House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 43% of the vote.
Industry December 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, indeed in my responsibility as minister responsible for FedNor, I have already had a discussion with the mayor of Timmins to, on a go-forward basis, deal with how we can best help that community in the state of this terrible loss of jobs. I would say to the hon. member opposite, he demands that we live within the law. We are living within the law and the hon. member is trying to get me to defy the law, which I will not do. That is not good for anybody, least of all Canadians.
Industry December 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, in fact the agreement between the Government of Canada and Xstrata has expired. The hon. member probably knows that already. With respect to answering directly his question, the reason I do not share the particulars of the agreement between the Government of Canada and those investor companies is that it would be against the law to do so.
Aerospace Industry December 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, we have already invested over $350 million in Bombardier Aerospace to help it acquire the CSeries program. SADI has invested over $400 million in Canada's aerospace industry. That was our government's decision, and we have already invested over $300 million in an innovative CAE flight simulator program. That is our position, and we are supporting the industry with—
United States Steel Corporation December 7th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that is a curious question, because this government is in court against U.S. Steel. For the first time in the history of the legislation, we are suing its butt off.
Questions on the Order Paper December 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, with regard to the government’s spending on tourism initiatives, in response to (a), what are all programs government-wide that have a tourism component including those administered by agencies and crown corporations, the federal government has a number of programs, projects and initiatives which support the tourism industry in Canada. However, most of these programs provide assistance for Canadian businesses as a whole, not just tourism-related enterprises.
Since 2005-06, Industry Canada has published “Federal Contributions to Canadian Tourism”, an annual report which looks at federal government spending on the tourism industry. However, Industry Canada does not have an exhaustive list of all tourism support programs, since they are managed by other federal departments or agencies.
The report does, however, provide information on the status of a number of programs, projects and initiatives. For example, in 2006-07, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency invested over $12 million in 198 tourism projects through the business development program, and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada spent more than $2 million under its ready to work programs. It should be noted that a number of departments and agencies have broken down their expenditures using an analysis grid suggested by Industry Canada. This means that the information obtained by Industry Canada is not uniform and cannot be used to create a complete list of the programs, projects and initiatives in support of the tourism industry. The full report is available on the Industry Canada Web site.
The marquee tourism events program, MTEP, is the only program administered by Industry Canada that provides direct support for the tourism industry. The program was announced in budget 2009, to run for a two-year period, until the end of March 2011. The amount announced was $100 million over two years and about 15 people are assigned to the program.
In response to (b), what are the total costs for each of these programs, and the breakdown of all expenditures for each fiscal year since 2004-05, in 2005-06, the federal government spent $407.6 million on initiatives to support the tourism industry. The total was $404.2 million in 2006-07and it increased to $540 million in 2007-08. The amount for 2004-05 is not available.
In response to (c), what are the projected costs for the next 10 years, Industry Canada collects data on past years and does not make spending forecasts for future years.
In response to (d), what are the total number of employees, full-time, part-time and contract, assigned to each program, Industry Canada does not have any information with regard to the personnel assigned to any of the federal government’s tourism support programs, except for the program administered by Industry Canada mentioned in (a) above.
In response to (e), what are the performance indicators used to measure the program’s success and the results of any performance assessments made since fiscal 2004-05, Industry Canada does not have any information on the indicators used to evaluate the performance of the programs, other than the MTEP. The key indicators against which program results are measured for MTEP are the number of out-of-country and out-of-province tourists, the amount of tourism-related spending, and sustained or increased revenues for funded tourism events.
In response to (f), what are the total number of businesses helped by each program, including total numbers as well as the detailed breakdown listing them by name, location and whether they are recognized as a small business by the government’s definition, Industry Canada does not have any information on the number of businesses which have been helped by programs administered by other departments. Fifty-six businesses have received $45,574,742 assistance to November 5, 2009 from the MTEP. For a list of these businesses visit http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/dsib-tour.nsf/eng/qq00166.html.
Copyright Act December 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants to read more about it, he could go to Michael Geist's website.
The fact is that anything that goes on in ACTA is completely subservient to what we as parliamentarians decide on this issue. We have gone further in terms of ensuring the public is aware of the issues involved in copyright renewal and reform than any other government and we are proud of that record.
Copyright Act December 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, despite the hon. member's fear-mongering, the Government of Canada has not adhered to or agreed to anything in the ACTA negotiations. The ACTA negotiations are in fact subservient to any legislation that is put forward in the House.
In good faith, I and my colleague, the hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, talked to the people of Canada, talked to stakeholders about a future copyright bill. We are proud of the fact that we have had that consultation because we got some good ideas, even from some NDPers.
Pensions November 30th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the terms and conditions of the sale are pursuant to the sections of the Investment Canada Act.
However, I can tell the hon. member and this House that my colleague, the Minister of Finance and his parliamentary secretary, have been working hard with the provinces and the territories to ensure we have a comprehensive look at our pension legislation.
As I am sure the hon. member is aware, the Nortel pension is registered with the Province of Ontario, not with the federal government. We set up a provincial-federal research working group on retirement income and we look forward to its presentations to this chamber.
Electric Vehicles November 24th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, of course we support the research and development of new electric vehicles.
I can tell the hon. member that we have the automotive innovation fund, which her party voted against. It is specifically designed to make sure that Canada is front and centre when it comes to the new vehicles that could be using new batteries, electricity or whatever would work to reduce our carbon footprint. We are supportive of that and we have the automotive innovation fund to prove that point.
Questions on the Order Paper November 6th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the entire riding of Parry Sound--Muskoka is within FedNor's jurisdiction.