Debates of March 16th, 1998

Semaine Nationale De La Francophonie

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Semaine internationale de la francophonie provides an opportunity to recall that French is a language shared by over 125 million people.

The Government of Quebec has played a key role in the development of international organizations to ensure that the French language, and French cultures and economies flourish internationally.

The Bloc Quebecois wishes to pay tribute today to the contribution made by Canada's francophone and Acadian communities to the enrichment of the international French-speaking world. The community life of these francophones, who are holding on in the face of myriad difficulties, is an expression of the vitality of these communities and of their desire to conduct their lives in their own language.

Finally, the Bloc Quebecois hopes that the French-speaking world will continue to encourage ties of solidarity between industrialized nations and developing countries.

The Late Yves Landry

[Shaughnessy Cohen, Liberal, Windsor—St. Clair, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this morning Canadians learned with great sadness of the sudden passing of Yves Landry, chair, president and CEO of Chrysler Canada.

Mr. Landry, a constituent of Windsor—St. Clair, was truly a great Canadian: a federalist, a leading industrialist, an officer of the Order of Canada, chair of Canada's millennium scholarship fund, a leader in our Windsor community and in the nation.

Yves Landry made a personal commitment to many causes. More important, he brought the Chrysler corporation to the table with him. The environment, the education and training of Canadian youth, and health care were among the causes he championed.

To the families and friends of Yves Landry we offer our condolences. His was a vision of Canada which we must work to keep alive.

Farm Safety Week

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

Mr. Speaker, safe farming is smart farming. That is the theme for Farm Safety Week in Manitoba which began on March 11 and will end on March 18.

A recent study by Statistics Canada revealed that from 1991 to 1995 almost 72% of all farm deaths in Canada resulted from working with or around agricultural machinery.

Without a doubt a farm can be a dangerous place to work and live. On average, 100 work related fatalities occur on farms annually.

StatsCan also revealed that the three prairie provinces have a much higher rate of injuries than those in eastern Canada. That being said, knowledge, experience and technical advances in safety are crucial to reducing farm incidents in the future.

I hope this week that Canadians will take note and further educate themselves to the realities of farming life. It is vital that we do our best to make farming communities the safest they can be.

The Late Yves Landry

[Jean-Guy Chrétien, Bloc, Frontenac—Mégantic, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that we learned today of the death of Gaétan Yves Landry, the president of Chrysler Canada.

Mr. Landry, who was born in the region which I represent, more specifically in Thetford Mines, had a career marked by commitment and hard work.

His energy and know-how earned him the respect of his friends, but also enabled him to become one of the most prominent leaders in the business community in Quebec and Canada.

My colleagues in the House of Commons join me in expressing our most sincere condolences to Mr. Landry's family.

Trade

[Carmen Provenzano, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, team Canada trade missions really work, and a Sault Ste. Marie architectural firm has the contract to prove it.

On the most recent team Canada mission to Latin America, Ellis and Pastore Architects Incorporated was engaged to design a $30 million hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Partner Franco Pastore said the trip was a phenomenal success. He told a local newspaper that the presence of high level federal representatives improved his company's credibility and gave it greater opportunities.

This is a good example of what can happen when we match the entrepreneurial spirit of Canadian business people with the job creation techniques of the federal government.

I say thanks to the Prime Minister and the rest of the team Canada delegation for helping to bring this contract to Sault Ste. Marie.

Semaine Nationale De La Francophonie

[Diane St-Jacques, Progressive Conservative, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's linguistic duality is one of our greatest assets and we must celebrate it, particularly during the Semaine nationale de la francophonie.

The Canadian francophonie is alive and vibrant, and we should all be proud of it. Beyond its borders, Canada continues to play a leading role in promoting the francophonie at the international level.

In addition to its involvement in the summits and in the Agence de la francophonie, Canada is a major player in promoting the use of French on the information highway.

As we approach the new millennium, we must support the advancement of the French language all over the world and particularly at home.

The Senate

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month the Prime Minister appointed Ross Fitzpatrick to the Senate. Besides being a B.C. Liberal fundraiser and campaign chairman, Fitzpatrick once hired the Prime Minister to serve on the board of his company, Viceroy Resources.

Last week the Prime Minister told the House that he received no remuneration for that work. According to insider trading reports, Fitzpatrick gave the Prime Minister a sweetheart stock deal worth over $45,000.

How does the government explain the contradiction between what the Prime Minister said in the House last week and the insider trading reports?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, the Prime Minister was addressing the question of whether he received remuneration as a director. Directors are not paid by shareholders, they are paid by the company. So there is no contradiction whatsoever.

The insinuation in the hon. member's question is totally unwarranted.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like more creative Liberal accounting. That explanation does nothing to clear the air.

Ross Fitzpatrick gave a lucrative stock deal to the Prime Minister. That private stock deal gave the Prime Minister a $45,000 profit in one week. The Prime Minister owed him a favour. Now the Prime Minister gave Ross Fitzpatrick a B.C. Senate seat.

Does this not leave the impression that Senate seats are for sale?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this will leave the impression only in the mind of the hon. member. I cannot account for what is in the mind of the hon. member, but it is not supported by the facts.

At that time the Prime Minister was in private life. He was entitled to engage in business transactions. He left his directorships when he began in 1990, years later, to seek the leadership of the Liberal Party. At the present time all his assets are in a blind trust.

Surely this is an indication of totally proper conduct.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told the House that he received no remuneration from Viceroy Resources Corporation. But the insider trading reports say he received $45,000 or more in a sweetheart stock deal.

Ross Fitzpatrick first denied selling shares to the Prime Minister, then he changed his story. The public does not know what to believe but is left with the impression that Senate seats are for sale. All of this shames an already discredited institution.

Will the Prime Minister now cancel Fitzpatrick's shady Senate appointment?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. Leader of the Opposition thinks that there is something shady in what is going on, he is making an allegation of improper conduct. I challenge him to put his seat on the line and go outside the House and repeat the allegations in front of the cameras. If he cannot or will not do that, then I say that what he is saying is nothing more than Reform rot, Reform rubbish. It is a sickness in the mind of the hon. member to make these allegations.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the government member what is sick, a Senate that just condones this kind of behaviour and a Liberal government that thinks it is okay.

Ross Fitzpatrick has a company. The Prime Minister last Monday replied to me in question period that he received no remuneration from working at Viceroy Resources. That is simply not true. Ross Fitzpatrick has absolutely agreed that, oops, maybe he did get $45,000 on this sweetheart deal.

There are two stories here. We want to know what the real story is. Who is telling the truth, the Prime Minister or Ross Fitzpatrick?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, they are both telling the truth. The Prime Minister, as I understand it, did not receive any remuneration from Viceroy Resources for serving as its director.

The transaction question was between Mr. Fitzpatrick, a shareholder, and the then Jean Chrétien who later became Prime Minister.

The insinuations are unwarranted. The allegations are unwarranted. The hon. member ought to be ashamed of herself for engaging in more Reform rubbish. She already has been found not to know her facts. Now the same sickness, the Reform rubbish, has surfaced.

[The Speaker]

With respect, my colleagues, please do not refer to each other by name.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister accuses us of not having our facts straight.

Three times last week we asked questions in this House. Three times they said we had our facts wrong. Three times they had their facts wrong. It is a hat trick.

There are two problems here. First, the Prime Minister denied that he got any remuneration. Second, it is perfectly acceptable to ten years later pay back your political buddies and put them in the Senate. It looks like a real sweetheart deal from both angles.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister ask the Prime Minister to stand up as soon as he returns and say he is going to cancel—

[The Speaker]

The Hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the hon. member, the Prime Minister is a stand-up guy and he is going to stand up and confirm his behaviour was perfectly proper, unlike the unwarranted assertions of the hon. member. She ought to apologize again for her Reform rubbish.

Employment Insurance

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance repeatedly denied that the huge surpluses in the employment insurance fund were being used to reduce the deficit.

Over the weekend, however, he stated that this money was included in the government's budget and belonged to the taxpayers.

Does the Deputy Prime Minister recognize that this statement by the Minister of Finance amounts to an admission that he did reduce his deficit on the backs of the unemployed?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that we have cut cash transfers. At the same time, one must realize that we have increased the value of tax points. Increased equalization payments and lower interest rates have saved the Province of Quebec approximately $350 million over three years.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that was a nice answer by my hon. colleague, but to the wrong question. He did not answer the question. I do not understand his answer, but that is indeed his right.

In the light of these surpluses of between $6 billion and $7 billion a year, which will reach $25 billion by the year 2000, is it not time my hon. colleague realized that the government can afford to substantially reduce premiums and to improve benefits to the unemployed in order to preserve the very nature of the plan instead of using it as a tax on jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have done. We have already cut taxes by $1.4 billion. That is a huge amount.

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

Mr. Speaker, excessive premiums—in the words of management and the employees themselves—significant cuts to benefits and restrictive eligibility requirements enable the government to pocket a surplus of $135 million a week.

With the arrival of the so-called spring gap, a period in which many unemployed workers will be short of funds because cheques will no longer be coming in, how can the minister responsible for the unemployed in this country allow the Minister of Finance to siphon off the surplus in a fund that should be the responsibility of the Minister of Human Resources?

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

Mr. Speaker, the government has been fiscally responsible and it makes sure the reforms it undertakes serve all Canadians equitably.

As part of this reform, we have invested a lot in active measures to help the unemployed return to the labour market and we are pleased that there are a million more jobs in Canada today than there were four years ago. Many people in the regions with the highest unemployment have adapted well to the new reform.

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

Mr. Speaker, there are still 1.3 million unemployed, and, with a surplus in the employment insurance fund of nearly $14 billion, how can the government politically allow the accumulated surplus in the fund to head blithely toward the sum of $25 billion in the year 2000 while it causes misery in the regions to Quebec and Canadian families?