Debates of March 30th, 1995

Budget Implementation Act, 1995

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to tell the Chair that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Cumberland-Colchester. On behalf of the constituents of Brome-Missisquoi, I would like to congratulate the Minister of Finance, who lives in my riding, for the courageous budget he tabled on February 27, 1995, five days after I was sworn in and became an official member of the House.

In the February 13 byelection, one of the mandates I was given was to ensure the good management of public finances. That is what we in the Liberal Party are currently doing. Canada is on the right track. We kept on having visions of a deficit out of control. We absolutely had to review the federal government's activities. The result was that we introduced a series of cuts, and I believe that the government made wise choices. The thousands of people I met during the election campaign told me that the government should trim the fat, not increase income taxes for individuals.

That was what it did in the budget. The support that people have given to the Minister of Finance's budget proves that Canadians want to eliminate the deficit as quickly as possible and that the remedies he is using are fair.

The Liberal government set realistic and firm objectives for itself during the election campaign, which we are now in the process of attaining. It is important to keep the momentum going. We will reduce the deficit to $32.7 billion in 1995-96 and then to $24.3 billion. By 1996-97, the deficit will have sunk to its lowest level since 1974-75.

The measures in the budget will fundamentally change the size and structure of the government machine. Program spending will be reduced from the level in last year's budget, $120 billion, to close to $108 billion in 1996-97. The size of government will be substantially reduced over the next three years. Compared to 1994-95 amounts, departmental budgets will be reduced by close to 19 per cent. The budgets of some departments will even be cut in half. All told, these measures will create savings of approximately $17 billion over three years. As a result of this vast reform of federal programs, 45,000 jobs in the public service will be cut over the next three years.

Of course, it would have been unreasonable to cut program spending without trimming the public service. We will never rid ourselves of the deficit unless we trim the fat in government and improve management and efficiency.

These are but a few of the specific measures in the 1995 budget allaying the concerns of my constituents and all Canadians. The role of regional organizations, for example the Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec, will change, as they will be called on to help small and medium size businesses by means of loans and repayable contributions, not grants. My constituents will be happy to know that they will still be able to count on their MP and the federal government when it comes time to open up a small or medium size business.

[The Speaker]

The hon. member will have another chance to speak shortly after question period, he still has some time remaining. However, since it is 2 o'clock, we now proceed to statements by members.

Land Mines

[Reg Alcock, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to join with the member for Brant in drawing to the House's attention the issue of land mines.

The International Red Cross estimates that every 15 minutes someone is killed or maimed by a land mine. Before question period ends today three more people will become innocent victims.

In our world there is no place for such indiscriminate, anti-personnel weapons. Every year some 10,000 people are killed by these devices and many more are injured. There are an estimated 65 million to 110 million uncleared land mines in the world and an additional 10 million to 30 million new land mines being produced every year.

I am proud to say that Canada does not take part in the deployment of these devices and that the government has endorsed the UN's convention on inhumane weapons.

I sincerely hope that during the United Nations review conference in June the government will strengthen Canada's position and place a complete moratorium on the deployment of these weapons.

Let us not forget that today's theatre of conflict is tomorrow's farmland or refugee camp. Innocent men, women and children

are dying. Since 1975 land mines have claimed an estimated one million victims, mostly in the developing world.

Let us help bring an end to this war on the world's poor.

Burundi

[Bernard Deshaies, Bloc, Abitibi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, although the situation in Burundi is getting critical, and ethnic massacres might start any day now, all the United Nations Security Council is doing on the matter is considering appropriate measures to bring to court people who might commit actions which could be construed as genocide.

It is astounding to realize how fast the international community has forgotten what happened in Rwanda. Rather than trying diplomatic means to defuse the situation and planning for the quick deployment of multinational forces should the conflict degenerate, the UN is preparing for a post-genocide period.

Canada's attitude toward this partner state in the Francophonie is just as disappointing as the attitude of the Security Council, and it shows a total lack of leadership.

National Gallery

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

Mr. Speaker, I think the Canadian taxpayer will be appalled to know that $200,000 has already been spent to purchase one-half of the AZT exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada. I think they will be even more outraged to realize the National Gallery intends to spend more money to purchase the other half of the exhibit which is currently on loan and on display.

AIDS is a largely preventable disease. I am sure most Canadians will agree with me that the money would be better spent educating our young people on the dangers of promiscuity rather than on an exhibit such as this one.

National Defence

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I am greatly concerned about the recent announcement concerning changes to the Canadian forces recruitment operation in New Brunswick.

According to the Minister of National Defence he has decided to close the Canadian forces recruitment operations in Moncton, reduce the detachment in Bathurst, and move the main recruitment centre from Saint John to Fredericton.

The province of New Brunswick once again is being hit extremely hard by these closures, especially from the closure and moving of the main recruitment centre from Saint John to Fredericton.

The minister has stated that the move will save $180,000. However, does the minister realize that the move will remove an annual payroll of $1 million from Saint John? These jobs are permanent jobs that have a positive impact on the economy of Saint John, Moncton and Bathurst.

I ask the minister and the Liberal government to please stop. New Brunswick has already had its fair share of cuts in the budget.

Charitable Donations

[David Iftody, Liberal, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the people of Manitoba, and especially the people of Provencher, are generous people with big hearts.

Statistics Canada has declared that Randolph, a small community near Steinbach of only 130 residents, has the most charitable citizens in all of Manitoba. Despite its size it is truly large when it comes to donating to charity. According to Statistics Canada the median donation given by people in Randolph was $1,890, which means that 50 per cent of the population gave more than $1,890.

Last year it was Blumenort, another Mennonite community in my riding of Provencher, that was reported by Statistics Canada as having the median, again in Manitoba.

It makes me very proud to be representing Manitoba's most giving, most charitable citizens. I congratulate the generous people of Randolph and Blumenort.

Human Rights

[Gurbax Malhi, Liberal, Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the protection of human rights is a universal concern. In this respect Canada has played a respectful role on the international scene.

Often we do not put a face to the issue of human rights. However today the city of Ottawa is graced with the presence of Ajit Singh Bains, retired Chief Justice of the Punjab High Court and the Chair of the Punjab Human Rights Organization. He has also been the victim of many human rights abuses at the hands of the Indian government, including being charged under the notorious Tada law.

Only international public outcry has assured that Justice Bains is able to travel to Canada to make his views known about the conditions in the Punjab.

I hope members will join with me in saluting the efforts of this remarkable man in bringing justice to the people of the Punjab.

Heritage Vision '95

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of a group of my constituents who have taken it upon themselves to make a difference in our riding.

They call their initiative Heritage Vision '95. It brings together the communities of Chisholm, Nipissing, Himsworth South, Powassan, and interest groups that have united for a common cause.

Heritage Vision '95 plans a community heritage park, including an interpretive centre, a tourist information centre, an agricultural centre and a refurbished eight-sided rotunda that will serve as a band shell. The historic Clark House will be the park's focal point.

Heritage Vision '95 chair Dennis Andrews and his hard working team of volunteers have what it takes to see the project through to completion: shared objectives, the will to work co-operatively and the desire to persevere with volunteer time, labour and motivation to accomplish the goals.

Community spirit starts and grows because small groups of people wholeheartedly believe that they can make a difference. Heritage Vision '95 will do just that.

Member For Halifax

[Maurice Godin, Bloc, Châteauguay, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during a recent debate, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said that the physicians who approved the use, by Silken Laumann, of a certain drug, banned by the Olympic organization, which resulted in her losing her medal, had to be Spaniards.

This comment has, rightfully, offended the Spanish speaking community of Quebec and Canada. The present dispute between Spain and Canada over turbot stocks must not be used as a pretext to insult people of Spanish descent whose contribution to the development of Quebec and Canada is very important.

The Bloc Quebecois is denouncing this unacceptable comment by the parliamentary secretary which is tarnishing the image of Quebec and Canada, countries which have always welcomed immigrants from all over the world.

World Conference On Women

[Sharon Hayes, Reform, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a delegation from various government departments including Status of Women is now in New York for an international conference.

Proposals from the conference will dictate the agenda for the fourth UN World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing in September 1995. The government has established a $102,000 bureaucracy to co-ordinate the effort.

The appointed unrepresentative Canadian delegation has proposed an amendment to the conference's platform for action that discrimination based on sexual orientation be recognized as a barrier to women.

How could the government justify spending tax dollars to promote a policy on the international front that has failed to receive approval from grassroots Canadians on the home front?

I call upon the government to cease and desist from subverting the democratic process and the rule of law by covertly promoting its own agenda on the international stage.

Aboriginal Veterans

[Len Taylor, NDP, The Battlefords—Meadow Lake, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after months of public hearings, consultations and study, a Senate committee has concluded that aboriginal soldiers were poorly treated after they returned from the two world wars and the Korean war.

The committee now recommends that the federal government apologize to aboriginal veterans and create a scholarship fund in the name of the thousands of aboriginal soldiers who fought for Canada in overseas theatres of war.

I have followed the Senate hearings closely and have listened to the testimony of the many veterans who spoke of the difficulties and discrimination they faced after they returned.

Now that the Senate committee has confirmed what the Minister of Veterans Affairs has long denied, I hope the federal government will take its own initiative and begin the process that will adequately address the grievances so well articulated by aboriginal veterans during the past year.

Human Rights

[Colleen Beaumier, Liberal, Brampton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I ask all members to join me in welcoming three distinguished human rights activists to Parliament Hill. Ajit Singh Bains, Jasdev

Singh Rai and Jaswant Singh Khalra will be discussing human rights in India this afternoon in room 209 of the West Block.

The issue of human rights violations in India is a very important one for Canadian parliamentarians. Given the growing interest in building on our excellent relations with India through expanding trade opportunities, it is crucial the issue of human rights is not forgotten.

Various international organizations from Amnesty International and Asia Watch to the United States state department have expressed concerns with human rights conditions in India. It is imperative that Canada use its strong ties with India to effect improvements in the human rights situation there.

I say to these gentlemen: "Sat sri akal".

Law Of The Sea

[Ted McWhinney, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, to those who confuse the European Union, for the most part non-elected officials and bureaucrats, with Europe, the British House of Lords has now spoken out.

The Lords have rebuked the British government for supporting a country, Spain, that has been shown to be a fish pirate nation which has depredated stocks everywhere in the world, including the North Sea.

The Lords have praised Canada for an appropriate action to enforce the principles of the Law of the Sea laid down years ago. They have asked Canada to lend them our minister of fisheries so that they would have somebody in Brussels who would stand up for British fishermen.

To the European Union fisheries commissioner who seems rather light in the knowledge of fisheries and of contemporary international law, the Lords invoke the words of Queen Elizabeth I:

I have the heart and stomach of a King-and pour foul scorn (on you)-or (all the princes of the Commission who) dare to invade the borders of my realm.

Thank you to the British House of Lords for having a sense of humour and for reminding us that the International Law of the Sea no longer licenses predatory overfishing and spoliation of the earth's dwindling fish stocks.

Quebec Sovereignty

[Patrick Gagnon, Liberal, Bonaventure—Îles-De-La-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebecers are realizing that independence is not the best way to meet the real needs of the outlying regions.

During the hearings held by the regional commission on Quebec's future, the PQ vice-president, Mrs. Monique Simard, warned her party not to enshrine in a new constitution the powers of the regions. Instead, she said that it might be wiser to deal with decentralization through legislation, adding: "You cannot amend the Constitution at the drop of a hat".

Our government agrees with Quebecers that we can achieve much more through administrative agreements than with another constitutional debate; we can only hope that the Parti Quebecois will eventually discover this virtue of federalism. Let us hope that the Parizeau government will decide to co-operate with the Canadian government, because this is what the vast majority of Quebecers want.

Taxation

[Gérard Asselin, Bloc, Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Senator Jean-Claude Rivest and the former Liberal health minister, Claude Forget, warned Quebecers, not against sovereignty, but against the status quo. They fear that, should the no side win, Ottawa might play a dirty fiscal trick on Quebec, shutting the province out of international money markets.

It would appear that the drastic cuts made by the last budget to transfer payments to the provinces are only a beginning. This is not surprising. Indeed, transfer payments to Quebec were cut by more than $14 billion between 1982 and 1995.

After the failure of the 1980 referendum, Quebecers were played a dirty constitutional trick. Should they choose the status quo this time, the federal government might play a dirty fiscal trick on them. It must be said that the Prime Minister sure knows how to play dirty tricks on Quebec.

Air Travel

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government says that it is looking for suggestions on ways to trim costs. We have found a way.

Air travel cost the government $275 million in 1993-94. While some departments were reasonable, others were not. The

Privy Council Office has only 650 employees but took 2,400 flights, nearly one-third of them business class. That is four flights per employee. The same with Environment Canada: 22,000 flights but only 6,000 employees. The Canada Labour Relations Board flew high with 42 per cent of its flights in business class.

For the grand-daddy of them all, nearly half of all government flights were booked by national defence with 190,000 flights not including peacekeeping and military missions. DND alone spent $83 million.

There is an invention the government should know about. It is called the telephone. I call upon the government to show some leadership, let its fingers do the walking, and reduce flights by 15 per cent in the coming year.

Gun Control

[Jag Bhaduria, Liberal, Markham—Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the nation's capital, long considered one of the greatest capital cities in the world, has been rocked by bank robberies, armoured car heists, drive-by shootings, and most recently the shooting of two police officers.

Most, if not all, of the criminal acts have been done with the use of illegal firearms. We have to rid our streets of criminals and the government's crime control legislation is a step in the right direction.

I have long supported tougher punishment for anyone convicted of using a firearm in the commission of a crime. To this end, the government is proposing a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in prison in addition to a lifetime prohibition against possession of a restricted firearm.

While I commend the government for the initiative it is not a strong enough message. Last April I proposed to the justice minister a 10-year mandatory sentence. My proposal is hard line and will send the right message to all criminals in the country.

World Conference On Women

[Anna Terrana, Liberal, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has proposed that the final document for the upcoming UN World Conference on Women reflect the full diversity of women. A paragraph was inserted to recognize the fact that many women face numerous barriers due to various factors including sexual orientation.

Mr. Speaker, this paragraph was unanimously adopted by the 54 members of the European Economic Commission, including the United States. Canada's position reflects the policy approved by the government after consultations held prior to the preparatory meetings.

Canada has an obligation to reflect the domestic situation in international meetings. Seven provinces and the Yukon Territory include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination in their respective human rights acts. The courts have interpreted the Canadian Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination and would be in contravention of the charter otherwise.

The Minister of Justice has stated he would be introducing legislation amending the Canadian Human Rights Act. Many people are anxious for this amendment. Hopefully it will happen soon.

Human Rights

[Barry Campbell, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the fourth United Nations conference on women will be held in Beijing this September. The purpose of this conference is to review the status of women worldwide and to place women's equality high on the global agenda.

At this conference Canada will propose a paragraph for the final communiqué stating that women face many barriers to equality, one of which is discrimination due to sexual orientation.

Some have resisted inclusion of this paragraph in the final communiqué. However, this position is consistent with the domestic situation in Canada where the human rights codes of seven provinces and Yukon already include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. The federal government has stated its intention to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination.

Domestically and internationally the government remains committed to the equality of all people and I am proud we will be taking a leading role in Beijing on this issue. It is the right and decent thing to do.

Maintaining Peacekeepers In The Former Yugoslavia

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, during a special debate called on very short notice, the Minister of National Defence mentioned several scenarios which included maintaining our peacekeeping force in Croatia and Bosnia or concentrating our efforts in Croatia, the final decision being left up to the UN. Although he emphasized the need to continue the rotation of the troops, he also indicated

that Canada's participation in these peacekeeping missions could not last indefinitely.

My question is directed to the Prime Minister. Could he indicate the government's official position on the presence of Canadian peacekeepers in the former Yugoslavia, considering that the stance he adopted during the debate yesterday was ambiguous, to say the least?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government has decided to maintain Canada's troops in the former Yugoslavia in the same configuration in which they are now. Every time changes occur, either in Bosnia or Croatia, there may be changes in troop deployment, and that is what the minister pointed out. However, Canada's presence in the former Yugoslavia will be maintained for the next six months.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, less than 24 hours before the current mandate of the peacekeepers in Croatia expires, could the minister or the Prime Minister tell us what has transpired from negotiations between UN officials and the Croatian government?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are over there under UN supervision, and we regularly discuss with UN leaders to determine where our troops should be deployed. These discussions are going on all the time. The troops are now in two locations. For the time being we will stay there, but, as the minister said, we may be asked to move and replace troops at another location. We have had similar rotations in the past, and as the minister pointed out yesterday, there may be more in the future.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I trust that the UN's supervision is not absolute and that we still have some say in the conditions under which we operate. I have the following question for the minister.

I ask the Minister: Instead of inviting parliamentarians to take part in piecemeal debates, as he did yesterday, would he commit himself to a debate on a general definition of the terms and criteria for Canada's future participation in peacekeeping missions that exceed the narrow parameters of his bill?