Debates of June 2nd, 1998

Employment Insurance

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is a bit hard to understand how a member can rise here in this House and speak in favour of raising seniors' taxes, raising the taxes of self-employed workers, raising the taxes on small and medium sized businesses.

The Bloc Quebecois position is simply ridiculous.

Health

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Health Canada ignored medical warnings about 25,000 women's breast implants. In 1986 a Health Canada scientist warned the government that the Meme implant was unsafe. The product was not formally banned until 1993, years later.

The government had a legal obligation to protect Canadians; the government is responsible legally. I would like to ask why it took seven years for Health Canada to heed the scientists' warning and do what was right.

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the matter is under investigation and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the House what is inappropriate. It is when a government tries to stall and when a government puts things off for years.

We see frightening similarities between this issue and the hepatitis C crisis. In both cases the government was warned that the health of innocent people was in jeopardy. We see that happening—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Edmonton North.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

The problem is that whatever government it was in the 1980s or the 1990s we see the same problem, that they are irresponsible.

Why is it that the health minister continues to behave this way whether it is hepatitis C or breast implants? When will he admit that they are wrong?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I think what is unfathomable is why members of the opposition do not understand due process in law. It is under investigation. Therefore it would be inappropriate to speak to it at this time.

Employment Insurance

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

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

Last week, the Minister of Human Resources Development said he was open to changing the employment insurance plan, provided the need for such changes could be established.

In light of the examples we have provided him with, the facts presented to him and the distressing statistics showing that his reform is a fiasco, what more does the minister need to address the problem?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I have stated is our government's position.

We have known all along that it would be extremely important to assess the impact of such a fundamental reform of the employment insurance system on all citizens, to make sure that the system is serving them well and generating the desired type of employment in those regions where unemployment is the highest.

However, no positive or constructive suggestions to help unemployed Canadians re-enter the workforce have come from across the way. All we are asked to do is to keep them on EI as long as possible.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister not realize that, while he is refusing to use the existing surplus in the EI fund to improve the employment insurance plan, he is having the wool pulled over his eyes by his colleague, the Minister of Finance, who is devising ways to use this surplus to lower taxes?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am always pleased to co-operate with the Minister of Finance.

I was delighted when, last November, we were able to announce a 20-cent reduction in EI premiums instead of the expected 10-cent reduction. We have reduced these premiums four years in a row.

We are cautious managers and we believe that the unemployed will continue to be served well by the Canadian system, especially when it comes to helping them re-enter the workforce. That is what people expect from us.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government said that EI premiums have been going into consolidated revenues, which is a fancy way of saying that it has spent it. In other words there is no surplus in the EI fund. The government spent the entire $15 billion on things that had absolutely nothing to do with workers' benefits.

When is the minister going to admit that the EI surplus does not exist at all, except in his own confused mind?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if I might, let me tell you what I think the question really is.

Let me quote from the taxpayers' budget of the Reform Party: “To ensure that savings from the reform of UI translate into deficit elimination the Reform Party recommends the establishment of a permanent reserve fund for UI”. It goes on to say: “Funds from this reserve would be applied against the deficit”. Why the flip-flop?

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when there is no deficit the money should go into its own account.

Let me speak further to the minister's confusion. Six months ago he said that cutting premiums would create jobs. Last week he said that cutting premiums would not create jobs. Next he will be telling us that cutting premiums will somehow kill jobs.

What are the voices in the minister's head telling him today? When are we going to get a straight answer from the minister?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what the voices are telling me, and that is that it is all right for the member for Medicine Hat to change his mind. After all, this was written before the marriage with the Bloc.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it seems easier to laugh than to address the real issues.

In order to create this surplus in the employment insurance fund, the Minister of Finance is not only depriving the unemployed of a decent system, but he also continues to target small and medium size businesses that pay proportionally more taxes on employment than major corporations do.

When will the Minister of Finance finally stop targeting small and medium size businesses, and when will he significantly lower employment insurance contribution rates?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member must know that, in addition to enjoying a $500,000 capital gain exemption, small and medium size businesses also have a lower level of taxation than major corporations in Canada and their counterparts in the United States.

There is also the research and development tax credits. All these initiatives are designed to help small and medium size businesses create jobs.

The Environment

[John Finlay, Liberal, Oxford, ON]

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

Canada's north continues to encounter problems with toxic waste. Can the Minister of the Environment tell the House what her department is doing to protect the health and well-being of our northern citizens, many of whom rely on a clean environment for their daily bread?

[Christine Stewart, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for this very important question.

I am very concerned about protecting Canadians' environment and health from the contamination created by toxic waste. The current initiatives of my department are to prevent toxic waste from accumulating in the first place. Our environmental assessment legislation and our new amended environmental protection legislation are very important to that effect.

However, we are also concerned about historic toxic waste. We have spent millions of dollars in recent years to help decontaminate sites in the northern territories and we will continue to provide advice to federal departments for the elimination of toxic waste.

Transitional Jobs Fund

[Rob Anders, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development gave almost $350,000 to a food processing company in Newfoundland last year. Since then it has failed to produce any products or hire a single production worker. The president has no experience in the industry and the company is about to go bankrupt. It turns out that he was an organizer for former Liberal MP Jean Payne, and defeated Liberal candidate Rex Gibbons, and the money was approved during the 1997 election.

Why was this allowed to happen?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will look into the particular case that the member has just raised.

The the transitional jobs fund has been very well used by this government. There have been many consultations. Members of the House, whether they are on the opposition benches or on the government benches, are being consulted. Provincial administrations are being consulted on every project. There are objective criteria.

To create jobs in areas where unemployment is very high we will continue to work hard.

[Rob Anders, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, what the minister did not tell us is that this company went bankrupt previously. The person who was given this loan used the money to pay off other loans he had been given by the transitional jobs fund. It failed the first time and then he used the money to pay off his other loans and it failed the second time, and the minister still has no answers.

How can the minister allow this to happen?

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

Mr. Speaker, I challenge the member to say those words outside of the House, to repeat them. It is absolutely extraordinary to criticize people and to put them in the gutter.

Our government has objective criteria and we follow the process very closely. We are very proud to have created more than 30,000 jobs with the transitional jobs fund.

Health

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is shocking that a criminal investigation into Health Canada's approval of dangerous breast implants for Canadian women has taken so long. NDP MP Joy Langan began calling for an investigation nine years ago.

My question to the Minister of Health is not about the current investigation. We want to know why it took citizens to come forward to get the RCMP involved. Why did the minister not launch an investigation? Why has it taken so long to get to the bottom of this tragedy?