John McCallum

[Health, November 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, after five years of inaction on public health care, the Prime Minister thinks he can fool Vaughan's voters with an empty promise of federal funding for a new hospital in Vaughan.

After five years of ignoring public health care, the Prime Minister should know better than to pretend that the federal government builds hospitals when it is a provincial jurisdiction.

The Prime Minister is threatening to cut health transfers to the provinces. He broke his election promise to reduce wait times. He refused to defend our health care system when it was under attack by Republican politicians in the United States.

The government is full of cabinet ministers who shut down dozens of hospitals and fired thousands of nurses throughout Ontario. As chair of the York Central Hospital Board, Tony Genco has worked to bring a hospital to Vaughan.

Only Tony Genco understands the collaborative approach needed to deliver on the health needs of Vaughan's families and only the Liberal Party can be trusted to safeguard public health care.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 15th, 2010]

With regard to the one-third of projects funded by the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund that will not be completed by the end of 2010, as indicated on page 66 of the government’s report entitled “Canada's Economic Action Plan — A Sixth Report to Canadians”, for each project: (a) what city was it in; (b) what is its description; (c) what was the total federal contribution; (d) what was the estimated cost of completing the project at the time of application; (e) what is the current estimate of the total cost of completing the project; (f) on what date was the project approved for funding by the government; (g) on what date was the project publicly announced; and (h) on what date was the contribution agreement for the project signed?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 5th, 2010]

With regard to each sign for the government’s Economic Action Plan: (a) what project was the sign for; (b) what was the size of the sign; (c) on what date was the sign erected; (d) how did the government ensure the sign was erected; (e) did the sign need to be replaced for any reason (vandalism, theft, weather damage); and (f) who paid for the sign?

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 2nd, 2010]

With regard to the Canadian Secured Credit Facility: (a) how much of the $12 billion was allocated by Business Development Canada (BDC); (b) how much of the $12 billion was actually utilized by BDC; (c) how many people did BDC hire to work for the program; and (d) how much money has BDC spent setting up and administering the program?

[Air Canada, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives hid behind Air Canada during the UAE fiasco and now they will not lift a finger to protect 5,400 permanent Air Canada maintenance jobs. Canada has already lost 162,000 permanent jobs over the last two years. We can hardly afford to lose 5,000 more.

Why will the government not assume its responsibilities and ensure that Air Canada respects the intent of the law and protects those Canadian jobs?

[Air Canada, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, under current legislation, the 5,400 Air Canada maintenance jobs must be based in Canada, but now that Air Canada has only a minority interest, there are fears that those jobs will be moved to El Salvador. Over 5,000 permanent well-paying jobs would be lost under this government.

Will the government make sure the airline respects the intent of the law and protects Canadian jobs?

[Questions on the Order Paper, October 20th, 2010]

With respect to the Canada Revenue Agency, as of June 15, 2010: (a) how many taxpayers has the agency identified as having over-contributed to a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009; and (b) how much tax revenue has the Agency identified as being owed to the government due to TFSA over-contributions in 2009?

[Foreign Affairs, October 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, a Conservative MP has been quoted as saying that the Prime Minister made his UAE decision in a “fit of pique”. The result was not only bad militarily but also economically.

This very week the Premier of Nova Scotia is in the UAE to negotiate a deal on environmental technology while Research In Motion is also there. Yes, they were allowed to land, but does the Prime Minister not realize that his “fit of pique” is putting Canadian jobs at risk?

[Foreign Affairs, October 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, according to a senior Conservative MP, the Prime Minister is responsible for our armed forces being kicked out of the base in Dubai, because his position is, and I quote, “truculent and unreasonable”.

The ambassador for the UAE himself confirmed this version to me.

The government has repeatedly cancelled meetings and reneged on its commitments. Why are the Conservatives treating a Canadian ally like this?

[Strengthening Aviation Security Act, October 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of diplomatic relations, of which the latest example is the United Arab Emirates, the reputation the Conservatives have is dismal. Therefore, one of my primary concerns, given this dismal diplomatic relation, is the bill gives them unlimited power to engage in information giving, not sharing. It is a one-way flow of information from Canada to another country. With the stroke of a pen and an order-in-council, they can give out the private information of Canadians to any country they choose. That point is clear enough in the bill as drafted, so this would be one of my very major concerns.

However, as I said a few minutes ago, the only way we will really get to the bottom of what the bill would do and what its true implications would be, is if it gets to committee and we call a whole variety of witnesses who are experts in various areas, including privacy concerns. Only after that process, and not really thanks to the government, will we find out the true implications of the bill. At that point, we will know better whether we wish to support it.