Debates of April 9th, 1997

Government Expenditures

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member is interested and he really wants to have this gentleman go, why does he not support Bill C-66, probably this afternoon, so that we can have a new board as soon possible?

Transition Job Fund

[Maurice Bernier, Bloc, Mégantic—Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

Recently, Pierre Dagenais, the Director of the Société de développement économique de la région de Sherbrooke, condemned the federal government because its transition job fund was available only to regions with more than 12 per cent unemployment. It seems that the Sherbrooke region, with its 11.5 per cent unemployment rate, is not entitled to this form of federal assistance.

Can the Minister of Human Resources Development explain to us how the Sherbrooke region can be excluded from such a job creation program, when it ranks fourth poorest of 25 major Canadian cities?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the question from the hon. member for Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead. The transition job fund is, of course, one of the accomplishments of which this government is very proud. It is part of the employment insurance reform.

What we are doing is this: to assist people who are without jobs, in areas where there is more than 12 per cent unemployment, we help people create jobs. We are partners with other levels of government or with the private sector who are prepared to create jobs.

We have put $300 million into this fund. More than 30 per cent of it will, moreover, be invested in Quebec businesses in the years to come in order to create jobs. I admit, the 12 per cent criterion is merely an arbitrary figure. The main thing was to invest these funds in regions with the greatest need. We chose 12 per cent as the cut-off level.

[Maurice Bernier, Bloc, Mégantic—Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister will be in Sherbrooke tomorrow. I am anxious to hear what he will have to say in response to the questions from stakeholders in the region who want to know why the Sherbrooke region is disadvantaged by this program, and is placed in direct competition with all of the cities in Canada, and of course all of Quebec.

Is the Minister of Human Resources Development telling us with this response that the Sherbrooke region ought to import unemployed people from elsewhere in order to be eligible for some consideration by this government?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member had better stay on the opposition side; he would have a lot of trouble on the government side, because with economic judgment like that, one does not go very far.

The Eastern Townships are divided into two zones: in one, unemployment exceeds 12 per cent, in the other, it does not. What I would like to tell the hon. member is that the Quebec Minister of Employment is so proud and enthusiastic about this program that only yesterday she announced six job creation projects with which my department will be involved in the coming weeks-for, as you know, we hold consultations with the Government of Quebec for each Government of Canada transition fund in Quebec, in order to respect its priorities.

I would like to say that I shall be in Coaticook in the riding of Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead tomorrow, where I shall have the pleasure of announcing an investment by my department of $250,000 in the hon. member's region, which will make it possible to create 100 jobs in the Eastern Townships.

Taxation

[Susan Whelan, Liberal, Essex—Windsor, ON]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of Canadians who worked in the United States and are now retired were shocked to find over a year ago that the United States government was deducting a 24.5 per cent non-refundable tax from their social security cheques.

The Minister of Finance promised constituents in Windsor and Essex country that he would fix this problem.

What has the minister done so these Canadians are not subject to this American tax grab?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, this is a question that has been of considerable concern to the members from Windsor and to members in a great number of communities right across Canada.

As the House knows, we have been deep in discussion with the United States on this matter for some time now. When I was in the Philippines this past weekend for a meeting of APEC I discussed the issue again with my counterpart, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin.

I am pleased to say that the Prime Minister announced today that Canadian and United States officials have today initialled an agreement to modify the Canada-U.S. tax treaty.

Once it is formally signed and ratified, today's agreement will bring much needed tax relief to thousands of Canadian seniors and persons with disabilities. Because at modest levels of income Canadian tax rates are much lower than the withholding tax the U.S. could apply, thousands of Canadians-

[Some hon. members]

Order.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is something that is of considerable importance to a lot of Canadians. The Bloc has supported it. The Liberals have supported it. The least they can do is be happy for a lot Canadians.

[The Speaker]

I know the Minister of Finance is going to wrap up.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, once the agreement reached today has been formally signed and ratified, Canadians will no longer be obliged to pay American income tax on their social security benefits.

Let me be very clear. Under this agreement Canadians will not be liable for U.S. social security tax payments.

I would like to thank the members of the House on this side and on that side for the support they have given.

Health

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's health police are taking away many Canadians' opportunities for natural herbs and vitamins without any evidence of their harm.

I would like to ask the health minister if he could reverse the onus so that his health police would have to produce evidence of harm before they take away those products that Canadians want.

[David Dingwall, Liberal, Minister of Health]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, a typical flippant answer from this minister, but let us talk about melatonin. This is a natural hormone produced by the body. The health police have decided it is to be banned in Canada. Here is the interesting part. We can still buy it for personal use from the U.S. Strange, is it not?

If melatonin is harmful, produce the evidence and it should be banned. However, if there is no evidence, why not let well informed consumers decide for themselves here in Canada?

[David Dingwall, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, through you to the hon. member, if my answer appeared to be flippant, I wish to apologize to the House and to the hon. member. I clearly tried to say no.

I think the member has the answer backwards that I provided in view of the suggestion by the hon. member. The onus is on the importer and on the manufacturer of the product to prove to Canadians and to the regulator beyond a shadow of a doubt that the product to come on the market is safe.

That is the fundamental raison d'être of Health Canada, to ensure that all products that come on the market are safe for Canadians.

Cruise Ship Gambling

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.

In light of the statements by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice the day before yesterday on Bill C-369 respecting casinos on international cruise ships on the St. Lawrence, it seems that, once again, the Liberal government has decided to go against the wishes of the Government of Quebec, the municipalities in the Quebec City region, the Montreal region and the Bloc Quebecois.

Nearly two months ago, the minister said he was discussing the matter. Could he himself today confirm his refusal to amend the Criminal Code to permit cruise ship gambling on the St. Lawrence?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

No, Mr. Speaker. Consultations are continuing. We have to consult everyone affected by the issue, that is, the provinces, the industry and business people in order to establish the merits of such a program. We have a consultation document that we will soon be releasing and we intend to look at the whole issue in order to determine the best approach to take.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the Bloc Quebecois succeeds in introducing a bill to amend the Criminal Code, does the minister not recognize that, with the resources available to him in his department-hundreds of lawyers and tens of millions of dollars-he should have tabled amendments, or at least, revealed his intentions in this matter. What are his intentions?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I know of the hon. member's interest in this subject. There are many members on this side of the House who are just as interested who see in cruise ship gambling the opportunity for employment and for economic activity in a variety of places throughout Canada.

I want to assure the hon. member and all members of the House that we are looking seriously at the prospect. We have a consultation document that is about to be published to go to the industry, to the governments involved and to other stakeholders to see their views.

We believe, unlike the Reform Party, that we should take into account the views of others before acting. That is exactly what we are going to do.

I assure the member that we are treating it seriously and I will keep him abreast of developments as consultations go forward.

Bill C-216

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-216, a private member's bill to outlaw negative option billing, has now completed study in the other place and will be reported back to this House shortly.

As it is the heritage minister's area of responsibility, could she advise the House whether she is in favour of this bill, yes or no?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker.

Social Services

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

The United Way in Winnipeg released a study the other day which shows the incredible pressure that social agencies are under as a result of government cutbacks at various levels and the deteriorating social conditions that are also a result of many of these government cutbacks.

Does the Minister of Finance not realize the incredible position these various social agencies are being put in by government cutbacks and the incredible burden they are having to bear? Does he really think that these voluntary and in many cases charitable organizations, whether churches or other groups, can pick up the slack which is being created by government cutbacks? They cannot. What does the government intend to do about this very disturbing fact?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that as a result of government cutbacks at all levels, federal, provincial and even municipal budgets, social or voluntary agencies have had to pick up a lot of the slack. One certainly understands the pressure they are under.

In the last budget, in order to enable them to raise money, we provided a number of tax credits so that they would be able to bear a bit more of the burden.

Nonetheless, I think the member's question is very much to the point. That is why right from the very beginning when we proceeded to do the necessary clean-up of the nation's finances we approached it in as humane a way as possible. In other words, we left as much money in the hands of those government departments that were helping people. The Minister of Human Resources Development has brought in a number of programs to help poorer children, and that is what the whole new child tax benefit is all about.

I can assure the hon. member that this government will continue to put its money where the greatest impact will be felt, the most vulnerable in our society.

Research Laboratories

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville—Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that pure research is the foundation of the innovation necessary for knowledge based economic activity, the kind of activity we want here in Canada. We also know that pure research takes place in laboratories.

What is the Minister of Industry doing to address the serious problem of deterioration in our university laboratories?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, going into this year's budget I would have said that one priority we had for investing in science and technology which, as the question indicates, is crucial to building a knowledge based economy in the 21st century is the renewal of the networks of centres of excellence, a unique Canadian program that has benefited universities in every province and region of Canada. That program was not only renewed but it was made a permanent program at over $47 million a year.

Another thing we had to address was the deteriorating conditions in research infrastructure in our universities, a responsibility primarily of the provincial governments. We have created the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the largest such foundation in Canada and one of the 10 largest in the world, with $800 million of federal government money to invest in a partnership basis in the building and restoration of R and D infrastructure which will ensure that Canada not only holds and attracts the best researchers but builds the kind of economic growth that will create jobs in the 21st century.