Debates of April 26th, 1995

Employment

[Eleni Bakopanos, Liberal, Saint-Denis, QC]

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

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit employment centres in my riding, and I noted a marked improvement in the services provided. At the same time, however, we know that the programs falling under the Department of Human Resources Development will inevitably be hit by the budget cuts.

Can the minister please tell the House how his department is improving services to assist the unemployed in finding jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to read the article in Le Soleil which described the new system of delivery that we are now introducing which will allow us to substantially decentralize these services to the local level. Our employment centres are able to work now in very close partnership with provincial and municipal organizations, with business and labour, and they will be able to share the responsibility of getting people back to work.

The 11 projects in Quebec are part of a much larger nationwide program which involves 70 Canada employment centres. They are really the forerunner of a brand new design by which the federal government is able to deliver these programs much more efficiently and effectively, and in the meantime ensure that far more Canadians get the chance to return to a job.

Official Languages

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

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

Twenty-six years after its passage, the Official Languages Act is still not being evenly applied, in particular in the Ottawa region. According to the Official Languages Commissioner, French does not have equal status as a working language in the National Capital Region's federal government offices.

How can the President of the Treasury Board not qualify the fact that 62 per cent of all francophone federal employees in Ottawa are hired to work exclusively in English as a complete and total failure of institutionalized bilingualism?

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

Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of improvements made over the years. The government is dedicated to accelerating the rate of improvement in terms of Canadians being able to get service from federal institutions in the official language of their choice, quality services.

We are asking all of our departments to submit action plans by September which will outline what programs they will undertake to improve levels of service. We will monitor them further. In March of next year we will expect a progress report. We will expect progress reports every six months thereafter. In short, we are determined to live up to our obligations under the Official Languages Act and its regulations.

Government Spending

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

It has come to my attention the mileage allowance veterans receive for going to doctor appointments is being decreased significantly from 23 cents to 10 cents per kilometre. Could it be these reductions were imposed on our sick and frail veterans to pay for the luxurious 11.5 per cent increase the government has made to the mileage allowance MPs and government employees enjoy?

Would the Minister of Veterans Affairs assure the House he will urge the government to rescind this decision?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, a number of adjustments have been made with respect to the

veterans affairs budget which reflect the cost of living. A number of adjustments have been made for economic reasons.

I will take the hon. member's question and discuss it with officials, who are busy with the Canada remembers ceremonies, and I will get back to him with an answer.

Agriculture

[Vic Althouse, NDP, Mackenzie, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

With the budget announcing the elimination of the Crow benefit under the WGTA effective August 1, abandonment of branchline protection effective January 1 and full grain rate deregulation by the year 2000, the government has inflicted great damage on the global competitive position of our prairie farmers.

Assuming the government would like to see agricultural activity continue on the prairies and given this land locked, underpopulated but highly productive region will likely continue to export the vast surpluses from production for years to come, why has the government not considered turning control of CNR, which it wants to privatize anyway, over to farmers so they can control at least part of the system from farm to port?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the changes the hon. member has referred to are very important ones. One that we think has to be taken into account is the future ownership of the CNR.

A project to commercialize CN will be made public by legislation presented to the House of Commons we hope relatively soon. Certainly there will be nothing in that legislation that would preclude the result the hon. member seeks. That is, western farmers will be invited and encouraged to participate in the largest single share issue in the history of this country.

Eh-101 Helicopter

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville—Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works and government services.

Since the cancellation of the EH-101 helicopter program, the minister has made a financial agreement and settlement with the main contractor, called Unisys. Many of the suppliers and subcontractors are small Canadian companies that require their share of the settlement if they are to survive. What assurances can the minister give these suppliers that they will indeed be able to secure a fair portion of the $166 million settlement?

[Réginald Bélair, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Oakville-Milton for her question and commend her for the concerns she has for those small subcontractors in the EH-101 helicopter deal.

As members know, we kept our promise in the red book and cancelled this deal in 1993. In March 1995 a final settlement was reached with Unisys Canada for a total of $166 million, $98 million of which was for work that had been completed upon the cancellation and $68 million for work that was in progress upon termination.

The settlement agreement between Unisys and the crown includes a provision that a portion of the settlement will not be paid to Unisys until this company reaches its agreements with the primary subcontractors of the deal.

Presence In The Gallery

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, I would like to draw to your attention the presence in the gallery of Her Excellency Mrs. Pimpa Chanprasong, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister of Thailand.

I would also like to draw the attention of members to the presence in our gallery of Mr. Valdis Birkava, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Point Of Order

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I very briefly want to mention that I made an error on page 11771 in Hansard in debate when the member for Broadview-Greenwood was up speaking and the member for Saint-Léonard came in. I did not hear that he was calling time allocation on Bill

C-76. I said "on this piece of legislation", and we were actually debating Bill C-70. I just wanted to straighten out the difference between Bill C-70 and Bill C-76, although it is just as disgusting to bring in time allocation on anything.

Committees Of The House

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

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 109, I am pleased to respond on behalf of the government, in both official languages, to the recommendation in the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, tabled on November 30, 1994.

Crtc

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, two proposed orders issuing directions to the CRTC respecting the government's proposed policy on direct to home satellite distribution.

The government is confident this process will provide the CRTC with a DTH policy that reflects the interests of Canadians and the integrity of the Canadian broadcasting system.

Government Response To Petitions

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 17 petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[George Proud, Liberal, Hillsborough, PE]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34, I have the honour to present to the house, in both official languages, the fifth report of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association concerning the North Atlantic Assembly Subcommittee on Defence and Security Cooperation between Europe and North America held in New York and Washington, D.C., from January 29 to February 3, 1995.

Regulations Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-84, an act to provide for the review, registration, publication and parliamentary scrutiny of regulations and other documents and to make consequential and related amendments to other acts.

Madam Speaker, I wish to inform the House of my intention to propose that this bill be referred to committee before second reading, pursuant to Standing Order 73(1).

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Auditor General For The Family Act

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

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-322, an act respecting the Office of the Auditor General for the family.

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to present a bill entitled "An act respecting the Office of the Auditor General for the family".

This act would establish an office similar to but much smaller than that of our respected financial auditor general, charged with finding ways to encourage, support, and protect the nuclear family.

No one can doubt that the family is one of the foundations of our society, and Canada would do well to support that foundation. This bill would provide some of that support in a small but very tangible way.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Alternative Fuels Act

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Brant, ON]

moved that Bill S-7, an act to accelerate the use of alternative fuels for motor vehicles, be read the first time.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time.)

Committees Of The House

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I think you will find consent for the following motion. I should say that on April 6 this House granted the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans authority to travel and the dates have been changed and that is the reason for this motion. It is not an additional trip.

I move:

That a subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans be authorized to travel to Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Nanaimo and Campbell River, British Columbia, from May 7 to 12, 1995, to discuss Pacific salmon issues.

(Motion agreed to.)

Adm Agri-Industries Ltd. Operations Act

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil, QC]

Madam Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to withdraw Bill C-312, a private member's bill, because my colleague for Verdun-Saint-Paul will shortly be presenting Bill C-313, which is essentially the same as mine.

[The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Maheu)]

Is there unanimous consent?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Bill withdrawn).

Petitions

[Jean Augustine, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I present to the House here assembled a petition from many citizens who request that this Parliament not amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the charter of rights and freedoms in any way that would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality, including amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase "sexual orientation".