Debates of Oct. 9th, 1998

Solicitor General Of Canada

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, grade 11 history students in Flin Flon held discussions on the solicitor general's sharing of sensitive information. Here are a few comments: “He is trying to cover his behind. He should resign before he gets himself and his party—”

[The Speaker]

Your caucus may be behind you but I would hope that we do not use words that we would not ordinarily use in the House. I know that the hon. member will agree.

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, “he should resign before he gets himself and his party into more trouble. He should resign. He is showing his incompetence and irresponsibility. He should resign because he represents the RCMP. If I were an RCMP I would not want him representing me”.

This class is listening today. I ask the Deputy Prime Minister why does this government continue to behave in a way that disappoints young Canadians.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, why is the hon. member abusing the process of this House and the fact that it is televised to make assertions that are unwarranted and unjustified?

Therefore her request is certainly unjustified as well.

Air Atlantic

[Charlie Power, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

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

On August 26, 435 employees of Air Atlantic in St. John's and Halifax were given notice of termination as of midnight October 24. This is only eight weeks of notice. Under section 212 of the Canadian Labour Code there must be 16 weeks of notice of termination.

Subsequently the company applied for and was given a waiver. Now these employees out either eight weeks notice or salary in lieu of notice.

Why is the Minister of Labour taking money out of the pockets of these labourers and giving it to the company?

[Brenda Chamberlain, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, on October 2 a waiver was granted to Air Atlantic regarding the 16 week notice period.

However, the minister has not granted a waiver on the establishment of a joint planning committee because he has determined that the provisions of the code have not been met.

[Charlie Power, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the minister states in his waiver that whereas the minister is satisfied that it would be unduly prejudicial to Air Atlantic to provide 16 weeks notice, then the provision is waived.

The Canadian Labour Code is meant to protect workers, not corporations. In the area of the highest unemployment in Canada workers need all the protection they can have.

Could the parliamentary secretary explain to these 435 people and their families why the Government of Canada chose to protect Air Atlantic and not Air Atlantic employees?

[Brenda Chamberlain, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, whether the minister granted a waiver of the notice period or not has not affected individual employee entitlements under the code.

The company has stated that all affected employees will receive, at minimum, their full entitlement under the code.

Taxation

[Sheila Finestone, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development met in Ottawa to discuss electronic commerce. The issue of taxation of goods and services is a very serious one and one of great concern to many Canadians.

Can the minister of revenue explain to us what the procedure will be to analyse the application of this tax and actual taxation procedure?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, we had some very interesting meetings this week. We had the ministerial conference of OECD countries addressing the very important issue of electronic commerce and taxation of electronic commerce.

One thing agreed on was we do not need new taxes on business done on the Internet. We want to encourage business. We want to make sure there is neutrality. Fundamental principles were agreed on this week by the OECD ministers that will ensure we have growth on the Internet and that Canada can play a leading role in electronic commerce.

Forestry

[John Duncan, Reform, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, B.C. forest practices are among the best in the world. Forest products are Canada's largest export. A million Canadian jobs depend on the forest industry.

Meanwhile Greenpeace is organizing pressure tactics on major buyers in Europe and in the U.S. for B.C. forest products. It is spending $1 million to put B.C. forest workers and their families on welfare. The government has to take sides.

Whose side is the government on, Greenpeace or a million Canadian workers?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to review this issue in considerable depth with the responsible minister in the B.C. government. It was also a subject of discussion at the most recent meeting of Canadian forestry ministers.

Together with the industry, all levels of government are working on the appropriate strategy to make sure the world understands sustainable development practices in the Canadian forest industry and to explain to the world that when we manage our forests we do it properly and in a way that the world can rely on. We will continue to explain the Canadian case whenever we have that opportunity.

Solicitor General Of Canada

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is important to clearly understand what this issue is all about.

The Solicitor General, who is responsible for safeguarding major national secrets, is a chatterbox. He discussed his business in a public place, and a member of this House swears he heard him clearly.

Since there is ample evidence that the Solicitor General is unfit to fulfil his duties, why does he not do the only honourable thing under the circumstances and resign?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I totally reject the premise of the hon. member's question.

Obviously, if the premise is false, there is no reason to ask the minister to resign or for the minister to change jobs.

The Environment

[Rick Laliberte, NDP, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are concerned about this government's inaction on climate change.

In June of this year 25 Order of Canada recipients declared immediate action on climate changes is required. The infrastructure works programs ends in March 1999 and municipalities are calling for an extension for climate related projects.

What action will the Minister of Finance include in his budget to support municipal climate projects?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada, prior to the last budget, was investing something in the order of $100 million a year in climate change related solutions.

In the last budget we also added the climate change action fund which is an additional $150 million over the next three years to accelerate the process, particularly in relation to new technology development and deployment.

The government is moving with the provinces and with the private sector in developing the implementation program which we hope to have completed by the end of 1999. What we want is a truly Team Canada effort.

Canada Post

[Gilles Bernier, Progressive Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, recently Canada Post announced changes to postal services in New Brunswick to accommodate the 911 emergency services.

Residents of the town of Bear Island have always been well served by the nearby post offices in Nackawic and Keswick. However, the proposed changes mean that postal services are being moved to Burtt's Corner, a great distance from Bear Island.

Can the minister assure Bear Island residents that Canada Post will restore full postal services in their area?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, because of the 911 change in the province of New Brunswick there has been a restructuring and Canada Post has been co-operating with all the stakeholders to accommodate Canadian citizens and will continue to do so.

If the hon. member has a specific case I will be glad to look into it to see what I can do.

National Defence

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

The appointment of General Baril took place a year ago and at that time the minister stated the general's annual report would be made public.

Will the minister confirm to the House that he has been able to fulfil his undertaking to publicly release his first report on the state of Canada's armed forces?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, this report was filed yesterday by the parliamentary secretary here in the House.

This report is important for a couple of reasons. It is, first of all, the government living up to a commitment it made that our military and its operations would become more open and transparent, more reports like this would be filed with this parliament, they would be made public, they would be available for public discussion such as at the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs.

With this report we have delivered on that. There are more reports to come. This report gives us the state of the Canadian military.

The Senate

[Ken Epp, Reform, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in a speech given in Alberta in October 1990 the Prime Minister said: “The Liberal government in two years will make the Senate elected. As Prime Minister I can make that happen”.

The words are very clear. In two years the Senate will be elected.

I ask the Prime Minister what is the meaning of these words spoken.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister tried very hard to carry out what he said in 1990 through asking for the support of the Canadian people and the Reform Party on the Charlottetown accord.

The Reform Party opposed the Charlottetown accord. This was a major factor in it's not being adopted. Reformers have to bear the blame for the fact that the Charlottetown accord was defeated and that we do not have an elected Senate right now. Let the record show it is the fault of the Reform Party. It speaks one way and acts another.

Solicitor General Of Canada

[Réal Ménard, Bloc, Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General.

Yesterday, my colleague from Mercier appealed to the dignity of the Solicitor General to put an end to the circus atmosphere into which this House has been plunged for the past week because of him. I am offering the minister another chance.

Will the Solicitor General do the honourable thing and step down, so we can get on with real issues when we come back in another week?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if there is a circus atmosphere in this House, the hon. member and his colleagues in the opposition are the ones responsible for it.

They are the ones who need to ask forgiveness for sullying the atmosphere of this House. That is another reason why the Solicitor General does not need to resign.

Apec Summit

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, last night the Prime Minister hopped on the old Challenger and jetted out to my riding for a $300 a plate Liberal fundraiser.

There he revealed what he and his party really feel about the APEC pepper spray incident. He made a joke about having pepper steak instead of rubber chicken whenever he is in western Canada.

The only thing more sickening than the Prime Minister's dirty little jokes is the fact 1,000 Liberal Party faithfuls clapped and laughed.

What kind of people make jokes about blinding Canadian kids with pepper spray? What is the government's excuse for the second time the Prime Minister has made callous and insensitive jokes about blinding Canadian kids with pepper spray?