House of Commons Hansard #154 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was levy.

Topics

Health CareOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

The Speaker

Colleagues, be sure to always address your questions through the Chair.

Health CareOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Etobicoke Centre Ontario

Liberal

Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health

Mr. Speaker, the member will know that provincial governments are responsible for delivering services. He will also remember that this is the government whose first step after it reached solvency was to increase transfers to health by $1.5 billion.

There is something else that has to be remembered. These questions emerge from an unlikely source. They emerge from the party that would gut medicare, that says the Canada Health Act is an outdated piece of legislation, that wants to impose user fees to have Canadians pay for medical services out of their own pockets. This is the party—

Health CareOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Trois-Rivières.

Icebreaking PolicyOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, just to show how absurd the icebreaking policy is, the ships providing ferry service between Quebec City and Lévis, Baie-Comeau and Matane, and Rivière-du-Loup and Saint-Siméon will have to pay icebreaking fees this winter, while federal government vessels and Newfoundland ferries will not.

Why is the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans unfairly discriminating against Quebec ferries and treating them differently from Newfoundland ferries and federal government vessels?

Icebreaking PolicyOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Victoria B.C.

Liberal

David Anderson LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, the current proposal would not apply to the Quebec City-Lévis ferry because the kind of intraharbour transit services provided in the Quebec City harbour would be exempt.

Icebreaking PolicyOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, could the minister tell us whether this exemption would apply only to the Quebec City-Lévis ferry or to all ferries in Quebec?

Icebreaking PolicyOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Victoria B.C.

Liberal

David Anderson LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, discussions are under way concerning ferry service not covered by a constitutional guarantee like the services between Newfoundland and harbours in other Atlantic provinces and in Quebec. No decision has been made, in spite of what the Bloc Quebecois is telling the public and this House.

Health CareOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Reform

Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the Minister of Health. His government has the worst record on health care in Canadian history.

The government has cut $7 billion out of transfers to the provinces for health care. Fourteen hundred doctors have left Canada for the U.S. We have a situation where 190,000 sick people are on waiting lists today.

How big does the surplus have to grow and how long do the waiting lists have to get before the minister puts a number on what he claims is his number one priority? What is his number? How much for health care?

Health CareOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party today is saying that it would devote the $10 billion surplus entirely to health care.

Two days ago the leader of the Reform Party said he would devote 100% of the surplus to tax cuts. Three weeks ago he would devote it to debt reduction. The only thing Reform has has not promised to do is use the surplus to pay for the wallpaper at Stornoway.

Health CareOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Reform

Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see the other Kevorkian twin up, the man who actually administers the lethal injection to health care. It is nice to see him taking a little credit for that.

The minister has a stage right now. He can tell us right now after all these questions how much money he wants to contribute back into health care. He claims it is his number one priority.

If it really is his number one priority, what is his number? How much will he kick back into health care?

Health CareOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health has already answered. In the last budget we increased transfers to the provinces primarily for health care by $1.5 billion. After we had done that, the Reform Party then came out and said that $3.5 billion should be taken out of the CHST.

If we want to look at Reform's real agenda, look at what it said in its taxpayer's budget in addition to that. It would take $3 billion out of old age pensions. It would take—

Health CareOral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Mercier.

Bill C-54Oral Question Period

2:35 p.m.

Bloc

Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC

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

Yesterday, the Minister of Industry stated the following in connection with 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.

How could the Minister of Industry have made such a statement, when he knows all provincial and territorial ministers of justice say the exact opposite, and it has been demonstrated that Bill C-54 will indeed have a negative impact on Quebec?

Bill C-54Oral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Ottawa South Ontario

Liberal

John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, we discussed this bill last week at the meeting of consumer affairs ministers.

I explained the situation to them. They accepted that it was necessary for the federal government to introduce a bill to protect the interests of consumers and individuals and their privacy.

Quebec already has a bill which impacts on businesses coming under provincial jurisdiction, and this bill will not apply. It is as simple as that.

Bill C-54Oral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Bloc

Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that, according to the bill, it will apply in Quebec, and the Quebec access to information commission is of the opinion that Bill C-54 lessens the protection enjoyed by Quebeckers at the present time.

What is his response to the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec?

Bill C-54Oral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Ottawa South Ontario

Liberal

John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, the legislation currently in place in Quebec, which was passed by the former Daniel Johnson government, protects the interests of Quebeckers very well, except for sectors such as telecommunications, banking and so on which come under federal jurisdiction.

We are going to protect the interests of Quebeckers, even in sectors that do not fall under provincial jurisdiction, as well as those of all other Canadians in provinces where there is no protection in provincial sectors.

TaxationOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Reform

Jason Kenney Reform Calgary Southeast, AB

Mr. Speaker, this government's planned proposal to replace Revenue Canada with a mega tax agency is unnecessary, expensive and could become an unaccountable mess like the IRS in the United States.

I have a question for the revenue minister. If the public service hates it, if the provinces do not want it, if Canadians do not want it, why is the government imposing an American style tax collection agency on this country?

TaxationOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Vancouver South—Burnaby B.C.

Liberal

Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, in the last year and a half I travelled across the country to talk to Canadians, to the provinces and our stakeholders. Canadians have been saying that the federal government and provincial governments should be working together. Canadians want us to reduce overlap and duplication. They want us to get rid of the red tape. Provinces are supportive. This is what Canadians wanted. We have listened to Canadians. We heard and we are responding to Canadians.

TaxationOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Reform

Jason Kenney Reform Calgary Southeast, AB

Mr. Speaker, if the provinces are interested it must be something like the Prime Minister's homeless friends because they do not exist. They are a figment of his imagination. I would like the minister to name one province which is committed to participating in this IRS style tax agency.

Why is the minister pressing ahead when he has been criss-crossing this country and not a single province has indicated its willingness to support this plan? The provinces in fact are going in the other direction. Why does the minister not stop, take a minute and consult with Canadians before he makes a terrible mistake in adopting an unaccountable IRS style tax agency?

TaxationOral Question Period

2:40 p.m.

Vancouver South—Burnaby B.C.

Liberal

Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, as we have been consulting with Canadians this is the first time since February 23 this hon. member has put up this question. We signed an agreement with the province of Nova Scotia to look at collecting WCB premiums. The member should read what the finance minister of New Brunswick had to say. He should read what the finance minister of Saskatchewan had to say. If the member paid more attention to what is going on in revenue than in the united alternative he would know a lot more about what is going on in this department.

Road TransportationOral Question Period

November 18th, 1998 / 2:40 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport, in response to the repeated requests by the Government of Quebec to reinstate the strategic highway improvement program, keeps passing the blame for his inaction on to the provinces.

Will the minister agree that a number of projects essential to economic development and highway safety, such as highway 175 between the Saguenay and Quebec City and highway 389 between Baie-Comeau and Labrador, are threatened because he is refusing to budge in this matter? When is he going to budge?

Road TransportationOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Don Valley East Ontario

Liberal

David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the two highways in question are part of a national road network. I have said publicly not only here but also to the provincial ministers that if funds are available, then there will be another national highway program. If the provinces allocate funds to those particular highways, that would be their decision, if those funds are available.

Canadian Broadcasting CorporationOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

Sarmite Bulte Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON

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

Bill C-44 proposes that the board of directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation be named at pleasure by the governor in council in lieu of the current practice of being appointed to hold office on good behaviour.

What assurances can the minister give this House that the independence of the CBC will not be compromised?

Canadian Broadcasting CorporationOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Hull—Aylmer Québec

Liberal

Marcel Massé LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure

Mr. Speaker, the CBC's independence is recognized in the Broadcasting Act. However, the government wants to reduce the uncertainty. In this case there have been consultations with our caucus colleagues, including the member for Parkdale—High Park. I am grateful for their suggestions. The government has decided to amend Bill C-44 to continue to name the order in council appointments to the CBC on a good behaviour basis.

I want to mention here that the government has decided to change Bill C-44 to retain the type of appointment—

Canadian Broadcasting CorporationOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.