Debates of April 25th, 1995

Italy

[Anna Terrana, Liberal, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on April 25, 1945 there was no more bombing in Italy. People turned to the streets to celebrate the end of a cruel war which killed many people and destroyed many cities, villages and lives.

All wars are cruel and we always lose whatever the outcome.

In 1943, the Canadians landed in Sicily. Old Sicilians living in Vancouver still remember with gratitude the summer day when they were liberated by the Canadians.

On this 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Italy, I wish to thank the thousands of Canadians who liberated families like mine, ensuring the freedom we enjoy today. Many died but their sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Without the great sacrifice of our Canadian friends, European history would have had a different course. It is due to many young Canadians if today European countries can get united and try a united destiny in the name of freedom.

Rwanda

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the world has just witnessed yet another horrific massacre of innocent people in Rwanda.

I believe I express the sentiments of most people when I say this situation is profoundly disturbing.

It is difficult to imagine societal circumstances that would lead individuals to commit such atrocities. The massacres in Rwanda are the perfect example of what can occur when we let a society develop in a climate of hatred and intolerance.

These killers show a flagrant lack of respect for human life. We should all draw important lessons from this massacre and think about our society's values.

No society is immune to intolerance or hatred. However, it can be measured by the treatment it confers to its minorities. Canada does not have an unblemished record but we do have before the House a bill which will help suppress an ugly side of our society. Bill C-41 will not protect the innocent people of Rwanda but it will stem odious acts affecting Canadians.

[Philippe Paré, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the massacre of thousands of Hutu refugees by the Rwandan army on Saturday raises many questions regarding the use of Canadian aid to Rwanda, which amounts to a hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 30 years.

There is a growing rumour that these funds may have been diverted and, in the light of disturbing revelations relating to the murder of Brother Cardinal, the government must reconsider its support and assistance to the regime currently in place in Rwanda.

Instead of being lax and complacent, the government must immediately check into this matter and release the findings of the special envoy it dispatched to the scene. Otherwise, one could wonder if the government is not backing, through its international assistance, a regime which has no qualms slaughtering its own refugees.

Douglas Campbell

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Douglas Campbell, a great Canadian and great Reformer, who passed away this week at the age of 99.

Mr. Campbell was elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1922 as a Farmers' candidate. He was later a cabinet minister in the Liberal Progressive government of John Bracken and served as premier of Manitoba from 1948 to 1958.

Douglas Campbell liked to quote from an old poem called The Bridge Builder . In his honour the Reform Party instituted the Bridge Builder Award. It recognizes special people who have pioneered the way to a new and better Canada and have built bridges to make the journey easier for those who follow.

Douglas Campbell was truly a great Canadian bridge builder. We pay tribute today to his wisdom, his public service, his faith and his memory.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Pension Reform

[Chris Axworthy, NDP, Saskatoon—Clark's Crossing, SK]

Mr. Speaker, a study just released by the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women indicates that many of our country's middle aged women will be poor when they retire from the workforce.

These women, between 45 and 54, stayed at home to raise children, care for their spouses and in many cases their elderly parents, and volunteered countless hours in their communities. Because they did not enter or re-enter the workforce until their mid-thirties or early forties, their retirement benefits are very low. For these women the future is particularly bleak.

This study comes at a time when the federal government is about to reform the retirement income system. Ironically it is one of the last documents released by the council, its mandate having been ended with the last federal budget. As we well know, the social security reform process is really the Liberals' definition of slash and burn just like the Tories.

It is vital the government seriously take into consideration this very important information when it reviews options for changing Canada's pension system. The women who dedicated a good portion of their lives in caring for others deserve to live their retirement years in comfort and dignity. They do not deserve to be repaid for their service with a ticket to the poorhouse.

Marine Conservation

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to convey to all members of Parliament who donated flags for the Cornish fishermen the sincere thanks and appreciation of Canada's High Commissioner to Britain, the hon. Royce Frith.

According to the High Commission office there was wall to wall press coverage in England: "In all our memory Canada has never had such a positive profile".

Through the combination of a minister of fisheries who was relentless in his defence of Canadian sovereignty and conservation, a Prime Minister with the diplomatic skills to strengthen that position and the cross party support of members of Parliament and Senators, Canada has taken a leadership role in the international community to preserve marine resources.

This was the message that Royce Frith received as he handed out the flags donated by parliamentarians to British fishermen and their families. He told each recipient where the particular MP was from and why they had donated the flag.

On behalf of the High Commission office I have been asked to tell all MPs who donated their flags they would have been extremely proud of the outpouring of affection and support for Canada. It was a moving experience and all who received the flags-

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Vaudreuil.

Quebec Sovereignty

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, like many Quebecers, I am getting more and more confused about the sovereignist option. With the Quebec Premier's pussyfooting and the Bloc Quebecois leader's countless about-turns, it is easy to lose one's bearings.

No one was fooled by the latest shift toward association. The common political and economic structures proposed by the Yes side already exist. What is the use of burning bridges only to rebuild them? Would it not be more effective, and especially cheaper, to upgrade and reinforce them instead?

Indeed, this about-face is just one more trick to win support for a separation plan opposed by a majority of Quebecers. Fortunately, while this infighting is going on among separatists, the federal government is tackling the real priorities: employment and economic growth.

Telecommunications

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this morning the federal cabinet postponed its decision on direct-to-home satellite services. For the time being, it preferred not to go ahead with directives that would benefit Power DirecTV by reversing a decision by the CRTC.

My question is directed to the Prime Minister. Why did his government intervene directly in this matter, supporting the interests of Power DirecTV, which is owned by Power Corporation, when Power DirecTV should have gone to the CRTC, the same as its competitor Expressvu did and, in fact, was obliged to do?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the CRTC's decision has been widely discussed, even in the media. For the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition, I may add that newspapers as diverse as the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star gave substantially the same advice.

The Toronto Star reads: Ottawa should endorse the panel's report without hesitation and instruct the CRTC to move quickly to let the competition begin''. In the <em>Globe and Mail</em> we have similar advice:The government acted in the public interest by creating the review panel, which did its work well''.

Mr. Speaker, considering the position taken by daily newspapers as diverse as the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail , perhaps the Leader of the Opposition would consider agreeing with the government's policy.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, am I to understand that the Leader of the Government refuses to answer himself because his son in law's interests are at stake?

I will nevertheless address my question to the Prime Minister. After all, he is the Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker. And this is a fundamental issue which concerns Canadian content and the future of international communications, am I right?

So now my question for the Prime Minister, if there is still one in this government. Would he agree that the retroactive impact of his proposed directives would have the effect of penalizing Expressvu which, unlike Power DirecTV, is able to provide all the guarantees for Canadian content prescribed by the CRTC?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is very unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition seems to think that he has to get down to the level of personal attacks on the Prime Minister in order to deal with an issue of policy.

It is very clear on this issue that in the face of concerns expressed in the broadcasting sector by groups such as the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, ACTRA, the Canadian Conference of the Arts and many newspaper editorials, they are all urging the government to act.

It would appear that in the mind of the Leader of the Opposition the government should not fulfil its responsibility to bring about good public policy because someone happens to have some relationship to a relative of the Prime Minister. Although that seems to be what is in the mind of the Leader of the Opposition, this government was elected with the responsibility for public policy. We are prepared to answer on the basis of good public policy and that is what we are doing. It is consistent with what the public is urging us to do.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, when a government is about to commit a violation of this magnitude of its arm's length relationship with the authorities that award licences involving millions and millions of dollars and one of the beneficiaries is related to the Prime Minister, it is perfectly normal that we should talk about it in the House.

Again, I want to ask the person who is supposed to act as Prime Minister and answer for the government's actions to say what excuse he has for the fact that his government is so ready and willing to interfere in a matter over which the CRTC has jurisdiction, when the same government refused to intervene at the request of the Commissioner of Official Languages to make RDI, the French news service, available to all francophones in Canada?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, again the problem is with the preamble to the question. Let me remind the Leader of the Opposition of some of the things that have been written concerning this issue by parties which he should agree are disinterested.

The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting: "I want to inform you of our strong support of the analysis and recommendations of your DTH review panel. We endorse their findings without qualification".

The Canadian Conference of the Arts: "The Canadian Conference of the Arts was quite supportive of the creation of this panel to deal with the issue of DTH in the Canadian broadcasting

system in a fair and timely manner. The panel has now discharged its responsibilities and it is our hope that you and your colleagues will move with dispatch to direct the CRTC to proceed on an urgent basis with licensing hearings for DTH undertakings".

[Some hon. members]

Order.

[John Manley, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I am sorry if the Leader of the Opposition is frustrated but this is what the world is saying out there.

ACTRA: "We have requested multiple copies of the report-"

Official Languages

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. In his report, the Official Languages Commissioner deplores the difficulty that the federal government has providing services in both official languages. He says that this year's review of various offices shows that the situation leaves much to be desired, except in Quebec. All too often, service in the minority official language is mediocre if not non-existent.

How can the Prime Minister, who claims that francophones can live anywhere in this country and prosper, explain that year after year the federal government continues to fail to provide French-language service to francophones outside Quebec?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we received a copy of the Official Languages Commissioner's report today, and it says that the situation improved in 1994. I do not deny that we must constantly strive to improve the situation and that we must continue to monitor it. We have made staggering progress over the past 20 years in this area, and I am happy to see that the commissioner stated that 1994 was the best year yet.

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC]

Mr. Speaker, those who saw the commissioner at the press conference would say that, actually, he looked rather depressed.

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

He had every reason to be.

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC]

How can the Prime Minister not be embarrassed by the fact that even in Ottawa, the nation's capital, 26 years after the Official Languages Act was passed, one out of three times a francophone requests a service, he or she cannot get it in French?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I said earlier that the situation is not ideal and that it has considerably improved. The government's policy is to put pressure on all federal government bodies and offices to use both official languages when providing services to the public and to public servants in the national capital region.

Quebec

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, for months the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois have insisted that they would settle for nothing less than the outright separation of Quebec from Canada, but a majority of Quebecers continue to reject that option. Now the PQ Government of Quebec says that it wants to explore the possibility of an economic and political association between Canada and an independent Quebec.

Will the Prime Minister tell this House and all Canadians what the Government of Canada's position is on so-called sovereignty association?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I said earlier and I repeat that if there is separation some day, to have Canadian citizenship, a Canadian passport, Canadian currency, a Canadian economic union and Canadian political union it is going to be the Parliament of Canada and the provinces that will decide. I am glad the leader of the third party mentioned that the real goal of the Bloc Quebecois is separation. They do not have the guts to say they are separating.