House of Commons Hansard #44 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cpp.
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, are we to understand from the responses of the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs that he adopts the phoney initiative of the Reform leader as his own, that it is now government property, that they all agree to go and supposedly consult Quebeckers on an agreement on which no one else in Canada agrees?
Stéphane Dion LiberalPresident of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, national unity is not a partisan matter. We have serious differences with the Reform Party, as the hon. member can see every day, but we share one and the same country, one that needs to be preserved, and preserve it we will, regardless of our disagreements.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the prime minister.
The natural gas on Sable Island is a Canadian resource that must benefit the largest possible number of Canadians. Yet, the federal cabinet just approved the gas pipeline proposed by Maritime and Northeast. The cabinet did not even bother to determine which project was the most beneficial to the economy of Atlantic Canada and of Quebec.
Why did the prime minister refuse to ask the natural resources committee to conduct such an assessment, as requested by the hon. member for Halifax? Does he really want certain regions—
Sable Island Natural GasOral Question Period
The Speaker
The Minister of Natural Resources.
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman should know that the regulatory process is not yet complete. There are some stages yet to go.
The Government of Canada is being absolutely meticulous in adhering to the spirit and the letter of the regulatory process, its integrity and its independence. When the final process is completed the appropriate decision will be taken. It is not done yet.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, the prime minister did not even answer the November 6 letter from our leader from Halifax.
The prime minister knows that the hasty decision by cabinet to endorse the maritimes and northeast pipelines project has left northern New Brunswick, Cape Breton and Quebec excluded from most of the potential industrial benefits of the project which would have created jobs.
Once again, why has the prime minister failed to insist that a more detailed study into the potential benefits to Atlantic Canadians be carried out by the natural resources committee of parliament?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, a joint independent panel was established by the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia to conduct a review. That panel worked for 10 months. It held 20 information meetings and 56 days of public hearings. It heard from 125 different intervenors. It was open, transparent, balanced and fair, and I believe it did a very thorough job.
Jean Charest Progressive Conservative Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I wrote to the prime minister asking him whether his government would not see it appropriate to extend to the end of the month of January 1998 the period for charitable donations, to allow all charities in Canada a chance to solicit funds for the cause they defend given the postal strike we have just experienced.
Could the prime minister give us an answer today?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I have received the letter from the leader of the Conservative Party and have received representation from charitable organizations. I asked the ministries of revenue and finance if it would be possible to extend the period until the end of January, and it will be extended.
Jean Charest Progressive Conservative Sherbrooke, QC
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the majority of members in this House I would like to thank his government for that decision. It is certainly the right decision.
My question is for the prime minister and concerns the first ministers conference which will take place in one week. I was intrigued by the comment made by the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, who said that “unique society” and “distinct society” basically mean the same thing. The minister says yes, thank you.
Why is the agenda of the first ministers conference still not known, barely one week before the conference.
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, it is because I am still discussing the agenda with the Saskatchewan premier, who is the premiers' spokesperson. We had a telephone conversation on Sunday, and I must send him the agenda today or tomorrow.
However, the premiers are well aware that I am including their suggestions on the agenda. This is not a unilateral decision, it is a is made jointly by the federal and provincial governments. Again, the agenda will be included in a letter which I hope to send to the premier today.
Deborah Grey Reform Edmonton North, AB
Mr. Speaker, this government spends more on interest payments on the national debt than it does on health care, education, welfare, old age security and the army combined. That is a terrible chunk of change. Canadians are telling this government that they want to reduce the debt, they want tax relief and they want to know when they are going to get it.
The prime minister has given us a specific deadline for when he is going to cut his gas emissions. When is he going to give us a deadline for reducing Canada's deadly debt?
Deborah Grey Reform Edmonton North, AB
Mr. Speaker, Canadians do not think this is very funny anymore, the huge amount of money they give to the government being used to pay off interest on the debt. They know they simply cannot be paying that in their personal lives. Every single taxpayer who makes less than $70,000 a year pays every penny of their tax in interest payments on the debt.
My question on behalf of every one of those taxpayers who earns $70,000 or less is when will the government get this deadly debt under control? It is killing us.
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we have managed to control the deficit. Not only that, last week we reduced the EI premium by 20 cents. When we formed the government it was supposed to be at $3.30. Now it will be at $2.70.
We have managed to balance the books and reduce taxes. The member has only to wait a few months and there will be other good news, as usual, from this government.
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC
Mr. Speaker, since Statistics Canada released its figures on the state of francophonie in Canada, all observers and journalists are saying that francophone communities outside Quebec are experiencing serious difficulties.
My question is for the Prime Minister. Given Statistics Canada's figures, will the Prime Minister admit that francophonie outside Quebec is seriously threatened?
Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, francophones outside Quebec are fed up to the teeth with the Bloc Quebecois' crocodile tears. These are the same people who talk about francophones disappearing and about second class French Canadians. This comes from the same member who asked me the question.
I am a francophone from outside Quebec and I am not a second class Canadian, nor are my children or my grandchildren. We will never be second class citizens in our country, whatever the Bloc Quebecois might wish.
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the government in the House of Commons would do well to read Le Droit . The only way not to resolve a problem is not to admit that it exists.
How does he think he is helping francophones outside Quebec by closing his eyes to what is going on and spouting nonsense day after day as he is doing now?
Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois recently published a document, in September I believe. According to Le Droit , there was not one word of concern in the Bloc Quebecois' document about francophones in the rest of the country.
They want to quote from Le Droit . That is what Le Droit says about the Bloc Quebecois' position on francophones outside Quebec.
Rick Casson Reform Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, just yesterday the top story in the New York Times slammed Canadian officials for selling unsafe Candu reactors to countries with despicable human rights records. The reactor we sold to India was used to explode a nuclear device. The reactor we sold to Argentina is frequently shut down for leaks. The reactor we sold to South Korea leaks heavy water.
Given these embarrassing revelations front and centre in the New York Times , will the prime minister reconsider his shady deals to China and Turkey and say “no Candu”?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, rather than repeating the erroneous assertions of people in the United States who may be on sales missions in an effort to discredit the Canadian competition, the member might like to know that the Candu technology is robust, sound and secure. That is a finding not only by the Atomic Energy Control Board of Canada but also in fact by American consultants who examined Candu and found it to be just fine.
Rick Casson Reform Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, in the 1980s the prime minister was energy minister. Back then he tried to sell Candus to Turkey, but concerns about the use of nuclear weapons scrubbed that deal.
My question is to the prime minister again. What would his friends at the land mines conference say if they knew he was selling Candus to countries that want them to make bombs?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, any country with which Canada does business must of course adhere to all the international rules pertaining to nuclear power and the use of uranium.
In addition to that, AECL is meticulous in doing its own prestudy of any situation to ensure that the facility can be constructed safely and it must of course be constructed not only to the standards that exist in the foreign country but to Canadian standards and international energy standards as well.
Gérard Asselin Bloc Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Speaker, at their meeting on June 7, 1996, the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premier of Quebec agreed to support the Gazoduc Trans-Québec et Maritimes project for the transportation of Sable Island natural gas.
We learn, however, that the National Energy Board recommends that the government give the go-ahead to a competing project, the purpose of which is to service the American market directly.
Is the minister aware that, at the rate things are going, the Gazoduc Trans-Québec et Maritimes project will not be able to be studied on its own merits by the appropriate authorities?