Debates of Feb. 16th, 1994

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should realize that for the last three months the country has had a new government. He is talking about when his colleague was a member of the previous administration.

The Budget

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

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

The government said previously said that its target for deficit reduction is to get the deficit to 3 per cent of GDP or down to about $23 billion for 1996-97.

Is this still the government's deficit target, the target that Canadians should have in mind when they read the deficit figures in the budget next week?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is what was written in the red book, so that will be the target.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

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

The government has implied that it wants to broaden the tax base to achieve greater equity but not to increase the total tax burden on Canadians. Is this still the primary objective of the government's tax policy, the objective that Canadians should have in mind when they analyse the tax changes in the budget next week?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering what kind of question the hon. member will have next week.

We will have the budget next Tuesday and he will have all these answers.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question was whether or not that was still the objective. My second supplementary question is for the Prime Minister.

The government has stated time and time again that job creation is its highest priority and that its economic policies should be judged first and foremost on their impact on jobs.

Is this still the government's highest priority, the one that Canadians should have in mind when they analyse the job impact of the budget next week?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we started before the budget when we put in place the infrastructure program that was to create jobs. There are other programs of the same nature in the red book.

If the hon. member wants to know what our objectives are, he should read the red book again.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

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

Mr. Speaker, the people of the entire Mohawk territory are being terrorized by a few armed offenders. The Globe and Mail reported today that Chief Debbie Thomas from the Akwesasne Reserve had repeatedly asked the federal government to hold an inquiry into the violent or unexplained death of 75 people since 1979, and all these facts were corroborated by the Mohawk Police Chief, Mr. Brian David.

Does the Solicitor General not agree that it is high time that the RCMP answer the call of citizens terrorized by a handful of dangerous criminals?

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

Mr. Speaker, the crimes that the hon. member is talking about are matters coming under the Criminal Code which is enforced by the police of local jurisdiction.

In this case, as the article points out, it is the Mohawk police supported by the Ontario Provincial Police. The mounted police will be happy to give them assistance but it is the primary responsibility of the local Mohawk police and the Ontario Provincial Police.

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

Mr. Speaker, in view of how widespread the problem is on Mohawk territory, can the Solicitor General tell us if he has specifically instructed the RCMP to work closely with the Mohawk police to put an end to violence on these territories?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have already explained that the crimes of violence the hon. member is talking about are matters coming under the jurisdiction of the Mohawk police and the Ontario Provincial Police.

If the member had looked into the matter further he would have realized there has been a joint strike force involving the mounted police, the Ontario Provincial Police and other local police forces working in the area for several months. I wish he would recognize that before jumping to wrong conclusions from reading that newspaper article.

The Budget

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

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

Yesterday the Liberal premier of New Brunswick committed his government to a balanced budget, an achievement unheard of in federal Liberal circles.

Will the Prime Minister take a lesson from his Liberal colleague in New Brunswick and finally commit this government to achieving a balanced budget by the end of this Parliament?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have to understand that New Brunswick has had the privilege of having six years of good Liberal government.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

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

I think, Mr. Speaker, that was an item for debate, not an answer to the question.

[The Speaker]

Order. It is not that I disagree at all, but I wonder if the member would put his question.

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

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

If the Prime Minister is going to achieve a balanced budget eventually, and the red book states that the government will do it in three years which will require an $8 billion a year reduction, will we see that in the budget coming down next week?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should read the red book again. His leader referred accurately to the fact that we said we had a goal to reduce the deficit to 3 per cent of GNP at the end of the third year of our mandate. We never said a balanced budget.

If the member wanted a balanced budget, it would have been better for him to have voted for the provincial Liberal Party in Alberta in the last election.

War In Bosnia

[Jean-Marc Jacob, Bloc, Charlesbourg, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we heard this morning that the ceasefire declared in Sarajevo is in big trouble. According to some sources, the Bosnian Serbs have refused to withdraw their heavy artillery aimed at the Bosnian capital.

My question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Can the minister tell us whether it is true that the Bosnian Serbs are refusing to withdraw their heavy artillery from around Sarajevo just a few days before the deadline set by NATO?

[André Ouellet, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member that NATO's proposals will be carried out. There is, of course, some resistance from soldiers unwilling to follow the directives of political representatives, but the Serb, Muslim and Croatian authorities have assured us of the desire to reach a negotiated peace. We hope that political will prevail over the stubbornness of a few soldiers in the field.

[Jean-Marc Jacob, Bloc, Charlesbourg, QC]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the minister of defence promised on January 13, Canadian peacekeepers in Srebrenica have not been relieved within the 30-day deadline. Are we to understand that they will not be relieved by Dutch troops before the deadline set by NATO?

[André Ouellet, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure this House that the procedures put in place to allow Dutch troops to relieve Canadian peacekeepers are moving slowly but surely. Over 15 Dutch soldiers and representatives are already in Srebrenica. The military equipment needed by the troops is already in Split and we think that, in the next few days or weeks, the troops will be relieved as agreed between the parties.

Physician Assisted Suicide

[Daphne Jennings, Reform, Mission—Coquitlam, BC]

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

Yesterday the Prime Minister confirmed he would allow a free vote in this House on the issue of physician assisted suicide.

Does the Prime Minister mean by a free vote that a member of this House has the freedom to vote according to the member's wishes or beliefs, or that the member will vote according to the wishes of the member's constituents?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in the House of Commons there is only one vote, that of the member. The member will vote according to his or her conscience. That is all.

[Daphne Jennings, Reform, Mission—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his answer. However, it does not satisfy me.

Euthanasia was not an issue in the election last fall. Yesterday the hon. member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell told Radio Canada that he will vote his own belief on this issue rather than those of his constituents.

Will the Prime Minister allow all Canadians to freely vote their own beliefs on this deeply personal issue at the next election in a national referendum?