House of Commons Hansard #202 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was producers.
Harold Culbert Liberal Carleton—Charlotte, NB
Mr. Speaker, the alligators are restless this afternoon.
The minister's department has proposed the professionalization of the fishing industry and an increase in licensing fees. My Bay of Fundy fishers depend on a multi-licence fishery to sustain their economy. They are concerned with these proposals.
Will the minister confirm in the House today that his department will seek advice and guidance from the fishing community and industry organizations before proceeding with these initiatives?
Brian Tobin LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his question. Of course, with 31 of the 32 members from Atlantic Canada on this side of the House aware that the fishery is not finished, proper consultation is the order of the day in terms of dealing with the fishermen of Atlantic Canada.
I want to assure the member and all members from Atlantic Canada, including the one on that side of the House, that when it comes to any new fee structure, cost recovery structure or professionalization structure within the fishery in Atlantic Canada, consultations will begin in the region with the fisher-
men themselves. The process will be driven from the ground up, not from the top down. The process will start at the end of this month.
Randy White Reform Fraser Valley West, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure Atlantic Canada can afford 31 members on that side of the House.
For instance, the ethical high ground is nowhere to be found on the death valley highway of Wentworth Bypass in Nova Scotia. The mayor of Amherst says if this case was not found to be legally wrong, "I would certainly consider it morally wrong". This boondoggle will cost some companies upward of $400,000 annually, just so the minister of public works can buy some boats in his riding.
Since the questions of morality, fairness and ethics are being raised not only by the Reform Party but indeed by the people who live and some people who have died on this treacherous stretch of the highway, even some guy from the fifth party-
HighwaysOral Question Period
The Speaker
Colleagues, I would encourage all of us to not personalize our remarks. I would ask the hon. member to please come to his question.
Randy White Reform Fraser Valley West, BC
My question is for the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister admit now that the only way to clear this up is to assign the ethics counsellor to investigate this issue and report back to this House?
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, it is always edifying to all members of the House to have the hon. member report on the voices he has been listening to.
Douglas Young Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
The question raised by the hon. member has been raised on a number of occasions. I want to repeat that the decisions with respect to highway construction in the provinces are the responsibility of the provinces.
The minister of transportation for the province of Nova Scotia approached us. He asked us if we were prepared to review the arrangements with the province of Nova Scotia with respect to allocations of federal funds for highway construction. We did that.
We have done the same thing with others. As a matter of fact, this week I met with the minister of transportation for Newfoundland to do exactly the same thing. We have done the same thing in Prince Edward Island. We have done the same thing in New Brunswick. We will do the same thing in any province in the country because we want to be flexible. We want to try to accommodate provinces that have the responsibility for deciding where highways are constructed within their jurisdiction.
Randy White Reform Fraser Valley West, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is strange that the Liberals stand up and justify it when the auditor general of Nova Scotia is critcizing them for it.
The Prime Minister just said he never runs away from his responsibilities. I would like to ask him this question. I would like to know why he steadfastly refuses to let his ethics lapdog look into anything that may be potentially-
HighwaysOral Question Period
The Speaker
I am sure we sometimes get carried away in our questions. I wonder if the hon. member would consider withdrawing the word "lapdog" at this juncture. I find it a little offensive.
Randy White Reform Fraser Valley West, BC
Mr. Speaker, I suppose I will withdraw that. I would still like the answer to my question.
HighwaysOral Question Period
The Speaker
I put it to the hon. member: Would he please simply withdraw the word "lapdog", yes or no?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I am very surprised at what they used to call the new way of doing politics.
Jean Chrétien Liberal Saint-Maurice, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have to tell members that the answer given by the Minister of Transport was very clear. We do indeed respect the provincial jurisdictions.
Jean-Guy Chrétien Bloc Frontenac, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture. On May 13, the daily La Presse reported that several dairy producers were illegally using the growth hormone somatotropin, which they import from the U.S. Most of the stakeholders, including the Quebec federation of dairy producers, recognize that this is common practice.
Can the Minister of Agriculture tell us which concrete measure he took to ensure that dairy producers comply with the moratorium in effect?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I am glad for the last part of the
hon. member's question, which would tend to indicate that the manufacturers of the product who have agreed to the moratorium are complying with the moratorium.
The questions that have been raised in the press appear to relate not to the companies but to the potentially unauthorized use of this product by certain individuals. Since those news stories have arisen in the last several days, I have asked my officials to investigate those allegations to determine whether or not any rules, regulations, or laws of the Government of Canada are being violated in any way. When I have their report on their investigation, I will be happy to share that with the hon. gentleman.
Jean-Guy Chrétien Bloc Frontenac, QC
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Agriculture recognize that his moratorium is totally useless, since there is no control over the destination and use of somatotropin once it has gone through Customs at the border, thus creating a situation which could bring a very promising Canadian industry into disrepute?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
As the hon. gentleman knows, under the existing law of Canada, unless and until the Department of Health has issued a notice of compliance-which has not occurred to date, because the Department of Health is still examining the issue and has not come to a decision-and comes to a decision that is favourable and notice of compliance is issued in due course, then the sale of rBST in Canada is illegal. We have undertaken to investigate allegations of its use presently unauthorized in Canada. We will report the findings of the investigation when they are available.
I want to assure the hon. gentlemen that I and many members on the government side share his concern about the health and strength of the Canadian dairy industry. We are anxious to do everything we can.
Rey D. Pagtakhan Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.
The 75-day allotted period for public comment on the draft regulations requiring cigarette lighters to be equipped with child-resistant safety locks has been complied with following publication in part I of the Canada Gazette . Canadians applaud this government initiative.
When will the new regulations come into force? And can the minister assure Canadians that retailers will have to remove from their shelves at that time, not one day later, all remaining cigarette lighters that are a danger to children?
Diane Marleau LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the regulations banning non-child-proof disposable lighters will come into effect in the middle of June. Yes, not one day's grace will be given to any retailer in terms of the disposal of these unsafe lighters.
It is a pity that the regulatory process has taken so much time to come forward and bring in the regulations. In the time it has taken, already more children have lost their lives. I would ask the retailers, as much as possible, to get rid of those particular lighters today, because as of the middle of June they will be illegal.
Chuck Strahl Reform Fraser Valley East, BC
Mr. Speaker, Parkins communication recently won a media monitoring contract worth $15,000 a month from Canada Communications Group. Yet the company failed to meet the mandatory requirements for the contract, including demonstrated experience, quality control, or an office in the capital region. They did not even have a listed telephone number.
The contract was issued mainly because Parkins agreed to hire contract workers from CCG, the very firm that awarded the contract. That is an obvious conflict of interest.
Why has the government chosen to ignore its own contracting guidelines in awarding this contract?