House of Commons Hansard #102 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebec.
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, it is quite a simple matter.
The hon. member is taking the position of his transport critic who said: "There is nothing wrong with the Pearson deal". That is what the member of the Reform Party who represents their position on transportation matters said: "There is nothing wrong with the Pearson deal". Anybody over there who believes that will never understand anything I tell them about the Pearson deal.
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, at the Acadian World Congress, the heritage minister announced that the Cabinet had just approved an overall policy on the development of francophone and Acadian communities. However, what was announced is nothing more than the minister's usual commitment to fulfil his own obligations. Unfortunately, the minister did not put in place a real comprehensive policy for developing the francophone community.
While the heritage minister is wasting time on the merits of his action plan, francophones' rights continue to be flouted. How does he account for the systematic obstruction of Ontario francophones' educational rights as is the case in Kingston and Longlac?
Michel Dupuy LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, first of all, the heritage minister is not stalling anything. The previous government, a Conservative government, had commitments under the Official Languages Act that it never honoured. So how could a government that respects minorities and takes all necessary steps to enforce the law be accused of stalling? If that is what you accuse it of, I do not understand your language at all.
Of course, some provincial governments do not behave like the federal government. They have responsibilities to those they must serve, particularly in the field of education. I am very interested to hear the Bloc ask a question in which it wants the federal government to get involved in the field of education. Now I have heard it all!
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, does the minister not agree that the tremendous difficulties experienced by francophone communities throughout Canada clearly show that the federal government's actions have not done anything so far to protect them?
Michel Dupuy LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, we heard an opinion which is not necessarily shared by the communities I serve. But I see that my colleague wants to portray himself as a great soul and I would be happy to give him food for thought by quoting my grandfather, a native of Sainte-Flore: "God, in His wisdom, made the soul invisible so that no one would know who has a soul and who does not".
Development Of Francophone CommunityOral Question Period
The Speaker
I will not enter this debate.
Randy White Reform Fraser Valley West, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister criticized us for using 1-900 numbers to solicit the opinions of Canadian people. I heard that a little while ago.
Now what I find is that the Liberals are paying for 1-900 numbers on the backs of the taxpayers and they do not even know it. An internal document from a federal institution, of course, shows mostly unauthorized long distance charges of 111 hours in one month alone in this institution.
My question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Since some of the calls were to 1-900 numbers, is it not a double standard for the Liberals, for the whole government, to criticize Canadian citizens for taking part in an exercise in democracy when their own people are dialling the latest fishing news and the latest dating services to 1-900 numbers at taxpayers' expense?
1-900 NumbersOral Question Period
The Speaker
The Chair is having some difficulty. I presume the question is directed to a department of the government. If that is the case, I will permit the Deputy Prime Minister to answer if she so wishes.
Sheila Copps LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I understand from the implication of the member's question that employees of the Government of Canada have been wrongfully dialling 1-900 numbers that we are supposed to be paying for.
Obviously as a taxpayer and as a representative of the Government of Canada I do not want our employees dialling numbers for which the public is paying, quite clearly.
Randy White Reform Fraser Valley West, BC
Mr. Speaker, that is refreshing. Nevertheless it is being done. This example of spending money is so typical of the government. It would be funny if it were not so pathetic.
The case I am referring to is taking place in a federal prison. I might as well ask the Solicitor General about it. Is it government policy to allow only prison officials to phone same sex dating services at taxpayers' expense or are the prisoners also allowed to reach out and touch someone?
Herb Gray LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I will check to see if the prison officials monitor all those outgoing calls.
In the meantime, perhaps on another occasion the hon. member can tell me why he is so fascinated by this subject.
Paddy Torsney Liberal Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Secretary of State for International Financial Institutions.
In the red book the Liberal Party addressed the need for small businesses to have access to capital to allow entrepreneurs to make the transition from innovative ideas to actual production.
In Burlington small businesses create many jobs and have the potential to create even more if they could get financing.
What initiatives will the government take to create access to capital for small businesses?
Small BusinessesOral Question Period
Winnipeg North Centre Manitoba
Liberal
David Walker LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Burlington for that question because I think it concerns every member of the House as to the future of small business.
We have undertaken several initiatives in the last nine months which will become public in the next few weeks. Everyone will see the hard work that has been done. For example, the Department of Industry and the Department of Finance have been working through a private business community group to come up with a number of suggestions for financing. The House of Commons committee on industry will have its report out in the next few weeks on the future of financing those small businesses.
The government has been working very hard to convince the banks to make their lending procedures with small businesses more transparent. We expect to see a new code of conduct become public.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Following the closure of military bases, Maritime provinces lost 3,000 jobs but received $20 million from the federal government to diversify their economy.
In Quebec, 1,000 jobs were lost through the same cuts, but the province only received $200,000 to cope with the situation. How can the Deputy Prime Minister explain such unfair treatment to Quebec, considering the compensation made to Maritime provinces following the closure of military bases?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member does not have his facts straight. There was an equitable distribution of mitigation moneys.
Leading up to the budget earlier this year on February 22, I said that there would be no mitigating measures the likes of Summerside and GST centres replacing lost economic activity at military bases. There were some moneys available, about $50-odd million that defence made available on a regional basis to the ministers concerned: western diversification, FORD-Q, minister of industry for Ontario and the minister of government services for the maritimes. There was an equitable distribution of those moneys.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, on top of setting up the Peacekeeping Training Centre in Cornwallis, the federal government allocated $7.5 million to diversify the economy of that community. Why such a double standard, since the government still refuses to compensate the city of Saint-Jean for the closure of its military college?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, again the hon. member has his facts wrong because my colleague, the minister of intergovernmental services, negotiated an agreement with the former Government of Quebec dealing with the transition of the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean. It is a provincial institution whereby certain language instruction and military activity would continue. That costs money. I believe that most of the money we allocated to FORD-Q under the
auspices of the mitigation program went for that particular settlement.
Even saying that, I should remind the hon. member that the share of military spending in Quebec actually increased from 19 per cent to 22 per cent as a result of the budget because everywhere else in the country was hit even worse.
Jack Frazer Reform Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, responding last week to questions about mismanagement in the defence department, the parliamentary secretary stated there had been no wrongdoing.
Almost every page of the Lagueux report details conflict of interest, contracting irregularities and questionable business practices. People call my office to say that the $327,000 is far lower than the correct figure for the DM's renovations and following on from Lagueux, other reports have reached the same conclusions of chronic problems.
Again I ask, will the Minister of National Defence commission an independent public inquiry into his department to clear up this matter and enable him to resolve any problems it reveals?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, when he gave his response last week in my absence was absolutely correct in that he believed the question was pertaining to allegations of wrongdoing by senior officials in the department such as the deputy minister or assistant deputy minister.
I want to assure the House that no such wrongdoing has been proven in any way and I have full confidence in the senior officials and my deputy minister.
Second, on the question of the renovations of the deputy minister's office this is really an Order Paper question that is separate from the larger question that the hon. member-
David Collenette Liberal Don Valley East, ON
If he would listen, it is separate from the larger question that the hon. member has a right to be concerned about. There were irregularities in contracting. There was harassment. There were management practices that were wrong.
The Lagueux report, an arm's length report from a senior ADM in the department, uncovered these wrongdoings. In one case there was a criminal prosecution. In the other there were dismissals.
The hon. member has all the facts. I think he now has read the Lagueux report. In no way does this implicate any of the senior officials in the department. The fact is in a big organization like defence or any corporate organization there are going to be problems. When we see that the problem is there, where we find irregularities, we deal with them. Some people were dismissed, one person was charged and subsequently convicted.
Jack Frazer Reform Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for his forthright response and I want to go on record as saying I am not accusing anyone of anything, nor have I ever meant to do that.
I would like to say that a confidential memo dated April 13, 1994 and released under the access to information reveals that officials in the defence department informed the minister that the media might be asking questions about the deputy minister's office renovations.
If his own staff felt compelled to warn him about media interest, will the minister not admit that there was at least a perceived problem with this matter and move to resolve it by getting on with an independent inquiry?