House of Commons Hansard #6 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebec.
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. He may not be aware, because he was not a member of the House in the last session of Parliament, but my predecessor as minister of justice made significant reforms to section 745.
I think we will see that those reforms strike the right balance between due concern for victims, due concern for the safety of society and due concern for a criminal justice system that reflects a balance of values.
Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS
Mr. Speaker, Canadians should know that the modifications made in January 1997, of which the Liberals are so proud, do not prevent dangerous criminals like Paul Bernardo from applying for early release.
Will the minister stop attempting to bury this issue, revisit her refusal to strike down section 745, to prevent Bernardo and other killers from putting the families through this public, tortuous and senseless process of faint hope hearings?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I would remind the hon. member that one of the amendments my predecessor made to section 745 was a device called judicial screening. Certainly Mr. Bernardo and any others who find themselves in his situation will now have to go through a process of judicial screening.
It would seem to me that judicial screening will ensure the safety of the public in relation to killers like Mr. Bernardo.
Law Enforcement OfficersOral Question Period
The Speaker
Forgive me for breaking the question pattern. There was a supplementary that I missed.
Rick Laliberte NDP Churchill River, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Cardinal River Divide has been virtually untouched since the last ice age, and the proposed mine 23 kilometres long by 3 kilometres wide will have a profound impact on its ecosystem. The government's own departments have drawn concern to this.
Will the Minister of the Environment assure Canadians that Parks Canada, Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans environmental impact assessment concerns are addressed and a proper management plan initiated?
Christine Stewart LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, the recommendations of the panel are being very carefully reviewed by the federal government in preparing its response to the proponent.
We are very conscious of the environmental concerns and environmental impacts in this area. We are doing everything to make sure those concerns are addressed.
Beth Phinney Liberal Hamilton Mountain, ON
Mr. Speaker, in the Speech from the Throne the government indicated that it would help small and medium size enterprises develop and commercialize new techniques.
Can the Minister of Industry indicate how the government intends to go about this?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, the first step is to deepen and increase the resources available for the government's program of industrial research assistance of the National Research Council, winner of the prestigious Ernest C. Manning Award and a program which is at the forefront of helping small business develop and commercialize technology.
In addition we have refocused and broadened the mandate of the Business Development Bank of Canada. We have increased the funding available to small business under the Small Business Loans Act. We continue to see small businesses prospering as never before in the wake of interest rates at the lowest level in 30 years—
IndustryOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, one question.
John Reynolds Reform West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. The minister has revealed that a year ago she set up an organized crime unit in immigration which, as she has said, has thousands of names on file, has a well staffed operation and has good international contacts.
Can the minister tell the House how Lai Tong Sang, the Macao Triad leader who received landed status in Canada, slipped through the stranglehold the minister has on organized crime?
Lucienne Robillard LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that anyone who misrepresents his identity or his reasons for coming to Canada can be prosecuted by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.
As for the case raised by the opposition member, you are well aware that, under the Privacy Act, I cannot discuss this case publicly. The individual in question has not yet been formally charged.
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
Since April 16, 1996, the federal government has been withdrawing from policing airports. The RCMP has been gradually pulling out everywhere in Canada, except in Quebec. According to Richard Cacchione, president of ADM, the federal government is refusing to withdraw from the Montreal airports for political reasons.
Will the minister confirm in this House that his government is refusing to withdraw from policing Montreal airports over a flag, which has nothing to do with efficiency or security?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I believe I answered this question in full earlier. Because of the renovations, because of the change and because of the unique situation of having two international airports at Montreal, the government feels that the RCMP should stay there during this period of change.
Dick Proctor NDP Palliser, SK
Mr. Speaker, my question is a simple one for the minister of defence.
There is a lot of chatter about helicopters, Mr. Minister, concerning what is been taking so long to conform to the contract. I would like an update on when the government is going to make an announcement about helicopters for the Canadian people.
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for the question. No decision has been made yet. A very detailed analysis has been made that teams of officials have been pouring over to make sure that we get the best value for the Canadian taxpayer. We want to make sure that we get the kind of helicopter that will best meet the operational needs of the people who go out and save lives. Over 400 rescues a year are conducted and over 200 people are rescued in those endeavours. Therefore, we want to make sure that we get the best helicopters for the best value.
We hope to have that decision—
Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. Ports Canada police officers are specialists in their field. They are trained in national and international crimes such as drug trafficking, illegal immigration and terrorist activities, as well as gun running. Security guards and local police forces are not.
Why is the Minister of Transport subjecting our communities to the possibility of increased crime by disbanding the Ports Canada police? Does the minister realize that a lack of national standards for policing our ports will make them much more inviting to criminal elements?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member, for whom I have great respect, is being very irresponsible to suggest that there will be an increase in crime.
This is about the devolution of authority to local organizations, councils and communities. It is a policy that the former Conservative government talked about quite a bit but never did anything about it. We put this regime in place.
I can assure the member that the quality of policing will not suffer and crime will not increase. It is going quite well across the country, including the Atlantic and the port of Vancouver.
Deborah Grey Reform Edmonton North, AB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the justice minister. When she was appointed and gave her first speech to the bar association this summer it was tough talk all the way. She was going to tighten up victims' rights, tighten up the Young Offenders Act even more and tighten up parole reform. There was not one word about any of that stuff in the throne speech.
What happened to all that tough talk? Who in cabinet vetoed her for the throne speech?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I respond to that question.
The three priorities I outlined in the speech to the Canadian Bar Association in August were, first, crime control; second, working with provincial counterparts and victims' rights organizations to see how we can define an appropriate federal role in the area of victims' issues; and in relation to the reform of the Young Offenders Act.
In relation to crime prevention, we are in fact in the process of developing a new crime prevention strategy with partners as it relates to victims. We have begun our consultations—
JusticeOral Question Period
The Speaker
I am sorry to interrupt the minister, but the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot has the floor.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, harmonizing the GST and the QST resulted in considerable costs estimated at over $2 billion and paid for by the Quebec government alone.
My question is for the Minister of Finance. When will the minister treat the Quebec government fairly and pay the $2 billion claimed as compensation for harmonizing the GST and the QST? This is a legitimate demand that even got the support of the premiers, when they met in Saint Andrews.
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well that we offered to compensate the provinces that lost money.
The fact is that some provinces, including Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, would not have lost money if federal and provincial sales taxes had been harmonized. In fact, Quebec did not lose money.
Let me just quote some figures. In the first year following harmonization, Quebec experienced a 2.7 percent increase, but no losses; in the second year, a 20.4 percent increase in sales tax revenues and no losses; in the third year, an increase of 17—
Goods And Services TaxOral Question Period
The Speaker
I am sorry to interrupt the hon. minister, but this will bring to a close our question period.
I would like to invite all hon. members to a reception, which I will be hosting in their name, for Mr. Atom Egoyan in my chambers following the question period.
Privacy Commissioner ReportRoutine Proceedings
The Deputy Speaker
I have the honour to lay upon the table the 1997 report of the privacy commissioner.
This report is deemed to have been permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.