House of Commons Hansard #17 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was deficit.
Andy Scott LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, it is important to remind the hon. member that the solicitor general is not running the parole system. The national parole system is running itself. It is motivated by public interest, the interest of public safety.
Notwithstanding the fact that the member may not be interested, all evidence is that those people who are cascaded out of the system are less likely to reoffend.
Myron Thompson Reform Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that this parole board and this parole system fall under the portfolio of the solicitor general. He is responsible for what happens.
I wonder if he would be willing to take the next Takahashi into the guest room in his home.
Enough of this nonsense. When is he going to start being accountable to the citizens of this country and stop releasing these kinds of individuals?
Andy Scott LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, five months ago 52,000 people in Fredericton re-elected me. I am accountable to them. I am accountable for the National Parole Board. It is operating in the interests of public safety.
The people who are released through the system are less likely to reoffend. It is in the interest of public safety.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
As the minister knows, the upcoming APEC people's summit is seeking federal funds to bring in speakers from APEC countries on issues of human rights, labour standards and the environment in APEC countries.
Why is the minister violating CIDA's own policies and refusing federal funds to assist these speakers while spending millions of dollars on security for leaders like Suharto and Li Peng who brutally repress their people? Why the double standard?
Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is once again mistaken. The federal government has provided a grant of $200,000 to the people's summit.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that not a penny of that money is going to support speakers from APEC countries.
Last week the Canadian Council for International Co-operation condemned Canada's deep cuts in overseas development aid which have dropped us from fifth to eleventh place in the OECD.
Will the minister put an end to these shameful cuts and will he cancel the 8% cut, the $150 million cut, that is planned for next April in Canada's overseas development aid?
Diane Marleau LiberalMinister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for Francophonie
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that we had to make some cuts to ODA because of the serious financial situation which this country was facing.
However, last week the Minister of Finance announced to us all that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am very hopeful that when we do arrive at a time when we have a surplus, we will return to previous levels of funding. The Prime Minister has said that we will move toward .7% of our gross domestic product when the financial situation allows.
Jean Charest Progressive Conservative Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Speaker, I want to return to the Somalia affair.
Last week, one of the commissioners released a book in which he alleges that the then deputy minister, now the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, did not tell the whole truth about his activities in the Somalia affair.
I would like to know why the government does not allow the ambassador, as he is now, to give interviews, at least to the media, on this matter. Why is he hiding behind his title in order to avoid setting the Canadian public straight?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Fowler did give a very extensive interview to Mr. Desbarats and he incorporated that into his book.
Also, as Mr. Fowler had indicated, he was quite prepared to appear before the Somalia inquiry. Again, he is anxious to tell his story as the Minister of Foreign Affairs has indicated.
David Price Progressive Conservative Compton—Stanstead, QC
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Fowler said he was not ready to testify. It seems to me that Canadians should have faith in their public servants and I am sure this House agrees.
When will the former deputy minister of defence who is now representing Canada's interest to the world at the United Nations in New York have a chance to restore Canadians' faith and tell his story?
Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I would like to make clear to the House that Mr. Fowler, as our ambassador to the United Nations, is acquitting himself in an exemplary manner and giving great distinction to the representation of Canada in that world forum.
As we said before, Mr. Fowler is quite prepared to attend any forum to which he is invited. He has so indicated in the past, contrary to what the hon. member has said.
Elinor Caplan Liberal Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the President of the Treasury Board concerning the progress of the year 2000 project. The auditor general says that if progress continues at the current rate, a failure of critical systems could affect public health, safety and essential services.
What is the minister doing to ensure that the year 2000 project is completed on time so that essential services for the public are protected?
Marcel Massé LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure
Mr. Speaker, the auditor general is quite right to indicate the seriousness of this problem because both private industry and the public sector have been dealing with it.
In terms of the public sector, we have a Treasury Board project 2000 that is at present assessing the various systems and is helping the departments to put into place the measures necessary to be able to meet that deadline.
Jim Abbott Reform Kootenay—Columbia, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the public takes considerably more pride in its own history than this government does.
A local radio station has raised $25,000 for the purchase of Colonel McCrae's medals. However the government refuses to lift a finger.
What specific steps is the government prepared to take to ensure that the medals end up where they should be, in a Canadian museum?
Hedy Fry LiberalSecretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)
Mr. Speaker, Lieutenant-Colonel McCrae has given a great deal to Canada and the world. Canadians are very proud of him.
Members should know that the Minister of Canadian Heritage and her officials have been in touch with the family of Lieutenant-Colonel McCrae who are now looking to ensure themselves that those medals are authentic. There is some question about the authenticity.
Once that is done, we will work with the family to do everything in our power to make sure those medals stay in Canada, as soon as we know that they are authentic.
Jean-Guy Chrétien Bloc Frontenac—Mégantic, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
In ten days, the BC mine in Black Lake will be closing down and putting 300 people out of work, most of them over the age of 50, in a region that is already devastated by unemployment. There is no future for these workers, who have little chance of finding other work.
Can the minister tell us what active measures are being contemplated to return these people to the work force, and also what answer he could give to the appeal they have made to the minister, these 300 workers who—
Closure Of Bc MineOral Question Period
The Speaker
I am sorry to interrupt the honourable member. The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development now has the floor.
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the hon. member's question, because this is situation is of considerable interest and concern to us.
We are monitoring this situation very closely, because the region in general is going through a very difficult time at present. My assistant deputy minister in Montreal has met with representatives of the miners who have been laid off, and we have begun to look at very concrete situations and active policies to try to help them, including training, and to assist them in getting what they need to return to the work force.
Bev Desjarlais NDP Churchill, MB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
The medical examiner's office in Manitoba is investigating the possibility that a delay in landing at Thompson airport may have contributed to the death of a three-year old boy from Shamattawa. The delay resulted from repairs to the instrument landing system. It had not been operational for one month. NavCanada is responsible for those repairs.
Can the minister explain why it would take one month to make repairs to Manitoba's second busiest airport in a city where the hospital provides health services to some 30,000 northerners?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, safety is the top priority of Transport Canada. This is a very unfortunate incident and our officials are looking into it to see what caused the delay and to make sure that this does not happen again.
Gilles Bernier Progressive Conservative Tobique—Mactaquac, NB
Mr. Speaker, in his economic statement last week the finance minister said the government has cut up its credit cards and called this responsible financial management. In rural New Brunswick we call it potato fertilizer.
Recently the auditor general said the use of credit cards has increased tenfold. The government does not know how many cards have been lost or stolen and in three months it ran up an $80,000 bill for late payment charges because the Liberal government could not pay its credit card bills on time.
Is this what the minister of public works calls responsible financial management?
Marcel Massé LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure
Mr. Speaker, the auditor general has looked at this matter and has indicated that no significant amount of waste has been recorded or found by his study. Notwithstanding this, we have had discussions with the auditor general and we have put into place the necessary measures to ensure that in the future waste is minimized.
Steve Mahoney Liberal Mississauga West, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of International Trade.
The Latin American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay are experiencing unprecedented growth. What is the minister doing to assist Canadian business to take advantage of this economic boom in Latin America?
Sergio Marchi LiberalMinister for International Trade
Mr. Speaker, Canada is very interested in further developing a rapport on trade with Latin America. Our business community is very bullish about the prospects in Latin America.
During the visit of the president of Brazil last year he and the prime minister talked about fashioning a new relationship between Canada and Mercosur. As a result of that discussion both Mercosur countries and Canada have exchanged papers to define what that relationship might be. There is also a meeting scheduled for the end of October.
While the members opposite shout cat-calls we are responsible for creating more jobs, more opportunities and more—
Paul Forseth Reform New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.
Sex offender Gordon Mathieson walked out of court without getting any jail time. He received what is called a conditional sentence. It is so bad now that judges are giving no jail time for drug trafficking, sexual assault and armed robbery, all because this minister and her predecessor gave a soft on crime message to the courts.
Will the minister fix the mistake so this new conditional sentence category can only be used for non-violent crimes?