Debates of Sept. 30th, 1997

Algeria

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

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

Mr. Minister, the ceasefire called for—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

My dear colleague, you must always address the Chair.

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

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

Mr. Minister—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

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

Mr. Minister—

[An hon. member]

No, this is not the way.

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

Mr. Speaker—

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

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

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

The ceasefire called for recently by the Islamic Salvation Army did not materialize. In fact, it was not respected at all by the Armed Islamic Group, also known as the GIA, which continues to slaughter women and children.

Does the minister intend to pursue the suggestion made by a French group, Médecins du monde, asking that the United Nations intervene in order to put an end to this Algerian crisis that is costing the lives of many men, women and children?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to congratulate the hon. member for asking his first question in this House. It is indeed his first question.

I can assure him that I expressed his concerns with regard to what is going on in Algeria at a meeting held this week at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Bombardier

[Werner Schmidt, Reform, Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Bombardier retains its cosy relationship with the current Liberal government. In an unprecedented move the prime minister sent a letter to the president of Mexico complaining about political interference causing Bombardier to lose a contract.

How does the prime minister justify this action and will he table the letter in this House?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, it is not unprecedented for a prime minister who cares about Canada's trade promotion, which creates jobs both at home and abroad, to send such letters.

The letter was simply to affirm that we are not looking for a special deal, we simply want transparency and a fair deal.

[Werner Schmidt, Reform, Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, why will the letter not be tabled?

I wonder if the prime minister should not be more concerned about political interference in Canada than about political interference in Mexico.

Is he aware that Bombardier and the Cormorant helicopter group have just hired as a lobbyist the ex-executive assistant to the minister of defence?

The prime minister sent a letter to Mexico. Will he now send a letter to his minister of defence complaining about political—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister for International Trade.

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, what does the Reform Party have against successful Canadian companies?

This is a high tech firm that is number five in the aircraft business in the world. It employs Canadians.

This individual runs down a Canadian company. That is not our style and that is why he is on that side.

Pay Equity

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

Yesterday, the minister said in the House that the government would prefer to negotiate rather than resort to legislation to settle the issue of pay equity.

Twenty years after the Employment Equity Act was passed, three rulings in favour of the workers and two election campaign promises later, does the Minister recognize that the time has finally come to open the public purse and quickly settle the issue of pay equity?

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

Mr. Speaker, the government continues to meet its obligations in terms of pay equity.

These last few years, the government paid out $1 billion to meet its pay equity obligations. At present, a number of persons have lodged a complaint before the human rights tribunal. The union is clearly waiting for its decision to know what the amount will be, what the methodology will be, what will have to be paid. The government has no unpaid debt at the present time. On the contrary, we offered, during these negotiations, over $1.3 billion.

[The Speaker]

I am sorry to interrupt the member, but the member for Waterloo—Wellington has the floor.

Children

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Waterloo—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the seventh anniversary of the United Nations summit on children. At that summit the heads of government promised an all-out effort to improve the quality of life for children.

My question is for the Minister of Health. What steps has the government taken to reduce child poverty and to lower the infant death rate?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that one of the key priorities this government has chosen in its mandate is to work with provincial partners and others to create a coherent national children's agenda to improve the plight of children across the country. We are determined to do that.

I am working with my colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development and with provincial ministers through a large program such as the community action program for children to take the head start program on to reserves so that aboriginal children can benefit from it, to ensure that centres of excellence for children are created across the country, to combine research with programming—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Kootenay—Columbia.

Tamil Eelam Society

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Tamil Eelam Society has received funding from the multiculturalism department. Numerous reports have linked them with a terrorist organization in Sri Lanka.

Has the minister ensured that the funds that were paid out on behalf of the Canadian taxpayer to this Canadian organization did not find their way to the terrorist organization in Sri Lanka?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the funding of any group, we always have clear criteria. We evaluate and we ensure always that the funds spent are spent for the things they were in fact asked for.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the last time I looked, money is money. Money in an organization may be used in many different ways. The topping up of the money by the Canadian taxpayer in this particular instance is the question.

Are we giving money to an organization, where there have been published reports of connections to a terrorist organization in Sri Lanka, without doing an audit to ensure that organization in no way is funding with any of its money the terrorist organization in Sri Lanka? A simple yes or no.