Debates of Nov. 14th, 1994

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, I know of the hon. member's interest in this subject. We have discussed it. He is as concerned as I am that there be accountability in the criminal law.

I assure the hon. member that the options we are looking at are intended to achieve just that. I am concerned about the way the recent decisions will be interpreted and applied.

When I spoke on Saturday to the criminal lawyers I emphasized that a discount for drunkenness is not acceptable as a matter of principle. We have to find a way to change the law that is constitutional and that gets the job done. That is what we are doing through this discussion process.

Post-Secondary Education

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. Among the series of cuts planned as part of the social programs reform, Ottawa wants to discontinue transfers to the provinces for post-secondary education. The rector of McGill recently announced that, as a result of this reform, the university's tuition fees would climb to $8,000 a year.

Does the minister agree that his proposal, which will increase student debt substantially, is unacceptable, and will he agree, in the interests of common sense, to go back to the drawing board?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development and Minister of Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, if I may be allowed to make two corrections to the hon. member's assertions to begin with.

First, the green paper is only a series of options for discussion. There is no government policy at this point in time.

Second, the assertion that the government is withdrawing funding from higher education is totally false. At the present time the federal government provides over 50 per cent of the funding of higher education. We intend to maintain our commitment. What we have pointed out is that the provinces will receive the same amount, $6.2 billion, except more will come from tax revenues.

If you can get the provinces to start living up to their responsibilities to ensure that the transfer of money totally goes to higher education, then there would be no problem with tuitions or funding.

In fact what we are proposing is to find ways of adding more money, upward of $12 billion over the next 10 years, to higher education. That is the truth. Not a reduction but an addition.

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister realize that his stubbornness is confirmation that the Liberals are in the process of denying a university education to thousands of young people?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development and Minister of Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, I am just trying to explain to the hon. member that the proposal in the green paper is designed to provide substantial new funding for higher education. In this way we can broaden accessibility for another quarter of a million people to go to college and university. That is the fact.

That is the truth, not the silly assertion made by the hon. member which is simply designed-

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Beaver River.

Immigration And Refugee Board

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as the justice minister knows, names are never to be released until the deposition and discovery stages of an investigation are complete.

Does the justice minister not agree that the names of accusers should never be released until the accused has actually been charged? This has not occurred in the Schelew case. Why?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice was called on to give legal advice to my colleague, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. I can tell the House that the advice we gave was entirely in accordance with the law. Beyond that we are satisfied that the minister acted in accordance with the advice we gave.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, intimidation knows no bounds.

I ask the justice minister again, exactly what legal advice did his department give to the minister of immigration, and why did they sanction this contravention of section 29 of the Privacy Act?

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

Mr. Speaker, in the first instance I am not prepared to accept the premise that there was a violation of the statute. Second, it is not the practice of the Department of Justice to disclose publicly the advice that it gives to client departments.

Agriculture

[Rose-Marie Ur, Liberal, Lambton—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Ontario pork producers recently stated they could support a freer trade policy provided that Washington's countervailing duty on live Canadian hogs is dropped and a tough and effective mechanism is put in place to halt incoming U.S. hogs possibly carrying the pseudorabies virus.

Will the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food inform the House what measures his department is taking to address the concerns of Ontario pork producers?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has raised two issues in her question, one having to do with the U.S. countervailing duty on live Canadian hogs exported to the United States, and the other relating to the risk of pseudorabies in U.S. hogs imported into Canada.

It is important to note that one is a very serious trade issue and the other is a very serious health of animals issue. Both are important but they should not be linked together.

On the countervailing duty issue the government has worked very closely with the Canada Pork Council and Canada Pork International on a variety of market access and trade issues. We will continue to do so, especially with respect to our fight against that U.S. countervailing duty on Canadian live hogs.

The pseudorabies issue, which I emphasize is a separate issue, is a complex health of animals concern. Evaluation of the information on the potential consequences of imports from the United States is what our department is engaged in at the present time.

We would consider permitting imports only when we can be totally satisfied that our stringent health and safety standards will not in any way be compromised.

Patent Drugs

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. The minister has not yet made her intentions known regarding the Patent Act, following the statements made by some members of her caucus who want to change the regulations pertaining to Bill C-91 at the expense of brand name pharmaceutical companies.

Can the minister tell us whether she is in favour of the existing legislation remaining unchanged or whether she advocates a change in regulations along the lines of what her Liberal colleagues are calling for?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will be aware that the legislation contains a parliamentary review provision which will come into effect at a stated period of time after the proclamation of the legislation. Undoubtedly the appropriate parliamentary committee will wish to review it at that time.

We have also made it clear that in the process of reviewing the impact of the legislation, as we undertook to do, we are looking at all aspects of its impact. In the context of international commitments we will take the action we think is in the best interest of all Canadians.

The Economy

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, our federal debt is $535 billion and growing. Our total debt, federal and provincial, now exceeds 90 per cent of our gross domestic product and our foreign debt is 44 per cent of our gross domestic product. That is worse than any other leading industrialized country.

Yet we find that the supplementary estimates will show that we are going to spend $527 million to help other countries reduce their debts. My question to the Minister of Finance is: Can he please justify this expenditure to Canadians when he is telling them they must accept cuts or tax increases because we are so heavily in debt?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member undoubtedly knows, Canada benefits a great deal in terms of our own commercial links from the fact that we do provide aid. At the same time the member undoubtedly knows that the provision of aid certainly to the poorest countries, the poorest of the poor, is a matter of international responsibility. Canada is a member of that club.

Indian Affairs

[Audrey McLaughlin, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. As the minister will know, there are 21 DEW line sites that have toxic and non-toxic waste that need to be cleaned up.

The federal government-I would like to know the minister's position on this-has said that it will bury the debris, which is in contravention of the 1984 Inuvialuit land claims agreement and other land claims agreements with the Inuit. Would the minister please tell the House what his position is on this and whether he supports the appeal of this arbitration decision which has ordered the government to respect these agreements?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, there are many troubling aspects about the leaving of armed forces bases in northern Canada, one of which the hon. member has outlined.

I certainly am troubled by the response that I am getting in terms of it being cheaper to bury this kind of waste in this one instance rather than transport it. I have asked my officials to reconsider the option.

More important, we will be entering into discussions with the United States, with my American counterpart, about DEW Line cleanups, the compensation arising from DEW Line cleanup and any compensation that should be paid. We will keep the House informed as these negotiations unfold.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of a parliamentary delegation from the Republic of Hungary. Isten hozott.

Government Response To Petitions

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to 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 27 petitions.

Committees Of The House

[Beryl Gaffney, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in relation to order in council appointments.

Petitions

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of a number of residents of the Toronto and Mississauga area.

The petitioners call on the members of Parliament to request that Parliament not amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in any way that would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality, including amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase sexual orientation.

[John Duncan, Reform, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by 101 individuals, the majority from my riding of North Island-Powell River, calling for a public inquiry into the need for staffed light stations on the west coast.

Safety will be jeopardized by the destaffing of these stations.

[Ted McWhinney, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of presenting a petition signed by 1,279 Canadians of Greek ancestry who reside in the greater Vancouver region. They congratulate the Canadian government for its principled stand under international law of continuing full respect to the integrity of Greek territorial frontiers, including Macedonia, as established under the treaties ending the two Balkan wars and under the World War I peace treaties.

[Ronald J. Duhamel, Liberal, St. Boniface, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the petitioners want to remind parliamentarians that our young people are our greatest asset and that they face many challenges such as breakdown of the traditional family, additional violence in society. They want parliamentarians to ensure that these young people, young men and women, get the education, training and jobs they require to integrate fully into society in order to create a better country.