Debates of Nov. 29th, 1994

Unemployment Insurance

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

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

Yesterday, the federal government rejected a plea from the business community to lower UI contributions. While the Minister of Finance stated in his last budget that, according to his own figures, a reduction of seven cents would create 40,000 jobs, his colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, said that an unexpected surplus would allow further reductions.

How can the Minister of Finance justify his persistency in ignoring the representations made by the business community for further reductions of UI contributions, given that he claims he wants to create jobs and that the UI program has a $2.7 billion surplus?

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

Mr. Speaker, I find it somewhat ironical that the hon. member would ask me today to heed the advice of the business community when he usually asks me to do just the opposite.

That being said, the hon. member must realize that I, and certainly the Minister of Human Resources Development also, want to lower UI contributions. In fact, we lowered these contributions from $3.07 to $3.00. It is very important to ensure stability. This means that we do not want to find ourselves in a position where we would be forced to increase UI contributions during a recession and lower them in a period of growth. We want to avoid a yo-yo effect. We want stability. We will lower UI contributions when it is appropriate to do so.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unless I am mistaken, the Minister of Finance is accusing me of using discretion regarding the proposals made, when he should be the one doing so when it comes to solving these issues.

Does the minister realize that, by refusing to lower UI contributions to the level suggested by the business community, he merrily contradicts his colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, he deliberately sacrifices 100,000 jobs, this according to his own figures, and he confirms the

comments made by the vice-president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, who said that the Minister of Finance could not care less about job creation?

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

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the member's conversion to the opinions expressed by the business community and the Chamber of Commerce.

I am sure that the other communities he represents will be delighted to hear of this conversion on the road to Damascus. I would suggest however that the member might want to listen to what the Minister of Human Resources Development and I have said. It is crucial once the unemployment insurance rates go down that they stay down. The business community and workers should not be subject to some kind of a yo-yo effect where every time there is a downturn in the economy we are forced counterproductively to raise those rates.

What we have said is that the rates are certainly going to come down. But when they come down under this government they are going to stay down.

Gun Control

[Jack Ramsay, Reform, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on September 22 of this year the justice minister said in response to a question I asked him: "We read the report recently about the defects in the present registration system for restricted firearms and the need to improve the registration".

Was the Minister of Justice referring to the justice department report covering the review of the present handgun registration system submitted by Mr. Terence Wade or is there more than one report outlining the defects of Canada's registration system for handguns?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is the report to which I referred.

[Jack Ramsay, Reform, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice has not tabled the Terence Wade report with the Standing Committee on Justice. He has not made it available to the public and his departmental officials have refused to release the report to members of Parliament.

Is the reason the report is being concealed the fact that it contains a devastating condemnation of the current handgun registration system, reveals its failure to reduce the criminal use of handguns and also exposes the uselessness of the minister's plan to expand this failed registration system to rifles and shotguns?

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

Mr. Speaker, none of the above.

The fact is that I see no reason why the report should not be made available to members of Parliament. Had I known of the member's interest, I would have provided him with a copy.

I can tell the hon. member that the report evaluates the system for the registration of handguns and finds weaknesses and areas for improvement. It has been very valuable as we have looked at ways to design, should we decide to do such a thing, a registration system for the people.

Canada Post

[Brenda Chamberlain, Liberal, Guelph—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the parliamentary secretary responsible for Canada Post.

Canadians from coast to coast are astonished to learn that last year Canadian postage stamps were printed in Australia instead of in Canada. What has the minister done about this issue?

[Ronald J. Duhamel, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, it was in February that the minister indicated that Canada Post was anxious to have stamp production back in Canada as soon as economically feasible. In November contracts were signed with MBC Corporation and the Canadian Bank Note Company to return stamp production to Canada.

Members will be happy to know that beginning mid-December Canadian stamp production will be in Canada. It means more jobs for more Canadians.

Gun Control

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice. Less than three weeks before the House adjourns for the holiday season, the Minister of Justice has still not tabled a gun control bill, despite his and the Prime Minister's repeated promises in this House.

Does the minister intend to table his bill before Christmas, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, well before Christmas the government will announce its decisions in relation to the firearms control program of the government.

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister already told us on September 22 that he would table a bill, and not proposals, in November.

Since he seems to be retracting, is this how the minister intends to keep his word?

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

Mr. Speaker, my I first observe that it is November until the end of tomorrow, at least it is on this side of the House.

Second, my commitment has been clear from the outset. It has been that at the instruction of the Prime Minister I would prepare specific proposals so the government could decide and announce its position in relation to the control of firearms in Canada.

That is exactly what we are going to do in keeping with my commitment.

West Coast Fishery

[John Cummins, Reform, Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month fishery officers presented the minister of oceans with a report showing that a lack of enforcement was a significant cause of this year's salmon disaster on the west coast. However the report presented by DFO to the minister's review panel did not give any significance to the reduced enforcement effort.

Why would the minister withhold this critical information from his review board?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member, because I know of his interest in the matter, that no information has been withheld from the Fraser review panel.

If there is information that ought to be presented to it by any member of the commercial industry, any stakeholder or by any professional group within the enforcement community, they are quite free to make those recommendations.

I have had a very constructive meeting with enforcement officers in Vancouver. I am studying the information that has been given to me. As a consequence of listening to people in the field, on the front lines and on the rivers I hope to do a better job in 1995 than we are able to do in 1994.

[John Cummins, Reform, Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that information contained in the fishery officer's presentation was not presented to the review board. That presentation confirmed that habitat and poaching investigations were not done. Undercover investigations had come to an abrupt end and enforcement reports were not received at the highest levels.

Why did the minister not bring this and other critical information contained in the fishery officer's report to the review board's attention?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I did not clearly understand the question when it was asked the first time.

I have no intention of in any way, shape or form, directly or indirectly, trying to influence the flow of information or the outcome of the review being done by an independent review panel headed by the former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Fraser.

I agree that all of the information available ought to be presented to the panel so that a solid conclusion is arrived at. Any and all information provided to me, even in a confidential meeting by enforcement officers who seek to take me through an apprenticeship, is available and will be available to the full review panel.

Health Care

[Audrey McLaughlin, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

The question of private health care clinics in Alberta has been discussed in the House for over a year. Clearly these clinics, which charge both the patient and the government, are part of a two-tier system. The Prime Minister has said he would not allow this.

As the Prime Minister was a part of the government that formulated the Canada Health Act when it came into being, could he say, because apparently the department can still not decide, whether these clinics contravene the Canada Health Act, as he understands it?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are completely committed to the Canada Health Act and it has to be respected.

In terms of the interpretation, that question is being evaluated at this time. Everyone knows that not every aspect of health care is covered by the Canada Health Act.

We are looking into it. If it is against the Canada Health Act we will apply the act and withdraw the money.

[Audrey McLaughlin, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the Prime Minister.

With respect, Mr. Speaker, this has been under study for some time. It has been obvious to everyone that these clinics have been operating for some time. I would ask the Prime Minister

the date by which he believes the department can make this decision.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the minister indicated that this problem exists in the interpretation. It is being debated between nine provinces and the federal government in order to clarify what is covered by the National Health Act of Canada.

We are looking at this with the provinces. When this is concluded we will draw the line. If these clinics are not within the act we will withdraw the compensation as is mentioned in the act.

Child Tax Benefit

[Gar Knutson, Liberal, Elgin—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

Last week Campaign 2000 released statistics indicating that there were 331,000 more poor children in Canada than there were five years ago. Given this deplorable situation, can the minister tell this House about his commitment to the goal of an enhanced child tax benefit?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for addressing what is probably the most important social issue in this country, the plight of many of our poor children.

As members know, we have tried to address this directly by putting it forward to Canadians as part of the green book. We want to mobilize full efforts behind opportunities for better work for parents of poor children, better support for child care, and certainly enrichment or increasing of child benefits.

The key question is can we mobilize the support of members of this House, the provinces, and Canadians throughout the country behind a major national effort to deal with the question of child poverty. I am still confident that we can and with the help of the hon. member and others I think we will.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-57, an act to implement the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization, be read the third time and passed.