Debates of Dec. 14th, 1994

Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec's Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs acceded yesterday to the minister's objective of demilitarizing the college. As the minister said to us yesterday, let us stop fooling around.

Will the minister, in the interest of the Saint-Jean community, resume negotiations on the basis of the proposal from the mayor of Saint-Jean, yes or no?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we must indeed stop fooling around, so the Quebec minister, who says one thing on Monday and another thing on Tuesday, should confirm her position to me in writing before I can take action.

Security Intelligence Review Committee

[Val Meredith, Reform, Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it has been more than five days since the Solicitor General received SIRC's report on the Bristow affair. Despite the fact that SIRC insists that it wrote the report for

public consumption, the minister has withheld it not only from the public but from the members of the national security subcommittee.

Could the minister advise the House the nature of the problem that is causing the delay and provide us with a definite time for the release of the document?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, my objective is to have the material available to members of the House tomorrow.

[Val Meredith, Reform, Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while I am delighted to learn that the report is finally being released, I would like to ask the minister about his response to a question yesterday when he responded that it was his responsibility to decide on the best way to release the report.

Does the minister believe that the best way to release the report is to delay its release so that he does not have to face scrutiny on the contents of the report until February?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised at the tone of my hon. friend's question.

I thought she would be delighted to learn that my objective is to have the material available for her and all members of the House tomorrow. I thought she would give me some applause for that. Again I am very surprised at her question.

Social Program Reform

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

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

Eastern Quebec's main social, community and labour organizations have asked the federal government to take seasonal workers into consideration, rather than let them down, in its social program reform. According to the minister's estimates, close to two thirds of unemployed people who would be considered frequent UI users are seasonal workers.

Will the minister recognize that, since seasonal workers represent close to two thirds of those whom he defines as frequent users, his project to implement a two-tier UI system would essentially target these workers?

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

Mr. Speaker, about two months ago I established a special working group to look at the way seasonal workers could be impacted by the various proposals.

The member knows that in the green book we do not just present one proposal; we present a variety of proposals about how we can change the unemployment insurance form.

The special working group has been going across the country. It has met with several hundred representatives of various working groups, union groups and business groups. I have met with its representatives and they are doing a very effective job of making a proper assessment of how we can be very considerate and very sensitive to the issue of seasonal workers.

Ten years ago only about 14 per cent of unemployment insurance funds were drawn down by those who were frequent users. Today it is over 40 per cent. It shows a very fundamental change in the way unemployment insurance is being used. It is time Canadians have the honesty and the responsibility for taking a look at those changes.

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister recognize that regions which depend on industries such as forestry, fishing and tourism, such as eastern Quebec, will be the main victims of his reform and will become second class regions with second class jobless?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member uses words like victim and so on. It shows that he has not read the proposals.

One of the most serious issues facing Canadians is helping those who are affected by frequent unemployment or affected by long periods of unemployment to have better training, better support, better off season adjustment programs so they can get longer term employment.

The whole thrust of the green paper is employability. Get more work for longer periods for more people. That is the whole point of the reform.

By using that kind of provocative language all the member is doing is stirring up reaction as opposed to helping Canadians understand the kinds of choices they can make. I would suggest that he stop doing it.

Bosnia

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government is choosing inaction on Bosnia now, but while Parliament is in recess over Christmas what will it do?

While Reform accepts NATO's protective role for the UN, will the foreign affairs minister stick to his commitment of recalling Parliament for a full debate before Canada considers giving NATO permission to enter into the war in an expanded way?

[André Ouellet, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I assure the hon. member that we do not intend to change the mandate of our troops in Bosnia.

Canada has accepted participation in the UN peacekeeping mission. That is the mandate our soldiers are fulfilling there. We know that under very difficult circumstances they are performing remarkable jobs, saving the lives of civilians affected by this war, helping humanitarian convoys to get through, and assisting in probably the most difficult UN peacekeeping mission ever under the responsibility of the United Nations.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I did not get an answer to my question.

It is interesting that in opposition the Liberal Party had lots to say about foreign affairs policy decisions being made without consulting Parliament. How can it change so dramatically by simply changing the side of the House that it is on?

[André Ouellet, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member that there have been three debates in the House of Commons on the subject.

I assure the hon. member that when the decision is taken to renew or to change our mandate we will again consult Parliament.

Customs Brokers

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

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

To comply with the new regulation that takes effect on January 16, 145 of the 269 customs brokers who operate in Canada have applied to Reed Stenhouse, a Toronto company, for the surety bond required by Revenue Canada. As of today, 32 of these customs brokers have been denied bonds, in other words, they have been put out of business. Another twenty or so have yet to receive a reply.

Does the minister realize that this new policy of requiring customs brokers to obtain high surety bonds has already resulted in the loss of at least 250 jobs, and that the losses will be much more substantial if he persists on this course?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, in my view the figures provided by the hon. member are not accurate. Certainly his projections for the future are inaccurate.

Over the last four years there have been 15 failures of customs brokers leading to very substantial problems for their clients. Their clients of course are the ordinary importers of Canada.

The problem that arises under these circumstances is that the clients are liable for a second time for money they paid to the customs broker. It is vital that we deal with this problem. We must create a fair system of mutual insurance so that the client of the customs broker can be protected. This is what we are attempting to do.

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, should the minister not demonstrate the most elementary common sense and reconsider this decision, if he wishes to see these businesses and the hundreds of jobs they represent survive?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I can certainly accept the representation of the hon. member to review it. It is not a policy which is yet finally determined. We are examining it at the present time and we will make a decision shortly.

I should point out that the concern I expressed in the House a moment or two ago is a very real one. We must make sure that the customs system in Canada does not result in some importers paying double the amount because of the failure of the agent that they employ as a customs broker.

Rogers Cable

[Eugène Bellemare, Liberal, Carleton—Gloucester, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Recently, it came to our attention that Rogers Cable television will no longer provide its suscribers with access to three French language channels.

What is the government's position on access to French language programming for all Canadians?

[Sheila Finestone, Liberal, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. Canada's policy is to promote shows

and programs in both official languages, French and English, in the distribution and presentation of television programming.

Furthermore, I must say that cable operators are free to decide what they will distribute. The market rules, the market decides. Subscribers are free to contact their cable company to let it know how they feel about it. Also, they can always file a complaint with the CRTC.

Veterans Appeal Board

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal red book said that the Tory government "made a practice of choosing political friends" in making appointments. It went on to say that the Prime Minister would fill positions "on the basis of competence". My question is for the Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs.

Could the minister explain to the House the criteria for appointments to the Veterans Appeal Board?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, competence.

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I could not hear the answer.

The answer did not include that several of the 1994 appointments to the Veterans Appeal Board have been long time friends of the Liberal Party, including failed Liberal candidates and former Liberal MPs including René Cousineau, Patricia Landers and Una MacLean Evans who supported the Prime Minister in his bid for the Liberal leadership race in 1990. The Liberal list goes on and on. The major criteria appear to be that one must be a Liberal to get these $86,000 a year plums.

My supplementary question is for the Prime Minister. When will the government live up to its red book promise and put an end to these blatant partisan patronage appointments?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have looked at the list of order in council appointments. We have made more than 650. I checked and I do not know more than 40 of them. I have not done very well regarding Liberals because I know only 40 of them.

The others I did not know but they were recommended and chosen. I hope that the day has not come in Canada where because some day one has the good fortune of offering one's services to serve Canada as a member of Parliament that one will disqualify oneself forever to serve on a board anywhere in the land.

National Transportation Agency

[Paul Mercier, Bloc, Blainville—Deux-Montagnes, QC]

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

Several decisions by the National Transportation Agency allowing CN and CP to abandon lines in Quebec will be implemented in 1995. The Quebec economic development professionals' association is concerned about the devastating impact of these decisions on regional development in Quebec and urges the minister to review these decisions by the agency.