Debates of June 17th, 1994

Ethics

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, tax exemptions are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. He is informed of all the suggestions made by ministers and members when he drafts his budget. Consequently, any recommendation in that regard should be made to that minister.

This is therefore a technical issue which will certainly be of interest to the Minister of Finance.

Pearson International Airport

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

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

As members of this House know, on behalf of the government Mr. Bob Wright is currently accepting claims for compensation from the consortium affected by the cancellation of the Pearson airport development deal. Mr. Wright, a Liberal fund-raiser, friend and former law partner of the current Prime Minister is receiving $1,000 a day for this job.

Will the Prime Minister tell this House how this appointment fulfils the government's promise of governing with integrity?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member is attacking a person who cannot defend himself in this House.

Mr. Bob Wright is an extremely competent lawyer who was the head of a commission for the Ontario government and was kept on by the NDP government. He is an extremely honourable person. Yes, he helped me in 1984. Yes, he did what some people do for members in their ridings. When someone makes a contribution to get someone else elected he should not apologize for it. What he is being paid at the moment is less than what I charged when I was a lawyer.

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

Mr. Speaker, a supplemental for the Prime Minister.

The Minister of Transport when he appeared before the Standing Committee on Transport on May 31 stated that Mr. Wright had no mandate to negotiate, but in fact he was simply accepting claims to be reviewed by claims analysts.

In light of this, will the Prime Minister tell Canadian taxpayers why we owe Mr. Wright over $66,000 plus expenses for simply collecting receipts?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it must be Friday to hear such pitiful statements from the opposition.

I said at the committee, where the hon. member had every opportunity to pursue this further, that Mr. Wright had been given a very specific mandate. He was not to negotiate any payments to any lobbyists who were involved in the Pearson deal. He was not to negotiate any arrangements that provided for lost profits. He was to negotiate on the basis of appropriate out of pocket expenses.

With all due respect to the hon. member, this person has been chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission. A person operating in the legal profession in Ontario with the reputation and ability of Mr. Wright regularly charges fees to his personal clients, corporate clients and the Government of Canada at least twice and three times what is being charged to the Government of Canada as he carries out his responsibilities in this matter.

Kanesatake

[André Caron, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Indian Affairs.

We have learned that the Department of Human Resources Development is about to provide substantial financial assistance for the establishment of a parapolice patrol force on the Kanesatake reserve.

Given the very serious problems with security on the reserve and the tense relations between Chief Jerry Peltier and a substantial portion of the Mohawk population, many people have expressed serious fears about the addition of-

[The Speaker]

Order. It is getting a little bit difficult to hear the questions and answers. I wonder if all hon. members would please give their full attention to Question Period. Would the hon. member please put his question now.

[André Caron, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, many people are concerned about the establishment of this patrol force.

Was the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development briefed on the discussions which took place between the Kanesatake Band Council and the Department of Human Resources Development concerning the establishment of such a patrol force at Kanesatake?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member's statements are greatly exaggerated.

These Aboriginal project proposals involve establishing a team to operate a 24-hour suicide hot-line.

Teams would also be trained to deal with distress and family violence situations. This initiative is entirely constructive, peaceful and humane. This is not a paramilitary force that is being set up, but rather a team to assist groups and individuals in distress.

[André Caron, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, can the Indian affairs minister tell us what specific guarantees he has obtained from the band council to reassure the residents of Kanesatake, who are afraid to see this patrol force become a police force?

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

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the hon. member is trying to create a situation of fear when there should be none at all.

The project is very simple. Under our department there is the Pathways group. This group of native people from across Canada make decisions on employment projects and give assistance.

As I just said the purpose of this group and the project is not to provide any police service whatsoever. It is to help families who are in distress, who are in fear of suicide, who are in fear of family violence. It is part of the healing process that we must provide for native people across this country. It is exactly the kind of thing that can bring peace and reconciliation in that area which is so very important that we provide.

National Referendum

[Stephen Harper, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I noted with interest reports this week that the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs made some comments that the federal government is contemplating holding a referendum on Quebec independence. It is good to see the government acknowledge the value of direct democracy.

Can the minister give us some details of the government's plans? What would be the timing of a national referendum and when would the House expect to hear more details?

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

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is not planning to have a referendum on these questions. It is not planning it for a good reason. The Liberal government in Quebec will win the election and we will have no need for such a referendum.

[Stephen Harper, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is one of the more rapid policy changes we have seen. It certainly does not reflect the trust us approach we heard from the Prime Minister yesterday on the lobbying issue.

In committee a couple of days ago the member for Saint-Denis was saying that many voters are too illiterate to be able to get their names on voters lists and referendums. We believe that Canadians are well informed and should be consulted.

It has been the position of this party in the past that on constitutional issues there should be national referendums. Quebec's separation would be-

[The Speaker]

I would ask that the hon. member put his question forthwith.

[Stephen Harper, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, does the Prime Minister agree that Canadians should be consulted by national referendums on major constitutional changes, yes or no?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when we debated this question under the previous government I was the one who proposed the national referendum which led to the vote on the Charlottetown accord.

There is a law on referendums but it is not an instrument we use for every question. I believe that the fundamental responsibility in democracy lies with members of Parliament to stand and vote representing their people.

If the hon. member does not have enough confidence to use his own judgment and wants a referendum on everything, if he does not have the guts to make up his mind and cannot stand the heat, then he should get out of the kitchen. We are here to make decisions and we will make them.

Recycling

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of the Environment. In a report published last week, Statistics Canada announced that Canada was one of five countries with the highest waste production per capita in the world. Subsequently, the Minister of the Environment said that she considered introducing an environmental tax next fall if negotiations on waste recycling between the provinces and the private sector were not successful.

In dealing with this problem, does the minister intend to launch a national waste tax program or would she let each province develop its own strategy?

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

Mr. Speaker, in the announcement made following the meeting of the Council of Environment Ministers held in St. John, New Brunswick, three weeks ago, it was agreed unanimously to develop a specific strategy that would be in place at the next meeting.

Obviously, waste collection is a provincial responsibility, and any action plan that results from our meeting in November 1994 will have to be implemented by the provinces.

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Minister of the Environment stressed the importance of harmonizing policies in Canada. Are we to understand, considering the government's poor record on federal-provincial agreements and irrespective of the outcome of negotiations between the provinces and the private sector, that the federal government will go ahead this fall with a national waste recycling policy?

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

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member had listened to my answer to his first question, I thought I made that clear. This is not a matter of the federal minister imposing her own solution. This was a unanimous decision made by all environment ministers at the meeting in St. John. We identified a problem, and we wanted a harmonized solution.

We followed the path described by my colleague, Mr. Chrétien, the environment critic, who stated at the beginning of his mandate that the environment was not a provincial problem but one that went beyond provincial boundaries and was shared by all Canadians. What I throw in the water in Ontario eventually arrives in Quebec, and that is why we want a harmonized policy.

Parole

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, London—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General.

Many people in my riding of London-Middlesex are greatly concerned with the reintegration of repeat violent offenders into our community. The parole system is our only mechanism to return offenders to the community with controlled supervision and support, however it is not without some flaws.

Could the minister inform the House of the steps that will be taken to improve our current system of parole?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member makes an important point in his question.

First, I would like to inform the House it is our intention to propose legislation quite soon that will cover a number of areas in the subject matter he mentioned. It will make it easier for the Parole Board to rule that the correctional service must keep in prison until the end of the terms imposed by the courts those convicted of violent sexual offences against children.

Second, it is a matter of public record that we are proceeding to appoint people of proven merit and competence to the Parole Board.

Third, we intend in legislation to create a process of disciplinary review for Parole Board members.

All these steps, including steps to improve the training of Parole Board members, will help restore public confidence in the Parole Board's operations.

The Family

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Vegreville, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday for the second time the government turned to the Reform Party for help in defining the family. Instead of answering my colleague's question, the secretary of state for finance showed his confusion about what the family is.

I would like to advise him that the family is already clearly defined in the Income Tax Act for which he is partially responsible. I suggest he look it up. The problem is not the definition of the family but the impact of the tax system on the family. The current tax system penalizes parents-

[The Speaker]

My colleagues, I think it is reasonable to have a sentence or maybe two before a question but when we get four or five, I would encourage all hon. members in their questions and in their responses to please be as brief as they can. Will the hon. member please put his question.