In the matter of the Matane seafood plant, everything is in place. The only thing missing is the federal government. Does the minister understand that, to save 200 families which depend on this plant, the federal government has to do its share, and soon?

Regional DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Victoria B.C.

Liberal

David Anderson LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, in the area of the allocation of resources we have a number of decisions that will shortly be made which will affect the entire lower shore of the St. Lawrence River.

I should point out, however, that management of the shore plants is essentially a provincial responsibility.

National DefenceOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

NDP

Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS

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

With the devastating effects ASD has on the people of Goose Bay, Labrador, is this the example that the defence department plans to send to bases such as Wainwright, Sheffield, Shilo, Borden, Montreal and Gagetown?

National DefenceOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

York Centre Ontario

Liberal

Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, the purpose behind alternate service delivery as it relates to Goose Bay is to save the base, to save as many jobs as we possibly can and at the same time reduce the cost of providing the service to the taxpayers and to the users of the base.

ImmigrationOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Jim Jones Progressive Conservative Markham, ON

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

Recommendation 35 would impose a tuition fee on all those over six years of age who have not in a standardized test reached a level considered to be of a basic knowledge of one of our official languages.

Currently the federal government imposes an entry fee of almost $950 under the LINC program, which is supposed to cover language training and other adjustment routines for new immigrants.

Will the minister today commit to saying no to this recommendation based on the last two weeks of consultations on this report?

ImmigrationOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Westmount—Ville-Marie Québec

Liberal

Lucienne Robillard LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Speaker, if one thing is good about that report, it woke up the Tory party to ask questions about immigration.

I never had one so I am very happy to have all these questions today. The member can be assured that we will facilitate the entry of immigrants into this country in the future.

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Carmen Provenzano Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON

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

Violent group crime by young Canadians appears to be growing. This alarming phenomenon has reared its ugly head in large and small cities and towns throughout Canada.

Will the minister commission a Canada-wide study of group violence by teenagers, and will she reform the Young Offenders Act to establish further deterrents to such crime?

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has raised an issue of growing concern to many Canadians.

As I have already said in the House, in the next few weeks I will be tabling the government's response to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights report on the renewal of the youth justice system.

I reassure the hon. member that we will not take a simplistic approach to what is a very complex and difficult problem. We as a government believe that if we are truly to protect society and communities like Sault Ste. Marie, it will only happen if we not only deal firmly with violent crime but act together to prevent crime and to rehabilitate young people who break our laws.

Senate Of CanadaOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Reform

Val Meredith Reform South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps accusing Reform of not supporting the Charlottetown accord and Senate election. He seems to have forgotten that the Charlottetown accord gave provincial politicians the right to appoint senators. This is not what Canadians want.

Will the Prime Minister commit today at least to sitting down and reading the Charlottetown accord which the majority of Canadians rejected?

Senate Of CanadaOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, we wanted to have and we supported the idea of a triple E Senate on this side of the House.

The Charlottetown accord was leading the country to an elected Senate. The Reformers campaigned very hard to make sure that the Charlottetown accord failed. Unfortunately they were successful.

Decontamination Of Cn LandsOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC

Mr. Speaker, on February 21, the Minister of Transport announced that he would permit Canadian National to abandon the rail line along the St. Lawrence at Lévis. The right-of-way operated for 145 years by CN will have to be decontaminated before it can be used for residential development or for recreational and tourist facilities.

My question is for the Minister of Transport. Can the minister tell us now who will pay for the cleanup, CN or the taxpayers?

Decontamination Of Cn LandsOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Don Valley East Ontario

Liberal

David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the subdivision around the town of Lévis was slated for closure some years ago. Various governments delayed that, looking at all of the various options.

We studied it very carefully and came to the conclusion it was in the best interest of all concerned that we build another station on the line and allow the line around Lévis to be closed.

The specific question the hon. member asked will certainly be looked at in the terms and conditions of any sale that Canadian National makes to the local community or to local developers.

Canada PortsOral Question Period

3 p.m.

NDP

Peter Mancini NDP Sydney—Victoria, NS

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. It has been reported on CBC radio today that ports police officers in Vancouver had planned to review concerns they had about the proper protection of those ports with the attorney general of British Columbia. They were advised not to do so by ports Canada officials.

Can the minister advise this House whether his department has been made aware of political interference by ports Canada officials in the ports police investigations in Vancouver?

Canada PortsOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Don Valley East Ontario

Liberal

David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, this is a very serious accusation the hon. member has made. If he has any evidence of that, I would like him to bring it forward.

The fact is the phasing out of the ports police has been done to give better policing services at Canada's ports. In fact, some of the criticism that has been levelled has been totally unwarranted because we have been handing over much of the local enforcement to local police authorities across the country, including Vancouver, including Saint John.

I am sure members of the House present from those cities would not question the competence of the local police forces in those cities.