Debates of March 28th, 1995

Drunk Defence

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice tabled Bill C-72, claiming that it would resolve the sensitive issue of using intoxication as a defence. Need I remind the House that the Supreme Court decision on the Daviault case was heavily criticized, given that intoxication was used as a line of defence against a charge of sexual assault or assault.

The minister claims that his bill will ensure that all people who commit violent crimes in a state of extreme inebriation will be considered criminally responsible for their behaviour. Regardless of the minister's bill, a sexual aggressor whose victim succumbed to his attack is still free to use extreme drunkenness as a line of defence.

How can the minister claim to have resolved the problem of the drunk defence when his bill only covers a small group of offences?

National Defence

[Bob Ringma, Reform, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the incidence of suicide in the armed forces in very disquieting. Over the past few months, six soldiers have committed suicide. The families of these soldiers have asked the department to explain the circumstances of their deaths and, up to now, have received inadequate answers. This raises serious questions about the competence of the Minister of National Defence and of his department. Once again, the minister has demonstrated his lack of leadership skills.

This affair is but an episode in the long string of bungled issues at the department: first, Somalia, then the Petawawa videos; on top of those incidents, the Fowler-Doyle intrigue and now, these families demanding a public inquiry.

The families affected by this tragedy deserve answers and the Reform Party is insistent that the minister give them these answers.

Health

[Audrey McLaughlin, NDP, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, in the last 20 years at least 150,000 Canadian women have received silicone gel breast implants. Many of these women live daily with the harmful effects of silicone leaking into their bodies causing immune deficiencies, implants contracting and massive scarring from their bodies' attempts to reject a foreign substance.

Tomorrow Health Canada is hosting its second workshop on risk assessment of breast implants in Canadian women, two years after its first workshop convened to study the issue. The federal government has all but ignored the women most affected.

No more studies. It is time for the federal government to make a real commitment to the health of Canadian women by actively supporting civil suits for compensation, making sure women get the real information they need on removing the implants or making a choice about implants and playing a more active role in counselling and support.

National Film Board

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in Hollywood last night the Academy Award for best animated short film was won by "Bob's Birthday", a National Film Board co-production with filmmakers Alison Snowden and David Fine. It gives me great pleasure to congratulate the National Film Board on winning its tenth Oscar.

"Bob's Birthday" is an entertaining and whimsical appraisal of the self-scrutiny part of every birthday, and represents a continuation of the rich tradition of superior films with which the National Film Board has been involved. This film has already won prizes at major festivals in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

In its 56 years of existence, the film board has received 60 Academy Award nominations. Of the ten Oscars it has won, five have been for animated short films, an area that has gained very great respect and recognition around the world.

Bravo.

Fisheries

[Joe McGuire, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Mr. Speaker, "conservation is our main issue", cried Emma Bonino, spokesperson for the European Union. However, the activities of the Spanish fishermen off the nose and tail of the Grand Banks give the lie to that statement.

While the world community works toward a treaty in high seas fishing, the Spanish continue to pillage fish stocks. While tens of thousands of Atlantic Canadian ground fishermen can no longer earn their living from the sea, the few remaining groundfish stocks are being overfished by foreigners. We cannot simply stand by and watch this happen. We first and foremost have an obligation to defend the interests of our people and our marine environment.

The European community's own report in 1992 condemned the Spanish for violating fishing regulations. We must have effective international agreements, one providing for legitimate international inspection, one providing for legitimate international enforcement and one dealing with our real conservation concerns.

I commend the minister for his efforts to achieve such an agreement. At the same time I encourage him to stand firm in protecting Canada's interests in this dispute. He can do so confident that Canadians stand with him.

Quebec Referendum

[Bernard Patry, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, following the Parti Quebecois youth forum on Sunday, the Premier of Quebec said that Quebecers were not ready to vote for sovereignty at this time.

On this point, the PQ leader is right. His only problem is that Quebecers will not be ready either in September 1995 or next year. The people do not want Quebec to separate.

This is clearly demonstrated by the results of a poll conducted by the council of Quebec employers, according to which 97 per cent of council members want the referendum to be held in 1995 while 89 per cent of them favour a June plebiscite.

As the leader of the Bloc Quebecois recently said, the referendum must be held as soon as possible.

Railway Industry

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by stubbornly making working conditions worse for railway employees, the federal government could be shooting itself in the foot.

As Jean-Robert Sansfaçon wrote in today's Le Devoir : ``The current option of mediation-arbitration denies the right to strike without ensuring a satisfactory settlement. This approach could even aggravate the crisis in the railway industry and prevent the privatization of CN''.

By trampling the rights of workers, being inflexible and refusing to make the slightest concession regarding the arbitrators' mandate, the government may have done what it should have avoided at all cost, namely causing labour relations at CN to deteriorate on the eve of this company's privatization.

Member For Halifax

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Canadian public is aware of how the Parliamentary

Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the member for Halifax, feels about the people from Spain.

The member for Halifax, it was reported, on speculating about doctors who advised Silken Laumann to take an allergy drug that cost her her gold medal commented: "They must have been Spaniards".

Not only is this a blatant insensitivity aimed at the Spanish people, it is absolutely unacceptable behaviour given her position as a parliamentary secretary for immigration. The member should be ashamed.

Canada may be in conflict with the Europeans over turbot stocks, but there is absolutely no need to attack Spanish people directly. Canada has a long standing friendship with the people from Spain. Many Spanish people are among Canada's most successful and contributing immigrants and are an integral part of our common culture.

When the member for Halifax denigrates an entire people like this, it is time to reconsider her credibility as a parliamentary secretary for immigration.

Human Rights

[Shaughnessy Cohen, Liberal, Windsor—St. Clair, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Diary of Anne Frank is a poignant reminder of the tragedy of the Holocaust. March marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Anne Frank in the Bergen Belsen prison camp.

Canadians should not and must not forget the lessons of history. We must be vigilant at home and abroad to ensure that no minority is oppressed and that human rights are respected.

Federalism

[Denis Paradis, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent headline in Le Devoir , Quebec is hiring lobbyists to explain sovereignty to the Americans. Alain Dubuc, for his part, wrote in La Presse : ``If there is one theme that invariably surfaces in every report from every regional commission on Quebec's future, it is that Quebecers want more information on the sovereignty project''.

All the PQ and the Bloc Quebecois have done so far is to create uncertainty among Quebecers, and they now want to export this uncertainty to the U.S. The people in Brome-Missisquoi have just reaffirmed their faith in Canada and I salute them for that. Canada will continue to evolve within the context of flexible federalism, thus allowing us to better manage our economy and increase our real exports.

Gun Control

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

Mr. Speaker, as of March 15, 199 out of 202 members of the Saskatchewan Federation of Police Officers have indicated they are opposed to the Liberal's Bill C-68. That is 98.5 per cent opposed. In case the minister needs help with his math, that is only three Saskatchewan police officers in support of this legislation.

Other surveys of police produce similar results. In Moose Jaw 29 city police oppose, only 6 in favour; in Prince Albert 69 city police oppose, only 4 in favour; in Estevan 23 city police oppose, none in favour; in Weyburn 13 city police oppose, none in favour.

The police on the street in the cities of Saskatchewan are nearly unanimous in their opposition to Bill C-68. The justice minister's coalition for gun control is starting to unravel. What will he do when similar results come in from every city police force in Canada?

Burundi

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, despite an apparent lull in Bujumbura, tensions between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes remain very high following massacres that claimed more than 500 victims. More than 20,000 people have fled to Zaire from Burundi. The president of Burundi admitted this was the beginning of genocide, and meanwhile, our Minister of Foreign Affairs is so optimistic he seems indifferent to what is happening.

Could the Prime Minister indicate what measures were considered last night at a meeting of the UN Security Council to put a stop to the violence in Burundi?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is very concerned with what is going on in Burundi. We do not want to see a repeat of what happened in Rwanda.

Last week the secretary of state appeared before the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs. We spent three hours debating how we could help people in Burundi so as not to repeat the atrocities of Rwanda.

The Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa was in Burundi from February 15 to February 17 at a conference.

Strategy was discussed with the neighbouring countries. These were then forwarded to the security council.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about incipient genocide. We have just seen a terrible example of this in a neighbouring country, Rwanda, and the Prime Minister has nothing to say about this. My question was directed to him, since he is responsible for the government and is ultimately responsible for determining foreign policy.

I want to ask him whether, instead of hiding behind a junior minister, he, as leader of the government, the Prime Minister of Canada, the man who has the responsibility, will finally realize and admit that the only way-

[Some hon. members]

Question.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

They will first have to calm down, Mr. Speaker. Then I will go on.

[The Speaker]

I would ask the Leader of the Opposition to put his question.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to ask the leader of the government, assuming there is one, whether he will finally realize and admit that the only way to avoid a repeat of the terrible blood bath in Rwanda is to send a UN ceasefire monitoring group to Burundi as soon as possible?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is unconscionable that when I ask a member who is a parliamentary secretary, who has more experience in this House than the Leader of the Opposition and is very well informed-

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

-and who took the trouble to prepare for Question Period, when I ask him to give information on behalf of the government, I think members should respect these people who are parliamentary secretaries and have certain responsibilities. They have information on the issue at hand.

In Burundi, as in the case of the country next door, Canada has always made a point of staying, whatever the circumstances. When all other countries had left Rwanda, only Canada stayed behind. We have always maintained a visible and occasionally unique presence, in the circumstances. In Burundi, we are now trying to avoid the worst. I think the information the House was given by the parliamentary secretary was very properly expressed and accurately described the government's position.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, instead of trying to hide his failure to act under soothing assurances, I want to ask the Prime Minister whether or not he would agree Canada must show leadership by putting pressure on the UN to send a ceasefire monitoring group to Burundi which, I may remind him, is a member country of the Francophonie?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I had a chance to discuss this kind of problem and the Francophonie with the Secretary General of the Francophonie.

We discussed the possibility for the Francophonie to get more involved in political problems, for instance in Rwanda and Burundi, more or less like we used the Commonwealth to try and find a solution to the problems in South Africa. We want the countries of the Francophonie to be able to intervene in circumstances like these, and I am entirely satisfied with the way the Minister of Foreign Affairs is handling this matter.

Fisheries

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the debate between Canada and the European Union at the Conference on the Law of the Sea under way in New York City shows the extent of the disagreement between the parties despite the rift emerging within the European Union. Indeed, apparently realizing the importance of Canada's complaints, a number of countries, notably the United Kingdom, refuse to impose sanctions.

Will the Prime Minister report on the progress of the ongoing negotiations between Canada and the European Union and tell us whether or not talks will continue with European Union Fisheries Commissioner Bonino, who has just been recalled to Europe?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are still negotiating with the European Community on this issue. We have clearly indicated to the European Community that our intention was to develop a fisheries protection plan for this area. Our goal is to protect the environment and we will press our point.

We want to protect fish stocks for future generations. That is what is a stake and I think that progress has been made in the negotiations. We are urging the European Community to make sure that all vessels comply with international laws and refrain from harvesting fish that should not be harvested. Once an agreement has been reached on this subject, I am sure the problem will disappear.

I should tell the House that, when I spoke with Mr. Santer, the President of the European Commission, who took the initiative of phoning me yesterday, we talked about the need to give top priority to settling the conservation problem.