House of Commons Hansard #10 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was agreement.
Lucienne Robillard LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, we have indeed received Mr. Tassé's report. We are looking at it now, and after studying all its recommendations, we will act on most of them. Again, Mr. Tassé's report contains no allegation of fraudulent or illicit acts involving any departmental officials.
Jim Abbott Reform Kootenay East, BC
Mr. Speaker, the CRTC has done its best to stall competition in the direct to home satellite industry to the detriment of the industry, Canadian artists and the Canadian consumer. One can only speculate that its members were frustrated by the interference of the Liberal cabinet on behalf of its friends at Power Corp. That is probably why the CRTC did it, but last week the cabinet decided whether or not it would allow the CRTC to continue to hamper competition.
Did the cabinet decide last week? If it did, does it believe the CRTC is fulfilling its 1994 order to open up competition and what was the decision?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is aware that appeals have been lodged with the governor in council with respect to decisions of the CRTC. When cabinet has dealt with those appeals he and the public will be notified.
John Solomon NDP Regina—Lumsden, SK
Mr. Speaker, my question is addressed to the Prime Minister.
Within days of firing 25 per cent of the staff of its newly acquired Saskatchewan daily newspapers, your friend, Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc.-
CommunicationsOral Question Period
The Speaker
I would like the hon. member to address his question through the Speaker and make it quite brief, please.
John Solomon NDP Regina—Lumsden, SK
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Hollinger corporation threatened to put small independent community based newspapers out of business. It threatened to put the smaller weekly newspapers out of business by providing free newspapers in the communities of Melville, Wynyard, Canora, Kamsack, Preeceville, Norquay and Watson.
My question is this. Since the Prime Minister has challenged business to create jobs for Canadians and since his finance minister agrees that the firing of Hollinger employees at the Saskatchewan dailies is "not behaviour that is supported by the community itself," could the Prime Minister tell the House when he will come to the aid of these small Saskatchewan businesses and communities by instructing the bureau of competition policy to initiate an investigation of the concentration of media-
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows the provisions of the Competition Act. If he has some information he wishes to disclose I know the director will want to investigate it.
He will also know that the director acts as an independent agent in investigating complaints that are made with respect to offences that may or may not have been committed under the Competition Act. I suggest that is the appropriate remedy.
CommunicationsOral Question Period
The Speaker
My colleagues, this brings question period to a close.
Presence In GalleryOral Question Period
The Speaker
I draw members' attention to the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Dr. Bud Hulan, Minister of Fisheries, Food and Agriculture for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Presence In GalleryOral Question Period
The Speaker
I have notice of a point of order arising from question period from the member for Skeena.
Mike Scott Reform Skeena, BC
Mr. Speaker, during the course of question period in a response to a question that was asked by my colleague, the member for North Island-Powell River, the Minister for Indian Affairs and Northern Development stated that I, as the member for Skeena, had never risen in the House of Commons to talk about the Nisga'a land claim.
The minister knows full well that this land claim is very important. It is a crucial issue in my riding. I have risen on it many times in the House. I have held many meetings in the riding with respect to this.
I would ask that the minister, to whom many of these interventions have been directed-
Points Of OrderOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member of course raises a point of debate but it is not a point of order.
Points Of OrderOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member rose on a point of order. I heard his point of order. He is on the record and I have judged it to be not a point of order but a point of debate.
At times we get a bit excited in the House. I would ask all hon. members to please be very judicious in their choice of words, even when they are just reacting out loud. I would ask all hon. members to do that.
Mike Scott Reform Skeena, BC
Mr. Speaker, I ask for your guidance. If an issue arises in the House that has profound implications to me as a member of Parliament and for my riding, such as false information is put in front of the House, what am I entitled to do as a member of Parliament to ensure the record is straightened out?
Points Of OrderOral Question Period
The Speaker
I am sure the hon. member will see when he reviews the blues that he did have recourse today. He is now on the record. However I still judge that it is not a point of order. Perhaps it is a point of debate between members.
I am not here to say who is saying what is true. I am here to see to it that all members have a chance to speak and speak freely. If corrections are to be made they will be made as they have today.
Ron Irwin LiberalMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, if I may clear the record for the benefit of the hon. member, he has spoken many times about this issue. The point I made is he has not spoken on the side of the Nisga'a people.
Points Of OrderOral Question Period
The Speaker
Before we get into further debate I will call Orders of the Day.
Paul Zed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to nine petitions presented during the first session.
Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to address the House of Commons to celebrate, as we do every year on March 2, Canada's strong commitment to the Commonwealth, its values and its principles.
More important, it is an occasion for me to underline Canada's strong partnership in the Commonwealth. Partnership is a word that is often used these days. In some ways it is almost in danger of becoming meaningless by the fact that it is so often used in so
many contexts, unless we give it meaning with real substance, real force and real action.
In my previous portfolio of human resources development we worked very actively in partnerships with the business community, local communities, charitable communities. We learned that the most effective partnerships were those where everybody had a voice in the process, where the objectives of the partnership were clear and where action was taken collectively to achieve our ends.
Often the most complex and seemingly difficult problems could be cracked wide open when the right people were brought together to collaborate, work and make sure their energies were used in a new synergy.
I believe that the Commonwealth can provide the active dynamic partnership to find solutions to many of the very complex, difficult problems affecting people around the globe.
We have proven before that developing solutions and bringing collective pressures to bear can produce important results, such as the change in the apartheid regime in South Africa which is one of the notable accomplishments of the Commonwealth over the past decade.
With 53 countries and 1.5 billion people represented, we have at our fingertips in the Commonwealth a potentially enormous force for wisdom, power and influence. The leaders of the Commonwealth can use that force to bring about important objectives to which we all aspire.
Our collective commitment to promoting democracy, good governance and greater respect for human rights is a high priority item of our Commonwealth program. This commitment was reaffirmed by the Harare declaration and during the summit of Commonwealth heads of government. We must act according to the old saying "Charity begins at home".
Obviously we are saying that we must begin at home.
In my recent speech to the non-governmental organizations in preparation for the 52nd UN Commission on Human Rights meetings, I stated the first principle of Canada's human rights policy must be a commitment to continue working on domestic agendas with particular regard to aboriginal people.
Such individual action by countries must be complemented by a collective action, if you like, a new partnership. By adopting the Millbrook action program, heads of government in Auckland this past year responded to a personal initiative by the Prime Minister to provide the Commonwealth with a much more expanded and explicit mandate to work for democracy and to respond in a preventive way to problems before they arise.
The creation of a Commonwealth ministerial action group as a part of this initiative is an ideal and important vehicle for carrying out that statement.
Currently this meeting of action groups of ministers is facing an enormous challenge in the form of the brutal regime in Nigeria. The execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other political prisoners during the last Commonwealth meeting was a call to action to which none of us can afford to be in any way indifferent.
The Commonwealth is at the forefront of condemning those killings. We must now take the lead in trying to bring about timely changes in Nigeria and not to be overtaken by events.
It is our partnership with all the forces described above which can advance to the next Commonwealth ministerial meeting in London in the next month, give real impetus for driving changes and creating a more open society in Nigeria. Like any successful partnership, we must have a clear objective and the means by which that objective can be achieved.
It is something to which the government is dedicated and we hope we can call on the support of all members of Parliament as we work within the Commonwealth to bring about major evolution and devolution of practices in Nigeria, to open up the system and to protect human rights.
In addition to the official Commonwealth that brings governments together, the Commonwealth is also a growing association of ordinary people having thousands of transactions across many borders every day of the year. Thousands of Canadians are active in international voluntary, professional, development and service organizations which are based on the Commonwealth.
Direct contacts between Canadians and individuals from this broad array of countries to these organizations are an important force in building international understanding and ensuring that Canada's position and reputation in the world can be enhanced.
I would like to conclude by reaffirming my personal commitment and that of the Government of Canada to the Commonwealth and the partnership it represents between peoples of different languages, different races, and different faiths around the globe.
We must join our efforts and work relentlessly to create a tolerant and stable world.
