Peter Julian

[Supply, November 24th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased, on behalf of my party, to rise in the House today to say that I agree that this government no longer has the confidence of Canadians. This week in the House, the majority of members from all sides voted for a January or February election.

The Prime Minister, who says he wants to reduce the democratic deficit, has done the exact opposite. He has refused to heed the extremely clear directives of the House and the democratic direction expressed. He has decided, despite this, to dig in his heels and force an election campaign during the Christmas holidays. How atrocious. The Prime Minister is ignoring the will of the House, thereby forcing a Christmas election on Canadians.

I would like to quote a few things Justice Gomery said, because this is extremely important. Everyone knows that this government has lost the trust of Canadians and they also know why. For 12 years, this government has been one long scandal. It is obvious to Canadians, with the sponsorship scandal, that this government is corrupt.

Justice Gomery and his commission of inquiry found:

clear evidence of political involvement in the administration—;

a veil of secrecy surrounding the administration—;

reluctance, for fear of reprisal, by virtually all public servants—;

gross overcharging—;

deliberate actions to avoid compliance with federal legislation and policies—;

They broke the law. They have not apologized; rather, they continue to break it. I will come back to this later.

I continue to quote:

a complex web of financial transactions...involving kickbacks and illegal contributions to a political party—;

certain agencies carrying on their payrolls individuals who were, in effect, working on Liberal Party matters;

the refusal of ministers...to acknowledge their responsibility for the problems of mismanagement that occurred.

Finally, I come to the most important point:

the existence of a “culture of entitlement” among political officials—;

These are Justice Gomery's findings, and the Liberal Party and this government will be judged on those findings in the coming weeks.

That is not all. Over the years we have consistently seen this culture of entitlement impregnate every level of the Liberal Party. All we have to do, going beyond the sponsorship scandal, is talk about some of the other scandals of the government: the Somalia inquiry that was shut down; the APEC inquiry; shawinigate; the tainted blood scandal; the HRDC scandal; the employment insurance rip-off; George Radwanski and the consistent process of unlimited expense claims for Liberal appointees, something that has been in existence and that the Liberals have done nothing about.

We have had the Prime Minister's CSL contracts and the fact that the government was 1,000% off in estimating the value of those contracts. We have over $9 billion going into unaccountable foundations that are beyond the purview of the Auditor General and the government refuses to allow those funds to be scrutinized by the Auditor General. We have Canada Post and André Ouellet. We have David Dingwall and his entitlements. We have the ambassador in France throwing $200,000 parties. We had the submarine fiasco. We had the Toronto Port Authority, which I will come back to in a moment.

What we are talking about is systematic corruption. Judge Gomery identified it and clearly said that the culture of entitlement exists within the Liberal Party and that is why Canadians will be judging it in just a few weeks.

The Toronto Port Authority is the latest in the long list of Liberal scandals. Here we have $35 million that was thrown away for a bridge that was never built. We have had freedom of information requests. We have questioned the minister and we have continued to try to get answers as to what happened to that $35 million. Where was it paid? Why was it paid? The government stonewalls because it is afraid that Canadians will find out the truth. We will continue to press the government to find out what happened to that money.

It is not just because of what the Liberal government has done that Canadians have lost confidence. It is what the government has not done. Every time Liberal members rise in the House to talk about what a beautiful job they have done, we in this corner hang our heads because we know that the government is so disconnected from the reality that exists on main streets across the country that it does not even realize the size and scope of the economic disaster that Canadian families are facing from coast to coast to coast.

Over 60% of Canadian families are earning, in real terms, less than they were earning 15 years ago. We have seen that most jobs created by the Liberals' policy have been part time or temporary in nature. Most of those jobs no longer have pensions. Most Canadian families are having a harder and harder time of it, struggling more and more to get by, and the government has done nothing for them.

We have over 1.1 million poor kids in the country and the government has done nothing for them. We have seen homelessness triple in many communities across the country, poor families, working families that can no longer afford housing. We know the government did nothing until the New Democratic Party caucus forced it to cut the corporate tax cuts it wanted to bring in and to bring in $1.6 billion to start addressing the homelessness crisis.

The truth is that the Liberal government does not act unless the NDP forces it to. We have done a lot with 18 or 19 members. I can tell members that in the next House, in the 39th Parliament, we will be doing oh so much more because we will have oh so many more members of Parliament in the NDP caucus forcing members in the other three corners of the House to work on these important issues.

The government has failed Canadian families. We have seen a failure of dealing with poverty among kids that is growing at record levels. We have seen a failed trade policy, which is another reason Canadians have lost confidence in this government.

In August, George Bush arbitrarily ripped up the dispute settlement mechanism of NAFTA and our government has done absolutely nothing in response. In British Columbia, 20,000 jobs have been lost and 40,000 jobs have been lost across the country. What has the government done, aside from placing a phone call, which obviously took a lot of effort because it took two months to make it? It has continued to negotiate concessions on NAFTA-plus. The NAFTA-plus concessions, as we know, are in over 300 areas, including food safety and air safety. Instead of standing up to the Bush administration, the government just cannot wait to concede more to it. That is another reason Canadians have lost confidence in the government.

Canadians have lost confidence in the government because its environmental policy is a failure. We are in a worse environmental crisis now than before the Liberals came into government. Smog days have expanded, as the member for Toronto—Danforth mentioned. Greenhouse gas emissions have not gone down. They have gone up more than 20%. We have seen increasing for profit privatization in health care, which the government has done nothing about, and a sell-out of Canada without precedence. Even Brian Mulroney was not this bad. Eleven thousand corporations and companies have been sold out by the government by a rubber stamp process.

Canadians will have a choice in a few weeks that is beyond the corrupt Liberals and the foolish Conservatives. Canadians will have a new choice. They will be choosing between the NDP, the Liberals and the Conservatives. However the NDP brings forward the most popular and the most trusted leader in the country. That is the choice facing Canadians.

[Supply, November 24th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I listened to the speech by the government House leader. I now understand just how far and disconnected the government is from reality and what is actually happening on the main streets across this country. I have a series of questions for the hon. member.

Where was the government when we found out this year that we now have a record number of poor children in this country? There are 1.1 million poor children in this country.

Where was the government when from 1989 through to this year we have seen 60% of Canadian families experience a drop in real income? Why is that? Because of a failed trade policy. We see more and more part time jobs and temporary jobs. Statistics Canada tells us that most jobs do not even come with pensions any more.

Where was the government when we see that for most Canadian families it is harder and harder to make ends meet?

Where was the government when we found that greenhouse gas emissions have risen? Those greenhouse gas emissions have not gone away. There is a worsening environmental crisis and the government has done absolutely nothing about it.

Where was the government when we now see record levels of for profit privatization in health care, which the government has refused to respond to?

Where was the government with the increasing chaos in the citizenship and immigration system? Decent law-abiding citizens and their families are being rejected by the immigration system that no longer functions because the government has not made the required investments.

Where was the government when it sold out to George Bush on NAFTA? The government refused to stand up for our rights on softwood lumber. There has been no action since August of this year, not one action, aside from a phone call. The government has given away our leverage by selling out Terasen over the backs of British Columbians. Thousands upon thousands said no to that sellout. Terasen is just one of 11,000 companies that have been sold out by the government with its rubber stamp process on foreign investment. We know that 97% of foreign investment comes in to take over Canadian companies and take jobs south.

Where has the government been on all of those files? The Liberals have done absolutely nothing for 12 years and are trying to make up for it in two weeks.

[Petitions, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by more than 700 citizens from Vancouver Island, Blainville, Laval, Montreal, Toronto, Gatineau, Sorel-Tracy, LaSalle, Saint-Hubert, Ottawa, Quebec City and the James Bay area.

These petitioners are calling on Parliament to amend the Canada Health Act and related regulations to include early intensive behaviour intervention therapy based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis as a medically necessary treatment for children with autism, and to contribute to the creation of academic chairs at a university in each province to ensure that intensive behavioural intervention therapy is available to people across Canada.

[Petitions, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the second group includes petitioners from Toronto, Ottawa and Salmon Arm and Enderby, B.C. These petitioners call upon the House of Commons to support Motion No. 275 by the MP for Burnaby—New Westminster, which states that, in the opinion of the House, the government should recognize that fire retardants containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PBDEs, pose a danger to people, animals and the environment, and that legislation completely phasing out the production and import of products containing additive PBDEs should be brought forth within a year.

[Petitions, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have petitions on three subjects.

The first is from petitioners in my community of Burnaby—New Westminster and elsewhere in the lower mainland, Vancouver Island and Alberta. Regarding the Copyright Act, these petitioners call upon Parliament to ensure generally that users are recognized as interested parties and are meaningfully consulted about proposed changes to the Copyright Act, and to ensure in particular that any changes at least preserve all existing users' rights, including the right to use copyrighted materials under fair dealing and the right to make private copies of audio recordings.

They further call upon Parliament not to extend the term of copyright and to recognize the rights of citizens to personally control their own communication devices.

[Ways and Means, November 23rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the House for unanimous consent for the following motion: That, in the opinion of this House, the government should hold public hearings into the decision of Investment Canada to approve the sale of Terasen Gas to Kinder Morgan and should stay the final decision until the government ensures that the public interest and Canada's sovereignty are fully considered, and until the funds impounded by the government of the United States in the softwood lumber dispute are returned to Canadian producers, and until an agreement is reached with the government of the United States to resolve this decision.

[Terasen Inc., November 23rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the U.S. said it would continue to impose illegal tariffs on softwood for 45 days and then let George Bush decide whether to respect NAFTA. That is another $200 million gone to Washington and the Liberal government gives away our leverage.

The Liberals have handed over Terasen, Canada's third largest utility, to a company with an appalling environmental and safety record owned by a George Bush bagman. The message to Mr. Bush is it is open season on Canada.

British Columbians have said no. Will the government halt the takeover approval and hold public hearings now?

[Supply, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member for Glengarry--Prescott--Russell. It is the death of a thousand cuts.

We are discussing a more serious issue right now, which is the potential for the government to sell out supply management in Hong Kong. The death of a thousand cuts is taking place with these loopholes, which very clearly contravene the supply management sector and undermine it.

I would agree completely with the member that we have to reinforce in Hong Kong. We have to ensure that no agreement is signed that would negatively affect supply management. We also have to deal with the loopholes and the undermining of the supply management foundation that is taking place through these imports.

[Supply, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell for his comments.

I know that he will be retiring from this House, perhaps in a few days, if an election is called next week. His experience, and he has a wealth of it, will be missed in this place.

We may have disagreed on certain subjects from time to time, but no one can question his long experience and his past contributions to the House of Commons, especially since he has given every member of the House a copy of his new book. I will look through it with interest, if I have time during the election campaign; otherwise, I will read it immediately after the campaign, on the plane, while going back and forth between Vancouver and Ottawa.

The hon. member raised an extremely important point for consumers. As I said, according to the Dairy Farmers of Canada, compared to the U.S. market, Canadian consumers of dairy products enjoy lower prices, thanks to this supply management system. We can see, therefore, that it is not just farmers and rural communities that benefit. Consumers across the country also benefit, by having access to a better quality product at a lower price here than in the United States, where such a system does not exist. That is the Americans' loss. One day perhaps, they will be fortunate enough to elect a government that will set up this kind of system.

[Supply, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Berthier—Maskinongé for his words and his question. I had only 20 minutes, but I could have continued and spoken about the lack of a government policy on the textile industry too, as the member very well knows.

This is not simply about the softwood lumber industry, or the textile industry, or Canada's rural and agricultural sectors. This government is prepared to sell off our heritage and the very foundations of our Canadian economy. That worries me very much.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food just said that he is not prepared to sign an agreement at the WTO that will result in supply management being reduced by half, by three quarters, by 80%. But we do not know what limit he will set because he did not tell us today. We questioned him, but he did not tell us what his limit is.

We know that he is prepared to sell off supply management, sell off the communities that depend on it, and sell off the farmers who rely on it. He is ready to sell off jobs. He is ready to do all that. But we do not know whether it will be one third—if we are lucky—or 50%, three quarters or more. That is what is so disturbing. This government and its ministers are prepared to sell out rural Canada, its communities and its jobs. Ultimately, as the member well knows, Canadian consumers will also suffer. To the extent that prices are better in Canada, it is consumers who will pay.

Our concern is obviously all the greater today since we just heard the minister refuse to say categorically that he would not sign an agreement that negatively affects supply management. I know that the hon. member will continue to work very hard at this in order to protect the communities that would be affected. We will do the same, and we hope to make this government, which is prepared to sell everything at a low price, listen to reason.