Debates of Nov. 19th, 2004
House of Commons Hansard #28 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was first.
Topics
- Department of Canadian Heritage Act
- Family Physicians of Canada
- Riding of Cambridge
- Governor General's Literary Awards
- Wharf Maintenance
- Museum for Human Rights
- Hiv-Aids
- Centre de la petite enfance Patachou
- Les Professeurs Pour La Liberté
- Sir Frederick Banting
- Identity Theft
- India
- Transgender and Transsexual Day of Remembrance
- John Morgan
- Arthabaska Red Cross
- The Senate
- National Child Day
- Citizenship and Immigration
- The Environment
- Taxation
- Office of the Auditor General
- Citizenship and Immigration
- The Environment
- Cultural Diversity
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Office of the Auditor General
- Anti-Personnel Land Mines
- Office of the Auditor General
- Child Benefit Supplement
- Whistleblower Legislation
- Fisheries
- Agriculture
- Aerospace Industry
- Canadian International Development Agency
- The Environment
- Canada Border Services Agency
- Agriculture and Agri-food
- Canadian Heritage
- Citizenship and Immigration
- Government Response to Petitions
- Interparliamentary Delegations
- Committees of the House
- Canada Elections Act
- Criminal Code
- Committees of the House
- Petitions
- Questions on The Order Paper
- Department of Canadian Heritage Act
- First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act
Anti-Personnel Land Mines
Oral Question Period
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
Lloyd St. Amand Brant, ON
Mr. Speaker, on December 3, 1997, Canada led the world as the first government to sign, and this House ratified, the mine ban treaty, or Ottawa convention.
To date, 152 countries have agreed to ban anti-personnel mines. Sixty-two million stockpiled anti-personnel mines have been destroyed.
Working with national governments, the International Red Cross, UNICEF, Mines Action Canada and other dedicated organizations--
Anti-Personnel Land Mines
Oral Question Period
11:40 a.m.
The Deputy Speaker
The hon. Minister of International Cooperation.
Anti-Personnel Land Mines
Oral Question Period
11:40 a.m.
Barrie
Ontario
Liberal
Aileen Carroll Minister of International Cooperation
Mr. Speaker, next week's Nairobi's summit marks the halfway point between the treaty's entry into force and the deadline for the first countries to clear their minefields.
At the summit, world leaders, international NGOs, youth activists and my own parliamentary secretary will measure progress to keep this issue on the international agenda.
Canada and many members of the House have been actively involved in the action plan for the implementation of the Ottawa treaty because mine action is a precondition for poverty reduction.
Office of the Auditor General
Oral Question Period
11:40 a.m.
NDP
Jean Crowder Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, clearly the President of the Treasury Board has a problem with strong women. On Wednesday, some hon. members heard him refer to a woman MP as a sweetheart. Now he has followed through on his relentless attacks on the Auditor General and cut her budget.
I ask the President of the Treasury Board to stand in his place and restore the funding to the Auditor General, because Canadians trust this strong woman, not his strong-arm tactics.
Office of the Auditor General
Oral Question Period
11:40 a.m.
Winnipeg South
Manitoba
Liberal
Reg Alcock President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, being new to the House, the hon. member may not be aware of the work that was done by the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in the previous session, prior to my becoming a minister, in which we worked with the Auditor General to solve this very problem.
I am in fact one of her champions. I have huge respect for the Auditor General. I believe she has been bringing forward for some time a very important issue and we are addressing it.
However I would remind members that she is an officer of this House and this House has to get engaged in this question. It is not a question for the government. It is a question for the Auditor General in her--
Office of the Auditor General
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
The Deputy Speaker
The hon. member for Sault Ste. Marie.
Child Benefit Supplement
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Tony Martin Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, low income parents in Ontario announced that they will take the Government of Canada and their province to court because families on social assistance are being deprived of a benefit intended to reduce child poverty. The clawback of the national child benefit supplement robs from the poor under the guise of promised reinvestment in other programs to help the poor.
My question is for the Minister of Social Development. With New Brunswick not clawing back, Manitoba stopping and Ontario reviewing, will the federal government do the right thing and revamp the program in order to put the money in the hands of the people for whom it was intended?
Child Benefit Supplement
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
Trinity—Spadina
Ontario
Liberal
Tony Ianno Minister of State (Families and Caregivers)
Mr. Speaker, this government cares deeply about solving child poverty. It continues to work with the provinces and other stakeholders to ensure that all children have the quality of life we believe in. We put into the child tax benefit $2.4 billion a year, and it is growing. In the year 2007-08, up to $10 billion total. We continue investing in the homelessness to ensure that children with families that are living in poverty continue to have affordable housing with the $1.6 billion we put in. There are many other measures we continue adding.
Whistleblower Legislation
Oral Question Period
November 19th, 2004 / 11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-11 will enable the government to cover up scandals like the sponsorship scandal. The minister cleverly claims to be protecting people making complaints, but the Information Commissioner refutes this. Elsewhere in the bill, the statement is made that honest informants will not be protected.
Will the minister admit that the purpose of this bill is not to protect honest public servants, but to support a corrupt government?
Whistleblower Legislation
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
Winnipeg South
Manitoba
Liberal
Reg Alcock President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, I do wish members would take the time to read the testimony and the reports.
The reality is that this clause was put into the bill as a result of concerns expressed in the debate over the previous bill. It grants to this investigative body exactly the same investigative protections that are enjoyed by the RCMP and other parliamentary officers.
The assertion is akin to saying that if the RCMP holds its files confidential, which it does, then it cannot act on them. It is utter nonsense.
Now, there is a debate here that is a legitimate policy debate, which is why the bill is before the committee at first reading. The committee will have the ability to--
Whistleblower Legislation
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
The Deputy Speaker
The hon. member for Stormont--Dundas--South Glengarry.
Whistleblower Legislation
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-11 would allow the government to cover up corruption like the sponsorship scam.
The minister says that this would protect the identities of whistleblowers but the information commissioner plainly states that “there is no merit to the government's argument”. In fact other sections of the bill say explicitly that the confidentialities of whistleblowers will not be guaranteed.
Why will the minister not just admit that this bill is all about protecting the corrupt government, not honest public servants?
Whistleblower Legislation
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
Winnipeg South
Manitoba
Liberal
Reg Alcock President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, this is an enormously important issue and I think it is absolutely irresponsible for them to continue to come forward when the government tries to protect the employees at their request. The reality is that the protections offered here are exactly the same as the protections that are offered the information gathered by the other parliamentary officers who are not subject to access to information, and by the specific exclusions to investigative bodies. It is no different.
It is the magic of the minority. We will all be responsible for the decisions that come out of this. This is to address exposure, not to conceal it.
Fisheries
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Loyola Hearn St. John's South, NL
Mr. Speaker, recently, at a United Nations meeting, Canada was one of the sponsors of a resolution recommending action be taken on destructive fishing practices, including bottom trawling. This was done without any consultation with industry and without the minister's officials being aware of the key components.
While such a ban could be tolerated in certain sensitive areas, this one could be interpreted very broadly.
Why would Canada and the minister support a resolution that could have a disastrous effect on several of our fisheries, including the shrimp fishery?
Fisheries
Oral Question Period
11:45 a.m.
Halifax West
Nova Scotia
Liberal
Geoff Regan Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
First of all, Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague should know that the resolution is a non-binding resolution, and as a matter of fact, it talks about sensitive areas.
Let me tell him what I said in my address to the UN General Assembly earlier this week when I made our position on bottom trawling very clear. I said that “Canada's position is that no specific gear type is inherently destructive”, depending on how it is used. I said, “From experience we know that all gear types can have negative impacts”. He should know this.