most robust environmental legislation.
The Environment June 8th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, we have done a lot in the north. The member knows it.
We are committed to improving our regulatory systems in the north. We have created legislative changes to improve regulatory processes and enhance environmental stewardship, with a strong voice for aboriginal people. We have recently appointed a federal negotiator to improve regulatory systems.
Health June 7th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, we understand that the non-insured health benefits program is one that needs some review and we are looking into that.
Travel is a big issue when it comes to delivering health benefits. There is a growing awareness and we are looking into it.
Forest Fires June 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the member knows that there are agreements in place which take care of all of these situations. This is no different than previous examples.
Contrary to media reports, we have been actively engaged in this emergency and the weather has now cooled. We can expect an orderly return to the communities.
Forest Fires June 4th, 2010
Clearly, Mr. Speaker, this is a tragedy for the affected communities and their members. Our officials have been working with the first nations and with the province of Quebec, which is primarily responsible for the required evacuations and related work.
We have been actively involved since the beginning with emergency measures. Our officials were on site this week. We will continue to be engaged with the safe and orderly return of residents to their communities, and for required disaster financial assistance.
Madam Speaker, Canada has done a lot. Our stature in the world is a lot greater than it was several years ago, and President Obama actually recognized that at the nuclear summit. After the tripartite arrangement with Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, the President commended this co-operation, noting:
I welcome this critical step forward, which is a signal of our strong trilateral partnership, and our shared commitment to nuclear security in North America.
Canada will continue to build on our successes at the conference on non-proliferation and at the summit to reinforce non-proliferation.
The final document represents progress toward the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. The government is moving in a direction to reduce the stockpile of all types of nuclear weapons, to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in security policies and to reduce the operational status of nuclear weapons, all of which will reduce the accidental use of nuclear weapons.
Madam Speaker, Canada has played a leadership role on nuclear non-proliferation, particularly through our G8 presidency this year and through our collaboration with the United States and other countries at President Obama's nuclear security summit.
On March 29 and 30, the Minister of Foreign Affairs hosted the G8 foreign ministers' meeting in Gatineau. Nuclear non-proliferation was a prominent agenda item. The minister led the negotiation of a G8 “Foreign Ministers' Statement on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Disarmament, and Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy: A Contribution to the 2010 NPT Review Conference”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs also led Canada's delegation and delivered Canada's statement at the opening of this important conference.
Canada's G8 statement helped to set the framework for discussions and to build bridges toward a clear, renewed commitment of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The review conference concluded successfully on May 28, in New York, with consensus on a final document, including an action plan with 64 steps on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Among the key elements, the non-proliferation treaty commits each of its parties to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament. The final document of the review conference reaffirms the unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear weapons states to pursue nuclear disarmament and commits them to implement this undertaking.
We have seen major progress recently on disarmament. For example, the U.S. and Russia agreed to a new strategic arms reduction treaty. We know this as START. This treaty limits both sides to a maximum of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads. This is a sharp reduction from a limit of 6,000 under the predecessor treaty. Canada commends this concrete process, which will foster a more constructive atmosphere at the non-proliferation conference.
These efforts, complemented by the entry into force of the comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty and the start of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty are, in our view, concrete actions that will take us closer to a world free of nuclear weapons.
I would like to highlight the leadership of the Prime Minister on nuclear non-proliferation issues.
On April 12 and 13, the Prime Minister joined 46 leaders from other countries at President Obama's nuclear security summit.
Canada's objectives at the summit were to: underscore the seriousness of the nuclear terrorist threat; encourage states to strengthen their national nuclear security measures to enhance physical protection measures applied to nuclear material and facilities; increase international co-operation on nuclear security; endorse and contribute to President Obama's four year effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material worldwide; and, finally, ensure that the summit supports broader non-proliferation and disarmament efforts.
Canada achieved its objectives at this summit. Among the specific outcomes, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico reached agreement to work together, along with the International Atomic Energy Agency, to convert the fuel in Mexico's research reactor from highly-enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium. This will enable the elimination of all the remaining highly-enriched uranium from Mexico and is an important step in advancing security and supporting Mexico's nuclear energy development.
Madam Speaker, this was a pilot project set up by the government. It provided loan loss reserve provisions for five participants. There are 30 aboriginal financial institutions across the country. Those numbers speak for themselves.
The loan loss reserve initiative complements other activities, such as our government's support for aboriginal financial institutions which are focused more on improving access to capital for smaller aboriginal businesses.
The Government of Canada continues to support aboriginal financial institutions in their efforts by providing, last year and ongoing, $88 million in loans to 1,200 aboriginal businesses each year. We will continue to work in a progressive way in this direction.
Madam Speaker, it is interesting, because earlier today at the aboriginal affairs committee we had Mr. Martell from the First Nations Bank of Canada.
Mr. Martell and I had a discussion about the fact that First Nations Bank was one of the five charter banks that received money under the pilot program from the government on this loan loss reserve pilot project that we are talking about here today.
Access to capital is one of the most persistent impediments to the growth of aboriginal businesses, especially on reserve. The banks, particularly the larger commercial banks, have been reluctant to lend to aboriginal businesses for a number of reasons, including section 89 of the Indian Act and the perceived lack of track record and higher risk.
A key partner in helping address this impediment is the network of aboriginal financial institutions which has played such an important role over the past 20 years. Yes, indeed, it has advanced more than 33,000 loans, totalling $1.4 billion to aboriginal businesses. Over this period, the federal government has invested approximately $240 million in this network to capitalize and support start-up in initial operations.
Through the financial institutions program and the access to capital program, we continue to provide approximately $10 million every year to support these institutions and their national association, The National Aboriginal Capital Corporation Association. Last year, these aboriginal financial institutions provided $88 million in loans to 1,200 aboriginal businesses.
As the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan is aware, the loan loss reserve complements our existing programs that support the network of aboriginal financial institutions that provide smaller loans to smaller businesses.
The loan loss reserve program that we are talking about here was a pilot program that was set up to attract the larger commercial banks to what we think is the enormous potential of some of the larger aboriginal economic development opportunities. We have first nations from Membertou to Osoyoos that are embarking on impressive business and community development opportunities, and they need significant capital to make these happen.
In June of last year, our government released a new federal framework for aboriginal economic development to underline our commitment to economic development. This new framework represents a fundamental change. It reflects the significant real and growing opportunities for aboriginal people to take an unprecedented step toward becoming full participants in the economy as entrepreneurs, employers and employees.
In the coming months, we will be engaging with our partners, including the network of aboriginal financial institutions and others, to ensure that all of our programs are aligned with the framework, consistent with the Government of Canada's policy on transfer payments, and they meet the needs of aboriginal businesses and communities. In fact, officials met recently with the National Aboriginal Capital Corporate Association and have begun to discuss how the government and the network can work together to best address these needs.
Time and again, our government has reaffirmed its commitment to work with aboriginal communities to make a real difference. From infrastructure to employment to health services, we are working in partnership.
Aboriginal Affairs June 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is not the correct venue. We simply fund child and family services and the provinces and first nations organizations run the services. We will present our position at the hearing.
However, since we came to office four years ago, we have taken multiple actions. We have signed tripartite agreements with five provinces. We have taken a proactive and preventive position with child and family services. Our funding has jumped to $550 million, the highest ever for this area.