Debates of Nov. 7th, 1996

Canada Information Office

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

Mr. Speaker, since the Minister of Canadian Heritage is acknowledging that the Information Canada Office does allocate funding, can she explain to us why her department's reply to an access to information request indicates that the ICO does not have such programs?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage]

What I am saying, Mr. Speaker, is that if she wants to know everything that is going on at the Information Canada Office, she has only to drop a line to InfoCan and she will find that there are all manner of programs. The ICO, however, does not give out grants.

Pest Management Regulatory Agency

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of agriculture on an issue impacting agriculture.

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency is a prime example of the Liberals' infatuation with big government. The number of bureaucrats in this empire in comparison to the number of pesticides registered is astronomical. Apparently it takes 213 bureaucrats to register 19 new products. That 11:1 ratio beats the proverbial light bulb jokes.

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency is inefficient, bureaucratic and costly. The minister is receiving calls and letters from all across the country complaining about it. Will the minister take

responsibility and act to correct the nightmare his government has created?

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

Mr. Speaker, among the commitments we made at the time of the 1993 election was a commitment to act upon the recommendations of the pest management regulatory report which was published under the previous government.

We have made considerable progress in implementing the principle recommendations in that report, including the establishment of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency. That agency brings together authorities that were previously in four departments to streamline the process. It has two principal objectives: to ensure the health and safety of Canadians and the environment; and to be fully cognizant of the competitive requirements of Canadian farmers to have a level playing field nationally and internationally.

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency is working diligently toward that direction. We are in the process of establishing a stakeholders consultative committee to make sure that the agency has the necessary input from the private sector.

I would point out for the hon. member's information that the legal responsibility for the Pest Management Regulatory Agency is in fact vested in the department of health, not the department of agriculture.

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the agriculture community is finding that the Minister of Health is not listening.

I have to commend the hon. minister for living up to his reputation recently described as having the conversational knack to circle the earth without ever landing.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

I am going to ask the member to put his question now.

[Elwin Hermanson, Reform, Kindersley—Lloydminster, SK]

Will the minister please come down to earth and realize that his disregard for the bloated Pest Management Regulatory Agency, one that pushes cost recovery rather than reducing farmers' input costs, has ended up costing farmers a lot of money and that his bureaucratic mess is making Canadian agriculture less competitive? Will the minister admit that?

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

Mr. Speaker, speaking of landing, I would be delighted to land splat on the hon. member in the next election which I intend to do.

In terms of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, I think the hon. member should know that the agency is in the process of getting up and running. It is in the process of soliciting all the necessary input from all of the relevant stakeholders. I am confident the agency and the responsible minister will take all of that into account.

It would appear that we have a series of new pests to deal with in the Reform Party.

Food Inspection Agency

[Derek Wells, Liberal, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

The seafood industry is concerned that the consolidation of food inspection services into a single food inspection agency could lead to a serious loss of expertise and advocacy for seafood at the federal level.

Will the minister explain how the seafood industry will fit into the new agency structure? Will there be a dedicated seafood inspection branch staffed by former fisheries and oceans inspection personnel?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to say that this regulatory process does fall under the jurisdiction of the minister of agriculture.

I am happy to assure my hon. friend and the seafood industry that there will be no loss of expertise in the new Canadian food inspection agency. The current Department of Fisheries and Oceans inspection staff and all of their professional experience and expertise will be transferred to the agency to ensure that there are no gaps in service and no gaps in the quality of service.

The seafood industry will benefit from this process, from a broader base of support to food inspection in general and by better co-ordination of all of the government's inspection resources. We will of course have new flexibilities under the legislation in terms of financial and human resources to make the system better than it is today.

The Singer Company

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Human Resources Development.

It is now two years since I asked the two previous ministers of Human Resources Development about the Singer case. A month ago, I brought this case to the attention of the present minister. Last week, the minister said he had taken note of the question and would look into it.

Has the minister looked into this case and what does he have to say today to retired Singer employees who are still waiting for justice to be done?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, yes, of course I looked into the case. I know the hon. member is very concerned, because he asked the same question last week.

We are looking into this case. I believe there is a problem due to the fact that the pension fund belonged to the Singer company which was transferred to the United States, it closed its doors here and has declared bankruptcy in the U.S. As far as the Canadian government is concerned, the circumstances make taking any kind of action rather difficult.

Street Prostitution

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

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

In my riding and in the general suburban area of Vancouver, street prostitution is a serious problem which the community wants dealt with. We had hoped for some action in 1994 yet still we have nothing from the government.

At some point the government must gather itself, find a moral compass and act in a way that is right. The legal door for kids to get hooked into street prostitution has been left wide open by the justice minister.

Will the minister act now to make street level prostitution an indictable offence or at least a hybrid offence? Will he act now on this important change to protect our children? Will he himself take action instead of continuing to blame his inaction on the provinces or those pressure groups that represent prostitutes?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the hon. member knows that the issue of street prostitution involves more than simply changing the words in the Criminal Code of Canada. If we are going to resolve the question of people working the streets and selling their bodies for money, we are going to have to do more than simply amend the Criminal Code of Canada.

There are some things that can be done effectively through the criminal law. Through Bill C-27, which is now before a committee, we have proposed tough mandatory minimum penitentiary terms for people who would use violence to coerce children into prostitution. That is going to be an effective measure.

Let me say to the hon. member that two years ago, governments at all levels began looking at a short list of steps that could be taken not only through the Criminal Code but through other strategies to bring down the incidence of street prostitution and all the difficulties it causes for neighbourhoods, for families and for children.

Consultation documents have been circulated in all the provinces. That process is almost finished. In fact, all but two of the provinces have now returned with conclusions from the consultation process. When that process is completed, and Manitoba and Ontario have yet to complete it, we will look carefully at the short list of possible steps that all levels of government could take and we will decide on an appropriate course of action.

Canadian Airlines

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. He will know that a political fire storm is developing in western Canada over the financial crisis faced by an airline based in western Canada. The minister knows that nearly 70,000 jobs are at risk and thousands more related jobs are at risk. He said that he has not been asked to do anything.

Has the minister considered being proactive and providing leadership in finding a solution to this problem by suggesting actions that the federal government could take to help this troubled airline?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.

The point I would like to make to him and to everybody in this House is that we must keep our eye on the actual problem of Canadian International Airlines.

Anyone who thinks some government bailout can be a substitute for the restructuring plan of Canadian is simply dreaming. There is no point in coming forward with financial assistance to handle the losses of a period if there are no structural changes made that will prevent those losses from reoccurring in the future.

That is why I can say to him-I appreciate his question-that we strongly support the proposals for restructuring Canadian airlines which have been put forward. I recognize this will be a very difficult decision for the employees and I am extremely sympathetic to them as they consider this plan.

Without a plan within the company which deals with the structural chronic losses that it has had, we will not be able to have that company providing employment in the future as we would like.

Rwanda

[Janko Peric, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Co-operation.

Given the recent media reports and concerns raised about human rights, can the minister explain whether Canada is contributing money to the Government of Rwanda, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House that, notwithstanding the allegation made in the media last weekend, which was false, the government is not making contributions to the Rwandan government.

The funds are provided through Canadian NGOs, through universities and so on. They are to help the victims of the genocide in trying to repair the broken legal system and the broken society in Rwanda.

One quarter of the funds are to assist in the area of human rights. The rest is to provide for basic human needs, particularly to help the poor, women, youth and mostly abandoned children.

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, I invite you to come to Room 216 to meet Canada's top guns who were introduced to this House earlier. They will be there from three until about four o'clock.

Business Of The House

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the government what will be on the agenda in the days to come, and I am referring to tomorrow and ten days from now, when the House resumes sitting.

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

Mr. Speaker, it will be a pleasure to make a statement on the business of the House.

If the address debate should finish before the end of this afternoon, we will return to consideration of the child support bill, Bill C-41. In any case, this will be our first item of business tomorrow.

When the House returns on November 18 we will resume the list if necessary with Bill C-41, followed by Bill C-66, the labour code amendments presented by my distinguished colleague, the Minister of Labour and deputy House leader. Then we will have Bill C-62, the fisheries legislation; Bill C-59, the transport bill; Bill C-49, the tribunals legislation; Bill C-34, the agricultural penalties bill; Bill C-39 and Bill C-40, the flooding agreements legislation.

This should take us into the middle of the week in question. I will have met with members opposite by that point to arrange subsequent business.

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, as you know, a question of privilege always takes precedence over a point of order. I would ask the hon. member for Calgary Southeast if she would permit me to hear a very short point of order so that she is not disturbed.

Point Of Order

[Ray Speaker, Reform, Lethbridge]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask you to review the blues today relative to question period. In terms of the first question that was asked by my hon. colleague from Beaver River to the Prime Minister, in the Prime Minister's remarks I thought I heard the Prime Minister say to my hon. colleague that she did not tell the truth. I would like the Speaker to review the blues. I do not have access to them right now, but I would appreciate if you would do that. I am raising it at the first possible moment.

[The Speaker]

I did not hear that statement, but I will review the blues and if necessary I will come back to the House.