Libby Davies

[Nanoose Bay, March 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the federal court recently struck down the expropriation of Nanoose Bay by the federal government. Now we have learned that the government is not only seeking a stay of judgment, but is going forward with an appeal amid speculation that it is a stalling tactic while negotiating a sweetheart deal with Gordon Campbell.

Will the Minister of Public Works and Government Services assure the House that the terms of a new lease will include an assurance that no nuclear powered vessels or weapons will be allowed at Nanoose and that there is a commitment to clean up the horrible mess that is already there? Will he give that assurance?

[Supply, March 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's comments. She is also the chair of the Liberal urban task force. She spoke about the government taking first steps in Kyoto with regard to improving our environment. The comment I would have is that the first step is taking an awfully long time. We are talking about five years of the government dragging its feet on Kyoto.

Are all the ministers of the government taking the same first step? We have had very conflicting information in the House from the Prime Minister, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of the Environment on where we are at with Kyoto. There is a very big question of whether or not the federal government is committed to ratifying Kyoto. Would the member comment on when that will be, or will we simply have to live with more task forces?

[Supply, March 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his comments and questions. If he has been listening to the debates in the House and question period over the last couple of years, he will know that we in the NDP have been very clear about our position that we do not buy into the whole notion of transfers of credits.

I tried to say in my comments that this is about an issue of global justice. It is about the north taking responsibility for its history environmentally and not saying that we will somehow palm it off on other countries and have a little exchange going on. We believe it is critical that Canada meets its commitments to reduce the greenhouse gases. This is about lowering our consumption. If we say that is not the case, then we are simply fooling ourselves. We have been very clear on that point.

[Supply, March 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the hon. member but I have to say that if the Canadian government has been pressuring the U.S. government to ratify Kyoto we would actually like to see some good evidence of that because that has been one of our big concerns.

However, I certainly would agree that a mythology has been developed that somehow Kyoto is bad for the economy and that we will have a massive bleed of jobs. I think there is much evidence out there to show that, first, those figures are grossly overrated and overestimated and, second, that in actual fact a green economy is something that will produce jobs, whether it is in terms of transit and urban infrastructure, upgrading water plants or dealing with agricultural issues. There is a lot of evidence to show that Kyoto is good for the environment but is also good for our economy.

In terms of the U.S. position, it is very unfortunate that the Alliance is playing this game of saying that such and such a country will not ratify and will not do anything, so why should we? This is an issue of international agreements. I would think that it is an opportunity for Canada to show its leadership. If the U.S. is reluctant and if Bush is changing his tune, as he does all the time, it is up to us as their economic partners to convince them that this is the right path to take and that Kyoto should be approved.

[Supply, March 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Winnipeg Centre. I am pleased to rise today on behalf of the federal New Democrats to speak to this motion. Having looked at the motion very carefully, we in the NDP disagree with every line that it puts forward.

It is quite astounding to listen to the comments of the Alliance member for Red Deer. They reminded me very much of the famous novel 1984 by George Orwell. This is a very good example of doublespeak.

The Canadian Alliance is telling the Canadian public that Kyoto is dangerous and harmful to the environment, that we should not proceed with it, that we should scotch the whole thing, pack it up and go somewhere else.

Alliance members are also saying that we should rely on human adaptation. In other words, we should tell all farmers facing drought or coastal communities facing flooding as a result of a rise in the ocean level to adapt. I have never heard any comment as utterly ridiculous. It completely flies in the face of real scientific evidence that has been developed over decades which tells us that we are facing an environmental catastrophe unless we as a global community are willing to act.

While I am pleased to have the opportunity to debate the motion, it is nothing more than a scare tactic. Reports from the Alberta oil companies are telling us that it will cost $40 billion to implement the Kyoto protocol.

Let us get real. There are costs to implementing Kyoto. Why should there not be? It has taken a number of years for society to destroy our environment. Destruction is all around us in terms of air quality in urban communities and the quality of the oceans. Yes, there is a cost to cleaning that up and to reversing the decisions we have made, but it is not the kinds of economic costs now being put forward by vested interests propagated by the Canadian Alliance. One study from the national institute of public health in the Netherlands shows that in Canadian terms it is something much closer to $198 million to $700 million, not $40 billion.

If we wanted a proper examination of this issue, why would we not put on the table one of the positive sides of Kyoto, the fact that it has been estimated that it will produce 65,000 new jobs, and the whole issue of the green economy? We could talk about investments in public infrastructure. We could talk about investments in retrofitting our buildings to save energy. Those are costs we would actually save. Those are issues where we would produce jobs and a green economy.

Contrary to what the hon. member for Red Deer was saying, that Kyoto would lead to a recession, I find it very insulting that he would put forward that kind of argument in the House to literally scare people away from the true reality of what is facing them.

We must recognize that as Canadians we consume more energy per capita than any other country in the world. We use more total energy than 700 million people on the African continent.

We in the NDP understand that this is not just a Canadian issue. This is an issue of global justice. This is an issue about what we do in the north and what happens in the south. If we somehow expect to maintain our privilege and our incredible levels of consumption and to say to developing countries that they cannot do the same, that they cannot enjoy the privileges we have, this truly is an issue of global justice.

We also have to look at other costs to our society. Anyone who has kids will know that there has been an incredible increase in asthma among children. Why? Because of our environment, our polluted air and global warming. We are now seeing a tremendous impact in terms of environmental health issues, which is costing our health care system billions of dollars.

I was very interested to hear the comments from my Bloc colleague who spoke about the ice storm and its $3 billion impact and about how those kinds of environmental catastrophes will continue to happen.

I think the motion today gives us an opportunity to raise the question as to whose interest is being served. It seems to me that the true colours of the Alliance Party have come through very strong today, colours, I might add, that are very polluted, because they are clearly sending out a message. They are articulating and defending a false position put forward by corporate Canada. I am proud to say that we in the NDP are in the House to uphold the public interest and I believe that is why we are elected.

Just in case the Liberals think they will get off scot free, I hope they will vote against this motion and I know there are individual Liberal members who have actually done a very good job of raising these issues within their own government and have taken a very good stand, but the Liberal government, I have to say, is not much better. For five years now it has been waffling on this issue. We have had conflicting statements from the Prime Minister, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of the Environment. They have been all over the map and we are no further ahead. We want to call on the Canadian government today to really show leadership and to not only reject the motion but to move ahead and ratify the Kyoto agreement and Canada's commitments.

By contrast, real leadership is coming from the community. We have environmental organizations like the David Suzuki Foundation, Greenpeace Canada and the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, all of whom have been producing excellent information to show us the reality of what will be happening in our environment if we do not adopt Kyoto. In fact, Greenpeace and the Sierra Legal Defence Fund released a study in February which shows that we could improve our urban air quality and meet one-third of the Kyoto commitment if only we would have stronger vehicle emission regulations on our automobiles. It is pretty shocking to know that SUVs, for example, will not be covered by any regulations until the year 2009. It is really astounding that as we escalate the degradation to our environment, regulations covering some of these very harmful gas guzzling vehicles like SUVs will not even come into effect for another seven years.

We have also seen a lot of leadership from groups like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Jack Layton, president of that group, has made it his business and his mission to bring together the municipalities to say that if the federal government will not do anything and the provincial governments are all mucking around, then at least at the municipal level, where 80% of Canadians live in urban environments, they will show leadership and take a stand on this issue. We congratulate them for that.

Finally, let me say that we in the NDP have been unequivocal in our support of Kyoto. Our member for Windsor--St. Clair, our environment critic, has stood up in the House day after day pressing the government as to why it is waffling on this issue. We will continue to do that, along with the Canadian public, until the government meets its commitments that were laid out in the Kyoto accord. We have to hurry up and do this before it is too late. We have to meet our commitment because the survival of our planet and the future of our children depend on it.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, March 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I feel like we are speaking about two different realities here. I listened very carefully to what the parliamentary secretary had to say. I take issue with what is being put forward here tonight.

When he speaks about the Canadian health and social transfer as being the main mechanism from the federal government to support post-secondary education, let us be very clear that there are absolutely no strings attached to that money. There is no way to ensure that those funds actually go toward post-secondary education. There is no way to ensure that those funds are actually used to help students lower their student debt load.

The same is true of the millennium fund. The reality is the millennium fund helps less than 2% of students in the country. I am glad it is there but it is a very small program. It is completely contrary to what is being called for by universities, colleges and student organizations that want to see a national grants program.

While I appreciate that the government did make some changes in tax deductions for families, that does not help low income students.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2001, March 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as the federal New Democrat spokesperson for post-secondary education I bring forward to the House the urgency of the crisis facing Canada's post-secondary educational system. I also bring forward shocking evidence that the federal government is not only ignoring the crisis but exacerbating it by its own decisions.

In recent weeks there have been a number of developments that are destroying an already fragile system. First, the federal government's student debt reduction program is a failure. The finance minister said it would help 12,000 students each year but in the last year it missed its target by a whopping 96%.

Second, the long awaited innovation strategy, rather than offering concrete proposals to improve accessibility and funding for post-secondary education, is accelerating a dangerous slide toward the commercialization of university research.

Third, StatsCan reports show students from high income families are two and a half times more likely than low income students to attend university. This is clearly due to the retreat of federal and provincial public funding.

Fourth, in my home province of B.C. the situation is devastating. Gordon Campbell's deregulation of tuition fees, elimination of grants for first year students and staggering tuition fee increases of up to 300% are creating chaos and fear. Summer McFadyen, chair of the B.C. Federation of Students, has described the situation as students’ “worst fears come true.”

Where does this leave us? The federal government's decisions coupled with provincial cuts are having an unprecedented impact on students. We are facing the lowest levels of federal funding for post-secondary education in more than 30 years, yet ironically the federal government is crowing about the importance of higher education in today's competitive world. Under the Liberal regime it seems only the rich can afford to compete.

It is not as though Canadians do not care about or understand the importance of accessible and publicly funded post-secondary education. A recent poll by the Canadian Association of University Teachers shows 70% of Canadians believe the federal government is not doing enough to support post-secondary education, and 75% of Canadians are in favour of Ottawa establishing national standards based on accessibility and not for profit administration.

We in the NDP have long advocated these policies but our system will continue to deteriorate unless critical action is taken. Three key things need to be done. First, we must establish national standards that spell out clear objectives for accessibility for all students.

Second, we need to take immediate measures to reduce student debt load, roll back tuition, freeze fees and institute a national grants program.

Third, the federal government must develop a clear mandate for publicly administering post-secondary education and halting the privatization and commercialization of research programs and curriculum development. For profit degree granting institutions should be banned.

Taking these actions would send a clear message that Canada recognized education as an important social and economic investment. The measure of an enlightened, democratic and civil society is found in its recognition of education as a human right. Such a society recognizes the worth and dignity of all individuals and allows them to reach their potential. It recognizes that the pursuit of the highest quality of public education serves all of society.

Why then is the federal government forfeiting its responsibility at a time when support and leadership are desperately needed?

[Supply, March 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the hon. member for Ottawa Centre. He has strayed far from the motion. It is a finely worded motion which puts forward a critical issue: Why are our social, educational and health care programs in jeopardy?

The hon. member has failed to acknowledge in any way the critical situation facing Canada today. He can crow all he wants about the great Liberal government but it has lost the moral high ground in the debate. It has lost its vision about what is taking place.

Let us look at the evidence of the Romanow commission. Why do we have a royal commission on health care? It is because our health care system is in crisis due in large part to a lack of federal funding.

Why do we have a 30 year low in federal financing for educational programs? Why do we have the widest gap between rich and poor in Canada that we have seen for 30 years? It is because of these fiscal arrangements. I am disappointed the hon. member has not acknowledged this in any way.

Would the hon. member look at the evidence and discuss the situation as it relates to health care? A royal commission is studying the question. Surely he must acknowledge that one of the reasons we are in crisis is the federal government's massive devolution and retreat from public funding of health care. We have gone down from 50 cent dollars to 14 cent dollars.

The hon. member should take an honest hard look at what is going on in many communities. People are hurting as a result of the imbalance.

[Winter Paralympic Games, March 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise on behalf of the federal New Democrats as we salute Canadian athletes who competed at the Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City. Their energy, dedication and display of Olympian ethics are an inspiration to all of us who watched the competitions.

A record number of athletes and a record number of countries competed in the 2002 games. This is a wonderful indication of the stature, strength and what the future holds for the Paralympic Games. Of course, it is the performance and the team solidarity of the Canadians that won our hearts.

All members of the House and all Canadians are proud of these Canadian athletes who competed with courage, enthusiasm and great skill. We must also acknowledge the years of training day in and day out, the fatigue, the sacrifices and maybe even the disappointments that must be faced as each athlete strives to reach her or his goal of competing in the Paralympics.

We especially honour the 15 athletes who came home with medals for that is truly a singular achievement. These Canadian Paralympic athletes should be very proud of their achievements. We share and support their goals for ongoing successes at the Paralympics and the development and support of Canadian athletes who display the very best for our country.

[Supply, March 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my colleague from Richmond--Arthabaska. I agree with just about everything he said. The motion before us today is a very finely worded motion. I thought it was quite diplomatic in putting forward the reality that a fiscal imbalance is jeopardizing our social programs of today.

We can think about the fact that we have the Romanow commission. There is a crisis in medicare, a crisis in the funding of health care. This is why we have a royal commission.

We can think about post-secondary education and the crisis there. We are at a 30 year low of federal funding for post-secondary education. Tuition fees are skyrocketing. When it comes to social programs it seems like the Liberal government has completely abandoned that field altogether.

Would the hon. member comment on the question of how these programs are now being jeopardized by the fiscal imbalance or the complete erosion of federal transfers?

We heard the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage say earlier that health care was a priority of her government. Yet it seems to me that we have a crisis on our hands. Would the hon. member speak about how he believes health care is being jeopardized by the fiscal arrangements?