Debates of Oct. 28th, 1994

Copyright

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It is becoming more and more obvious that the delay in tabling the long-awaited bill on Phase II of the copyright law reform is attributable to the inability of the heritage minister to agree with his colleague, the industry minister, on the scope of the recognition of neighbouring rights.

Will the minister recognize that his industry colleague and himself hold completely opposite views on this issue and that his weakness and lack of credibility could well put him at a disadvantage vis-a-vis his colleague who is prepared to defend the interests of industry at the expense of creative artists?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to this question because it is based on a fundamentally incorrect premise, which is that the Minister of Canadian Heritage and I have some kind of disagreement over this issue.

The reality is that we have been working very closely together. We are ad idem on this. We intend to bring forward proposals to our cabinet colleagues in the very near future with respect to phase two of the copyright laws and we expect to see it enacted into law in the very near future.

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have another question for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Will the minister confirm that the economic studies carried out by his department on neighbouring rights are complete? And for the sake of transparency, as he was saying a minute ago, can he tell us when exactly he intends to release these studies?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I will make a decision after having completed my own analysis to determine whether they make a major contribution to the issue.

Crtc

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage wrote a letter to the CRTC supporting the Daniilidis application on March 15. On March 29 the minister received a letter from the CRTC thanking him for, and I quote the secretary general of the CRTC: "Your letter of support for the application by Telemedia". The minister stated yesterday that having received the CRTC's letter he reacted quickly to remove the misunderstanding that had arisen.

The minister took six months to respond to this letter from the CRTC. For six months the CRTC was under the impression the minister was endorsing the Telemedia proposal.

Does the Minister of Canadian Heritage consider his six month delay in responding to the CRTC a quick and efficient response to a matter of such importance and urgency?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I made a statement in the House yesterday which fully covers the point raised by my colleague.

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this minister has compromised the integrity of every member in the House. The minister's intervention has now tainted-

[Some hon. members]

No, no.

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Speak for yourself.

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

The minister's intervention has now tainted the CRTC decision regarding CHOM and Telemedia. In fact, both applications have been denied. How can the minister deny that his intervention did not influence both decisions?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, our colleague does not seem to understand there has been no intervention. This was the subject of the discussion yesterday.

Air Transportation

[Philippe Paré, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Transport.

According to a Transport Canada inspection report, there were major irregularities in the maintenance control system for aircraft owned by Royal Aviation Inc. The report even mentions that Royal operated aircraft that would not have received an airworthiness certificate if they had been inspected at the time.

What explanation does the minister have for the fact that an air carrier can operate aircraft without an adequate maintenance control program, and what does he intend to do to ensure passenger safety?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the issue raised by the hon. member is a very important one. The Department of Transport is responsible for ensuring passenger safety in all public transportation, and I can assure the hon. member that I will look into the situation he described, because we cannot afford to leave any doubt as to the quality of the inspections that are made and the carrier's responsibility to know and abide by all the regulations issued by my department.

[Philippe Paré, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, would the minister agree that stricter control measures such as surprise inspections and monitoring carriers that are at risk are necessary in order to guarantee passenger safety?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more. We all know that the Government of Canada and especially the Minister of Transport have a fiduciary responsibility with respect to safety. I can assure the hon. member and the travelling public that everything has been done to ensure that safety. If there are any deficiencies in the control system at the present time, we will look into it and act in the best interests of Canadians who use public transportation.

The Arctic

[Gordon Kirkby, Liberal, Prince Albert—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It concerns Canada's circumpolar arctic region. This area contains rich natural resources and extremely fragile but vitally important ecosystems which can potentially affect the global climate.

Furthermore, this arctic region is home to and provides an important economic base for many of Canada's aboriginal peoples. Will the parliamentary secretary please tell the House what the government is doing to safeguard Canada's interests in the Arctic.

[Jesse Flis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it has been part of this government's platform to safeguard Canadian interests in the Arctic. The House will be very pleased to know that the government has fulfilled that mandate by appointing Mary Simon as circumpolar ambassador.

She is the first Inuk to hold an ambassadorial position and will begin on Monday, October 31. This government is also supporting what the committee heard from many witnesses across Canada, the establishment of an arctic council to protect the interests of the aboriginal people, of the environment, et cetera.

The government is committed to supporting such an Arctic council. We are also very interested in preventing other nuclear spills and in protecting the environment.

I knew the members would be very interested in the government's commitment to protecting the Arctic and especially the indigenous people in that part of the world.

Crtc

[Hugh Hanrahan, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the minister of heritage sent a letter to the CRTC that may have influenced the process of an arm's length quasi-judicial body under his jurisdiction. He has admitted this is improper.

Can the minister tell the House how he should properly communicate with the CRTC?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to remind our colleague that I said quite clearly that my letter to the CRTC is not intended to convey support for or opposition to the application.

I think this is clear. This statement was made as soon as I had evidence that there was misinterpretation of my original letter. I will be very careful in the future to make sure that whatever I state leads to no misunderstanding.

[Hugh Hanrahan, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am not quite sure if my question was answered. It is very hard to find it in that discourse. I would follow with a supplementary.

Was the Minister of Canadian Heritage ever advised by the Prime Minister on the proper procedure for communicating with the CRTC?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister explained earlier the rules both with regard to the legal system and the regulatory system and what he intends to do.

Tourism

[André Caron, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

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

During his trip to Vancouver, the Prime Minister announced his government's strategy on tourism. Using the excuse of a need to co-ordinate the activities of all stakeholders in this area, the federal government is preparing to interfere once again in a field already well under provincial jurisdiction.

Does the minister not realize that by creating a Canadian commission on tourism with the mandate of promoting, within Canada and abroad, our country as a tourist destination, he is creating a new source of costly overlap?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to explain to the hon. member that in addition to the obvious benefits of tourism in the job creation front, one of the key components of this strategy is to address the very significant part that the tourism account deficit plays in our current account deficit which is about $30 billion a year and represents in effect the amount we have to borrow from foreigners every year.

To displace Canadians going offshore is as valuable to our current account deficit as it is to attract foreigners to Canada. Therefore by promoting Canada to Canadians we are also solving our fundamental issue.

It is not a duplication. It is an opportunity for us to ensure that all Canadians understand what a wonderful and rich country they share.

[André Caron, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the purpose is to make all Canadians aware of the magnificent beauty of their country.

In that context, is the Minister of Industry willing to admit that the true reason Ottawa is trying to gain control over tourism promotion within Canada is to use it as a tool for promoting Canadian unity in preparation for the upcoming referendum in Quebec?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, this is really a rather silly question because the way the Prime Minister has announced the formation of the commission is that it is going to be on a co-operative basis. We expect and hope to have the co-operation both of provincial governments as well as the private sector in the establishment of the Canadian tourism commission.

Decisions on the expenditures of the promotion account-because this is entirely intended to encourage demand for tourism-are going to be collective decisions. If people in the Government of Quebec do not wish to participate that is up to them. However I suspect that representatives of the Quebec tourism industry will see the promotion of tourism in the province of Quebec as a real asset for their industry and for their province in creating jobs in the province of Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.