Debates of March 8th, 1994

Status Of Women

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil, QC]

Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works and Government Services. In my riding, which has a population of 110,000, 80 per cent of whom are francophones, there is no emergency shelter for abused women and children. For the moment, battered women must seek refuge on the West Island, a mostly English area, and far from the family environment.

I implore the minister to recognize that measures must be taken to rectify this urgent matter. On this International Women's Day will the minister assure the battered women of the riding of Vaudreuil that they will obtain the necessary support for the construction of a desperately needed women's shelter with the shortest possible delay?

[David Dingwall, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his interest in this important issue.

The hon. member raises a fundamental question all members of this House must confront. Canada Mortgage and Housing has been at the forefront of providing financial assistance with regard to emergency shelters as well as self-contained units. At the present time we are in negotiations with the province of Quebec regarding eight additional shelters. I would be happy to take the hon. member's representations on notice.

I do want to say to all members of the House that as legislators it is time for us to look at all possibilities in terms of those who are the victims of family violence.

I find it passing strange that women and children must leave the family unit while the spouse, the husband in most instances, remains in the family unit. I think it ought to be the other way around.

Farm Credit Corporation

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture. My concern is for the small business sector, specifically the family farm.

The Farm Credit Corporation is designed to provide financial assistance to Canadian farmers to help establish viable farm enterprises. This purpose is strangely at odds with the outrageous statistic that the Farm Credit Corporation, a crown corporation, owns 1.250 million acres of indebted farmland.

Will the minister agree in the House today, based upon his election promise, to immediately undertake the long awaited review of the Farm Credit Corporation and put a stop order on further evictions until the review is completed?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question and thank her for her courtesy in providing me with advance notice of the question.

During the 1980s almost $1 billion in accumulated farm debt in the Farm Credit Corporation was effectively written off by the Government of Canada. This was followed by a policy review beginning in 1989 which resulted in a new mandate for the Farm Credit Corporation which was accepted I am told with broad support in the House of Commons at that time and brought into effect in the spring of 1993. That new mandate includes the

enhancement of rural Canada by providing specialized financial services that are related to farming.

In our election platform last fall, we proposed three new financial instruments to assist farmers: an agricultural equity development program, a vendor loan guarantee program and a long term mortgage program, including certain protections against interest rate fluctuations.

I am pleased to tell the hon. member that the Farm Credit Corporation is now making substantial progress in devising the details of these new instruments, as we had undertaken to do in the fall of last year. I hope to be in a position to make some specific announcements this spring.

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister of Agriculture. I have a further supplemental. This is quite a specific issue.

Today in New Liskeard, Ontario, a family is living a nightmare as they await eviction from their family farm on Thursday, two days from now, March 10. This business enterprise represents a perfect example of a system gone wrong when 117 per cent of the farm's value has been offered but has been refused by the Farm Credit Corporation and no reason has been given for such a refusal.

Will the minister agree to an immediate cessation of any further action on this particular eviction until a full review with all of the parties present is held?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, I am sure the hon. member will appreciate that it would be inappropriate for me to comment on specific FCC cases on the floor of the House of Commons.

I do want to assure her that I will insist that the Farm Credit Corporation deal with all of its clients in a fair and balanced way, taking into account the legitimate rights and interests of the farmer clients involved and also taking into account the fiscal integrity of the corporation which I am sure is important to the hon. member in the Reform Party.

Status Of Women

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Laurentides, QC]

Madam Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. In its recent budget, the government imposed a five per cent cut on all Canadian volunteer organizations. When she was in the opposition, the Deputy Prime Minister vehemently opposed cuts imposed by the previous government to volunteer agencies, including of course to centres for women who are victims of violence.

Now that she sits on the other side of the House, does the Deputy Prime Minister intend to fight with the same determination the despicable cuts imposed by her government to volunteer organizations in its last budget?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment]

Madam Speaker, obviously when Canadians ask the government to tighten its belt, it creates problems. It was not easy to close military bases; it was not easy to impose a salary freeze to federal civil servants, including women who are at the bottom of the wage scale.

Our job is certainly not an easy one but we have to do it. If Canadians have given us a mandate, it is because they want us to make the right decisions, given the financial situation in which we find ourselves right now.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Laurentides, QC]

Madam Speaker, how can the Deputy Prime Minister think she is credible when her point of view and her attitude change completely, depending on where she sits in the House?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment]

Madam Speaker, if there is a woman who has been defending the rights of women in this House it is certainly not the one opposite who does not even want to be there. I think it is important that we work together to ensure that women have their place everywhere, including in the House of Commons. This is what the Liberals fought for before the last election, unlike the party opposite.

I might add that, thanks to the initiative of women such as the hon. Secretary of State, no cuts will be made to budgets for women's programs. Indeed, not one penny is taken out of the budget allocated to the minister responsible for the status of women, and I have this information directly from the minister responsible, because women in our caucus do a good job.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

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

Madam Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General.

One provision of the government's budget was to eliminate the incremental pay increases. While most people can accept this for senior employees and managers, in some areas it hits particularly hard.

One of the hardest hit groups will be the recent RCMP recruits who when they leave Regina are paid approximately $30,000.

Prior to this freeze incremental pay would see their salaries rise every six months, recognizing their training so that at the end of three years they would be making a first class constable's salary of approximately $50,000. With this budget the new recruits will be frozen at approximately $30,000 for two years.

Does the minister find it acceptable that this budget targets the low salaries of junior members of the RCMP as an area to save money?

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

Madam Speaker, I do not accept the hon. member's premise that this budget targets the salaries of RCMP constables. The budget deals with a freeze of salaries of public servants generally while maintaining their employment which is not the case for a lot of people in the private sector, although we are working to create jobs for Canadians generally.

I will be happy to review the situation with the President of the Treasury Board.

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

Madam Speaker, recently a 35-year veteran of the RCMP described to me that this policy is the greatest attack on the morale of the RCMP members that he has seen in his career.

Is the minister prepared to accept the inevitable drop in the morale of Canada's police force as a result of this effort to save money on the backs of those members who can least afford it?

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

Madam Speaker, I again reject the premise of the hon. member's question. The budget is not an attack on RCMP constables or any group of public servants.

However, I will be happy to review this matter with the President of the Treasury Board. I have greater confidence in the morale of the RCMP than the member. I am sure that is the case for all members on this side of the House.

Centres Of Excellence

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.

During the fall election campaign many members of the Liberal Party campaigned on the creation of a network of centres of excellence on women's health. We need to develop a women's health curriculum, promote and conduct research on women's health issues, develop health policies and recommend health programs.

On behalf of the men and women of Canada I would like to ask the Minister of Health what steps has she taken to date to implement this very important agenda.

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, we are proceeding with the centre of excellence for women's health as outlined in the red book.

Right now we are in the process of outlining specific criteria and an application process. We expect to issue the call for application by June and to select a successful applicant in the fall. We would like the first centre to commence its work early in 1995.

One of the centre's initial tasks will be to determine the most important health issues for women and then to undertake further work on these issues. The ultimate objective of the centre is to increase the responsiveness of the Canadian health system to the health needs of women.

It is a known fact that only a small percentage of medical research funding in Canada has been directed toward women's health research. While the centre will address this problem, we also want to work more closely with other research funding bodies in order to encourage them to send money in the direction of research as well in women's health.

Status Of Women

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

Madam Speaker, according to the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs, as of March 1, 1994, the federal government had appointed 951 judges to Superior Courts and Courts of Appeal. Of these 951 judges, only 123, less than 13 per cent, were women. This situation shows a total lack of foresight within the process used until now to select and appoint judges to the bench.

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

That is terrible.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to be able to put my question.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

It is the Minister of Transport.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

Order, please. The Minister of Transport.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

Order.

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

Madam Speaker, my question is not for the Minister of Transport, but for the Minister of Justice.

To what extent do the minister and the cabinet intend to encourage from now on the appointment of women to the bench?

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

I think the hon. member knows she did something usually considered unacceptable.

I would ask the Minister of Justice to answer the question.