House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Foreign Investment December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the problem with the ideologues over there is that they do not bother to read anything. If they had read the foreign investment promotion and protection agreement, they would understand that Canada has exempted the Investment Canada Act from the application of that. We retain full authority and we have been very clear that there will be no foreign government takeovers of entire sectors such as the oil sands or anything else.
Foreign Investment December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, there are so many errors in that question, I do not know where to begin. Let me just say this. We know the position of the other two parties. We know the extreme position of the Liberal Party, which rubber-stamped every single foreign investment when it was in office. We know the position of the NDP, which is to be against every single foreign investment.
Canadians expect that our government will be open to foreign investment for the benefit of this economy but in a way that preserves Canadian jobs and protects Canadian interests. Only we have the balanced, reasonable approach that Canadians—
National Defence December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, in the development of the F-35, Canada is part of an international consortium in which we compete for various contracts and for contract work. Some 60 contracts have been signed that involve Canadian companies working on and competing for that work, much of that in the city of Montreal. If the leader of the NDP does not think that means any dollars to the people in Montreal, he can go to those workers and tell them that.
National Defence December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, the government is following a seven-step process to ensure that Canada will have new fighter aircraft when the air force will need those aircraft.
In the meantime, for some years, in fact even under the preceding government, Canada has been involved in the development of new fighter aircraft. Canadian companies, based actually in his city, have hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts for that work and the government has no intention of ripping up those contracts. If he does, he can go explain that to the workers in Montreal.
Foreign Investment December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party will know that terms and conditions are made public when it is proper to do that and not in circumstances where it involves confidential commercial information.
I repeat that I am very pleased to see the positive reaction of markets and Canadians to the government's announcement. I think we have provided a large degree of clarity to the markets on future matters, while at the same time making it very clear that the government will exercise discretion to ensure that whole industries of the Canadian economy are not subject to takeover by foreign governments.
National Defence December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, it is clearly important to remind the leader of the Liberal Parti that the government has not yet spent any money to acquire new fighters, and I have said that on a number of occasions.
However, it is essential, for the reasons cited by the Liberal leader, that we have fighters to replace the existing aircraft when our air force needs them in the future.
National Defence December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as has been pointed out many times before, the government has not spent any money on the acquisition of new fighter jets. The government has enunciated a comprehensive seven-point plan going forward to ensure that our military does have new aircraft when the time comes to retire the current CF-18 fleet.
Foreign Investment December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the NDP is quite clearly desperate after seeing the positive reaction by markets and the vast majority of Canadians.
Our position is clear: Canada will remain open for business, but that does not mean Canada is for sale to foreign governments.
Foreign Investment December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I note with some satisfaction the very positive reaction of markets and the vast majority of Canadians to the announcements that the government made on Friday.
What we have done is this. We have given the kind of clarity that private investors need. At the same time, we have reserved discretion and we need discretion to ensure that when we deal with foreign governments, this government has the capacity to protect the best interests of this country and its citizens.
Foreign Investment December 10th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the government is changing its guidelines, not the law itself. We have been very clear on that. We are operating under the law.
In terms of the specifics that the leader of the NDP raises on exceptional circumstances, we have been very clear that controlling interest takeovers by foreign governments in the oil sands are extremely unlikely to be approved in the future by this government.