Debates of Dec. 3rd, 1997

Dairy Industry

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

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

The minister pledged to conduct an in-depth review of the urgent demand made by the dairy industry regarding imports of oil, butter and sugar mixtures.

What can the minister tell dairy producers, who no longer want to be hurt by these imports, and who are urging him to take quick action?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned to the member's colleague last week, obviously our department is working very closely with the stakeholders, the industries and clearly the industry knows the care and the priority that the government attaches to the issue.

The Environment

[Gar Knutson, Liberal, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

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

Global attention is now focused on the conference under way in Kyoto, Japan where countries search for the right formula to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect the global environment.

How can Canada be putting forward a position that does not have the support of all provinces? What is the minister doing to gain the co-operation of all Canadians in meeting our goals?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, all provinces are invited to take part in developing the Canadian implementation plan from Kyoto. The Government of Canada has stressed no unreasonable share of the burden for any region or sector, no carbon tax, deeper commitments by the private sector, greater energy efficiency, more renewable and alternative sources of energy, a powerful focus on research and development and the maximum use of international flexibility provisions. All of that is 100% consistent with what the provinces have suggested.

National Defence

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is our understanding that all of the Trenton based search and rescue helicopters have been out of service over the days of November 21 to the 27. Half of Canada's population is actually serviced by that particular rescue team.

My question to the government is, what would the government have done were there to be a disaster in central Canada during that time?

[John Richardson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question but it is hypothetical in nature and I am not prepared to answer a hypothetical question.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence should talk to some of the helicopter pilots and he will find out the truth.

This government has told Canadians that the long delay in replacing search and rescue helicopters would not adversely affect search and rescue capabilities. The reality is obviously somewhat different and the parliamentary secretary and the Minister of National Defence seem to be out of the loop, all because of a cynical election promise in 1993.

I ask the government again, if there had been a disaster in central Canada last week how would the victims—

[The Speaker]

That is a hypothetical question. If the parliamentary secretary wants to answer it, he may.

[John Richardson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence]

No, Mr. Speaker.

Research And Development

[Chris Axworthy, NDP, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry. All the experts agree that Canada suffers from a serious innovation gap. We simply do not spend enough money on R and D. Of the top 14 countries, only Italy's record is worse than ours.

The minister has been a minister for five years so he must be pretty embarrassed by this. Would he tell us on a scale of one to fourteen just how embarrassed he is by this?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the question regarding Canada's innovation gap is a very important one and I thank the member for raising it.

We all agree that greater emphasis needs to be put on encouraging performance of research and development, in particular in the private sector. That is why we created the Canada Foundation for Innovation. That is why we renewed the networks of centres of excellence and made that a permanent program. That is why we promised in the red book an increased amount of funding for IRAP, and that is why as we move forward from here, we will continue to protect intellectual property, a key component in ensuring that research is done in the private sector.

[Chris Axworthy, NDP, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we know why we are thirteenth out of fourteen and why so many Canadians have lost job opportunities and seen their wages decline. The OECD says that we will spend 10% less next year on R and D over this year and the president of Memorial University says that we are acting like a third world country when it comes to R and D.

Maybe the minister can tell us when he decided that Canada should not play in the big leagues.

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry the hon. member puts his own country down to that extent. Even today at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa we are seeing a demonstration of Canadian technology which is world leading in removing mines from dangerous places across the world.

We are leading the world in space exploration. We are leading the world in regional aircraft. We are leading the world in environmental technology, in particular in relation to water. We are leading the world again and again. As we go forward from here with the commitment that the government has, together with the private sector and our universities, we will lead the world.

Airport Safety

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. On November 25 the Senate transportation committee heard testimony that NavCan is not even maintaining its minimum level of air traffic controllers at almost all the airports in Canada. This obviously creates a very dangerous situation and puts lives at risk. Will the minister immediately instruct NavCan to bring every airport up to the minimum level of air traffic controller staffing, a level NavCan sets for itself?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the whole point of establishing Nav Canada as a not for profit agency was to remove it from the day to day operations of the government, but we do oversee safety. The Department of Transport is convinced that over the past year Nav Canada has provided a seamless service to Canadians that is safe and secure. This is something that the managers at Nav Canada pride themselves upon. I would ask the hon. member not to alarm people unduly. Nav Canada has this matter well in hand and the matter is being looked after.

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have a problem with that. I understand that at this moment Vancouver has 27 air traffic controllers available. NavCan set the minimum standard at 36 air traffic controllers. This is extremely dangerous. This is a 25% shortfall. It means that a lot of air traffic controllers have to work overtime up to 10 times a month.

Again, will the minister instruct NavCan to simply accept its own minimum standards for air traffic controllers? Will he tell NavCan to hire air traffic controllers to bring staffing up to its own minimum staffing standards?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the managers at Nav Canada are well aware of what the standards are and what the minimum level of service is. They are meeting that level of service and they are doing it extremely well. I would ask the hon. member perhaps not to implicate himself in management-labour negotiations or disagreements here in the House of Commons.

Alternative Fuels Act

[Charles Caccia, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, because of the Alternative Fuels Act, the President of the Treasury Board must ensure that all federal bodies operate vehicles that run on alternative fuels which in turn will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What progress has been made in converting Government of Canada vehicles to fuels that are less damaging to the environment?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, at present we already assist departments in analysing their fleet to determine when it is cost effective to purchase and operate alternatively fueled vehicles.

In April 1996 we established a demonstration project of 120 vehicles to showcase the capabilities of alternative fuels.

In general, we provide better fleet management now, focusing on greater efficiency, in order to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Supreme Court Of Canada

[Paul Forseth, Reform, New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a vacancy in the Supreme Court of Canada soon to be filled. The justice minister has said in the House that there is merit in broadening the consultation process for candidate selection.

There is not a lot of public confidence in the justice system, so will the government advise Canadians how the next supreme court appointment will be put through more appropriate public examination?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said on numerous occasions in the House, I believe the appointment process we have in this country has guaranteed 130 years of highly qualified jurists who have served in the Supreme Court of Canada.

What I have also said is that in my developing a list of qualified applicants for a position with the Supreme Court of Canada, I am willing to consult with any and all Canadians who are interested. Therefore, I would encourage the hon. member, other members of his party and other Canadians interested in this appointment to contact me directly.

Algeria

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Following on its condemnation of the rampant terrorism in Algeria, a delegation of European parliamentarians has announced its intention to travel there in order to assess the human rights situation and make recommendations.

How does the minister see Canada supporting this undertaking by the European parliamentarians?

[David Kilgour, Liberal, Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa)]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are very concerned by the situation in Algeria. The minister mentioned to me yesterday that there will be a delegation of Canadian parliamentarians. As yet undetermined is who will be part of that delegation and under what terms.

I thank the hon. member for his question.

Immigration

[Gordon Earle, NDP, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general's report states that this government does not quickly grant Canada's protection to refugee claimants who genuinely need it.

The Liberal head tax presents a huge barrier to many of those refugees and families who genuinely need access to Canada. The so-called success of the loans program does not take into account all of those who do not even apply, and the reduction in applications since the implementation of the tax underscores this.

Will the government join with every other country in the world and remove this offensive tax?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it is worthwhile pointing out to start with that there is no comment in the auditor general's report on the fee charged to immigrants and refugees for the right to settle in Canada.

I must say in this connection that, according to our studies, we have penalized no one wishing to settle in this country, because we have set up a system of loans accessible to everyone who cannot make the payment themselves, a system that is working very well.