Debates of Feb. 19th, 1998

Health Care

[An hon. member]

Shame.

[The Speaker]

I think the hon. member has pushed the envelope a little too far. I would like her to withdraw the last words about the blood being on his hands. Would you withdraw those words.

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

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

[The Speaker]

Now I would ask the hon. member to please go directly to her question.

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

Mr. Speaker, what will it take for the Minister of Health to stop blaming everyone else, stop giving Canadians nothing but sweet talk and start reinvesting in health care? Will this government stand up for medicare and ensure that no more deaths occur as a result of emergency ward line ups and cutbacks in hospitals?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we have already started to reinvest. The very first thing this government did, the first step we took after restoring fiscal sanity to the country was to reinvest $1.5 billion in transfers to the provinces. We established a stable cash floor in exactly the amount that was recommended by the National Forum on Health. If the hon. member would pay more attention to the facts than the characteristically empty rhetoric of the NDP, we would be a lot further ahead.

Fisheries

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

This government has destroyed the fishery on the east coast. A positive step in rebuilding this resource would be a realistic plan to buy back fishing licences at today's market value. Many senior fishers would take this opportunity to leave the industry with dignity thus reducing pressure on an already stressed resource.

Will the minister commit to a licence buy back program?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the hon. member's support for measures taken by this government for licence buy back which on the east coast was over $100 million and on the west coast was approximately $80 million.

I would point out to him that the moratorium on groundfish stocks occurred in 1992 when another government happened to be in place, curiously a Progressive Conservative government. The hon. leader of the Progressive Conservative Party was the Minister of the Environment, the closest minister to the minister of fisheries when advising that government on what to do about environmental disasters which Tory policies brought upon the fishing industry on the east coast.

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

That answer, Mr. Speaker, does not help one single fisherman today. When will this government come to a clear decision? When will this minister put the interest of east coast fishermen ahead of those of the foreign fleets?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, there are no foreign fishing vessels fishing within the 200 mile limit and the hon. member knows that. There are seven vessels outside the 200 mile limit and that is a fraction of what it was during Tory times. The total amount in tonnage of fish taken within the 200 mile limit by foreign vessels today is between one-half and one per cent of what it was when his government was in power.

Trade

[David Iftody, Liberal, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, international trade is a cornerstone of the Canadian economy. While we often hear criticisms from the other side of the House about job creation and wealth creation in this country, we hear of no alternatives, particularly from the Reform Party.

In the face of the Asian crisis, can the government and the Minister for International Trade advise this House what the numbers are and how we are doing in the face of this crisis in Asia for creating wealth for Canadian people?

[Julian Reed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the figures are so good. I would just like to point out that in December, Canada ran a trade surplus of $1.74 billion. That is $465 million larger than it was in November. Canadian exports in 1997 reached record levels resulting in more jobs for Canadians. This is the result of the government's policy vision, jobs for Canadians.

Disaster Relief

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister of agriculture recently announced that Quebec farmers will get an extra $50 million outside the federal disaster relief program to cover losses they have suffered due to the ice storm.

Farmers in the Peace River region of B.C. and Alberta have endured two disastrous years due to excess moisture. Farmers in the maritimes have suffered under the worst drought in a decade. If the minister is going to change the rules for central Canadian farmers, will he show the same flexibility and compassion toward eastern and western farmers so they too can qualify for federal assistance?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, in the cases of the last disasters that were covered by the DFAA, the arrangements for disaster compensation, there have been parallel agreements in the Saguenay, in Manitoba and now in Quebec. We have applied the same rules and the same precedents in all these disasters.

Medical Research Council

[Hélène Alarie, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Secretary of State responsible for the Federal Office of Regional Development for Quebec.

A few days ago, the dean of medicine at Université de Montréal deplored the fact that, in Quebec, a considerably smaller number of grants from the Medical Research Council were going to French-speaking universities than to English-speaking universities. Add to that the fact that, in order to be understood, researchers often have to write their papers in English.

Is the minister responsible for FORD-Q, who claims to be concerned with the issue, prepared to remedy this unacceptable situation?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Secretary of State (Federal Office of Regional Development—Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the honour of making an announcement on behalf of the Medical Research Council. It was for a grant of over $15 million to McGill University and the Université de Montréal.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

If the opposition will let me answer, it is important to understand that the granting process used by the Medical Research Council is essentially a peer assessment process. What I announced last week was the result of this peer assessment.

Now, the opposition may not like it, but we, on this side, plan to continue to contribute by developing a critical mass in terms of research and development, which will lead to the creation of quality jobs that will pave the way to Quebec's future.

The Senate

[Lorne Nystrom, NDP, Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister if we can get him back to his seat for half a second.

Yesterday the Prime Minister said that he was personally in favour of changing the Senate. He said a requirement that was needed was that the provinces approve this because of the constitution. We all know that. Why will the Prime Minister not take the first step, go where no other prime minister has ever gone before him, and begin the process by tabling in this House a motion to abolish the existing unelected, unaccountable Senate?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I said that it is easy to grandstand but that is not the way we want to operate. The best way to make these changes is to have the agreement of the provinces. We wanted to have an elected Senate but the Senate needs more than to be elected. It needs to be repartitioned.

The member may not want to have a second House although it would be very useful for the regions. I do not think it will advance the case if we just have a resolution at this time. We would like to reform the Senate and the best way is to try to convince the provinces to do so.

Fisheries

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. The minister is undoubtedly aware of the comment he made which was carried in the Ottawa Sun on February 15. I will quote it for him “My primary responsibility is not to fishermen to catch fish. My primary responsibility is to fish itself”.

Has this become the attitude and the official policy of the federal government with regard to our fishermen, that the federal government is no longer responsible or concerned about how fishermen earn a living?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has shown why Conservatives so consistently were unable to manage the fishery. They do not understand that without fish you cannot have fishermen. This critical fact is completely ignored by the member. He does not realize that to have an effective fishery, to have fishermen with decent incomes, and to enable their families to take part in our society like others who have decent incomes, we need to have an adequate supply of fish. He does not understand that, but he comes to this House to try to tell us that somehow or another we should ignore conservation and simply allow allocation for fishermen.

Literacy

[Gary Pillitteri, Liberal, Niagara Falls, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is literacy action day. This gives us all a chance to discover the importance of literacy issues in our communities.

I would like to ask the minister responsible how serious the problem of illiteracy is across Canada and what steps are being taken to overcome this serious problem.

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

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work with our partners to ensure that Canadians have the highest possible literacy skills.

My department is supporting the international adult literacy survey.

While Canadians have some very strong literacy skills, we must ensure that all Canadians can succeed in an advanced economy.

The 1997 budget increased funding to the national literacy secretariat to $29 million.

I will also be meeting today with representatives of literacy organizations and Senator Joyce Fairbairn, whom I would like to thank very much for her leadership on this issue.

[The Speaker]

Before going to the ordinary Thursday question I will hear a point of order from the Deputy Prime Minister.