Debates of June 2nd, 1994

Hepatitis C

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday and the day before, and I will repeat it again today, we have several partners who are involved in the blood supply system. I commend the Red Cross, which is examining a proposal. However, the fact remains that it will be very difficult and well nigh impossible to go back any further than 1990, when we started testing for hepatitis C. We are waiting to find out how effective their proposal will be.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister endorse what was said by the spokesperson for her government, who pointed out that this kind of initiative would not be very useful because there is no effective treatment for this disease?

Does the minister still deny there is a risk of spreading the hepatitis C virus if people are not informed?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, there is no vaccine against hepatitis C. At least, not yet. Scientists are working on it, but there is no vaccine right now.

There are ways to treat the disease itself, but we want to wait for recommendations from the Red Cross. What they are looking at is still very vague. We should not get too excited about all these proposals. I think we should take this a day at a time.

As I said before, hepatitis C has been with us since the forties, when we started our blood transfusion system. However, testing for hepatitis C has only been possible since the nineties. Since that time, out of the total number of blood donors, only 0.3 per cent were found to be infected with hepatitis C. The blood taken from these donors was never used.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the Red Cross is preparing to trace people, there is a serious problem.

Are we to understand that the minister is not taking any action because she is opposed to the idea of compensating individuals who were infected with the hepatitis C virus as a result of blood transfusion?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I always take my responsibilities very seriously, but the point is that we do not have all the answers. When we say that no testing was possible before 1990, that is the honest truth. No testing was possible. We are now working with the Red Cross, the hospitals, the provinces and all parties responsible for protecting the health of Canadians, to provide the best possible service.

Indian Affairs

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Kanesatake band council suspended work on the expansion of the Indian cemetery in a gesture of good will. The band council chief mentioned however that certain unspecified conditions would have to be met before negotiations could resume.

My question is, of course, for the minister of Indian affairs. Can he confirm that among the conditions set by Jerry Peltier, there is, according to CBC, the payment to the band council of certain sums of money? And if so, how much is involved?

[Ron Irwin, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, there were times during the so-called mini Oka crisis when it was important that the situation be calm, the negotiators be at the table, and the mediators be appointed. I think that time has past. The mediator, the negotiator and the principals are meeting.

Over the next few days, until I hear what solutions are coming forward, I do not think it is appropriate to do the negotiating through the press or through the House.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, could the minister tell us if the administrative inquiry conducted by his department into the use of federal grants by the band council was discussed during the discussions prior to the resumption of the negotiations? Did the pre-negotiations deal with this issue?

[Ron Irwin, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the question will have to be put with more clarity before I can answer it. After the House convenes if the member wants to make that a clear question and on a specific point I would be prepared to talk to him and answer specifically what he is talking about.

Dynamic Maintenance Ltd.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

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

Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware that the parliamentary secretary for fisheries has a 50 per cent interest in Dynamic Maintenance Ltd., a company that on May 1 of this year received a three-year contract for maintenance at Pearson International Airport worth $13.5 million?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that a company that the parliamentary secretary formerly had an involvement with had a contract with Pearson. This has been made public. It was carried in one of the newspapers.

[An hon. member]

About three weeks ago.

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

About three weeks ago for the members who were asleep at the switch. Apparently it is quite normal, done within the normal tendering procedure. If the member is alleging a specific wrongdoing he should make the allegation. Otherwise he should find something more useful to talk about.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, somebody has been asleep at the switch here.

Is the Deputy Prime Minister aware that even though the member indicated he had resigned as a director and officer of Dynamic Maintenance Ltd. and he supposedly did this on December 1, 1993, as of May 24, 1994 the parliamentary secretary of fisheries is still listed with the B.C. Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations as an officer of this company.

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps when I tell the member that my understanding is that the parliamentary secretary is totally in compliance with all of the requirements of the conflict code, and this has been checked with the most senior authorities of the government, the member might want to seek unanimous consent to stand and apologize for making reckless accusations.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in a letter dated April 12, 1994, Mr. Howard R. Wilson the Assistant Deputy Registrar General and candidate for the position of Liberal ethics counsellor in response to a request for guidance on this possible conflict stated that he was satisfied the company was "administered blindly and at arm's length to the member". Yet one of the directors listed is the father of the member with whom he shares and co-owns a residence.

Does this qualify in the opinion of the government as an arm's length relationship?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, this particular party across the way came to Parliament promising to do business so-called differently and to bring a new standard.

The member opposite is fully aware that the senior official who has the responsibility for ensuring compliance with the conflict code has indicated that all of the requirements of the conflict code have been met and all of the arrangements required have been met. Nevertheless, this member stands on no other basis than seeking to damage the reputation of an hon. member and makes crazy and wild allegations. He ought to be ashamed and he ought to apologize.

Overfishing

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, upon the recent return of the Minister of Foreign Affairs from a trip to Paris, the government claimed that relations between France and Canada had never been better. And yet, Mr. Alain Juppé, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in the French National Assembly that Bill C-29, which Canada had just passed to control overfishing, was unacceptable and that he intended to challenge it with the help of other European countries.

Can the Deputy Prime Minister explain how it is that the recent visit to France of her foreign affairs minister has resulted in a vigourous and open challenge of the measures proposed by Canada to control overfishing?

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

Mr. Speaker, I find it astounding that there is in this House a Canadian MP-he is still Canadian as far as I know-who opposes a policy which was unanimously adopted by this House to try to prevent overfishing. If he wants to sit in the French National Assembly, I invite him to do so. But here, in Canada, we have a unanimous policy regarding the theft of our resources.

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my supplementary is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. I think that as fishing enthusiasts, we will understand the issue better. He might also enlighten the Deputy Prime Minister; he knows the Bloc Quebecois strongly supported the bill at second and third readings.

Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is this: How does he intend to convince the French government of the validity-the Deputy Prime Minister is taking note, I hope-of the provisions of Bill C-29, when France believes that this piece of legislation is not in accordance with international law and the law of the sea? Can the minister explain now how Canada is going to make France see reason?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.

All members of this party and I have acknowledged in the past that it was a unanimous motion in the House supported by all parties that allowed for quick passage of our foreign overfishing bill, and I acknowledge that again today.

I would ask the member to acknowledge that sometimes when Canadian parliamentarians visit France they do not always get the kind of support they are expecting for their initiatives. That level of disappointment is shared on some days in equal measure by members on the government side and sometimes even by the Leader of the Opposition.

Polling

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

Yesterday the government released a number of public opinion polls commissioned by the previous government. The minister also promised greater public access to the results of polling by this government in the future.

Would the minister advise whether the federal government is currently conducting any polling specifically related to the national unity issue and which agency or department of the government is conducting such polling?

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

Mr. Speaker, the brief answer is that I am not aware of any polling that is being done at the present time.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is not aware. I have a supplementary question.

Presumably the government will be doing such polling over the summer and fall months. Could the minister assure us that the results of such polling would be made public on a timely basis?

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the rules permit me to answer a hypothetical question. It is a presumption of the leader of the Reform Party which we do not concur with.