Wayne Easter

[Business of Supply, October 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to the Conservative member, and she was very careful not to mention the motion. I will quote for her the key point of the motion. It is the Prime Minister's words. In 1994 he said:

Mr. Speaker, I would argue that the subject matter of the bill is so diverse that a single vote on the content would put members in conflict with their own principles....Second, in the interest of democracy I ask: How can members represent their constituents on these various areas when they are forced to vote in a block on such legislation and on such concerns?

Those were the Prime Minister's words then. I could not tell from the Conservative member's remarks if the member was advising that the Prime Minister's words were wrong then, or has he broken the words he used then in recent years and now is pushing an omnibus bill that goes against the very words he said in 1994?

What advice is the member giving us in terms of the Prime Minister's word? Is she advising that the Prime Minister stand and oppose omnibus bills today, or break his word from 1994?

[Business of Supply, October 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's remarks and agree with him. However, there is an issue that my colleague did not raise. That is that not only is the omnibus bill an affront to the House and how we vote on specific matters, it also seriously undermines the functions of committees.

Bill C-38 was a prime example where environment and fisheries were in the bill, but it went to the finance committee. Committees of the House over time develop some expertise in the subject areas. Committee members when appointed to those committees do research, do background and study the subject for a number of years. Therefore, at the end of the day, members from all parties become much more knowledgeable about those areas and the decisions that are being made.

Does my colleague agree with that? How does he see doing away with the omnibus bill approach strengthening the ability of committees to do their jobs, so that MPs can better represent the various industries and commodities on a committee basis?

[Points of Order, October 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I quoted from a document, “XL Foods - List of Recalled Products”, during question period, which includes all the beef products that have been recalled in every province and every retailer. It is a very serious issue.

I am wondering if I might have unanimous consent to table the document in the House.

[Food Safety, October 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is day 31 since the Americans notified Canada on E. coli and the Prime Minister still fails to hold his ministers to account for the biggest recall ever.

I have a list of the products for Canada alone, which is some 240 pages long. Do members remember that the minister claimed that no products reached store shelves?

The incompetence of both the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board knows no bounds. Truck drivers knew there was a problem and meat cutters knew there was a problem but the minister failed to act and the health minister was lost in silence.

When will the Prime Minister take charge of this issue?

[Al Toulin, October 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian journalists in the Parliament Hill family lost one of the great ones when Al Toulin passed away suddenly last Monday. Al worked for the Ottawa Citizen, the Hamilton Spectator, the Toronto Star and the Financial Post, to name a few, in a career that spanned 40 years.

Al was known for always being able to ferret out that elusive scoop with great contacts and respect across government. In 2004, he served as director of communications to the Liberal government House leader, Tony Valeri, and later shared his impeccable communications talents in election campaigns. He was an avid reader. Nobody read more than Al and nobody seemed to have a deeper well of knowledge about politics, the economy and so much more.

Al was quiet, never overbearing, but he was also courageous and unstoppable when there was a job to be done, a gentle giant and a cool head in a crisis. Most of all, we will miss the big warm heart that beat in his towering frame.

On behalf of all of us on the Hill, I send our condolences to his wife Mary Beth and his entire family. We thank Al, the “Big Guy”, for everything.

[Ethics, October 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the parliamentary secretary has not addressed the question as she goes back through history and tries to mount an attack, but it does not hold water any more. There was a public inquiry. That was settled. There was not a Liberal elected person charged under that inquiry, but she wants to talk about scandal.

The fact of the matter is that this member is using the kind of doublespeak that we have seen all along. She tries to slough away the current E. coli crisis, when in fact we all know that the biggest beef recall in Canadian history is under way.

Something went wrong. What are those 700 inspectors doing? Are any of them in a primary slaughter beef plant? Were new people really added there?

What is really needed is for the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to come together and give some assurances to Canadians so that consumers can have confidence in all the good beef coming from--

[Ethics, October 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, on May 2, I asked the following question to the ethically challenged government:

Mr. Speaker, a year in, the government is showing how tired and corrupt it really is: the CIDA minister who believes taxpayers are there only to support her lavish lifestyle; the Minister of Industry who believes industrial development is keeping the Ethics Commissioner's office at work, investigating himself three times; a Treasury Board minister, of gazebo fame; and the Minister of National Defence who has helicopters as his personal limousine, and of course the $9-billion fib.

How can the Prime Minister condone such a crew of tainted ministers?

At the time I pointed to a troubling trend of the government, namely that Conservative ministers from the President of the Treasury Board to the Minister of National Defence to the former minister of CIDA, all seemed to regard government assets and taxpayers' dollars as their own personal property to be used whenever it suited them. This is a crew that somehow believes that they simply say things like transparency and accountability and they mean something. The obligation on ministers is to represent the ethical standard by which the government is gauged, and they have failed sadly in that standard of accountability. It would appear any standard of expectations is something Conservative ministers have difficulty with.

That was last May. It is now October. Now we have to add to the list of ethically challenged ministers, the Minister of Health, who has gone missing in action on the E. coli outbreak, and that repeat offender, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Through her offices and that of the Public Health Agency, the Minister of Health has a duty, an obligation, to engage the Canadian public when it comes to a health care issue. Either the minister has no understanding of her duties or she is being instructed to sit in her place and ignore what is happening across this country. This is the biggest recall in Canadian history and there are Canadians who have become ill as a direct result of the meat that has reached store shelves. Consumers want assurance and the Minister of Health has a responsibility to give them that assurance and lay out the plan of how government is dealing with this crisis.

Then there is the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. His latest performance with respect to the E. coli outbreak has resulted in the largest recall of beef in Canadian history, in which we witnessed the spectacle of the minister telling the House that none of the infected meat reached store shelves. We know differently. We know it reached store shelves.

Yesterday we had the spectacle of the minister calling a press conference not too far from the XL plant. We saw the minister practically run from the media. Not only did he run from the media and go into hiding, but his staff then hauled the president of CFIA, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, off the podium when that man, who is responsible for food inspection in Canada, was trying to answer a question.

Today we saw the minister shamed into another press conference and at least he answered a few questions, but he only gave excuses.

Time and time again on issues large and small, the government has shown a contempt for Canadians. Therefore, I ask again the question I posed last May. How can the Prime Minister condone such a crew of tainted ministers?

[Food Safety, October 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this is for the Prime Minister who promised to hold ministers accountable.

First, we have the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food who failed to fully implement the Weatherill report after 23 people died. Now the same minister presides over the biggest beef recall ever, when in fact CFIA did have the authority to act under current law.

Second, we have the Minister of Health who has a responsibility to reassure the public, lay out a plan on such public health matters, and who has gone into lockdown.

When will the Prime Minister put a stop to this incompetence and protect Canadians' food supply?

[Food Safety, October 3rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, that is the second time I have been accused of saying people are not in the House. I did not say that. I said the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food should answer questions, which is their responsibility.

[Food Safety, October 3rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, a lot has been said about Bill S-11 tonight, and I want to provide a little history on it.

Bill S-11 encompasses some of what was in Bill C-27 in 2005. It was opposed by members who are sitting over there, now in the government. I will tell members who led the fight to oppose the government in implementing those new safety measures for the CFIA. It was the current Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. That is who led the fight, the agriculture critic for the official opposition of the day. Let us get that on the record.

The Minister of State for Finance talks about rhetoric on this side. If he wants to assure people and do away with the rhetoric, then the two ministers responsible, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, should show up and answer questions. They should call a press conference and assure Canadians—