Debates of Oct. 25th, 1999
House of Commons Hansard #10 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was farmers.
Topics
- Business Of The House
- Supply
- The Late Charles Mercier
- Surrey Spirit Of Youth Mural Project
- Sleep-Wake Disorders Canada
- Canadian Psoriasis Foundation
- Trucking Industry
- Festival Of Lights
- Dr. Kévork Baghdjian
- Liberal Candidate In Hull—Aylmer
- Prescott Gala Of Excellence
- Supreme Court Of Canada
- Canadian Health Research Institutes
- Social Union
- Liberal Government
- Liberal Party Of Canada
- Employment Insurance
- Alice Taylor
- Child Pornography
- Apec Inquiry
- Greenhouse Gases
- Apec Inquiry
- Audiovisual Productions
- Aboriginal Affairs
- Genetically Altered Foods
- Aboriginal Affairs
- Air Transportation
- Information Highway
- Taxation
- Homelessness
- Health
- East Timor
- Taxation
- Parental Leave
- Tobacco
- Apec Inquiry
- Elections Canada
- Taxation
- Telephone Service
- Nav Canada
- Apec Summit
- Audiovisual Productions
- Aboriginal Affairs
- Privilege
- Food And Drugs Act
- Members Of Parliament Superannuation Act
- Criminal Code
- Committees Of The House
- Points Of Order
- Petitions
- Questions On The Order Paper
- Supply
Audiovisual Productions
Oral Question Period
2:30 p.m.
Hamilton East
Ontario
Liberal
Sheila Copps Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the member, who is still making allegations, to listen to his leader, Lucien Bouchard, who had the following to say in Los Angeles two days ago “I do not wish to comment on all that. Unless the facts show otherwise, I do not think that CINAR is being specifically targeted”.
If he will not listen to me, please listen to Lucien Bouchard.
Audiovisual Productions
Oral Question Period
2:30 p.m.
The Speaker
I remind members that they must always address their remarks through the Chair.
The hon. member for Skeena.
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
2:30 p.m.
Reform
Mike Scott Skeena, BC
Mr. Speaker, the taint of closure is already attached to the Nisga'a treaty because of the way the provincial NDP administration in Victoria rammed it through that legislature.
We were scheduled for two days of debate on the Nisga'a treaty in the House this week but we now find that we will only get one day, and that is tomorrow.
Is it the government's intention to invoke time allocation before we have even had one minute of debate in the House on the Nisga'a treaty?
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
2:30 p.m.
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell
Ontario
Liberal
Don Boudria Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the question of the time allocated for debates is negotiated among House leaders. There is a question put in the House on Thursday afternoon with respect to the agenda for the following week.
I would invite the member opposite to consult with his House leader. If they are not on good terms I will gladly act as an intermediary to ensure that they can speak to each other.
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
2:30 p.m.
Reform
Mike Scott Skeena, BC
Mr. Speaker, that was a perfect non-answer, so I will try it with the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
Today is the deadline. Today is the day that the Musqueam leaseholders are told to pay up their $70,000 to $80,000 leases or get evicted from their houses.
There is still time to reverse that decision. Does the minister intend to evict those people or will he revisit that decision, reconsider and tell those people that they will not lose their homes?
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
2:30 p.m.
Kenora—Rainy River
Ontario
Liberal
Bob Nault Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, I do not know of any deadline today, so I do not know what the member is talking about.
Genetically Altered Foods
Oral Question Period
2:30 p.m.
Bloc
Hélène Alarie Louis-Hébert, QC
Mr. Speaker, in a letter sent recently to the Minister of Health, 200 federal experts on food quality and safety argued that significant gaps existed in research on transgenic food.
My question is for the Minister of Agriculture. Is the fact that 200 experts are telling the Minister we lack the means to assess the quality of the food we eat every day not enough reason for the government to act as soon as possible to resolve the problem?
Genetically Altered Foods
Oral Question Period
2:35 p.m.
Prince Edward—Hastings
Ontario
Liberal
Lyle Vanclief Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I explained to the hon. member in this place last Friday how the food inspection system works in Canada. The ministry of health sets the standards and the guidelines, the Canadian food inspection system monitors and enforces them and the ministry of health audits and monitors the work of the Canadian food inspection system. There are checks and balances between the ministries to ensure that the food provided to Canadians is safe.
Genetically Altered Foods
Oral Question Period
2:35 p.m.
Bloc
Hélène Alarie Louis-Hébert, QC
Mr. Speaker, is the minister prepared to review his policy on assessing GMOs, genetically modified organisms, in response to the concerns of scientists and the public at large?
Genetically Altered Foods
Oral Question Period
2:35 p.m.
Etobicoke Centre
Ontario
Liberal
Allan Rock Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ensure the hon. member that all genetically altered foods are submitted to the Department of Health, and that a team of experts evaluates the situation with each product in order to determine if safety standards have been met.
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
October 25th, 1999 / 2:35 p.m.
Reform
Randy White Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development was asked whether the Marshall decision regarding the native right to fish also affected natural resource areas. This was his response: “In my mind I think it does”.
He has magnified the fallout of the Marshall decision. Does the minister believe that the Marshall decision applies to Sable Island natural gas as well?
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
2:35 p.m.
Kenora—Rainy River
Ontario
Liberal
Bob Nault Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, I am working very closely with my provincial colleagues to get to the negotiating table with the Mi'kmaq people to come up with an Atlantic specific solution to a very complex issue. We are working very closely with them and we would like to, if we could, have this negotiation with the players and not with the opposition in the House.
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
2:35 p.m.
Reform
Randy White Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, I remind the minister that opposition parties are here to get to the bottom of it, and it is policy on the run over there.
The government has an obligation to bring clarity to the Marshall decision. The Indian affairs minister has refused to seek that clarity. The Marshall decision is bringing significant problems to the management of all natural resource industries. Thousands of jobs are at stake and the government is turning a blind eye.
Why is the government allowing chaos and the courts to define its natural resource policies? Where is the leadership and the vision?
Aboriginal Affairs
Oral Question Period
2:35 p.m.
Kenora—Rainy River
Ontario
Liberal
Bob Nault Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, the answer to the question posed by the member is very simple. We in this place have had a number of court rulings on aboriginal rights defined for us in a very limited way. It is now the role of governments to go to the table and negotiate with first nations what those rights would mean in a very modern context, and that is what we propose to do.
Air Transportation
Oral Question Period
2:35 p.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the past the government has taken steps on several occasions to keep a second airline alive on life support, on the pretext that the country needed two carriers, in its opinion.
My question is for the Minister of Transport. Given the several occasions on which it has kept Canadian Airlines alive artificially, how can the government now be preparing, under the pretext of allowing market forces to operate freely, to change the rules in order to favour one group over another?