Debates of March 21st, 1996

Correctional System

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that sex between inmates is explicitly prohibited in Canada's prisons, the federal government spent more than $180,000 last year on condoms.

Now we have learned that there is a plan to distribute dental dams, lubricants and bleach kits for cleansing drug needles to prisoners, all courtesy of the taxpayer.

The government has given new meaning to prisoners' rights with its plans to subsidize inmate sex with free condoms and drug use through the distribution of bleach kits.

When will this insanity end? Canadians want common sense restored to the Canadian correctional system. The government should immediately end condom and bleach kit distribution. I urge the government to divert its resources to the rehabilitation of victims, not the deviant habits of prisoners.

Employment Insurance

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House of Commons with regard to Bill C-12, the legislation establishing the employment insurance program.

I appeal to the minister to listen to the people. People in New Brunswick are really afraid. They want their dignity. They want work. They want jobs. They really do not want to be on UI but they need something if the jobs are not there.

There have been amendments put forth in the past week by members of the Liberal Party. I ask that the hon. minister to please listen to his own members and make adjustments to the bill so that people can continue to live in dignity.

Grosse Ile

[John O'Reilly, Liberal, Victoria—Haliburton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute the Minister of Canadian Heritage on the recent announcement that Parks Canada will proceed with the naming of Grosse Ile and the Irish memorial.

Grosse Ile has for years been known as the Irish island, and the Irish community is very pleased that the peace and tranquillity of this important part of Canadian history will be maintained.

Between 1832 and 1937 Grosse Ile was a quarantine centre associated with the port of Quebec and was the principal point of entry to Canada for immigrants. There are thousands of graves on this national historic site, the majority of which are Irish as a result of the famine years, especially 1847.

The announcement by the Minister of Canadian Heritage on the March 17, 1996 was very welcome and timely, and we anticipate the 150th anniversary celebrations along with the current reconstruction of this important Irish memorial.

Racism

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois wants to join in with those who will speak to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Racial discrimination is a costly thing. It is costly in human, social, emotional and economic terms. Racial discrimination is based on the premise that people are not all equal. However, Canada and Quebec both view people's equality as a fundamental value.

Nevertheless, there are still too many individual and sometimes collective cases of people being victims of racial discrimination. Together we must eliminate inequalities between people. This, in turn, will help us eliminate racial discrimination.

The Francophonie

[Denis Paradis, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week is the Semaine internationale de la Francophonie. To show how important la francophonie internationally is to Canada, allow me to quote what the current premier of Quebec said when he was Canada's ambassador to France.

He said that Canada's commitment towards the French speaking community came quite naturally, that federalism requires the central government to project our country's linguistic duality at the international as well as the national level.

We agree with Lucien Bouchard on the role Canada plays in la francophonie internationally. Our government considers it an honour to be part of both the Commonwealth and the Francophonie and we do intend to remain active within both of these communities.

Racism

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, commemorates that day in 1960 when peaceful demonstrators were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa.

Today, I would like to recall the words of the Prime Minister of Canada in his speech commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations: "Although Canadians sometimes forget it, the highest hope of the global community is to achieve what we in Canada have achieved for ourselves. A means of living together in peace and understanding. Not an answer to every problem, but a means to pursue those answers together-with respect, tolerance, accommodation and compromise".

And that is the message this March 21, a message of hope and solidarity. This day symbolizes the hope that comes with the arrival of spring, the joy of freedom and the promise of peace.

Private Sector Employment

[Ken Epp, Reform, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister promised jobs, Canadians did not realize he meant short term government jobs at the expense of permanent private sector employment.

I received an urgent fax from Sylvia Schneider in my riding. She did all the right things to start her new business, Internet Presence Provision. She identified a need and developed a business plan to meet that need. Now, however, students are to be paid by the government and with their access to tax funded university facilities they will provide the identical service Sylvia is providing.

She has a family of four to support and she may be choked out by this short term government program. How can she survive when her competitors have no expenses?

First we have Canada Post's using taxpayer money to drive couriers out of business and now we have this attack on honest, hard working, tax paying citizens who want earn a living and look after their families.

Canadian small business cannot compete with government big business.

Racism

[John English, Liberal, Kitchener, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Martin Luther King dreamt of the end of racial discrimination. Nelson Mandela suffered years of imprisonment for it and hundreds of thousands fought for it in this century. Through their struggles they sought a world free of racial discrimination in which equality and harmony prevail.

Today, March 21, marks the United Nation's internationally designated day for the elimination of racial discrimination. While most governments are attempting to address this challenging issue, we continue to witness too much racism, whether it be in the workplace, the school yard or even our neighbourhood.

When former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau introduced the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms it was a bold step in an effort to combat racism and to ensure for all Canadians their fundamental rights and freedoms.

The challenge to eliminate racism is a great one but governments must remain determined in their effort to achieve this. As we mark this day I ask that all Canadians rise to the challenge by combating racism whenever and wherever it is witnessed.

As one authority once said, in the end you can only teach the things that you are; if we practice racism then it is racism that we teach.

[Maria Minna, Liberal, Beaches—Woodbine, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today as a Canadian and a member of Parliament.

Like you, Mr. Speaker, my throat catches when I sing our national anthem. Like you, I care deeply about the unity of this great nation of ours.

I feel a deep sense of pride when I see my country named as the number one country in the world in which to live. Yet I am also a Canadian of Italian heritage. I have many things to be proud of in my culture of origin.

I stand here today on the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination and say that only in this country can I be proud to be a Canadian and just as proud of my Italian heritage.

Together we can be one people and yet respectful of our differences. We have done much as country to promote racial cohesion and respect, yet lately we see an increase in racial tension in our land. Today what we have built together may be at risk.

Let us renew on this day our commitment to keep our Canadian values alive, to eliminate discrimination in all of its ugly forms, the ugliest of which surely must be racism.

Socio-Economic Summit In Quebec City

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the socio-economic summit in Quebec City ended yesterday. The Bloc Quebecois wishes to salute this event, which was successful in getting groups in Quebec to work together toward a common goal. This summit is another demonstration of Quebec's own way of addressing the problems facing our societies. It raises great hopes.

The Quebec model builds on union instead of division, on active participation instead of strict individualism, on putting public finances in order in an orderly and equitable fasion instead of through savage cuts.

As Lucien Bouchard, the premier, said, Quebec is the winner in this summit. Together, the people of Quebec have achieved great things. Together, they will keep on achieving great things. Quebec is really on the move.

Racism

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, York North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on March 21, 1960 many innocent people were killed and wounded in Sharpville, South Africa for demonstrating against racial oppression. This event has come to symbolize the worldwide need to end racism.

Today marks the UN's 30th anniversary of the international day for the elimination of racism. While Canadians can be proud of the steps they have taken to help build a more tolerant and open society, more work needs to be done.

Systemic racism continues to rear its ugly head. As a government we must work with citizens to address all forms of discrimination that take place in our communities.

A particular focus must be placed on youth to ensure they gain an appreciation for the diversity of the world's peoples, languages, religions and cultures.

By cultivating a deep respect for racial harmony, we take another step forward in the battle to eliminate discrimination forever.

Manpower Training

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, the federal government does not appear to want to back down on the matter of manpower training, insisting on maintaining and even heightening duplication and overlap, which, as we know, lead to inefficiency and waste in this sector so vital in a full-blown employment crisis. Yesterday, the Prime Minister reiterated his intentions saying, with regard to active measures: "these are federal programs-and they will remain under our control".

Given the reaffirmation of the Quebec consensus yesterday at the socio-economic conference in Quebec City, which had been reached by management, unions and government and which requests the federal government to withdraw from active measures, will the Prime Minister agree to reverse his decision and permit the elimination of overlap in the area of manpower?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted because progress was made. We are no longer talking about manpower training. Everybody acknowledges it, and, now I would like to thank the Leader of the Opposition for finally acknowledging that we offered to withdraw from manpower training.

As for the other measures arising from federal government programs, the bill currently under review provides for discussions and negotiations with the provinces so that our respective programs may be discussed and harmonized in order to eliminate duplication.

The bill being considered provides for it, and, when the governments are ready to discuss it, we will be ready too. Only, I say that the money collected under the programs previously known as unemployment insurance and soon to be called employment insurance, with the money then that we collect from federal taxpayers, we must be able to respond to questions and to assume responsibility for it before all members of this House.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this is a fine demonstration of the following principle: it is not easy to negotiate with he who hears only what he wants to hear. It really is not easy. The Prime Minister knows very well that the Quebec consensus demands the federal government's complete withdrawal from the areas of job training, manpower and active measures. The Prime Minister should remember.

When federalists such as Ghislain Dufour, Laurent Beaudoin and André Bérard say it cannot go on-and are even prepared to accompany Louise Harel to Ottawa to make the Prime Minister listen to reason-is it not clear to the Prime Minister that Quebec opposes his position in the field of manpower training and that even his federalist allies are bothered by it? Does he understand that?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have just told the hon. Leader of the Opposition that we are prepared to withdraw from manpower training.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we realize that the Prime Minister's referendum promises are worth very little. First, a veto that is no veto, recognition of Quebec as a distinct society that is not recognition and a promise to withdraw from the field of manpower that is no promise.

Does the Prime Minister realize that, if he continues in the field of manpower as he has been going, it will be his third strike? In baseball, it is three strikes and you are out.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if I recall rightly, the leader of the yes side in the last referendum, Mr. Parizeau, said they had won the first period in 1993, the second in 1994 and that they were going to win the third in 1995. Well-

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

We are in overtime.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have never seen anyone lose and then say he was going into overtime after the third period. You lost the referendum. The game is over. That is it.

Are they going into overtime until they win?

Listen, Mr. Speaker, I have just told this House clearly that the promises we made in the throne speech and before stand. We will withdraw from the field of manpower. I have repeated it, and we will withdraw. If they want us to withdraw right now, we are ready to do so.

As for active measures, thse are not manpower training, but something else. I said that the bill provides for negotiations on them. They want us to sign a blank cheque. For heaven's sake. This is taxpayers' money. It is money from workers in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario that is redistributed to Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Quebec. We have a responsibility to be fair to everyone.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Ghislain Dufour was speaking of active measures. In light of the economic summit which ended in Quebec City yesterday, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the Prime Minister of Canada is completely out of touch with Quebec reality.

Why does the Prime Minister engage in federal-provincial squabbles? Why is he adding fuel to the fire? Why is he involved in a flagwaving battle at the expense of the 800,000 plus men and women who are waiting for a real manpower policy to come along so that they can find a job?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I too can quote business leaders, if that is what you want. They stated clearly that the greatest handicap to economic growth in Quebec at the present time is the idea of separatism the members across the way are upholding.

If they really wanted to create jobs for unemployed Quebecers, they would put the whole idea of independence on ice, so we could work together on creating jobs for Quebecers, for the people of Montreal in particular.

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

Mr. Speaker, those same business leaders, in many instances federalists, nonetheless have agreed to work with the sovereignists in Quebec. They have managed to reach a consensus, a concept this Prime Minister of Canada has not managed to reach, to feel comfortable with, to understand in the slightest.

Not long ago, the Prime Minister was accusing us of talking about the Constitution, when what had to be talked about was jobs, according to him. Now, when everybody is talking about employment, he is the one bringing up the Constitution. Cute trick, would you not say?

When will he, or his minister, meet with the government of Quebec and negotiate on the basis of consensus, a consensus reached by federalists and others, that same consensus referred to yesterday by everybody, from Gérald Larose to Laurent Beaudoin, from Daniel Johnson to Lucien Bouchard?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

I have set out the government's position clearly. The Minister is prepared to meet with the minister at any time. He has said so.

On the matter of manpower training, which is the term still used here in this House and everywhere else, what we are saying is that we are pulling out of it.

But, as concerns unemployment insurance programs, and the monies we collect from all employees and employers across Canada, it is our constitutional responsibility to administer them. I am not talking Constitution, but merely saying that I want people to respect the Constitution we have at this time, which states that unemployment insurance is a federal responsibility.

The Economy

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the separatist premier of Quebec committed that province to enacting a deficit elimination law and achieving that target by the year 2000. Apparently this measure enjoys consider-

able support from Quebec business executives, union leaders, federalists and separatists.

Once again, the federal government is in danger of letting the separatists get out in front, this time on the issue of who can manage government finances more responsibly. When will the Prime Minister establish a firm date for the elimination of the federal deficit, or is he prepared to play second fiddle to Lucien Bouchard on that issue?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have a program which is very well known. We said that this year we will be at 3 per cent of the GDP and we will meet that target. The Minister of Finance set another target of 2 per cent for next year and again we will meet that target.

People are so impressed by the way we are managing the situation that today Canada's interest rates are lower than those in the United States. With the way it is being managed, interest rates have gone down by more than 3 points in one year.

I am delighted with the decision yesterday in Quebec about setting the goal of reducing its deficit. Ours is going down. We will be at 2 per cent. The most important thing is to have a realistic target and meet it.

The Gingrich friends of those in the third party have passed about six bills in the United States about a target and they never met it. Here, we have a short term target that is met. The business community is applauding.