Debates of Feb. 15th, 1995

Blood Supply System

[Diane Marleau, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, there is a process for approval of drugs within the Department of Health. This process is based on scientific study of the

products being offered. That process is ongoing. The idea is to ensure the drugs that are approved are safe and effective. That is what our job is about and the orders I give Health Canada ensure the safety and the health of Canadians.

Employment

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Lincoln, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

Young people in Canada experience the highest rate of unemployment due to the legacy of nine years of Tory mismanagement of the economy. What has the minister done to make sure there is hope, opportunity and jobs for our young people in Canada?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development and Minister of Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, it is important for us to point out that since October 1994 we have been able to achieve some 60,000 new jobs for young people in this country. The unemployment rate is now down to its lowest level since 1990. Of those 60,000 jobs, over 15,000 were as a direct result of initiatives we have taken under strategic initiatives of the red book policies.

For example, one important initiative has been partnerships with both business and labour in areas like electronics, horticulture, tourism, and car repair. Over 5,000 young people are now involved in major apprenticeship and internship programs working with private industry so they can get good careers for their future. We hope to have close to 20,000 enrolled this year in that very good program.

Gun Control

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice knows that a number of countries have tried to implement a universal firearms registration system. Can the minister tell us, how do successful universal firearms registration systems work in reducing violent crime in those countries and what percentage reduction can we expect in Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, the connection between universal registration, reduction in crime and increase in community safety is sufficiently obvious that today the initiative of this government was endorsed by the Canadian Medical Association.

May I say as well that if the hon. member does not find my explanation for the justification sufficiently persuasive, then perhaps he can ask the question of others who endorse it. Did I mention that they include the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Police Association, the police services boards from Brandon, Manitoba; Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; Nova Scotia; the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police; Sudbury Chief of Police; the Thunder Bay police-

[Ray Speaker, Reform, Lethbridge, AB]

The hon. member for Yorkton-Melville.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the minister is skating around the issue and is not answering the question.

Many countries have tried registration and he knows they have abolished it. The minister will not do an evaluation as the Auditor General has recommended. We know that registration will not work but surely the minister must know that lives will not be saved.

My question very simply is: How will this minister measure success? How will he do it?

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

Mr. Speaker, we shall measure success by providing the police forces of this country with a tool they have been asking for, for a dozen years.

Air Transportation

[Paul Mercier, Bloc, Blainville—Deux-Montagnes, QC]

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

Next week, the Prime Minister is scheduled to ratify with President Clinton a treaty to liberalize Canadian-American air space and provide Canadian carriers better access to the lucrative U.S. market, particularly at the New York and Chicago airports.

Since the Minister of Transport deprived Air Canada of the very lucrative Asian market, to the benefit of Canadian International, can he tell us if, this time, he intends to favour Air Canada as regards access to the U.S. market?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, first, the question asked by the hon. member is based on an absurd statement. Indeed, since I was appointed Minister of Transport, the government granted Air Canada access to the new Kansai airport, in Osaka. Air Canada also has flights to Seoul, in South Korea, and has landing rights in Singapore, even though it does not go there. You can rest assured that when the time comes to allocate U.S. routes, assuming the bilateral agreement with that country is ratified, we will-as we have always done-ensure a balance and a reasonable sharing of the benefits for the two Canadian airlines.

[Paul Mercier, Bloc, Blainville—Deux-Montagnes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that Hong Kong is a more important destination than Osaka. Does he not agree that his decision to

reserve international routes for only one carrier, except for the U.S. market, is likely to favour Canadian International, at the expense of Air Canada, whose employees are mainly located in Montreal?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should recognize that it is government policy to recognize there are two great Canadian airlines in this country: Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International.

What we have achieved with respect to what we hope we will be able to sign when the president comes to Canada is something that has been worked on in this country for nearly eight or nine years.

I would have thought that instead of playing petty parochial politics the hon. member would have recognized that Canadians from coast to coast in every province and both airlines have accepted this deal as the biggest step forward in Canadian aviation history in the last 15 years.

Citizenship And Immigration

[Philip Mayfield, Reform, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration sponsored a meeting and flew writers and bureaucrats on short notice to a four star west coast hotel to ask them: What should we do with the citizenship oath? The meeting was purposely kept secret and the new so-called pledge omits the head of state.

Was the minister aware of this meeting and does he approve of its final result, a pledge that is no longer an oath that leaves out any and all mention of the Queen?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I was aware of the meeting. The recommendation to the government to hold such a meeting to bring together Canadian writers was by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, and the Reform Party agreed with the recommendation.

[Philip Mayfield, Reform, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the recommendation of the standing committee. However they did not recommend a secret meeting.

On this day 30 years ago Canadians chose their new flag in an open forum that included the whole country. Today the minister uses backroom politics in a four-star hotel to try to slip in a new oath by Canadians on the sly. Canadians are saying: "Stop the secrecy but above all stop the waste".

Will the minister tell Parliament that he will put a stop to these backroom meetings and that any future changes of such profound importance will be brought before the Canadian people as was done 30 years ago?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the member's long preamble is simply absurd. The member knows full well-he was a member of that committee-that one of the major recommendations was to try to engage some leading Canadian writers to bring some vigour to a Canadian oath, to a charter of values for Canadian citizens.

Rather than undermining the voluntary efforts of the 10 writers who came together, he should be complimenting those Canadians who are prepared to give of themselves like Canadians gave of themselves 30 years ago for the flag.

Public Service

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

The previous government had a clear bias toward contracting services within the public service, with little control on the costs, numbers or quality of this shadow public service.

What means will the minister take to rigorously examine and restrain contracting so that public service employees do not lose their jobs while the shadow public service continues to prosper and grow?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is a close encounter. The government does not have the bias of the past government with respect to the matter of contracting out. We believe in getting best value for the taxpayers' dollar and ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in how we spend those dollars.

In respect of the downsizing that will be occurring, certainly we will want to look at it very carefully and take into consideration the concerns the hon. member has raised here today.

It is our effort to treat our employees fairly and reasonably. We will make every effort to try to put them in other jobs if their current positions have been declared surplus.

However the whole question of contracting out is also a matter that is before the government operations committee.

Taxation

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance who has obviously been hearing like the rest of us about a lot of taxpayers who are fed up with hitting the wall. Some taxpayers have not hit the wall. Some taxpayers have never even seen the wall and others have jumped over the wall.

Over the last few days the minister has talked about tax loopholes. I am pleased to hear him actually using that term as part of his vocabulary these days.

Will the minister as part of this theme seriously address the fact that capital gains in Canada are not taxed as other income as we find in the United States? People who inherit vast amounts of money do not pay tax. Would he consider the mother or father of all tax loopholes, the family trust, and remove that tax option in his budget?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have said in the House on numerous occasions I will not comment on specific suggestions. When bringing down the budget I will obviously give an answer to the member's question. In the meantime I will take it as representation.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the theme of fairness that the minister has commented on so much recently, would he ensure in whatever provisions he brings down in his budget that urban Canadians and rural and small town Canadians take an equal hit?

There is a lot of concern out there right now, particularly around the whole matter of transportation policy and so on, that rural and small town Canadians will be adversely affected by the budget much more than urban Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, I assure the hon. member that a great deal of effort has gone into and is going into making sure that the budget is fair.

The comments of the hon. member are well taken. Between urban Canadians and rural Canadians, in fact between Canadians in each region of the country the budget must be fair.

If we are to face up to the tremendous problem of the debt and the deficit, it is clear the budget will only be accepted if Canadians feel that everybody is bearing their fair share of the burden. I can assure the hon. member that is our intention.

30Th Anniversary Of Canadian Flag

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Laurentides, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of heritage. Canada is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the flag today, at a cost of a million dollars in this era of budget cuts, while the 25th anniversary was only marked by a simple ceremony on Parliament Hill.

How can the minister explain why the government will invest over one million dollars this year, half of it in Quebec the year the referendum will be held, when a simple ceremony sufficed for the 25th anniversary?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I have several things to say in reply. The first is that in the year of the 25th anniversary, the government in power was perhaps not interested in Canada's symbol, was perhaps was not as interested in the Canadian flag as we are.

The figures you gave were wrong. Only 25 per cent, not 50, of the budget for the event will be spent in Quebec. I was asked how many flags there were, and I can say that approximately 30 per cent of them are for Quebec. You were misinformed, Madam.

[The Speaker]

I would like to remind the hon. minister to always address the Chair.