Marc Garneau

[Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, January 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it was very interesting listening to my hon. colleague. He seemed close to the point of rapture with his satisfaction with Bill C-25. I am very glad that he is very happy about it.

. Bill C-25 is the PRPP and then, apart from that, we have the social safety net programs: the Canada pension plan, the GIS and the OAS. Yesterday on television, the House leader said that the CPP and the GIS would not be touched. I will take the government's word for it but it seems that the OAS may be touched at some point in the future.

Does the member feel that with the PRPP, this legislation, plus those other programs, the pension needs of Canadians will be addressed for the foreseeable future?

[Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, January 31st, 2012]

Madam Speaker, if we listen very carefully to what the House leader just said, he said that because the Conservatives were elected last May, that is in fact a clear mandate for them to do anything they want without any debate whatsoever. That is the argument that the Conservatives brought forth last fall, throwing in the fact that they said they had to do things in a hurry.

We are not sure why this particular bill fits into that category. However, the fundamental point is that the House leader is telling us as long as they were elected and they talked about it in the election campaign, then they can go ahead and do this; that there does not have to be any debate. Is that the tone he is setting for this 41st Parliament? Is that the shot across the bow that is telling us that is the way we are going to do things for the next three and a half years?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 30th, 2012]

With regard to the planned funding for the National Homelessness Partnering Strategy: (a) what is the government’s strategy to end homelessness in urban and rural communities; (b) how many new transitional supportive and permanent affordable housing units will be funded next year; (c) what is the government’s strategy to preserve and modernize Canada’s existing social housing stock; (d) what were the economic justifications and social analyses that supported the decision not to renew Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation subsidies for cooperatives, not for profit and other social housing units; (e) what alternatives to social housing are being offered to low income seniors and others who cannot afford market housing and where provinces are not mandated or funded by the federal government to ensure that social housing stock is preserved; (f) what is the planned budget for the National Homelessness Partnering Strategy funding for 2011-2015 and 2015 and beyond; (g) how much money has been disbursed to the National Homelessness Partnering Strategy since 2006 (i) by province, (ii) by city for Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Moncton, St. John's and Halifax; and (h) what is the long term strategy for the National Homelessness Partnering Strategy and the National Homeless Initiative?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 30th, 2012]

With regard to Canada’s involvement in the Wideband Global Satcom system: (a) which criteria were used to determine the maximum amount to be spent on the project ($477 million); (b) within what timeframe and on which budget items is this $477 million budget planned to be used; (c) does the government’s proposal to join the Wideband Global Satcom system explicitly include industrial benefits for Canada; and (d) does the government’s proposal include the participation of Canadian aerospace companies and what are the anticipated economic benefits for them of Canada’s membership in the system?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 30th, 2012]

With regard to the training of Canadian military personnel by the U.S. company Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater: (a) what is the total value of the contracts awarded to this company by the government in 2011; (b) how many Canadian Land Forces soldiers have been trained by the company since 2005; (c) what type of training did these soldiers receive; (d) how many members of the Special Operations Forces have been trained by this company since 2005; (e) what type of training did the members of the Special Operations Forces receive; and (f) how many contracts were awarded to this company in 2011 and what percentage of these contracts were awarded without a competitive bid process?

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 30th, 2012]

With regard to the issuance of visas for foreign students studying in Canada: (a) does the student’s country of origin affect what type of visa can be issued (that is, a single-entry or a multiple-entry visa); (b) what are the countries of origin of students who are eligible for single-entry visas but not multiple-entry visas; and (c) what are the countries of origin of students who are eligible for both types of visa?

[Government Accountability, December 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I guess we are not going to get that apology.

The intimidation tactics continue. A notice of motion was introduced before a committee to the effect that the work of committees should be done in secret, that is to say, behind closed doors so that the public and the media cannot see what is happening. When will this abuse of democracy stop? When will this Prime Minister, who has done so much preaching about openness and transparency, start to respect those principles?

[Ethics, December 14th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, the Canada Elections Act explicitly states that one cannot falsely publish a notice that a candidate in a constituency has retired or withdrawn. Given the fact that the Canada Elections Act says this and given your ruling yesterday about the reprehensible behaviour against the member for Mount Royal, does the Prime Minister believe the Canada Elections Act needs to be clarified and will he issue an apology to the member for Mount Royal?

[Fair Representation Act, December 13th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure I could provide an irony to the fourth power on this issue.

The reality is that in these financially difficult times, certain provinces are providing the example. One in particular, New Brunswick, has recently decided that for reasons of fiscal rectitude it is going to cut back on the number of members of the legislative assembly. The Government of Ontario, as my colleague said, did it some time ago. The reasons were precisely all the reasons that the Prime Minister cited and that we have cited, that we want to provide a good example to the rest of the country. That is exactly what should be done.

If we look at Australia, for example, each MP represents about 145,000 people. That is way more people than we represent, and would represent under the Conservative plan. We do not need to add 30 more seats to this House. Let us show the example to Canadians that we are able to tighten our belts and do our job properly as well.

[Fair Representation Act, December 13th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

Before answering, may I ask if he intends to disclose the figures he claims to have in mind for the nine other provinces and the three territories in this country? I would like to be able to compare our plan with his. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Quebec represents 23.14% of Canada's population. The census figures have not been released, but we can predict them with a great deal of accuracy. The Liberal plan proposes 23.38% as Quebec's representation in the House of Commons.

In our plan, unlike the Conservatives' plan, we ensured that Quebec would be overrepresented.