Debates of March 21st, 1996

Canadian Armed Forces

[John Richardson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the government treats these allegations very seriously. The matter is being dealt with with fairness and the laws of natural justice.

Bell Canada

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry.

The people of Peterborough riding follow the affairs of Bell Canada with great interest, whether they are employees or customers. Bell Canada was recently allowed a rate increase.

In the light of this, will the parliamentary secretary comment on Bell Canada's forecast of a 40 per cent increase in profits at a time when it is cutting 10,000 jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, the forecasts that Bell Canada has proposed are just those. They are forecasts and estimates for the coming year and may vary by the end of the year.

It is my understanding that by means of voluntary packages and attrition Bell Canada has not laid off any employees to date. We also expect that Bell Canada, with the increase in profit they are projecting, will use this money to fulfil its commitments to increase investment and to provide a low cost in basic services.

Immigration

[Val Meredith, Reform, Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, taking a lead from the Prime Minister, we now see two members of his cabinet at each other's throats over the production and destruction of the red book, part 2.

Although the Prime Minister is trying to defend both ministers, he cannot have it both ways. Either the former minister of immigration was wrong for producing this piece of Liberal propaganda or the current minister was wrong for wasting taxpayers' money shredding the documents.

I ask the Prime Minister to get off the fence, take a stand and tell Canadians which minister messed up?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, coming from the Reform Party, it should consult with its members for Calgary Centre and Calgary Southeast.

I said yesterday, and I repeat today, that the minister made a decision after she became minister and decided not to proceed with the distribution of the pamphlet. That was her privilege and her right. It was the privilege and the right of the minister to work on that.

Some people claim he made too many references to the red book but really the red book is the program of the Liberal Party. If the Reform Party does not understand that, the Government of Canada now is formed by the Liberal Party.

When we talk about the success of the Government of Canada we talk about the success of the Liberal Party. They are together.

[Val Meredith, Reform, Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, once again the Prime Minister has it all wrong. The Reform caucus is completely unified-

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Val Meredith, Reform, Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC]

-especially in the belief that this cabinet should be whipped into shape.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

I hope the hon. member for Wild Rose is not beginning a trend. The hon. member for Surrey-White Rock-South Langley.

[Val Meredith, Reform, Surrey—White Rock—South Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is no wonder we have two ministers trashing each other in the press. Neither will assume the responsibility of making a mistake. That is because the Prime Minister has failed to provide them with proper guidelines of what is appropriate or what is "inappropriate and silly".

To prevent other ministers from wasting taxpayers' money the Prime Minister must tell the House which minister will be held accountable.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in order to achieve this great unity they must have reverted to caning. It had a great effect. It was surprising to all of us to see the hon. member for Wild Rose hugging the member from out west. What the hon. member for Wild Rose did was a bit silly.

We have very good guidelines for ministers. They run their departments and they use their best judgment.

Saskatchewan Francophones

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, Marysa Gendron Nadeau, a student from Saskatoon, reminded the prime minister that, on January 17, 1994, he promised to protect Franco-Saskatchewanian schools.

However, his government is now about to cut by 52 p. 100 its financial support to French speaking groups in Saskatchewan, at a time when the assimilation rate reaches 67 per cent. If the prime minister does not do anything, says Marysa, he will be able to take credit for an even higher assimilation rate.

Will the prime minister commit today in this House to fulfil the promise he made to Marysa and to reconsider the indecent and insulting proposal his government made to the French speaking community in Saskatchewan?

[Guy Arseneault, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I want to inform the House that we are currently negotiating an agreement with the Association des francophones de la Saskatchewan. We should reach an agreement shortly.

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in her letter dated today, Marysa Gendron Nadeau asks the prime minister to help them, not to crush them.

In this Semaine de la Francophonie, will the prime minister have the fortitude to be consistent and to do everything he can to put a stop to the assimilation of French speaking citizens in Saskatchewan and throughout Canada?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, of course, I will do everything I can to help them, I always do. But if the hon. member is so worried about the future of French speaking Canadians outside Quebec, she should realize that the best way to help them is to keep all French speaking Canadians within a united Canada and not to divide them. If they are divided, some will perish.

National Defence

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, BC]

Mr. Speaker, at least the hon. member for Wild Rose knows the difference between a hug and a choke hold.

Canadians are hearing conflicting reports concerning what may be another hazing incident the past weekend at CFB Gagetown. The minister has had several days to look into this matter.

Would he tell Canadians what he has found to clear the air so that this is not hanging over the heads of Canadian Armed Forces personnel?

[John Richardson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I just answered the first part of that question. It is under investigation and to some surprise the results may not be what the hon. member is seeking.

[Jim Hart, Reform, Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after the airborne hazing videos, the minister promised Canadians that this sort of behaviour would not be tolerated.

What administrative actions did the minister put in place? Can we be sure that they were followed at CFB Gagetown?

[John Richardson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the minister gave instructions to the chain of command. The chain of command followed that throughout the forces, but something you cannot do is put judgment into the head of a person.

I cannot prejudge an investigation that is presently under way.

Employment Equity

[Sheila Finestone, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the annual report of the human rights commissioner noted that progress has been made in the public and in the federally regulated private sector with respect to employment for women, visible minorities, aboriginals and the disabled. In the government, however, orchestration has been a bit on the slow side.

My question is for the President of the Treasury Board. Could he point out whether he is planning to be the leader of the band on employment equity? Is he planning to improve the performance of women and men so that they can move forward in the departments? Will he change his tune for the public service from a slow waltz into a quick march? How much longer will the target groups have to wait for employment equity?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I will be tabling in the near future a report on the status of employment equity in the public service. I will be doing that today or tomorrow.

Members will see from that report steady progress is taking place through a range of programs and initiatives that have been initiated by the Treasury Board. Some of the highlights of the report will be, for instance, that women increase their participation

in the public service to 47.4 per cent from 44 per cent in a year; that almost two-thirds of the 14,000 employees who were hired were women. At the same time, 56 per cent of the employees promoted were women.

There has been steady progress for every designated group during the last five years. During 1994-95, the representation of every designated group in the public service has increased.

Dairy Industry

[Jean-Guy Chrétien, Bloc, Frontenac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture. In eliminating dairy subsidies, the Minister of Finance will be taking $1.3 billion away from dairy producers over the next ten years, without any compensation in return. Grain producers, however, have received $2.9 billion in compensation.

Does the Minister of Agriculture admit that his action is unfair to the dairy producers of Canada, who would be entitled to expect compensation of at least $800 million, of which $400 million should go to the dairy producers of Quebec?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. gentleman knows, the western grain transportation subsidy in western Canada was cancelled all at once in the decision taken in the budget of 1995. The subsidy terminated completely on August 1 last year.

To assist farmers in the transition process away from what had been a subsidized regime to what in the future, and is now, is a totally unsubsidized regime, a transition program was put in place temporarily. It is being implemented quite literally as we speak.

With respect to the dairy subsidy there is not a termination of the subsidy all at once. The phasing out process began in the 1995 budget with a first reduction of 15 per cent in the current year and another 15 per cent next year. As we announced in the 1996 budget there will be a gradual phase out of 20 per cent per year over the following five years. There is a gradual phase out period.

Canadian Armed Forces

[Jack Frazer, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when I asked the Minister of National Defence when he would advise the civilian employees at 5 Wing Goose Bay which jobs were being considered for privatization, he answered: "We have just announced that this particular base may be a candidate and we will look at it over the coming months".

Either the minister misled us or he works very fast because yesterday, just nine days later, it was announced that 93 civilian full time jobs, 15 seasonal jobs and 81 military jobs were being cut, followed sometime later by surgical cuts. These people would like to bid on those jobs. When will the minister advise which jobs were cut?