House of Commons Hansard #75 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was flag.
John Williams Reform St. Albert, AB
Mr. Speaker, the government has tried to intimidate the auditor general by sending him a letter saying this is the way we want you to approve the audit.
The auditor general has spoken before, last year, when he qualified the audit. Now you want to do the same thing on exactly the same basis and that, I think, is intimidation. That is why we want you to withdraw the letter. That is why we are asking, will you withdraw the letter?
Auditor GeneralOral Question Period
The Speaker
All questions should be addressed to the Chair. I know the hon. member knows that.
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, it is perfectly acceptable parliamentary practice for the government to respond to the auditor general when the auditor general raises an issue. It happens all the time.
It is a little difficult to understand that this member who has been a member for quite some time does not realize what is in fact the convention of this House.
Suzanne Tremblay Bloc Rimouski—Mitis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage wrote Claude Dauphin, the senior advisor to the Minister of Finance and former president of Option Canada, who, two and a half years after the fact, still cannot tell the people of Quebec and Canada how, in the midst of the referendum period, he spent $4.8 million in 33 days.
Could the minister tell the House whether she has received a reply from him?
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I am still waiting for clarification from the member, who totally misinformed the House last week. I am still waiting.
Janko Peric Liberal Cambridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry. Small and medium sized companies in Canada's aerospace industry face an uphill battle when competing against companies from countries with large defence budgets.
Can the minister tell us what has been done to help these Canadian companies competing for international defence contracts?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to say that through the efforts both of technology and the partnerships Canada program as well as the Export Development Corporation, a number of Canadian corporations have been very successful in winning aerospace and defence contracts internationally.
This includes recently Spar Aerospace, which won a $91.5 million contract with NASA; CAL Corporation, which has sold innovative tracking systems in France; Bristol Aerospace, which has won a $98 million contract with Boeing Corporation; and Computing Devices of Canada Limited in Calgary which has successfully sold into the U.S. market.
This is a very successful sector of the Canadian economy. We are moving from sixth to fourth in the world.
Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, the facts are these. The government has played fast and loose with billions of taxpayers' dollars. It has cooked the books of the country and violated its own accounting guidelines. The auditor general has rightly criticized this in public.
Now the finance department has tried to shut down the auditor general in a toughly worded letter, calling into question his professional judgment. The letter says that they also wish to register their profound astonishment that this issue has now been reported to the press.
Public scrutiny, what a terrible thing. Why is the finance minister trying to muzzle the auditor general?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, in fact what we are seeking is public scrutiny. The reason that we want to put it on the books is so that it will be open and transparent.
The real issue is why is the Reform Party against having transparency in the public statements? Why would the Reform Party support archaic accounting principles that have nothing to do with the evolution of modern accounting and in fact have nothing to do with transparency and openness in government?
Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, the facts are very clear here. The finance department feels threatened by the auditor general's criticism and it is doing what it can to shut him down.
The fact is that the finance minister cooked the books. He has played fast and loose with billions of taxpayers' dollars. Instead of threatening the auditor general, my question is why does the finance minister not be a big boy, take his lumps and start accepting criticism from the taxpayers' watchdog?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, this is not about taxes. There are $7 billion worth of tax cuts over the course of the next three years. What this is really all about is that it is the Reform Party's objection to the millennium foundation and to investing in education.
The real issue before the country is in a modern age, why does the Reform Party not understand that equality of access, that modern education is essential to job creation? Where the heck are they?
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. As he knows, B.C. government initiatives like the jobs and timber accord and legislation to protect young people from the exploitation of tobacco companies are threatened by the MAI.
The B.C. government has acted on the agreement of trade ministers for public hearings on the MAI, but where is the federal government's commitment? Why does the federal government not have the guts to inform Canadians about the threat to the rights of provinces to create jobs and protect health care under the MAI?
Julian Reed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade
Mr. Speaker, quite the contrary. There is nothing in the negotiations that would threaten the ability of Canada to function and operate its own house.
We have laid down a complete set of reservations that will go into the MAI and that is being negotiated right now. We will not sign a deal that is not good for Canada.
Angela Vautour NDP Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, NB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.
On December 16, 1997, the Prince Edward Island legislature stated that the multilateral agreement on investment would give the major multinationals nation status. The Prince Edward Island MLAs also called on the federal government to impose a moratorium on the ratification of the agreement pending public hearings on the matter throughout Canada.
Is the government prepared to make a commitment today to holding public hearings on the MAI throughout Canada before asking Parliament to ratify the agreement?
Julian Reed LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade
Mr. Speaker, the government, through the subcommittee on foreign affairs, held hearings last fall and continues to hold hearings as long as they are in demand.
Because of those hearings the subcommittee produced a report that I wish the hon. member would read. If she would read it, she would find out exactly where Canada stands on the issue. I urge all members to do the same.
Jean Dubé Progressive Conservative Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, the government is going ahead with its seniors benefit scheme.
Because of this new plan, some financial experts are advising middle income Canadians over 50 years of age against buying RRSPs. The reason is simple: what they will be saving in income tax today will not make up for the income tax they will have to pay later.
Why does the Minister of Finance stubbornly insist on discouraging saving for retirement?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the premise of the hon. member's question is not valid.
Jean Dubé Progressive Conservative Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Speaker, the government continues to gouge Canadians through excessive EI and CPP premiums and refuses to cut income taxes. Now it wants to impose an unbearable tax burden on Canadians through the so-called seniors benefit.
The Association of Canadian Pension Fund Management says that the seniors benefit should be structured to prevent an effective tax raise of over 50%. Is the finance minister listening?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I am having a little trouble with the definition of a tax gouge. We eliminated for all Canadians earning $50,000 or less the 3% surtax imposed by the Conservative government. We reduced EI premiums from $3.07 imposed by the Conservative government to $2.70.
The fact is that we have reduced the taxes the Tories increased. Under those circumstances perhaps the definition of gouge is a little different for the Tory Party than it is in the Oxford English dictionary.
Bryon Wilfert Liberal Oak Ridges, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. Two-thirds of Canadians risk premature death, heart disease and other health risks all due to physical inactivity.
If all Canadians were active, the savings for the health care system for heart disease alone would be $700 million a year. What is the minister doing to address physical inactivity? Who will he be partnering with to achieve this goal?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Oak Ridges has put his finger on an item of crucial importance in our effort to reduce health costs.
The connection between physical activity and health is both direct and dramatic. If over the next five years we could reduce the level of inactivity by 10%, we would save about $5 billion in health care. It is remarkable.
The government has taken action. We are working with dozens of partners to make Canadians more aware of the importance of physical activity. With 50 organizations including the Canadian Medical Association we have produced a booklet of—
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, through access to information we found that the RCMP commissioner tried to get the justice department to correct data that overstated the number of firearms involved in violent crimes.
The misleading data was being used to support Bill C-68 and was used in the Alberta Court of Appeal. Out of over 88,000 violent crimes investigated by the RCMP in 1993, only 73 involved firearms. The justice department used a figure nine times higher.
My question: what possible reason does the—
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I want to clarify the report to which the hon. member refers. This was not a report of the Department of Justice alone. It was work that was done by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the RCMP, the solicitor general, and provincial representatives from Quebec, B.C. and the OPP.
The hon. member is probably aware that there was some confusion as to the methodology that was used in relation to the compilation of these statistics.
I would be happy to file with you this afternoon, Mr. Speaker, a letter from the commissioner of the RCMP in which he and my deputy—