Keith Martin

[Business of Supply, February 5th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I would like to mention three general areas and one specific point in which Canada can take a much greater role but in which the government has been found wanting . The first is energy security. The second is the environmental crisis. The third is security in general.

Does the member not feel that Canada and the United States could do a much better job of engaging in integrating into a trans-border energy grid that would benefit both of our countries?

On the issue of security, this is still a huge challenge for the U.S. government as well as ours. President Obama has said that he is going to do things differently. He is going to start engaging with other countries and groups, particularly those in the Muslim world, and will try to talk to people who the previous U.S. administration had excluded. It is fundamentally important that our country start talking to people with whom we have not spoken before. Speaking with them does not condone what they have done, but excluding them certainly does not enable us to get to the table to resolve issues.

There are groups that we have not spoken to that are absolutely not monolithic. There are elements of these groups that are very different. For example, the Taliban is not monolithic. Hamas is not monolithic. They represent different areas of the Middle East.

Does my hon. colleague not think that our government, instead of eviscerating foreign affairs, should actually talk to groups previously not spoken to before, and engage in these seemingly intractable issues that need to be addressed in order for us to pursue a safer and more secure world?

[Business of Supply, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my hon. colleague, who gave a wonderful presentation on the challenges before us, how he sees Canada-U.S. relations can be improved, not only in trade but also in terms of the social issues that affect both our countries.

We know that we are both facing demographic challenges and an aging population. We know that we have huge health challenges because the pressures being applied to our health care systems vastly exceed the increase in GDP. I would like to ask my hon. colleague if he does not think that there are opportunities for cross-border collaboration in terms of being able to link up the universities, post-secondary institutions and think tanks to be able to get the best and brightest of both countries? Can we develop a formal mechanism through which those groups within our respective countries can collaborate more effectively to share the research and development in science and social policy fields that will enable us to grasp the best and brightest of what we both have in our countries, and apply them to the mutual challenges we face?

[World Cancer Day, February 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, today we stand to support the International Union Against Cancer in recognizing World Cancer Day.

Each year a staggering seven million people die from cancer and close to eleven million new cases are diagnosed worldwide. Last year in our country alone, 166,400 people were diagnosed, and 73,000 people died from this disease.

The theme for this year's World Cancer Day is encourage a balanced lifestyle based on a healthy diet and physical activity. This is especially important for parents, who need to encourage their children to eat well, be active and maintain a healthy body weight, for 30% to 35% of all cancers can be prevented by doing this, and we know that the earlier the start, the greater the benefits.

On this World Cancer Day it is vitally important that we encourage children and adults alike to eat well, exercise and not smoke. In this way we can reduce the incidence of cancer and save lives.

[The Budget, February 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I also want to congratulate my colleague on her speech. I would like to ask her a simple question because she has worked in the health care field. One of the easiest things we can do to actually address the medical manpower crisis that we have in our country is to enable the 1,200 Canadian medical students, who are studying abroad, to come into the country, have a proper assessment, and get them engaged in the medical field here at home.

Will the member bring this up to her health minister, that this is a very easy way for the government to facilitate some 1,200 Canadians studying abroad to get back into the medical system here in Canada to serve the patients in our home country?

[The Budget, February 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her excellent speech.

We are dealing with a huge economic challenge before us. One of the problems is that the government has not invested in one of the key drivers of the economy, which is research and development. Our former leader wanted a huge investment in greening our economy. He articulated the challenges in greening our economy and provided a lot of constructive solutions.

I would like to ask my colleague how she feels the government should make strategic investments in research and development to enable the Canadian economy to maximize future opportunities that present themselves to our nation.

[The Budget, February 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I again congratulate my colleague, one of the most eloquent speakers in the House, for his passionate speech in defence of the defenceless, not only in our country but also abroad.

I would like to ask my hon. colleague, who is one of the leaders of human rights in the world, a couple of questions.

First, does he not feel that the government can employ more liberal uses of EI to ensure that those who are impoverished, those who have lost their jobs, are able to get the resources they require during their time of greatest need?

Second, the government has regressed on the part of Canada's traditional and active international forays to help those who are least privileged, those who face the end of a knife or AK-47 in places like the Congo, Zimbabwe and Sudan. Does he not think the government has a huge opportunity that it has so far not grasped to deal with those crises abroad, which Canada is uniquely positioned to address?

[Canada–EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I will respond again by saying let us work together to ensure Canadian workers are protected and the Canadian economy maximizes its potential and its capability.

On the shipbuilding industry, I ask him a reciprocal question. Will he support the proposal that I have in the House to ensure the import tax on ships goes into a special fund, which should be matched with the private sector, and used to modernize our shipbuilding capabilities in our country so we can compete with countries from around the world in this important industry?

[Canada–EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Yukon for his tireless work not only for the people of his constituency but also for the people of the north. He, more than just about anybody else in the House, knows full well the impact of global warming on the territory he represents. He sees it in his day to day life and he sees the impact it has upon individuals.

The point I was driving forward is that the government has a chance to think clearly and to innovate during this time of a changing financial architecture by adding energy policy and trade policy together. They can and must go together. That will require international co-operation on how we can change the WTO, how we can change the IMF and how we can ensure the WTO and the IMF work together to deal with the issues of labour rights, health care and the environment.

I want to expand upon what my friend said.

The issue of feedback loops is not something on which we can go back. These feedback loops, if they are set in motion, will cause a cascade of events that we cannot stop. The elimination of the carbon sinks, wetlands and forests and the increasing temperature, which causes the melting of the ice and the release of methane, which is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, will result in these feedback loops and we cannot turn them off.

It also has an impact upon the very countries with which we are signing a trade agreement. That will result in a change in the currents in the North Atlantic which will result in cataclysmic changes for agriculture and for the economies in the region, most of all our country and our economy.

[Canada–EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to bring up another example which sits on the government's shelf right now. The replacement for a Buffalo, the fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft, is currently out for contract. However, a Canadian company, Viking Air from Victoria, is not able to compete for that contract. That is a violation of our responsibility and our duty, not only to our Canadians Forces members but also to our workers.

The hon. member's fine question about the trucks is the same issue that relates to the replacement of the Buffalo.

All we demand of the government is that it allow our Canadian companies to compete on a level and fair playing field for products like the trucks and like the replacement for the Buffalo fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft.

This issue will not go away. Viking Air and other Canadian companies must have a chance to compete for the products and demands of the government, for DND and for other things it wants to purchase.

[Canada–EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is from the other coast of the country, another beautiful part. We share two of the most beautiful parts on either side of our great country.

On the issue of shipbuilding, we in the opposition have the largest number of people on committee and the member knows we have an opportunity to change government policy.

This is an opportunity. We both share a passion for supporting the shipbuilding industry. This is a solution that some of us have put forward. An import tax currently exists when Canadian companies purchase a ship abroad. The tax, unfortunately, goes into general revenue. The solution is to put that tax into a fund. The private sector contributes the same amount of money to the fund and those moneys can be used for the refurbishment of our shipbuilding and construction. That would allow us to be competitive, particularly for the production of mid-sized vessels.

In speaking with the Washington shipyards and our Department of National Defence, for the next 20 years we have the ability to build and make ships here at home with the proper leadership from the government. I only ask that the government take it upon itself to work with us to make that happen.