Debates of Nov. 17th, 1998

Finance

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is a member of the committee that read the Coopers & Lybrand letter. He knows that what we are dealing with is a judgment call and a judgment call that is perfectly within the government's capability.

What distresses me is that the hon. member, a member for whom I have a great deal of respect, again refers to the millennium fund as a slush fund. He knows full well that the costs of education are onerous for many students and it is a responsibility of all levels of government to help students pay for their education.

That is the way we will build a future. That is not a slush fund and I am sure the hon. member wishes he had—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Mercier.

Bill C-54

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

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

On October 30, the 12 provincial and territorial ministers of justice unanimously called for the withdrawal of Bill C-54 on e-commerce and the protection of personal information because, and I quote “It constitutes a major intrusion in areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction”.

When will the Minister of Industry be announcing his agreement to withdraw his bill, as requested unanimously by the Quebec and Canadian ministers of justice?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the protection of personal information in electronic form is very important for all Canadians.

We will protect it, we will pass Bill C-54. This is not an intrusion into provincial jurisdictions. It does not even apply in the Province of Quebec, where such legislation already exists.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-54 is so muddled that the some forty experts at the information meeting organized by Industry Canada each had a different interpretation.

Given all this confusion, when will the minister announce he is withdrawing his bill?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, never, because the protection of private information is too important for Canada's consumers.

Health

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal assault on medicare is pretty plain: $7 billion gutted from provincial transfers, 188,000 people left in pain on waiting lists, and thousands of health care workers leaving Canada every year.

Why would anybody trust this health care minister with such a dreadful record on health?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, if Canadians want to know where the parties stand on medicare, they should consult the record. When they look at the record they will find out where the Reform Party stands on medicare and the Canada Health Act.

They will find that the leader of the Reform Party said he “would amend the Canada Health Act to allow user fees, deductibles and private delivery of services”. He said that he “would require some Canadians to pay at least a portion of their own health care costs under certain conditions”.

The Reform Party would cut $9 billion from social programs. And that is the party that expects us to listen to it on medicare.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, is it not interesting that the lawyer for the court tries to wiggle out of his own record by deflecting attention to somebody else.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

I would ask the hon. member to go to his question.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the trust is gone. Carl Erickson is on a waiting list. He does not trust this minister. The hepatitis C compensation people do not trust this minister. Why would anybody trust this Minister of Health with his dreadful record and pay attention to his record?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, in fairness to my profession, I think I should first make it clear that lawyers do not wiggle. They step deftly. Let me do just that in pointing out that so far as the member and his party are concerned, the verdict is in. The verdict is that if Canadians want to see medicare protected, if they want to see health care in the future as they have seen in the past, if they want to see investments in social programs and social justice, they will support this party and this government.

Icebreaking Policy

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the issue of icebreaking on the St. Lawrence River, the president of the Coalition maritime et industrielle nationale wrote the following to the minister, on July 3:

Very few or our 27 recommendations were accepted. Most were rejected, ignored or altered to serve the interests of the coast guard.

How can the minister have the nerve to tell us that he implemented the recommendations of a committee when it is absolutely not true?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, as regards the icebreaking fee structure, we did follow the committee's advice. The committee was made up of 10 members. Seven were from the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence. There were people from Ontario and Quebec.

They proposed a rate scale. We accepted it. This is exactly what happened.

Publishing Industry

[Sarmite Bulte, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Critics of Bill C-55 allege that it is protectionist and it will hurt Canadian advertisers. Will the minister inform this House how this legislation will indeed help our magazine industry?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank four out of the five parties in the House who understand the importance of keeping Canadian spaces for Canadian voices and Canadian children, and I would further underscore, as have also successive Canadian governments.

The governments formed by various political parties have always supported the right of Canadians to protect their own culture in their own country.

There is only one political party in this House that prefers to speak for the Americans and that is the Reform Party.

Forestry

[John Duncan, Reform, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Greenpeace is killing forestry in British Columbia and the government is helping.

The leaders of the local forestry union asked the Prime Minister to meet with them to discuss this crisis. He told them to go and see the labour minister who told them to go and see the human resources minister who yesterday said no.

Why does the minister not save everyone's time and just admit that he does not give a damn?

[The Speaker]

Perhaps Rhett Butler could say it, but not in this House.

[Bob Speller, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is very concerned about any misinformation campaign on Canadian forestry practices being waged by any group or government.

I also want to make it very clear that sustainable forest management is a very high priority for the Government of Canada. We enforce our forest practice codes to the letter. Our missions and consulates around the world are standing up for the Canadian forest industry, the workers, the producers and the governments, and I think they are doing a good job.

[John Duncan, Reform, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals place no priority on this issue which affects our largest export. This is because the Liberals do not care about problems west of the Rocky Mountains.

The other question from those devastated families is: Why does the minister treat foreign lobbyists better than Canada's own forestry representatives?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, long before this member or that party engaged in this issue in this House, this government and our provincial counterparts were working very hard on delivering the message around the world that Canadian forest practices are sustainable and that we can be trusted to pursue those practices in this country.

Among other things, we invite buyers to come to this country to look at our practices, and those buyers who have come and seen for themselves go home and change their opinion because they have seen the truth in Canada.

Hazardous Products

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, last year the health minister said that Canadians concerned about toxic toys were misinformed. The minister even voted against a bill by the member for Acadie—Bathurst to label toys containing phthalates. Now the minister finally issues a warning, but there is no list of the hazardous products and we cannot even get through on his 1-800 number.

What is the minister doing to resolve this retail nightmare? Will the minister at least agree to the labelling of toxic toys?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we went one step further than that. We took toxic toys off the market. That is the way we should behave.

I will say something else to the member. Rather than acting as the member would have us do without evidence, we spent the last many months with other countries examining the facts in scientific tests to determine what the facts were. Based on the evidence, all of which was published on Monday of this week, we acted in a responsible way. For us the bottom line is the safety of Canadians.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has done no such thing. The minister has created chaos at the retail level and he has refused to deal with poisonous substances in terms of phthalates, lead and cadmium.

Will the minister finally admit that he was wrong? Will he take steps to ensure that children's safety is put first? Will the minister regulate any products that have dangerously high levels of phthalates, lead and cadmium? Will the minister do everything to ensure that children are not exposed to dangerous substances that cause neurological damage? Will the minister do it now?