House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 43% of the vote.
Food and Product Safety October 25th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I encourage the hon. member not to belittle the fact that at healthycanadians.gc.ca, Canadians can get more information than ever before when it comes to product safety, product recalls and food safety.
However, the hon. member is correct. After 13 long years of Liberal inaction, we will act. That was precisely what was in the throne speech and she voted against it. We will act on behalf of the safety of Canadians.
Food and Product Safety October 25th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I have never seen a good law drafted by the NDP so I might decline her offer.
We do take this issue very seriously. In the Speech from the Throne, which the hon. member voted against and hon. members opposite did not vote on at all, we indicated that product safety and food safety issues are a priority for this government.
After 13 long years of inaction when it comes to product safety, we are going to act. We will have the powers to do the right thing.
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply October 24th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is not really speaking to the issue but I would remind the hon. member that the last dinner we were both at he tried to take credit for the translation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms into Urdu and said that he was the one who made the translation when in fact it was the Pakistani embassy working in concert doing the translation for us. So there is another case of the hon. member taking credit for things over which he had no control, but that is typical of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply October 24th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague.
With respect to blue-green algae, our government and our Minister of the Environment have taken steps to fix the problem, to take on this challenge. In light of our funding, our investments and our action plan, I have every reason to believe that we will make progress on this issue in the future.
On the subject of taxes, the hon. member should be aware that our tax plans involved a reduction in the GST and a further reduction to come. That is the best way to help people who are impoverished and of limited means. When we cut GST we are helping people who otherwise do not pay any other income tax. It helps the 32% of Canadians who are exempt from income tax and yet are still paying taxes by virtue of the GST.
We are on the side of hard-working Canadians. We are on the side of alleviating poverty. That is why the member should be supporting the throne speech.
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply October 24th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the hon. member was paying attention but I did in fact mention wait time guarantees in my discourse. When it comes to wait time guarantees, we have done what no other government in the history of Canada has done. We have worked with the provinces and territories to establish Canada's first wait time guarantees in every province and every territory. We actually led the way by establishing wait time reductions and guarantees in areas of our own competency and jurisdiction, most notably among first nations on reserve.
Therefore, we are in a far better place than we were after 13 years of Liberal mismanagement when it comes to the health file, where in fact wait times doubled in this country. We are making progress that we are very proud of and that is why I mentioned it in my speech.
The hon. member mentioned blue-green algae. Of course, this is something that is of great concern to all of us, something that not only affects lakes in the province of Quebec, for instance, but in terms of other jurisdictions. I know in my own riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka this is of great concern and is an increasing problem.
I would like to inform the member that he is mistaken. We are investing $60 million in communities across Canada through our grants and contributions programs, a 29% increase over last year's funding, dealing with habitat stewardship and invasive alien species ecoaction programs. Those are the kinds of things that will make a difference.
My colleague and friend, the Minister of the Environment, is very focused on blue-green algae as an issue. We know it is an issue in many different ecosystems and lakes. Members will see from this government a concerted plan and real action on this part of the environment as on many other parts of the environment as well.
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply October 24th, 2007
My colleague would like to know what that site is. It is healthycanadians.gc.ca. This gives Canadians a one stop option to get information on toy and children's products and food recalls.
With this new web tool, Canadians can now search for information on recalled toys and children's products dating back to 1995 by either the product name, the company name or the date of the recall. Going forward, this database will also include recall information on many other types of product recalls, including cosmetics, household items and sports and leisure products.
What is more, this particular site is linked to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's information on food recalls, putting vital information for Canadians in just one place.
I should also say that I am working with the Minister of Public Safety and our partners in customs and law enforcement to determine how we best can work together to keep counterfeit products out of Canada's supply chain.
I know very well that the vast majority of industry takes consumer safety very seriously and it is only a notorious few that behave irresponsibly. Make no mistake, this is where we will focus our efforts.
In conclusion, I would like to address one of the points the government emphasized in the Speech from the Throne. Throughout history, Canadians have worked together tirelessly to build the united Canada we have today: a prosperous, safe country that is respected at home and abroad.
It is our plan to work from the legacy left to us to build a safer and a better Canada today and for our future and that, above all, is what the Speech from the Throne is all about. That is why I call upon all members of this august chamber to vote in favour.
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply October 24th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, at this time I will be participating in the debate on the Speech from the Throne as a member of Parliament for Parry Sound—Muskoka of course, and as the Minister of Health and Minister responsible for FedNor.
Certainly, my constituents believe that the Speech from the Throne is a testament to the strong leadership that our government is providing to deliver the better Canada that Parry Sounders and Muskokans, and indeed all Canadians want. They want a government that puts them and their families first.
Clearly, the government has taken positive action and has kept its word: lower taxes, new crime-fighting laws, choices when it comes to child care, measures to improve access to health care, and solid, decisive leadership at home and abroad.
When it comes to health care, over the past 19 months we have launched many important initiatives, including: the start of Canada's very first national cancer and cardiovascular strategies: a revised Canada's food guide to healthy eating, updated for the first time since 1992; bringing mental illness “out of the shadows at last”, to use Senator Kirby's memorable phrase, by creating a Mental Health Commission; the Canadian HIV vaccine initiative and partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; support to provinces and territories to protect women and girls from HPV; and, I believe last but not least, we have made good on our commitment and supported the provinces and territories to develop Canada's first patient wait time guarantees.
Those are the results that we have worked to achieve with the throne speech of October 16. We are certainly striving for more.
I first want to address our commitments to a clean environment before I speak to the actions we are taking on food and product safety.
For far too many years, too many Canadians have come to rightfully think of rhetoric when they think about the federal government's work on the environment. However, our work is about earning Canadians' respect so that they can rightfully think that they can get results and, instead of lagging behind other countries, we want to bring Canada to where Canadians want us to be: the world leader.
This is what guided our resolve in taking immediate action in the last session of Parliament to protect Canadians from potentially harmful chemical substances.
For instance, through our chemicals management plan, we have earned recognition as the world leader in dealing with the global challenge of assessing chemicals that were introduced before modern and rigorous screening criteria were put in place.
Today we are taking action, obligating industry to demonstrate that it is safely using chemicals of greatest concern.
When it comes to air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, the need for urgent action is also clear. My colleague, the Minister of the Environment, spoke about this earlier today.
Indeed, when we look at everything that has been done, we can say that our regulatory processes are among the best in the world but, of course, there is always room for improvement.
Since 1990, medical equipment imports, for instance, have nearly tripled, food imports have more than tripled, while toys and sports equipment imports have nearly quadrupled.
To keep pace with globalization and the emergence of new technologies, we need to do a number of things, including modernizing the Hazardous Products Act.
We also need to consider changes to the Food and Drugs Act. Right now, the maximum fines under this act are minuscule compared to other industrialized countries and, therefore, hardly a useful deterrent. As a result, it is fair to consider strengthening this act's provisions to make it more effective.
Our government is also determined to improve our services for providing consumers the information we all need to make safe choices. For example, we are working to provide better information to consumers suffering from food allergies. Toward this goal, we are reviewing the policy on the use of precautionary statements for food allergens and working on options for strengthening allergen labelling regulations.
For the good of Canadians, we are moving to replace ambiguity with clarity for the sake of safety.
On the same note, as the throne speech referenced, in recent months there have been numerous situations in which Canadians were exposed to products that were substandard at best and dangerous at worst. For parents, and I say this as a father myself, most alarmingly, many of these had to do with children's toys. When it comes to our children, as parents we can say this, nothing is more precious than their health and safety, which is why we are acting immediately.
On Thursday, in Toronto, for instance, officials from my department will join the Canada Standards Association and the RCMP who will be launching their campaign to increase consumer awareness at the start of the holiday shopping season.
This summer I directed my staff to review, among other things, our existing powers and authorities on product safety so that we can work to close the gaps wherever necessary.
Today, with my colleague, the Minister of Agriculture, I had the pleasure of announcing a new website that will put at the fingertips of Canadians the latest information on toys and children's products recalls as they happen.
Food and Product Safety October 24th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, today my colleague, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and I were pleased to launch the consumer product recall database at healthycanadians.gc.ca. This web tool will give Canadians for the first time immediate and accurate information on products that have been recalled dating back to 1995.
Not only can this database, at healthycanadians.gc.ca, be searched by product name or manufacturer, but it also displays pictures so that Canadians can be sure they have identified the right recall product.
This is just the first step to improving this process and our government is taking action to protect Canadians after 13 years of Liberal inaction. Canadians can find this at healthycanadians.gc.ca.
Drugs and Pharmaceuticals October 22nd, 2007
Mr. Speaker, not only have we increased transfer payments, but we are in fact working with the provinces and territories to establish best practices in areas including how to deliver better information to patients.
May I say to the hon. member, one can never be too close to the finance minister.
Drugs and Pharmaceuticals October 22nd, 2007
Mr. Speaker, on this particular topic, the hon. member is quite correct that Canadians should not be paying more than they need to pay. It goes to reason this is why this government has increased its transfer payments to the provinces and territories to the tune of $2 billion last year alone. We are working with the provinces and territories on a national pharmaceutical strategy.
I know the hon. member's party has a policy platform in this area. That is fine, but the NDP has not told us how it would pay for all of this. From our perspective, we are working with the traditional deliverers of this service to ensure that Canadians are covered better.