Mike Lake

[Industry, March 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to talk about foreign investment and Canada's ability to compete with the world.

Canada has a record of standing up for greater competition under this government. In 2008, foreign direct investment in Canada reached $505 billion, while Canadian investments abroad reached $637 billion, almost $130 billion more than direct investment in Canada.

Competition creates economic growth. It creates innovation and better options for Canadian consumers.

[Industry, March 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for this great and timely question.

I am pleased to announce that today the Prime Minister welcomed Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace's decision to create jobs and invest in Canada by opening a new manufacturing facility in London, Ontario.

This new facility is expected to directly create up to 100 jobs in the London area, with a further 500 jobs through supplier activity.

Kongsberg's decision confirms that Canada is open for business and will emerge from the recession more powerful, more competitive and more prosperous than ever before.

[The Budget, March 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the budget text clearly refers to the benefits to the economy of the island that we expect to see from these construction and renovation projects, benefits that will be seen not just on campus but throughout the local region as a result of the stimulus funding.

Budget 2010 notes on page 242:

Upgrades to the infrastructure at the University of Prince Edward Island will create over 300 jobs and inject about $30 million into the economy.

[Business of Supply, March 23rd, 2010]

Madam Speaker, this government has taken many significant measures in the areas that the hon. member mentioned.

As I mentioned in my speech, 99% of the maternal deaths occur in the developing world. The focus of this issue is that about 500,000 mothers and nine million children under the age of five will lose their lives this year, again for want of very basic needs, such as clean water, inoculations, basic medical services and proper nutrition.

Some have indicated that the cost in some cases is pennies a day. It is completely unacceptable that in the past the G8 and countries have not been able to come together to make a difference in this area. There has been a lot of talk, but what we are focused on this time around is coming forward with a motion and a plan of action that will make a difference in people's lives.

What is critical as we have this debate today is to maintain our focus on those 500,000 mothers and those nine million children who will lose their lives in the next year if we do not act.

[Business of Supply, March 23rd, 2010]

Madam Speaker, my family and I know firsthand the expertise of the Canadian medical community when it comes to the health of mothers and children.

My wife and I have two kids, who are 14 and 10 now, but both were both born by emergency C-section. In fact, three weeks after my 10-year-old daughter was born, my wife had complications. I will not go into great detail, but she had a life-saving emergency hysterectomy. I would not have two kids and I would not have a wife, if it were not for the expertise in the Canadian medical community, and I really appreciate that.

That said, this is about ensuring that other people around the world have access to very basic medical expertise, clean water, nutrition and inoculations, to save nine million children's lives, to save 500,000 mothers' lives. It is completely unacceptable that we cannot come together on a motion that brings virtually 100% of Canadians together around an issue that is important.

[Business of Supply, March 23rd, 2010]

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to address the House today and highlight Canada's G8 priorities with a particular focus on a flagship maternal and under five child health initiative promoted by our government.

Under the theme of “recovery and new beginnings”, Canada is promoting a focused, results-driven agenda for the G8 that follows up on its past commitments and sets clear goals for G8 leadership going forward. We are focusing the G8 on areas where it can make the most difference and we are putting a strong emphasis on accountability. Canada believes that holding the G8 accountable for results lies at the heart of the G8's credibility and effectiveness. For this reason, Canada is leading a 2010 initiative to report on the G8's achievements and commitments to date, the first in what will be an annual exercise.

I will now say a few words about our thematic priorities in 2010. With the emergence of the G20 as the premier forum for international economic coordination, the G8 will focus on areas where it has the greatest value added: international peace and security and development. These are central to the values and interests of the G8 members and are areas where the G8 can make a real difference.

On international peace and security, the G8 summit will focus on critically important challenges, such as addressing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and developing supportive ways to help vulnerable states and regions further build their capacities to address peace and security, to strengthen institutions, prevent conflict and better mobilize civilian and military capacities. These are areas where the G8 and Canada have shown leadership in the past and, under Canada's presidency, the G8 will show leadership in the future.

I will turn now to our core development priority for the G8. The developing world continues to face important challenges which have only been exacerbated by the global economic crisis. From lack of adequate resources and services to tackling infectious diseases, the developing world continues to face a daunting array of challenges. The G8 can help the developing world meet these challenges. Indeed, the sustained leadership and commitment of the G8 to global health over the last several years have transformed the lives of millions of people in the developing world.

Through substantial investments targeted where they can do the most good, impressive results have been achieved. For example, in the scale-up of HIV prevention and treatment programs; the significant reductions in child morbidity and mortality achieved through child immunization, micronutrients and other interventions; including a major reduction in measles mortality; the rapid expansion of effective malaria interventions that has led to significant reductions in malaria cases; increased access to diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis; and substantial progress toward the eradication of polio.

While considerable resources have been mobilized in recent years for combatting infectious diseases, significant gaps remain for the health of mothers and children. The statistics are shocking. Each year, nearly 9 million children die before they turn five and half a million women die in pregnancy and childbirth. More than one-third of child deaths are attributable to undernutrition. Many of these deaths can be prevented with improved access to health care, better nutrition and by scaling up proven interventions, such as immunization.

As I have noted, the G8 has made significant investments in addressing the health challenges experienced in developing countries, including supporting such efforts as the African health systems initiative, the global fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and the global polio eradication initiative.

While significant progress has been made on many health indicators, there is a pressing need for global action on maternal and child health. It is where the millennium development goals four on child health and five on maternal health are the least likely to be met by 2015.

The millennium development goal four target on child health calls for a two-thirds reduction in the under five mortality rate by 2015. While there has been significant improvement in the rates of child mortality, it is uneven within and across countries and overall gains are far too slow.

As I mentioned a little while ago, nearly 9 million children in developing countries will still die each year before their fifth birthday, 37% of them in the first month of life. Little progress has been made in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of these deaths are from preventable causes such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and undernutrition.

The millennium development goal five target means a 75% reduction in rates of maternal mortality and universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

The 500,000 women dying in pregnancy and childbirth annually is a figure that has hardly changed in 20 years. Ninety-nine per cent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Half of all deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa; one-third occur in southern Asia. Complications from pregnancy in childbirth are the leading cause of death in young women age 15 to 19 in developing countries. For every woman who dies, 20 to 30 suffer short- or long-term illness or disability, such as severe anemia, damage to the reproductive organs, severe postpartum disability, chronic pain or infertility.

Yet research indicates that approximately 80% of maternal deaths are preventable if women have access to essential health care services throughout the delivery.

In recent years maternal and child health have been on the G8 agenda, including commitments to scale up maternal and newborn health efforts and to close the funding gap for maternal and child health. G8 commitments on strengthening health systems and increasing user access to health services also help make a substantial contribution to maternal and child health.

The Muskoka summit will provide Canada with an opportunity to mobilize G8 members and assume a leadership role in setting the global agenda for improving maternal and child health.

Canada is well positioned to respond to maternal and child health as a Muskoka priority. In fact, Canada has provided leadership in several health areas, including the areas of major diseases, for example, HIV-AIDS and polio, and nutrition, for example, the micronutrient initiative, in addition to providing financial support through multilateral and bilateral programming.

Maternal and child health also directly aligns with the Government of Canada's development priority of securing a future for children and youth as articulated by the Minister of International Cooperation in May 2009.

There is also an interest in moving forward on nutrition, building upon last year's G8 food security announcement by targeting interventions to young children and mothers.

By championing a major initiative to improve the health of women and children in the world's most vulnerable regions, we believe that G8 members can make a tangible difference.

There is a strong interest among G8 countries and non-governmental organizations in addressing global maternal and child health issues in the coming year. Our G8 partners recognize that through concerted action we can achieve demonstrable results for women and children around the world. That is why Canada's proposal to build international leadership and action on maternal and child health has been fully endorsed by our G8 partners, the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Through outreach activities, Canada is also benefiting from strong support by private foundations, as well as domestic and international civil society organizations.

Canada continues to be engaged in proactive outreach with key partners, exploring ways to mobilize and leverage financial contributions to improve maternal and child health.

Proud of the strong endorsement we have received from partners and stakeholders alike on our choice of this signature initiative, we are continuing to work very closely with our G8 partners to come up with ways to best address maternal and child health.

As the House knows, there is no cookie-cutter approach and there are many ways and areas where we can work to improve maternal and child health.

As mentioned by the Prime Minister on Thursday, March 18, “The government is looking to work with G8 countries to save lives, to save mothers and children throughout the world. We are not closing the door on any option, including contraception”. But we are not reopening the abortion debate. Together, the G8 will forge a comprehensive approach to the issue of maternal and child health.

To conclude, I would note that despite advances, the task of bringing greater health to all the world's people is far from done. Sustained political leadership and commitment are needed to maintain momentum in global health, particularly in the areas where needs are the greatest.

Canada is showing great leadership in mobilizing G8 governments, non-governmental organizations, private foundations and the private sector to participate in setting a global agenda for improving maternal and child health.

[Shipbuilding, March 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Speech from the Throne refers to a long-term approach to federal procurement. I did not get a chance to continue reading the actual specific measures that this government has taken, so I will continue.

With regard to the structured financing facility, which is extended until 2011, there is an additional investment of $50 million in the program to help buyers purchase ships built in Canada. The Canada first defence strategy also announced a series of Maritime-based procurements with an estimated value of $43 billion over the next 30 years.

[Shipbuilding, March 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I will read from the Speech from the Throne where it states that the government recognizes:

...the strategic importance of a strong domestic shipbuilding industry, it will continue to support the industry’s sustainable development through a long-term approach to federal procurement.

As part of Canada's economic action plan, the government did announce an investment of $175 million for the procurement of new Coast Guard vessels and to undertake vessel life extensions and refits for aging vessels. The government took action to extend the structured financing facility until 2011 and invested an additional $50 million in the program.

[Telecommunications, March 11th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, again, this issue is about competition. It is about creating economic growth, innovation, better options for Canadian consumers.

With regard to competition, a report of the World Economic Forum in the fall said that Canada would lead the way in the industrialized world in competition, being one of only two industrialized countries to come out of this global recession in a more competitive position than it went in.

[Telecommunications, March 11th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this government has a record of standing up for greater competition. Competition creates economic growth, innovation and better options for Canadian consumers.

I will point out the fact that in terms of foreign direct investment in Canada, while there is a lot of focus on the foreign direct investment happening in Canada, which is good, foreign direct investment by Canadian champions abroad was about $135 billion more in 2008 than the direct investment in Canada.