Michael Savage

[Airbus, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we are told the government has a short list for this assignment. I believe all its lists are short in some way, but the government claims that it is having difficulty staffing the job.

Is it not true that the government is really having trouble finding somebody who will abide by its constricting terms of reference, to give it exactly the result it wants?

[Airbus, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Conservative government's scandal management squad has its hands full these days, but the Prime Minister has now had a full seven months to set up his promised public inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber scandal.

Somebody less trusting than myself might think the Conservatives do not really want a public inquiry into the Mulroney affair. Justice John Gomery says that this is not a priority for the Prime Minister.

When will the government make this a priority and name somebody to head this inquiry?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, unfortunately, it was a decision of the Conservative government in 2006 which abandoned international studies and made it easy for Great Britain to cancel the Commonwealth scholarships.

While he is on his feet, let me ask him again. Would he agree with me that Canada has a moral obligation to stand up for Canadians facing the death penalty abroad? Does he believe that Canada has a moral obligation to work for the abolition of the death penalty here and around the world?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, I would be happy to do that. I hope the government does some of its own work in the future.

We are concerned about the reputation of Canada abroad. We have seen the incident with the governor of Kandahar. We have had NAFTA-gate and the debacles of Burma. We have Canada's reputation on capital punishment being sullied around the world. That was before the minister dropped his briefs in an appropriate place and forget to pick them up. That was before the Prime Minister misquoted the prime minister of Italy.

This is a very significant concern for Canadian students. I am sure the minister would know Stephen Toope, the president of the University of British Columbia, who said that this was tremendously shortsighted. Jennifer Humphries, VP of membership at the Canadian Bureau for International Education said that Canada has traditionally been a very good, strong partner, so it is a slap in the face to Canada.

Others have said that they are hoping our government will put pressure on the U.K. to reinstate the program. Kevin Lynch, Stephen Toope and a large number of Canadians have benefited from this and Canada has benefited from this.

Let me try a personal approach with the minister. After only three days, I do not expect him to have all the answers, but will he take a personal interest? Will somebody over there stand up for Canadian students and for Canada abroad and ensure we are reinstated in the Commonwealth scholarships which we helped to form?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, I thank the minister for his personal response.

Is the minister aware that Great Britain has decided not to include Canada further in the Commonwealth scholarships?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, I welcome the minister and wish him the best in his new responsibilities.

I have a question for him. Many Canadians are concerned about the change of government policy toward advocating on behalf of Canadians facing the death penalty abroad. When the Minister of Justice stands he says that we do not have the death penalty in Canada, but that is not the question, and then we hear that it may be on a case by case basis.

I want to ask the minister himself, whose reputation I admire and whose work I respect, whether he believes that Canada has a moral obligation to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty here and abroad.

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, it seems to be in his mind and in the Prime Minister's mind and nowhere else. It is very simple. Two of the main estimates or the supplementary estimates reflect the announcement made by the Prime Minister.

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, that announcement was announced as a big announcement. It was billed as a great new announcement. Ralph Surette, in the Chronicle Herald a couple of days later, said this about it:

Instead, it has turned into a comedy of errors. The announcement was of $30 billion over 20 years. That was revised to anywhere from $20 to $50 billion by various confused government spokesmen, and by the time it got to Parliament, the full accounting was closer to $100 billion.

Let me ask this, has this money in fact been submitted to Treasury Board?

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, the minister seems to be suggesting that this was too small a cut to worry about. To people involved in literacy it is a huge cut. We recently completed a report in the human resources committee on employability. Sue Folinsbee of the National Adult Literacy Database said:

Federations have been successful partners in workplace literacy partnerships. Their work and these successful examples of provincial partnerships should be strengthened and enhanced, not cut.

I think that the money taken from literacy was an abomination to people who are struggling to gain literacy achievements in Canada.

I see the minister of national defence is here. A couple of weeks ago there was a big announcement made on defence in Halifax. I would like to ask the minister: Who made the submission to Treasury Board that resulted in the Prime Minister's announcement of allegedly $30 billion? Was it the Prime Minister or the Minister of National Defence?

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, the people who work very hard in literacy in Canada do not feel like they were reallocated. They feel like they were cut. They were cut specifically $17.7 million.

In response to a question that I put on the order paper, we got back from the Department of Human Resources that in 2005-06 $33.3 million was spent on literacy by the federal government. The next year, the first full year of the government, $16 million.

I will ask the Minister of Finance, is that money going to be recouped for the people who support literacy in Canada?