Debates of Nov. 23rd, 1995

Hiv

[Réal Ménard, Bloc, Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Health.

In 1989, a Quebec company, BioChem, developed a very important drug for the treatment of HIV infection, called 3TC. The American Food and Drug Administration has approved 3TC for sale in the United States. Because of the administrative slowness of Health Canada, the Americans are able to profit from this discovery before we do.

How can the minister explain that 3TC, a drug developed here, is already approved for use in the United States, while Health Canada is dragging its feet?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, scientists at Health Canada are continuing their work as fast as they can. We expect that they will give their approval very shortly.

[Réal Ménard, Bloc, Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that the minister will make this year's "Bye! Bye!". I will ask her a supplementary question.

The minister has nice sounding words, but does she realize what the inefficiency of Health Canada means for the persons infected, especially when they know that their American counterparts are able to make good use of that drug, a drug developed here?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member must also be aware that while drug approval is under way, there are ways for people in need of these medications to have access to them.

We have a number of programs, including emergency drug release programs. We are doing absolutely everything we can to fast track approval of some of these drugs. In the meantime we are also facilitating their access for people who truly need them.

Infrastructure

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

Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board told the government operations committee that the government's much heralded infrastructure program cost Canadian taxpayers $750,000 for every job created.

Last year the auditor general said the $4.5 billion spent on job creation by regional development agencies has failed. The number of jobs created has been fudged, inflated and politically massaged.

Will the Minister of Finance acknowledge the taxpayers had a bum rap, that the unemployed have been led down the garden path, and that his own deficit reductions could have been much larger if he would only acknowledge that this process of job creation does not work?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, one can speak to virtually every mayor of every municipality. One can speak to the executives of the mayors in municipalities. One can speak to the provinces. They will say the infrastructure program has been a tremendous success all across the country.

If one reads the auditor general's report, what he does is level a series of statements as to defects in evaluation, the vast majority of which occurred under the previous government and have been cleaned up by this government, which is why the auditor general congratulated the regional agencies under the Liberal government, and we are very proud of it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I could not find the congratulations. First we had the national unity cabinet committee and now we have the job creation cabinet committee being struck. This is talk, talk, talk and more money flushed down the drain for a top down, borrowed money, government directed job creation program that we know will fail.

Will the Minister of Finance recognize and acknowledge that if he wants a serious job creation program he has to get the government off the backs of the private sector, reduce the deficit faster than he has been doing and reduce taxes? Each of these things is opposite to what the government has been doing so far.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, if one looks at the trend of interest rates since the last budget, one would see those interest rates have come down and will understand the very clear linkage between deficit reduction, lowering interest rates and job creation. That is more than likely one reason that over the course of the last year and half there have been over 500,000 new jobs created in Canada.

The President of the Treasury Board told me that the proof the infrastucture program has been such a great success is that the member for Simcoe Centre keeps writing to him for more money.

Bosnia

[Sarkis Assadourian, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On November 21, with the historic signing of the peace accord in Dayton, Ohio between the warring parties in the Bosnian conflict, would the Minister of Foreign Affairs comment on any new role the Canadian government may play in support of the peace process in war torn Bosnia?

[Jesse Flis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we are all pleased to welcome the Dayton peace agreement, bringing an end to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

I think I speak on behalf of everyone in the House when I say we congratulate all of the participants who had anything to with helping bring about this peace accord.

The peace accord is one thing but a lasting peace, the post-peace accord period, is sometimes as important or more important than the peace settlement itself. There will now be a period of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation. We will be monitoring this post-accord period very closely to see what part Canada can play together with its allies.

Employment Centres

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. Last July, the Minister of Human Resources Development announced a major restructuring of his employment centre network and decided that the regional management centre for the Mauricie would be located in Shawinigan, in the riding of Saint-Maurice, instead of Trois-Rivières, the regional capital.

Since then, 25,000 people have signed a petition condemning the government's decision and 40 municipal councils in that region have adopted resolutions to that effect.

In this context, what is the rationale for establishing this regional centre in Shawinigan instead of Trois-Rivières when the public wants exactly the opposite?

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I take great pleasure in answering the hon. member's question.

What the government of Canada did in that instance was make a very important and valuable response to the issue of service delivery. We have basically amalgamated Revenue Canada and HRD services to provide one stop shopping for Quebecers.

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, you will understand that I would have liked to get an answer from someone who is familiar with this matter.

Will the Prime Minister dare deny the fact that it is a highly partisan, arbitrary and illogical decision that the office of the Minister for Human Resources Development got directly from the Prime Minister's office?

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his questions. Anytime he would like to compare notes on this file, I will be willing to sit down with him.

The Government of Canada has increased points of service for Canadians from 450 to 750. Through the use of technology we have reduced the number of days required to file unemployment insurance claims from eight to two. Similarly, we have increased points of service for seniors by 400 per cent.

If the hon. member would like a further briefing, I will be available in my office.

Irving Whale

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

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

The Irving Whale salvage feasibility study submitted to the coast guard in 1992 noted the presence of a heating fluid called Mansanto MGS 295S. Had someone read the report carefully they would have discovered that the fluid was Monsanto MCS 295S, a substance comprised of 80 per cent PCBs.

When the minister asked the RCMP to investigate a possible cover-up of the knowledge of PCBs, did she ask it also to investigate her own department to find out who made the mistake? It was obvious that cover-up was on her mind.

[The Speaker]

In the formulation of a question we always give the widest latitude, but we should be very careful not to impute motive in any way, especially in this particular context. I ask the hon. member to withdraw the last words.

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw the words. I was not imputing motive.

[The Speaker]

Thank you. The hon. Minister of the Environment.

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, on July 6 of this year I ordered an investigation into the circumstances as to whether and why the Canadian Environmental Protection Act was violated in that information regarding PCBs had not been forwarded to my department.

That preliminary investigation was concluded last week and the results were serious enough that I have turned the matter over to the Attorney General of Canada and to the RCMP for further investigation.

With the investigation in the hands of the RCMP it has the full latitude to investigate everybody, including me.

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister needs to accept ministerial responsibility for the actions of her own department.

On March 18, 1994 the minister tabled the 1992 report to which I referred. I would think if the minister tabled the material she is responsible for its contents. She has known since the tabling that PCBs were on board the Irving Whale barge.

It is amazing that the environment minister calls for a police investigation when the fault lies with her. Will the minister accept the responsibility for the report which she tabled and take the blame for the mishaps of her department, an open ended cost so far of $12 million with still no results?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I will accept my full responsibilities. Under the law of the people of Canada I was required in July to turn this matter over to an investigation because there was a possibility that evidence on the presence of PCBs had been withheld from the department specifically.

If the hon. member is suggesting I should break the law and ignore the requirement under CEPA to inform of the presence of PCBs by law, I will not. If he is suggesting I am attempting to deflect responsibility or am participating in a cover-up I will categorically deny that.

When I asked for the further investigation of the preliminary results by the attorney general and the RCMP, I made no bones about the openness of the RCMP to investigate everybody, including the actions of all departments of government.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Simon de Jong, NDP, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

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

The CBC, one of the few remaining ties helping to keep our country together, is about to snap. The president of the CBC has warned that any further cuts would so drastically reduce the CBC that a change to its legislated mandate would be necessary. The minister, however, earlier today in the House guaranteed that the budget will fit the mandate, not the mandate the budget.

Does the government really want the CBC to continue to exist? If it does, will the government rescind the further $123 million in cuts it has ordered and provide the CBC with multi-year funding as promised in the red book?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, we are on record as supporting a strong public broadcaster and supporting the CBC.

We will indeed be looking at the future financing requirements of the CBC once we have decided on the mandate.

Health Of Women

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Brant we are very concerned about the high incidence of low birth weight babies, about the increasing impact of heart disease on women, about osteoporosis, about breast and uterine cancer.

What is the minister doing to resolve these concerns and make good our promises in the red book to attend to the health issues of women?

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the health of women continues to be a priority for this government.

In recent times, especially in the month of November, we have made a couple of very big announcements. One is the call for letters of intent for the centres of excellence on women's health. Another is the announcement that my American counterpart, Donna Shelala, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and I will be co-hosting a forum on women's health in March 1995 here in Ottawa.

As well, we have a number of initiatives, including the prenatal nutrition program and programs addressing women and tobacco use. We have also been doing a lot of work on ensuring that women are a part of clinical trials.

In everything we do, we continue to check on the effects on women and their health.