Debates of June 9th, 1994

Results Canada

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, malnutrition affects one in three children in the developing world. Clean water is not available to over 1.2 billion people and basic education and primary health care is considered an inaccessible luxury to many in the world today.

Results Canada is an organization devoted to creating the political will for the sustainable end to hunger and poverty. Basic human needs such as literacy, immunization and clean water should be available to every person on earth.

Results Canada encourages the promotion of economic self-reliance. Through the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh small loans are issued to the most destitute rural people and over half have managed to get themselves out of poverty.

The success of this program has led to the establishment of the Grameen Trust, a fund set aside for the development of similar loan programs in third world countries.

To all of the staff and volunteers at Results Canada, I commend you for a job well done.

Quebec Sovereignty

[Gaston Leroux, Bloc, Richmond—Wolfe, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on his own initiative, the hon. member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell and Deputy Government Whip circulated a petition to silence the Official Opposition. That petition, which more or less sought to censure discussions in this House, must be strongly denounced as being fundamentally undemocratic.

Let us not forget that close to two million Quebec voters democratically expressed their support for our option, an option which we never tried to hide from the public, and that it is not only our right but our duty to talk about sovereignty for Quebec.

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to talk about sovereignty, in compliance with the democratic mandate which we received last October 25 from Quebecers, who gave us more than two-thirds of the province's seats and made us the Official Opposition. We now have confirmation of the intolerance and pettiness of the member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell and the Liberals.

The Family

[Sharon Hayes, Reform, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have made it clear that one of their greatest concerns is the family and the need to strengthen and encourage this important cornerstone of our society. What Canadians need is someone to champion their cause.

The Reform Party caucus has taken on that mandate. The Reform's task force on the family will seek to strengthen the status and the well-being of the family by providing leadership on important issues and by challenging policy trends and legislation that harm and interfere with the role of the family.

The purpose of the task force will be to protect Canadian families from inappropriate government control and interference. The task force reaffirms the family is the fundamental unit of our society. The family is the foundation of our social and

economic structure. It provides a place to nurture our children. It provides for the communication of beliefs, convictions and values.

Reform will ensure that even under the present Liberal agenda this does not change.

Regional Development

[Patrick Gagnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to announce the most recent initiatives of the federal government in Eastern Quebec.

A few days ago, the Canadian and Quebec governments unveiled six projects totalling $2.7 billion. Moreover, this morning I announced that a project worth more than half a million dollars would be implemented in my riding.

Last June 2, the hon. member for Rimouski-Témiscouata made the following statement in the House regarding the Federal Office of Regional Development:

When I am told that there are only $2 million left for the Lower St. Lawrence, the Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands, I say that the cupboard is bare.

In the last week, $3.2 million were invested in Eastern Quebec. The hon. member for Rimouski-Témiscouata should be more objective in her comments. It is no surprise that her party, her leader and her option are losing popularity in Quebec. It is time for the opposition to stop making slanderous statements.

National Unity

[Harold Culbert, Liberal, Carleton—Charlotte, NB]

Mr. Speaker, this past week there were many celebrations honouring the 50th anniversary of D-Day and those who sacrificed so greatly so that Canadians might enjoy the freedoms we do today.

However, on Tuesday of this week there was a debate in the House on the issue of Canadian unity, a debate which by its very essence questioned the future of Canada.

In its report covering over 100 countries, the United Nations concluded that Canada is the best country in the world in which to live.

We can share our differences in colour, our differences in religion, our differences in language and our differences in culture and still share the dream that so many Canadians fought and died for, a strong, united Canada where dreams are made into realities.

Long live Canada for all Canadians.

Challenger Softball League

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciated the opportunity to throw the first pitch of the first game of the Challenger Softball League in Paris, Ontario.

This is a special league for special children, boys and girls who may be physically, mentally or emotionally challenged, playing together on the field in a game we all know and love, baseball.

I would like to congratulate the organizers of this league for the great work that they have done for the children in our community and to say to them on behalf of their proud parents, keep it up. It is going to be a great season.

The Environment

[Len Taylor, NDP, The Battlefords—Meadow Lake, SK]

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago in this House was tabled the report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development that called for a commissioner of the environment and sustainable development to be established and for the expansion of the Auditor General's role to include environmental auditing.

I am very pleased to support the work of the environment committee in developing this report, work that I had been engaged in during the sittings of this committee as well as in the previous Parliament as a member with environmental responsibilities.

I commend the report to the Minister of the Environment. I ask that she review this carefully and bring forward legislation into this House that would put into practice the recommendations of the committee.

1995 Canada Games

[Charlie Penson, Reform, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the 1995 Canada Games are being held in Grande Prairie in my riding of Peace River. The Canada Games are the country's top amateur athlete competition.

Yesterday evening the identities of the first ever Canada Games honorary chairpersons were announced. They are Alexandre Daigle and Kerrin Lee-Gartner. These two outstanding Canadian athletes need little introduction.

Alexandre Daigle, now a star with the Ottawa Senators, participated in the last Canada Winter Games in 1991 playing hockey for Team Quebec.

Kerrin Lee-Gartner, a resident of Alberta, thrilled Canadians with her Olympic gold medal finish in the downhill event in Albertville in 1992.

In their role as honorary chairpersons, these two accomplished athletes will appear on printed material and in radio, television and newspaper advertising promoting the games.

I hope my colleagues in the House will join them in capturing the vision, the slogan for the games.

Human Resources Development

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in Paris when he was attending the OECD conference on manpower, the Minister of Human Resources Development apparently said that his action plan was not ready yet and would be released in six weeks, in other words, not until the middle of July, although it was originally to be released at the end of April.

Will the minister confirm that his action plan is still not ready and that it will not be released until mid-July, in the middle of the summer, safe from public scrutiny, very discreetly, so that Parliament cannot discuss it before the summer recess?

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I can assure the hon. member that my visit was more productive than the visit of the Leader of the Opposition, as far as Canadians are concerned.

I can say to him very clearly that the approach that we have been pursuing in terms of looking at the broad range of programs that can improve employment opportunities for Canadians was one that was broadly and strongly endorsed by all the other member countries of the OECD. This shows that we are on the right track and the hon. Leader of the Opposition is on the wrong track.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the minister feels his trip was productive since he managed to obtain the approval of other ministers from all over the world for his action plan. I suggest that he first obtain the approval of the provincial ministers in Canada.

I would like to ask the minister whether he can also confirm that as yet, no date has been set for a federal-provincial conference of social security ministers. Are we to understand he has given up his plans for a federal-provincial conference before the fall?

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

Mr. Speaker, the decision on our proposals is not under the ownership of any government, foreign or domestic. It is the ownership of the Canadian people who will make that decision. They will decide by open, transparent, honest debate and consultation over the next several months.

We have committed and promised full discussion with the provinces, full discussion with the Canadian people and full discussion with all the major stakeholders. That is our commitment and we will live up to it.

It is unfortunate that the only group of people in this country which is opposing this attempt to reform what we are doing is the Bloc Quebecois and we know the reason why.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, obviously this minister is a great democrat. He has now committed to having an open, vigorous public debate in mid-July. This is the kind of democracy we have.

From here I can see citizens all over Canada in their cottages close to the lakes discussing and arguing hotly the minister's plan.

Aside from his official optimism, will the minister admit that by insisting on imposing his views on people and provincial governments that do not want his action plan, he is actually sabotaging his own reform?

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

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Leader of the Opposition does not plan to work this summer and is going to spend all his time at the cottage beside the lake, but we will work all summer to make sure that we get a proper plan through. That is our commitment.

I hope that in a sign of goodwill and charity the hon. Leader of the Opposition will return his salary for the two or three months he is taking off in the summer period because clearly he is not intending to work the way we are along with the rest of Canadians.

I do not think the Leader of the Opposition understands what has been going on. I do not think he has any notion or interest in an attempt to bring about a clear, step by step approach which is now being considered by cabinet, that will be put forward publicly and that will result in major public consultations over the fall by all Canadians involved. That is the plan and the

commitment that we have had. The only people who have been standing in the way of that have been the Leader of the Opposition and his members.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Human Resources Development. In his speech to the OECD on Tuesday in Paris, the Minister of Human Resources Development promised to build a new program aimed at putting Canadians back to work-a new program-while guaranteeing income security for those who need it.

Since his statement is completely at odds with what the government has done about job creation, which so far has been limited to temporary jobs under the infrastructures program, are we to conclude from the minister's speech that the government will at last implement a pro-active job creation policy?

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

Mr. Speaker, at the OECD there was a report tabled that was the product of two years of work and endorsed by all the countries involved which said that many of the traditional elements of development for jobs now must be sort of complemented or supplemented by major efforts to deal with the problem of structural unemployment. It is a condition faced by all countries.

What we are saying and what I said is that the initiatives that we are taking to make major changes in the way that we give assistance to people to find new employment, to substantially support and strengthen our training and education programs, to give new opportunities for work, and to deal with the problems of young people as we provide in the youth employment strategy, is the beginning of that recreation. We will continue to do it through the judgment and negotiations during the process.

The two have to go hand in hand. We have to stimulate the economy which is what we are doing through the infrastructure program. We have to put in place major elements of restructure in the economy as the Minister of Finance laid out in his budget. We must also make a fundamental redesign of our human resource policies. It is all part of a broad strategy and that is what we intend to do.

It is too bad the hon. member is incapable of understanding how important it is that we work together to achieve that goal.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, are we to conclude that the government's job creation policy, inspired or not by the OECD, basically consists in cutting social benefits, as in the case of the Unemployment Insurance Program, in order to force the unemployed to look for non-existent jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, by that question it is obvious the hon. member has not read the OECD report. I would think that before anyone asks a question they should find out. I know the hon. member does not want to get too confused by the facts, but in this case it would have been very important to have read the report before asking the question.

That is not what the OECD said. It said we have to make major changes in labour market policy and social policy to lead to a more active emphasis on job development, job creation and employment services. That is the basic thrust of the report.

I will be very happy to send a copy to the hon. member so she can get up to speed.

Transport Subsidies

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture.

Yesterday rather surprisingly the transportation minister apparently told the media that next summer the government will stop paying subsidies to the railways that defray the cost of shipping grain to Vancouver and Thunder Bay. In the 1993-94 year these subsidies amounted to almost $650 million.

This is something which Reformers have advocated for years as part of a comprehensive, well thought out agricultural reform package. Yet until yesterday western farmers had not heard anything of this from the Minister of Agriculture.

What role did the agriculture department play in this decision and what policies and plans does the minister have to prepare the grains industry to adjust to this dramatic change?

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Transport clearly indicated his view that over time the government will be rethinking its role in direct subsidies in transportation in light of Canada's international trading obligations and with an aim to ensuring competitive and efficient transportation systems in Canada.

I have indicated time and time again in this House that a number of processes are under way to consult broadly with all of the stakeholders in the western grain transportation system to deal with the possibility of reform in the system. One of those processes is a study on transportation efficiencies being conducted by the Grain Transportation Agency. The report on that study has been received and it is being reviewed internally. Another study is being conducted by a group called the Producer Payment Panel dealing with the method of payment with respect to the Crow benefit under the Western Grain Transportation Act.

I expect to have a final report from the Producer Payment Panel some time in the month of June or perhaps early July. We will take all of that input into account as we make decisions in the future. I have indicated very clearly that all of these various reports and studies would be the subject of further consultations with farmers and farm organizations across western Canada in particular but with all those in the country who have an interest before the government makes any decision. No final decision has yet been taken.

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, frankly the minister's definition of over time and what we heard in the media report from the Minister of Transport is quite different in the view of most Canadians. He is talking about July 1995 which is a very short time, almost shorter than the time the minister took to answer that question.

As the minister knows Reformers advocate consolidating a dozen existing agriculture support programs into three. We then propose redirecting some of the savings toward deficit reduction and redirecting subsidies under GRIP and the Western Grain Transportation Act to a trade distortion adjustment program, an expanded whole farm NISA stabilization account and a strengthened crop insurance plan.

My question is for the minister. Would he tell the House how much of the $650 million subsidy to the railways will be directed to some new or existing safety net program and how much will be redirected to deficit reduction or to something else?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is inviting me to pre-empt the consultative process which has been under way for a number of months across Canada. Obviously I am not inclined to do that because I want to see the advice before I make any decisions.

With respect to the timeframe issues to which the member referred, the new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is scheduled to come into effect at some point in 1995. We suspect it will be July 1, but there is still some discussion among GATT countries about what the precise implementation date will be.

Once GATT comes into effect it requires certain disciplines upon subsidies to be implemented gradually over a five or six year period. The timeframe being referred to by the hon. gentleman, between now and 1995, is obviously the timeframe before the GATT comes into effect. Once the GATT comes into effect there is a phase-in period for any change that stretches over a following period of at least six years.

[The Speaker]

I am quite confident all hon. members will be anxious to make their questions and answers as precise as possible.

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this is June 1994 and July 1995 is very close. By the time the minister is done consulting, the transportation minister will have implemented the changes.

If this change to the subsidization of grain transportation had been made when agricultural reformers in the west had first advocated it instead of waiting until we were forced to make these changes by a GATT agreement, Canadian farmers would have had a much better chance to adjust. This is part of the price that prairie farmers are paying for a Liberal government that is playing catch-up ball instead of getting ahead of the game.

What is the government's plan and timetable for enabling western grain producers to adjust quickly to market based freight rates?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member may not have noticed but the period of time since the original passage of the Western Grain Transportation Act in 1984, I believe, until November 4, 1993 was occupied by a different government of Canada. If he is concerned about delay during that period of time perhaps he should exercise his questions elsewhere.

With respect to the process I now have under way, I indicated within days of assuming my responsibility as minister of agriculture-and certainly during the throne speech debate back in January, in other speeches in the House and in addresses I have given to farm organizations from one end of the country to the other-that the government has a very active agenda in terms of developing the competitiveness, profitability and future success of Canadian agriculture.

We have laid out that agenda very clearly. The hon. member will see in the weeks and months ahead a very vigorous agenda on the part of the government in dealing with the pressing issues confronting Canadian farmers.