Lawrence Cannon

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 9th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we have been very open and transparent about our intention to promote our country. We will create ways to show Canada off to the world, and we will do that in the short time we have. Three thousand media people, a huge number of delegates and TV viewers around the world will see Canada at its best, and our government will make sure that happens.

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 9th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, most of the costs are associated with security-related expenses. Some of the money will be spent on promoting our country. Most importantly, however, all of these expenses, all of that money was budgeted, and that party supported our budget yesterday.

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 9th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that much of the cost of the G8 and G20 events is due to security. A tiny portion of the cost is for the promotion of not just Ontario, but also Canada. We are proud to be welcoming all these people who will spread the good news about Canada throughout the world.

[Foreign Affairs, June 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we remain concerned about the Gaza situation and the provision of humanitarian aid to meet the basic needs of the people. Canada understands Israel's legitimate concerns about security and terrorist threats against its people. The Gaza Strip, I remind the House, is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization, and Israel has every right to defend itself.

[Foreign Affairs, June 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying yesterday, Canada has called for and obviously supports an impartial, credible and transparent inquiry. Canada is convinced that Israel's inquiry into this tragic incident will be impartial, credible and transparent.

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I am not the only one who talks about promoting Canada. I will quote Tim West, who is chairman of the board of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, who said, “Previous governments have staged tourism setups, so this not a new concept. From my perspective, we have way too much to gain with the G8 and G20 in Ontario and to minimize this tourism opportunity would be a mistake”.

Every time we have tried to do something for Ontario, they voted against it.

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we ask for equal opportunity to showcase Canada and to showcase Ontario. We are using part of the budget to promote Canada and to ensure we do the marketing. Over 3,000 media and other officials, as well as heads of government and their delegations, will be here.

We want to seize this opportunity to ensure we tell everybody what Canada stands for, which is a very strong country that wants to attract investment here. That is what we are doing.

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we are going to welcome the world to the G8 and G20. We are doing what all the other governments and all the other countries that host such summits and events do, which is promote our country. What we are doing is quite normal. We have spent money on marketing and promoting our event, we are proud of our country, and we are going to promote it appropriately.

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Experience Canada space covers a total area of 22,000 square feet. The total cost of building this facility is $1.9 million. Building costs for the water feature are $57,000. Experience Canada will welcome more than 3,000 media representatives and other guests and, as I said, unlike the Bloc, we are proud to promote Canada.

[G8 and G20 Summits, June 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, during these two summits, Canada will be welcoming news media, heads of government and delegations. We are seizing this opportunity to promote our country. That is what we are doing and we are doing it in such a way that we will put Canada's best foot forward. That does have a cost. There are costs associated with security, and we are paying those costs.