Debates of Oct. 10th, 1996

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, the public has a desire to know to what standard of ethics the government is trying to adhere.

I have with me the British parliamentary guidelines for ministers. They are 130 pages long and are publicly available. I got these from the British High Commission earlier today.

We have another incident. The Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs has been seen sending out notification of his Liberal fundraising events. We are not sure if that contradicts the ethics code of the government because we are not sure it even has an ethics code.

Would somebody please let the Canadian people know what this ethics code is? Will he or she table them in the House so the Canadian public is aware what ethical standard, whatever it might be, government ministers live up to?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it may come as a surprise to the hon. member but anyone who takes an oath of office, either as a member of Parliament or as member of the cabinet, immediately accepts a basic code of conduct.

It might be helpful for the hon. member to examine his own code of behaviour. Frankly, the code of behaviour exercised in the House every day by members of the third party is quite deplorable.

If the hon. member wants a real test of the code of ethics of members of the cabinet he only has to look at the various honourable decisions taken by ministers. When they have breached the code they have made the honourable decision and resigned, as did the former Minister of National Defence last week.

The best test is the test of practical outcome. I believe the Canadian people respect that.

The Minister Of Indian Affairs

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the members of this government, particularly cabinet members, have problems with ethics.

Last week, it was the former defence minister, regarding the incidents that we know; yesterday, it was the intergovernmental affairs minister, who used the Privy Council-the Prime Minister's department-letterhead for partisan announcements; now, it is the turn of the indian affairs minister.

How can the minister explain that, in a document released in August 1996 by his department and entitled Pride in Partnership , he directly refers to the commitments the Liberal Party of Canada made to aboriginal people in the red book? Since when does the minister of indian affairs promote the red book by using taxpayers' money?

[Ron Irwin, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, I promote the Liberal red book every time I get a chance to speak or write.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I find it unacceptable that the minister would try to downplay the incident. The indian affairs minister promotes the red book and says there is no problem, adding that he will seize every opportunity to promote it.

The minister should realize that it is inappropriate for the government to use public money for political purposes, namely to boast about his government's performance. He should pledge to repay the federal treasury for such abuse, with money taken from the Liberal Party fund. Will the minister repay the federal treasury for this abuse?

[Ron Irwin, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, if that is the only question I am going to get from the Bloc in two months, I am in pretty good shape.

The red book happened to be our policy. It was a promise to the electorate, which eventually became cabinet policy. We were telling the public: "This is our policy. This is what we promised you. This is what we delivered". Short and simple.

Agriculture

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Vegreville, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of agriculture. The minister announced last Friday that he will hold a plebiscite on the future of barley marketing in western Canada.

I need some clarification from the minister. Western farmers really want to know, as they go into marketing this year's barley crops, will farmers be given the option to choose dual marketing in the plebiscite?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to answer this question in the House before.

It is very clear in the policy statement that was delivered, both on Friday of last week and Monday of this week, that we will be asking a very clear cut question about whether farmers wish to put all barley, that is, both feed and malting barley, on the completely open market for all sales or would they prefer to retain the current system through which the Canadian Wheat Board, as modernized by the various changes that we are making, remains the single desk seller for all barley exports and domestic barley sales for human consumption. That is very clear.

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Vegreville, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has answered the question. He has said that dual marketing will not be an option.

This option is accepted by many western Canadian farmers. Will the minister promise today that he will change his mind on this issue and put dual marketing as an option on the ballot?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party does not like it when I do change my mind and they do not like it when I do not change my mind. I find it very difficult to understand their position.

What it is important for the Reform Party to explain to their supporters so that this issue can be fully understood is that the concept of dual marketing would dilute the price pooling system. It would make it untenable for there to be guarantees of initial payments.

It would make it impossible for the quantity of supply, the security of supply, to be guaranteed in world markets by Canadian marketing and there would be no ability, under a dual marketing system, to safeguard Canadian quality.

Those are some of the flaws that the Reform Party should draw to the attention of those who make this argument.

Banff National Park

[Judy Bethel, Liberal, Edmonton East, AB]

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

For over 100 years, Banff national park has served as the flagship of Canada's national parks system. It is a symbol of Canadian heritage. Its protection is a value shared by all Canadians coast to coast.

How will the minister implement the recommendations of the Bow Valley study? How will she balance the environmental protection with the long-term sustainability of Alberta's tourism industry?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for an extremely well thought out and well articulated question.

As the hon. member knows, on October 7 the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that she would take immediate steps to implement some of those recommendations. She has put a stop to any new commercial use of lands in Banff National Park. She has actually removed the air strip, she has removed the buffalo paddock and the cadet camp. She has also set up a corridor north of the city that will be for wildlife. She has set up clear wilderness areas within the park.

As for the remainder of the recommendations, the assistant deputy minister of parks will be setting up an advisory committee that will work out an implementation strategy that the minister will announce in April.

Canada Pension Plan

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. It concerns proposed changes to the Canada pension plan. The minister has said that some provinces have proposed to cut benefits to seniors by taking away full inflation protection.

My question to the minister is straightforward. What is the federal position on this issue? Will the minister clearly state whether he supports this change or whether he is prepared to stand with the NDP governments of Saskatchewan and British Columbia in rejecting this regressive proposal which would betray the trust of Canadian seniors?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, first it is by no means clear that the description of any government's position is as described by the member. However, I would tell him that all of the provinces have come together and quite clearly there is going to have to be a package. When the package is put together it will imply trade-offs and we will have to see.

I can also say that the federal government is going to have to come to a compromise with the provinces. The federal government cannot act alone in this particular instance. However, the hon. member ought to know, in instances where the federal government could act alone, which is in the creation of a new seniors benefit, we not only maintained but we enhanced indexation.

Mr. Trân Trieû Quân

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for Francophonie.

Trân Trieû Quân has just been transferred to a labour camp, somewhere in the Vietnamese jungle, without any advance notice to Canadian consular authorities.

Since the new Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for Francophonie will go to Hanoi in the coming days, will he pledge to make, on behalf of the Canadian government, an official request for the patriation of Trân Trieû Quân, and will he inform the House of the result of his efforts, as soon as he comes back here?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister for International Co-operation and Minister responsible for Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to confirm to this House and to the hon. member opposite that I will be going to Hanoi tomorrow and that I fully intend to make representations to top Vietnamese officials.

It goes without saying that I cannot negotiate on the floor of the House, and the House does not expect that, but I do intend to raise the issue and to ask for the patriation of Trân Trieû Quân, for humanitarian reasons.

Justice

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago in my riding of Calgary North, it was parents themselves who spotted a sexual predator stalking the neighbourhood children and had him apprehended. This man, a convicted pedophile, was out on bail thanks to the Liberals' lenient approach to justice.

The justice minister is well aware that the anxiety Canadian parents feel about the safety of their children has just received another horrific jolt after yesterday's brutal abduction and violation of a four year old child near the minister's own home.

When will the Minister of Justice give parents even the most basic tools, like a national pedophile registry to protect their children?

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

Mr. Speaker, it was last year that the solicitor general introduced the child sex offender registry which has now been in operation for some months. I believe it has contributed directly to an increase in public safety.

The hon. member will know as well that in recent weeks the government has introduced in Bill C-55 specific and practical measures by which we can have sentencing judges impose on sex offenders and particularly sex offenders who offend against children, not only a period of imprisonment that is appropriate to the offence, but after their release from prison a regime of controls and supervision to minimize the high risk that they will reoffend.

I urge the hon. member and her colleagues to support that legislation which we believe strongly will enhance the safety of the community in the face of such unacceptable risks.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

I would like to draw to your attention the presence in the gallery of members of the French group of the Canada-France interparliamentary association, led by Senator Jean Delaneau.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, I would also like to draw to your attention the presence in the gallery of His Excellency José Lello, Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Business Of The House

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out from the government what is in store for two weeks from now, since we will not be here next week.

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Today and tomorrow, we are going to continue with the schedule we have already begun. After this debate, we will return to Bill C-60, on food inspection agencies, and will also try to finish up the debate on Bills C-26 and C-29.

This will be followed by Bill C-6, the Yukon mining bill; Bill C-51, the Nunavut waters bill; Bill C-49, the administrative tribunals bill; Bill C-47, the reproductive technologies legislation; Bill C-59, the water passengers legislation; Bill C-57, the Bell Canada bill; and Bill C-35, the labour code amendment.

Early in the week we return, the government expects to introduce a bill concerning an electors registry. As soon as procedurally possible, we will seek to refer the bill to committee before second reading.

A few weeks ago I expressed some concern about the pace of business in the House. I want to thank the House for addressing this question effectively. Now I have to give a little push to committees. There are now 18 bills in committee and more on the way. I trust that committees will attend to this business with the same dispatch demonstrated toward legislation by the House itself.

I wish the House a good Thanksgiving week off from this place. I hope to see everyone in good health when we come back.

The House resumed consideration of the motion.