Debates of March 23rd, 1994

Health

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the health minister.

On Monday we heard that Dr. Doug Kennedy was going to Toronto to get us some information on blood samples from the Red Cross. A progress report, please.

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Kennedy did go to Toronto. They are in the process of examining the samples.

I believe the Red Cross has put out a report and we concur with that report at this time.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I really wanted a progress report that would give us some idea of what the report was.

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, right now the Red Cross is in the process of examining how it can test all the samples. That is about as much as I can report at this time.

I will be very happy to give members a more complete report as soon as I have one.

Publishing Industry

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Canadian Heritage, who was clearly nervous, again contradicted himself in comments on the controversial Ginn Publishing transaction. He stated that since the election, no offers had been made by Canadian publishers, and also, that his decision had not been influenced by the possibility of a lawsuit.

My question is directed to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. How can the minister justify his latest about-face on the Ginn Publishing transaction, because after having said that he authorized this transaction because of the risk of being sued, yesterday, he said candidly to the reporter for the Toronto Star , and I read the article, that his decision was in no way affected by the risk of a lawsuit?

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure whether the applause is in anticipation of my answer. I never changed my mind, and I never changed my position. The comments I allegedly made outside the House referred to the period which followed the transaction, not to the period prior to the transaction. Anyone who has followed this debate will understand what I mean.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I followed this debate, but I have trouble following the minister.

How can the minister keep saying that since the election, no Canadian publishers showed any interest in purchasing Ginn, when in January, the president of Canada Publishing, Mr. Ronald Besse, advised the CDIC for at least the fourth time since 1989 that he intended to acquire Ginn Publishing. How can the minister justify his statement? When is the minister telling the truth? In the House or in the lobby, to the Toronto Star ?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I realize the hon. member has trouble following me, because since I became responsible for Amateur Sport, I have learned how to do some pretty fancy footwork.

I do not appreciate words being put into my mouth. What I said is that, to my knowledge, no firm and specific offers had been made for Ginn. That is what I said.

Summer Employment Program

[Rey D. Pagtakhan, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

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

High school and post-secondary students in Winnipeg North, as I am sure in all ridings, are worried about job prospects this summer, which is fast approaching.

How will the minister ensure that the forthcoming summer employment program will meet the young people's increased demands for jobs? How will the government create the linkage between this program and its upcoming initiatives from the youth services corps and training internship to better serve the needs of young Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I also thank other members of this caucus for their representations over the last months about the need to enhance our student employment program.

I am very pleased to announce that the government has decided to increase summer employment by 20 per cent at a cost of over $20 million. That increased amount will be especially directed toward linkages between summer employment and the employer that will continue to be the mentor of those students throughout the entire year.

We think this is a very innovative approach and will provide additional help to the many deserving students who want to go back to school and get good training for their future.

Kemano Project

[Dick Harris, Reform, Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

On March 11 I questioned the minister with regard to intervener funding for participation in the Kemano completion hearings and the equality of access for concerned groups to that funding.

Unfortunately the minister did not respond to my inquiry concerning equal access but chose instead to remind the House of how there was not a bottomless pit of money and that the federal government was going to act responsibly in respect to federal spending.

If this is the case, will the minister confirm if his government has hired Farris and company, one of the most expensive law firms in Canada, to represent the government at the BCUC hearings instead of using Department of Justice lawyers who most assuredly are more familiar with the issue and most assuredly less expensive than Farris and company?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for asking my first question in the House.

As the hon. member knows, in the Kemano completion project the government is committed to making sure that we have an open process, a transparent process. As he also knows, thousands of pages of documents have been given out to make sure that all information is available in the BCUC hearings.

In terms of intervener funding, as was indicated by the minister earlier we will look at groups that can apply to the department. We will be open and ensure that we will consider intervener groups. Some budget is available but they would have to make an application. We would look at it and we would consider intervener funding for some groups.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I am sure all hon. members would like to partake in different activities in the House, but I would ask all hon. members to cease and desist from putting up any kind of paper which would in any way distract us from our very serious business.

[Dick Harris, Reform, Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I am far happier with the hon. member's response with regard to intervener funding than the minister's. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans clearly said in a memo that only native groups would be considered for intervener funding.

Today the parliamentary secretary says that-

[The Speaker]

Will the hon. member please put his question.

[Dick Harris, Reform, Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC]

On behalf of all concerned members of my riding, is the parliamentary secretary now telling us, the House and all other concerned people that the government will consider intervener funding for non-native groups?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans indicated earlier in response to a similar question that there was funding available for intervener groups. We will look at any group that wants to make application and make sure that we stay within the budget.

There are also funds available through the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. They can make application there as well.

What I am saying today is that we will review groups that want to come forward and make application for the existing budget for intervener funding.

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Official Languages has intervened personally at the Department of National Defence to ensure that francophones who have lost their job have access in their language to career renewal and reclassification courses at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. As it happens, the person in charge of this service for the past six years is a unilingual anglophone.

My question is for the Minister of National Defence. How can the minister, an unswerving defender of francophone rights in our Armed Forces, tolerate this kind of situation? What action does he plan to take to ensure that francophones, who account for roughly 30 per cent of staff at headquarters, have access to the same services as anglophones?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. We have implemented many of the recommendations of the Department of National Defence. The former minister established a ministerial committee. We also have a general Canadian Forces-wide committee. We have carried out many recommendations and we still have a great deal of work to do.

It is a good point at which to state to the House that in view of the questions that came about in recent weeks regarding military colleges we have been reviewing the whole question of bilingualism in the armed forces.

In a few weeks, when we come back after our Easter recess, I might be in a position to make a statement to the House. It will deal with how we propose to make the military college in Kingston acceptably bilingual for members opposite. It is a bilingual institution and we are going to enhance that bilingualism.

We will also generally deal with some of the concerns raised by the Commissioner of Official Languages and others who have criticized the department in the past.

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

Mr. Speaker, in spite of the answer he has just given me, does the minister not recognize that this new case illustrates once again the problems francophones have working in their own language within DND, even here in the bilingual city of Ottawa? Given this state of affairs, how can the minister expect us to believe that he will transform the military college in Kingston into a bilingual institution?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House and the hon. member that it is possible to work in French at headquarters in Ottawa. As minister, I work in French, as do all of my senior officials.

It is an ongoing problem we have in Canadian society that we feel very strongly about. We are committed to bilingual national institutions. We are committed to bilingualism within the operation of government throughout the headquarters of national defence. We have made great strides. That is not to say that we cannot make even greater strides in the weeks ahead.

I invite the hon. member opposite and his colleagues to help us make the Canadian Armed Forces much more bilingual and acceptable to Canadians who speak both official languages.

Electoral Boundaries

[Stephen Harper, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the House has been considering the matter of suspending the process of redrawing electoral boundaries in Canada before the public can have public hearings on the matter and after we have spent $5 million. Apparently also, we hear rumours, the government is intending to impose closure after only one day of debate.

My question is for the Minister of Justice. Will the minister inform the House whether the government sought an opinion on the constitutionality of this law before it was tabled in the House? If it did, will it table that opinion? If it did not, will it explain why not?