House of Commons Hansard #97 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was industry.
Bill Gilmour Reform Comox—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to note that there is not an independent inquiry in this case as suggested by the Marshall commission and, more important, that the key witness who said that she lied has never been interviewed.
Where is the justice in this case?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the justice in this as in all other cases will come from a thorough, methodical and objective analysis of the facts.
It is easy to suggest, if one's only point of reference is reports in the media, that the witness who allegedly recanted her testimony should by now have been interviewed. However, an acquaintance with the facts of this case would also lead one to conclude that before any such interview is carried out the persons doing it should examine all the documents, be conversant with the entire record, and know exactly what questions to ask.
Harold Culbert Liberal Carleton—Charlotte, NB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister.
Canadian environmental industries today employ over 150,000 people with annual sales of $11 billion.
Will the Deputy Prime Minister tell this House what the government intends to do to ensure this growing and important part of our economy has the necessary tools to compete tomorrow and into the 21st century?
Sheila Copps LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I will not take the time of this House to read the announcement we made on Thursday. I will however repeat that this government intends to aggressively make sure that Canada's green jobs become the green jobs not only by government procurement but also for export around the world.
As a matter of fact, the Minister for the Environment of the Philippines is in the gallery today. I met with him to talk about how Canada could sell our water technology and our solid waste technology internationally. We intend to turn that trade deficit into a green surplus for Canadian jobs.
Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.
On September 12, the Minister of Health announced at a press conference that she would set up an advisory committee of experts whose role would be, among other things, to determine whether some of the information on the blood supply system should be disclosed or not. She said that given the current level of interest in this matter, she had to decide whether not releasing some of the information was still in the public interest.
How can the minister claim to act openly when she asked a committee of experts to tell her what she should hide from the public on the deficiencies of the blood supply system?
Diane Marleau LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, what I announced is that I would ask an advisory committee of
experts to review the ethical and legal issues related to opening up the whole process. As was seen from the confusion that spread throughout the country when the FDA report was made public, it is certain that one must always be very careful in these areas.
Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC
Mr. Speaker, does the minister realize that by putting in place a policy to hide information the public has a right to know, she has made Canadians distrustful of a blood supply system already hurt by the tainted-blood tragedy?
Diane Marleau LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I would hope that all members of this august Chamber would behave very responsibly when it comes to the health of Canadians. I certainly intend to do so. Yes, I am very interested in being open and transparent but we must always balance questions of ethics with legal considerations.
Bob Ringma Reform Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the debates which took place in this House last week on the issues of immigration and crime were the same as ones which took place this summer in my riding.
A magazine article dubbed "Nanaimo-Heroin city" identified the Vietnamese community as a major player in the drug trade. As a result the Vietnamese community asked me to set up a meeting with the RCMP and all levels of government to discuss the issue, which we did.
Is the minister of immigration prepared to accept an invitation to meet with the Vietnamese Canadian community in my riding of Nanaimo-Cowichan to hear firsthand their proposals for changes to our immigration laws?
Sergio Marchi LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, in the last eight months we have been meeting with Canadians not only in the gentleman's riding but also right across the country.
I applaud the member for having held a public forum in his riding. I hope at some point he will provide me and my officials with the results of that forum.
Bob Ringma Reform Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, I will provide the minister with that and I renew the invitation.
My supplementary question is for the Solicitor General. Nanaimo has been promised extra drug enforcement officers to help address this problem, yet to date his ministry has failed to fulfil that promise.
Why has the minister not undertaken a redeployment of resources to Nanaimo when the commanding officer of the RCMP in British Columbia has clearly stated there is a great need?
Herb Gray LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, matters of deployment of RCMP officers around the country are handled by the commissioner and not directly by the Solicitor General. However I will be happy to inquire of the commissioner and get back to the hon. member about this matter.
Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. It concerns the proposal made last week by Canadian Pacific to purchase that part of Canadian National Railways which exists east of Winnipeg.
Could the minister tell this House today what the position of the government is with respect to this proposal? Is the minister prepared today to reject not just the proposal but the idea out of hand? If he is not, can he tell the House what process he has in mind for consulting the shareholders, who are basically the Canadian people, as to what the position of the government should be with respect to this proposal?
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, in answer to the hon. member obviously this proposal submitted by CP is an unsolicited bid, as the hon. member would know. As I have indicated, we do not propose to respond to that bid in any hasty way. We are going to have it analysed very carefully.
The whole question the hon. member raises with respect to the CP bid is one of government policy. Obviously we will want to have a lot of input because it would be a major decision if we were to change the fundamental rail policy in this country as this bid would have that effect.
Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Minister of Transport could guarantee today that in whatever process the government undertakes to consider this proposal, the employees who might be affected, the communities that might be affected, and the regions that might be affected, that all these stakeholders will be consulted appropriately and their views will be taken into account.
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member would know, a number of steps would have to be taken. However, I do not want to give any indication as to how the government is going to respond to an unsolicited bid.
If we were to entertain this kind of change in the rail system in Canada it would be one that would involve the levels of government, employees and communities that would be affected. It would be a major policy decision. Nothing of that nature would be undertaken hastily.
I do want to reassure the hon. member that the Government of Canada is undertaking and has been working actively at reviewing a national rail policy. Obviously with the merger talks that went on between CN and CP there was a need to address that entire question and we are going to continue to actively pursue that.
Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. In December 1992, the Minister of Transport gave his written agreement in principle to pay a grant to the city of Trois-Rivières for renovating and expanding its airport. On April 24, 1993, his colleague, the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, announced his government's commitment to pay $3 million to the city of Trois-Rivières for this purpose. Despite these government commitments-
Trois-Rivières AirportOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order! Will the hon. member please put his question?
Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Now, despite these commitments and 17 months later, the federal government is still dragging its feet.
Can the Prime Minister explain why, 17 months later, his government still refuses to honour the previous government's commitment?
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, of course, for nine years, a member of Parliament represented that riding. The commitments to which my hon. colleague refers were an agreement in principle, as he said in his question. Even in Trois-Rivières, it takes money to meet such commitments.
Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Are we to understand from the government's attitude that it intends to go back once again on commitments made by the previous government?
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows very well, I met with him on this subject and explained to him that no air service is planned for Trois-Rivières-that fact remains. Coming up with a solution is particularly difficult, especially for the runway. I promised the hon. member that I would look into the matter. I asked him to contact the man who represented that riding in Parliament for nine years. I will do what I can so that the people of Trois-Rivières have an effective service that fits in with the new airport management system in this country.
Herb Grubel Reform Capilano—Howe Sound, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice knows that the merit of gun control legislation cannot be determined by the claims over reduced homicides made by one side and the arguments about money and time costs by the other side. Rational social policy is made by scientific estimates of the expected benefits in relation to costs.
Can the minister assure us that he will have for debate in this House and consideration by all Canadians scientific estimates of the benefits and costs for each gun control measure proposed by the government?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the process I am following in putting together proposals for this House involves looking at the record, the statistics of crime in Canada, the effectiveness of laws already in place, and consulting broadly with Canadians interested on a wide variety of these subjects.
I fully expect the proposals we bring forward will be well grounded in fact and in experience.
Francis Leblanc Liberal Cape Breton Highlands—Canso, NS
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
Atlantic fishing communities that depend on the turbot fishery, such as Canso in my riding, were encouraged to learn that at the meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization in Dartmouth. The European members agreed to important conservation measures to protect the turbot resource outside Canada's 200 mile zone.
Can the minister inform this House how these important commitments will be enforced?