Debates of Dec. 11th, 1995

Employment Insurance Act

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

Madam Speaker, I was taking notes while the hon. member was speaking. He can rest assured that the government is definitely committed to the principles of medicare.

The member should also understand that the reason we introduced the Canada social and health transfer was that we wanted to provide provinces and Canadians with the type of flexibility for which hundreds of thousands of Canadians called during our consultations on social security review. The hon. member is misguided in saying Canadians were not consulted. We undertook perhaps the most extensive consultation in Canadian history.

The carrying nature of that consultation was shown clearly with the tabling of the new employment insurance bill, which will allow Canadians to get jobs and keep their jobs. It will help the most vulnerable in society in a sustainable fashion; not to mention the great work we are doing on the youth portfolio under the leadership of the Secretary of State for Training and Youth. During hard fiscal times we have increased the expenditures and investment in young people by $43 million to $236 million. We have provided thousands upon thousands of young Canadians with their rightful opportunity to gain the type of skills required for the new economy.

I am glad the hon. member brings to the floor of the House of Commons some deep concerns, but he and his party can rest assured that we are on the side of Canadians, not against them.

[Osvaldo Nunez, Bloc, Bourassa, QC]

Madam Speaker, last November 30, I put a question to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration concerning the fate of Anatoli Delets and his family, who came to Canada from the former Soviet Union in 1992.

Immigration officials in Montreal are only waiting for the release of Mrs. Delets from the hospital to deport that family to Moldavia. Mrs. Delets is Jewish, and Mr. Delets, who has been held in custody in Montreal for several weeks, is not considered a Moldavian under the citizenship law of that new country.

Where will the minister send them? As is often the case, the minister has shown no compassion towards the Delets family in spite of the difficulties and the significant distress they are suffering. They have no country to go to with two young children.

Where is Canada's humanitarian policy the minister is always boasting about? This family is a typical case, and a very good one, where the minister should use his discretionary powers to grant permanent residency in Canada.

Again I urgently appeal to the minister, in the days before Christmas, to show compassion toward the Delets family. Moreover, the minister should remember that he too left his country to come and settle here.

Another family, the Savas from Romania, is going through difficult times. Since November 17, they have taken refuge in a church in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The Sava family came to Canada four years ago and has integrated very well into Canadian society. Since the youngest of the two children was born in Canada, he is a Canadian citizen.

Mr. Sava is a mechanical engineer. He has just repaired the church steeple; the bells now peal every day for freedom.

I pay tribute to the United Church for its support for the Sava family. The minister should be able to find a way to deal with this case. I hope he will not wait for six months as was the case with Mauricio Romero, a young Salvadorian who took refuge in a Calgary church to avoid deportation to Salvador. I had the opportunity to visit him twice, speak to his family and meet the pastors who were helping him.

Why will the minister not use his discretionary powers right now to grant permanent residency to the Delets and Sava families? Both have been living and working in this country for several years. To deport them now is inhumane.

As immigration critic, I have been made aware of several similar cases. I have noticed that the Canadian refugee policy is increasingly aligned on the policy of the United States and certain European countries that, increasingly, are less generous and welcoming to people in distress.

As the international year of tolerance is drawing to a close, I am asking the minister and his officials to show some compassion, especially to the Delets and Sava families.

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

Madam Speaker, I am surprised the hon. member would try to call into question the generous and compassionate immigration system we have.

Perhaps he is doing it for some ulterior political reason, but our immigration system is something we have always taken pride. We have been recognized internationally for our generosity, for our compassion, for our deep understanding of what the immigrant experience is all about.

The government understands also the family's disappointment. There is no question about that. However, in order to maintain a system that is credible and fair we need to absolutely make sure we respect the law.

The family has had the full benefit of Canada's generous refugee determination system. It has been found not to be refugees and must now leave Canada.

There are other options the family can exercise. We understand it has requested removal to another country. The department has no objection to removing it to another country as long as that country is willing to take it and legally admit it.

The other option is for the family to return to Moldova and apply through the normal process.

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, London—Middlesex, ON]

Madam Speaker, as the member for London-Middlesex, I represent many Canadians of Arab origin who are very proud to be Canadian citizens.

Many of these constituents of mine are very successful small business people in their own right. They were so in the Middle East and they have continued that success here in Canada.

They have met with me a number of times to indicate they feel to an extent they are perhaps being under used as new Canadians in the sense that they have great knowledge and expertise of their former countries in the Middle East; an expertise and a knowledge they are very anxious and prepared to share with the Canadian government and with Canadian business people looking for opportunities for business overseas.

These constituents of mine have made it clear they are extremely pleased and happy that at long last it looks as though the Middle East has entered a new era of peace. There will be a tremendous amount of rebuilding and reconstruction needed, particularly in the area of infrastructure of all types.

It pleases me as a Canadian and as their member of Parliament to hear them speak so highly of the Canadian leadership role in peacekeeping in the Middle East. They are well aware this dates back to Lester B. Pearson and the Suez crisis and his tremendous actions then for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

It seems to these friends of mine that somehow Canada is missing an opportunity to capitalize on the tremendous goodwill that exists in the Middle East toward our nation.

What they mean by this is simply that they feel Canada is not being as proactive or aggressive as we might be in pursuing business opportunity which really are enormous in scope. Most Middle Eastern countries would welcome Canadian business with open arms. While we are pursuing such opportunities, many of these friends and constituents of mine feel we need to be more proactive and aggressive.

To that end, there is one interesting idea that has been proposed to me a number of times. It is the establishment of permanent Canadian trade centres in the Middle East.

These people would see such centres as being run and financed by the private sector, by private business with help from the Canadian government in terms of protocol and business contacts, that sort of thing, government to government contacts which the Canadian government could provide.

They certainly see the costs of such trade centres as being shared by Canadian businesses. They point out that such a cost sharing arrangement would be much cheaper than various Canadian businesses year after year sending their own representatives to the Middle East at a greater cost and probably with a less efficient result.

I asked my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, two or three specific questions. Is such an idea feasible? Where has Canada tried such an idea? Does the parliamentary secretary agree that Canada can be more aggressive and proactive in pursuing trade opportunities in the Middle East when these countries are so anxious to welcome Canadian business people?

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from London-Middlesex. He is a hard working and outstanding member of Parliament who has in the past and who continues to truly represent his constituents.

I will first share with my colleague some of the initiatives and some of the things the government has done so far in the Middle East. In January of this year the government opened the embassy in Beirut. Also we have ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement with Israel and we have approached other countries in the Middle East to have free trade agreements with them. Our support for the private sector is very strong. We are trying to help it explore markets in different parts of the Middle East.

I had the great pleasure of participating in the World Economic Summit in Jordan where in excess of 20 Canadian companies participated. I have also taken a trade mission to the Middle East on a number of occasions. I agree with my colleague that the Middle East is an emerging market that will be the Giant Tiger of Asia in the year 2000 and beyond.

His suggestion for a trade centre is an interesting one. I will be sure to take it to our officials. We have some of the finest people representing us in the Middle East with embassies from one end of the Middle East to the other. We have trade commissioners working extremely hard. At the Department of Foreign Affairs we have a division working day in and day out.

The people in the division responsible for the Middle East and North Africa work 24 hours a day trying to promote trade and help to improve relations between Canada and these parts of the world.

We are delighted to see my colleague take an interest in the area of trade in the region and I would be more than happy to work with him on an ongoing basis.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

Pursuant to Standing Order 38(5), the motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7.55 p.m.)