Debates of Oct. 2nd, 1998

Standing Committee On Fisheries And Oceans

[Gary Lunn, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister said that the chairman of the fisheries committee asked to be removed for personal reasons. The chairman, however, has a different take. He said that he was forced out.

The Prime Minister said that the chairman was very happy with government policy. The chairman, however, said that he vehemently disagreed with the direction of DFO.

Can the government clear up these contradictions?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, that question is sheer and utter nonsense. The chair of the committee was never asked to resign. In any case, the report of the committee has not been concurred in. May I suggest that the hon. member's question is not even in order.

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member must realize that questions of committees are not the responsibility of the government. I know he will be very careful in posing his supplementary question.

[Gary Lunn, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister said that the member for Gander—Grand Falls voluntarily stepped down as chairman of the fisheries committee and that he was completely happy with government policy.

This is just not the case. The former chairman says he was forced out because he disagrees with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Why did the Prime Minister mislead the House?

[The Deputy Speaker]

I think the hon. member knows that is out of order and we will deal with that later.

Canadian Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

The president of the world bank said yesterday that the G7 countries should “take measures to stimulate their economy, increase demand and rebuild confidence”. Yesterday, the Bloc Quebecois put the very same thing to the minister to be told its position was totally ridiculous.

Does the Minister of Finance think the position of the president of the world bank totally ridiculous as well?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, what happened yesterday is that the Bloc Quebecois wanted to blame the Government of Canada for the ills of the world, and that is totally ridiculous.

As regards the statement by the president of the world bank, with whom I had long discussions, I agree with it. All industrialized countries must join together to bring the Asian and Russian economies out of the slump they are in. I made a speech in this regard this week.

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

Mr. Speaker, for the past two months the Bloc Quebecois has been trying to wake up the minister. All the better to have him awake now.

More and more analysts and experts are sounding the alarm. The president of the world bank says this is the time to act, and the minister concludes he is right.

When will the minister stop talking about the Canadian economy and do something before we find ourselves in a full recession?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government has already acted. This is why we were so quick to eliminate the deficit. This is why productivity in Canada is now on the rise.

This is why the OECD and the IMF have congratulated the Government of Canada on its efforts and results.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I too have a question for the Minister of Finance.

The storm threatens Canada. The economy has been slowing down for the past four months, and not just in Latin America or Asia, but right here at home.

How many more months of negative growth will it take for the minister to admit that there is a problem and that urgent action is required to stimulate the economy, as the president of the World Bank has said?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I agree fully with the president of the World Bank that industrialized nations will have to co-ordinate their efforts.

That is not what Bloc Quebecois members are suggesting. They are suggesting that we spend, and that we reduce government revenue. In other words, that we go back to a deficit situation. That is the worst thing we could do in today's volatile global market.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if we are to believe the Minister of Finance, things are going so well that we are only 700,000 jobs short of the number of jobs before the last recession.

Does the minister understand that, at a time such as this, the most elementary precaution requires that he take concrete action to stimulate the economy, and that his worrisome failure to do so puts our economy at risk?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that we live in turbulent times. That is why it was so important for the government to put its fiscal house in order the way it did.

But let us look at the results in Canada. In 1997, 500,000 new jobs were created. During the first eight months of this year, 200,000 jobs were created. The unemployment rate has dropped from 11.5% to 8.3%. Today, the IMF tells us that Canada will lead the G-7 countries in job creation.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. He will probably be aware that President Clinton has just gone on national television to warn the nation of the dangers of the spreading global financial crisis. He is likely also aware that the chairman of Europe's largest bank has resigned in the last 24 hours over a billion dollar loss from his bank, as well as the resignation of a number of his senior directors.

I do not want the minister to go through the usual mantra of the fundamentals being in place. Could the Minister of Finance tell the House and millions of concerned Canadians what is the precise extent of the exposure of Canada's chartered banks to—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. the Minister of Finance.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asks a very important question. It is one that the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has looked into.

The superintendent has assured me he is confident that whatever exposure Canadian banks have to the overall derivatives market is one well within their capacity to handle. It is something that we will monitor, and I appreciate the question.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, President Clinton has summoned the finance ministers and central bank governors for a special meeting on Monday morning to discuss this growing crisis. He is also aware that the tumbling stock market puts mutual funds and a lot of the savings of Canadians at risk.

Could the Minister of Finance tell the House what is the collective exposure of the big six banks to risks associated with mutual funds and hedge funds?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, again I am assured that the exposure of our major financial institutions to the risks the member has just described is well within their ability to handle.

A number of banks are involved in mutual funds. In terms of the major hedge funds the hon. member probably saw the report where the Toronto-Dominion Bank refused long term capital, which is the hedge fund in most difficulty, because it had prudent policies in place. I am assured that is common throughout our banking system.

Agriculture

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know there is a nasty trade dispute going on between Canada and the United States agriculture. In our committee yesterday a senior trade official said that this was not unusual during state governship elections, that this always happens.

Did the minister of agriculture not see this trade dispute coming? If he did, why does he not have a contingency plan to help save our producers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I concur with the comments that were made by officials at committee yesterday. I also concur with the fact that every time there is an election in the United States they seem to crank this issue up in the midwestern states.

I also want to inform the hon. member that many months ago I had discussions about this very thing with the secretary of agriculture in the United States. There have been ongoing discussions. I am very optimistic that in the next few days discussions which are taking place as we speak right now will be very fruitful for the industry on both sides of the border.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister would probably have done just as well having those discussions with my mother as the secretary of agriculture for the United States.

As early as last night the Governor of South Dakota, Bill Janklow, said that he will not give up his dispute until the U.S. sues Canada for unfair trading practices.

Is the minister simply going to sit back and hope that Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman is going to solve the problem?

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

Mr. Speaker, the manner in which we as the Canadian government have solved these problems in the past, we will solve them in the future. We will sit down at the table and we will do it.

Yes, I am confident that Mr. Janklow is not going to sue the Canadian government.

Canada Pension Plan

[Grant McNally, Reform, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is incredible how this government treats people who get in its way. If someone disagrees with the Liberals on human rights, they get pepper sprayed. If they disagree with the Liberals on fish, they get fired, even if they are a Liberal MP. If they disagree with the Liberals on CPP, as Bernard Dussault did, they get fired and then they get sued.

My question is for the finance minister. Will tax dollars be used to pay for that case?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member is going to have ridiculous preambles in his question he has to expect that people will reply to them.

The fact is that the Superintendent of Financial Institutions runs a separate agency and he is independent. He has made very clear the degree to which he wants to protect his independence.

There were management differences between he and the chief actuary. Under those circumstances the superintendent acted.

[Grant McNally, Reform, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if the minister wants to talk about ridiculous preambles he should take a look at his answer. That was ridiculous.

It is clear that Mr. Palmer stated himself that political comments were on the table. They were involved in this and he knows it.

Because the minister did not answer the question the first time, I want to ask him once again whether tax dollars are going to be used in this case. Yes or no?