Scott Brison

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 4th, 2012]

With regard to Table 4.1.1 in Budget 2010 (also included in Table 6.7 of Budget 2012 under Budget 2010 spending restraint): (a) what is the breakdown of expected savings for each department, agency and organization, in each of the fiscal years 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and ongoing, for each of the following areas, (i) International Assistance Envelope, (ii) Containing the administrative cost of government, (iii) 2009 strategic reviews; (b) as of Budget 2010, what were the total expected expenditures under the “International Assistance Envelope” for each of the fiscal years 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017; (c) which departments, agencies and organizations are included in the “International Assistance Envelope”; and (d) where the full budget of the department, agency, or organization is not included in the calculation of the “International Assistance Envelope”, (i) which components of that department, agency, or organization are included in the envelope and which are not, (ii) for those components included in the envelope what is the breakdown of their funding by vote or statutory authority?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 31st, 2012]

With regard to the 2010 strategic reviews included in Table 5.1 in Budget 2011 (and also included in Table 6.7 of Budget 2012 under Budget 2011 spending restraint), what is the breakdown of expected savings for each department, agency and organization in each of the fiscal years 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and ongoing?

[Employment, May 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's youth job market has yet to recover from the recession. Four years ago, 60% of young Canadians had jobs. Today, only about half of young Canadians have jobs. Nearly one million youth are out of school and out of work. If we do nothing, we risk losing the talent of an entire generation.

When will the government recognize that Canada has a youth jobs crisis and introduce a real plan to help young Canadians connect to real job opportunities?

[The Budget, May 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, when his constituents asked the member for Kootenay—Columbia to help split the non-budget measures out of the budget bill, he agreed, saying, “...you'll find a barrage of Conservatives that do hold your concerns, and I am one of them.... I do believe some could be separated out”.

Will the government listen to Canadians and listen to its own members of Parliament and split up the budget bill, or does it agree with the member for Kootenay—Columbia that Conservative MPs are “not going to make a difference”?

[Government Priorities, May 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday on television, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs stated that sex “...is not biology”. Then he went further. He said that Canadian teens should get their sex education from “their average adult video store”.

Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise among Canadian teens, and teen pregnancy continues to be an issue. Why, then, is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs promoting pornography for Canadian teens instead of the sex education that they need?

[Pensions, May 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, has the public service provided the Minister of Finance with an estimate of how many dollars the government will save by raising the OAS age from 65 to 67, yes or no?

[The Budget, May 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the budget bill completely rewrites Canada's environment laws. In the Senate, the Liberals asked that the bill be split up so that the relevant Senate committee could study it. The government actually agreed.

Since the Conservatives agreed to break up the bloated bill for Senate committee study, why not the same for the elected House? Even better, and following the same logic, why will the Conservatives not break up the bill into separate pieces of legislation so we can not only study them individually at committee but we can actually vote on each part? Why will the Conservative members of Parliament not do their job? Why will they not allow the members of Parliament on the other side to do their job?

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, May 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I should cite for the hon. member one of Canada's former prime ministers who has a close relationship with both the hon. member and myself. He sent me an email on my bill on income inequality congratulating me. He said that this was exactly what the Government of Canada and the Parliament of Canada ought to be engaged in. That was a Progressive Conservative prime minister who knew the difference between a free market society and a free market economy.

I can also tell the hon. member that people who, like me, recognize the importance of a free market economy, we also recognize the importance of a vibrant public education system, ensuring that we invest in equality of opportunity and that we work with the provinces on a national basis to ensure that Canadians do not get left behind. That is what the Conservatives are forgetting. This is a budget that leaves a lot of Canadians behind. We cannot say that it does not address income inequality, it—

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, May 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have spoken with members of provincial governments. In fact, I met with the premier this week. The provinces are not being engaged or consulted on any of these changes. There will be a significant off-loading of social costs with these changes to OAS. This also comes at a time when we have an aging demographic, particularly in Atlantic Canada, which will create a disproportionately high burden on our health care costs.

The other area where there will be an off-loading onto the provinces is in the whole area of costs to operate prisons. The government is proposing to put a lot more Canadians behind bars but is actually cutting Correctional Services of Canada. Therefore, the question that must be asked is: Who will pay for these increased costs?

I do not have time to talk about the illogical and ideological spectacle of government, at a time when we know that these approaches to law and order do not work, spending money on them. The reality is that the provinces will bear a significant amount of expense, so I think they will become more engaged in this debate.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, May 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to issues of foreign ownership, I am generally quite open to foreign direct investment, with certain caveats.

For instance, when it comes to telecommunication, it is generally thought of by the ideologues that when we deregulate it leaves more competition and more competition leads to lower prices. That is not always the case in telco. When we deregulate telco, quite frequently prices get closer to costs. The reality is that in rural and small town communities the costs of providing telco are often higher because the population being served is smaller and the infrastructure costs are still significantly high. As a result of that, there is a cherry-picking that goes on in the cities where there is a bigger market so there is an opportunity to cut prices. Therefore, a cutting of prices will occur for urban clients but there is often a commensurate jacking up of prices in rural communities. I generally favour rational and, in some cases, lower regulations on some of these services if they lead to more competition. My fear is that on some of these measures we could actually see an increase of the prices for access to telco in rural communities.

This leads to another fact. The cuts to CAP that the government is implementing will have a terrible effect on a lot of the communities I represent in my rural Nova Scotian riding. There are communities and libraries in my riding where there is a wait to get on a computer. People cannot afford to have their own computer or Internet access so they go and wait for a long time to have access. Those CAP sites are important and should be maintained.