House of Commons Hansard #26 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was petitions.
Sheila Copps LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, it is obviously the government that determines salaries by order in council. It is also obvious that the Prime Minister has already ordered a review of all salary levels set by order in council to ensure that Canadian taxpayers' money is not wasted. It has already been done.
Ben Serré Liberal Timiskaming—French-River, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Natural Resources.
On February 10 the bodies of the two miners who had been trapped underground at the Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake were recovered. These men died as a result of a severe rockburst that occurred on November 26, 1993. Unfortunately such occurrences happen all too frequently and are extremely difficult to predict and to prevent.
Is the minister prepared to allocate funding toward research and study of rockburst occurrences in order to reduce or prevent such tragedies in the future?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, let me thank my colleague for his very important question and let me take the opportunity publicly in the House to express my deepest sympathies to the families of those who lost loved ones in the unfortunate rockburst at the Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake.
Since 1984 my department has been actively involved in rockburst research. In 1990 funding for that program was extended for another five years in the amount of approximately $10 million.
Let me say to the hon. member that my department and I understand the importance of this research to the safe future of mining in the country. Therefore I have every reason to believe my department will continue to be involved in this important area and continue to fund research in relation to rockbursts.
John Cummins Reform Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
The Peat Marwick audit requested by Treasury Board of the expense accounts of the deputy minister of fisheries and oceans and his assistant deputy minister of policy absolves them of any wrongdoing. Yet, as the report acknowledges, they could not seem to manage their expense accounts in a careful and prudent manner.
Would the minister tell the House if the manner in which the deputy and his assistant have managed their expense accounts and have in fact managed taxpayers' dollars is consistent with his expectations for the management of his ministry?
Fisheries And OceansOral Question Period
Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte Newfoundland & Labrador
Liberal
Brian Tobin LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member would want me to be absolutely crystal clear in the major findings of the report which was conducted entirely outside government, not by the department of fisheries, not by Treasury Board, but as the member pointed out by Peat Marwick Thorne and by the chief forensic auditor of that firm.
The major findings were two: first, that all of the travel in question had been authorized by the minister of the day and, second, that all expenses claimed were in compliance with Treasury Board guidelines.
John Cummins Reform Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, the terms of reference in the Peat Marwick report were: "The goal of the review was to determine whether the deputy minister and the assistant deputy minister had respected government travel and hospitality policies, not to excuse their conduct".
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Would the minister not agree that to offer an opinion as to the appropriateness of the deputy minister and the assistant deputy minister's conduct goes beyond the terms of reference of the audit and beyond the capabilities of the auditor?
Fisheries And OceansOral Question Period
Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte Newfoundland & Labrador
Liberal
Brian Tobin LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I would say to the hon. member that it is quite extraordinary to have an audit conducted by an outside auditor, by a chief forensic auditor, and to have such a straightforward conclusion arrived at.
It is my view that once the conclusion is arrived at-and we are dealing with senior public officials-it is then the responsibility of members of Parliament and the responsibility of those who made allegations which caused this investigation to occur in the first place either to accept the advice of an independent auditor or to bring new evidence forward.
We ought not to call into question the reputations of long serving public servants for our own political advantage at any given point in time.
Bernard Deshaies Bloc Abitibi, QC
Mr. Speaker, the mining sector, one of the most important in terms of jobs and economic benefits, is currently in a very serious situation. In 1987 the federal government decided to reduce its fiscal effort regarding flow-through shares, which were designed to boost mining exploration. This unfortunate decision, which was denounced among others by the Quebec government, is a major cause of the serious problems experienced by this sector.
My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources. Does the minister agree that a recovery of the mining exploration sector can only occur by increasing flow-through shares to 133 per cent?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. Let me say that ours was the only party in the last election that produced a mining policy. In that policy we are committed in the coming years to review a number of options which we hope will once again make the mining industry a viable and profitable one.
Philip Mayfield Reform Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance and is inspired by Mr. Earl Christenson of Oshawa, Ontario.
Many Canadians are suspicious that senior bureaucrats and politicians favour eliminating the lifetime $100,000 capital gains exemption because they have already taken advantage of it.
Will the minister quell this public cynicism by committing to preserve this one-time $100,000 exemption.
Doug Peters LiberalSecretary of State (International Financial Institutions)
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance will bring down the budget tomorrow at five o'clock, just 26 hours from now. Any comment on it will be reserved for that time.
Roger Simmons Liberal Burin—St. George's, NL
Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my friend and compatriot who has freshly arrived from his success in Brussels with the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, for which I congratulate him and the government.
The point is that there were three abstentions, the European Union, Norway and Denmark. I wonder if the minister would take a moment to tell us what is going to happen. What are he and the government going to do to see that those three comply? Failing that, what is plan B? What happens if they do not comply?
Roger Simmons Liberal Burin—St. George's, NL
Mr. Speaker, do not forget the oceans. They are kind of short of fish but they are still there.
Brian Tobin LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and friend for his question. I want to assure him because I know of his particular interest in this matter, having one of the largest fishing constituencies in Canada, that we have received assurances from the European Union, Denmark and Norway, even though they abstained on the vote which put in place a moratorium on 3NO cod stocks, it is their intention to abide by the decision of NAFO not to use the objection procedure. It means that the government, as was committed by the Prime Minister, has achieved a beginning in the battle against overfishing.
It is not the end of the battle but it is a first important victory because of the tough and determined new position of this government with respect to the resources of the ocean.
Doug Peters Liberalfor the Minister of Finance
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-13, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act and a related act.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
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Jean-Paul Marchand Bloc Québec-Est, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table a petition signed by more than 2,000 people from my riding of Québec-Est and from several regions of Quebec.
The petitioners want to draw Parliament's attention to the situation of the Maraloï family, now living in Vanier. This family has been in Canada for three years, is fully integrated to the Quebec community, and is self-supporting. That family was denied the right to remain in Canada, and it is believed that its members will be in serious danger if they return to Romania.
Therefore, the petitioners ask Parliament to convince the Minister of Immigration to reconsider his department's decision to deport the Maraloï family and allow that family to remain in Canada. I give my full support to that petition and I urge the government to act on it.
Ed Harper Reform Simcoe Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of 30,000 and more residents of the constituency of Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville, I present the following petition with an estimated 30,000 names affixed.
This petition reads as follows: "To the House of Commons and Parliament assembled, we the undersigned residents of the electoral district of Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville draw the attention of the House to the following: that our elected member of Parliament was given a mandate by his constituents to sit as a member of the Liberal caucus and, effective January 28, 1994, resigned his membership in the Liberal caucus as a result of a request by the Prime Minister of Canada to do so; that our member has admitted to inexcusable behaviour involving former employees and that this information was withheld from the electorate before his election; that our member intentionally misrepresented his credentials to the electorate and to the Liberal Party of Canada; that our member has stated that he will continue to sit in the House as an independent member despite requests for his resignation by an overwhelming majority of his constituents including the undersigned; and that we the petitioners have absolutely lost all respect and confidence in our member to represent us-
PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
The Deputy Speaker
The member perhaps does not realize that he is not to read the whole petition. Would he please sum up in one sentence.
Ed Harper Reform Simcoe Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am assured that many thousands more names will be sent along shortly on this matter. I present 30,000 petitioners.
Vic Althouse NDP Mackenzie, SK
Mr. Speaker, I have another 850 to 900 names affixed to a petition noting that the Senate is unelected, unaccountable and home for recipients of Liberal and Tory patronage.
The petitioners note that sections 41 and 42 of the Constitution Act provides that an amendment to the Constitution of Canada in relation to these matters may be initiated by the House of Commons. Therefore they call on the House to initiate a resolution to abolish the Senate.
François Langlois Bloc Bellechasse, QC
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure of submitting a petition signed by the postmaster of my parish of Sainte-Claire-de-Dorchester, and by residents of that parish. The petitioners ask not for an indefinite moratorium on postal services in rural areas, but for a permanent policy regarding postal services. They also ask that postal services be reinstated in rural parishes where it was eliminated because of the previous government's ineptitude.
Doug Peters LiberalSecretary of State (International Financial Institutions)
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1) I wish to table a notice of a ways and means motion to amend the Excise Tax Act and I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of the motion.
(Questions answered orally are indicated by an asterisk.)
Peter Milliken LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Today, Mr. Speaker, marks the beginning of answers. Question No. Q-3 will be answered.
Question No. 3-