House of Commons Hansard #112 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was gst.

Topics

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)

All those opposed will please say nay.

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And more than five members having risen:

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)

Pursuant to the order made earlier today, the division stands deferred until Tuesday, June 13, at 5:15 p.m.

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario

Liberal

Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Pursuant to the order made earlier this day, I move:

That the House do now adjourn.

Parliament Of Canada ActGovernment Orders

10:10 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)

Agreed and so ordered.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Parliament Of Canada ActAdjournment Proceedings

10:15 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago during question period I had the opportunity to address a question to the Minister of Health. It concerned a newspaper report that evidence had been conclusively found that the tobacco industry was explicitly targeting our youth in terms of marketing and sales of tobacco products.

When I became a member of parliament I asked to be put on the health committee because of my interests from my prior work. One of the first issues we dealt with on the health committee was tobacco related products and some of the health concerns Canadians have.

We went through extensive hearings. Experts from all across North America came before us. Evidence was presented of some of the things being done. For instance in the United States young people were being invited to rock concerts but the admission was two empty packages of cigarettes. There was also evidence that there was advertising in children's comic books for cigarettes and anecdotal evidence that scantily clad women went to schools to hand out cigarettes to students, somehow to glamorize or to draw attention to tobacco.

There has been no question for a very long time that the tobacco industry has recognized that if a person does not start smoking by age 19, it is very unlikely that person will ever be a smoker in adulthood. Knowing that fact, it has been very clear to health care advocates that children, our youth, are the ones being targeted by the tobacco industry to try and sustain tobacco sales. It was no surprise to find out that there is hard evidence that this is the marketing strategy for the tobacco industry.

On Friday, June 9 there was a Senate hearing on a Senate bill dealing with increasing the price of tobacco with the additional resources to be made available for use cessation programs et cetera. It was interesting to find that the tobacco industry mysteriously has come on side after all that has gone on, and Canadians will know how much has gone on with regard to the tobacco industry.

Now we have a situation where everyone knows that is exactly what has been happening. There is no debate. There is no question.

I raised the issue with the minister and I raise it again tonight. I think it is important that Canadians know that there is going to be a concerted effort to communicate with Canadian youth. This issue is not a surprise to us. Obviously Health Canada has been working on this for some time.

I wanted to raise the question again tonight with the parliamentary secretary. Could he help us to understand better how committed Health Canada is to addressing the issue of youth smoking? Maybe he could share with us a couple of the ideas or strategies we have to ensure that we will not have a false start on a very important health initiative.

Parliament Of Canada ActAdjournment Proceedings

10:15 p.m.

Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies Québec

Liberal

Yvon Charbonneau LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin my remarks by pointing out to our colleague from Mississauga South that Health Canada made a commitment to work with the provinces and territories, with health care professionals, young people and other key partners to prevent and reduce tobacco smoking in Canada, especially among young people.

We now have solid proof, taken from tobacco industry documents, that the industry's promotional activities were directed at young people, among others.

The federal government's current initiative against smoking is a co-ordinated national strategy worth $100 million over several years and involving legislative, regulatory, statutory, preventive, anti smoking, protective and public education activities. Young people are the primary target of this national initiative.

Health Canada made every possible effort to capture the imagination of young people and make wise use of the enormous influence of peers to help change young people's behaviour. The national advertising campaign really connected with young people.

The ads put together by young people clearly showed the toxic nature of nicotine, which creates a dependency and has serious consequences on health, including the loss of life.

In 1999 Health Canada established a youth advisory committee to advise Health Canada on realistic and effective approaches to reduce youth smoking, empowering youth to return to their own communities to initiate and participate in tobacco control activities.

Furthermore, Health Canada has made available on its website the quit for life teen cessation program. By addressing their unique needs and issues, it provides teens with useful information and tools to help them quit.

Over the past year, Health Canada developed new labelling regulations that were just recently adopted. The new labels include graphic pictures, warnings about health and also information inserts. These labels were largely tested with young people to ensure they have the expected impact.

A key element of any comprehensive tobacco control strategy is price. Health Canada is committed to working with the Department of Finance and others to increase tobacco taxes as a means of reducing tobacco use in Canada.

In conclusion, we must continue to work together to protect young Canadians from this threat.

Parliament Of Canada ActAdjournment Proceedings

10:20 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Bill Casey Progressive Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS

Mr. Speaker, I rise to follow up on a question put to the Minister of Transport on May 30. I reflected on some words the minister used in a committee meeting that afternoon which put into question the future of the airports in New Brunswick, Saint John airport, Fredericton airport and Moncton airport.

All three airports are having a difficult time maintaining viability because of a convergence of two government policies. One is the divestiture policy which divested the Department of Transport of these three airports and put responsibility for them to the communities. The other one is the merger of the airlines. These two policies are starting to cause a great deal of difficulty for the airports.

In his comments the minister seemed to indicate that the future of these airports was at question. When I asked him about this he did not do anything to alleviate anyone's concern. He said the marketplace will determine which local airport authorities and which airports have the best means of serving the public.

He went on to say that in reference to airports in New Brunswick, the people of New Brunswick will make accommodations and sacrifices in the same way they do in Ontario in using their airports. He then went on to say there is no pretence at all that those airports should disappear. The question is not whether they should disappear. The question is will they survive?

Will the Department of Transport and the Minister of Transport ensure that these three longstanding airports survive and are viable, and continue to serve the people in the communities of Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton? Will the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport absolutely ensure the survival and prosperity of the airports in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton?

Parliament Of Canada ActAdjournment Proceedings

10:20 p.m.

Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies Québec

Liberal

Yvon Charbonneau LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, I would like to tell our colleague from Cumberland—Colchester that Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton airports in New Brunswick are part of the national system of airports established with the announcement of the national airports policy in 1994.

This system consists of 26 airports, which handle approximately 94% of all passenger traffic and connect the country from coast to coast.

The federal government promised to ensure the continued operation of airports in this system. To that end, the federal government has retained ownership of 22 of the 26 airports in the national system of airports, which were transferred to local interests under 60-year leases.

The same long term lease will be used to transfer the four remaining national airports system airports, including Fredericton, which the federal government continues to operate as part of the national system.

The Department of Transport is administering these leases in consultation with the various airport operators. This will ensure the national airport system operates effectively and remains a vital effective component of the transportation infrastructure in this country.

The transfer of control over airports in the national airport system to local interests will also make it possible for decisions taken by airport operators to reflect the interests and priorities of the areas they serve, in addition to the fact that these airports will continue to belong to the national system.

These airports are thus making a very important contribution to the prosperity of the areas served.

Parliament Of Canada ActAdjournment Proceedings

10:20 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 10.25 p.m.)