Debates of March 25th, 1994

Allan Rock Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to the hon. member for his expression of good wishes at this time of the year and I reciprocate them.

I have to respond very quickly to his suggestion about trial balloons. The chair of the justice committee is speaking for himself. The chair of that committee is one voice among that

very disparate group. The chair is perfectly entitled to express his own perspective on issues of the day.

For my own part I have already responded to that suggestion. I do not happen to agree with him, but I think the justice committee is just the place where that kind of discussion should occur. I am sure the justice committee is going to have all manner of controversial matters to deal with in the years to come and I look forward to that kind of discussion.

Allan Rock Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, may I take the opportunity to say to the hon. member and to the House that in so far as I am concerned the chair of the committee has my full confidence. If controversial positions or views were to disqualify us from holding positions many members would not be in the House.

As I said earlier, the fact of the matter is that the chair of that committee is entitled to express his view. He has done that and I see nothing out of order with that. He has my every confidence and I am sure he will stay on as chair of the committee.

Stéphane Bergeron Verchères, QC

Mr. Speaker, the United States recently revived its trade "atomic bomb", its "Super 301". This measure, quite incompatible with the spirit and content of GATT and NAFTA regulations, is aimed at penalizing countries found guilty of trade practices deemed unfair by the United States. A list of such countries will appear in a few days in the National Trade Estimates Report , and Canada should be on it.

Under the circumstances, my question is for the Minister of Finance. Given the number of unresolved trade disputes between Canada and the United States, does the minister not think that the United States could use Super 301 against Canada, as it did in 1990 against Canadian beer?

Mac Harb Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of International Trade

Mr. Speaker, with Canada-U.S. trade registering over $260 million a year, it is obvious that we will have trade disputes from time to time.

As far as Super 301 is concerned, senior Canadian officials have already conveyed our position on this issue to the United States. For now, we will continue to communicate with them in a positive way and we hope to reach a common solution.

Stéphane Bergeron Verchères, QC

Mr. Speaker, the GATT General Secretary and several European countries are concerned about the threats to the international community posed by the United States' aggressive unilateral measures. What concrete actions does the government intend to take to prevent Canadian industries from bearing the brunt of the Americans' measures against all their trading partners?

Mac Harb Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of International Trade

First of all, Mr. Speaker, the Uruguay Round to be signed by April 15 will resolve many of the difficulties encountered from time to time. We hope that the international community will find ways to settle all trade disputes between countries in a positive fashion, by keeping the lines of communication open, encouraging dialogue and avoiding controversy between the United States, Japan and the other countries.

Bob Wood Nipissing, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Industry.

I would like to know what kind of support the government is giving to the publishing industry in Canada. Would the minister also give his impression of this particular support?

Michel Dupuy Minister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. The government considers that the publishing industry is a vital sector of the Canadian economy. I would add that I am also convinced the strong culture or strong identity of Canada could not do without a strong publishing industry.

This is why the Canadian publishing industry receives over $120 million in government assistance every year or 5 per cent of the entire value of the industry.

Jim Gouk Kootenay West—Revelstoke, BC

Mr. Speaker, on March 11, I raised a question with the Minister of Human Resources Development regarding the Board of Referees in my riding, the failure of his office to deal with our inquiries and an

apparent plan to appoint a wholly unqualified Liberal supporter as chairman of the board.

The minister assured me that if I provided details of the problem he would respond quickly. The same day I supplied the minister with a list of the number of calls made to his office and the persons who called. I also supplied the names of three highly qualified people recommended by community leaders to fill these positions. To date I have received no reply.

When will we get action to re-establish this very important board in the riding?

Maurizio Bevilacqua Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member can rest assured that this government will only appoint people who are qualified to do their jobs. It is extremely important that we keep the confidence of the Canadian people. Every single appointment this government has made to date speaks to the fact that this government will only appoint people who are highly competent for the job at hand.