Debates of May 3rd, 1999

Kosovo

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, the United States and Russia are the members of the contact group. Canada is not part of that group.

Is it this government's policy to simply say “your wishes are our command” whenever we are asked to send troops into the field?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are a member of a collective group. This contact group has existed for a long time. It was mainly made up of people from Europe. We cannot have a contact group of 19. We are kept informed of every element of the proceedings. We play the role that Canada is able to play.

The member said we would be the first to send troops if we had peace. We would be happy to send troops along with the others if we are at peace. Canada is always there when it is the time to maintain peace.

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, recently the European Union discussed the possibility of freezing the foreign assets of the members of the Milosevic regime in order to put maximum pressure on the Serb government.

Could the Prime Minister tell us whether international measures intended to freeze the assets of the collaborators of the Milosevic regime are being planned at the moment?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of such a measure being decided on collectively by the 19 countries. I will note the suggestion of the hon. member and see what we can do on the subject.

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, has Canada taken stock of the assets the Milosevic regime collaborators might have in Canada and does it plan to seize or freeze such assets?

[Julian Reed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that Canada has taken unilateral action in terms of the embargo against the Yugoslav republic. Now all shipments have to be approved by permit. Oil and military equipment are forbidden in any respect. The member can be reassured that Canada has already made a move in that direction.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general is handcuffing the RCMP with lack of resources. There are many RCMP officers burning out and leaving the force. As a matter of fact, there are 400 vacancies in B.C. alone. The attorney general of the province of B.C. says that there must be an emergency injection of cash in order to ensure public security.

Why is the minister sacrificing the safety and security of Canadians with his underfunding?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I can inform my hon. colleague that the RCMP's budget is $1.2 billion a year. It received a $37 million increase in the last budget. It received a 9.5% pay increase over three years in 1998.

This government will give the RCMP and other police forces across the country the tools they need to fight organized crime.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the question is when?

The reality is that under advisement they are looking at taking people from federal projects on things that relate to organized crime, drugs, automobile smuggling, credit cards, money laundering and all of those things, and putting them back into uniform to fill these vacant positions.

When is it going to happen? When is he going to stop sacrificing Canadians' security and safety with his underfunding?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, this government has passed a number of initiatives, such as the DNA legislation and the proceeds of crime legislation. Just a week ago I was pleased to announce a $115 million injection into the CPIC in order to upgrade it to bring it into top shape so that all police forces across the country will have the equipment to fight organized crime.

Millennium Scholarships

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada, the three party leaders in the Quebec National Assembly ask the federal government to appoint a government negotiator not associated with the millennium scholarship fund to unlock the impasse this matter has reached.

As the Minister of Human Resources Development refused to answer our questions last week, could the Prime Minister tell us when he plans to answer the letter and when he will appoint the negotiator?

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, first allow me to restate that the interests of all Canadian students are paramount with this government.

As for last week's proposal from Quebec, we are pleased to see that the Government of Quebec has restated its commitment to the three principles of the Gautrin motion. This is much more promising than the opting out with compensation that Minister Legault has been talking about.

However last week the minister did raise some concerns about the proposal in the letter because under the law, the foundation has the funds, it is responsible for the funds and has the responsibility to administer them.

Tobacco

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a number of other members and I have been receiving similar letters from tobacco retailers complaining about government interference in how cigarettes are sold.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health tell the House about these new regulations, or is this just one more case of government interference in legitimate commerce?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.

I restate that the government and the Minister of Health are very concerned about the rate of youth smoking in the country. The facts are that in January, Health Canada put out an options paper of proposed regulations. We are receiving consultations. The consultation process has just begun. No decisions have been made.

I would suggest that the contents of the letter the member referred to were not accurate. I would encourage all of those who share our concerns about youth smoking to participate in this important consultation process and help draft the kind of regulations that will tackle high youth—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Langley—Abbotsford.

Dangerous Offenders

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last week we talked about two prisoners receiving bus passes to go from one prison to another unescorted. Both of them were identified as dangerous criminals by the police. One was even up for murder three years ago. Both of these people got off their respective buses somewhere along the road.

I would like to ask the solicitor general how he feels about the innocent people on those buses not knowing that criminals are getting on the buses. Does he feel safe enough to put his own family on these public buses today?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, let us get the facts straight.

These offenders are on conditional release. But public safety is the number one priority for this government. That is why I have asked Correctional Service Canada to conduct a full review of this procedure.

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, actually the minister is going to need a lot of reviews because I have many more cases like this. I will give one more.

Curtis Rabochenko left a medium security prison in Abbotsford, British Columbia and was encouraged to go all the way to the Vernon institution. Of course, he was a no-show.

This is what the solicitor general said Friday about such a prisoner at large: “As a few do, he did not do what he was supposed to do under the Conditional Release Act”.

I ask the solicitor general, do the bus companies know about this? What is the liability of—

[The Speaker]

The hon. solicitor general.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated previously, these individuals are on conditional release. They are going from a penal institution to a halfway house in order to be integrated back into society.

Health

[Gordon Earle, NDP, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will know that scientists from the health department gave testimony this morning before the Senate agricultural committee.

These scientists spoke about pressures being placed on them to approve a drug. They spoke about gag orders, files being stolen and intimidation. Most importantly, they talked about their inability to perform the moral and ethical duties of their jobs as scientists.

Rather than silencing them, why is the Prime Minister not commending these scientists for their brave actions in the public interest and why will he not allow them to speak out on important health issues?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, in fact it was the Minister of Health who encouraged the scientists to appear before the Senate committee to testify openly. He assured them that it was their duty and their responsibility. The member has it all wrong.

[Gordon Earle, NDP, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear from the response that the government will continue to silence these scientists, even though there is an ongoing and unresolved international debate on the safety of the bovine growth hormone for human health. Health Canada scientists have expressed fears that this growth hormone may be linked to different forms of cancer.

Why is the minister not allowing Canadians to be informed about potential health risks? Why is he allowing Canadians to eat potentially carcinogenic meat?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that it is a very funny form of muzzling to invite them to appear before a committee and to speak up. If that is the kind of muzzling we are having in Canada, it is pretty good.

I hope that scientists will still be invited to appear before the committee and to speak up, and the NDP will talk about muzzling.

Taxation

[Scott Brison, Progressive Conservative, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in a February 24 Ottawa Citizen article the Minister of Industry said that by the end of April he would be presenting to cabinet various options that would help keep NHL franchises here in Canada.

Now the minister is saying that he wants to have a hockey summit to further discuss the issue.

After two months of study, does the industry minister actually have some concrete suggestions to make to cabinet, or is this hockey summit just a delaying tactic, some way to buy time because the industry minister does not really know what to do to keep the hockey franchises here in Canada?