Debates of Nov. 10th, 1995

Canada Post

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member once again likes to roll around in the mud. It is pretty sad when in point of fact we informed his colleague who raised the issue at a previous time that the suggestion the hon. member was making was incorrect.

A letter I have, which I would be pleased to table for the benefit of the House, says:

Canada Post has completed their evaluation of your proposal dated July 28, 1995 for the sale and leaseback of community mailboxes. Our evaluation has concluded that the financing cost does not meet Canada Post Corporation's requirements.

I do not know what the hon. member is talking about.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister seldom does know what I am talking about.

I talked a lot about patronage and about rolling around in the mud and the slime. We only have to go as far as Sydney, Nova Scotia, to see what is going on at the tar ponds in the middle of the member's riding.

The federal conflict of interest code is being blatantly ignored over and over and this minister does nothing about it. Two senior executives in public works dole out federal money to their relatives, get caught in the act, and again the minister does nothing.

How does the minister of public works expect to clean up nepotism at Canada Post when he continues to allow his public works employees to give out money to their wives and nephews without even going through the pretence of tendering?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows a lot about stench. He knows a heck of a lot about it. In point of fact, he makes allegations continuously in the House.

He refers to the tar ponds, which are not even in my constituency. I hope he will get his facts correct.

With regard to the specific allegations he raises, I hope the hon. member would clearly understand that ministers of the crown do not have the authority to deal with public servants within their own departments. That is a responsibility of the respective deputy ministers of each of our departments. That is codified by law.

My deputy minister responsible for public works and government services has this particular issue in hand and he is dealing with it in the most appropriate way.

Forest Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister responsible for regional development in Quebec.

The minister responsible for regional development in Quebec is now contributing to the loss of jobs in the forest industry in Quebec since Ottawa decided unilaterally to withdraw from that sector and he refuses to grant the $80 million requested by the industry.

By refusing that compensation to forest workers in Quebec, as he did recently in the case of farm producers in Western Canada where the federal government withdrew from the grain transportation sector, is the minister not applying double standards and being unfair to Quebec?

[George S. Rideout, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, this issue has been discussed over a number of years. The previous government is the one that cancelled those programs for forestry agreements. We have continued to try to extend that to give the woodlot owners an opportunity to adjust to the change. Last year the plan was extended for a further year and it does not expire until March 1996. The woodlot owners have been given lots of notice and lots of compensation in order to adjust.

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

Mr. Speaker, does the minister recognize that when he refuses to react positively to the claims of 170,000 stakeholders of the forest industry, he simply confirms the fears of Quebecers who thought that after a no to the referendum, the federal government would also say no to all of their requests?

[George S. Rideout, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I find it passing strange that the member would be asking for compensation on the one hand and at the same time saying that it is a responsibility of the provincial government. So let the provincial government do its job.

Canada Post

[Karen Kraft Sloan, Liberal, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I find it very disturbing that pornographic and sexually explicit advertisements were delivered to several thousand households in western Atlantic Canada. This unsolicited and unaddressed material could easily be opened by children.

How does the minister responsible for Canada Post intend to prevent this disgusting material from reaching people in my constituency of York-Simcoe and other Canadians?

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

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

I too find the material in question very objectionable. The president of Canada Post Corporation has issued a directive that it will not be delivering in the future any of this unaddressed material. Yesterday we were able to preclude the forwarding through the mails of some 40,000 pieces in St. John's, Newfoundland.

There is another issue, however, the addressed pornographic mail. I have conferred with my colleague, the Minister of Justice, and we are hoping to combine our forces with a task force to look at ways we can address that issue in terms of either amendments to various statutes or other remedies. We want to get a remedy that will be effective and will not be challenged by the courts or by any of those companies that wish to distribute that pornographic material.

Blood Supply

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Krever inquiry has done a pretty good job of pointing out flaws in our blood system. Our health minister's reaction is like a deer in the headlights. The time for dithering is over.

Can the parliamentary secretary maybe give the health minister a little nudge so we can have a little more accountability in our blood system?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to answer that question, but it is really rather sad that such an important subject as blood should be dealt with in such a flippant manner.

The Krever inquiry has been set up to look at the safety of blood in the 1980s. That report has not yet come down. Mr. Krever has had an audit done on safety so far, which has shown that the blood system in Canada is as safe as any system of blood can be in any other part of the world. The hon. member, as a physician, should know that there is not 100 per cent safety in any issue that has to do with pathogens or biotechnology.

We in health are not waiting for the Krever inquiry to come out with its recommendations. We have already begun. We have doubled the number of inspectors for blood in this country. We have started annual inspections, which was never done before. We have implemented at least 10 measures, which are too long for me to respond to right now, that will enhance safety before the Krever inquiry even comes out with its recommendations.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister simply says that our blood system is fine. The report says the system is confusing, has poor accountability, is frozen in the past. If hers is not a flippant response, I do not know what is.

Maybe it takes a hip check for the health minister. Will the parliamentary secretary ask the minister to at least clarify the lines of authority so that we do not have confusion in our blood system?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it is not only the Minister of Health who said the system is safe; it actually came out of Mr. Krever himself. Those are his words on his safety audit.

I believe the hon. member is speaking about another audit. All these audits are tools the Krever commission is using to come up with its final report.

At the moment the Krever commission is looking at management issues, which is appropriate to do. We are waiting for that report to come out. When it does, we will look at it and take the appropriate steps, as we always do.

Blood Supply System

[Maurice Godin, Bloc, Châteauguay, QC]

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

The Minister of Health said last Wednesday in the House, and I quote: "-we have not waited for Justice Krever's report before taking steps to make the system safer".

How, then, can the minister explain that the report prepared recently for commissioner Krever deplored the same major deficiencies as those identified by the expert committee report a year ago?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the safety of blood and with regard to what the Krever inquiry has suggested so far, we have responded to Justice Krever's interim report and have acted on every recommendation within our jurisdiction. Unfortunately we cannot react on recommendations that have nothing to do with our jurisdiction. I will list these. I spoke to them earlier, but maybe what I need to do is list them.

We have increased resources in the area of blood regulation. We have increased the frequency of inspections and improved the way we do them, making them on a yearly basis. We have enhanced the way we do inspections, requiring now a written report at the end of the inspection. We have introduced an exit notice that clearly sets out our observations and requirements for corrective action. We have established an independent advisory committee on blood regulation to provide us with advice on a range of issues, and so on.

[Maurice Godin, Bloc, Châteauguay, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary. Can the minister then explain how it is that a recent study by Dr. Robert Rémis, who was an important witness before the Commission, shows that Canada has one of the worst records among industrialized countries for the safety of blood products?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think it is up to the Ministry of Health to respond to the witnesses who present to the Krever commission. It is up to us to respond to what the Krever commission itself says.

The Krever commission has, I repeat, said that the safety of the blood system in Canada is as safe as any blood system in the world can ever hope to be.

Gun Control

[Jack Ramsay, Reform, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Senate committee studying Bill C-68 has passed a motion asking the Minister of Justice to "document or conduct such consultations as contemplated in section 35 of the Constitution and laid out in the Sparrow case, and various agreements such as those with the Yukon First Nations and the Cree, and inform the Senate committee that the Constitutional requirements are not violated".

I ask the Minister of Justice, will he comply with the senators' request?

[The Speaker]

Order. This question is before the other house. However, because it deals with the hon. minister, if he wishes I will permit him to answer the question.

The hon. member for Crowfoot.

[Jack Ramsay, Reform, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is a first for this minister.

During the hearings of the other place on this bill a question was raised. I will ask the minister if he wishes to respond to this question. The question was why is the House passing legislation that is not constitutionally sound.

I ask the minister, why was Bill C-68 rammed through without the constitutionality of the bill being assured?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and his party are not in a position to say they are the champions of aboriginal rights in this country. When they see in this issue an opportunity to attack Bill C-68 they take it.

For the many months the bill was before the House committee, of which the hon. member formed a part, it was examined in great detail. There were both legal and constitutional witnesses before the committee. It was established there, as it has been established before the Senate, that this bill is completely constitutional.

Grain Exports

[Marlene Cowling, Liberal, Dauphin—Swan River, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

In recent weeks a small group of farmers have blatantly defied federal law by trucking their wheat and barley across the U.S. border without an export permit. Can the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food tell the House what impact this illegal action will have on prairie farmers who are not breaking the law?

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

Mr. Speaker, illegal action or illegal protest is no way to have an effective influence on the shaping of government policy. In fact that conduct sets back the case of those who would legitimately argue for some changes.

It is a fundamental precept of democracy that we must all respect the law, even those laws with which we may disagree. If we do not have that fundamental respect for the law, soon we all descend to the law of the jungle.

Third, this kind of illegal conduct with respect to the United States border is tremendously dangerous. It could trigger that very political firestorm on the American side of the border which could lead to increased pressures in the United States to shut the border in some way for the access of Canadian grain into the U.S. market. The conduct is dangerous in terms of trade.

The law is there. It is clear and it is valid. I want to make it very clear the law will be enforced.

Points Of Order

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During question period the Minister of Finance said that I should quote my own figures rather than quote his. At the same time the Minister of Finance said that my accusations called into question the integrity of the auditor general.

If I may quote from the annual financial report-

[The Speaker]

What the hon. member has is an interesting point but it is not a point of order. I rule it would be a point of debate.