Debates of May 17th, 1996

Newfoundland

[Doug Peters, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, the member obviously does not understand interest. To think that there would be a payment of $160 million up front instead of $8 million a year for 20 years is entirely wrong. It will be discounted by an appropriate interest rate. That is exactly what I meant when I said it was a fair and reasonable substitute, with the discounted factor. That is the amount we will paying.

Fisheries

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

In order to make known their dissatisfaction with the crab fishery plan, deckhands and processing plant workers are still refusing to go back to work. They are thus protesting the displacement of part time jobs resulting from the minister's plan.

Today, the minister is allocating crab quotas to ground fishermen. Does the minister realize that, unless he first resolves the present conflict with workers, there is a risk that this already very tense situation will blow up?

[Fred Mifflin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I have a certain sympathy for the-

[Patrick Gagnon, Liberal, Bonaventure—Îles-De-La-Madeleine, QC]

Go fish for groundfish.

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, could you ask the member for Bonaventure-Îles-de-la-Madeleine to be quiet. It would do him good to hear this. He, too, has one of these plants in his riding.

[Fernand Robichaud, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

The member for Gaspé could be asked if he-

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, many times we are sitting at a desk where the microphone is open. I would caution all of you to watch your words.

[Fred Mifflin, Liberal, Bonavista—Trinity—Conception, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have to tell the hon. member, notwithstanding the acting lessons, we really need to look at what is happening with respect to the crab resource.

The plan was devised in such a way as to break down the 16,100 tonnes between the midshore large crabbers and those many small inshore fishermen who need a part of the resource. The distribution was fair. It was done by consultation. There was 77.5 per cent given to the large midshore crabbers and 22.5 per cent was given to the inshore smaller fishermen. This was a justifiable, fair and equitable distribution.

The idea was that everybody would go fishing at the appropriate time. The time has now arrived. I would suggest that all those who are interested in the industry release the plant workers and those who are innocent in this play. Then everybody can get on with the fishing and the resource can be enjoyed by all those who are involved in the industry. In particular, the plant workers and all communities can benefit from the resource of the ocean.

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Gaspé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be very certain that the minister understands. This is not a quarrel between traditional crabbers and ground fishermen at the present time, this is a problem with plant workers.

What does the minister intend to do in response to the decision by the president of the Acadian ground fishermen's association, which is showing its solidarity by giving up 1,520 tonnes of its crab quota under the plan and handing them over to traditional

crabbers, thus helping to save the jobs of deckhands and processing plant workers?

[Fred Mifflin, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asked me what I intend to do. I intend to promote the partnership among the fishermen, all crab fishermen, among the plant workers, among the communities, among all those who are interested in having a partnership with those poor innocent crabs. There are 16,100 tonnes of crabs sitting on the ocean floor just waiting to be caught and distributed for the benefit of all the communities.

Taxation

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the finance committee examined family trusts and tax exemptions last year but the Minister of Finance chose to keep the committee in the dark regarding the loopholes for billionaires. It seems obvious that the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Revenue only take action on loopholes when they become a public issue.

Will the Minister of National Revenue commit today to a public inquiry of this billion dollar loophole or is she content to cut other secret deals with well connected friends of the Liberal Party?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

My colleagues, in our questions we should not impute motive of any kind. I was wondering if the hon. member for St. Albert would simply withdraw that last sentence.

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

I will withdraw, Mr. Speaker, but I would like-

[The Speaker]

The question as is without that sentence will stand, if the hon. minister chooses to answer it.

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I will just say that the laws as they are written apply to all Canadians. I cannot imagine any more public venue than two committees of the House of Commons to look at these particularly important issues.

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is becoming quite clear that there was a secret tax ruling which was in favour of some people in a public tax opinion and denied the same opportunity to everybody else. We need to get that cleared. We want to know why it happened. We want to know why this government is standing behind that ruling as it stands today. Why will it not close the loophole and act today to prevent this type of opportunity from happening at the expense of all Canadians?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, let us set the record straight for the umpteenth time.

The decision was a decision of a former government. It was drawn to our attention by the auditor general. We acted immediately, the day of the report, to draw attention to the House and ask that the matter be put before two public committees, the public accounts committee and the finance committee, for a full consideration and review.

I did not get here by defending a former government. I do not expect to do that in the future, but I sure as heck expect to get things right for the Canadian public. We have acted with urgency and have put it in the public domain. The member himself is a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and we look forward to his recommendations.

Tran Trieu Quan

[Philippe Paré, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

While the federal government continues to drag its feet in the matter of Tran Trieu Quan, he continues to languish in a Vietnamese prison. However, more than a month has passed since the minister received documents from Paul Morgan proving that the cotton was indeed delivered to Vietnam. The minister was to verify the authenticity of these documents.

As more than a month has passed since the government received the documents, which could hasten Tran Trieu Quan's release, could the minister tell us what stage this longstanding matter has reached?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, we created the position of special adviser and he has Mr. Tran's file. I hope he will act quickly in this matter. Mr. Tran's case is now the responsibility of the special adviser.

[Philippe Paré, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the minister that the appointment of his special adviser has produced little to date.

Is the minister telling us that he does not intend to take the initiative in this matter preferring to await the outcome of the appeal procedure, among other things, and that, in other words, regardless of the information he has in hand, he will continue to do nothing while Mr. Tran continues to languish in prison?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, within our jurisdiction everything possible has been done.

Representations have been made by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, myself and my predecessor directly to the Government of Vietnam.

We have provided special provision for consular services. We have ensured that Mr. Quan has full access from relatives, friends and family. We transmitted all the information we have to the people in the government of Vietnam. It is their government, not ours, and we have to be able to work with them.

That is why I had established the post of special adviser, consular matters who takes on these difficult cases and negotiates directly with other governments. We do not have the power to tell another government what to do. We will do everything possible to ensure that Mr. Quan's rights are fully recognized and fully protected, but we have to do it within the range of powers and jurisdiction that we have.

I can assures you that we will continue to work actively on this case.

Mining

[Lawrence O'Brien, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

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

With the new mineral exploration in northern Labrador there are now as many as 230 air vehicles using the air strip each day. This enormous increase in traffic has resulted in three crashes and many aborted flights. I have had a close call at Nain when the plane I was on nearly went down.

Can the minister reassure the people of Nain and Labrador generally that measures will be taken without delay to ensure the safety of the travelling public?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the first question by our new colleague, the hon. member for Labrador. I thank him for the energy he has displayed and the initiative he has taken with this issue, organizing as he did in his first weeks in this House meetings with the premier of Newfoundland, a senior minister from Newfoundland, myself, the Minister of National Defence, the entire municipal council of Goose Bay and others.

Aviation staff from my department have been monitoring the increased aviation traffic around the Nain airport which is a serious matter of concern. An aviation safety review team, including officials from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and from my department visited Nain at the end of April.

The aviation safety review team is finalizing its report and we are confident that working with the province of Newfoundland and with the hon. member, we will be able to resolve this issue to everyone's satisfaction.

Hazardous Waste

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

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

Citizens of Hamilton, Ontario are concerned that their city could soon become a main dumping ground for hazardous waste. The proposed Taro dump could be home to more than 10 million tonnes of industrial waste, not to mention being situated right next to the Niagara escarpment, a UN declared biosphere.

Can the minister tell us whether a federal environmental assessment panel review will be conducted, or does he plan to follow the steps of Sheila Copps and sacrifice the good of the environment for political reasons?