Stephen Harper

[The Economy, September 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I spoke with Premier Williams yesterday and I know the Minister of National Defence spoke with him yesterday and today regarding the state of emergency in many Newfoundland and Labrador communities and the situation there. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, in particular the family of the individual who is missing. The federal government has indicated that it will be ready to assist with any measures that are appropriate or necessary.

As for the government's economic policy, we are providing hope and opportunity through the economic action plan and stand strongly against the tax and spend policies of the Liberal Party.

[Foreign Takeovers, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, once again, whether it is employment insurance or infrastructure projects, I would continue to urge the NDP to support the government when it actually does favour these measures that help the Canadian people.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of foreign takeovers, as you know very well, this government's position has not been to give a blank cheque to foreign takeovers. There is a law in place. I have spoken about the particular case that the leader of the NDP raises with the premier of Saskatchewan. Obviously, we will examine his concerns as we do the review that is required under the Foreign Investment Review Act.

[Employment Insurance, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the government's economic action plan has created 16,000 projects across Canada to help combat the global recession. Employment insurance benefits are part of our temporary measures. These measures, such as the five additional weeks, will be available for unemployed Canadians until August 2011. I encourage the New Democratic Party to support the economic action plan and its measures for Canadians in the future.

[Firearms Registry, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the smooth functioning of Parliament depends upon the willingness of all of its members.

In terms of the registry, our position has been very clear. I think on this side of the House members of Parliament can be very proud of the fact that they have gone out in elections and in their ridings and have said and done exactly the same things there that they are prepared to do here.

I would urge the leader of the NDP and the members of the NDP to expect to implement the same level of integrity.

[Firearms Registry, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, our party supports effective and useful gun control. We do not support a registry that targets Canada's rural areas, duck hunters and farmers. We must have laws that target criminals and criminal activities.

[Firearms Registry, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, our position is clear. We support gun control, but the kind that targets criminals, not aboriginal peoples, duck hunters and farmers. Such a registry is obviously useless and ineffective. I even noticed that the Montreal Gazette said the same thing.

[Government Spending, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. It was the previous Liberal government that in 2002 participated in an international competition to select the next jet fighter. It spent $150 million-plus on that competition.

We chose that jet because we will need to replace the jets at the end of this decade and not ground our air force.

On this side of the House, when it comes to the aerospace industry of the country and the men and women in uniform, we do not play politics with these decisions.

[Government Spending, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have no difficulty explaining that this government's priority when it comes to crime is having criminals in prison, not out on the street.

I have no difficulty explaining to Canadians that when we send our men and women into dangerous military situations, we are prepared to give them the equipment they need.

I have no difficulty explaining to Canadians that when we are in the middle of a recession, we do not talk about hiking taxes on businesses or anybody else.

[Government Spending, September 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this government's main priority is Canada's economy. That is one reason Canada's economy is outperforming other economies.

I toured the country as well and I saw 16,000 job-creating projects across Canada. A recent study by the OECD shows that Canada's national assets and the government's timely decisions are what minimized the financial and economic damages caused by the global recession. Canadians should be pleased about that.

[G8 Summit, June 17th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, first, Canada's initiative on maternal and child health has been widely welcomed by all of our G8 partners and, indeed, the wider international community. As I have indicated before, it is traditional to have some discussion of climate change at these conferences, but not in a way that interferes with the role of the United Nations process.

As for development assistance, Canada is the first country in the world to have met all its international aid commitments, to have reached all of the goals set by the G8, the first one to do that across the entire world.