Debates of Feb. 28th, 2002

Veterans Affairs

[Rey D. Pagtakhan, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, veterans who are entitled to service medals but have not received them may contact the Veterans Affairs Canada offices anywhere in Canada, as well as any veterans organizations. May I add to increase communication, we will be including this information in the upcoming issue of Salute , our new client newsletter.

May I commend the member for his initiative in helping his constituent secure this medal within a month of being made aware of the situation.

Canadian Wheat Board

[David Anderson, Canadian Alliance, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general tells us what western Canadian farmers already know and that is that the Canadian Wheat Board has serious management problems in its board of directors: it has performance problems; it has planning problems; and it has poor information management. If this happened in a business, heads would roll and changes would take place.

The minister responsible for the wheat board has had the report for some time. What is he doing to address, as the auditor general so delicately put it, “the significant deficiencies” found in the management systems and practices of the Canadian Wheat Board?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, obviously I expect the Canadian Wheat Board to issue a comprehensive response to the deficiencies identified by the auditor general. I would like to quote a very important passage in the auditor general's report. It states:

--the CWB has a solid reputation as a strong and capable marketer of high-quality grains. Its key strengths include good intelligence and market information, well-developed annual sales strategies and plans, competent and tough negotiators, and good relations with customers...

Foreign Affairs

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis-Et-Chutes-De-La-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as the elections approach in Zimbabwe, human rights violations are on the rise.

At the same time as foreign journalists and observers are being expelled, the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai is being accused of treason.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs confirm that the Prime Minister, who will be attending the Commonwealth meeting in Australia, will support Tony Blair and other members who are demanding immediate sanctions against President Mugabe's Zimbabwe?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member and the House that the Prime Minister is in contact, not only with Mr. Blair, but with other Commonwealth leaders, including African leaders. They are putting pressure to bear so that there will be elections in Zimbabwe that respect human rights in that country.

I assure the House that at the Commonwealth meeting in Australia, the Prime Minister will act for the good of the Commonwealth and for the good of the people of Zimbabwe.

Veterans Affairs

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the government intends to close the office of the Bureau of Pension Advocates in Calgary in March. The clients of this office include the military, the military veterans, the RCMP and their veterans, and their families. Veterans groups have not even been consulted.

In the case of the Calgary office, the size of the clientele is extremely large and it warrants and justifies continued service.

Could the Minister of Veterans Affairs advise the House how the closure of this office can be justified?

[Rey D. Pagtakhan, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Veterans Affairs Canada takes the issue of our veterans and their entitlement to pensions very seriously. We will see to it that there will always be pension advocate offices for them wherever possible .

Canadian Wheat Board

[David Anderson, Canadian Alliance, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general also stated in her report that the roles and responsibilities of the Canadian Wheat Board's directors and management were not clearly defined.

The Canadian Wheat Board minister claimed that he fixed everything in 1998 when he established a board that included ten elected and five appointed directors, but clearly this has not occurred and the audit proved it.

How can the Canadian Wheat Board minister claim that the elected directors are running the Canadian Wheat Board when they do not even know what their job is?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the legislation is very clear in establishing the responsibility of the directors in a modern corporate context. The process has been ongoing for the last several years in terms of the transition from the old governance structure to the new governance structure.

The audit from the auditor general has been helpful in defining the way ahead for the future. I fully expect the directors of the Canadian Wheat Board to file a complete and comprehensive response to the important comments that have been made by the auditor general. That is the directors' responsibility.

Games of La Francophonie

[Robert Lanctôt, Bloc, Châteauguay, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Quebec has already committed to $2 million for the infrastructure needed for the Games of La Francophonie, to be held in Rivière-du-Loup in the summer of 2002.

In the meantime, the federal government, whose idea these games were, has still not committed a single cent, despite promises to that effect by the Minister of Immigration, Secretary of State for Amateur Sport at the time.

Is the federal government finally going to announce its infrastructure contribution so that the Games of La Francophonie can be held in adequate sports facilities?

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Secretary of State (Amateur Sport) and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is proud to be contributing $900,000 towards the Games of La Francophonie.

We are proud to do so and we are pleased to see that the Province of Quebec is going to contribute towards infrastructure, but Sports Canada is not in a position to provide infrastructure funding.

Education

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has announced that he intends to change the GST act retroactively so that he does not have to repay 100% of the GST rebate paid by school boards on school bus services. The money that the finance minister wants to keep from the school boards should be going to teachers, textbooks and computers.

The federal court ruled against the minister. Why is he changing the law to get around the court decision and squeeze every last cent he can get out of the school boards?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, what has been done is a clarification of the act. The understanding has been very clear since the very beginning of what the intent of the act was and how it was to be applied. We understand that the bus sector of the school boards do receive a very substantial rebate. That rebate continues and in fact it is most deserved.

The Environment

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, a few years ago the St. John's weather office was closed and services were moved to Gander. Now the Gander services are being downgraded as a cost saving measure, according to officials.

Does the minister responsible realize the significance of this service to marine safety, storm tracking, air travel, et cetera? If so, what will he do about it since it affects the traveller, the tourist, the fisherman, the hunter and, in this case, even the baker?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of safety is foremost in our minds when we are dealing with climate and meteorological services. We are trying to establish the most efficient and effective system we can across the country.

I can assure the hon. member that no official has been authorized to make any statement with respect to changes at Gander because I have made no decision on whether there should be changes made in that or many other cities where we now have forecasting offices.

Airline Industry

[Jason Kenney, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government's new $2.2 billion tax on air travel will devastate air competition in this country. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates that the $24 return tax could reduce passenger loads by 6%. That is WestJet's profit margin gone.

The finance minister says that he will do a six month review. How can he guarantee us that it will not in fact be a six month post mortem on WestJet and air competition in Canada?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Alliance has consistently advocated user fees as opposed to tax increases. Why all of a sudden is it having a change of heart?

The fact is that of the $7.5 billion national security cost, the taxpayers of Canada are absorbing over $5 billion. We are asking those who benefit the most from air services to pay for those air services. We are prepared to review the situation again in the fall.

Business of the House

[Randy White, Canadian Alliance, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the government House leader about the business for this week and next week. I would also like to ask him to tell the House when the national sex offender registry legislation, which was committed to us by the solicitor general, will be tabled in the House.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, we will take up report stage of Bill C-49, the Budget Implementation Act, 2001. Next week is constituency week.

When we return on March 11 we will resume consideration of Bill C-49 dealing with budget implementation. I would note that in the week we return, Tuesday, March 12 and Thursday, March 14 shall be allotted days for the opposition.

With respect to the specific question raised by the House leader for the opposition party, I will of course consult with the solicitor general and provide what information I can.

Points of Order

[Leon Benoit, Canadian Alliance, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my point of order arises out of a decision you made in question period to rule my question out of order.

Mr. Speaker, I hold you in high esteem and I have a great deal of respect for you. You have served the House extremely well. However I would like to ask you to review the decision you made on my question based on the following information.

In the committee, which is dealing with whether the minister deliberately misled the House, the chair has said again and again that the issue before committee is whether the minister deliberately misled the House. It is not whether he misled the House. The minister has in fact admitted that in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I would like you to review the mandate given to the committee and review the question that I asked today. I deliberately stayed away from saying that the minister had deliberately misled the House. If after that review you find that my question was in order, could you give me an opportunity to ask my question again next Thursday?

[The Speaker]

He can ask it next Thursday to his heart's content but I am afraid we will not be sitting so it will be tough doing it here.

I hold the hon. member in very high esteem too. I do not like to rule questions out of order but I have made it fairly clear in other rulings on this subject, and I have had a couple of them. I gave a caution on one and I ruled the other one out of order, I believe, on this subject in earlier question periods.

When a matter is referred to a committee and the committee has the matter under consideration, our rules are quite clear. I could cite Marleau and Montpetit once again on this point to relieve the hon. member's mind, but I will find that and bring it out to him later if he would like to see it.

Questions about what the committee is studying are not in order. He may have an argument whether the committee is studying deliberately misleading, misleading or whatever, but the statements that the Minister of National Defence made in the House were referred to the committee for its study. The matter is before the committee.

In the preamble of the question, the hon. member cited the minister's statements in the House. His question was based on those statements. Those statements have been referred to the committee and are being studied by the committee. In my view, questions on that subject while the matter is before the committee are out of order.

I have no doubt that the committee will, in due course, submit a report to the House on this matter. Once that report is submitted there is no doubt in my mind that the hon. member's question would be in order. However at the moment it is not and that is the problem.

I will review the matter with care and if I come to a different conclusion, naturally I will invite the hon. member to take his place in the House and ask the question again. The Chair was fairly careful in listening to the hon. member and I felt that the ruling at the time was appropriate in the circumstances given the position I took on this matter previously.

I very much appreciate the hon. member's support and his co-operation with the Chair.

Committees of the House

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I think you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development be authorized to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, from March 12 to 16 in relation to an upcoming conference presented by Globe 2002 entitled Globalizing Business...World Marketplace for Environmental Solutions.

[The Speaker]

Does the hon. parliamentary secretary have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?