Debates of Feb. 10th, 1998

The Senate

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian public is begging for Senate reform and this Prime Minister, rather than saying he hoped that he could kick him out, should not make any appointments to the Senate from now on. Senators should be voted in and voted out.

The Prime Minister says he cannot fire him. The Canadian public, the people paying the bills, wants to know this. Why not? When will he change the Senate so that it will be elected and accountable to the Canadian public?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we voted for an elected Senate on this side of the House. The Reform Party voted against it in the Charlottetown accord.

Small Business

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Prime Minister.

Following the ice storm disaster, a great many small and medium size businesses in the Montérégie and central Quebec regions in particular are in dire straits. There is an obvious need for financial assistance and for federal involvement.

Does the Prime Minister intend to propose an assistance program identical to the industrial business assistance program, which was put in place in Alberta in 1987, following the tornadoes and floods that hit that province?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we speak, the President of the Treasury Board and the Secretary of State responsible for Quebec Regional Development are in Montreal to discuss such a program with business people from the area that was affected by the ice storm a few weeks ago.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister surely knows what mandate he has given them.

In the name of fairness, will the Prime Minister reassure us by stating that all the measures taken to help Alberta businesses will also be implemented in Quebec?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the program that the Canadian government approved in the past two years to help businesses in the Saguenay region and in Manitoba is being discussed as we speak by the two ministers in Montreal. Of course, the program will also apply to business people from eastern Ontario.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Mike Scott, Reform, Skeena, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Bruce Starlight wrote a confidential letter to the minister of Indian affairs, alleging corruption on the Tsuu T'ina reserve.

Those allegations are now being looked into by the RCMP. Instead of keeping Mr. Starlight's letter confidential, a copy of it with the minister's own stamp on it was sent to the chief under suspicion.

Yesterday the minister said: “That letter was not conveyed by me or by any official in my department”. How can she say that with certainty when this investigation is not even finished?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I indicated was that the letter was not conveyed to the chief by me or through official channels.

I would like to say, though, that as I went through the facts yesterday, there are some other facts the House should consider.

First of all, for the last week there have been only allegations and unfounded innuendoes. The Reform Party has been undermining public servants. It has been challenging duly elected chiefs and councils with no evidence.

I quote the hon. member who said: “It really is easy to draw these conclusions, however, we do not have the evidence”. No evidence.

Why do they not wait for the investigation to conclude and then we will deal with the facts?

[Mike Scott, Reform, Skeena, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that quote has been taken right out of context. The evidence is very clear that Mr. Starlight wrote to the minister.

That letter, with her stamp on it, is sitting in Chief Roy Whitney's office as we speak. How can the minister say that the letter was not conveyed by her or by any official in her department? How can the minister say this confidential letter did not come from her department when her own stamp is on it?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have made very clear the responsible approach we are taking with regard to this letter.

I have to ask what the motivation is of this opposition. I guess it puts me in mind of a comment made by a political forebear of mine, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who said that it is easy to raise prejudices.

In his recent book John Ralston Saul, a Canadian philosopher, says it is a major responsibility of those with power not to raise prejudices. I believe that is why we are on this—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, I would caution you on both sides of the House not to impugn motives either in the question or in the answer.

Bill C-28

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since the start of the debate regarding Bill C-28 and a possible conflict of interest involving the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister has been maintaining that the Bloc Quebecois is mistaken.

At the same time, the government systematically refuses to let us call upon people who could shed some light on this issue.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister realize that, far from dispelling any suspicions surrounding his minister, he is actually making him look worse by taking an attitude so lacking in transparency?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the attacks on the finance minister's integrity are unfounded. As I have said on a number of occasions, the Minister of Finance has my complete confidence.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, besides public officials, the only person the government has given us access to is its ethics counsellor.

But, with all due respect, an ethics counsellor is neither an expert in international income tax planning nor a shipper.

In this context, is the Prime Minister in fact asking us to close our eyes and to blindly trust him?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I clearly stated that the Minister of Finance has my complete confidence. His business concerns are in the hands of an administrator, in compliance with the guidelines issued, and in the four years and some months since he became finance minister, his behaviour has been beyond reproach.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister of Indian affairs just said a couple of minutes ago that behaviour was motivated by prejudice. I must tell this minister that I lived on a reserve, I taught on a reserve, and I raised five Indian foster children in my home.

I want to ask the minister of Indian affairs right now if she will retract that vicious slur she just made on the floor of the House of Commons.

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

Mr. Speaker, I recognize the contribution the hon. member has made. But I have to wonder why, when there are so many good examples of strong healthy aboriginal communities in this country, they never find their way into the questions and the comments of the members opposite.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is our motivation to help grassroots aboriginal people who trusted the minister, to go to her in confidence. People can say whatever they want but I want to ask the minister, whose side is she on right now, the bureaucrats and the chiefs or the grassroots aboriginal people at the band level?

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

Mr. Speaker, without question aboriginal people in this country need the help of all of us. When I look at the agenda of the party opposite, it would cut $920 million per year from my department's budget. That is money for education, for housing, for water and sewers, all those things aboriginal people in this country need so desperately.

Iraq

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During last night's emergency debate, the minister pledged “to follow through on the kinds of continuing dialogue and exchange of information to ensure that Parliament is fully involved in the ensuing developments”.

My question is simple. Is the minister considering holding a vote in the House, as was done during the 1991 debate, to give all parliamentarians an opportunity to express themselves before the government authorizes Canada's military participation in—

[The Speaker]

I am sorry to interrupt the hon. member. The Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot say for sure. I assume the hon. member is aware there was a debate last night which was open to all members of Parliament and which dealt with the question of the nature of Canada's participation.

The final decision on those very crucial matters remains with the Government of Canada and with the cabinet. We will certainly maintain every effort to keep Parliament informed. There is a full briefing for all members of the standing committee this afternoon.

Fisheries

[Joe McGuire, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Human Resources Development. What assurances can the minister give the fishermen of Atlantic Canada that there will be some help for them when the Atlantic groundfish strategy runs out in August?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that today I am publicly releasing the post TAGS review prepared by Eugene Harrigan and his team. I want to thank Mr. Harrigan and his team for their very good work.

The objective of Mr. Harrigan's report was to get a sense of how the end of the TAGS program would affect individuals, families and their communities. The report provides us with a very good portrait, the best ever, on what will be the reaction when TAGS ends at the end of August. It will serve as a useful basis for discussions with my colleagues, the stakeholders and the provinces.