House of Commons Hansard #78 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was children.
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I have a better idea. I will send my hon. friend a copy of the Dubin report and ask him to read it. After he has read it, maybe he can come back and ask a question that is relevant.
Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.
Yesterday, a coalition of 130 organizations asked the Prime Minister to take immediate action in the fight against tobacco use. Although the health minister's predecessor promised last December that a bill regulating tobacco products would be introduced in the spring, no such bill has been tabled so far.
Will the minister honour his government's commitments and immediately table a tobacco bill?
David Dingwall LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for the question. The subject matter has received some public attention in the last number of weeks.
I wish to share with the House that, since we issued the blueprint in November 1995, there have been over 2,300 different submissions from Canadians from different regions of the country.
We are in the process of examining our proposals as they relate to the charter to make sure that we are not back in court as we were on a previous occasion with the legislation. When we do come
forward, we will have comprehensive legislation that will address the needs, not only of the health groups across the country but the young people of this country as well.
Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC
Mr. Speaker, how can the minister justify the fact that, while his department is spending millions of dollars on an anti-smoking campaign, the Minister of Agriculture is subsidizing research on tobacco production in Ontario?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that the vast majority of funding that is provided by the Department of Agriculture with respect to tobacco is related to agronomic matters and is highly focused on alternatives to tobacco production so that tobacco producers may find ways to diversify away from a dependence on this crop.
Myron Thompson Reform Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals soft on crime approach has skewed our judicial system. Politics is tipping the scales of justice.
The RCMP, while investigating a Quebec senator and her daughter suggested that she be charged with fraud. All Canadians are supposed to receive the same treatment, but it appears that some are more delicate than others.
Why did the justice minister not prosecute the senator for defrauding the Government of Canada?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, we have now heard from all parts of the fearsome trilogy on justice.
Allan Rock Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON
I am standing here wondering if we put them all together, do we come up with a sensible question? I do not think even then we can do it.
In the case to which my hon. friend has referred, we have to distinguish between law on the one hand and politics on the other.
Let us talk about law for 30 seconds. For law we have a very competent prosecutor, a lawyer in the Montreal office, who looked at the facts, applied the usual criteria and decided that no prosecution should be brought based on legal principles. It was taken to his superior who reviewed the same facts and came to the same conclusion. That is law. That is the way the system should work.
Now let us look at politics. That is politics, a man who does not know the facts, does not know the law and comes to the floor of this House with that outrageous question and tries to make short term political hay. That is politics.
Myron Thompson Reform Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, the sad part of all the rhetoric that is coming from that side of the House is the fear that Canadians have because these social engineers are not in justice. They do not know anything about it.
This senator, the deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, made a speech on UI. She knows the rules. Why is it that the rules apply to every ordinary Canadian whether they are ignorant of the law or not, but do not apply to a politician or a senator if it was not for social engineering by this minister?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the only thing that is frightening at the moment is the hon. member.
I think what we should do here is remember that we are talking about a legal system which functioned properly in this case; responsible people applied the correct criteria and produced the appropriate response. All of the huffing, puffing and carrying on is not going to change either the legal principles or the facts of the case.
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Since French-speaking communities from coast to coast are an essential element of Canada's social fabric, can the minister tell us what the Canadian government does and intends to do to support French speaking minorities in the education sector?
Sheila Copps LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in St. John's, Newfoundland, I was very proud to sign, on behalf of the Government of Canada, an agreement that has the support of every province, including Quebec.
The agreement provides that up to $1 billion will be allocated to help finance education for minority language groups across Canada, that is anglophones in Quebec and francophones outside Quebec.
This means that more than half of young Canadians study in the second language of their choice, either French or English. We are proud to help them.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Kingsway, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. It concerns the desperate job situation of young people in Canada with a real unemployment level of close to 20 per cent. Despite this the Liberal government has not even allocated, according to a briefing note, some $45 million of funds budgeted
for youth programs and still has not established a promised $20 million program to help youth repay their student loans.
When will this Liberal government finally show some leadership and come up with a solid strategy to attack youth unemployment in this country? How many more young people must be added to the unemployment rolls before this government finally takes action?
Douglas Young LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, I have already advised hon. members that the budget that was allocated for youth employment had a couple of components to it. One was directed specifically to students who are still in academic institutions or returning to them in the fall. We did that over the summer, doubling the amount of money that was available.
With respect to the amount the hon. member is referring to, the $45 million, when this money was allocated in the spring we were aware that a lot of young people in this country are not in academic institutions. They require a different kind of assistance in order to find jobs in a very difficult environment.
We understand the member's commitment to youth employment. I hope he will understand that we wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing for those students who do not fit into the traditional strategies of the past where we were simply looking at them during the summer.
That money will be allocated and it will be spent well and on young people looking for jobs in this country.
Presence In The GalleryOral Questions
The Speaker
Colleagues, I would like to bring to your attention the presence in the gallery of His Excellency Inder Kumar Gujral, Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India.
Canada's Olympic And Paralympic AthletesOral Questions
The Speaker
This is a rather special day for Parliament and a special day for Canada.
We are going to be doing a few things differently in the next few minutes. The House will now go into committee of the whole to recognize Canada's 1996 Olympic Summer Games and Paralympic Games athletes.
(House in committee to recognize Canada's 1996 Olympic Summer Games and Paralympic Games athletes.)
Canada's Olympic And Paralympic AthletesOral Questions
Welland—St. Catharines—Thorold Ontario
Liberal
Gib Parent LiberalSpeaker of the House of Commons
Colleagues, as I said, today is a special day for us here in the House of Commons. For the first time in the history of our country, we are going to bring on to the floor our Olympic athletes. When they come on to the floor they will be coming in through the Canada door at the far end. When they come in, of course you will receive them in a manner befitting Olympians.
Once they are all on the floor of the House, I will say a few words on your behalf and mine.
After that, I am going to introduce them to you by the events they are in. I will call out their names. I would ask you to hold your applause until I have finished a certain section.
Following that, the athletes will leave the Chamber and you and I, my colleagues, will receive them in the Reading Room for a brief reception. At that time, all the pictures that need be taken can be taken there. The athletes will be very happy, I know, to meet all of you.
With that, remembering always that this is the House of Commons of Canada, the heart of our nation, I invite in your name and in the name of all Canadians on to the floor of the House of Commons our Olympians and Paralympians.
Canada's Olympic And Paralympic AthletesOral Questions
The Speaker
Olympian compatriots and dear colleagues, this summer, the whole world was watching the games in Atlanta. A record number of athletes gathered to participate in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
These games are a stage for human achievement and friendship among nations. They also promote the participation of nations in a friendly competition and they allow athletes to reach the lofty goals they set for themselves.
The men and women, some of whom are here, the men and women who represented us the Canadian people in Atlanta were Canada's finest athletes. To have competed there is a remarkable achievement. And you the medal winners, you are recognized as the best of the best in the world.
Some of you surpassed all records of achievement in the history of sport and we in this room and we looking at you on our televisions now across Canada, whether we were in St. John's, Vancouver or Whitehorse, you had us all on the edge of our chairs. Now we Canadians do not usually make a lot of noise but when you won those medals, there were 30 million people up here in Canada pretty ecstatic and pretty noisy. Maybe you heard us cheering all the way down there in Atlanta.
Canada's Olympic And Paralympic AthletesOral Questions
The Speaker
All Canadians shared in your victories. We are very proud of you. You captivated our imagination. You became the heroes of a new generation of Canadians. You are the pride of Canadian sport and you represent the best that Canada has to offer to the world.
We do not usually have guests here on the floor of the House of Commons but this is an extraordinary day and we wanted to bend the rules just a little because we here in this chamber and we 30 million Canadians want to pay tribute to you and to congratulate you. Most of all, we want to thank you for bringing such great honour to our nation.
I am going to read out each of your names. I ask you, my colleauges, to hold your applause. I know it will be difficult. At the end, please do not all run on to the floor. I want to get there myself. You will have the chance to meet our Olympians in the Reading Room following this introduction.
I am going to call out the sport and, because we are a bit crowded, I would ask you, when I finish with your section, to please raise your hands and at that time we will receive you in our own Canadian way.
In Athletics: Jeff Adams, Dean Bergeron, Collette Bourgonje, Nick Cunningham, Clayton Gerein, Carl Marquis, Jacques Martin, Colin Mathieson, Brent McMahon, Marc Quessy and Joe Radmore. That is the athletic group.
Canada's Olympic And Paralympic AthletesOral Questions
The Speaker
The next category is basketball/wheelchair basketball: Marni Abbott, Jennifer Krempien, Kelly Krywa, Linda Kutrowski, Kendra Ohama and Marney Smithies. These are the wheelchair basketball athletes.