Lisa Raitt

[Minister of Natural Resources, June 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as we have indicated, we treat this very seriously. There are clear procedures that are in place. They were not followed. The individual who was responsible for the handling of the documents offered her resignation and we accepted it.

[Minister of Natural Resources, June 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as we have indicated, there are clear procedures in the minister's office with respect to the handling of these documents. It is a very serious matter when those procedures are not followed, which is what happened in this case. As a result, we took corrective action. I offered my resignation, as did the staffer involved with respect to the responsibility of handling the documents and I accepted her resignation.

[Minister of Natural Resources, June 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as indicated yesterday, this is a serious matter. There are clear procedures in place in our offices. Those procedures were not followed. Corrective action has been taken. I offered my resignation to the Prime Minister. He did not accept it. A member of my staff offered her resignation and I did accept it.

[Minister of Natural Resources, June 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to update the House today on progress that we have made with respect to medical isotopes.

As we have mentioned before, this is a global issue that is going to be dealt with in a global manner. Through Canada's leadership we have been successful in having our co-operative partners in The Netherlands, Petten, increase their medical isotope supply by at least 50%. The Australians are coming on line much more quickly than they had expected for commissioning. As well, tomorrow we have a very important bilateral meeting in Washington dealing with the matter.

[Minister of Natural Resources, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as we have indicated, this is a serious matter and clear procedures were not followed in the handling of these documents. Corrective action has been taken. I offered my resignation to the Prime Minister, but he did not accept it. However, the individual who is responsible for the documents that day has tendered a resignation and I have accepted it.

[Forestry Industry, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I will be more careful with respect to names.

I want to indicate that the black liquor subsidy in the United States is of great concern. My colleague, the Minister of International Trade, has been working with the United States and bringing attention to the detrimental effect it has on the industry and what a distortion it is.

We are working across the border with our colleagues there, and we are working internally to determine the best options.

[Forestry Industry, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, further on the black liquor tax credit for pulp producers in the United States, my colleague, Minister Day, of course has been working—

[Forestry Industry, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of aid to the forestry sector, in our unprecedented cross-country consultations we spoke to both industry and communities about the best way to support them through Canada's economic action plan. We have developed the $1 billion community adjustment fund that is beneficial for that.

With respect to the black liquor, it is important to note that this was the result of a U.S. green tax and the utilization of mixing diesel with black liquor in order for paper companies to take advantage of it, which we find unacceptable, and we want the United States to know.

[Minister of Natural Resources, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we have treated this as a serious matter because it is, indeed, a serious matter. Procedures that were set out in my office regarding the handling of documents were not followed. We did take corrective action and, as I have mentioned, I have offered my resignation to the Prime Minister, if he chose to take it, but he did not take it.

In the case of the staff member who was handling the documents, she has offered her resignation and I have accepted it.

[Minister of Natural Resources, June 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, clear procedures were in place in my office and, as indicated, they were not followed in this case. We have taken strong and corrective action. The person who was responsible for the documents has offered to resign and I have accepted it. That is clear accountability.