Rona Ambrose

[International Women's Day, March 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations and I believe you would find the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion. I move:

That the House of Commons:

Recognizing the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day established in 1911 to acknowledge and commemorate the social, political and economic achievements of women;

Recalling the United Nations decision, in 1975, to choose March 8 as International Women's Day, the day on which to celebrate women's contributions across the world;

Noted the decision of the Government of Canada to use the theme Girls' Rights Matter for this year's International Women's Day focusing on the importance of equality and access to opportunity for all girls and women throughout their lives.

Agrees that, further to the announcement made by the Minister of Status of Women on March 8, 2011, Canada will lead in the effort to propose a United Nations Resolution that would proclaim September 22 as an International Day of the Girl.

[Shipbuilding Industry, March 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member now knows that it is important for a company to be solvent to be able to be awarded a contract from the Government of Canada.

Further to that, the national shipbuilding procurement strategy has been in full consultation with all shipyards across the country, including Davie Shipyard. Importantly, the RFP itself was overseen by KPMG in terms of the financial requirements and an independent fairness monitor who said that these decisions were made objectively, free from any personal favouritism and political influence, and encompass the elements of openness and competitiveness. That is what is important.

[Status of Women, March 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows full well that that is absolutely false. In fact, it is this government that has raised the budget of Status of Women funding to its highest level ever in the history of this country.

We are now funding every province of this country and every territory, including Quebec. I ask the member to work with us to improve the lives of women from coast to coast.

[Shipbuilding Industry, March 23rd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the solvency requirement was not changed at any time during the process.

The obligation for a company to be solvent is par for the course for any government contracting.

Let me say, when this company was in a very difficult financial situation last year it was this government that supported a $270 million loan through EDC to help this company along.

The truth is, Davie is pre-qualified to bid in this competition. We hope that it will be able to put forward a bid if it is solvent.

[Shipbuilding Industry, March 22nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. The solvency requirement was not changed at any point during this process. The requirement to be solvent is a standard practice for all government contracting. Companies must be solvent in order to be awarded a contract.

I would remind the hon. member and all members of the House that it was this government last year that supported this particular company with a $270 million loan through EDC to support this shipyard when it was in a very difficult time.

[Shipbuilding Industry, March 22nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the solvency requirement has never been changed in any part of the process. The requirement to be solvent was well known by all shipyards across the country from the very beginning of the RFP process and it is standard that all government contracting requires that a company must be solvent in order to be awarded a contract.

I can also assure the hon. member that KPMG was brought in as an independent party to validate the financial requirements. As well, we asked an independent fairness monitor to endorse this process and it has said that this is a fair, open and transparent process.

[Access to Information, March 22nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, when I received the Information Commissioner's report in February, I immediately asked the department to implement all of her recommendations, and they have been all fully implemented.

[Access to Information, March 21st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the member's comments about the Information Commissioner's report, as I said, I received the report in February and immediately asked our department to implement all of the recommendations. All five recommendations have been fully implemented.

[Access to Information, March 21st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, when I received the Information Commissioner's report in February, along with its five recommendations, I immediately asked the department to implement all of them. They have been implemented fully already.

[Shipbuilding Industry, March 21st, 2011]

As I said, Mr. Speaker, it is standard that all companies doing business with the Government of Canada be solvent. This has been made clear to all of the companies that are part of the bidding process for the national shipbuilding procurement strategy.

However, let me be clear that between now and when the bidding process closes, Davie does have an opportunity to become solvent.