Debates of March 16th, 1998

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is acting responsibly. This is why we have lowered employment insurance premiums every year for the past four years.

We are lowering it in a responsible, fair and cautious fashion, but that is where we are headed.

What we can say is that, if the economy were to slow down this year or next—it will happen one year or another, the later the better—we will not be obliged to do as we have done in the past, which is raise premiums at the very moment they should not be raised.

Multilateral Agreement On Investment

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister and it concerns the multilateral agreement on investment which, he will know, is currently under negotiation in Paris.

Despite the speculation that there might not be an agreement by April 1998 as planned, will the Deputy Prime Minister commit the federal government to engage the Canadian public in discussions and consultations on an MAI agreement before its finalization?

Will the Deputy Prime Minister commit the government to that kind of process on the final agreement should there be one as a result of negotiations in Paris?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there has already been and continues to be a wide range of consultations. There were extensive hearings held by a parliamentary committee which issued a report. There are all sorts of meetings and discussions going on and I do not know how the hon. member expects us to give him a more concrete answer to what he asks because at this point we do not know if there is ever going to be an MAI agreement.

We have said that if there is not the right deal for Canada we are not going to sign it.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, if there is an agreement that the government is willing to sign, will the government commit to bring it before Parliament and to engage the Canadian public in discussions and consultations? Or does the Deputy Prime Minister intend to speak against this resolution this weekend at the Liberal Party convention, because what I read to him was a resolution out of the Liberal Party resolutions booklet?

What is the position of the government with respect to the Liberal Party's own resolution that he just dumped on?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is pleading for a call to join the Liberal Party. If he files his application we will consider it.

Health Care

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

Mr. Speaker, on March 9 the Prime Minister during question period told me: “The hon. member should go back to Winnipeg and look at the budget of his provincial colleagues, the Tories, who reduced taxes but did not add one cent to medicare”.

Unlike this government, the Manitoba government has a another commitment of $100 million to health care, has balanced its budget for four years in a row and cut taxes.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister stand up in the House, retract the statement and apologize both to the premier as well as all Manitobans?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that the Prime Minister was right on the money when he made his comments in the House of Commons in the past. He knows it and he knows of the actions of his own provincial government. He knows as well of the commitment of our government and the commitment of my colleague, the Minister of Health, who has been doing an outstanding job to protect and promote health care in Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, that did not sound like the apology I was looking for. The premier of Manitoba also sent a letter to the Prime Minister dated March 11 in reference to his comments on Manitoba's health care: “I hardly think it can enhance co-operative federalism for the Prime Minister to place this misinformation on the record in Parliament”.

Is the Prime Minister's idea of co-operative federalism blaming the provinces for the problems this government has created?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, quite the contrary. In a few days we will have a vote in the House on Bill C-28 to increase the amount of the CHST floor.

I ask the hon. member and his colleagues to show their support for health care by voting in favour of Bill C-28. I am waiting to see how they will vote.

Seaforth Highlanders

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's office has a strange view of what it means to look Canadian.

The Seaforth Highlanders were replaced as the guard of honour at the APEC summit conference because in the eyes of the Prime Minister's office they did not look Canadian enough. Worse, the decision to fly another regiment to Vancouver cost Canadian taxpayers $210,000.

Can the Deputy Prime Minister explain to the House why one of the oldest and proudest regiments in Canadian history is not Canadian enough in the eyes of the Prime Minister's office?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the very proud regiment of the Seaforth Highlanders did play a major role at the APEC meeting. They piped in the leaders. They provided honour guards and a number of very important functions. We are very proud of the work they did.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is not aware that the regiment that was flown in was from the province of Quebec at a cost of $210,000. The Prime Minister's office insulted the Seaforth Highlanders, he insulted British Columbians and he insulted the Canadian taxpayers by footing that bill, all because of some crazy idea of what it means to look Canadian.

My question again is to the Deputy Prime Minister. When is the Deputy Prime Minister going to apologize to the Highlanders and British Columbians for this ridiculous decision?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, once again the hon. member displays the parochialism of the Reform Party. The fact is that the hosting of APEC was a Canadian initiative. We had regiments from across Canada, we had a delegation of the mounted police and we had the Seaforth Highlanders from the west coast to provide a very important part. We wanted to present the face of Canada to our guests from Asia.

Middle East

[Maud Debien, Bloc, Laval East, QC]

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

On Tuesday, three Palestinian workers were killed by Israeli soldiers. Since then, the fighting has resumed between Palestinians and Israelis, and Israeli journalists have started criticizing the army's attitude. As for Chairman Arafat, he urged the international community to provide protection for Palestinians.

How does the Minister of Foreign Affairs intend to respond to the call for help from the chairman of the Palestinian Authority?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member will know, the Prime Minister of Israel has already taken this matter in hand. He is asking for an inquiry and investigation into the event that took place, in particular the actions of the Israeli defence forces. The matter is being handled by the Israeli authorities.

In terms of the larger question, after my visit to the Middle East before Christmas, I am now working with my colleagues at CIDA and in other areas to establish a special initiative on refugee problems so we can help the peace process in the Middle East.

[Maud Debien, Bloc, Laval East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are witnessing a resurgence in the fighting and the minister is telling us about possibilities and investigations by the Israeli government.

I am not asking the minister what the Israeli government is doing. I am asking him what the Canadian government intends to do in response to Chairman Arafat's appeal.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I answered the question. I said that I met with the president of the Palestinian Authority and various leaders in the Middle East. The one area of competence that Canada has a special responsibility for is helping in the reunification of families and dealing with refugee problems. We have undertaken to provide a major initiative in the Middle East on this matter and I hope to announce it in a matter of days.

The Budget

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when asked last week where he got the money for his new millennium scholarship fund, the Prime Minister told the House: “Yes indeed, we have two and a half billion dollars available at the end of the year”. In other words, what the finance minister was saying before about there not being a surplus was wrong according to the Prime Minister. The real story is finally starting to emerge.

Given the glaring contradiction between what the Prime Minister said and what the finance minister said, how can we trust any of the numbers in this budget?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, talk about cooking the books.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

When this government took office, we found billions of dollars of undisclosed liabilities. We vowed to end that practice and we have.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, those words are his, cookin' the books.

The auditor general does not trust the government's accounting, neither does the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. They all say that there are problems. From one day to the next the Prime Minister and the finance minister cannot keep their stories straight.

My question is when will the government give Canadians a full and frank accounting of the government's financial position without the game playing that has become the finance minister's trademark?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party does not criticize us for the first balanced budget in 29 years. They are not criticizing us today for the $2.5 billion that we are investing in Canada's young people.

No. All they can do is use complex accounting arguments to show that we federate up what our books disclose. This opposition is not opposing, it simply does not have an issue.

Semaine Nationale De La Francophonie

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

In its last bulletin, entitled Info-parents , the Commission nationale des parents francophones said, and I quote “What is apparent is that, in 10, 15 or 20 years, unless things change, we are headed for a situation in which there will no longer really be a pan-Canadian francophone presence. The presence of francophones from coast to coast is at risk”.

In his speech to inaugurate the Semaine nationale de la francophonie, why did the President of the Treasury Board not propose concrete measures to support la francophonie outside Quebec, given the very precarious situation in which it finds itself?

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I must say we are very proud to celebrate the Semaine nationale de la francophonie. It emphasizes the dualistic nature of Canada and the fact that we have two official languages, a fact of which we are proud and which is part of our national identity. I thank my opposition colleague for pointing this out.

The Treasury Board has adopted a series of measures to enable the federal government to respond and provide service to clients in both official languages, and we are going to try to perform this duty more effectively in the future.