Debates of Dec. 9th, 1998

Revenue Canada

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious the member has been spending too much on his failed united alternative. If he spent more time looking at revenue he would have a better idea.

We do not have people going to specific areas but there is an ongoing process of reallocating. Obviously the member from Bedrock is still in the stone age. Where does he get his information?

Immigration

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on November 2, on arriving at Dorval airport, Céline Spigariol, a French national, was denied access to Canada and forced to return to Toulouse, without being allowed to communicate with her family. She he made the cross-Atlantic trip twice in one day.

My question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. How can the minister allow her immigration officers to behave in such a cavalier and inhuman manner towards someone who has done nothing wrong and who represented no threat to Canada's security?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to extend a welcome to the Bloc Quebecois' new immigration critic, the member for Chambly.

That having been said, it is very clear that when someone arrives in Canada as a visitor, he must prove that he is a bona fide visitor, meaning that he is here to visit Canada and nothing else.

I have every reason to believe that immigration officers acted in accordance with the Immigration Act.

Agriculture

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

We all know that Canadian farmers are facing an alarming situation.

When will the minister be ready to announce a response to the crisis?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have said all along that we hope to indicate clearly to the industry before Christmas, sooner rather than later, any support the government can give to those farmers who are in serious difficulty.

I met with members of the Canadian Banking Association, the credit union and the Farm Credit Corporation the other day. They too indicated their attention to the seriousness. They as well as this government will be working to help farmers get through these tough times.

Young Offenders

[Chuck Cadman, Reform, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I came here one and a half years ago in part to work for new young offender legislation. The minister said then that it was among her top priorities. She promised it for last spring. Then it was the fall. Now we are about to go home for Christmas and still there is nothing. How dare she tell Canadians that this is her top priority.

Where is the legislation? What is the problem? If the minister cannot produce it, perhaps the Prime Minister can find somebody who will.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member is probably aware, I met with my provincial and territorial colleagues in Regina at the end of October. We had a very candid and frank discussion about youth justice. It became readily apparent that the provinces and the territories had big differences in opinion and approach in relation to how we move forward with the new youth justice system.

At that time my provincial and territorial colleagues were able to agree on four broad principles. They want a flexible regime that reflects provincial and territorial differences in the approach to youth justice. They want a balanced approach. They want additional resources. And they want additional consultations. To that end, federal, provincial and territorial officials met for two days last week in Toronto. I would like to report that those were very constructive consultations.

I am not going to work to any artificial deadline. We will introduce legislation—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Surrey North.

[Chuck Cadman, Reform, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last week in Saskatoon two 17 year olds with a combined record of 60 offences were convicted for a brutal home invasion. Sixty prior offences.

The minister's proposals talk of doing something about serious repeat offenders. That is the problem. Talk, talk, talk and more talk. These two will be back on the street within an unsuspecting public within two years. Sixty prior offences and all we get is talk. Again, where is the legislation?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I find this very interesting. Our friends in the official opposition talk a lot about provincial rights. They talk a lot about consultation with the provinces. They may not be aware that the youth justice system is a shared jurisdiction. Because of the shared jurisdiction, we are going to consult with the provinces and the territories before we introduce legislation.

Freshwater Exports

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, all members of this House will appreciate that natural fresh water is a resource like no other. It needs to be protected like no other natural resource. It is the essence of life itself.

My question is for the Minister of the Environment. We now recognize that the Americans are anxious to get hold of our fresh water to the extent that they have launched a suit under NAFTA in order to get it. The fact that British Columbia passed legislation against water exports and the province of Ontario passed legislation, why has the minister not passed legislation in this House to protect Canada's most valuable natural resource?

[Christine Stewart, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, in the United States there is one private firm that is interested in taking Canada's bulk water. The Government of the United States and the Government of Canada are very concerned about any export of bulk fresh water. We are working together to try and come up with some kind of agreement on the export of bulk water.

The case which has come to Canada under chapter 11 of NAFTA speaks to the difficulty of this issue whereby they are challenging a provincial law that bans the export of bulk water. This government with the United States is trying to address—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Kamloops.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thought Canada was a sovereign nation and that we did not have to ask permission from the United States to pass our own legislation.

Canadians are concerned because the government caved in on the MMT issue. Now the Americans are coming after water. Not one company but a number of companies are interested in water exports.

This government has been in office now for five years. Previous ministers of the environment—

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals applaud this acknowledging that ministers of the environment for years and years have promised this legislation. This government has been promising it for five years and has done absolutely nothing. When will it do something to protect the water of Canada?

[Christine Stewart, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, this government is taking considerable action to deal with the issue of the export of bulk fresh water.

This government does not want the wholesale export of bulk fresh water from this country. As I said before, we are consulting and have consulted. We will continue to do so with the provinces, the territories and the Canadian public to find ways to limit and prevent the wholesale export of bulk fresh water.

National Defence

[David Price, Progressive Conservative, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the minister of defence has his answer to any question with the word helicopter in it already memorized. I urge him to be earnest with Canadians. He says that he has restored the search and rescue helicopter fleet to full operational availability. What this means, according to him, is that it takes 70 hours of labour for every one hour of flight time. They are available less than 50% of the time. Proficiency and training flights are kept to an absolute minimum.

If the Labradors are not considered safe for full training and proficiency flying, how can they be considered safe for search and rescue?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated to this House before, we have a very high level of maintenance. We have expert people who ensure that all of our aircraft are safe to fly. We will not allow them to go in the air unless they are safe to fly. Obviously, as they get older they require a little bit more maintenance, but we are ensuring with this more maintenance that they are still safe to operate.

[David Price, Progressive Conservative, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, again I urge the minister to be a little more earnest with Canadians.

One year ago a news helicopter had to rescue survivors of a plane crash in northern Manitoba. Again this past Monday, survivors of a plane crash in Quebec had to be rescued by another private helicopter.

Why will the minister not provide search and rescue helicopters that our professional forces can use and rely on every day? Or is he satisfied with depending on the goodwill of others?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the hon. member will be as earnest in his questions as I certainly will be in my answers.

I continue to say that we will not put aircraft in the air unless they are safe to fly. We have ordered new helicopters for search and rescue, the Cormorant. We are also finalizing the procurement strategy with replacement to the Sea King being our objective there. Meanwhile, we will only fly helicopters or any kind of aircraft that is safe to fly.

Immigration

[Sarkis Assadourian, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

This week the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tabled a new and improved Citizenship Act in Canada. Can the minister tell this House when she expects to announce the changes to the Immigration Act itself?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, immigration and refugee protection are important policies for the future of this country. That is why we have worked very hard on the report we received from an independent advisory panel earlier this year. We have done a lot of consultations throughout the country over the years. After reviewing all the potential changes for the immigration legislation, I hope to be able to announce publicly the decision of the government early in the new year.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Mike Scott, Reform, Skeena, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday at a news conference in Vancouver, the Prime Minister referred to the Nisga'a treaty as “the Nisga'a problem”. The Nisga'a agreement is going to cost British Columbian and Canadian taxpayers half a billion dollars as well as entrench a constitutionally protected third order of government based entirely on ethnic membership.

Is this what the Prime Minister meant by the Nisga'a problem? Has he finally come to his senses and realized just how big a problem his minister of Indian affairs has created for Canadians?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, the only problem with the Nisga'a agreement is the fact that the opposition presents myths about what it is all about.

What the Prime Minister said yesterday is the issue of settling treaties in British Columbia is a priority for this government because it is the law.