Debates of Nov. 20th, 1998

Apec Inquiry

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his endorsation of the Liberal program. I presume in that endorsation he also includes the entire red book. We will note that when his colleagues try to attack our efforts based on that red book. Thanks for the endorsation. We appreciate it.

[Dick Harris, Reform, Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, not even a Liberal can endorse their own red book these days. The fact is that the government is caught like a rat in a trap.

[The Speaker]

I appeal to members on both sides. Please cool down the rhetoric a little bit so we can get through this question period.

[Dick Harris, Reform, Prince George—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we have two affidavits swearing that the solicitor general fingered Hughie Stewart to take the fall on this issue. There are two sets of lawyers who want the APEC inquiry shut down. Still the government continues to back its disgraced solicitor general.

Given the affidavits, given the breach of trust, given the damage done by the solicitor general, how on earth can the APEC inquiry do its job now?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member is serious about the public complaints commission doing its job, then he would not attempt to derail it through his unwarranted questions in the House.

Why does the member not show some commitment to the process by not asking these kinds of questions?

2010 Games

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

Mr. Speaker, in Nagano, the Minister of Canadian Heritage said she could not do anything to protect francophones, because the Canadian Olympic Committee is an independent body.

Today, the Canadian Olympic Association claims to have met twice with the minister, who asked them to consider the impact that the outcome of the vote to choose the host city for the 2010 Games could have on the Quebec election.

Why did the minister ask the association to postpone until December 1 the announcement of the Canadian city that will bid for the 2010 Games, if not because the government fears that the choice made could have a negative impact on the Liberals in Quebec, on November 30?

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, Sports Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage are partners of the Canadian Olympic Association.

We had a duty to raise the concerns that had been expressed regarding that decision.

[An hon. member]

This is not true.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

That being said, we share the opinion of the Quebec premier and of the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. This is a non-political decision.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

And this is how the decision will be made. The Canadian Olympic Association is an independent body and we respect its decisions.

Child Poverty

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is national child day. The government has taken a number of steps to ensure that children in Canada do not live in poverty. Surely the best way to ensure that children do not live in poverty is for Canadians to have jobs so they can provide for their own children.

Can the Minister of Human Resources Development tell this House what steps he has taken to ensure that all Canadians can work and provide for their children?

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

Mr. Speaker, poverty is indeed an issue that has tremendously preoccupied this government since we took office, and child poverty in particular.

This is why with the provinces we have set up a new national child benefit in which we will invest as of the year 2000 $1.7 billion per year to fight child poverty for families with low income. We have in Canada a good economic climate that will help create jobs with the transitional jobs fund. We have implemented a family income supplement. I could go on and on.

Canadian Wheat Board

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, today is the closing day for voting in the Canadian Wheat Board election for directors. There are serious concerns about voting secrecy.

A farming couple from the minister's own riding applied and received ballots. After voting, they removed the numbers from the envelope and returned them. They then received a call from the consulting firm KPMG who questioned their eligibility.

With their ballots lying in front of them, why did KPMG phone this couple if it is to be a secret ballot? This sounds like democracy in a banana republic to me.

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

Mr. Speaker, as in all such processes if somebody has complaints on the process there is a process to put in action. I would suggest that the hon. member tell his constituents or those he is referring to that they use that process.

[Jake Hoeppner, Reform, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, only eligible voters should have received a ballot in the first place. How could KPMG identify a secret mailed in ballot? This sounds more like a Cuban election where you either vote one way or you do not vote at all.

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

Mr. Speaker, if someone has a problem with the ballot, there is a process in order to address that. That is the process that should be followed.

Health Care

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

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister says he wants to talk about social policy. Let me ask him then about the fact that the OECD has set a standard for all nations that 75% of health spending should be public spending. Canada used to meet that standard but not any more.

The president of the Canadian Health Association said “That seems to be what we had until the cuts started to take place at the federal and provincial levels. They sort of created a path towards privatization”.

Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with his wife that government cuts starting at the federal level pave the way to privatization of health care in Canada?

[The Speaker]

Does he agree with his wife? That is stretching it. If he wants to answer it, go ahead.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the hon. member would frame her question in that way. If she were in the 20th century instead of the 19th century which appears to be the case in her question, she would realize that spouses are simply not emanations of each other. They have independent existences and independent ideas connected with their jobs.

The hon. member should be ashamed of her antediluvian 19th century question.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not asking for the Deputy Prime Minister to share any pillow talk. I am asking if he agrees with his wife, who happens to be the President of the Canadian Health Care Association, that this government has contributed to growing privatization in our health care system today. We have a serious problem.

For the first time in the history of medicare 30% of spending on health care is private. When will the government stop contributing to privatization of Canada's health care system?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, she made it even worse in her question by bringing up the same idea that a spouse is only an emanation of the other spouse. I will give a direct answer.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health have said that the next budget will be a health care budget, building on what we have already achieved. We will confirm that when the budget comes.

I ask my hon. friend to go back and take some training on gender sensitivity. She needs it and so does her party.

Business Development Bank Of Canada

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

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

The Business Development Bank of Canada has a mandate to assist in developing small business in Canada. Can the minister indicate if this bank is subject to any constraints on its behaviour with regard to its dealings with the business community in which it operates? More clearly, can the minister indicate if there is a code of conduct that governs the operations of the Business Development Bank of Canada?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the Business Development Bank of Canada was the first of the Canadian banks to publish its own code of conduct and to establish an ombudsman who could deal with complaints as they arose.

With respect to the administrative responsibility of the government, the bank operates entirely at arm's length. I do not tell it what to do or how to do it. We established its mandate in accordance with an act of parliament. It is doing a very impressive job at meeting the needs of small business across Canada.

If we really want to meet the needs of small business across Canada, we will quickly pass Bill C-53 to ensure that the Canada small business financing act is there for the use of small business by April 1 next year.

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is aware that I have written him regarding the company named Eyeland Optical in St. John's, a company that is being forced to move from a prime storefront location to make room for the expansion of the Business Development Bank of Canada. This will probably put Eyeland Optical out of business.

How does the minister square that action with the bank's mandate to assist small business? Does he not realize that the BDBC in St. John's is attempting to put a small business out of business?