Debates of March 13th, 1995

Justice

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, during this past week in Alberta three more women, one of whom happens to be a former student of mine, were sexually assaulted at knife point, physically beaten and totally traumatized. Two of their attackers were identified by the victims, yet the same brutal, violent perpetrators were released within hours of their arrest.

My question is for the Minister of Justice. When will the minister enact legislation necessary to prevent fully identified brutal rapists from being let back on to the streets?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will not comment on the facts of the specific cases to which the hon. member has referred. I will assure him that the Criminal Code and its provisions in respect of bail, imprisonment, and parole entirely takes into account the need to protect society.

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is about as comforting as nothing. I have never in my life believed for a moment that a person could rape and hold a victim at knife point, be arrested at breakfast and be let out by lunch. What kind of justice is that?

When will the minister at least instruct his department to not allow bail for violent rapists?

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

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member would allow fact and analysis to overcome emotion and politics, then perhaps he would focus on the responsibility for prosecution in the province of Alberta.

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Have a knife held at your throat and see what emotion you have.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

It rests with the provincial Attorney General.

[Beth Phinney, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday the Solicitor General announced the launch of a national flagging system to deal more effectively with high risk offenders. This announcement has been described as a significant move in the right direction.

Can the Solicitor General tell us who will use this system and how will it help protect our communities?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we look forward to this system being used by crown attorneys across the country. It will enable them to have all relevant information about potential high risk dangerous offenders at the time of prosecution.

Therefore it will help them to develop appropriate strategy for charging and prosecution, particularly for bringing dangerous offender applications at the time of prosecution. If the court accepts such an application the offender will be incarcerated indefinitely.

I believe this will certainly add to the protection of our communities.

The Economy

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is about international money speculators and the newly emerging group of global gamblers.

My question refers to comments made by the Minister of Human Resources Development. We were encouraged when he said that in an effort to raise funds to help laid off workers, single parents and young people to find work, the government is contemplating a tax on financial transfers.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. When will he release the details that he plans to take to the summit in Halifax on this new tax proposal?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, the Tobin tax, named after the person who originally formulated it, has been around for quite some time. It is an idea that has been widely debated. It is one that would require some support from all of the industrialized countries to make sure that it is put into effect.

As to the agenda for the upcoming meeting, the Prime Minister will be making that information available in due course.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we hope to hear whether the government intends to put it on the agenda.

My supplementary question also refers to comments made by the Minister of Human Resources Development. He indicated at the UN summit on social development that the problems of Canadian child poverty are a direct result of a lack of a national child care program, similar to that found in Sweden.

The child care program was not mentioned in the budget. Could the Minister of Finance give us some indication what the government plans to do now to initiate and develop this promise that was made in the red book.

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

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member for Kamloops would look carefully at the budget papers, he would see that we have put together what we call the human resources investment fund. It is a way of replacing many of the old programs of the previous government and includes a commitment to child care.

I can report to the hon. member that we have already started discussions with the aboriginal community to begin dealing with development of child care spaces on reserves. We have made an open offer to the provinces to have a similar discussion with them when they are ready to talk with us about it.

We still plan to continue to meet our red book commitment on child care.

Mil Davie Shipyards

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

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

It will be remembered that Ottawa had agreed to approve the recovery plan of the last shipyard in Quebec on the condition that MIL Davie workers sign a new work agreement. Well, this condition has now been met, since a new work agreement was approved yesterday.

Now that the workers have signed a new work agreement with MIL Davie, does the federal government intend to live up to its part of the deal concerning the shipyard's recovery plan and help to modernize its infrastructure?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the decision made by MIL Davie workers certainly was a positive first step towards accomplishing what needs to be done, which we are all concerned about. We have indicated on several occasions that we are not prepared to grant massive assistance to any company.

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, am I to understand that the Minister of Industry admits that he must now take his responsibilities and confirm that the federal government will participate in MIL Davie's recovery plan by putting the company in charge, as a transitional measure, of developing a multipurpose Smart Ship?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to hear the formulation of this question. I am sure the member knows that the shareholder of MIL Davie is the government of the province of Quebec.

I find it difficult to understand why the responsibility of the shareholders should not be recognized in what is essentially a commercial problem.

Canadian International Developmentagency

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the budget is eliminating 45,000 public service jobs, with thousands from most departments.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs explain why CIDA is being cut by $300 million but is only losing a ridiculously low 11 positions out of 1,241?

[André Ouellet, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member that the cuts in personnel will be around 15 per cent.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government said it would be cutting executives from the top of the ministries, not from the bottom.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs explain why the number of senior executives who earn over $80,000 a year will be cut from 92 positions to 90 positions according to this year's estimates? Is eliminating only two positions the minister's idea of cutting from the top?

[André Ouellet, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has looked at the document that has been published. I do not quarrel with him. I think the document is incomplete.

We are looking at a substantial reduction over a three-year period. As this is completed, taking into account the human element, he will see that the reductions will be by 15 per cent and will apply to senior officials in CIDA.

The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy

[Derek Wells, Liberal, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. There are concerns with the current TAGS appeal process. This has been acknowledged by the minister who committed a few weeks ago to quickly address the concerns of thousands of fishermen with the appeal process.

Can the minister report to the House on what concrete action he has taken to ensure that the appeals process is fair to all TAGS applicants?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member both for the question and for the interest he has shown in this very important program to help the fish workers and fisher people in Atlantic region.

As a consequence of his representations and those of the member for Burin-St. George's a few weeks ago, the minister of fisheries and I last week established an independent review panel to provide a full, impartial, arm's length review of all TAGS applications for those that feel the program has not met their needs exactly.

As announced last week, the program will be up and running by the end of the month.

Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to again pursue the case of Bojan Inthavong with the minister of immigration. This young thug from my community participated in the murder of a 17-year old youth. He was ordered deported and two years later had an appeal. It was dismissed. During the interim he was given refugee status.

Now I understand that a judicial review may be forthcoming. I would like the minister to explain what is the value of a judicial review after a deportation appeal has been dismissed?

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

Mr. Speaker, the judicial review has nothing to do with my department but it indicates there are certain individuals who flagrantly break the law and abuse the regulations.

It is precisely for that reason that we have Bill C-44. It is not the be-all-and-end-all but is one piece of legislation that tries to come to grips with individuals that abuse the refugee stream. It would allow the government to pull the individual from the refugee stream and move that individual into an immigration inquiry with subsequent deportation.

This side of the House not only wants to protect legitimate refugee claimants but also wants to rid the system of those who fraudulently abuse the system, making it worse for those who are legitimate.

Why does the Reform Party not support Bill C-44?

National Defence

[Laurent Lavigne, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

Last week, we learned that Charles Scott, an individual who openly admits to being a white supremacist, teaches hand to hand combat to soldiers of the Canadian Forces.

How can the minister of defence justify that an acknowledged racist trains Canadian soldiers on a voluntary basis, and does the minister endorse the comments made by Major Doug Martin, who does not see any problem since that individual is not paid for his work?