House of Commons Hansard #55 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was mail.

Topics

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

The Speaker

Order, please. The hon. member for Calgary—Nose Hill.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Reform

Diane Ablonczy Reform Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Speaker, this week the minister sacrificed an awful lot of trees to show something that we already knew all too well, that she shovelled millions of dollars of public money out the door. It is very telling what she did not show: when the cheques were written, why the money was given, where it was spent, and what Canadians got out of it.

Is it because she does not know this key information, or is she afraid to make it public?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, I think we have the opportunity today to review some of the facts that have been made clear over the last three weeks for those who may not have been here or who have not had the opportunity to look at them.

First, we know that a billion dollars is not missing, and these lists show that very clearly. Second, we know that grants and contributions are to be found in the ridings of all members of the House. Third, we are starting to see again that the Reform Party continues to use partial data and incomplete research to make accusations that are unfounded, particularly in areas like the targeted wage subsidy.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Reform

Diane Ablonczy Reform Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Speaker, partial data is the whole point. This minister has refused to provide the most important information about her billion dollar boondoggle. When she spent the money. Why the money was given out. Where it was spent. And what Canadians got out of it. All she has told us is that she spent the money and that is what we already know.

Is this minister afraid to give the real data out because she knows she cannot stand to defend it?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, the real data is out and they do not like it. They do not want Canadians to know that there are projects funded in every one of their ridings. They do not want Canadians to know that they do not know anything about it and that they really do not care that Canadians are being helped in an appropriate way.

What Reformers do not like is the fact that Canadians appreciate that the Government of Canada is there to help Canadians with disabilities, young people and communities which cannot, without assistance, provide opportunities for their members. That is what they do not like.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont, QC

Mr. Speaker, on October 27, 1997, a project was submitted to me for approval, under the transitional jobs fund, to create 106 jobs. On December 16, HRDC approved the creation of 42 jobs. To my astonishment, I learned yesterday from the human resources branch in my riding that these jobs were created not in the riding of Rosemont, but in Saint-Maurice.

How can the minister justify that jobs allocated to my riding of Rosemont went to the riding of Saint-Maurice, which is represented by the Prime Minister?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, the real point here is that jobs were created. Canadians who did not have the opportunity now have the opportunity.

The hon. member, should he want more information, can phone and we will provide him with that information.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont, QC

Mr. Speaker, this information was provided to me by the human resources development branch in my riding.

Why did the minister use me and my office to approve a project, when the $165,984 earmarked to create jobs in the riding of Rosemont went to Saint-Maurice, the Prime Minister's riding?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, again we are talking about thousands of projects.

As we said, if the hon. member would take the time to read the notes that accompany this information, it is possible that because we are using addresses of the organizations that received money, they may be in different ridings. Fundamentally we are talking about programs that have worked and they have worked in the ridings of members across the House.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Reform

Jim Hart Reform Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC

Mr. Speaker, since 1993 the finance minister has raised taxes on the average Canadian family by $5,000. Those tax dollars, hard earned, soaked in sweat tax dollars, were used to fund wasteful grants and contributions—

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

The Speaker

Order, please. The hon. member for Okanagan—Coquihalla.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Reform

Jim Hart Reform Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC

Mr. Speaker, since 1993 the finance minister has increased taxes on the average Canadian family by approximately $5,000. Those hard earned, soaked in sweat tax dollars were used to fund wasteful grants and contributions at HRDC.

My question for the Minister of Human Resources Development is simple. How much more money will you take from the pockets of Canadian families in order to fund wasteful contributions and grants?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

The Speaker

I remind members to please address their questions through the Chair.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member makes reference to wasteful contributions. In his own riding he received around $30 million.

Would he call it wasteful to help support the British Columbia Interior Independent Living Resource Centre? Would he call it wasteful that we supported the Canadian Mental Health Association? Would he call it wasteful that we supported the Day Break Adult Day Centre for people in need of crisis intervention?

Perhaps the hon. member would like to visit these projects and determine if indeed the money is wasted.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Reform

Jim Hart Reform Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC

Mr. Speaker, once again it is sad to see a minister of the crown who does not understand that $1 billion that is mismanaged in any riding is still mismanaged. The government should be accountable for that mismanagement.

I will ask the minister again, $3.2 billion of hard earned taxpayers' money went to the minister's department for grants and contributions. We now know it has been mismanaged. How much more has the minister asked the Minister of Finance to contribute to boondoggle grants and contributions? How much?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, it is six or seven years that we have been sitting in the House watching members of that party. Their definition of wasteful spending is money in the first mandate that went for health care. Their definition of wasteful spending is money that went for research and development, money that went for education. Their definition of wasteful spending is money that goes to help the fabric of Canadian society. It is no wonder they want to change their name.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the minister told us that we should contact her department if we needed information.

This is what the hon. member for Rosemont did. He contacted the department and was told that the money had been invested in the riding of Saint-Maurice.

We asked her department why, in the lists provided to us by the minister, the money is under the riding of Rosemont, when it was in fact spent in the riding of Saint-Maurice. We have no choice but to put the question to the minister, since her department cannot explain what happened.

I am asking the minister why the money is recorded as having been allocated to the riding of Rosemont, when it was spent in the riding of Saint-Maurice.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, I just want to repeat again that we have issued an unprecedented volume of information, 10,000 pages on 30,000 projects.

I will respond directly to the hon. member on this individual project. I ask him to take the time to look at the list, read the information that has been provided and look at the notes to the reader that explain in detail what this information is all about. Then perhaps we can have a reasonable conversation.

Gun ControlOral Question Period

February 23rd, 2000 / 2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Joe Jordan Liberal Leeds—Grenville, ON

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the Supreme Court of Canada heard an appeal of Alberta's firearms reference decision. Opponents of the registration system and their friends in the Reform Party allege that nobody but the government supports the Firearms Act.

Can the Minister of Justice please tell the House which groups intervened in support of this important public safety measure?

Gun ControlOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, again this week we saw the broad base support of Canadians everywhere for tough gun control laws and responsible gun use.

The following groups appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in support of Canada's gun control laws: the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police; the Coalition for Gun Control; the Alberta Association of Women's Shelters; CAVEAT; the Canadian Association for Adolescent Health; the cities of Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal; the Canadian Paediatric Association—

Gun ControlOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Surrey Central.

CidaOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Reform

Gurmant Grewal Reform Surrey Central, BC

Mr. Speaker, there is another department that bungled nearly a billion dollars of taxpayers' money. According to its own audit, CIDA had “no specific targets defined, little data collected, little evidence of analysis of progress reports”. It bungled almost a billion dollars in the same way the human resources department did.

How many more billion dollar bungles does the Prime Minister think taxpayers will tolerate?

CidaOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Beaches—East York Ontario

Liberal

Maria Minna LiberalMinister for International Cooperation

Mr. Speaker, it is nice for the hon. gentleman to mix about 30 or more audits all into one. Quite frankly we audit to improve the programs. That is how program evaluation and quality control is done. We monitor projects on an ongoing basis. Our revised monitoring process will be in place by April. No payments will be made to projects without supporting invoices. Most important, the auditor general audited $1 billion worth of grants and found that 97% of them were 100% right on.