House of Commons Hansard #37 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebeckers.
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalMinister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, I tell my hon. colleague that I will take care of the collective bargaining process and I will make sure the Canada Labour Code is adhered to. There is a process to go through. Let us follow the process and let us give Mr. Edmondson a chance to come up with an agreement.
Jim Gouk Reform West Kootenay—Okanagan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps saying let collective bargaining work. It is not working. We have Canada Post negotiators beating up a CUPW negotiator. We have CUPW president Darrel Tingley writing threatening letters to Canadian business. We have the Minister of Labour on national television claiming the minister responsible for Canada Post mis-spoke and should be chastised.
Not only is collective bargaining not working, Canadians are not working. When is the minister going to invoke legislation and allow these negotiations to still continue under mediation?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalMinister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague must have been listening to a different television than I was.
What we have to do is let the process work, as my colleague has indicated. Over 94.5% of the businesses under the federal jurisdiction have settled disputes. That means that we need to let the system work.
Jim Gouk Reform West Kootenay—Okanagan, BC
Mr. Speaker, a dispute? They are out, for God's sake.
The other day I pointed out to the Minister of Labour that Canadian businesses are losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day and he does not care. I pointed out that tens of thousands of Canadians are laid off and he does not care. We have a Canada Post negotiator beating up a CUPW negotiator and he still does not care. Thirty million Canadians have lost their mail service and he does not care.
What the hell does the minister care about?
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the heritage minister again refused to answer questions about Option Canada's activities. All we know is that $4.8 million was taken from the federal treasury and spent to promote Canadian unity. There is no report, no minutes, no activity report. There is only the minister's refusal to answer.
I ask the minister: Why is she stubbornly refusing to talk about Option Canada's activities? Can she tell us how much of that $4.8 million was spent during the 1995 referendum campaign?
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I have nothing to add to what I said yesterday, last week, the week before and last March.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister's answers sound like the ones she gave about the GST before she had to resign.
We wonder if this $4.8 million was used as a slush fund for the Council for Canadian Unity. I ask the minister to tell us unequivocally that the $4.8 million subsidy was not used in any way to fund the Montreal rally, the love-in that took place on October 27, 1995. Was federal money used to pay for this event?
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member, who seems to care so much about how taxpayers' money is spent, that sovereignists spent a large amount of public money provided by Quebeckers. They spent the equivalent of the salaries of 2,998 Quebec nurses.
They spent an amount equivalent to the salaries of 2,600 Quebec teachers on the referendum. They—
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the heritage minister.
On the eve of the referendum campaign, the heritage minister handed out a $4.8 million grant to Option Canada.
Does the minister realize that her refusal to answer our questions is leading us to believe that she knowingly and directly violated the referendum legislation then in force in Quebec and that she now refuses to be accountable?
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the facts put forward by the hon. member are wrong.
I was not even the minister in charge at the time.
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC
Mr. Speaker, I thought there was such a thing as ministerial continuity, but it looks as if she is telling us something new today. There was a referendum law in force in Quebec. The federal government was aware of it and was bound by it.
Are we to understand that through her complicity the heritage minister is putting herself above the law?
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, it is unfair for Bloc members to accuse me of putting myself above the law. First of all, I was not even a minister at the time the grant was handed out.
Second, the PQ, the separatists spent $100 million of Canadian taxpayers' money on their option, and they have the gall to stand in the House and accuse me of breaking the law.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, my questions is for the Minister of Human Resources.
Fishermen and fish plant workers in Atlantic Canada are furious at the government's misplaced priorities. Instead of ensuring families can put food on their tables by extending or replacing TAGS, the federal government is more concerned about crisis management and security measures than securing jobs. Even Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin has demanded a public apology from the minister for his “disgusting and offensive” affront.
Will the minister apologize today?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. leader of the NDP for giving me the opportunity to correct the record on this very important file.
I understand the fishery workers' frustrations. I want to tell them that the statement that was proposed for the contract was inappropriately worded and it did not go through the proper approval process.
The statement has been withdrawn. It will be rewritten and submitted to accurately reflect the training requirements of our people across Canada.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, I think we can take that as an apology, maybe.
I do not know whether what we are seeing here is a major spat between two Liberal leadership contenders, the minister and the Newfoundland premier. What fishery families who are in the crossfire are concerned about is how they are going to feed their families.
In the words of Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin “When will this government begin planning an appropriate response to a very real problem that afflicts thousands of families?”
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, our government is discussing a post-TAGs review right now. I have appointed one of our very serious and senior official in the department to meet with the provinces and the people to make sure we have the best solutions.
In the meantime we trust Canadians. We trust Canadians from coast to coast. We trust Canadians in Atlantic Canada. We know they will behave correctly and properly because they are Canadians. That is the way we do things.
We are training our people to do the right training, to do the process management, management of crowds, to do the interaction—
Rick Borotsik Progressive Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
The Manitoba government has brought to the minister's attention on a number of occasions the effects of the reduction of the federal Young Offenders Act cost sharing program to the provinces.
Current federal contributions will only amount to 33.8% of the total cost in Manitoba, 22% in British Columbia and 30% in Newfoundland.
My question is this. Is the federal government going to put its money where its mouth is and start getting tough on young offenders or is it going to continue to download those costs to the provinces?
Young Offenders ActOral Question Period
November 25th, 1997 / 2:25 p.m.
Edmonton West Alberta
Liberal
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I am very aware of the issues the hon. member has alluded to. That is why we will be discussing that issue among others as it relates to young offenders on December 4 and 5 in Montreal.
Rick Borotsik Progressive Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Mr. Speaker, I am perfectly aware of the meeting on December 4 with the provincial ministers and the self-congratulatory fashion in which the minister deals with it.
I would to like to ask, however, if those provinces decide not to administer that program on the Young Offenders Act, what contingency plans does the minister have to carry on with those particular programs without the provinces?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member is probably very much aware, the provinces and the federal government have worked constructively for many years in relation to the creation of a youth justice system. Despite what some may say, it is the envy of the world.
I have no reason to expect that that level of co-operation will not continue.
Dick Harris Reform Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, ever since this postal strike began all we have been hearing from the minister is wait and see, let the process work.
Let us look at what that policy has done. It has got us seven months of failed bargaining. We have a nation-crippling postal strike on our hands. We have a Canada Post which refuses to budge on its offer. We now have a loose cannon postal president threatening civil disobedience.
This wait and see attitude is not working. When is he going to take his head out of the dead letter chute and see the problems this is causing?