House of Commons Hansard #141 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was reform.
Marcel Massé LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure
Mr. Speaker, I will have to look into the facts of the situation to which the hon. member is referring. I am not aware of that situation right now.
However, I can assure the hon. member that, in the public service, we have put in place the necessary systems and procedures to make sure government employees are treated properly. Whenever transfers have been made from the public to the private sector, we have strived to respect the rights of all our employees and to treat these employees fairly.
Richard Bélisle Bloc La Prairie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister says he will look into the facts, but how can he claim to care about the fate of these former public servants, who used to earn $11 per hour and who, because of the minister's agreements with companies such as Drake International, will only get $9 per
hour in Ottawa and $7 per hour in Quebec City, for exactly the same work? Why such an injustice?
Marcel Massé LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure
Mr. Speaker, again, I ask the hon. member to send me the facts of the case he is referring to, so that I can look into the matter, because I am not aware of this case. I will then be pleased to provide him with a reply.
Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow in Vancouver hearings begin into Clifford Olson's application for early release. This man brutally murdered 11 Canadian children.
Will the minister who is responsible for letting this hearing take place take action to ensure in the future that families of murder victims will not have to relive their pain and agony over and over again?
JusticeOral Question Period
The Speaker
Today we are debating this very motion. I thought perhaps the member would ask a more general question. However it deals directly with what we are discussing today, that is section 745.
If the member can rephrase the question so that it is acceptable, I will permit it.
Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB
Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether or not I can do that. Therefore I will withdraw my question.
Diane Ablonczy Reform Calgary North, AB
Mr. Speaker, 15 and a half years ago Clifford Olson was convicted in the most horrible crime imaginable-
JusticeOral Question Period
The Speaker
Because I do not know where the preamble is leading, may I ask the hon. member to please put her question and I will decide whether it is in order.
Diane Ablonczy Reform Calgary North, AB
Mr. Speaker, does the justice minister believe it is fair and just to innocent victims, parents, relatives and friends for murderers to be allowed to plead for early release after serving only 15 years of their sentence?
Gordon Kirkby LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question.
As the hon. member will be aware, the Minister of Justice has brought forward significant changes to section 745 of the Criminal Code.
JusticeOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order. I find myself in a quandary. I found the question to be acceptable but now I get into the response and it deals precisely with what we are dealing with today.
If I cannot accept a question for that reason then I surely cannot accept an answer. I am really in a dilemma. Those questions would be quite in order on virtually any other day.
I will pass and go to the member for Rimouski-Témiscouata.
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
On February 14, the Quebec finance minister wrote the Minister of Human Resources Development, seeking financial support from the federal government for UBI SOFT, a multimedia product project. Although time is of the essence in this matter, the minister still has not written back.
Could the Minister of Human Resources Development tell us whether or not his government plans to financially support UBI SOFT, an innovative project that could generate more than 550 high technology jobs in the Montreal area?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member may or may not be aware of the fact that there have been discussions between FORD-Q, Human Resources Development Canada and Quebec government officials regarding UBI SOFT.
Before getting involved in this project, we must determine whether it is worthwhile and whether the jobs that will be created are long term jobs and justify the request submitted to both governments. I think that even the Government of Quebec would want to know that much.
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC
Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his answer, but while the letter from the Quebec minister was sent to the Minister of Human Resources Development and our question was directed to the Minister of Human Resources Development, we have the Minister of Industry answering.
Given how important this matter is, the number of jobs at stake in Quebec, and the fact that UBI SOFT is growing impatient and thinking of setting up operations in China if Canada does not show interest, could the minister give us the assurance that there is someone, somewhere, in his government who will at least indicate
what Ottawa's intentions are in this respect, so that the Quebec government can get UBI SOFT to wait a little longer?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to remind all members that we, on this side of the House, are a government team. When a project deals with industrial matters, it is only natural that the Minister of Industry offer his views.
Since one aspect of this matter is of interest to the Department of Human Resources Development, and considering that I indeed received a letter from the Government of Quebec, we did act with due diligence.
Pierre Pettigrew Liberal Papineau—Saint-Michel, QC
Of course, we will answer. We already met with Quebec government officials and local stakeholders last week and we have agreed to work together with the Quebec government and the Federal Office of Regional Development in this matter. The three parties involved met last week.
We want to assess this very important issue together, but it raises all sorts of questions, precisely because it is so important.
Dianne Brushett Liberal Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Co-operation.
Daily we see the plight of women throughout the world who are living in poverty with their children, in abject poverty and in horrible conditions.
Saturday marked International Women's Day. What is our government doing to improve the standard of living of women and their children to ensure a brighter future?
Don Boudria LiberalMinister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for Francophonie
Mr. Speaker, Canada is one of the world leaders on issues related to women in developing countries. We support projects throughout the world to assist women.
From Sri Lanka to Namibia to Bolivia we have established mother and child health institutions. In Africa, the Canadian International Development Agency has a number of projects. In Nicaragua more than 5,000 women were able to become land owners thanks to a program supported by our government.
Canadians can be proud of the work we do in international development, particularly the work we do to assist women in other parts of the world.
Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, not long ago the Prime Minister told the Toronto Star that he wanted to run in the next election on his jobs record. Friday's job numbers should give him pause. There were 38,000 fewer jobs than in the previous month; 44,000 women lost their jobs; and for 77 months in a row unemployment was over 9 per cent.
Does the Prime Minister really have the nerve to run on his jobs record?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, let us take a look at the situation in 1993 when we took office. Taxes were rising. The deficit was increasing. Interest rates were on the increase. Total insecurity was reigning throughout the land.
Let us take a look at the situation today. The deficit is down. Interest rates are down. There have been no personal tax increases in the last budget and $2 billion worth of selective tax decreases.
We see a set of economic indicators that can match those of anybody in the world. We see that virtually every economist in the country is predicting 300,000 new jobs will be created this year.
No other country can ascertain that record and the fact is that will happen.
Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, that may go over well down at the yacht club, but for a guy who does not have a job on Main Street it is pretty hard to swallow. There are 1.5 million unemployed Canadians, two million to three million underemployed and 800,000 who are moonlighting just to make ends meet. That is the Liberal job record.
What is the Liberals' answer to this crisis? It is a 73 per cent hike in payroll taxes that their own bureaucrats say will kill jobs.
With an unemployment rate of 9.7 per cent and with 1.5 million people unemployed, why is the government hiking a guaranteed job killer by 73 per cent?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, if anybody wants to take a look at the debates in the House over the last three years, when the government has been bringing in job programs, whether it be cleaning up the nation's finances, short term job programs such as the infrastructure or longer term programs such as investing in education and R and D, they will see one thing, that the Reform Party has opposed every job creation measure brought in by the government.
If the member is sincere in his statement that he does not want to see the 9.9 per cent increase in Canada pension plan premiums, why has he brought forth a proposal that would increase those
premiums by 13 per cent? Why does he not lay the numbers out and tell Canadians what he and his party are really after?
Jean-Guy Chrétien Bloc Frontenac, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture.
For a little over two years now, in a relentless effort to abide by the new rules of the WTO, the federal government has been slashing its various farm support programs. For instance, dairy subsidies will be completely abolished as of August 1, 1997, without any financial compensation.
Can the minister tell us how our farmers will benefit from the fact that the U.S. government is planning to cut its overall farm support by 23 per cent over a period of seven years, while Canada will cut its support by 21 per cent but over only three years?
