Debates of Sept. 23rd, 1994

Health

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, at this stage we have yet to select the agencies or projects, but they must be projects that are not covered by other types of funding.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

The CBC already receives more than $1 billion a year from Canadian taxpayers and the government appears to be on the move to tax even further.

The minister has in his possession a study by the Nordicity Group which recommends new funding sources for the CBC but he does not want the public to see it. The organization, development and funding of the CBC has been behind closed doors for too long now and has now become a matter of accountability.

Will the minister make public or at least provide parliamentarians with this study which recommends new funding sources for the CBC?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to have a chance to read the report before I decide what I do with it.

As for transparency, we have provided all the members who want to participate in the hearings of the standing committee on heritage an opportunity to look at the CBC. The hearings started yesterday and will go on for some months. There will be no secrets there. I understand a number of questions have already been put to the CBC through the standing committee.

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am really quite surprised that the minister has not yet seen the Nordicity study. I find that quite an unacceptable response.

In any event, the Liberals continue to be unaccountable to Canadians. They are considering a tax on entertainment to generate more money for the CBC. Canadians cannot afford this any longer and they will not put up with any new taxes, especially for the CBC.

Will the minister tell us categorically and right now that there will be no new entertainment tax introduced in order to fund this billion dollar boondoggle?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, this morning it seems that the Reform Party wants to tax Canadians to death.

We have not talked about taxes. This is an invention coming from the other side. In due course we will see what the standing committee on heritage will have to say on the question of financing the CBC.

Infrastructure Program

[John Loney, Liberal, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Many economic observers claim that Canada is coming out of the recession and the job numbers are there to prove it. However as far as my constituents are concerned, there are still too many people out of work.

Can the minister please tell me how many jobs have been created in Alberta so that I can reassure my constituents?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of interest in Alberta.

This program is moving very rapidly right across the country. With the co-operation of the Government of Alberta it is moving quite rapidly in that province as well with some 719 infrastructure projects investing over $422 million and creating some 700,000 jobs in that province. This is only the beginning.

I am pleased to say that we have to this point in time allocated more than two-thirds of the money under the $6 billion infrastructure program. There are over 6,500 projects across the country and so far we have put some 70,000 Canadians to work. That is only the beginning.

There are more jobs to come in Alberta. There are more jobs to come across the country. It is attracting additional investment dollars in helping to do what this government wants to do, get Canadians back to work.

Family Patrimony

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Prime Minister or the Acting Prime Minister. After the Government of Quebec passed the Partition of the Family Patrimony Act, the government tabled Bill C-55, which received royal assent on September 29, 1992. Bill C-55 would provide for seizing or dividing federal pension benefits. Nearly two years after the bill was passed, the regulations have yet to be approved by the federal government.

Would the Prime Minister or his substitute agree that after waiting for two years, the federal cabinet should move quickly to adopt the regulations so that Quebecers who have been disadvantaged as a result of this situation can obtain the pension share to which they are entitled?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I have now signed and recommended to the Governor General the Pension Benefits Division Act which helps to bring into effect the very regulations that are of concern to the hon. member with respect to implementing Bill C-55.

Bill C-55 was put into effect by the previous government. It required a lot of detailed examination as to the regulations. We moved as quickly as we could. We have already made changes which I announced previously with respect to incorporating part-time employees and marriage after retirement into the pension provisions and the further regulations are about to come into effect.

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, can the minister give specific reasons for this two-year delay, including nearly one year under the Liberal government, and will he make a formal commitment today that the regulations will be adopted by Christmas?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, as I said just a moment ago, when I came upon the regulation requirements, not a lot of work had been done by the previous government. We have expedited the matter and it is nearing completion. A lot of work has been done in a very short period of time because we are anxious to make sure that the provisions are in place to better serve our retired employees and their successors.

Immigration

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration neglected to answer a very simple, very straightforward question.

Dudley Vincent Forbes, who is accused of a shooting spree in Toronto over the weekend in which two people died, was deported not once but twice for breaking Canadian visa law.

My question is for the parliamentary secretary. Why was someone who has flouted Canadian law twice, both criminal law and immigration law and been deported twice, allowed to be sponsored as a spouse and returned to Canada?

[Mary Clancy, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

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

Indeed the minister did not fail to answer. As the minister stated, when the gentleman came into Canada there was no reason for officials to refuse his application at that time.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, again from the minister's department we get the same mumbo jumbo, political double talk and no real, clear answers in reference to removal, deportation or whatever.

The minister is making a great to-do about his new immigration reform package which is currently before the House. Since nothing in this legislation would have prevented someone like Forbes from returning to Canada, is the minister willing to immediately undertake legislative changes to bar any applicant for immigration who has previously been deported for any reason?

[Mary Clancy, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am at a loss to understand. I am sorry that the hon. member did not feel my previous answer was clear. I attempted to be clear.

I will be clear again with regard to his first question. At the time there were no reasons for officials to bar the gentleman in question.

As to his second question, the hon. member who participated in the debate on Bill C-44, come next Tuesday when we vote on this bill will be here on our side and will vote for just those kinds of amendments that do the kind of thing the hon. member is asking for. We look for his support and we expect it now.

Trade

[René Canuel, Bloc, Matapédia—Matane, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of International Trade. On the issue of lumber, first of all, the federal government failed to get Quebec exempted from countervailing duties, although it does not even subsidize exports from Quebec.

Second, the federal government has let itself be pushed around by American lobby groups that came up with all sorts of inventive ways of dragging things out. Third, having finally won, the government is not even capable of making the United States pay back the $500 million they owe us.

Is the minister in a position to announce in this House that an agreement has been signed or will he just tell us again that discussions are ongoing but still unsuccessful?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Secretary of State (Parliamentary Affairs) and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member on behalf of the Minister of International Trade that the minister and the government are looking at this whole issue with a great deal of interest. The government is convinced that the monies the hon. member is referring to will be recovered. Unfortunately, for the time being, proceedings have been initiated by American groups and we must let the judicial process take its course. As the government of Canada, we are making representations to ensure the Canadian taxpayers are paid back.

Department Of Canadian Heritage Act

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-53, an act to establish the Department of Canadian Heritage and to amend and repeal certain other acts.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Petitions

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by 22,000 Canadians asking for the Parliament of Canada to retain section 241 of the Criminal Code of Canada which forbids assisting in the commission of a suicide.

This petition was circulated thanks to a quadriplegic, a woman from Winnipeg by the name of Theresa Ducharme. I want to publicly congratulate Mrs. Ducharme, given the immense effort required on her part for having taken such an initiative.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Laurentides, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I went to the Magdalen Islands. The people there gave me this petition concerning the wreck of the Irving Whale . The petitioners ask that the leaks from the wreck be plugged as soon as possible. They also ask that further public hearings be held.

Having seen and studied the reports on the Irving Whale , I strongly support the Magdalen Islanders' requests and I submit their petition.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions I would like to present to the House. The first one has 478 signatures. It is a request that Parliament review and amend the Young Offenders Act to save society from further harm committed by young offenders and to discourage young people from committing crimes by increasing penalties, releasing names for serious offenders and giving the police more investigative powers.

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from residents of my constituency urging Parliament not to repeal or amend section 241 of the Criminal Code in any way and to uphold the Supreme Court of Canada's decision of September 30, 1993 to disallow doctor assisted suicides.

[Audrey McLaughlin, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by members of the Kaska Dena Council. These members are from Fort Ware, British Columbia, Good Hope Lake, Watson Lake, Yukon.

As members of the Kaska Dena Council they are calling on the government as represented by the minister of Indian affairs not to devolve jurisdiction and control over unsurrendered lands and resources and to ensure that the land claims for the Kaska Dena Council are resolved equitably before any lands are devolved.

I have the pleasure to present this petition and to support and encourage the government to continue these land claims negotiations with the Kaska Dena Council.

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present three petitions today on behalf of the constituents of Scarborough Centre.

The first is signed by 74 people from across Scarborough and urges the government to amend the laws to prohibit the importation, distribution, sale and manufacture of serial killer cards and to advise producers of these cards that their products if destined for Canada will be seized and destroyed.

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is signed by 80 residents of Scarborough Centre and calls on the government to extend protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by born human beings to the unborn.