Debates of Oct. 26th, 1994

Firearm Acquisition Certificate

[Sarkis Assadourian, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.

The fee for a firearm acquisition certificate is $50. However, the real cost of processing an FAC in metro Toronto is $180. What measures will the minister be taking to reduce the administrative costs of FACs in metro Toronto?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member has pointed out, the current fee is $50.

The actual cost to the police force for carrying out necessary investigations varies. It depends in part upon the exercise of the discretion of the investigating officers, the degree of risk.

It also depends sometimes on whether the investigations are being done in an urban or rural area because finding the referees in the urban area may be more difficult.

As the hon. member knows, the entire subject of firearms regulation is under review by the government at present. We are including in that review the process by which acquisition certificates are obtained. We will bear in mind the cost disparity to which the member has referred in completing our work on that subject.

Customs Brokers

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Revenue.

Effective January 16, a new guideline issued by Revenue Canada will require customs brokers to post bonds equal to 100 per cent of their monthly instalments to the government, whereas before the requirement was 35 per cent of the first $200,000 and 17.5 per cent of the next $1,800,000 up to a maximum bond of $2 million.

Can the Minister of National Revenue explain why he increased the bond required of customs brokers from 35 per cent to 100 per cent of their monthly instalments?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we take note of the member's question and will try to provide him with an answer as soon as possible.

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, could I also ask the minister to check why the maximum bond was set at $10 million when some importers pay the government monthly instalments of $250 million?

Is the minister aware that this policy may drive some smaller customs brokers into bankruptcy?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his comments. Rest assured that I will refer this question to the Minister of National Revenue.

Gun Control

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, underground dealers buy guns through street dealers in Detroit, bringing them back by the dozens every time they cross the border and then they sell them at immense profits at after hours clubs in Toronto.

On Monday this week the revenue minister assured this House that everything was under control; except the Hamilton Spectator says that 98 per cent of the guns that are seized are seized from unsuspecting U.S. citizens coming into Canada.

Why is the justice minister considering useless, ill conceived, unnecessary gun registration programs when guns continue to flow over the border?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague, the minister of revenue said earlier this week, we are preparing proposals to deal more effectively with firearms entering Canada illegally. In the package of proposals that the government will table before the end of the session in December dealing with firearms generally, we will deal specifically with the issue of firearms entering Canada illegally.

Before I leave the subject I must point out that border controls in terms of being careful with those taking firearms across the border in their cars are very important. A man named Johnathon Yeo was found by a coroner's jury to have done just that with very tragic consequences.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to registration the minister will know about project gun runner. Of the 17 guns purchased on the black market, only one came from a break-in. The rest were smuggled into Canada.

I have even heard it said that the minister said that 70 per cent of all criminal acts involving guns are committed with smuggled, illegal firearms.

I ask the minister again, why is he prepared to commit millions of dollars to a bogus registration program that would just harass law-abiding gun owners?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, for many years the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has been calling for the registration of all rifles and shotguns. It has been joined in that by the Canadian Police Association, health care workers, physicians. Hundreds of other associations across this country have been asking for registration of long arms. That is one the prospects we are considering as we assemble our proposals for gun regulation. If we do decide as a government to introduce it we will make clear the practical advantages we intend to achieve, including those identified by the police of this country.

Justice

[Warren Allmand, Liberal, Notre-Dame-De-Grâce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.

Recently the minister decided to consider the case of Patrick Kelly under article 690 of the Criminal Code, which allows the minister to order a new trial when a conviction is based on false evidence.

However, as the minister knows, there has been a lot of criticism of the 690 process, that the criteria are vague, it is secret, too long and not independent.

When will the minister act to meet these criticisms and reform the 690 process?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt that the 690 process as described by the hon. member can be improved. Equally, I am certain that the procedure now in place is capable of dealing fairly and fully with all of the applications that are pending.

Let me point out to the hon. member that we have already made improvements in the process during the last several months. I refer, for example, to the fact that in the case involving Colin Thatcher, which was dealt with by reasons given some months ago, I took the trouble to spell out the principles that governed the disposition of applications under 690 to remove some of the mystery the hon. member has referred to.

In cases that are pending I have brought in outside counsel where I felt it consistent with fairness. Finally, I am completing an inventory of all outstanding cases and establishing a timetable to get them all decided at the earliest possible date.

Railway Workers

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister and it has to do with remarks made recently by the Minister of Transport. The Deputy Prime Minister may be aware that the Prime Minister has been receiving letters asking for an apology from the Minister of Transport to railway workers.

I want to ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Prime Minister intends to ask the Minister of Transport to apologize to railway workers for referring to them as "a bunch of grade 8 and 9 graduates who can't be blamed for negotiating excessive collective agreements".

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

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member opposite, who has a long history in understanding the transportation industry, will know that the work of every single person in transportation, including the work of union workers across the country, is very important to the government. It is important to the Minister of Transport. That is why he has established a committee to look at what alternatives we can find to keep productive railway workers employed.

I know that is the position of the Prime Minister also.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

I would like to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Wayne Gaudet, Minister of Agriculture for Nova Scotia.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Point Of Order

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to correct yesterday's record of our proceedings with respect to an error that slipped into the simultaneous interpretation. I will take a minute or two to alert the Chair and the entire House.

At page 7181 in the French version of Hansard , the following sentence appears:

Le premier ministre a dit en même temps qu'on voulait procéder primordialement en coupant les dépenses, mais que, s'il fallait agir autrement,

And here are the words, Mr. Speaker:

on était prêt à le faire, parce que le but principal est d'éviter la vraie hausse de taxes qui est une augmentation des taux d'intérêt.

The English translation of Hansard -I will just repeat the last words-says:

-we were prepared to do so because the main objective is to avoid the burden of higher interest rates.

That is, of course, accurate. However, the transcript of the simultaneous interpretation overheard by all members of the House yesterday, including the members of the media, said, and again I quote the words: "Elsewhere we would do so because our main target is to avoid a true increase in taxes, including RRSPs".

Those words are not to be found in the French text. In fact it is an inaccurate simultaneous interpretation which bears bringing to the attention of all members of the House in the event that members or even the public may have received inaccurate information.

[The Speaker]

I would like to thank the hon. member.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that we have fully understood the correction being requested. We would like some time to examine the nature of the changes being requested by the government whip.

[The Speaker]

All that is involved is a point of order. Yes, you will have the time to examine it, and if you have anything to add, I will hear you.

Government Response To Petitions

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Secretary of State (Parliamentary Affairs) and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages the government's response to 58 petitions.

Committees Of The House

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the forty-third report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, concerning the associate membership of committees.

If the House agrees, I intend to move concurrence later today.

Unemployment Insurance Act

[Réginald Bélair, Liberal, Cochrane—Superior, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-286, an Act to amend the Unemployment Insurance Act (university studies after ten years of employment).

Mr. Speaker, a while ago, like the great majority of my colleagues here in the House, I was confronted with the fact that only workers who qualify for unemployment insurance were eligible to go to college. In my humble opinion, I think that discriminates against those who would like to go to university to learn a new trade. That is the purpose of my bill.

It is to extend the application of section 26 of the Unemployment Insurance Act to include full time university courses in addition to college and other training courses as part of the courses or programs designed to facilitate the re-entry of a claimant into the employed labour force.

I hope that all my colleagues in all parties will support this bill, because it is extremely important to give those who want to re-enter the labour market a chance.

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

Committees Of The House

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think there would be unanimous consent to dispense with the reading of the 43rd report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs concerning associate membership of committees.

If so, and the House gives its consent, I move that the 43rd report of the Standing Committee on Procedures and House Affairs presented to the House earlier this day be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to.)

Petitions

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions today. The first one is about reopening the post office in L'Anse-au-Griffon, a village in my riding.

The petition basically asks the government to reopen this post office. It says that the current Prime Minister wrote in a letter to Rural Dignity dated August 5, 1993-when he was the Leader of the Opposition-that a Liberal government would examine the possibility of reopening some post offices. This petition was certified as admissible by the House.