House of Commons Hansard #159 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was smoking.
Werner Schmidt Reform Kelowna, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is very fortunate that the minister got a report from the RCMP and believed it this time.
The shredding of documents is a very simple issue. We would think the Liberals have had a lot of experience with this, with APEC and the Somalia affair. It is a very simple but important issue.
This company sold the material for profit. In spite of the action he has taken, how can the minister be 100% sure that those files did not end up in the hands of people who could abuse them?
Golden West Document ShreddingOral Question Period
Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel Québec
Liberal
Alfonso Gagliano LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member that this incident happened in July, almost five months ago.
We took all the necessary measures and we will continue to look at the matter. I have been told that no files or very important documents are in the hands of anybody. After five months I am surprised he is raising the issue.
Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry. Yesterday, the Minister of Industry again contradicted himself by confirming that Bill C-54 would indeed apply to Quebec. Since 1994, however, Quebec has had privacy legislation that is a model for the world.
The minister's bill represents a clear step backwards for Quebeckers. What will it take for the minister to recognize the value of Quebec's experience and to offer Canadians federal legislation that is as complete and effective as what Quebec already has?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, the answer is quite simple. We have a bill that could complement the very good legislation passed by the Johnson government in Quebec to protect the interests of Quebeckers in provincially regulated areas.
This bill will make it possible to protect the interests of all Quebeckers in federally regulated areas, as well in other provinces that perhaps prefer to leave this up to the federal government.
Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, clearly the minister does not understand his own bill.
Ministers Boisclair and Beaudoin wrote the minister that the proposed federal legislation seriously undermined privacy in Quebec. Yet the minister could have built on Quebec's legislation.
What is the minister trying to prove by imposing less effective legislation on Quebeckers?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, at the meeting of ministers responsible for the information highway held in Fredericton in June, at which Minister Beaudoin was present, the ministers decided, and I quote “to support the adoption of the model code for the protection of personal information developed by the Canadian Standards Association as the minimum standard”. That was what was done.
Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada reported yesterday that the number of full time jobs in Canada has declined by 230,000 during the 1990s.
Meanwhile, the jobs that were created were either part time jobs or jobs that people had to create themselves after they were laid off. In the U.S. employment grew at almost twice the Canadian rate and those were full time secure jobs.
How can the finance minister be proud of his job record when the job creation record is so much better in the U.S.?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, when we were in opposition we repeatedly pointed out to the government the principal defects in its economic policy which led to the very situation that has been described by Statistics Canada.
That is why when we came into office in 1993 we immediately began to remedy the situation. I am delighted to say that since 1996 job growth in Canada has been substantially higher than in the United States.
Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, blah, blah, blah. That is not the right answer. That is not the answer at all.
Statistics Canada has the answer. It says that at least part of the problem is high payroll taxes in Canada. The minister takes credit for interest rates that are set in the United States. When is he going to start to take the blame for high payroll taxes that he has direct responsibility for?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, blah, blah. Another brilliant policy insight from the Reform caucus.
The simple fact is we have reduced payroll taxes every year since we have come into office. Payroll taxes are such a clear indicator. Why is it that our payroll taxes are the lowest of the OECD and in fact are lower than those in the United States?
Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister admitted he would be reviewing his policy of charging for ice breaking, which is unfair to Quebec.
However, the public is worried because, in less than a month, new fees will be charged but no one knows what they will be. This all smacks of improvisation.
My question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Does he not realize that the implementation of his charging policy should be deferred, at least until a careful impact study has been conducted and the necessary consultations properly carried out?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, as I said repeatedly, the proposed fee schedule was developed by a 10 member committee, seven of whom were from the Laurentian and Great Lakes regions.
Last week, the industry made us a counteroffer. I am in the process of evaluating this counteroffer, giving it proper consideration, and, as I told the hon. member time and time again, as soon as I make a decision, I will announce it.
Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, it cannot be stated often enough: the industry is worried, port authorities are worried, ferry operators are worried, they are all worried because the minister's plan smacks of improvisation.
Why not do the only reasonable thing and impose a moratorium?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, if the industry and port authorities are concerned, it is because the Bloc Quebecois keeps spreading false information on this issue day after day.
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, the minister of agriculture continues to gouge bankrupt farmers. The minister uses his agencies such as the Canadian Grain Commission and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to strip $138 million from farmers.
The minister could go a long way to saving the family farm by dropping these user fees today. He does not need to discuss it with the finance minister. He does not need to negotiate with Americans. Why does he not just do it?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I find this information and these comments passing strange from a party that said it would take hundreds of millions of dollars out of the support to agriculture.
We had a challenge when we took over the government in Canada and we met that challenge. Part of that was asking the users to pay, after consultation and agreement with them, some of the cost of the services provided to them for some of the benefit accrued to them. Also, the member knows that we have frozen those fees until after the year 2000.
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, farmers are paying all those fees. These agencies are of value to all Canadians.
The point is that Canadian farmers are going broke and until this crisis is over we should stop taking the shirts off their backs.
I am not asking the minister to disband the Canadian Grain Commission, I am asking him to stop using his ministry to drive farmers off the land. Again, when will he suspend these taxes?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member claims to represent people in western Canada, and I know he comes from there, but I suggest he talk to farmers about their feelings about the Canadian Grain Commission and the fees charged.
I can tell the hon member that farmers are in full support of the activities of the Canadian Grain Commission and the reputation it gives to the best grain and cereal products in the world which we market all over the world.
Daniel Turp Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Mr. Speaker, today the House of Lords decided that General Pinochet could be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and extradited to a third country.
Last week, the Minister of Justice indicated that she was initiating consultations on the matter.
Can the minister tell us today whether her decision has been reached and whether she intends to demand extradition of the dictator Pinochet to Canada, following the example of Spain, France, Switzerland and Belgium?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I have made no decision in this matter as of yet. As I reported last week to the hon. member, I have referred this matter to the RCMP and to my war crimes unit.
Obviously in light of the House of Lords decision this morning we are now reviewing that decision and in the coming weeks we will make a decision based on the report of the RCMP as well as the advice of my war crimes unit.
Jean Augustine Liberal Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON
Mr. Speaker, today in the Hall of Honour a clothesline with T-shirts bearing messages of women's experience with violence reminds us that November 25 is the international day to end violence against women.
Could the secretary of state tell the House what Canada is doing to eliminate violence against women.
Hedy Fry LiberalSecretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)
Mr. Speaker, November 25 is the international day to eliminate violence against women.
I have a personal commitment to ending violence against women and so I am very proud to be part of a government that is also committed to this end.
The government has brought in many changes to the Criminal Code to decreased violence against women and children. We have also recognized that every six and a half days a women is killed with a gun in domestic violence. We have brought about changes in strong gun control legislation. We have brought about innovative changes through the research centre on violence across Canada.
The T-shirts the hon. member speaks about—
Gary Lunn Reform Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries has just changed the rules so that foreign vessels and foreign fishermen can now fish turbot in Canadian waters where Canadians are denied access to this very resource.
Is it the policy of the government to pay fishermen to sit at home on TAGS while foreign vessels and cheap foreign labour are brought in to fish in Canadian waters?
Gary Lunn Reform Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries should realize that he just changed rules last week and his department officials confirmed that in committee yesterday.
I quote from a letter from 21 Canadian fish companies to the minister demanding access to this resource over foreigners: “It is inexcusable that foreign vessels and foreign crews are permitted to harvest turbot at the expense of Canadian fishermen”.
Where is the new Captain Canada over there? Why does the minister continue today to give away our resources at the expense of Canadian fishermen? What is he doing? How come he does not know what is going on in his own ministry?