Stephen Harper

[Softwood Lumber, June 22nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the softwood lumber discussions continue with a view of finalizing the legal text in the very near future. We are confident that legal text will do exactly what the framework agreement does, and that is protect Canadian forestry practices and provide stable access to the American market, something the previous government was unable to do for the last five years.

[Government of Canada, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to attend the hockey game with many other Oiler fans. We are obviously all disappointed at the outcome of last night's game, but I think all Canadians, and particularly Edmontonians, can be proud that a team that finished in eighth place, that had its backup goalie in net, almost got the Stanley Cup. They deserve the applause of all members.

[Education, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but notice a pattern today. The Liberals seem to think that the NDP is the government.

I do not know if we can allow the member for Toronto--Danforth to answer any of these questions, but what I can say is this. The Liberals seem worried that Canadians who want a left-wing party with principles are obviously not opting for the Liberal Party.

[Softwood Lumber, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, our negotiators, ambassadorial personnel and others are hard at work finalizing the legal text of this agreement.

The opposition in one breath decries the fact the agreement is not done yet and in another breath says it should never happen, so I do not know what its position is. What I do know is that this is a good deal for Canadians. That is why we want to get it done.

I can also correct the error of the hon. member for Toronto--Danforth. The fact of the matter is that no Canadian province is obligated to accept any quota or any quantity restriction under this agreement.

[Canada Border Services Agency, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member should know because his party supported the budget, the budget contains significant new funds to improve security at our border. That will go into things such as arming border guards and providing more resources to prevent the very kinds of problems that he refers to.

I will tell the House what we will not be doing. We will not be trying to control guns by thinking that these criminals who are bringing guns across the border are going to run down and register them in Miramichi.

[Softwood Lumber, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we are hoping to move forward before the fall on the agreement that is supported by the industry in Canada and Quebec. I hope that the Bloc Québécois is going to start listening to the industry, which wants to finalize this agreement.

[Softwood Lumber, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, what we have is better than loan guarantees, it is a permanent agreement with the United States. We are therefore working to ensure that this agreement is signed. It will probably not be this week, but we are doing the work that is needed for signing this agreement, which will give rights to Canadian companies.

[Child Care, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that this government signed an historic agreement with the Government of Quebec for UNESCO, which the former government refused to do.

We are spending twice as much on child care than the Liberals did. More importantly, this money is for the parents and not money for Liberal ad agencies.

[The Environment, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the worst environmental record in the world is that of the former Liberal government. Our minister is working very hard to fix it.

When it comes to Kyoto, I am amazed to hear that kind of comment coming from the Leader of the Opposition because his apparent successor, the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, says the following:

I think our party has got into a mess on the environment. As a practical matter of politics, nobody knows what (Kyoto) is or what it commits us to...We think Kyoto has been an asset for us. It's actually been a huge political liability.

It is a liability for that party. It will be an asset for us.

[Child Care, June 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, our plan will give some money, whereas the Liberal plan gave no money. Our plan will create spaces, whereas the Liberals created no spaces. I guess that is why they supported the budget in the end.

The most important thing about our plan is that we will be sending money to children, not taking money from children as the Liberals are doing in their leadership race.