Debates of Feb. 6th, 1998

Post-Secondary Education

[Rick Laliberte, NDP, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, students are graduating with debts of $25,000 on average while the minister makes policy by holding up his finger to figure out which way the political winds are blowing.

Will the minister stop playing politics, get down to business, discuss the millennium fund with the students and commit himself to base the grants on need?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us understand things clearly. The government is working on two fronts. We are going to improve the Canada student loans program. I have a good indication that this will reflect what the stakeholders have told us, the student associations. We are going to address the needs of students. The permanent Canada student loans program will be improved. I hope we can do something about the debt load.

The millennium fund is another great element of our strategy to address student loans and debts. We are doing both.

Fisheries

[Bill Matthews, Progressive Conservative, Burin—St. George's, NL]

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

Atlantic salmon stocks have dropped to crisis levels. The percentage of Atlantic salmon returning to our rivers this past year was alarmingly low. Meanwhile the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon still prosecute a commercial salmon fishery, intercepting salmon bound for Atlantic salmon rivers.

Will the minister immediately demand that France stop this commercial salmon fishery?

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

Mr. Speaker, first, I say to the hon. member that I accept his contention regarding the decline of the Atlantic salmon. It is extremely worrying. The numbers are approximately one-third of what we expected, calculated upon smolt escapement of the previous cycle year.

With respect to the French, this is the one nation where we do have, within our 200 mile limit, actual foreign territory. Therefore we have made an agreement, a procès-verbal, with the French government to address the problem.

Those islands are there for a fishery reason. Approximately 1.5 tonnes of salmon were taken, essentially for domestic consumption, by those islands. That is within the overall limit—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Burin—St. George's.

[Bill Matthews, Progressive Conservative, Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the minister is aware that just a few short years ago his department had a buyout program for commercial salmon fishermen in Atlantic Canada in the name of conserving the Atlantic salmon stocks.

Will the minister engage, if necessary, the help of external affairs, because we are dealing with France, and immediately start action to request that France stop the commercial salmon fishery?

I know the explanation the minister has given, but Atlantic Canadians have stopped fishing. They have sold their licences. The stocks are low. Will the minister take action to end this commercial salmon fishery?

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's question, which is factually based. I would point out, however, that we have not eliminated all salmon fishing, as he has indicated. Certain Metis, native people and other traditional holders continue to fish.

If he, as a member from Newfoundland and Labrador, is willing to agree that there should be a total ban on salmon fishing, commercially and recreationally, in his province, I would be quite willing to discuss with him how we might approach France.

International Development Week

[Jean Augustine, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians often question why we are spending money in other countries when we have needs at home.

Since this week is International Development Week, could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Co-operation and Minister responsible for the Francophonie tell the House how we are communicating to Canadians the important role that Canada is playing in international development?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, International Development Week is a great opportunity to raise public awareness of the many facets of international development: how it benefits people in developing countries and how it benefits Canadians.

It is important that Canadians have the opportunity to make themselves aware of their contribution to development co-operation. International Development Week is one way to do this.

We are very proud that this week was paid for not only by the government but also by the private sector.

Iraq

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada seems to be the only country that has declared no position whatsoever on the crisis in Iraq. This is both unacceptable and irresponsible. Every other country in the world has declared a position, whether asked or not.

Will the minister finally tell us what will be Canada's role, if any, in exposing and destroying weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein is hiding?

[Ted McWhinney, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we have made very clear our position that the problem in Iraq can be resolved by Saddam Hussein complying with the security council resolutions.

At this stage diplomatic negotiations are going on. Other action may be needed, but I can give the prime minister's assurance that any action involving Canadian commitments would be preceded by a debate in parliament.

Bill C-28

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

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister has just told us that the Minister of Finance is not involved in shipping issues.

Yet the Minister of Finance is sponsoring a bill that concerns this sector and making frequent comments outside the House, in front of the cameras.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Why does he refuse to respond to our specific questions in this House, as is his duty as shipowner and legislator?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is continuing to make unfounded allegations. Let us be very clear. The Minister of Finance was never involved with and knew nothing of the provisions we are discussing.

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

He is sponsoring the bill.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if we are talking about amendments for tax purposes, they are directly related to shipping. All research, discussion and decisions on the matter are and have always been directed by the Secretary of State for Financial Institutions and officials of the Department of Finance.

I therefore repeat that the allegations must be withdrawn because they are groundless.

Fisheries

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is on behalf of thousands of people in coastal communities along B.C.'s west coast.

The minister of fisheries has staked a great deal in pursuing quiet diplomacy to resolve the west coast salmon dispute with the Americans. Yesterday the chief Canadian negotiator resigned, claiming it would be naive to continue with this present policy.

Does the minister agree with the views of his former chief negotiator? Does he now acknowledge the abject failure of this preferred approach? Will he please advise the House and the west coast fishers of the government's next—

[The Speaker]

The hon. minister of fisheries.

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

Mr. Speaker, I could read the letter again as suggested but it is unnecessary.

I will simply point out that the hon. member has obviously not read the letter. The chief negotiator, Mr. Fortier, did not say what has been implied by the member in the preamble to his question.

What he said was that we are faced with an extremely difficult situation because of American attitudes and the American political system and in his view the unwillingness of the United States federal government to impose its will, whatever that might be, upon the states involved, Alaska and Washington.

That is an understanding which the Canadian government shares. We have full confidence in Mr. Fortier. He was our negotiator for the last four years.

Campbellton Courts

[Jean Dubé, Progressive Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, several civil cases are not being heard in the Campbellton trial division, because there are not enough judges.

A mother requiring a support order must wait eight to nime months. And not a single small claims case has been heard for a year now.

Is the minister willing to assume her responsibilities and ensure that access to courts is no longer in jeopardy in this region?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question.

On behalf of the Minister of Justice let me say that we are quite aware of the situation. Representation has been made to the department and I am sure the minister will be able to respond on her return.

Rural Canada

[Murray Calder, Liberal, Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry.

To be competitive in the next century, rural Canada needs a state of the art communication system with which to converse with the world.

What is the minister doing to help rural Canadians communicate on the information highway by the year 2000?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the government committed in the Speech from the Throne to making Canada the most connected nation in the world. It entails a very direct, active and aggressive campaign to ensure that Canadians in rural and remote communities are able to have access to the modern information technology and telecommunications systems that are available.

Through the community access program we have established the objective of connecting 5,000 rural and remote communities by the year 2000. We are about half way there now.

Communities in every region of Canada are experiencing the advantages both for social as well as for economic reasons of having direct access to the new technologies.

Bunkers

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot say how relieved I am today that the government bought back the Penhold bunker so that we can put this bunker blunder in with all the other blunders like the Pearson airport, helicopters, airbus and on and on and on.

Will the finance minister set up a blunder fund in the next budget so that we can buy back a second bunker before it falls into the hands of some suspicious characters like maybe Doug Young?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, let me inform the hon. member that we have a total of 10 such bunkers across the country. Eight are being closed and sealed. One is being turned into a museum and we are buying back the other one to which the member made reference for security reasons.

Employment Insurance

[Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, Bloc, Laval Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

Last December, the Employment Insurance Commission was supposed to file a report with the minister on the first year of employment insurance reform.

Can the minister tell us when he intends to make that report public, and whether the Employment Insurance Commission recommends improvements to the legislation, as the Bloc Quebecois demanded when six bills were tabled in the House December 8?