Debates of March 12th, 1998

Employment

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, what kind of a hoax is this? Who is the Prime Minister kidding? This government has slashed $1 billion from federal training funds. That is a 50% reduction. Seven hundred million dollars was cut from EI training alone.

I challenge the Prime Minister to come to my province of Nova Scotia in the next week. Let me show him firsthand the disastrous effects of these policies.

Does he have the guts to face unemployed Nova Scotians? Can he explain to them why these 51,000 unemployed cannot get the training they need to fill these high tech jobs?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the hon. member is aware that with the new employment insurance scheme there is money available for the unemployed to get the training they need. This did not exist before we passed the new legislation.

Immigration

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. The minister should know that when my grandfather came to this country in the 1900s he could speak neither English nor French. He spoke Ukrainian. But he contributed to this country, as did his family and his family's family.

In her consultations on the report of the advisory committee, the minister has faced mounting pressure on the report's recommendation that all prospective immigrants speak either French or English. My question is simple. Is her answer yes or no to the recommendation?

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

Mr. Speaker, I said publicly that I have very serious concerns about this kind of recommendation where only one criterion can disqualify somebody from coming to this country. It is not only the language requirement but even age or education. I find that very excessive. It is clear that we will find a more balanced approach.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the minister's answer. Perhaps she would like to share with the House today exactly what that balanced approach means. Does that balanced approach mean that the language recommendation will not be accepted by this minister?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member has to realize that we just finished a public consultation yesterday. Not only people who came to the public consultation but many Canadians wrote to us about their concerns.

I ask the member to give me some time before the government will take an official position, not only on that but on the 172 recommendations included in the report.

National Defence

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence. In his response to the question from the member for Edmonton North, the minister unbelievably said that Ms Olofson was not harassed by his department.

My question for the minister is if this was the case, then why has his department apologized?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are simple. There was an error in judgment. A letter was sent that should not have been sent. The letter has since been withdrawn and an apology has been issued.

Furthermore, we have once again sent a message to all of our employees, all of the members of the forces and their families, encouraging them to appear before the Standing Committee on Defence and Veterans' Affairs to talk about the issues that affect their social and economic needs. It is a process that this government solidly supports.

[Leon Benoit, Reform, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is sending this letter to people who are going to appear before the defence committee. He has done that before.

Ms. Olofson, who testified before the committee, then received a threatening letter from the judge advocate general. This type of intimidation seems to be rampant in the minister's department.

I ask the minister how many other people have received similar types of letters from his department?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of any other letter that has been sent in this connection.

In this case there was a long history. There was an error in judgment that was exercised. I might say that some 1,700 people have appeared before the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans' Affairs to talk about this issue. They have done so without feeling any threats whatsoever, and they have no reason to fear any threat whatsoever.

Quebec's Traditional Demands

[Pierre Brien, Bloc, Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

Yesterday, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said that neither the Prime Minister nor he believed in the notion of Quebec's traditional demands.

Will the Prime Minister confirm that neither he nor his government recognize the existence of Quebec's traditional demands?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our throne speech included a series of commitments, and we have met many of them. Manpower training has been transferred to the provinces. The federal government has withdrawn from mining, forestry and tourism. We have given the provinces control over subsidized housing. We even have a resolution on spending powers.

Many issues have been resolved. We do not take the whole list. We solve one problem at a time. It is the best way to maintain harmony in our federation.

[Pierre Brien, Bloc, Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is really not clear. The Prime Minister seems to think there is a list, but his minister says that is not the case. Perhaps they should consult each other.

After denying the existence of the Quebec culture, and now having his minister deny the existence of Quebec's traditional demands, will the Prime Minister confirm that, whoever the Quebec premier is, whether this person is a federalist or a sovereignist, and regardless of the promises made by him in the last referendum, his only vision of federalism is his own and that he will not change it one bit?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have shown a flexibility that had not been seen in a long time. I just listed the initiatives we took in the cultural field. The hon. member himself has just raised the issue.

I was in Montreal Sunday evening and people were asking the federal government to take action. I told a joke in front of the Quebec premier who then said “Yes, if you have money for the Montreal symphony orchestra, we would be very happy to see that money transferred to Montreal”.

Hockey

[Charlie Penson, Reform, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

U.S. hockey teams are getting hundreds of millions of government dollars to subsidize their arenas. That puts Canadian NHL teams at a tremendous disadvantage. Let me remind members that one of the main objectives of the free trade agreement was to ensure fair competition between Canada and the United States.

Will the Prime Minister take specific steps to make sure our Canadian teams are not being put in the penalty box in the NHL?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the interest of the hon. member. I only hope that he can prevail upon his colleagues in the Reform Party who were the first to complain when we established a subcommittee on sport to make sure there is a future for all sport in Canada and, in particular, the winter national sport of the NHL.

If he participates in the subcommittee, he will get good results.

[Charlie Penson, Reform, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it seems that the minister has not noticed that what we are asking for are reduced subsidies instead of more subsidies. This is a very serious situation.

First we lost the Quebec Nordiques. Then we lost the Winnipeg Jets. Now we are in danger of losing the Edmonton Oilers. Thousands of jobs are dependent upon our hockey teams. This is more than about economics. It is about our national culture.

Will the Prime Minister take steps under the free trade agreement to make sure Canadian teams are not being cross-checked with unfair subsidies?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I was at a Calgary Flames game about three weeks ago and I had a chance to discuss with some of the key players in Alberta their concerns about ensuring that we have vibrant and healthy hockey in Canada, in all parts of the country. The fact is that is exactly the issue for which the subcommittee on sport was established and the chair, Dennis Mills, is working on it.

If the member really wants a solution he should, along with other participants, go to the subcommittee to put forward his points of view. We will certainly consider them and I hope we will be able to implement a great number of them.

[The Speaker]

I would remind hon. members not to refer to each other by name.

Employment Insurance Reform

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, whatever we ask him, the Minister of Human Resources Development gives us the pat answers of a technocrat.

Is the minister unaware of the tragedy wrought by his EI reform, which is reducing thousands of families to poverty and forcing them onto welfare just to survive?

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

Mr. Speaker, last year, the Bloc Quebecois criticized me for not understanding the EI reform and went on about it in the House. Now I am being blamed for understanding it too well and sounding like a technocrat.

What I can say is that we are keeping a close eye on the impacts of our EI reform. We feel that Canadians deserve a service adapted to the contemporary labour market and we are going to continue to serve Canadians well with the reform we introduced last year.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we approach the so-called spring gap, which the reform purposely created, is the minister aware that his reform means that thousands of workers, particularly in the regions, will have failed to accumulate enough weeks of work and will have to turn to welfare for lack of resources while, each week, he pockets a surplus of $130 million?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like once again to draw the opposition's attention to the fact that there have not been this few people on welfare in Quebec for five years. Never have the numbers been so low. This means something is going right in our economy.

In addition, we are already seeing that people find the additional weeks to maintain the level of benefits to which they are entitled. The preliminary report is clear: people are beginning to find additional weeks, the reform is on the right track and it is working.

As for the more difficult problems, we are going to continue working together to find the right solutions.

Cfb Calgary

[Jason Kenney, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when the government closed CFB Calgary, it was clear they were punishing Calgarians for not electing Liberals.

Now Calgary wants to use some of the CFB land to build a veterans' hospital, some low income housing and a college but the government has dispatched unelected Senator Dan Hays, president of the Liberal Party, to tell Calgary's elected officials they are going to have to pay through the nose to buy the land they already own.

Why is the government forcing Alberta taxpayers to pay millions for land they already own?

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

Mr. Speaker, since we closed the military base in Calgary there has been a committee of all levels of government with equal sharing looking at how to develop the land. I can assure this House that the development is going on and Calgarians will benefit from this development.

I hope the hon. member looks at the participation of the local committee where they are seriously looking at how the Calgarians will benefit and creating new opportunities for Canadians.