Debates of Jan. 24th, 1994

Commission On Environmental Co-Operation

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I want to take this opportunity to tell all the hon. members that the new federal government will use an innovative approach regarding decisions affecting commissions such as the ones which will be set up under NAFTA.

I announced, and in fact this week we signed a contract with a private company, with no politics involved, to review the applications submitted by 11 cities, including Montreal, Camrose, Edmonton, and several others, and I am very pleased to inform the hon. member, who is the critic on environmental issues, of that development.

For the first time in the history of a government, the selection will be made based on the environmental performance of those cities. I believe this a good approach and we expect to receive in the very near future the report of a consultant who will have reviewed the applications of all the cities, based on their environmental record and their infrastructures.

I know that Montreal is a strong candidate and will, along with all the others, be considered in a non-partisan fashion.

[Jean-Guy Chrétien, Bloc, Frontenac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary. By setting up such a committee, is the minister not weakening the commitment made by her own party during the last election campaign to make Montreal a major world centre for environmental technology?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that the hon. member shares my interest in this very cosmopolitan city and agrees that Montreal is truly an asset for all of Canada. This approach is very well received.

We have also promised to distance ourselves from the previous government in that we want to implement a process which is open, transparent, public, and objective and one which can be subjected to scrutiny.

I believe that Montrealers, like all Canadians, want a process free of politics, which is precisely what the federal government is providing.

Finance

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. It comes from Mr.

Raymond Watts of Surrey, British Columbia and has to do with the chronic inaccuracy of federal revenue estimates.

Allow me to quote Mr. Watts. "History shows that one of the first acts of any new government is to condemn the accounting practices of the previous government. This invariably leads to cries that the deficit is far worse than we thought it was".

Mr. Watts' question is: "Will the government pass into law a standard system of accounts that requires the federal government to issue revenue budgeted forecasts and annual reports in a standard format?"

[The Speaker]

The Chair is having a little difficulty with questions posed by persons other than members of Parliament. Hon. members are able to put any questions they want in this House. It would probably be better to have it as their question as opposed to someone else's. I will permit the minister to answer the question.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the concept, the philosophy behind the question is one that we on this side of the House, and I would think anybody interested in responsible administration, would share.

It is for that reason that when we took power, what we did in terms of the government's numbers, the deficit estimates at that time, was to follow the recommendations of the public accounts committee and the Auditor General which had not been followed by the previous government and come out with a set of numbers based on generally accepted accounting principles.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that I cannot put questions directly from the people in my constituency. However if that is your ruling-

On November 25, 1993 the Liberal government of Nova Scotia enacted a law which allows the Auditor General to review and report on the reasonableness of that government's revenue estimates. Would the government be supportive of such a law at the federal level?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, there is some merit in the suggestion and I am sure that we on this side of the House will look at it.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, that in line with the philosophy of the openness of Parliament and giving Parliament every chance what we really want to do is to make sure that the committees of Parliament have a very good shot, a far better shot than they ever had before, at looking at the estimates of the government.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in our gallery of His Excellency, Mr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, President of Haiti.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Privilege

[Bob Speller, Liberal, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to rise on a point of personal privilege and take exception to the comments made by the hon. member for Swift Current-Maple Creek-Assiniboia in his questions regarding free votes in this House.

This hon. member was suggesting that I as a member who chose to vote for my party was somehow not representing my constituents in Haldimand-Norfolk. I take exception to the tone of his question which suggested that all members on this side of the House, because we choose to support the policies of this government, are somehow not representing our constituents.

I want to assure the member that every time I vote it is a free vote. At the same time my constituents are being represented very well because before I vote I look at the issues very-

[The Speaker]

The hon. member probably has a point of debate and it is recorded.

Department Of National Revenue Act

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-2, an act to amend the Department of National Revenue Act and to amend certain other acts in consequence thereof.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Questions On The Order Paper

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I would request that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker]

Shall all questions stand?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

The House resumed consideration of the motion for an address to His Excellency the Governor General in reply to his Speech at the opening of the session; and of the amendment.

Speech From The Throne

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my speech began at 1.52 p.m. and was closed off at two o'clock. I would like two additional minutes to conclude my remarks before we have questions and comments, if I may.

[The Speaker]

All right. Finish off.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

As I was saying, I am pleased that we in this House will help to save another $5 million by doing our part. I am also in favour of reforming the MPs' pension plan.

Canadians are watching to see whether we are here to serve ourselves or our country. I believe we are on the right path.

What a thrill it is to be here to serve my country, Mr. Speaker, for I believe that politics is and must be about building a better Canada. In spite of all the challenges we face I still see Canada as a beacon to the world. I still see Canada as a country that shows the world how to live in peace and harmony. It is plain to see that right now the world needs the shining example that is Canada.

[Nic Leblanc, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member and I certainly have some comments and especially a few questions for him.

I listened to the speech of the Minister of the Environment, but as I did not have the opportunity to ask her a question, I will ask it of the hon. member who dealt with the same issue, that is the conflict between the Environmental Quality Act passed a few years ago in Quebec and the Canadian Environmental Protection Act passed a few months later. Because of the differences between the two acts, whenever an environmental assessment is required, we must make two, one for the Quebec government and one for Canada.

Here is another example. The top executives of Hydro-Quebec, who want to go ahead with the Grande-Baleine project, realized that they cannot bring to the same table Quebec and federal officials when discussing the environmental assessments to be made. I would therefore like to ask the hon. member whether he could seek from the Minister of the Environment amendments to the act to make it more flexible, so that environmental assessments could meet the needs of both acts, in order to help our companies to expand and go ahead faster with their projects? That way more jobs could be created in Quebec more rapidly.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this is obviously a question for the Minister of the Environment. I am not the minister but I am aware of many cases of provincial-federal overlap in legislation. There are many areas, for example, in Nova Scotia that we are concerned about. I am sure we would like to see legislation changed in both places. We know this government is committed to working with provincial governments to find ways to bring our systems together so that they work more reasonably and rationally and do not have the present overlap in legislation.

If the hon. member wishes to ask the minister the question in question period tomorrow, she would be happy to answer.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the hon. member for Halifax West. I too grew up in Halifax West and went to Halifax Municipal High School. I have relatives all through that area.

With regard to the infrastructure program, I would like to ask how much do you think the program will add to the economy of your area. Will it get people working-

[The Speaker]

Order. All questions should be directed through the Chair.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think I got my question across. I would like to find out how much employment the hon. member thinks this infrastructure program will actually add to long-term employment in Halifax West.