Debates of April 8th, 1997

Parental Leave

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it seems, and I would like to be quite clear about this, that negotiating the recovery of amounts set aside for parental leave under employment insurance will not be conditional on reaching an agreement on manpower training, and I hope my impression is correct.

Is the minister prepared to do what it takes to ensure that an agreement on parental leave is reached between now and the next federal election?

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

Mr. Speaker, it would have been nice if the official opposition had asked me to spend all available time on settling the manpower question once and for all.

The opposition is asking me to take time off from my work on the manpower issue to discuss parental insurance, which is very important to us as well. The federal legislation is very flexible, and we have no doubt we will be able to reach an agreement.

I can assure the hon. member that the Minister of Human Resources Development is a hard worker. We will do every thing it takes to deal with these issues and update Canadian federalism to meet the expectations of Quebecers.

Justice

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on March 14 a pedophile, who is a nine time offender, was released into the community of Red Deer. I met with over 200 concerned parents in a gymnasium. At that meeting, the RCMP said that this person would reoffend. The prison officials said that he would reoffend. The parole board said that he would reoffend. They say that the next time his crime will probably be more violent.

The people in my community, the young parents who were there, asked whether one of their children would be the 10th victim. What message will the justice minister give these parents?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as a parent of young children, I recognize the concern that any parent feels about such an offender or such offences.

It is because I am a parent of young children that I drew particular satisfaction with the initiative of which I was a part when the government and the caucus introduced Bill C-55 to deal with exactly the kind of case that the hon. member has described.

The system has to change and it has to change in the way that we proposed in the high risk offender legislation. That bill, as the hon. member knows, will empower the sentencing court at the time sentence is passed to require that after the person is released from prison, unless they are jailed indefinitely, they can be supervised closely for a period up to 10 years to make sure that our children are safe from them. That is in addition to the provisions already in the code allowing the criminal court at the request of provincial AGs to ask that someone be locked up for the rest of their lives without possibility of release.

I believe Bill C-55 is going to make my choice-

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Red Deer.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is just not good enough. I looked into the eyes of these parents and they are feeling scared for their children. They are saying that the system and the justice department are failing them. They are not delivering. This pedophile committed nine other offences. The psychiatrists say he will reoffend. This individual is sick.

The Liberal answer that I got is not good enough. I want the justice minister to tell the people what he is going to do for them. This is happening right across Canada.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I shall have to send to the hon. member a copy of Bill C-55 which deals specifically with the kind of situation he has described.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Well, that's really good.

[Randy White, Reform, Fraser Valley West, BC]

There's a great answer, a photocopy.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

We'll send it to every pedophile.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

The fact is that I have looked into the eyes of victims.

[Jack Ramsay, Reform, Crowfoot, AB]

You've looked into their eyes and have done nothing.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

As Minister of Justice I have made it a point in my job to meet with victims whenever I have the opportunity, parents, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters-

[The Speaker]

The questions that we are having today are very important. I know that all hon. members want to hear the response of the minister. I invite him now to continue his response if he so wishes.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

I was saying that I have made it a point in my job to meet with victims and members of families who have lost others to violent crimes. I think it is an important part of my job to deal directly with them and to hear about their experiences so that I can learn from them.

It was almost directly as a result of that experience that the government caucus drafted and put before the House Bill C-55 which is now at report stage and deals specifically with the kind of high risk offender to which the hon. member refers. I hope we can count on his support and the support of other members of the Reform caucus as we finally get action to deal with the kind of threat the hon. member has identified.

Official Languages

[Jean-Paul Marchand, Bloc, Québec-Est, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning the official languages commissioner tabled a new report.

This year, not only is he continuing to place the two language communities on an equal footing, which is ridiculous when you look at the conditions in which francophones outside Quebec live, but he is telling us there is no need to be alarmed about the rate of assimilation of francophones. He said that a francophone who does not speak French in the home is not necessarily anglicized.

My question is directed to the Acting Prime Minister. Can he tell us what he calls a francophone in British Columbia who speaks English at work, at home, in restaurants, in hospitals, and even when he plays bingo?

[Guy Arseneault, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, our linguistic duality is a fundamental part of the Canadian identity and there is no doubt about the government's commitment to the official languages.

Here in the House the government will continue to play a key role in promoting the right of minority communities throughout Canada to grow and develop.

[Jean-Paul Marchand, Bloc, Québec-Est, QC]

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

Francophones in Ontario, as well as in Acadia, are being done out of hundreds of millions of dollars in job training. Because services are not available in their language, they must take courses in English.

How can the Minister of Human Resources Development, who said only recently that the federal government protects French in Canada, contribute in this way to the anglicization of francophones outside Quebec?

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

Mr. Speaker, if people listened carefully, what I said recently was not that francophones in Canada protect Quebec.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

We do not understand yet. Francophones do not understand anything.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Papineau—Saint-Michel, QC]

What I said was that Canadian francophonie as a whole was of great interest and could be very useful.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

You are not answering the question.

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

Really, you can do better than that.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Papineau—Saint-Michel, QC]

I would therefore like to say that the Department of Human Resources Development is continuing to do an excellent job in the field of training, that we are in the process of co-operating much more closely with the provinces. We are ensuring that francophone minorities in the provinces will continue to be able to take advantage of training services in the French language.

Justice

[John Maloney, Liberal, Erie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue.

Over the last several months concerns have been expressed about an enforcement gap at our borders that allows drunk drivers, child abductors and other individuals suspected of criminal activities into Canada.

What is the government doing to apprehend suspected criminals and to prevent them from crossing our borders?