Debates of Feb. 28th, 2002

Aluminum Industry

[Claude Drouin, Liberal, Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, Economic Development Canada has invested $31 million in various projects, generating 728 jobs.

In addition, we were involved in the creation of the very first technological road map of the Canadian aluminum industry.

As well, in conjunction with NRC, we contributed to the creation of an aluminum technologies centre, an investment of close to $52 million, which will provide employment for 80 researchers, and encourage secondary and tertiary processing.

Banking Industry

[Lorne Nystrom, NDP, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. The CEO of the Toronto Dominion Bank had a salary last year of $14.3 million and the CEO of Scotiabank some $20.3 million, all of this at the expense of consumers who are being gouged by high service charges and high credit card rates. Now the banks are considering fees at ATM machines across the country.

On behalf of the people of the country, will the Minister of Finance call his close buddies at the big banks and tell them that enough is enough?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the government has encouraged the widespread use of low cost credit cards which are available. We are also monitoring, through the protection agency, the kinds of fees that the hon. member is referring to and we will continue to do it.

If I could add a supplementary to the questions asked earlier by the member for Winnipeg--Transcona, I have been in extensive discussions with the minister of finance for Manitoba. We are continuing discussions and are seeking to find a fair and just solution.

[Lorne Nystrom, NDP, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Back to the banks, Mr. Speaker. Further evidence that the consumer is being gouged is the CIBC report today that shows its revenue from retail banking, things like mortgages and credit cards, went up by 25% in the last year. Meanwhile non-retail revenue, things like corporate lending to Enron among other companies, actually went down. Consumers and bank workers are now subsidizing the CEOs.

In light of that, will the minister put his foot down and increase the capital gains tax on the excessive CEO stock options that are hurting the ordinary people of the country at the expense of Canadian citizens?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if I understand the hon. member's question, what he has said is that loans to corporations have gone down and that is true. One problem is investments by companies has gone down. However, as we have seen by consumer spending, there is an enormous amount of consumer confidence, which may well be the reason for the numbers the hon. member has given.

That is probably why we saw this morning that Canada in the last quarter had a growth rate of 2%, which is substantially higher than the United States. In fact, we are doing quite well.

Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, this morning there were serious allegations raised in La Presse about illegal use of immigration forms to run a human smuggling ring. This ring was first brought to the attention of the department last October. Maybe it takes three times for the minister to get the message because four months later there is still no action.

Has an investigation been started and who is in charge? The RCMP or immigration.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is incorrect to say we have not done anything. Since September 11, not only have we had a security agenda, but we in Immigration Canada have focused our efforts on measures that do indeed keep these smugglers out of this country. We have done our job. We will continue to do our job, and we are looking to the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, I disagree. I do not think they have done their job. The deputy minister of foreign affairs came to our committee and testified that he still did not have enough money to fund and fill the hundreds of vacancies for our foreign service. These are the people that are on the frontlines of our security efforts around the world and the first line for immigration, but they just are not there.

Now today's revelation indicates problems in another department right here at home, with a serious situation in immigration.

How long will Canadians have to wait for immigration to put their people in place to enforce our laws?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I totally disagree. First, I not only had the occasion to visit Paris and London, I also visited the Pearson and Dorval airports to ensure the frontline was working well. I can assure the House that not only are we doing what we have to do but security is also our number one priority on that level.

Airline Industry

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the $24 air tax that will be implemented to finance $2.2 billion in air security improvements, half of the $2.2 billion will be used to buy bomb detection equipment. The government is paying 100% of the equipment costs up front in cash. If the government amortized the cost of the equipment over the equipment's life time it could cut the air tax in half. Why will the government not do it?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government follows the accounting rules established for governments by the auditor general. I am sure the hon. member opposite would want us to follow the dictates of the auditor general. This is what we are doing under these circumstances.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, dentists, chiropractors and small business owners amortize these kinds of costs over the life of the equipment's use. The government should do the same thing and give taxpayers a break. There is a one year backlog in buying this new equipment. The new bomb detection equipment will have a life expectancy of over 15 years.

Why will the government not amortize the cost of that equipment, give taxpayers a break, save small and regional low cost carriers from going bankrupt in small communities, do Canadians a favour and be fiscally responsible?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the doctors, dentists and chiropractors are not government. The fact is government is bound by the rules established by the auditor general.

What I would suggest is that he might well want to talk to his colleague, the chairman of the public accounts committee. If they are prepared to announce a change in accounting, I am sure we would be prepared to look at it.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government intends to impose a tax on—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. It is impossible to hear the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot. There is too much noise in the House. The hon. member has the floor.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government intends to impose a tax on air transportation to finance airport security. Without any exception, all the stakeholders from the travel, tourism and transportation industry, not to mention those involved in regional development, expect devastating effects from such a tax.

Will the Minister of Finance get back into a better frame of mind and realize that he made a bad decision, an ill-advised decision, by imposing such a tax?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite is suggesting that it is taxpayers at large who should foot the bill. We feel it is the users and those who will benefit from the services who should pay. We intend to proceed with a comprehensive review in the fall, when we know the direct impact of this measure.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, will the minister realize that this is what he is doing right now?

He is making remote regions, the tourism industry and workers who are directly or indirectly connected to it and to air transportation pay. Such a tax will have a devastating impact. There is unanimity on this.

Will the minister realize that security concerns everyone, not just airline passengers and that, consequently, he could use a small portion of his huge surpluses to fund security?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member seems to ignore the fact that airlines will save $72 million. They can use these $72 million to lower airfares or take some other measure.

But the hon. member is saying that it is not users, but all taxpayers who should pay for this. Let us not forget that taxpayers are contributing in excess of $5 billion for national security. We are asking users to pay $2 billion.

Agriculture

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last year in the main estimates the budget of the department of agriculture was cut by $470 million. This year another $4 million has been cut from the agricultural budget.

Farmers have to deal with higher fuel and fertilizer costs, industry killing foreign subsidies, a major drought condition on the prairies and now they have to face a government that just does not care about them.

Will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food stand up for farmers instead of allowing the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to pull the financial rug out from underneath him?

[Larry McCormick, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the main supplements show that the amount of money for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is the same as last year, less $3.8 million. That is because of a sunsetting program to do with our dairy subsidies.

With regard to the weather, we certainly would all like more moisture in the west, but let us remind our farmers and our producers that again we have loans for our people, up to $50,000 for individual producers, interest free. I advise these people of this and ask them to take part in that program.

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I was asking about a government that does not care about them. I was not asking a question about the weather.

The numbers do not lie. They will be spending $80 million more on the propaganda agency. They will be spending $13,000 for every minister for their car and driver. They will be spending $9 million, believe it or not, on an Internet cultural content strategy. However the farmers will get $4 million less.

Does the minister of agriculture not think that the government's priorities are backward, that it has lots of money for spin and propaganda and no money to save the family farm?

[Larry McCormick, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the minister of agriculture is in Halifax today with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture along with people from the other parties. Certainly last year $3.7 billion was made available for family farms across this country.

I remind my hon. colleague that we will have programs of interest free money in the spring. We will again have programs of interest free money in the fall. This gives money available to farmers with no interest for up to 10 months every year.

Veterans Affairs

[David Pratt, Liberal, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week I was joined by the Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Minister of National Defence in a very special event involving one of my constituents, Mr. Charles Craib, who received his war medals after 57 years.

Could the Minister of Veterans Affairs tell the House what advice he has for other veterans who may be in a similar situation of having earned war medals but never having applied for them or never having received them?