Debates of May 19th, 2000

Taxation

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would appeal to the company, the employees and the management to look at federal budget 2000. In that budget we laid out a plan for a corporate tax reduction from 28% to 21%. For a small business we apply the 21% rate now up to $300,000 of taxable income.

When we look at small business tax rates they are the lowest in the G-7. Our general corporate tax rates are coming down to be competitive with the best and the lowest in the world.

Justice

[Bill Gilmour, Reform, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when I recently asked the justice minister her reasons for denying Patrick Kelly a new trial she stated “I concluded that there was no basis to seek a retrial”.

I find this an odd decision considering that, first, the key witness who convicted Kelly has admitted she lied during the trial, and second, in a split two to one decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, one judge concluded Kelly should have a new trial.

How can the minister conclude that there are no grounds for a new trial when either of these two points should trigger a new trial, let alone the two points taken together?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how the hon. member can suggest that a dissenting judgment from the Ontario Court of Appeal should trump the majority judgment in that case. It makes no sense to me whatsoever.

The Ontario Court of Appeal, at the request of my predecessor, reviewed the Patrick Kelly case thoroughly. I reviewed its decision and I reviewed submissions from Mr. Kelly and his lawyer. I have concluded that there is no evidence to justify a new trial or other form of judicial proceeding.

Housing

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today in Le Droit the housing coalition FRAPRU slammed the government for its complete lack of action on social housing. Six months ago the government made an announcement. Since that time not one unit of social housing has been constructed by the federal government.

How does the minister explain and reconcile that even her own party's report done 10 years ago on this issue has been abandoned just as homeless Canadians have been abandoned? Where is the housing to help homeless Canadians?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I am quite aware of the group in Montreal. We are having discussions with them at this time.

I want to assure the House and the Canadian people that I am responsible for the homeless. This government has put $753 million of new funding into the homeless situation. In the last year homeless groups in Montreal have received $4 million to put toward different community interests.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the point is that no housing has been built. People who live in social housing, low income residents who live in co-ops, are now threatened with economic eviction because CMHC has failed to address the situation of leaky co-op homes.

Will the minister responsible for CMHC ensure that CMHC officials meet with CHF delegates who are here in Ottawa this week to address the very real concerns of people who live in co-ops that are a federal responsibility? These people are facing a complete building failure because of the leaking problems. Will the minister ensure that the officials meet with the delegates? So far they have refused.

[Carolyn Parrish, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, first, CMHC officials not only meet with people who are advocates of social housing, they also fund a portion of many of these housing conferences. I was at one two week's ago in my own riding that was funded with $50,000 of CMHC funding. I think the member opposite should look into that before she makes such accusations.

CMHC is committed to public and private partnerships. It has built 15,000 units of very unique housing over the last several years. It will continue to do this. It is currently ensuring—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Cumberland—Colchester.

National Highways

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I just sent over a copy of the Department of Transport estimates for this year to the government side. In those estimates there is a line that says “contributions to provinces toward highway improvements”. Then, in the list of provinces, there is the province of Nova Scotia which gets $1.8 million. Then there is the Outaouais, which gets $4.7 million.

Could the minister explain to the people of Nova Scotia where is the province of Outaouais? Why do they get two and a half times as much money as the entire province of Nova Scotia for highway improvements?

[Stan Dromisky, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the critic from the opposition party is quite aware of the fact that over the years we have had a multitude of individual contracts on a regional basis between the federal and provincial governments. Many of those contracts have already expired. Some of them are still in existence. The question that he has raised pertains to that type of procedure for dealing with safety and efficiency features on our highways within our provinces.

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, if the parliamentary secretary flips over the pages I sent him and reads on to next year's estimates for contributions to the provinces, he will see that Nova Scotia falls off the page completely. It gets zero while the Outaouais gets a raise to $5 million.

How does the province of Outaouais get $9.7 million in the next two years when the province of Nova Scotia gets less than $2 million? Where is the fairness and what is the explanation to the people in Nova Scotia?

[Stan Dromisky, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated already, negotiations are going on. What is essential here is that a national highway policy emerge as quickly as possible with the co-operation of all the partners, which means that all the provincial governments must be willing to contribute and take a very active role in partnership with the federal government to develop a national highway system.

Agriculture

[Larry McCormick, Liberal, Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox And Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Canada first gained fame as a agriculture powerhouse through the development of marquis wheat in 1906. Science will be even important to ensure the agri-food sector remains competitive and is environmental sustainable.

What is the minister doing to foster new generation of top minds in agricultural research?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, as has been well known, this government and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has always supported the development of young scientists and programs, such as the science horizons program where over 200 young scientists are in internship programs. Another program is taking place today in London, Ontario where over 500 young students in grades seven to thirteen are being honoured. Some are being given financial rewards for a Canada-wide science fair.

We have done this in the past, we are doing it now and we will continue to do it in the future to encourage people to take up a career in the agriculture and agri-food industry.

Housing

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a regional disaster which is the size of the Quebec ice storm. The leaky condo problem in B.C. has brought economic gridlock. There are thousands of victims who are really hurting.

Will the government continue to record these victim bankruptcies instead of trying to cover up the problem by changing its computers? Will it actually put some money on the table, like RRSP and GST measures, to give real compensation for the faulty building code? Will it show compassion for victims, instead of stonewalling the cries for help? Will it pony up instead of covering-up?

[Carolyn Parrish, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the GST is a nationally based tax. It is collected from federal taxpayers right across the country.

The leaky condo problem is a faulty building code which is provincial and municipal. It is very difficult to take GST funds from the national taxpayer and pay it out for a mistake that is local in B.C.

As far as ponying up is concerned, we are facilitating second mortgages. We are making RRAP funds available and more flexible. We have offered $75 million in tax free loans to the Government of British Columbia but so far it has not been taken up.

Transgenic Seeds

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Trade.

Does he not find that all the press and television coverage on the problems caused by the Canadian canola seed, above and beyond any health risk—that not being what is at stake, but rather the reliability of Canadian products—is putting not only the producers, but Canada as well, under a cloud?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many times I have to say that this product has been through all of the testing that is done anywhere in the world to establish that it is safe to humans, to the environment and to animals. There are procedures available for the supplier to assure to the buyer that the requirements of the buyer are met. If that did not happen in this case, that is a business decision and a business arrangement between the buyer and the seller. It is possible to do and should have been done.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this week the president of the CBC announced a new look for English television news: a vision of times zones, not communities; a homogenized confederation. Is this the vision of Canada that the government wishes to portray through our most important cultural institution, or will the government actually start giving the whole $1 billion in funding to the CBC, like the Prime Minister suggests is taking place, which will allow the CBC to keep supper hour shows across Canada?

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, this week the president of the CBC appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which I believe offered a fairly faithful reflection of public opinion from one end of the country to the other.

He committed to passing the comments made to him at the meeting on to those attending the board meeting to be held shortly. It will be up to them to decide on what direction the CBC will take.

As far as the government is concerned, our funding is stable. We are committed to it, and it is our intention to continue that stable funding.

Ethiopia

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister is well aware of the devastating problems brought about by drought and famine in Ethiopia. We know that Canada has made its contribution.

Could the minister tell the House if Canada will be providing further aid to Ethiopia over and above what the Canadian government has done given the fact that the crisis is increasing daily? Perhaps he could tell us what Canada is doing to make sure that starving Ethiopians get the relief that they desperately need in a timely way.

[David Kilgour, Liberal, Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for raising that extremely important subject.

To date, Canada has given approximately $16 million. We know there is a catastrophe going on there and we intend to continue to play a role on behalf of all Canadian people.

Western Economic Diversification Agency

[Ian Murray, Liberal, Lanark—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Secretary of State for Western Economic Diversification.

It has been almost two years since the Western Economic Diversification Agency signed partnership agreements with the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Can the minister tell us why such an agreement has not been signed with British Columbia?

[Ronald J. Duhamel, Liberal, Secretary of State (Western Economic Diversification)(Francophonie)]

Mr. Speaker, the agreement was just signed today. There were difficulties with the previous administration but the new premier has shown an openness to do business. We are really pleased with that.

I also want to mention that there has already been significant activity in fuel cells, new media. Those kinds of results are not unlike what we have seen in the partnership agreements with the other provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba: leading edge science, high technology, $20 million from each level of government in each of the four provinces.

Justice

[Chuck Cadman, Reform, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, over a year ago I tabled a motion in the justice committee regarding home invasions, suggesting that it be made an aggravating factor at sentencing when robberies, et cetera, are committed at a residence when the victim is at home. The member for Winnipeg South referred to my initiative as silly and implied that I was playing politics.

This past week the Minister of Justice announced that she is considering this very thing. Is the minister just playing politics, and if not, then why did she not respond to my suggestion over a year ago?