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Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. What the hon. gentleman has referred to are the questions, the allegations, the suspicions, that have been raised by the internal review team. That review team recommended that these matters be referred to auditors for time verification audits to determine whether or not the allegations were founded. That is in fact the exact action that we have taken.
Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, there is indeed no cover-up. The quick response team was put together to review every one of the files that was under question, about 721 of those files altogether. The team prepared a final report. That final report described the nature of the problems, such as overbilling, for example, that needed further investigation.
That final report was released on the 10th of October, together with a statement by me indicating that in every case these allegations were being followed up and the appropriate action would be taken, whether that was a reference to the police or a recovery action or a reference to the Department of Justice or whatever. Each one of them is being pursued.
Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I have indicated that the Attractions Canada program is now in its final stages of initially a five year period. That period has virtually now expired and it is not my intention to renew the program.
Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the project known as Attractions Canada is now in the final year of its previous commitments and it will not be renewed.
Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, indeed I am responsible to the public. I promised to investigate every one of the allegations that was brought to my attention that merited either legal actions, references to auditors, time verification audits, or a review under the Financial Administration Act. All of that activity is underway. I would note that I have brought forward the final report of the file review process voluntarily, without being required to do so.
Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, in the material that the hon. gentleman referred to there were a number of allegations and questions raised. All of those allegations and questions are being pursued, as I indicated they would be when I released the material on October 10. When the process results in specific action that too will be released.
Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, there is one final report and that report has indeed been released. The department, in preparing that report, identified a number of difficulties having to do with billing procedures and other matters. The report indicated that every one of those allegations was being properly followed up. The appropriate action will be taken either by the police or through legal action to recover the money. All proper steps are indeed being taken.
Government Contracts December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the report that was released clearly identified that there were difficulties with the time of billings of certain firms. It indicated that time verification audits were to be undertaken to verify what those difficulties were. That process is underway. We are enforcing the rules as we said we would.
Kyoto Protocol December 9th, 2002
Madam Speaker, first, I would like to note that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik.
I am grateful to have an opportunity to make a brief contribution to the debate about climate change, a global issue that involves some of the toughest economic and environmental challenges we have ever known. I have a strong personal interest in this topic partly because of my western roots in the climate sensitive and energy intensive province of Saskatchewan and partly as a former minister of natural resources.
I spent a lot of time on this file and I fully appreciate the anxiety that many western Canadians feel. They are truly worried and we must deal with that. A way to begin is to underscore the huge long term importance of our energy industries. They include conventional fossil fuels and hydro power plus heavy oil, the oil sands, new frontiers in the north Atlantic and in the Arctic, plus nuclear power, plus a growing portfolio of renewable and alternative fuels like ethanol and fuel cells, plus the most sophisticated energy transportation networks in the world, plus world leading science and technology in Canadian energy innovation.
All this accounts for more than 7% of the nation's GDP, at least 200,000 high quality jobs, new capital investments in the order of some $20 billion every year, exports valued at some $50 billion annually and some $15 billion in revenues to various levels of government. Clearly the energy sector is a major engine of Canadian prosperity and clearly that prosperity must not be endangered.
In all my personal consultations about climate change, one common point repeated over and over was that Canadians did not want to have to choose between a clean environment and a successful growing economy, as if the two must be mutually exclusive. Canadians want both together and any acceptable climate change plan for Canada must achieve these two ends simultaneously or it simply will not do.
One more absolute imperative is that any acceptable plan must be fundamentally fair. That, I believe, is our most important obligation. If the action we take is not seen to be fair and rational, it will run the risk of driving wedges between different groups of citizens, different parts of the economy and different regions of the country. That would be the worst possible consequence. We will not let that happen. We must not.
Our commitment to fairness and to economic common sense is on the public record. We have said repeatedly at the highest levels, no region, no province, no sector will be called upon to bear an undue burden. We cannot, must not and will not put our hard won economic success, the best in the western world, at risk, not nationally and not in western Canada either. We will safeguard Canadian competitiveness and an attractive investment environment. Our climate change plan must not export Canadian jobs.
Now having made those commitments, how will they be brought to life? This will be the key test, not so much the politically charged rhetoric of the past few weeks, but all the steps meticulously taken over the coming months to live up to that rule of fairness. If we fail on that score, we will have failed period.
To date, some important progress has been recorded which the private sector has welcomed. For example, the government would proceed with the heaviest emitters by means of industrial covenants. In other words, negotiated solutions with maximum flexibility, solutions that incorporate the principle of emissions intensity to recognize the imperative of ongoing economic growth.
This group of emitters, the biggest ones, must have and will have a firm cap on the volume of emissions that they will be expected to deal with over the next 10 years; 55 megatonnes, that is it, that is all and no more. On the cost side or the price per tonne of CO
2
, work is also underway to provide a price cap to go along with the volume cap so these industries can fully understand their maximum possible exposure.
We can and we must do more in this regard, all designed to achieve certainty for business and investors as quickly as possible. In my province such certainty is crucial for the oil and natural gas sectors, for the heavy oil sector in particular, because Saskatchewan has the nation's biggest reserves of heavy oil which are no less important than the oil sands. Also, for coal fired electricity generation and for big industrial operations like IPSCO steel, certainty is crucial.
Let me quickly mention three other issues that carry special Saskatchewan significance. One of these is ethanol and the greater use of bio-fuels in Canada where Saskatchewan can be a true champion.
As a result of the steps that we have taken to date, Canada is now on a path toward 10% ethanol in about 35% of our transportation fuel by the end of this decade. That is an improvement over the mere 7% of market penetration today. However we are still only scratching the surface. In my view the goals are too timid. We should have a definitive year over year schedule, including a formal mandate if necessary, to get Canadian ethanol into at least 70% of our fuel supply within a decade. That will likely require significant public investment in further science and technology, in tailored capital tools, in strategic infrastructure and in production and blending incentives, all aimed toward rural Canada, especially rural Saskatchewan, to generate new markets for farmers, diversification, value added processing, business investment, new jobs and economic growth.
Second, from the point of view of Saskatchewan, I want to emphasize innovation beyond bio-fuels. The Government of Canada is already an important supporter of the University of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Research Council and at the University of Regina, the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, the International Test Centre for CO
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Capture and the Greenhouse Gas Technology Centre. We need to expand that investment in three fields in particular.
First, carbon dioxide capture, transportation to and storage in deep geological formations such as the aging southeast Saskatchewan oil patch. It is estimated that western Canada could dispose of up to 50 megatonnes of CO
2
per year by this method. Second, clean coal technology to find greener ways to utilize this vast and low cost energy source that is so important to western based utilities. Third, heavy oil extraction with the least possible environmental footprint, including lower emissions.
If we want to find the climate change answers that work, then we need to make these types of investments in a province like Saskatchewan.
Third, for Saskatchewan, I need to mention green cover land use incentives for both agriculture and forestry, for more acreage dedicated to permanent cover, conservation cover, shelter belts and tree cover projects, all good for farmers and foresters and all legitimate carbon sinks. Finally, in the limited time available, I want to mention four international points that must be part of our planning.
First, just as we have fought hard to get what we needed from the world on carbon sinks, we need to keep fighting to get proper credit for Canada's clean energy exports. We should never give up on that.
Second, nuclear power is 100% CO
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free. Canada should work persistently to get nuclear technology back into the definition of what counts in terms of international action against greenhouse gases.
Third, we have lesser developed economies. While it makes some sense for wealthier countries to move first, if big emerging economies like China, India and Brazil do not undertake emission reduction targets within a reasonable timeframe, then there is little practical value in the rest of us struggling with ours.
Fourth, we have the United States. For any global plan to work, the Americans must ultimately be real players. I witnessed the bizarre U.S. behaviour in Kyoto and its total flip-flop since. Still some U.S. states are indeed moving. Canada must be ever alert, both to American action and to its inaction. The critical issue for us is our competitiveness which we must not undermine.
I conclude with a simple but crucial proposition. When it comes to how Canada will implement its climate change plan, because of the extraordinary importance of the energy sector to western Canada and because of the fundamental importance of the west to the nation, the plan must work well for western Canadians or, in my judgment, it simply is not good enough. I am determined that my government will deliver the former and not the latter.
Government Contracts December 4th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman has been rather vague in specifying the exact contract that he is looking at, but if it is indeed the same contract about which he and other members of his party asked questions earlier in the year, I can provide him with the same information, and that is that those relationships were in fact terminated and, where appropriate, we are seeking to recover the money.