House of Commons Hansard #113 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was nunavut.

Topics

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean Chrétien Liberal Saint-Maurice, QC

Mr. Speaker, for 30 years, the Government of Quebec was unable to sort out the problem of Quebec's school boards, and it was we who amended the Constitution and helped the Parti Quebecois out of a tight corner.

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC

Mr. Speaker, this government specializes in making bad choices.

It resolved the deficit by making cuts to health care, education, social assistance and employment insurance.

A year after his election, will the Prime Minister admit that he is betraying the Liberal tradition and displaying an appalling lack of compassion toward the disadvantaged when he plunges both hands into the coffers of the social programs?

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. We are going to invest $850 million on behalf of poor families this July 1.

We have announced that, in the next two years, we will invest another $850 million on behalf of poor families in Canada.

We have achieved the lowest interest rates in a good long while, something those in difficulty having to borrow money will benefit from.

We have also succeeded—According to what everyone was saying a few years back, Canada was a candidate for the third world—

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Rimouski—Mitis.

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC

Mr. Speaker, the government was, in all pomp and circumstance, supposed to be preparing Canada's entry into the third millennium.

Its only project in this regard has been the millennium scholarships. What a joke.

Does the Prime Minister not understand that, for the past year, the government has focused solely on crisis management and economic tinkering to manage the everyday lives of Canadians?

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, we have raised the ceilings of provincial transfers to $12.5 billion in order to help them deal with the present situation.

We have managed the country very well.

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

Liberal GovernmentOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Liberal

Jean Chrétien Liberal Saint-Maurice, QC

We have managed the country very well, because, when we were in London, a little while ago, the major European dailies were saying that Canada was at the forefront of all the G-7 countries.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the health minister failed once again to provide leadership, failed to put resources on the table and to provide a clear mandate to federal bureaucrats to ensure the successful negotiation of compensation for all hepatitis C victims.

Not surprisingly the talks broke down today. The health minister has one more chance. Will he today clearly provide the leadership to put the resources on the table that will enable the successful compensation package to be completed for all hepatitis C victims?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, as a result of federal leadership at the meeting going on in Edmonton as we speak, the working group is examining options that will be put before the ministers for consideration at the appropriate time.

That is a good process. I expect the hon. member and in fact all members of the House will wait until it is concluded and we can judge it based on the results.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely clear that the health minister will not accept his responsibility for the breakdown of these talks.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Why can the Prime Minister not give a clear directive to federal bureaucrats to successfully negotiate compensation for all hepatitis C victims in the same way that he expedited the $2.6 billion contract with Bombardier?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, the member ought not to think the talks have broken down. There are no negotiations going on in Edmonton. It is a group of officials working to develop options for the ministers to consider. Those talks are going very well.

Just at the end of yesterday some representatives of hepatitis C groups said they were very satisfied with the progress being made. I think we ought to let that process conclude and then we will know where we go from there.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Greg Thompson Progressive Conservative Charlotte, NB

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the health minister is absolutely right when he says that no negotiations are taking place in Edmonton. Their position has not changed. They have gone in on this negotiation process with the idea of take no prisoners. The only casualties out there will be the hepatitis C victims.

When will the minister show leadership, stand in the House and say that he will fund these innocent victims?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, the member does not understand the process. Ministers have asked the working group of officials to meet as they are doing now in Edmonton to examine all the options we put before them and to report back to the ministers so a decision can be made.

In terms of leadership, it is as a result of the leadership of the Prime Minister of this government that we have an offer of assistance being made already to some 22,000 people who contracted hepatitis C through the blood system. As for the rest, let us await the process.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Greg Thompson Progressive Conservative Charlotte, NB

Mr. Speaker, indeed I understand the process. My question is for the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister understands as well because he in fact is the one who put the health minister where he is in the front row of those benches.

Will the Prime Minister take some leadership, stand in the House and give the health minister the liberty to go in there with the generosity that has to be extended to these victims, or will he sit in his place and defend the indefensible?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, there is a good process in place. Discussions are under way among officials in Edmonton. They are examining and fleshing all options which ministers will then consider. I suggest the member await the conclusion of that very good process.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Reform

Grant Hill Reform Macleod, AB

Mr. Speaker, in fact in the Edmonton working group meeting yesterday there was a specific proposal put forward by Ontario. It asked that the do nothing option be taken right off the table.

The federal representatives said they had to consult with the Minister of Health. I ask the health minister if they will be permitted to take the do nothing offer off the table.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, there is a process going on in which a number of options are being examined by officials. I think the member would be well advised to let that process run its course and let governments act responsibly in this matter.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Reform

Grant Hill Reform Macleod, AB

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the victims were really quite jubilant. They thought progress was being made. Today they have had to leave the meeting dejected because this minister will not take a stand.

How long do they have to go through the process of being one day high and the next day low because this minister will not take a stand?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, I think the member has touched upon something here. Yesterday the representatives of certain groups left quite happy with the process. Today they are saying something else. I do not think we should assess this issue on the basis of an hour by hour reaction of certain people to the meeting.

This is not a negotiation in Edmonton. It is an assessment and examination by officials who will put facts before ministers for decision. That is the way governments act when they act responsibly.

I urge the member to let this process come to a conclusion. I am confident that it will produce a result that is in the interest of all those who got hepatitis C through the blood system.

Employment InsuranceOral Question Period

June 2nd, 1998 / 2:35 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, the government made a bad choice in deciding to have the unemployed and the workers pay off a large chunk of its budget.

Now that the EI fund is accumulating billions of dollars with indecent speed, the Minister of Finance wants to make use of it to lower taxes.

By giving a general tax cut precedence over raising EI benefits or lowering contributions, is the minister not headed for another bad choice?

Employment InsuranceOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, is it a bad choice to decrease the taxes of 83% of Canadians? Is it a bad choice to decrease the taxes of the self-employed? Is it a bad choice to lower taxes for those on fixed incomes, for seniors? I think not.

Employment InsuranceOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, those who have borne the brunt of the burden of paying off the deficit of this heartless government are the unemployed, the workers, and the middle class.

Does the minister not feel that, before making any general tax cut that would be of most benefit to the rich, proportionally, he should cut EI premiums and raise benefits to the unemployed, 60% of whom are totally excluded from the program?