Debates of March 1st, 1996

Grammy Awards

[Peter Thalheimer, Liberal, Timmins—Chapleau, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand today in the House to acknowledge the tremendous achievements of seven Canadian music artists at the American Grammy Awards this past Wednesday.

1995 was obviously a good year for Canadian artists. They accumulated a total of 10 Grammys, making their presence felt in the music industry. Their success testifies to their incredible talent which has not gone unnoticed by North Americans.

The big winner is Ottawa rocker Alanis Morissette with four awards. I am particularly proud of Shania Twain from Timmins who won best country album. Veteran folk singer Joni Mitchell took home two Grammys including best pop album. Rob McConnell took home a jazz Grammy. Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony claimed a Grammy and Toronto composer Rob Bowman also left with one.

I join with the House to congratulate all the Canadian winners on their success at the Grammys. Next week watch Canadian artists for similar success at the Junos.

[The Speaker]

As I mentioned yesterday my dear colleague, perhaps you would send an invitation or acknowledge to our Canadians that we would like to present them here in the House of Commons. I make that comment on behalf of all members.

Bank Profits

[Rex Crawford, Liberal, Kent, ON]

Mr. Speaker, two of Canada's big banks just announced the highest quarter profits in their history, putting them on track to break last year's record earnings. Meanwhile, automatic teller machines are replacing taxpaying workers by the thousands and the banks find new ways to pile on service charges. There were $5.2 billion dollars in profits for the five big banks last year.

I urge the Minister of Finance to continue with the temporary capital tax of 12 per cent he announced in the 1995 budget which is slated to expire this October or move to a bank profit tax. Life insurance companies already pay an additional capital tax, why not the banks?

I am confident that a majority of Canadians would support this measure with surging bank profits in tough times.

National Unity Essay Contest

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the outstanding contributions of the high school students in my riding of Parry Sound-Muskoka.

In January I initiated a national unity essay contest at all of the high schools in my riding. I asked students to provide me with their ideas about how Canada could achieve long term national unity. I wanted to encourage our riding's youth to put their thoughts on paper and to commit themselves to working together with their peers to promote unity and pride in Canada.

Our students' responses are a tribute to the sincerity and depth of these young people. I have received many terrific essays and ideas.

Most encouraging of all is the strength of conviction I feel in these students' writings. They believe in their country. They believe in a united Canada from coast to coast to coast. They believe in what we share as Canadians and are committed to preserving it.

These students are our future and they are prepared to and capable of accepting the challenge that is Canada.

Richmond Constituency

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as Reform's foreign affairs critic one of the responsibilities I have is to keep track of the MP for Richmond who is the Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific. Little did I expect however that in my role I would be asked by so many of his constituents to chide him for not representing their views in Ottawa. But since they have asked, why not?

Recently the MP for Richmond was told in no uncertain terms at a town hall meeting that he should vote against the Liberal disunity package but he refused to listen. Instead of representing his constituents, he intentionally voted against them in this House.

In the Vancouver Sun he was quoted as saying: ``Canada has to come first. B.C. comes second. And then the opinion of my constituents-comes third''. This is an elitist political code that really means: the party comes first, the Prime Minister comes second and the people come last. Shame on the MP for Richmond. He should ask Kim Campbell.

Partition

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

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, the Vancouver Sun reported the words of one of the Prime Minister's principal advisers, and I quote:

"We believe it is possible to act to avert another referendum". "Quebecers are coming to realize all the disruption, tension and instability it will cause". "That was the beauty of the issue of partition".

Would the Deputy Prime Minister confirm the Prime Minister's adviser's statement that the government itself fanned the flame and willingly encouraged the separatist movement through its actions with the aim of intimidating the people of Quebec?

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

No, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I suspect that the Deputy Prime Minister may well not have read either the papers or the statements by her colleague, the Minister of Indian Affairs.

In the light of the remarks by the Prime Minister's adviser, could the Deputy Prime Minister reassure the House and tell us that the federal government has no intention of using its powers of disallowance and reservation against a bill that would permit Quebec to attain sovereignty?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised by the hon. member's criticism of our desire to work in partnership. We heard the premier of Quebec shortly after he was sworn in talk of working in partnership.

Now, we have an opening offer on the table, and I hope the federal Leader of the Opposition will listen to the premier of Quebec.

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

Mr. Speaker, we always have the feeling we are living on another planet when the Deputy Prime Minister responds to our questions. We did not criticize the desire to work in partnership. I will send you the question afterwards. There will be other questions on this very thing a bit later. You should listen to questions from time to time, perhaps we would get somewhat coherent answers. I realize this is asking a lot, Mr. Speaker.

I will take it slower. Would the Deputy Prime Minister, the member for Hamilton East, seated over there, kindly tell us whether the government has shelved Stéphane Dion's plan B, among others, and will stop once and for all intimidating the people of Quebec by dubious means? Is that clear?

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

Mr. Speaker, we support the remarks by the premier of Quebec about his willingness to set the issue of the referendum aside in order to work on Quebec's economy. We are following the advice of the premier of Quebec, because we on this side of the House want economic growth for Montreal, Quebec City and Canada.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day

[Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, Bloc, Laval Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. The heritage minister and her government are inviting Canadians to mark the 30th, 31st and 32nd anniversaries of the flag with exuberance and enthusiasm, since the "One in a million" flag campaign will last until next year. In the same breath, the heritage minister is inviting Canadians to celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.

How can the heritage minister invite Canadians to celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, when her own government and those of several English speaking provinces blithely flout the rights of francophones recognized in the Constitution and the Official Languages Act?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am merely following the advice of the Bloc's designated critic on official languages, who said that there was nothing wrong with celebrating Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day elsewhere.

[Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, Bloc, Laval Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since the Commissioner of Official Languages states that federal employment centres in Ontario effectively steer francophones toward courses taught in English, what is the heritage minister waiting for to denounce unequivocally this measure to assimilate francophones?

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

Mr. Speaker, when I suggested yesterday in reply to the throne speech that Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day should be celebrated across the country, it was precisely to recognize the fact that Saint John the Baptist is the patron saint of all French-Canadians. It is Quebec's national holiday as well as a day of celebration for all Canadians who want to understand and associate themselves with the French fact in our country.

I invite the hon. member across the way to visit Hamilton in my riding on June 24 and I hope that she will do so, because I can assure her that, if the French community in my riding is celebrating Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day this year-as it has done for many years-it is precisely because we want to share in the pride of being French-Canadian here in this country.

Haiti

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, two days ago in the House the government promised that before we take on a Haiti mission it would "get a better handle on costs" because they could easily spiral out of control. Yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs bailed out the United Nations' mission with a blank cheque signed by the Canadian taxpayers.

The Canadian people would like to know how the government is going to control costs when there is no information on the mission? How is the minister going to control these costs, as was promised in the House, when we do not have a clear mandate or the costs? I would like the minister to tell us how this is going to be controlled.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as often happens, the Reform Party gets it wrong. The real importance of the decision that we took last night is that Canada has made a major contribution to secure democracy in Haiti, to ensure the United Nations is able to provide an effective international presence to support the people there and to ensure that once again Canada is able to exercise real leadership.

As I said Wednesday night, and I believe the hon. member was in the House at that time, it was our initiative that broke the stalemate and allowed the United Nations security council late last night to take the decision that would allow us to go into Haiti with a supplementary force and therefore maintain the evolution toward democracy.

I want to assure all members of the House that the commitment we are making is totally and completely within the budget reference levels of the Department of National Defence. There is no extra money beyond what we are asking. It is totally within the peacekeeping budget that the Government of Canada has set aside. We think that peacekeeping is a priority, unlike the hon. member opposite.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Reform members are also concerned about democracy, the spreading of democracy and the people in Haiti. We also believe that peacekeeping is a valuable mission for Canadians and Canadians are behind it.

However, there has to be a plan. How can the government know it is within the budget if it does not have a plan? In 1915 the Americans went into Haiti to develop democracy. They left 20 years later and the infrastructure was not there. The infrastructure is not there now and yet we are going to build this infrastructure in four months and return democracy to this country.

Does the UN or Canada have plans to bring about this miracle of rebuilding Haiti in a four-month period?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as the critic for foreign affairs, the hon. member would be well advised to actually read what the plan is. The plan was tabled on February 14 by the Secretary-General where he set out on several pages the specific mandate for the extension of the United Nations force. That would enable the Haitian government that has gone through a very successful democratic election and now taken office to continue in the development of its own police forces with the backup and support of the international force to ensure that there is a proper stabilization during that period of time.

I would be quite glad, at the request of the hon. member, to send him a copy of the Secretary-General's report to the council. That is the exact mandate that we are working on and the plan that we have. That is the kind of arrangement we have made with the UN.

What is most important, because of the our intervention on behalf of Canadians and on behalf of everybody else, is that we were able to break a deadlock to ensure that the United Nations was able to continue its presence.

From the debates last night, I would like to take one comment at random from the ambassador of the United Kingdom speaking to the security council. He said: "We pay the warmest tribute to the Government of Canada for the lead it has taken in making the union's continuation possible. It is a source of great satisfaction to my delegation. The United Nations will now be able to continue its mission in this stabilization phase". Due to Canada, Mr. Speaker.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I do have a copy of that UN document and have read it carefully. Basically we are going from 6,000 American troops holding the big stick to 2,000 UN-Canadian troops now trying to deliver democracy. We have done the Americans a big favour because Mr. Clinton promised to be out of Haiti within or by the end of February.

I would like to ask the foreign affairs minister why he will not go along with or use this favour in negotiating better conditions for Canadians and get them to not enforce the Helms-Burton bill as it relates to the many jobs that Canada may potentially lose?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I really disagree with the fundamental premise of the hon. member's question.

We are not doing the Americans a favour. We are contributing to the United Nations. We are contributing to the democratic development in Haiti. We are helping a poor country that was under a dictatorship for many years to regain the opportunity for its people to choose their own lives, to have economic development. That is what we are in there for, not to do people favours.

Unlike the Reform critic for foreign affairs, I think that much more to the point is the comment made in debate on Wednesday night by his colleague, the member for Swift Current-Maple Creek, when he said: "Besides being in our national interest, there is a certain moral imperative for our continued presence in that unhappy country to preserve life and to provide humanitarian assistance".

That is the real spirit of what we have done. It was expressed by the member from Swift Current.

Speech From The Throne

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General.

In the Liberal government's speech from the throne, only one short paragraph is devoted to personal security. There is one short sentence, at the very end of this paragraph, stating that: "Criminal procedure will be reformed to better serve victims of crime". No concrete measure was put forward regarding the security of individuals. There is no clear indication of genuine concern on the part of the government either. In a word, what we have here is seven or eight lines of lip service.

What positive steps, if any, does the minister intend to take to better serve the victims of crime?

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from my hon. friend.

I will point to just two measures which will be very important in this regard. We are working on legislation to extend the legislation we passed in the last session regarding the use of DNA evidence. We are working on measures to have a national DNA data bank to make it more effective with respect to the use of such evidence.

Together with the Minister of Justice, I intend to proceed with legislation to give the public more effective protection from high

risk violent offenders. I hope I will have the support of my hon. friend and his party when these measures are presented to the House.

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

Mr. Speaker, on the same issue falling under the minister's responsibility, what possible courses of action is the minister contemplating to resolve the problem of prison overcrowding without jeopardizing at the same time the safety of the public?

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

Mr. Speaker, again I thank my hon. friend for raising an important point.

The answer to the question will be longer than is permitted in question period. We are working on measures in consultation with the provinces and territories which will have as a foundation the protection of the public, while at the same time focusing on high risk dangerous offenders and finding alternate means for those who are not in that category; thus ensuring protection of the public while saving taxpayers' money.

Again, when we bring forward details, after we have consulted with the provinces and territories, I hope that we will have strong support from the hon. member and his party and all members of this House.