Debates of Sept. 16th, 1996

Government Appointments

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Fowler is not a friend of mine. He has been a public servant for his whole career and he has served in a very distinguished fashion in many very important jobs in government. He received an appointment within the public service and he is a member of the public service.

It would be very difficult to claim that the leader of the former government, former prime minister Campbell, is a personal friend of mine. We spent about six months fighting each other, but I think she can fill this job with dignity.

As we have problems with the Americans in the cultural field and so on, the profile she has as a former prime minister will help her to have real access to help the Canadian cultural community to get its message through in Los Angeles. I was happy to name her.

In this case I do not know if Mr. Fowler ever voted for us but I know that Ms. Campbell did not vote for me in the last two elections.

Transport

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, one cannot help but be reminded of former Parliaments where either the reality or the appearance of scandal totally distracted opposition parties and the government of the day got away with what it was doing on the social and economic side.

I want to ask the Liberals not how they managed to get the Reform Party to focus entirely on General Boyle and not say anything about jobs, but what they are going to do about jobs.

To the minister responsible for Manitoba in the absence of the Minister of Transport, can the minister tell the House what is the government's commitment with respect to the future of northern Manitoba and the rail infrastructure there given the notice by CN that it wants to abandon the Sherridon sub?

Will the government get up in the House today and say it will not allow that to happen and it will not allow the people of the riding of Churchill to be devastated by what CN is able to do now thanks to Liberal deregulation and changes in Canadian transportation policy?

[Stan Keyes, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his question. He has been a hard working member of the transport committee. He pops in now and then and asks the right questions of government.

To be frank, the government took on a policy to do the right thing. CN now is a private company. CN is to make the tough business decisions that will need to be taken for the economic disciplines necessary in order to carry that company into a successful economic solid base in order to compete worldwide. If those decisions are going to be made, they are going to be made by a private company.

The government and this minister will always ensure that safety is the number one priority. Safety will be the utmost concern of the government and nothing will be done without the careful eye of the Minister of Transport, making sure safety is the number one issue for that company and any other railway company in the country.

Employment

[Jean Charest, Progressive Conservative, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

He will remember that three years ago he and the Liberal Party of Canada ran on the issue of jobs. Here we are, three years later, with the highest consecutive period of unemployment, above 9 per cent, that we have had since the 1930s. In the meantime, his government has rejected out of hand any suggestion that the federal government cut taxes.

Today, the first day of the return of the House, I want to make a concrete suggestion to the Prime Minister and the government. Will he not recognize that the EI premiums will lead to a $5.5 billion surplus this year and $5.3 billion next year? That is a total of over $10 billion in tax on jobs. Will he not return the money to workers and small businesses in the country, cut taxes and create jobs as he promised to do three years ago?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party should remember that when we took over from the Conservatives the level of unemployment was 11.5 per cent. It is now at 9.4 per cent.

As far as the question of the employment insurance program, at that time the fund was in a very serious deficit of approximately $6 billion. As prudent administrators we want to build a surplus, but in the meantime we have managed to reduce the premium from $3.30

to $2.95. We are reducing the premium on a gradual basis. We have paid for the deficit which was established by the Tories. We are building a reserve because when it is an insurance scheme it is normal in business to have a reserve when there are better years.

That is exactly what we are doing. We are cleaning up the mess created by the Progressive Conservative Party.

[The Speaker]

We will proceed to tributes for William Marvin Howe, former member of Parliament, and Dr. Victor Railton, former member of Parliament. Then I will give my ruling on a question of privilege which was raised before we adjourned for the summer. We will now have tributes to William Marvin Howe, former member of Parliament for Wellington-Grey-Dufferin-Waterloo.

The Late William Marvin Howe

[Len Hopkins, Liberal, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today we pay tribute to the late Marvin Howe, a member of Parliament in this House from 1953 to 1972. He was predeceased by his wife, the former Helen Ruth Blair.

We in the House extend our sympathy to his children Bill, Peter Marvin and his wife Doreen, Mary Ellen McNaught and her husband David, and Sandy and his wife Susan. We also extend our sympathy to his grandchildren and to his great grandchildren.

Marvin Howe was a graduate of Listowel High School and Toronto Teacher's College. After a short stint at teaching Marvin established a small business in Arthur, Ontario. Before coming to the House in 1953 he was reeve of Arthur, chairman of the local school board and a member of county council.

After he became the member of Parliament for Wellington-Huron he served on several committees in the House of Commons and was chairman of the transport committee on two occasions.

I remember him as one who got along well with other members and was always a jovial type of person. He served in Parliament under four prime ministers, the Rt. Hon. Louis St. Laurent, the Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, the Rt. Hon. Lester B. Pearson and the Rt. Hon. Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

During his tenure in the House between 1953 and 1972 there was considerable rapport among members of Parliament from both sides of the House of Commons. As a result members tended to get to know one another extremely well. That boded well for this institution. Regardless of the different party affiliations each of us realized the other person had some good community and national spirit to share. Marvin Howe was a hard working MP and was always a friend.

It is ironical that today we are paying tribute to two former members of the House, both of whom lived to be over 90 years of age. Marvin Howe was one who spent those years trying to help his neighbours and his country and we thank his family for sharing him with us for a long period of time.

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Richelieu, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add my condolences, and those of the other Bloc Quebecois members, to those expressed by the hon. member who has just spoken to the House honouring the memory of Mr. Howe. Our sympathy also goes out to his four children and his wife, Susan.

None of us sat with him, so we did not know him personally, but during my few years as a Conservative MP, I heard others speak of the good work he had done, especially at Transport.

His Conservative colleagues knew him to be a jovial man, with a great respect for others. After his involvement on the municipal and school board level, he served for several years here in the House of Commons. We salute him for his remarkable contribution and his commitment to the Canadian community.

[Ed Harper, Reform, Simcoe Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join hon. members of the Liberal Party and the Bloc Quebecois in remembering Dr. Victor Railton and Mr. William Marvin Howe.

Both men from Ontario dedicated years of their lives to the service of Canadians both in this place and in their communities. They were living examples of service above self. Their commitment to serving the public should be an inspiration to us all.

On behalf of the Reform Party I want to extend our sympathies and condolences to the families and friends of these two fine Canadians.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the NDP caucus I would like to join with my colleagues in the House of Commons in honouring the memory and the service of former members of Parliament William Marvin Howe and Samuel Victor Railton.

It was mentioned earlier by the member for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke that both these men lived to the ripe old age of 90. They were lives long and fully lived, fully lived in part because so much of their lives they gave to their communities in the form of their service in the House of Commons and in so many other ways.

I join with everyone here in honouring their service and extending condolences to their families.

The Late Dr. Victor Railton

[Len Hopkins, Liberal, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Victor Railton, whom we are fondly remembering today, was a great Canadian by virtue of his many achievements and his dedication to each cause he undertook.

Victor Railton was a no nonsense person when it came to getting a job done, but at all times he practised a sense of decency and was always considerate of other people's feelings. These qualities helped him to exercise excellent bedside manners as a physician and surgeon and also served him extremely well in carrying out his duties both here in the House of Commons and with his constituents during his tenure as a member of Parliament from 1972 to 1979.

He and his wife Ruth, who predeceased him in 1987, were highly regarded both on and off the Hill.

With regard to his academic background, Victor Railton graduated from Brantford Collegiate and then from the University of Toronto in medicine in 1929. He practised family medicine in Port Colborne, obtained a fellowship in surgery as a specialist and served brilliantly in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps from 1940 to 1945 as a surgeon in France, England, Belgium and Holland where he played a leadership role in field hospital work.

After he came home he practised surgery in Welland where he became chief of staff of the Welland County General Hospital. This outstanding Canadian served as chairman of the board of education for the city of Welland and was awarded the Centennial Medal in 1967.

He was a dedicated, talented person who led many fine community causes. He became a volunteer surgeon in Nigeria during the Biafran War in 1970.

In 1972 he was elected as the member of Parliament for Welland and was re-elected on July 8, 1974. He served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and served on several committees in the House. Dr. Railton always delivered well informed speeches in this House.

He is survived today by his wife Deirdre Railton, his sons Richard and James, and his daughters Jane and Eleanor. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. We extend our sincere sympathy to all of them on this occasion. He was predeceased by his daughter Nancy, and three sisters. We thank his family for sharing the life of their wonderful father with us.

As an MP he was everybody's friend and adviser and indeed a doctor to many of his colleagues, including yours truly. It was not his nature to become rattled or upset in any way. He always had his feet planted firmly on the ground and his head on his shoulders.

Dr. Railton was a hardworking MP, a friend and a very congenial and jovial person at all times. Victor Railton was over 90 years of age when he passed away. Those 90 years were productive, dedicated and a fantastic service to his family, his community, his country and the international community.

Today as we pay tribute to this remarkable man, many members and aspirants to public office could well use his exemplary life to help them mould their own future.

We thank his family for sharing his life with us for the betterment of Canada.

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Richelieu, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to join the previous speaker in paying a short tribute to Victor Samuel Railton, who was from Welland. It is a pleasure to do so on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois and on behalf of all members, since this city is twinned with the city of Tracy in my riding. There is as a result a great deal of affinity with the people of my riding who have made several visits to this region. They did so at the time when Mr. Railton was a federal member, and I therefore hasten to offer my condolences to his children and grandchildren.

We greatly respect his work as a remarkable physician in hospitals, as a president of the school board and in many associations where he was very active, such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Red Cross and the Canadian Arthritis Society. He also served our community and our nation well in the Canadian armed forces.

I would also like to recall what my colleagues told me. When I arrived here in 1984, when people referred to good speakers, those who were noted for exceptional content and the wealth of their vocabulary, Mr. Railton's name was often mentioned. I remember these references and also that people said he was a very tolerant man who showed the utmost respect for every member of the House.

We will remember his work as a member of Parliament, as a physician and as a citizen involved in the community of Welland. Again, we offer our sincere condolences to his family.

[The Speaker]

My colleagues, you will permit me to say a few words about Dr. Railton inasmuch as he was the member of Parliament for the riding which I presently represent.

Dr. Railton as was pointed out served as a participating member in many of the debates. He had a very special affinity for veterans

because he was one. I am reminded of a story. During the second world war in the Falaise gap Dr. Railton was performing surgery in a tent on our wounded soldiers and it came under fire. As a matter of fact the tent at one point was almost overrun by enemy soldiers. Dr. Vic Railton through all of that stayed at his post and continued his surgery until that area was retaken.

As members of Parliament, many times things happen to us nearby where doctors are just not readily available for one reason or another. I can recall in the 1970s, around 1977, when one of our members had a heart attack. We were all running around bumping into one another. Thank God Vic Railton was there because I do think that in that case it was a matter of life instead of death for one of our members.

Vic Railton was very highly regarded in our community of Welland. He served in various posts. He will be remembered more than anything because he was an accessible person. We are going to miss him in Welland. In the last few years he was not feeling very well.

May I, on behalf of the House, offer our condolences to his wife Deirdre, to his sons and daughters and to his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I do not use the term loosely when I say that Vic Railton contributed a great deal to this House and a great deal to Canada both in war and in peace. To his remaining family we do extend our very sincerest condolences. We are going to miss him.

Privilege

[The Speaker]

On June 19, 1996 following the tabling of the first report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs entitled "The Heritage Front Affair: Our View", the hon. member for Surrey-White Rock-South Langley raised a question of privilege. She alleged that the standing committee's subcommittee on national security had been misled by the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which I will refer to as SIRC, in connection with the subject matter of this report and that SIRC had shown contempt for the House of Commons by knowingly providing inaccurate information to the subcommittee. Further, she argued SIRC had provided inaccurate information to the solicitor general thereby causing him to table an incomplete report in the House on December 15, 1994.

After hearing additional comments from the hon. member for Calgary Centre, the chief government whip, and the hon. member for Gander-Grand Falls, the Acting Speaker took the matter under advisement.

Before addressing the question of privilege itself, may I preface my remarks with a comment.

When members raise a question of privilege in the House, I take it as an extremely important matter, as I am sure all hon. members do. Privilege exists in this institution to ensure that members are able to carry out their duties without interference. A breach of privilege is so serious that we expect it to be brought to the attention of the House at the first opportunity. Then, if in the opinion of the Chair there is found to be a prima facie breach of privilege, the matter will be given precedence over all other business before the House. A motion will be moved by the member raising the question of privilege and it will be up to the House to decide what to do with the matter. That said, it must also be recognized that time is a precious commodity in this Chamber.

I would request therefore that when raising questions of privilege members keep both of those ideas in mind and attempt to explain the facts of their case as succinctly as possible. This should be done by indicating at the outset which privileges have been breached and how they have been breached, without entering into debate and repeating arguments either already made before the House or, as in the present case, contained in a committee report presented to the House.

Our tradition dictates that when matters of privilege arise out of the proceedings of a committee, the committee should report the matter to the House in order for the House to be seized with it.

Beauchesne's sixth edition citation 107 explains that breaches of privilege related to committee deliberations may be dealt with only by the House itself on report from the committee. Only in the most extreme circumstances would the Chair of its own volition deal with matters arising from the proceedings of a committee.

The standing committee has reported to the House on the Heritage Front affair. It has not, however, reported to the House that it views that any contempt has been made by Security Intelligence Review Committee in connection with the committee's study.

I have carefully reviewed the member's arguments. It appears the member clearly has a dispute as to the facts presented to the committee. However, in my opinion this is a matter for debate and not a question of privilege.

Should the member wish to return to the committee with the matter and the committee opt to report to the House on this aspect of the question, the House at that time may choose to deal with it.

In addition, the member for Surrey-White Rock-South Langley has placed on notice a motion for concurrence in the first report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.

I respectfully suggest she will have ample opportunity to bring her concerns forward when this motion is moved for the consideration of the House.

I thank all hon. members for their participation in the discussion of this question of privilege.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)]

I have the honour to inform the House that Mr. Chuck Strahl, member for the electoral district of Frazer Valley East, has been appointed as member of the board of internal economy in place of Mr. Jim Silye, member for the electoral district of Calgary Centre, for the purposes and under the provisions of chapter 42, 1st supplement, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, entitled an act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act.

Export Development Corporation

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a summary of the report to the Treasury Board on the Canada account operations for the fiscal year 1994-95 by the Export Development Corporation.

Government Response To Petitions

[Paul Zed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to 44 petitions.

Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, for the Minister of Justice]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-54, an act to amend the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Petitions

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions. The first comes from Calgary, Alberta. The petitioners draw to the attention of the House that managing the family home and caring for preschool children is an honourable profession which is not recognized for its value to our society.

The petitioners therefore pray and call on Parliament to pursue initiatives to eliminate tax discrimination against families that choose to provide care in the home to preschool children, the chronically ill, the aged or the disabled.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition comes from Penticton, B.C. The petitioners draw to the attention of the House that the consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause health problems or impair one's ability, and specifically that fetal alcohol syndrome and other alcohol related birth defects are 100 per cent preventable by avoiding alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

The petitioners therefore pray and call on Parliament to enact legislation to require health warning labels to be placed on the containers of all alcoholic beverages to caution expectant mothers and others of the risks associated with alcohol consumption.

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)]

Colleagues, I ask for your co-operation before continuing with petitions. The Chair had been given notice by one of our colleagues, the hon. member for Mount Royal, to introduce a private member's bill. I see she is at her place.

Could I have consent to allow the hon. member to table her private member's bill and then we will revert immediately to petitions?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

National Heritage Day Act

[Sheila Finestone, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-323, an act respecting national heritage day.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for being so gracious. I have the honour to introduce in both official languages a bill to celebrate Canadians' attachment to their dynamic history by declaring national heritage day an official holiday.

As our nation evolves we need the opportunity to take pride through knowledge and enable understanding through appreciation of the diverse peoples who have built our country.

Since 1974, Canadians in all provinces have recognized the third Monday of February as National Heritage Day. Let us take the time to appreciate their history, so rich and diverse, in the middle of the winter, a season that both defines and challenges us.

In the words of our Prime Minister, maturity may be recognized in a nation when its people take thought of their past. This bill reflects the maturity of our country, gives us food for thought and the opportunity to rejoice in our good fortune to live in this very special land by making national heritage day a legal holiday throughout Canada.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

Petitions

[Jan Brown, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present this petition on behalf of constituents and concerned parents across the country who support the effort to create a national pedophile registry.

The petitioners I represent are concerned about making our streets and homes safer for our children and they are opposed to the current status quo in the screening of pedophiles within our communities.

The petitioners pray that a federally implemented pedophile registry be established in order to help better protect our children.

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, York North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition signed by residents of York North.

The petitioners draw to the attention of the House that Canadians of all ages view our health care system as a defining element of Canadian society.

The petitioners further draw to the attention of the House that the red book, "Creating Opportunity" states that a Liberal government will not accept attempts to gut the medicare system.

The petitioners therefore call on Parliament to continue to uphold the fundamental principles of the Canada Health Act so that public health care remains accessible, comprehensive, portable, universal and publicly administered.