Debates of Oct. 31st, 1997

Fisheries

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the high state of agitation of the hon. member simply shows a total misunderstanding of how to get a solution.

What we are working on is to be based on the agreement of those directly affected. He has waved his arms about the need to respond to the fishing communities on the west coast. That is what we are doing. We are giving them the empowerment to help make those solutions to come to those issues. We are working on the grassroots, bottom up thing, not the top down elitist approach the hon. leader of the Conservative Party wants.

National Defence

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the defence minister, in referring to a lack of disclosure about a missile incident, said the following: “If there was any injury to person or property then of course it would be made public”. On September 7, 1995 Canadian Vandoos in Croatia set fire to their own mess in an apparent attempt to cover up a theft of some video equipment. Property was stolen and damaged. Why was the public never informed?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, 1995 is long before I became minister of defence. I do not know about back then but nowadays we do provide maximum amount of information to the public. There are obviously a lot of incidents that occur in a military the size of ours that are of no public interest.

However, where there is any damage to person or property information is in fact provided.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the information and investigation in this particular incident have been ongoing. There appears to be no total conclusion to it. I think this minister, along with his predecessor, should be very much aware of what has happened.

I have in my possession documents received through access to information. They outline a series of events between September 7 and September 9 which indicates stolen property and certainly reflects an aspect of arson taking place there.

I remind the minister again, property was stolen and damaged. Why were no criminal charges laid? According to the minister—

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)]

The hon. Minister of National Defence.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. They are going back several years. If the hon. member wants to provide the information I will be happy to have it looked into and we will get him an answer.

Closing Of Bc Mine

[Odina Desrochers, Bloc, Lotbinière, QC]

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

Today is the last day of work at the BC mine in Thetford Mines. Tomorrow morning, 300 workers will be without jobs. One worker put it this way: “This evening, I'll be getting out my old clothes. I don't even get severance pay or government assistance”.

Can the minister give us an update on the situation since his meeting with the workers last Wednesday?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are obviously very concerned about the situation of these workers who, some of them after many, many years with the mine, are losing their jobs now that it is closing.

This is why my department met, at the end of September, with both the employer and worker representatives, and quickly and efficiently set up $2.5 to $3 million in active measures to help them re-enter the job market.

I met with representatives of the workers last Wednesday and they told me that the application under the POWA program being requested by the Bloc Quebecois was not what they wanted.

[Odina Desrochers, Bloc, Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, are we to understand that the minister is abandoning these workers to their fate, condemning them to poverty when their employment insurance benefits run out?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, we have set up a certain number of active measures to help them re-enter the job market and there is a transitional job creation fund to help revitalize the job market.

We are going to do everything we can to allow these workers to really give it their best, because we do not think we should underestimate individuals who are still able to make a significant contribution to the regional economy.

National Unity

[Rahim Jaffer, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when this House opened the prime minister made a commitment to Canadians that he would not rule out the possibility of consulting with the people of Quebec on the Calgary declaration.

Will the prime minister let Canadians know how the consultation process is going in Quebec?

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada considers the Calgary declaration to be a significant step forward in dealing with the situation of Canadian unity. It is a provincial initiative taken by the provinces. Each of the provinces, save Quebec, has been working toward setting up the consultation. With respect to Quebec the Government of Canada has not taken a position on consulting the Quebec people, but that is an option.

[Rahim Jaffer, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made a commitment before this Parliament to look at the possibility of submitting the Calgary declaration to the people of Quebec.

He made that commitment more than a month ago. Does the Prime Minister now have any concrete plans for consultations in Quebec?

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I have just said that at this time the government, the Prime Minister has no concrete plans, but that there are still possibilities.

Asbestos Industry

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Laurentides, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of International Trade.

More than a month ago now, the Quebec government, the three central labour bodies and the leaders of the asbestos industry joined forces to call upon the federal government to file a complaint with the WTO concerning the banning of asbestos in France.

When does the minister intend to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization in order to come to the assistance of the 2,000 workers in the asbestos industry?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the member will know the federal government has taken a leadership role on the asbestos file. Not only have we made representation to the French and British governments as well as other European governments, we have also organized the recent international conference, together with the Government of Quebec as well as industry in the asbestos file.

As well, the member should know that before and after the premier's trip to France his direction through his officials to us was not to entertain the possibility of going to the WTO at that time.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Laurentides, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that there is a danger of England's following the example of France in banning asbestos on its territory.

What does the minister intend to do to prevent England from following France's example?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the prime minister during his trip to Great Britain raised that issue in a forceful way with his counterpart, Prime Minister Blair. I met with the high commissioner for Great Britain in Canada a few weeks ago. We have also sent technical information and invited representatives of Great Britain and the secretary of state for health from France to visit Canada to ascertain on an export basis the kinds of information we have. We have been very forceful on this file.

At the same time, we always entertain the possibilities of going to the World Trade Organization to make—

[The Acting Speaker (Mr. McClelland)]

The hon. member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca.

Taiwan

[Keith Martin, Reform, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, China is coming to the APEC summit meeting in Vancouver next month.

Taiwan, a democratic nation and a friend of Canada's, has been refused by this government participation in the APEC summit in Vancouver next month.

Why has Taiwan been refused participation in this important economic summit?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the statement of the hon. member is not accurate. Taiwan will be participating in the APEC conference.

[Keith Martin, Reform, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this government is coddling China. It has not said anything about the gross human rights abuses that are going on there and it has repeatedly prevented Taiwan from integrating with Canada.

I ask, once again, whether this government is getting its marching orders from Beijing or whether we have an independent foreign policy.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we have both an independent and an effective foreign policy. The key is to make it work.

I take some exception to the hon. member's premise. The fact of the matter is we have raised human rights issues continually with Chinese leaders and we have actually succeeded in getting an agreement with the Chinese to have an ongoing annual dialogue on human rights where we have an opportunity, unlike most countries, to engage them directly on a number of human rights matters. I believe we will achieve success in that dialogue.

Dairy Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

As it is not subject to import controls, the oil, sugar and butter mixture is being imported in huge quantities. This will mean losses in 1997-98 of $50 million for Canadian dairy producers, and the figure is going to increase.

Could the Minister of Agriculture tell us when he will act to put a quick stop to this situation, which is costing the Quebec and Canadian dairy industry dearly?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, there will be some action this afternoon at 2 o'clock when I meet with the national executive of the Dairy Farmers of Canada to discuss this issue. This is not the first time that I will have met with it.

Discussions are being held on this matter with the finance department, with international trade, with Revenue Canada and with the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food. We will work to the best of our ability with the dairy industry on this matter.