Debates of May 6th, 1996

Liberal Party

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when the Liberals were looking for votes in the last election, the Prime Minister stated: "There is not one promise I have made that I will not keep". That was his first mistake.

Then there is the GST. The finance minister has already apologized for not keeping the promise. The Deputy Prime Minister has resigned because the promise was not kept. However, the Prime Minister is still trying to buy his way out of the promise with our money. Now that is a real mistake.

What about the promise that our social safety net would never be tampered with? Now the Liberals turn around and announce major plans to alter programs like CPP and UI. They have announced that 25 per cent of seniors will have their benefits cut by 10 per cent. Health care and education have been hit by huge Liberal cuts to provincial transfers. On the Liberal promise to restore integrity to Parliament, it is now clear that there is no grit in integrity.

When we make mistakes we admit it and take corrective action. When the Liberals make mistakes, they blame God.

Oil And Gas Industry

[Chris Axworthy, NDP, Saskatoon—Clark's Crossing, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians everywhere have been asked repeatedly by this government to make sacrifices for the sake of our country's economic recovery. Families have had to lower expectations and communities have had to do more with less.

At the same time, it is not just business as usual for giant oil companies, it is business better than usual. 1994 saw these companies receive more than $743 million in direct federal grants and $2.1 billion in tax breaks. Imperial Oil profits are going to triple this year at the same time as Canadians are paying record prices at the pumps.

A responsible government would act to protect its citizens from this kind of blatant and economically stifling greed but nothing has so far been forthcoming.

In the absence of government leadership, New Democrats are joining consumers in our communities in a boycott commencing today of Imperial Oil which operates ESSO stations. I commend all those leading and participating in this consumer action. When ESSO responds, so will consumers.

By hitting this corporate giant in its pocketbook, consumers and citizens will show leadership that the federal government-

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for St. John's West.

Cyril O'Reilly

[Jean Payne, Liberal, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House to congratulate Mr. Cyril O'Reilly from St. Edward's Elementary School in Placentia, Newfoundland. Mr. O'Reilly has recently been awarded the 1995 Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Technology and Mathematics.

Teacher Cyril O'Reilly and his grade seven and eight students at St. Edward's have made Placentia, Newfoundland a cleaner place to live. Since 1990 Mr. O'Reilly has demonstrated great initiative by getting the school and the community as a whole behind a variety of recycling programs. For example, a trash-a-thon in 1993 taught students about the town's litter problems and how to correct them. It was this enthusiasm which helped St. Edward's win the provincial Youth Environmentalism Award in 1994-95.

Congratulations, Mr. O'Reilly, on your initiatives and a well deserved award.

Forestry Sector

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the attention of the hon. members to the fact that this is National Forest Week. Forests and the jobs they create are a matter of vital importance to my riding.

In addition to being a place of leisure and relaxation, forests play a leading role in Canada's economy and represent a source of direct and indirect employment for over 850,000 Canadians.

The Canadian forestry sector generates over $49 billion worth of activity annually. Of this amount, over $22 billion make a welcome contribution to the country's balance of trade.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all those who work directly or indirectly at forestry related activities. Thanks to them, we benefit from the important resource that forests represent.

The Environment

[Robert Bertrand, Liberal, Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in my opinion it is our duty as Canadian members of

Parliament to pay special honour to our country's lead role in environmental protection and promotion.

In 1992, Canada was one of the first industrialized countries to ratify the United Nations convention on biodiversity. Later, the provincial and federal governments joined forces to draw up a Canadian strategy on biodiversity. This was a fine example of federal-provincial collaboration, and one which illustrates how well Canadian federalism works.

Finally, let us recall how proud we all were as Canadians when Montreal was selected, at the second meeting of the signatories of the UN convention on biodiversity on November 13, 1995, to be the site of the permanent secretariat.

For us, the opening of that secretariat is concrete evidence of the great importance Canada assigns to universal environmental challenges.

Bell Science Super-Expo

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, recently Trois-Rivières hosted the Quebec finals of the Bell science super-expo. Nearly 150 young scientists from all over Quebec were sent by their local regional scientific recreation councils to this event, with a total of 95 exhibits, either experiments or explanations of some phenomenon in layman's language.

Today we would like to pay tribute to the Conseil de développement du loisir scientifique du Québec and the Conseil du loisir scientifique de la Mauricie-Bois-Francs-Drummond. They, in conjunction with the Trois-Rivières campus of l'Université du Québec, were responsible for the great success of this event.

Our congratulations go to Bell, the main sponsors, the Bell employee volunteers, the many other partners and sponsors, the members of the organizing committee, the many volunteers from all regions of Quebec and, of course, all the budding scientists who took part in this prelude to the Canadian finals, which in turn lead up to the international finals, which will be held in South Africa in 1997.

Target: Top Gun

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on May 2 I attended a supper in Grand Centre, Alberta to welcome a NATO delegation. They are studying the possibility of awarding a 20-year contract to Canada as NATO's flight training location. The other bidder is Texas and we are convinced that our program could beat it out by a country mile.

The project Target: Top Gun is a community based initiative in the tri-town area of Cold Lake, Grand Centre and 4 Wing Cold Lake. The government-industry team has focused on the military and economic benefits of training there. 4 Wing Cold Lake has some of the best training facilities in the world.

The special evening organized by Target: Top Gun was an excellent example of western hospitality. School kids decorated the entire area with handmade NATO country flags. The guests were treated to a fabulous supper of Alberta beef. It was a great display of unity and support.

Thanks to Gary Blanchard, chairman of the project, and his committee who did an excellent job of promoting our facilities. Congratulations, Target: Top Gun.

Canadian Fraternal Association

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to welcome the Canadian Fraternal Association which is holding its annual meeting in Ottawa this week.

The association is celebrating 105 years of service to Canadians. The 22 benevolent organizations which are its members represent 400,000 Canadians and their families.

Fraternal organizations contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, scholarships, educational programs and fund raising support to benefit people of all ages and backgrounds. Across Canada countless hours of volunteer time are contributed to our communities. The Canadian fraternal organizations reach out to all Canadians.

I urge my colleagues in the House to set aside some time for the delegates from their ridings who are in Ottawa this week and want to meet with them.

Queen's University

[Peter Milliken, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw the attention of the House to one of the most innovative programs in education today, the Queen's University Master of Business Administration for Science and Technology, which will greet its inaugural class today in Kingston.

With the implementation of this program, Queen's University has set a new standard for business education in Canada. By privatizing its MBA, Queen's will spend twice the amount compared to other schools on program delivery per student.

Also, by concentrating the program into one year, it will cost students less to achieve their MBA. In addition, Queen's will lend qualified applicants up to $30,000, a sum which they do not have to repay until they obtain a job earning at least $50,000 per year.

Queen's will deliver this program using the most sophisticated educational technology available in the world. A brand new facility located on Queen's campus in Kingston compares favourably with those of the world's premier business schools.

I hope that all members will join me in saluting Mr. Ken Wong, Mr. Tom Anger and Dean Margot Northey of the Queen's School of Business for their innovative response to educational needs in Canada.

Vocational Training

[Nick Discepola, Liberal, Vaudreuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian technical and vocational training olympics were held in Montreal last weekend. We must not only tell young people how important it is to get sound vocational training, but also commend and thank the participants as well as the organizers, who did an excellent job of hosting these olympics.

This successful event clearly showed the participants' determination and tenacity, which will stand them in good stead in facing the challenges of a society where ceaseless change in every field of activity is the only constant.

It is important to encourage this kind of commitment to our young people's future so that today's society can take other concrete steps to ensure a good quality of life for people across Canada.

Tribute To Lise Bissonnette

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last weekend, Lise Bissonnette, director of Le Devoir , was inducted into the Canadian Journalism Hall of Fame. This is a well deserved honour and sign of recognition for this great journalist.

Throughout her career, Ms. Bissonnette has shown great research skills and been very rigorous in her interpretation of events, two essential qualities for a journalist.

Moreover, we cannot ignore what we see as a major achievement: ensuring the survival and preserving the independence of Le Devoir in a context that is often and still difficult. This tour de force shows the strong will of this woman, for whom we have great respect and admiration. Le Devoir is an essential tool of Quebec democracy. We congratulate Ms. Bissonnette on doing an excellent job and hope Le Devoir will be around for a long time to come.

Fisheries

[John Cummins, Reform, Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a stated objective of the fisheries minister's plan for revitalizing the commercial salmon fishery in B.C. is to reduce the size of the commercial fleet by 50 per cent. Eliminating 50 per cent of the fleet will do absolutely nothing to improve the economics of fishing if at the same time the fleet's catch is reduced by one-half, and that is what is happening.

For example, last summer, the native's share of the commercial catch on the Fraser River under the aboriginal fishing strategy increased to over 50 per cent of the fish caught. With the Nisga'a soon to be guaranteed by treaty 27 per cent of the Nass River production and at least two other Nass bands yet to settle, the native allocation on the Nass will easily exceed 50 per cent of the catch. Allocations of this magnitude will be repeated coastwide as more than 40 treaties are concluded.

It is readily apparent that the downsizing of the fleet by one-half which will occur under the minister's plan has only been prescribed to accommodate increased allocations to native only fisheries under treaties and aboriginal fishing arrangements.

Gasoline Prices

[Jag Bhaduria, Liberal, Markham—Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago I rose in the House to complain about the gasoline price gouging by the oil companies. This price fixing practice has long been a ploy by the gasoline industry to rob money from the pockets of hard working Canadians.

Various individuals and groups have suggested a boycott of these gasoline companies. I have also asked the government to legislate an end to these price fixing tactics. To date nothing has been done and these multinationals continue to reap the benefits.

I propose a solution to this situation. If our government exchanges surplus Canadian wheat for Iraqi oil I can assure the House it would go a long way toward providing food and medical supplies for the thousands of sick children and women in Iraq while helping some 30 million Canadians by reducing their gasoline prices to 45 cents per litre.

We could save the lives of innocent children in Iraq and boost our economy. It would be a win-win situation.

Emergency Preparedness Week

[John Richardson, Liberal, Perth—Wellington—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, May 6 to 12 is Emergency Preparedness Week in Canada. In declaring a special week, the federal government through Emergency Preparedness Canada joins with the provinces and territories in a nationwide effort to increase public awareness of the need to prepare for emergencies of all kinds.

Every year at least some of our communities are hit by large scale emergencies and local disasters. Floods, forest fires, toxic spills, blizzards, tornadoes and industrial accidents are only a few of the natural or human caused events that can threaten lives, property, the environment and the local economy. While there is little Canadians can do to prevent these catastrophes, everyone should be prepared to deal with them.

I therefore invite all members of the House and all Canadians to mark Emergency Preparedness Week by taking the time to inform themselves on how they can help safeguard themselves, their families and assist their communities before, during and after a disaster strikes.

Francophone Communities

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, in Cumberland, Ontario, in my riding, I had the pleasure of awarding the Théâtre des Lutins a Heritage Canada grant to buy a building.

The Théâtre des Lutins, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is renowned within the Franco-Ontarian community for its youth-oriented plays. The company will now be housed in an arts center for children and youth located in Cumberland, where it will also hold an annual festival.

[Gilbert Fillion, Bloc, Chicoutimi, QC]

Patronage.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I note that Bloc members object to assistance being provided to francophones.

This grant is worth mentioning because it shows that our government, and the hon. Sheila Copps in particular, has recognized this theatre company as a group totally dedicated to French speaking young people in Ontario.

For this I wish to thank Sheila. I look forward to seeing her again soon in the House of Commons.

To my colleague, Sheila Copps, who has devoted herself to francophone communities in particular, I say: "See you soon, Sheila".

Referendums

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in the matter of the constitution, the Prime Minister is hiding behind Quebec's action to justify potential intervention by the federal government in the Bertrand case, which is aimed at denying Quebecers the fundamental right of deciding their future themselves.

My question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. How can the federal government put itself in the position of blackmailing the Government of Quebec by making its non intervention in the Bertrand case conditional on Quebec's renouncing Quebecers' fundamental right to decide their future themselves?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I told the House last week, the litigation before the court has become of interest because of the position taken by the Government of Quebec. Simply stated, it is that neither the courts nor the Constitution of Canada can have any relevance to a declaration by Quebec of its sovereignty. That proposition of course is profoundly wrong.

It is the question of whether the federal attorney general can assist the court in dealing with it that has attracted our attention. We are considering our position in relation to intervention. No decision has yet been made, but that is the reason we are considering it.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in a scrum this morning, the Prime Minister himself said that it would be much easier for the federal government not to intervene in the matter, provided the Government of Quebec agreed not to defend Quebecers' right to decide their own future. This is what the Prime Minister said this morning, in Montreal.

I ask the Minister of Justice why the federal government has now resorted to blackmail-there is no other way to describe it-against the Government of Quebec, when in fact the federal government has always implicitly recognized Quebecers' right to decide their future themselves by participating in the previous two referendums and by agreeing to accept the results?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the process of a population of a province or a country expressing itself by referendum is not new.

Naturally, the opinion of the population when expressed by referendum is important. No one contests that. Nor does anyone contest the right of the population of Quebec to express itself on any such question.

What has caught the attention of the national government is that the Government of Quebec in the litigation which raises the legality of l'avant de project de loi and Bill No. 1 has taken the position that after such a thing might occur, neither the Constitution nor the courts have any role or relevance in determining what would happen then, or in the declaration of sovereignty by the province of Quebec. That is a very fundamental issue.

As I have indicated to the House, we are considering whether we can assist the court on those legal points. That is why we are considering intervention in that case. It has nothing to do with blackmail at all. It has to do with fundamental principles of law and the rule of law. That is what we have under consideration.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, by wanting to put to the test of law Quebecers' inalienable right to decide their future, is the federal government not placing itself in the untenable position of wanting in a way to put a legal interpretation before democracy and a people's choice.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we do not believe democracy and the rule of law are incompatible concepts; the one is safeguarded by the application of the other.

There are important aspects of the rule of law arising from the position taken by the Government of Quebec in the Bertrand litigation. It may be that after considering the position we determine that we will not intervene. It may be that we conclude the matter is so obvious there is no need for us to assist the court. We might also await the disposition of the first instance and determine whether intervention might be more useful on appeal. All these matters fall to be examined.

In the meantime we are considering the position and I hope to be in a position in the coming days to make clear the course we will take.

[Michel Bellehumeur, Bloc, Berthier—Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is throwing up a legal smoke screen to justify its intervention in the Bertrand case, which seeks to deny Quebecers the right to make a democratic decision about their future. And yet, lest it be forgotten, the federal government participated actively in both Quebec referendums.

Since the government has allowed itself the luxury of a Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs, and since he is here, it is to him that I address my question.

How does the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs justify the fact that the federal government has never, until today, attempted to challenge the legality of the two referendums held in Quebec?