Debates of Oct. 22nd, 1996

Veterans

[Beryl Gaffney, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the secretary of state for veterans affairs.

Canada's veterans at the Perly and the Rideau Health Centre are distressed to learn that the Ontario government plans to reduce the level of care at the centre. Since the federal government pays 65 per cent of the bill for looking after our veterans, what steps will it take to ensure that the current level of care continues for Canada's veterans?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Secretary of State (Veterans) (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, my officials are working with the Government of Ontario and the workers at the Perly and the Rideau Health Centre to make sure that the interests of veterans are well protected.

We have an agreement with the province of Ontario to ensure that we have 250 beds in this institution. I fully expect that the province of Ontario will stand behind this commitment.

Bombardier

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister never misses an opportunity to boast about stimulating the private sector with low interest rates so they can borrow cheaply. Yet somehow the government feels the need to provide Bombardier with an interest free $87 million loan guaranteed by the Canadian taxpayer.

I had better ask the Deputy Prime Minister this question because of her fiscal management prowess in this country. Why does she feel it is right to dole out an interest free loan to a company that has raked in almost $1.2 billion in government handouts in the last 15 years and which, coincidentally, donated $170,000 to the Liberal Party from 1993 to 1995?

[Morris Bodnar, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that members of the Reform Party refer to this particular loan that was given to Bombardier for $87 million for a project that is well in excess of one third of a billion dollars, and Bombardier is investing the balance of that money.

However, they never mention the investments of the Canadian government in programs such as the TRIUMF program in British Columbia for $167 million, or the tax incentives for the oil industry in Alberta which will amount to 1 million construction jobs and 40,000 permanent jobs. They never refer to those.

We are trying in Canada to simply equalize the whole country in programs.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

Mr. Speaker, what this fellow here does not recognize is the question. The question is about $170,000 given to the Liberal government. Why do they not just make it easy and cut themselves a cheque and do away the companies that are getting these other grants?

Let me get this straight. Bombardier gives the Liberals $170,000, then the Liberals give it back a tax free gift. Right? So how much have the Liberals budgeted next year-

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, as you know, in question period we give as much room as we possibly can. But I do not know where the member is taking me on this particular preamble. I would ask the hon. member to go directly to his question.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

My question is this. Have the Liberals budgeted for how much money they intend to rip the taxpayer off next year when their buddies come knocking at their door?

[The Speaker]

The question is out of order.

Vietnam

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Cooperation. During an official visit to Asia last week, the Minister for International Cooperation announced an additional grant of $11 million to Vietnam. Once again, the question of human rights has been overshadowed by the government's desire to secure a good position in the Asian market, particularly in Vietnam.

How can the minister justify so much generosity on the part of Canada towards a country which is showing great willingness in its economic reforms, but a sorry lack of interest when it comes to respecting its own promises concerning the respect of basic civil and political rights?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, first of all I am pleased to inform my colleague and this House that I did indeed raise the case of Trân Triêu Quân with the Vietnamese authorities, including the deputy prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs, and that some progress was made.

Second, the member across the way seems to be suggesting that the Canadian government should use economic pressure to resolve the situation of Trân Triêu Quân. I wish to inform the member that

his provincial counterpart in Quebec, the minister responsible for francophonie, refused to make any such promises, and I do not intend to do so either.

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

Mr. Speaker, since the minister has come back from Vietnam empty-handed, can he tell us what he now intends to do to bring about Trân Triêu Quân's release? Does he at least have a strategy in mind, any idea at all?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his supplementary. The government is consulting with Vietnamese authorities further to my meeting last week with the two ministers I mentioned earlier.

We are continuing our talks, and I hope that we will see some progress shortly. We are more optimistic than we were before the meeting, and I hope that the Vietnamese authorities will understand, following my efforts, that Mr. Quân should be released on humanitarian grounds.

Fisheries

[John Cummins, Reform, Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the New York Times reports that in Alaska large quantities of salmon are being sold for dog food or are being ground up and dumped at sea. Alaska is not alone. Because of this government's mismanagement, B.C. salmon has been sold as pet food and disposed of in landfills.

Can the fisheries minister explain why this happened? Why the waste?

[Fred Mifflin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, no.

[John Cummins, Reform, Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised that the minister cannot explain it, but it is curious that the Canadian taxpayer constructed the very spawning channels that the fish died in. They paid big bucks to operate them, and the minister says that he cannot explain it. I guess there is no point in asking a supplementary, is there?

[Fred Mifflin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, yes.

Small Business

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Lincoln, ON]

Mr. Speaker, companies with fewer than five employees spend 8 per cent of their annual revenue, an average of $10,000 per year, just providing information to the federal government.

What has national revenue done to cut costs for small businesses so they can stay focused on productivity and competitiveness?

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Lincoln not only for this question but for his very hard and continuous work on the issues of small business.

Yesterday at the start of small business week, the Minister of National Revenue announced a new simplified T4 short form that will significantly reduce compliance costs for small businesses. This will allow small business owners to spend less time filling out tax forms and more time growing their businesses for the benefit of all Canadians.

This is the end product of the work of the small business advisory committee through which Revenue Canada consults small businesses across this country.

The new T4 short form will be mailed out directly to those businesses that have six employees or less. It will also be available at all our tax offices.

This is government working at its best, as it should be.

Iraq

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

It has been more than six years since the UN ordered an embargo against Iraq, following the invasion of Kuwait. For several months, the UN has been negotiating an agreement with Iraq that would allow this country to trade part of its oil for food and medicine, in order to relieve the suffering of the Iraqi people.

Considering the humanitarian reasons that motivated the oil for food agreement, could the minister inform us of Canada's position on the suspension of the proposed agreement, following the Iraqi incursions into Kurdish territory?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we supported the UN resolution, and right now the UN must examine the resolutions concerning Iraq to ensure that the principles of the resolution are honoured by Iraq. Subsequently, I would certainly be glad to continue to support the resolution on humanitarian aid for Iraq.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, could the minister report on the resumption of negotiations regarding this agreement, especially with respect to the rules to be followed by

the observers responsible for monitoring implementation of the agreement in Iraqi territory?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, when the resolution was passed there were undertakings given by Iraq regarding the accessibility of UN monitors to the country to make sure that any assistance was being properly given to the people of Iraq.

We want to make sure that those kinds of conditions are fully honoured, fully met. We are in full agreement with the basic thrust of the whole UN resolution which is to ensure there is humanitarian aid. We certainly do not want to ensure that aid goes to the Iraqi government which, as we have seen in the past several years, uses it only for mischievous or malevolent purposes.

Viet Nam

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year Quebec businessman Tran Thieu Quan was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Viet Nam.

The Canadian government, after an investigation, is well aware that Mr. Quan is being used as a scapegoat and is a victim of fraud, that his family is suffering from this injustice.

Yet last week, as was mentioned, we find that the Canadian government gave the Viet Nam government $11 million in unconditional foreign aid. The minister's explanation of this would be cold comfort to the Quan family.

My question is for the Minister for International Co-operation. Why would the Canadian government give unconditional foreign aid to the Government of Viet Nam when it continues to perpetrate human rights violations, especially against a Canadian citizen?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that the hon. member is under the mistaken view that the grants were given to the Government of Viet Nam. That is factually incorrect.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister on two separate occasions has asked for the release of Mr. Quan. The finance minister has asked for the release of Mr. Quan. The minister says that he is carrying on negotiations in this direction.

Why, if this is the object of the Government of Canada, would it give unconditional foreign aid to a country that is deliberately violating the human rights of a Canadian citizen?