House of Commons Hansard #81 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was senate.
Social Sciences And Humanities Research CouncilOral Question Period
Hamilton East Ontario
Liberal
Sheila Copps LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I think it would be highly unethical for the federal government to be making granting decisions about an independent body like the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Ted White Reform North Vancouver, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is tough to stay cool.
Social Sciences And Humanities Research CouncilOral Question Period
Some hon. members
Oh, oh.
Ted White Reform North Vancouver, BC
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council has a staff of 100 and a budget of $100.1 million, equivalent to a year's worth of taxes for 22,871 taxpayers and certainly symbolic of government waste to most Canadians.
How can the government continue to support $16,000 to investigate attacks on aristocratic behaviour in 18th century Britain and $59,800 to study ecology and history in the insular Quoddy region?
Social Sciences And Humanities Research CouncilOral Question Period
Hamilton East Ontario
Liberal
Sheila Copps LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I think there is a very important principle here that seems to escape the hon. member.
Under the budget of the Parliament of Canada there are certain moneys allocated to the Reform Party for research. There may be certain people in Parliament who think that research money is wasted. The fact is that is your choice.
Social Sciences And Humanities Research CouncilOral Question Period
Some hon. members
Hear, hear.
Roger Pomerleau Bloc Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Yesterday, in the House, the minister said that he understood the disappointment felt by the francophone and Acadian communities, and he added that he could not be both a judge and a party at the same time, which he repeated again today. He suggested instead that the francophone and Acadian communities appeal the CRTC's decision regarding the French-language all-news channel.
Does the minister share the opinion expressed by the ACFO President to the effect that, once again, a CRTC decision places the francophone and Acadian communities at the mercy of local cable companies? Does he agree with the ACFO president who said that, once again, our rights are being infringed upon?
Canadian Radio-Television And Telecommunications CommissionOral Question Period
Laval West Québec
Liberal
Michel Dupuy LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, all these people have to do is give me some kind of a notice and I will be able to start the proceedings. I am waiting for them to do that. They stated that they intended to take such action; that is what I heard yesterday; when they approach the Minister of Canadian Heritage, he will take the appropriate action.
Roger Pomerleau Bloc Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies, QC
Mr. Speaker, does the minister agree that, contrary to what he alluded to yesterday and again today in the House, in addition to the appeal mechanism available to citizens, the federal cabinet may also, and the legislation is quite clear in this respect, act on its own to do justice to the francophone and Acadian communities, and demand that the CRTC reverse its decision? The legislation is quite clear on that; we can provide him with a copy of it.
Canadian Radio-Television And Telecommunications CommissionOral Question Period
Laval West Québec
Liberal
Michel Dupuy LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, when I am told that I will be contacted, I have the decency to wait to be contacted. I do not behave like members opposite who pose as messengers for the francophone communities, in the hope of scoring political points. I am waiting to hear officially from them, and then I will make the appropriate decisions.
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of agriculture.
Back in mid-May, when the minister of agriculture met in Winnipeg with industry representatives about solving the grain transportation problems for this year and for future years, the minister established a number of committees that were to report back in two weeks.
Have those committees reported back? If so, has the minister decided what action should be taken on the part of the government?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, besides responding directly to the hon. member's question I would like to congratulate him and thank him and all members of the agriculture and transport subcommittees of the House that investigated certain problems we experienced this year in our grain transportation system.
I can advise the House that I will be announcing later today a package of changes in this area. I believe the hon. member and other members of the transport and agriculture subcommittees will see that very many of their recommendations are included in the announcement I am about to make.
Dick Harris Reform Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
On June 6 my colleague from Simcoe Centre asked the government if all documents related to the Pearson airport deal would be released to the public. He was promised that the Minister of Transport would respond to that question as soon as possible.
I would like to ask if the hon. minister would respond to that question today.
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we are trying to conclude the cancellation of the contract at Pearson with the negotiator.
The matter is before the House in terms of the legislation, so I would not want to contravene the rules of the House. The member will know that a lot of this involves companies and commercial undertakings that are not just directly related to the Pearson project. I want to say to the hon. member that when this matter is concluded, all material that is appropriate, that can be released and what can be legally provided to the public will be provided.
Dick Harris Reform Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. minister for his answer.
I would like to ask him when he is making his decision as to the release of these documents if he would include as interested parties the Canadian taxpayers who are actually going to be footing the bill for this.
Will he include in his decision of releasing the documents that they are very concerned about the way this deal is put together and the amounts of moneys that are going to be paid out if any? They demand to have an answer and an assurance that this type of deal will never again happen.
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as the member recognized implicitly in his question, Canadians know that this deal was questionable and certainly not in either the public interest or in the best interest of Canadian taxpayers.
I have no doubt that whatever decision is arrived at with respect to compensation for out of pocket expenses precluding any compensation for lobbyist fees or foregone profits, the Auditor General of Canada as well as Canadian taxpayers will want to scrutinize in a very careful way every penny if in fact any money is paid in compensation. That is why the minister who is given fairly wide discretionary powers under the legislation that is presently before the House will be very careful in making sure he recognizes his fiduciary responsibility to the Canadian taxpayers.
Monique Guay Bloc Laurentides, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Today, the Minister of Public Works is attending a federal-provincial conference of housing ministers in Bathurst, New Brunswick. This conference is particularly important because the federal government totally
withdrew its funding for social housing and is now thinking, it seems, of reducing the $2.1 billion budget of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Would the government commit itself to using the savings the minister claims to be realizing, exclusively for the construction of social housing, that is to say low-cost rental housing, co-operative housing and non-profit housing?
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, clearly the minister is aware of his responsibilities regarding the funds available for social housing. I can tell my colleague that, today, the minister responsible is in the beautiful city of Bathurst, New Brunswick, negotiating with his provincial counterparts.
Monique Guay Bloc Laurentides, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the Deputy Prime Minister. Given that the Liberal government is not very kindly disposed towards the people most in need, would the Deputy Prime Minister, at the very least, promise that there will be no rent increase for the thousands of social housing tenants in Quebec and Canada, since these people are already in a very difficult situation?
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I am sure that all members of the House recognize just how difficult it is for individuals and families with very limited means to be able to provide adequate housing for themselves and their families.
That is why, although we made a commitment to retain some $120 million in expenditures in the social housing program, ministers of all provinces including the minister responsible for the Government of Canada are meeting in Bathurst, New Brunswick today trying to find solutions to these very difficult problems facing Canadians at a time when we have very restricted resources.
Jan Brown Reform Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The "Writing Thru Race" conference sponsored by the Writer's Union of Canada has made no changes to its exclusionary policy. Racism is racism and you cannot hide it behind a banner of intellectual rationalization.
The minister stated last Friday that he would get the facts on the "Writing Through Race" conference.
The facts of this discriminatory conference are quite simple. Parts of the conference exclude white writers from participating and the Canada Council has committed $10,000 to support it.
Now that the minister has the facts will he issue a ministerial directive to the Canada Council to immediately withdraw its funding for this conference?
Michel Dupuy LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage does not issue directives to the Canada Council, an arm's length institution.
However, the writer's union did apply for financial support from programs from the ministry of heritage, which is under my jurisdiction, and I am not going to proceed with this request.
The reason why I am not doing it is that, as I said in this House, I am profoundly against discrimination as a principle.
Jan Brown Reform Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, if the minister is so profoundly disturbed by discriminatory practices as evidenced by this conference I find that funding it is a very strange way of addressing what he has just stated.
Further to this, two departments in the ministry have been approached for funding but neither of those departments has made a decision at this point regarding its financial support.
Expecting that the minister will do the right thing, will he also direct the organizations in his ministry not to fund the racist and discriminatory conference that will take place in Vancouver at the end of this month?
Michel Dupuy LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I conclude that as I am not funding from departmental resources I am doing the right thing.
As I tried to explain, the Canada Council is an arm's length institution and the meaning of arm's length is precisely that the minister does not issue instructions concerning specific decisions taken by the board of directors.
Bill Graham Liberal Rosedale, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific.
This weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the events at Tiananmen Square. Can the secretary of state assure the House and all Canadians that the government remains committed to human rights in China and, in particular, that the pursuit of our expanding trade links with China will be used as a way to advance human rights in that country?