Debates of Oct. 19th, 1998

The Senate

[Val Meredith, Reform, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister called the Alberta Senate election a joke. He refused to allow Liberals to run a candidate. He sabotaged the event by appointing his choice to the Senate two weeks before today's vote. But when Quebec has its provincial vote on separatism, the Prime Minister will not dare call it a joke or try to sabotage it.

Why the double standard? Why does he treat Quebec voters with respect and has absolutely no regard for the wishes of Albertans?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is incredible that the Reform Party is comparing the debate about the secession of Canada and the debate about how to improve an important institution, the Senate of Canada.

The reform of the Senate of Canada must be a comprehensive one, not a piecemeal one that would be bad for all Canadians, including Albertans.

[Val Meredith, Reform, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada frequently sends observers abroad to monitor foreign elections to make sure that they are truly democratic. However the Prime Minister in Canada is more than willing to engage in a very non-democratic practice of appointing party hacks as federal legislators.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to develop a truly worthwhile millennium project, a Canada where all federal legislators are elected?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we were for that and the Reform Party was against it. I think that the Reform Party would be well advised to read the letter that Senator Roche wrote last week giving a plan to try to have an elected, effective and equal Senate in Canada and to do it in a rational way.

The way it is being done in Alberta, the Conservative Party has no candidate, the NDP has no candidate, the Liberals have none provincially and federally. There is only the Reform Party with candidates because the other parties knew that it was something that would not work.

Employment Insurance

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

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

Last week was Poverty Week in Quebec, and the Minister of Finance celebrated it by confirming that the government had no intention of reforming the EI system in order to improve the situation of the unemployed and will continue to dip into the surplus to pay down its debt.

Is the minister aware that one good way to battle poverty is to enhance workers' access to employment insurance, so that people who have paid into it do not end up on welfare when they are laid off?

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

Mr. Speaker, I totally agree, which is why I note that close to 80% of laid-off workers are covered by the employment insurance system, as this morning's Statistics Canada report shows very clearly.

There are other ways of fighting poverty as well, which is why our government created a national child tax benefit specifically to combat poverty where it counts most, with the children who constitute our future.

Action Plan For Food Security

[Larry McCormick, Liberal, Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox And Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday we commemorated World Food Day. Some time next year there will be six billion people on this earth. In a world that produces enough food to feed every man, woman and child, more than 800 million people do not have enough to eat.

Could the minister of agriculture please tell me what the government is going to do?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada, along with 186 other nations, has promised to cut in half the number of undernourished people in the world by the year 2015.

The response from the government is Canada's action plan for food security which I launched in Toronto on Saturday. It is a national plan involving all levels of government as well as the non-governmental and volunteer sectors. It calls for activities and initiatives both in Canada and abroad.

We will be putting a bureau in place later this fall in order to monitor and to conduct the process in the years to come.

Aboriginal Affairs

[John Cummins, Reform, Delta—South Richmond, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Nisga'a treaty significantly changes the relationship between the Nisga'a people, their neighbours, the Government of Canada and British Columbia.

The treaty represents a fundamental change in the constitutional arrangements in Canada and has resulted in a call for a referendum by the B.C. Liberal Party.

When will the minister join B.C. Liberals and call for a referendum on the Nisga'a treaty?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, our position on the constitutionality of the Nisga'a agreement has clearly been made in the House and in other areas.

As it is now before the courts it is inappropriate for me to comment further.

[John Cummins, Reform, Delta—South Richmond, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Constitution states that treaty rights include rights that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may be so acquired. Thus the Nisga'a treaty becomes part of the Constitution.

Will the minister accept B.C. Premier Clark's logic that a change to constitutional arrangements is not a change to the Constitution, or will she accept the will of the people of B.C. and the B.C. Liberal Party and call for a referendum on the Nisga'a treaty?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition would do well to read the Constitution of Canada.

We believe firmly in section 35 of the Constitution and will protect it.

Apec Inquiry

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Right Hon. Prime Minister.

There are two things the Prime Minister does not seem to get. We are asking him to apologize for his joke, not for the pepper spraying itself but the joke about the pepper spraying. Second, the commission itself requested funding. Presumably the commission has some notion of its own mandate.

Could the Prime Minister take this opportunity to heal the wound that he has created between himself and the students, apologize for his jokes and respect the commission's request for funding of the students?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, a lot of people were making jokes on Saturday night about pepper, not only me. That is part of debate.

I said that if this lady has suffered something because of this abuse by the police it will be judged by the commission. I apologized to her on behalf of the police, but let us find out if it was appropriate for the police to use pepper spray or not.

I am not an expert. This is why we have a commission to look into that. As I said earlier, if the commission needs more funding it will be made available.

Multilateral Agreement On Trade

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I will give up beating a dead horse and go to the Minister of International Trade on another matter having to do with the government's insensitivity toward a global economy that has no regard for human rights.

The minister of trade knows that France has pulled out of the MAI talks because it found them to be a completely inadequate framework for multilateral talks. Will the minister of trade now do the same and tell the House of Commons that Canada finds this process to be inadequate and will not be participating in the negotiations at the OECD?

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, what the supplementary question has to do with the first question beats me and everybody else.

We have said very clearly that Canada will only sign the right deal when it comes along. Six months ago we agreed as a member of the OECD to a six month reflection or a six month pause.

We also agreed that we would rejoin in October to have a take note and a take stock debate. We think that is appropriate. We will be there.

If it is the end of the road, Canada will not loose any sleep over it. If we can continue to put in place a regime of investment rules, that is also good for Canadian companies.

Apec Inquiry

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general said moments ago that he has faith in the public complaints commission. How can it have faith in him? This commission reports directly to the solicitor general who then in turn reports to the Prime Minister.

The solicitor general has compromised this process without regret or responsibility. Did the solicitor general further undermine the APEC inquiry by discussing his decision not to fund the students with the Prime Minister's Office?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier in response to another question, a whole series of departments is affected by this. There are many tribunals throughout the government that might be affected by this precedent setting decision. Consequently there were broad consultations before I made my decision.

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I guess that is yes.

The solicitor general should not have made the decision about the APEC funding in the first place. He breached his oath of office when he spoke at length about the APEC hearing in a public place. The taxpayers are funding spin doctors, lawyers and the solicitor general to cover for the Prime Minister while the students have no legal defence.

In light of this incestuous Liberal conflict of interest, will the Prime Minister remove the cloak of political interference, fire the solicitor general and bring in a new and objective minister?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is no.

We want the commission to look into the matter as quickly as possible, listen to all the witnesses and make a report that will be made public to everybody, not only to the solicitor general or me but to the whole system, the press and all members of parliament. Everybody will be in a position to judge the activities of the police and the quality of the report of the commission.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Judi Longfield, Liberal, Whitby—Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government's aboriginal head start program is helping to ensure a healthy start to life for all off reserve children.

The 1997 throne speech and the 1998 budget committed to an expansion of this project on to the reserves. Could the Minister of Health tell parliament when on reserve children could participate in this very worthwhile project?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the question is a very timely one. In 1995 the government began the aboriginal head start program. Since then it has helped tens of thousands of children in aboriginal communities, but it has only been available in urban centres.

I am pleased that after question period today in Centre Block I will be able to announce that we will commence immediately to receive applications to fund aboriginal head start programs on reserves to help thousands more aboriginal children to get a good healthy start in life.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has a $14 million shortfall in the RCMP budget, $8.5 million of which is in British Columbia.

The RCMP has been told to stop using its boats and planes. It has been told to ban overtime and to cancel all training, among other things. The results have been disastrous.

The Liberals squander hundreds of millions of dollars weekly that could have easily funded this, so it is a political decision and not a financial one.

Why is it that Royal Canadian Mounted Police operations are considered a royal pain in the butt to the Liberal government?

[The Speaker]

Maybe we could focus on another part of the anatomy the next time.

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, given this is the 125th anniversary of the RCMP, we have all had occasion this year to speak of our pride in that institution.

Like all government agencies, the RCMP is going through a period of restraint. How it exercises restraint is an operational issue. I have every confidence in the management of the RCMP to do that in a way that is in the interest of the safety of Canadians.