Debates of May 3rd, 1995

Penitentiaries

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the penitentiary administration has informed me that it does not allow the use of marijuana in religious ceremonies.

[Bernard St-Laurent, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am afraid our sources contradict each other. Since there is no indication of this in the various annual reports published by Correctional Service Canada, I would ask the minister to identify for the House the Government of Canada's supplier of marijuana.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member what he was smoking before he asked his question.

Telecommunications

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Heritage's luncheon in Los Angeles continues to leave a bad taste in the mouths of Canadians. The list of names of people in attendance supplied by his own office shows that Roger Mayer, president of Turner Broadcasting, was conveniently left off the list. Mr. Mayer, however, insists that he attended the lunch with the minister.

Why did the Minister of Heritage hide the fact that Roger Mayer actually attended the lunch? Could it be because Turner Broadcasting has an application before Investment Canada?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I gave a list of all the people who attended the luncheon as it was given to me. If anybody else slipped in, I have no notion of it.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday in question period when the minister was asked who attended the lunch, he conveniently forgot to mention that Mr. Mayer was there. Surely that cannot be blamed on staff. The luncheon was not that huge that he could not remember everyone who was there.

Guess who was coming to dinner? The president of Cineplex Odeon and the chairman of the board of MCA, both principals in the Seagram deal that is under review by Investment Canada and, as I mentioned, the president of Turner Broadcasting, a principal in another deal being reviewed right now by Investment Canada.

These companies stand to gain hundreds of millions of dollars if they receive this favourable review from Investment Canada.

I have a supplementary question. Why did the minister place himself in a direct conflict of interest, given the fact that Investment Canada is consulting his department on the ruling?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the third party is completely mistaken. The review cannot be done by the minister because it is not hisresponsibility.

Ministers are going abroad and trying to do something good for the country. This sector is extremely important for Canada. We are in a surplus position. We can export. The more business we can get for the artists of Canada, the better I will feel and the more thanks I will give to the ministers.

Canadian Forces

[Jean-Marc Jacob, Bloc, Charlesbourg, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of National Defence.

The minister has tried several times to attribute poor morale in the armed forces to recent cutbacks and the negative attitude of the media. However, according to an internal report on military morale prepared by Colonel Oehring, the main cause is, and I quote: "An increasingly impotent military leadership and uncaring system".

How can the Minister of National Defence maintain, as he did last week, that the morale of the military is at a low ebb because of budget cuts and the attitude of the media and the opposition, when an internal report by the armed forces, submitted by Colonel Oehring, maintains that the leadership is to blame?

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the hon. member has been. That report surfaced just before Christmas. It was raised in the House by the critic for the Reform Party. It raises some serious concerns that are being acted upon, concerning the feelings of members of the armed forces.

Some of them we are addressing in terms of pay scales. Some we will be addressing in terms of new equipment. I believe there has been a lot of improvement since that memo was written. Many of the suggestions of the special joint committee on defence, of which the hon. member was a distinguished member, have been acted upon. All those things will contribute to better morale in the army.

[Jean-Marc Jacob, Bloc, Charlesbourg, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that was not the answer I got when I asked the Minister of National Defence about this in committee, last week. What does the minister intend to do to turn the situation around?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think I have answered that many times. I answered it in the committee last week.

There is no question the publicity over the last couple of years flowing from the events in Somalia, and some other problems we have had, have tended to raise some questions within the forces. Certainly there has been some question about the number of high officers with respect to the ordinary rank and file in the armed forces. That is being corrected.

We have announced a reduction of about 25 per cent at the general officer level and 20 per cent at the colonel level. The argument that we are perhaps too top heavy is being addressed.

All these things are under review and are being improved upon.

Tobacco

[John O'Reilly, Liberal, Victoria—Haliburton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.

Some interest groups have been claiming that the tobacco tax decrease has resulted in an increase in tobacco consumption. Other parties have been claiming there has been a reduction in smoking rates.

Could the Minister of Health advise the House whether or not Canadians are consuming more tobacco?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question because it gives us a chance to ensure that everyone knows what the facts are in this issue.

Epidemiology is a system of ensuring that the demographics and all things that make a disease occur are checked out. When we set about our strategy for tobacco we ensured there were four parts of a survey that would be done by Statistics Canada to look at evaluating the strategy.

The third part of the survey came out recently. It has shown that there are 150,000 fewer smokers in Canada right now. We will continue our strategy because this is not a good enough response. We want to be ensured that all people who currently smoke stop and those who intend to will eventually never do so. We are still plugging away at our strategy.

Fisheries

[Jack Frazer, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the minister of fisheries' fight to end overfishing off the Grand Banks he has at times been prone to rhetoric and occasional flights of fancy in the name of conservation.

But yesterday the minister went too far. He trivialized the ultimate sacrifice made by those who died for this great country during the second world war by evoking their memory to score points in our dispute with the European Union.

Does the minister realize that his remarks offended many Canadians and is he prepared to apologize to those who took offence?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, about a week and a half ago, along with delegations from Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Turkey and Pakistan, I represented Canada in memory of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. I was at Gallipoli where I had the honour and the privilege on behalf of Canadians everywhere to visit seven war cemeteries commemorating the loss of young lives, in this case young Newfoundlanders and all other allied forces that fought in the Gallipoli campaign.

Having participated in the ceremonies, yes, it was very much on my mind yesterday. Just days before the celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of V-E Day is an appropriate time for Sir Leon Brittan to come to Canada giving thanks and not complaints about the country's contribution to the world.

I do not make any apologies for reminding Sir Leon of that. I am proud of it. Canadians are proud of it. We ought to celebrate it.

[Jack Frazer, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadians who died in the second world war did not die to become bargaining chips in the dispute with the European Union. It is my understanding that our dispute over the fishery is built on principle, the principle that by Canada intervening we are trying to save a fish stock which could be destroyed.

Does the minister not believe that the principle of saving that stock is sufficient to defend his actions?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, let me say with the utmost seriousness that all of us without exception on this side of the House, and I would like to think all without exception on that side of the House, deeply appreciate and take the time to give thanks for the tremendous freedom we enjoy because of the contribution of Canadian soldiers in two world wars and in other conflicts around the world, including the contribution today.

If the member thinks it inappropriate to remind others of the sacrifice we have made, all I can tell him is I strongly disagree with him.

The only party in the House that condemned the deal the day it was announced with the EU was the Reform Party.

Film Distributors

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Film distributors and exporters are concerned about two American movie and video companies, Turner and Polygram, which want to distribute their products without dealing with Canadian distribution companies. The Turner group's plan is said to be currently under review by Investment Canada.

Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage tell us if his department was consulted regarding the plans of these two American companies, Turner and Polygram, for direct distribution of their movies in Canada, thus bypassing Canadian film distribution companies?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows full well, the issue is now in the hands of Investment Canada, following the government's decision to force Polygram and Turner to make an application before they are allowed to invest in Canada. An order in council was issued in this regard. The process is under way. We received an application which we will review. A decision will be made in the best interests of that industry in Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, I regret having to ask a specific question to the Minister of Canadian Heritage as to whether or not he provided an opinion to the Minister of Industry, since we were told the other day that the minister had to give his opinion.

Given the answer just provided, I have another question. I hope that the minister will take this opportunity to answer my first question.

Since the arrival of American companies would deprive Canadian companies such as Malofilm, Astral and Alliance of revenues in excess of $75 million, will the Minister of Canadian Heritage undertake to ask cabinet to impose a moratorium on any transaction involving foreign film distribution companies in Canada?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is good to have the hon. member back in the House after a few days of consulting her constituents. She should be spending less time on firearms and more time on Investment Canada.

There is a process under way. We have required the investment to be reviewed. It is a process under review. There is no requirement on the government in any way to give the hon. member any information about the particulars of the review of the application under way. We will do so at the time our decision is announced. She will be one of the first to know the results.

Immigration

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's High Commission in Sri Lanka has revealed that a shocking one-third of all Sri Lankans travelling to Canada who were stopped for identity checks at the airport had made refugee claims or were refugees in Canada. They are seeking or have

received refugee status by claiming persecution in Sri Lanka but still went back there for vacations.

The minister has been told time and time again the system is being abused. Will the minister also ignore this blatant abuse or will he clamp down on bogus refugees who make a mockery of the Canadian refugee policy?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the commissioner brought no such thing to my attention.

Generally speaking it has occurred where people having made refugee claims and were accepted have travelled. Circumstances do change but I, like the hon. member, do not want any abuse in the system. There are cases of people who upon receiving refugee status immediately travel to the area in which they say they were being persecuted. I do not agree with those individuals for one more moment than he does.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister should consult with the Canadian High Commission in Colombo.

Our proposal for reforming the refugee determination system to end widespread abuse was to monitor refugees' travel to determine if they are taking trips back to the country they claim is persecuting them. If they do they are not real refugees and should be removed. We have solid evidence of abuse.

When will the minister implement our proposal to stop this abuse? Will he commit today to investigate each and every bogus claim the high commission has identified?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is going to Washington to join the other Newts in talking about immigration. I am sure the Americans are waiting with bated breath. What they should be told is the proposals of Reform Party members are quite simple. They really do not like refugees. They do not want refugees. They do not want immigrants.

They want to abolish the IRB. They want to break our ties from the Geneva convention. They want to close the Canadian doors to the world. That is good for the member but it is certainly not good enough for the government.