Michael Savage

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy listening to my colleague when he speaks. He is a man of great pedigree when it comes to financial matters and he uses that well in this House. I agree with everything he said except I have one little issue.

He said the mother of all betrayals was the income trusts. That was a huge one, but members will have to forgive me, particularly this week, if I suggest the mother of all betrayals was the Atlantic accord. However, there are lots of broken promises with this government, including the income trusts and Atlantic accord.

He talked about incompetence. I would also add regifting of successful Liberal initiatives. If there is one thing we have seen that the government cannot stand, it is programs that work if they have a Liberal pedigree, programs such as EnerGuide and I am not sure if my hon. colleague followed the summer jobs fiasco. Last week we had the officials at the HRDC committee who admitted that the program has been badly mismanaged and botched up.

We had the spectacle of organizations like the Autism Society of Nova Scotia, diabetes and cancer groups, boys and girls clubs, and youth and recreation groups, all being told they did not qualify. Some of them got 19 or 20 out of 70. Lo and behold, when the opposition, primarily the Liberal opposition but lots of opposition said, “Wait a second, that is crazy”, somebody turned the light on. I wonder if he has any thoughts on that. And could it possibly get any worse with these guys?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, my question for the minister now is this: will he tell us if he has been negotiating a side deal with Nova Scotia to fix the Atlantic accord?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, over a year ago, in fact in May of last year, when the Minister of Finance came before the finance committee, I asked him a question.

I asked, “Would you have signed the Atlantic accords?”

His official response was this: “I don't have an answer for you on that”.

The answer came in budget 2007. It is clear to Atlantic Canadians from the tip of Nova Scotia to the tip of Newfoundland and Labrador that the Atlantic accord has been torched. It has been ripped out of the hands of Nova Scotians. It has taken away the future of Nova Scotia as well as that of Newfoundland and Labrador. Finally this week, the premier of Nova Scotia, Rodney MacDonald, joined the chorus--

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my colleague a question. I will preface my comments by indicating that I served on the finance committee most of last year and worked with the member as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. To my shock, I came to have some high regard for her personally and enjoyed her company. We travelled Canada and we spent some time working together. I came to know that she is a very engaging person and I have enjoyed that.

However, I disagree with her on some very fundamental points. I want to talk about the Atlantic accord. I have asked the member this question before. She has indicated that in her view the Atlantic accord was a “gerrymandered”, and she used that word, and ad hoc agreement. I disagree with her and I think I have made that clear.

I want to talk to her specifically about what the Atlantic accord is. There is a lot of confusion but it is very simple. At its essence, the Atlantic accord assured Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador that they would be the full beneficiaries of offshore, over and above whatever equalization program was in place at the time. Thus, if equalization changed, as it did under the previous administration, Nova Scotia would get the benefit of the new equalization plus the Atlantic accord.

The Minister of Finance mocks Atlantic Canada and insults Atlantic Canada when he stands in this chamber and says we have the choice of the new equalization or the old deal and the Atlantic accord. The Atlantic accord specifically said that whatever the new equalization is, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador would get the benefit of that, plus the offshore. It was not one or the other. It was both.

In Nova Scotia, as in Newfoundland and Labrador, everyone knows that this budget torched the Atlantic accord. Academics, economists, Conservative premiers and an all party resolution of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, including the minister married to the Conservative member for South Shore—St. Margaret's, all said that we have to honour the accord, that it has been broken. Mr. John Crosbie today was quoted in a secret memo from before now as saying that this breaks the Atlantic accord and that the choice they are forced to make “does not fulfill the 2005 agreement”.

There is no question that the Atlantic accord has been shunned and has been pushed aside. I want to ask my colleague, very seriously and simply, does she believe the Atlantic accord was honoured in this budget or does she agree with the member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, who made the principled decision yesterday that it did not and he cannot live with that?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am tempted to ask if hogwash is a parliamentary term. Maybe it was not until the Conservative government came in and it became accepted.

The member talked about the organization that eventually received funding. If I could find it, I could read the email in which it thanks me for the funding it received. I raised the issue. Is that how it is supposed to work?

Are organizations supposed to go cap in hand? Should the Autism Society of Nova Scotia beg for support from the government and only get it because the government was shamed into doing it? Surely, my colleague, the member for St. Catharines does not think that makes sense.

Everyone in Nova Scotia, except a couple of old fashioned Conservatives, knows it got rooked in the federal budget. We got slaughtered in the federal budget. The Atlantic accord was not just money. The Atlantic accord was the future of Nova Scotia. It was the future of young Nova Scotians. It was callously pushed aside and cast aside by the Minister of Finance. The government is trying to fix it up now and perhaps trade off something else.

All the Conservatives have to do is honour the Atlantic accord as they said they would when the Liberals brought it in.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 4th, 2007]

If I recall correctly, Mr. Speaker, that was Bill C-48, not Bill C-45. The money was not specifically for cities. It was for four areas: overseas development, the environment, post-secondary education and housing. I absolutely supported that motion.

I remind the member that the $1.5 billion negotiated by the leader of the NDP and the then prime minister of Canada for post-secondary education was dwarfed in the economic update six months later, when the Liberal government promised $2.2 billion for students who needed it the most, making the $1.5 billion irrelevant. Unfortunately, the NDP did not vote to adopt it.

When the Conservative government came in, it changed that $1.5 billion to $1 billion. It changed it from student access to infrastructure. There was very little benefit for students in that bill, but I was happy to vote for it at the time. I thought it was a good initiative and it showed that Parliament could work when leaders worked together on priorities.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 4th, 2007]

I apologize, Mr. Speaker. The article states:

If any theme rang through the Harper budget delivered on Monday night, it was that the have-nots are to remain, well, have-nots.

Jim Meek indicated:

Jeering from the sidelines were the budget's unlucky trio of obvious losers: Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan. All are now victims of a calculated insult—the effective federal clawback of resource revenues under the new equalization schemed insult.

David Rodenhiser said:

Nova Scotians are left asking themselves: Who's standing up for us?...Right now, the answer is no one....Certainly not our federal cabinet minister, [the member for Central Nova], who's defending Ottawa rather than Nova Scotia on this.

An article in the Chronicle Herald states, “Atlantic Tories running for cover”.

On the weekend, the member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley on the government side indicated, acknowledging that the Atlantic accord has been betrayed, that it gave him concern about how he should vote. That is not easy for anyone. I wish him well in his deliberations. All government members should have the same principled approach to this.

The Atlantic accord is gone. Atlantic Conservative candidates, people who were going to run for the Conservatives in Atlantic Canada, like Jane Purves in Halifax, are having second thoughts. A candidate in Newfoundland said, “That's it, I can't run for these guys. What chance would I have? We can't win if we're going to be breaking accords like the Atlantic accord which was so important. You can't do it”

The Atlantic accord was opposed by virtually everybody in Atlantic Canada, again, dividing one part of Canada against the other.

I want to talk about the Coast Guard. A month or so ago we had an announcement in the riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour that two icebreakers, employing some 130 people plus support staff, would be moved from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, to the two ridings where Conservative members happen to reside.

Nobody in Nova Scotia wishes Newfoundland and Labrador anything but good fortune, but there was no business case along with this move, no discussion with workers and union and no discussion even with regional management of the Coast Guard. A draft business report for a business plan for the next three years of the Coast Guard, dated April 1, had no mention of this move. This was a crass political move and it is the crassest kind of political move not only to divide region against region, but province against province for political purposes. It is wrong.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the debacle, which is the summer grants program. Last year it was the subject of a $55 million cut. In the fall the program was cancelled. It came back in the spring with an $11 million cut, and no explanation of what happened to that $55 million. Maybe it is still in play and maybe it is not. We do not know. We only have budget documents and press releases to tell us, and there has not been much about that recently.

Two or three weeks ago, organizations across Canada started getting letters in the mail, like the Autism Society of Nova Scotia. It was told that it did not qualify for the summer jobs program, although it had for years under the Liberal program. It had seven people last year and ten the year before, in the last year of the Liberal government. This year the society did not qualify.

The minister keeps telling us that the old program was Liberal MPs dispensing patronage. Hogwash. It was Wal-Mart, Rogers and Bacardi giving jobs. If the Conservatives do not like them giving jobs, take the jobs away from them and give them to the Autism Society of Nova Scotia. Do not take them away from the Autism Society of Nova Scotia. Do not take them away from the Diabetes Society.

I want to read a letter from an organization called Edward's House, which deals with young students at risk, students who have either been kicked out of their home or lost their parents. The only way they can stay in school is with this program, which provides shelter, comfort and food and allows them to go to school. On May 15 it received a letter dated May 10. Always having had summer students before, the letter stated, “Thank you for your application...Your application was assessed and received a rating of 23 out of a total of 70. It did not rank high enough on the list of assessed applications to be funded. Since the demand exceeded the budget, we are unable to offer you funding at this time”.

Representatives came to see me and we talked about it. Miraculously, when we went on the summer break, the minister denied there was a problem.

We had a minister in New Brunswick saying it would be fixed a certain way. A MP in Nova Scotia there was 15% more money. A cabinet minister of the Government of Canada blamed it on the bureaucrats, scrambling everywhere. It was a disaster that had to be fixed. All of a sudden, Edward's House received a call and was told the government could fund it. Even though the letter said that the demand exceeded budget and there was no money, all of a sudden there was money. What kind of program is that? Only when the government gets caught does it throw money in.

The minister said in the House that we would soon see on the website the names of organizations requesting funding, which ones received it and which did not. I and my colleague from Saskatchewan beside me had a motion before the HRDC committee, stating that by June 1 we would know what organizations had applied, what ones received funding and what ones did not. Late in the afternoon on June 1, we received a letter saying that because of privacy concerns, we could not received that information. However, the minister can stand in the House and read a list when somebody asks him a question, but parliamentarians are not allowed to know.

That is dividing Canadians, not only region to region or province to province but non-profit organization to non-profit organization. Organizations in our communities across the street from each other are now pitted against each other because of the political crassness of the government.

We have a large and diverse country and we take pride in that. We come here to represent our constituents. Surely, there is a special place for all of us in our hearts and in this place to represent those who need help the most. For years we have done that in Canada. We have built a social infrastructure. I am concerned that this budget and last year's budget will signal the end of that belief in the social infrastructure if we do not soon do something to fix it.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to the budget. Again, like many, I have had a chance to talk about it on a number of occasions.

To be very honest and upfront, and I do not want to disappoint anybody, I do not like it. I do not think it is a fair budget. I do not think it is a budget that does anything to decrease the gap between the rich and the poor and, in fact, it increases the gap.

I want to echo the comments of my colleague from Saint John. I want to speak a little bit to the issue of how I believe that this budget divides Canadians, which I think it does.

I am going to talk about three examples. The first is the Atlantic accord. The accord has received a lot of attention, particularly where I come from in Nova Scotia, in Newfoundland and Labrador, and also across the country. It is a sign of how a government should not do business by alienating one region and playing one off against the other in a game of what I would call crude political arithmetic. The government thinks it can afford to maybe lose a few seats here if it gains a few seats there, and it adds up to where it wants to go.

When the Atlantic accord was torched, when it was betrayed so callously in the budget, it set off a firestorm. It did not just set off a firestorm among opposition MPs in Ottawa. It set off a firestorm among Progressive Conservatives in Atlantic Canada.

I have recited some of these before, so I will not spend a lot of time on this. Back home the premier of Nova Scotia, Rodney MacDonald, rather mildly rebuked the government. The premier had to say something and he acknowledged very quickly that the Atlantic accord had been betrayed. The accord had been worked on by his former colleague, Dr. John Hamm, the former premier of Nova Scotia, a very distinguished leader in our province. Premier MacDonald today acknowledged the fact that Dr. Hamm's work had all gone for naught with the betrayal of the Atlantic accord.

Premier Danny Williams has been reasonably vocal in his concern about the Atlantic accord and what he thinks it means to Newfoundland and Labrador. He has spoken out loudly. Premier Rodney MacDonald has not spoken out as loudly. I think we can be fortunate that we have a new Liberal leader in Nova Scotia, Stephen McNeil, who will stand tall for Nova Scotians and demand fairness.

Premier MacDonald and all legislators in Nova Scotia in an all-party resolution of the legislature, including the wife of the Conservative member for South Shore—St. Margaret's who was a minister in the Rodney MacDonald government, condemned the federal government for breaking its word on the Atlantic accord.

Here is a commentary from back home the day after the budget. Marilla Stephenson, a columnist in the Chronicle-Herald, said, “If any theme rang through the Harper budget delivered on Monday night, it was that the have-nots are to remain--

[Tuberculosis, June 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, reports of an airline passenger with a case of extremely drug resistant TB have blanketed the media this past week.

XDR TB, as it is known, is a health emergency that demands attention.

Instead of singling out this one case, it is important that we remember the most meaningful way to curb drug resistant TB is to stop TB before it reaches this more dangerous form.

There are 1.6 million people who die every year from basic TB, a third of those in Africa. TB is the leading killer of people with HIV.

I was able to witness the extent of this tragedy firsthand during my visit to Kenya in January with RESULTS Canada and other parliamentarians. I met TB patients in overcrowded hospitals lying head to toe, two to a bed.

It does not need to be this way. TB, in its basic form, can be treated for about $20 Canadian. There is no need for the world's poorest to die of a disease like TB that can be managed and treated.

Canada must continue the fight against TB. The senseless deaths must be stopped.

[Canada Summer Jobs, May 31st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the summer grants program has been a case study in mismanagement. The new program went off the rails big time, and scrambling, frantic on the fly policy made it worse.

Government members and ministers flew into damage control. The height of incompetence though was the charge by the Minister of Foreign Affairs that bureaucrats were to blame. That is disgraceful and offensive.

As the government spins out of control on this issue, will the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development tell us if he believes that his officials are really to blame for this Conservative fiasco?