Debates of May 6th, 1996

Referendums

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, referendums in Canada, and this was also pointed out in the white paper on consulting the people of Quebec, are advisory in nature. When the Government of Canada participates in a referendum, it is because it wishes to give its point of view in this consultation. That is what the Government of Canada did during the two referendums in question.

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

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs admit that as long as his government thought it would win the referendums, it did not challenge their legality, but now that its back is to the wall, now that it knows it is going to lose the next referendum, it is trying everything it can think of to prevent Quebecers from making a decision about their future? That is the explanation.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada had no reason to consider consultative referendums illegal, because by law a referendum must be consultative.

But since the hon. member is looking for contradictions, he will find them in the interpretation of victory and defeat, during the last referendum, by the leader of the yes camp at the time, Jacques Parizeau, who said, should his camp lose, that the next time would not be so very far off, and that the yes side would then have its revenge, but, should his camp win, that it was time to turn the page, that the die is cast, that the decision was final. There is the contradiction.

Liberal Party

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election the Prime Minister told Canadians: "There will not be a promise in the campaign that I will not keep".

Once the ballots were counted, however, the Prime Minister changed his tune: "Sometimes in the course of a mandate you are faced with a situation where you cannot deliver. You have to have some flexibility". That is quite a switch.

Who should Canadians believe, the Prime Minister on the campaign trail saying he will keep all his promises, or the Prime Minister in office saying all his promises will not be kept?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to welcome the leader of the third party back to Parliament. Clearly a number of interesting developments have taken place during his absence. I think he is now in a position to-

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

I am sure all hon. members will refrain from commenting on the presence or absence of any member.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am just very pleased the leader is here now. I really welcome-

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

The answer please.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, when members of the Reform Party first came to the House they made a very clear promise to the Canadian people about a new style of politics. Yet we have seen in the past two and a half years a series of Reform members of Parliament making what can only be most charitably described as the most inelegant, inappropriate, unacceptable statements ever heard in the Chamber.

It would seem that if ever there has been a promise broken it has been broken by the leader and the members of the Reform Party in the way they have abused the House with that kind of language and the statements they have made.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians will not be diverted from the issue at hand, and the issue at hand is the integrity of the government.

When the Liberals were in opposition they denounced NAFTA. Once in power they accepted it. When in opposition they said the CBC budget was sacred. Once in power they slashed it by $377 million. When in opposition the Liberals wanted to kill the GST. Once in power they hid and harmonized it. In opposition the Liberals slammed every single policy the Conservatives dreamed up. Once in power they dressed up legislation and claimed it as their own.

Which Liberal Party should Canadians believe, the Liberals in opposition who denounced every Tory policy, or the Liberals in government who have adopted those policies?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. leader of the third party talks about what is to be believed.

We can think of an example. About a month ago the member of Parliament for Surrey-White Rock-South Langley stood up in the House and outside the House and denounced with a most foolish allegation the existence of moles in intelligence operations. Now the same member totally denies those allegations and said they did not happen at all.

When it comes to veracity and integrity, the Reform Party has nothing to tell anybody in the House or any Canadian. It shows day in and day out total disrespect for any form of integrity whatsoever.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister can bluster and fume all he wants, but for Canadians the issue is the integrity of the government and they will not be diverted from that.

During the last election the Prime Minister promised to restore honesty and integrity to our institutions. He said that if it is in the red book it will be done.

The government has kept less than 25 per cent of its red book promises. The Prime Minister now says it is unrealistic to expect the rest to be kept.

The Prime Minister also said last week that politicians should not sign contracts to keep their promises. Correct me if I am wrong, but is the Prime Minister's signature not on page 1 of the red book?

By failing to live up to its election promises, is the government now saying the Prime Minister's signature is not worth the red book it is written in?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign the hon. leader of the third party made a very clear commitment to the Canadian people that his party would stand for a degree of fairness, equity and justice of all Canadians. Yet we have seen repeatedly members of his caucus totally and completely disregard that commitment.

When will this member and this party stand up and give Canadians and members of the House a very clear statement and undertaking on their belief in human rights in Canada? Or will they simply have to rely on the statement made by the Reform member from Kootenay East when he said nothing will be done about the situation?

Guaranteed Income Supplement

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

While thousands of guaranteed income supplement applications are held up in the department's offices because of computer problems, today we learn that the minister's own brother has

apparently benefited from the direct intervention of the minister's office to speed up his GIS cheque.

Does the minister acknowledge what was reported today, that his own office intervened on behalf of his brother, who thus received privileged treatment?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I deeply regret having to inform the House that I have no living brother.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that statement was made by the union president, who had it on good authority.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

When will the minister commit to a specific date by which people, including his brother if he had one, will have an answer on why they are being deprived of the difference between $395 and $865?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I said in the House last week in response to a question that this was a serious matter. It is because of the number of people waiting and who have been informed improperly of their situation. They do not need to be made more anxious. They already have enough problems.

I indicated at that time we would do everything we could to resolve the matter. I have been checking constantly on this. We have been calling people. We staffed the office even over the weekend to make sure people were advised either by phone or in writing, whichever was most appropriate.

There is no excuse, as I said last week, for these kinds of errors. We attribute them to glitches in the technology the department has introduced. That is not acceptable to those people who are upset by these kinds of problems. We will do everything we can to get them resolved as quickly as possible because we understand how important these problems are for people who really care.

Liberal Party

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the GST, stable funding for the CBC, national child care, changes to NAFTA, no cuts to old age security and a parliamentary review of patronage appointments were all promises the Liberals made when they were trying to get elected and promises they broke once in power.

Does the government still believe in what the Prime Minister said during the last election, that there would not be a promise in the campaign he would not keep, yes or no?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I know it takes a long time for the hon. member to fully take in the messages and the answers we provide.

Surely by this time the hon. member has had the opportunity to look at the red book, page 22, and understand the commitment we made to replace the GST and to come out with a different tax is being fulfilled by the Minister of Finance and by the government. That is very clear.

As for the other promises, the latest estimates show we have accomplished well over 60 per cent of the commitments in the red book. Considering we are just halfway through our term, it seems we are ahead of schedule.

I can commit to the hon. member that by the time we reach the election we will be able to tell her fully what is in the red book, being able to provide all those commitments we made. I know she will be glad to take the red book in hand, with the commitments made, when she applies for unemployment insurance after the next election.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Beaver River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if the Minister of Finance actually kept his promise, I would be interested to know why he said in his press conference: "We made a mistake". It would seem incongruous.

The promises the government has tried to keep have cost Canadians dearly: $1 billion to harmonize the GST, $2 billion to cancel and replace the EH-101 helicopters, and close to $1 billion for the privatization of the Pearson airport, all of which are Conservative policies from the last government. That is $4 billion of taxpayer money to try to keep a few red book promises, and the meter is still running.

How much is the government willing to spend to cover up the fact the red book does not mean anything any more?