Leona Aglukkaq

[Health, March 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the safest blood systems in the world.

Neither Canadian Blood Services nor Héma-Québec accepts payment for blood donations that would be used for the general public. It is legal for medical companies to purchase human plasma that is used in the development of drugs.

Companies that do this operate under the rules of the Food and Drugs Act and must meet strict guidelines. If companies do not meet these standards, they are subject to enforcement up to and including the loss of their licence.

[Health, March 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we see no value in such a one-sided, biased report written by an individual from outside of Canada. Implementing the recommendations he put forward would increase tax burdens to Canadians, including an amount of $48 billion in taxes to Canadians. That is unacceptable, and we will not accept the recommendations from a person who resides outside of Canada.

[Health, March 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I take no lessons from that individual, whose colleagues cut transfers to the provinces and territories when they were in government. Again, I take no lessons from—

[Health, March 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it appears that parties want an agreement to create a massive new bureaucracy called the sodium registry. They want every family restaurant and bakery in Canada to register how much salt they consume with our government.

Our government does not want more bureaucracy. We want to be able to provide choices to Canadians to make informed choices on sodium consumption. Again, this just goes to show how out of touch that party is, along with the other party. They are soft on crime and very hard on potato chips.

[Poverty, March 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is the same member who wants to create a massive new bureaucracy called the sodium registry. Those members want to force every family bakery, every family restaurant, to register with the government how much salt they put in their foods. Canadians do not want bureaucracy; they want choices. That is why our focus is on providing Canadians with the information they need to make healthy decisions for their families.

This just goes to show, again, how out of touch the NDP is with Canadians. The NDP's priorities are soft on crime and hard—

[Poverty, March 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, again, implementing the recommendations coming from the UN rapporteur would have a significant impact on all Canadians, with a $48 billion tax hike. That is the same member who made a recommendation that we should be reducing health transfers to provinces and territories. I will not accept the report from a UN rapporteur who studies from afar. The recommendations would not be affordable for Canadians.

[Poverty, March 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, implementing the recommendation in the report would have a devastating impact on Canadians, including a $48 billion tax hike.

I met with the UN rapporteur last year and was very surprised at how ill-informed he is about Canada and the programs that we have in Canada for Canadians.

[Northern Jobs and Growth Act, March 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the work relating to drafting the legislation has been years in the making.

I was on the Nunavut Impact Review Board when a draft bill was presented to our board without ever talking to any board member or without ever looking at the land claims agreement. There were many problems associated with the bill presented to northerners without any discussion or consultations with them, the governments or even the board. Clearly, it was against some of the provisions of the land claims agreements.

Through this process of consultation in developing the bill, a number of recommendations were put forward by a number of stakeholders and organizations. We worked with them for over two years to draft the bill. Many of those provisions were incorporated, but there were some areas on which we did not come to a consensus.

At the end of the day, the language is still consistent with the land claims agreements.

[Northern Jobs and Growth Act, March 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, northerners want to move forward in development. Northerners want jobs and want to see young people taking advantage of the training opportunities that come with development.

Yesterday we were at the PTAC conference in Toronto where we met many companies that were working with northerners and putting forward projects. It is important that we move quickly to ensure there is legislation in place that identifies predictable timelines and that allows greater certainty for businesses.

I have seen development in the north first hand. Just outside of Baker Lake we have a gold mine that opened in the middle of a global recession. The Agnico-Eagle company hired approximately 400 or 500 people. That community of Baker Lake had an unemployment rate of about 60% prior to the mining coming into force. Through the partnerships that the mining company established with the community and with the Inuit of that region, we were able to reduce the unemployment rate of Baker Lake to 4% in a very short period of time. People are working. Young people are working.

More northerners want to take advantage of those opportunities. Therefore, it is very important that we support the bill to allow that.

[Northern Jobs and Growth Act, March 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the legislation has been in the works for a long time. I was on the Nunavut Impact Review Board when that party was in government and introduced an unacceptable bill under this provision.

Over the last few years, our government has consulted with northerners. We have worked very closely with Nunavut Tunngavik, the Nunavut government and the Nunavut Impact Review Board, as well as stakeholders. We were able to agree to many of the recommendations that came forward, but there were some that we could not.

Most of the recommendations that came forward from all parties were incorporated into the legislation now before us. I believe it draws a balance on what is the land claims agreement and it also does not change the language of the land claims agreement. We have accepted all the recommendations going forward that would be appropriate.