Debates of Dec. 3rd, 1998

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister simply does not understand the Reform Party's position. He is dreaming in technicolour. I remind him that the jobs he is so proud of creating were created in Ontario and Alberta where they did cut taxes. He can take no credit for that.

He still does not understand so I will ask him very clearly. He knows high payroll taxes and taxes in general kill jobs, investment and consumer spending. When is this message going to get through? When is he going to give Canadians the tax break they deserve?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member says I do not understand the Reform position so I will refer to its report. Reformers would cut EI premiums, but for employers only with not a penny for employees. How would they pay for that cut? They would take $3.5 billion out of the health transfer. They would take $1 billion out of equalization. They would take $920 million out of funding for aboriginal Canadians.

2010 Olympic Games

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the intervention of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and two of her colleagues biased the process to select the Canadian candidate for the 2010 Games and penalized Quebec City.

While the Minister of Canadian Heritage said yesterday that her colleagues were absolutely not involved in the matter, how does the Prime Minister explain the fact that their names appeared on the official list of the Vancouver delegation?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I said yesterday and I repeat today: the Government of Canada supported none of the three candidate cities, and I hope, now that a decision has been made democratically by a majority of the olympic committee, that all members of this parliament will support the decision of the olympic committee.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more seriously than the minister, is it not true that the only reason two ministers did not end up in Toronto was the pressure exerted by the mayor of Quebec City, by the Secretary of State for Regional Development, Quebec, the member for Outremont, and finally, at the last moment, by the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, following a call from the member for Outremont to get Mr. Pelletier, the former mayor of Quebec City, to act.

Is this not what happened. Can the Prime Minister deny it?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the members of this House are entitled to make representations. No ministerial representations were made to the Toronto committee. It was a competition.

The member should perhaps read Foglia—a very well known péquiste, but a man who can be perfectly reasonable—in La Presse this morning. He said that, in his opinion, it was probably a logical decision by a committee that had to choose among three good candidates.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the decisions of the Canadian Olympic Association should be made without political interference. They should not be used for political purposes.

Yet this was the excuse the Minister of Canadian Heritage gave for delaying the announcement about the 2010 Games.

Will the Prime Minister admit that, whatever the role played by his two ministers, the mere fact that they were announced as participants in Winnipeg's candidacy represented an advantage that Quebec unfortunately did not—

[The Speaker]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member has just said that this issue should not be used for political ends. That is precisely what he is doing right now. He is trying to show once again what a poor martyr he is.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

The fact of the matter is that there were three candidates and the Olympic committee chose Vancouver.

Members from the British Columbia area naturally support the choice of Vancouver, just as members from the Quebec City area favoured Quebec City.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not trying to make political capital out of this issue. What I want—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Roberval has the floor.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what is at issue here is the behaviour of the government, which should be neutral. That is what we are questioning, that is what it is our job to do and that is what we will do, whether or not the Prime Minister likes it.

Does he think that, when one of his ministers starts to promote Vancouver, his government has been neutral?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there was also a cabinet minister from Alberta. There was no cabinet minister from Quebec City because all local MPs are members of the Bloc Quebecois. That is not my fault. I would have loved to have a member from Quebec City in cabinet to say that it was a great city. But what can I—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

The Prime Minister still has some time remaining to answer the question.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a decision was made. The members from British Columbia supported British Columbia's candidacy. The members from the Province of Quebec who were asked their opinion favoured Quebec City.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

Bloc Quebecois members say they did not support the candidacy of Quebec City. So we will tell Mr. L'Allier that the Bloc Quebecois was not in favour of his—

[The Speaker]

The hon. leader of the New Democratic Party has the floor.

Agriculture

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, last week the agriculture minister promised help for Canadian farmers before Christmas, but the promise was short lived.

The minister now tells farmers they will not receive any help before spring. Canadian farmers do not need a grinch as agriculture minister. They need help now.

How can the minister not understand the urgency? How can the minister not understand that the farmers need interim relief and they need it now?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member needs to listen to what I continue to say.

I explained the situation to my cabinet colleagues. The government is fully aware of the seriousness, of the urgency and of the importance of sending the message and informing the industry before Christmas, sooner rather than later. I stand by that statement.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to what the agriculture minister said.

The minister seemed engaged in seeking solutions to the farm crisis. His references to a bankable promise before Christmas even generated some hope. Yet today the minister admitted he has not even discussed a way of getting help to cases of particular hardship. These farmers are desperate. Many of them will go under before spring.

Again, will there be cash by Christmas, yes or no?