Debates of March 18th, 1998

The Budget

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, is the hon. member saying that a $2.5 billion scholarships program for 100,000 students at $3,000 a year is not going to Canadians? Is the hon. member saying that giving money to students to go into their pockets to pay off their debts is not giving money to Canadians? Is the hon. member saying that investing in education for the future of this country is not giving money to Canadians? That demonstrates what the Reform Party thinks of this country of Canadians.

Tobacco Legislation

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has taken so long to honour the commitment it made during the election campaign to lighten its anti-smoking legislation that the papers are carrying all sorts of rumours about it.

Will the Prime Minister finally keep his word? How does he plan to do so, and when will he?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member was referring to the Tobacco Act, we certainly do intend to honour our commitment.

Speculation on how we plan to do so is useless. We will act when we are ready.

Multilateral Agreement On Investment

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Toronto Centre—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of the uniquely bilingual and multicultural society we have created of this country. What assurance can the Minister for International Trade give this House that Canada's ability to protect that culture will be preserved in the present negotiations over the multilateral investment agreement?

[Julian Reed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to inform my colleague that the minister has set out a series of guidelines for the negotiators which they are standing absolutely firm on. We will negotiate nothing that will jeopardize those positions in any way whatsoever. My colleague can rest comfortably that Canada will only sign an agreement that is good for Canada.

The Budget

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as part of their threatening letter to the auditor general, the finance minister's henchmen admitted what we have been saying all along. The government is guilty of breaking public sector accounting principles and it plays fast and loose with billions of taxpayer dollars. Instead of fixing its shoddy accounting it has decided to rig the rules to weasel out of it.

Can the finance minister explain to Canadians why it is okay to change the rules in the middle of the game just because they were caught cheating at the old rules?

[The Speaker]

Again, colleagues, we are coming very close using words like cheating. I would ask you to be very judicious.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if there has ever been any indication of the Reform Party philosophy, stop the world I want to get off, let us understand that the world evolves, things change and governments must adapt. What we are dealing with here is a Reform Party that is so rooted in the 16th century that it fails to understand what the modern economy is all about and that modern accounting principles ought to follow modern governance.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, or maybe it is just a case of the finance minister fixing things to suit his own political ends.

The facts are these. The government fudged the books by billions of dollars. It was caught fudging. It admitted it was fudging and now it is trying to change the rules to cover up the fact that it fudged these things.

Why will the finance minister not admit that if had followed these rules all along there would be hundreds of dollars per taxpayer available for general tax relief?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there is $7 billion worth of tax relief in this budget over the next three years. Let us be very clear about one thing. This government has made it evident right from the beginning that the days of overspending are over. This means tight controls, total openness and total transparency. That is the course we are on and that is the course we will stay on.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Gordon Earle, NDP, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has said many times that she wants to work in partnership with aboriginal peoples. Two days ago I met with the chief of the Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia. He has requested to meet with the minister regarding a project that will create jobs and economic development. The minister has indicated she is unable to attend.

Whereas $900,000 may cease to be available for this project unless the federal government acts before the end of this fiscal year, will the minister reconsider and in a spirit of true partnership meet immediately with Chief Lawrence Paul?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, I have been down to the Atlantic provinces and I had opportunities to meet with a number of chiefs in that region. If the chief has need of a meeting or wants to convey information to me he is free to do so and I will be there to receive it and to speak with him.

Employment

[Angela Vautour, NDP, Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. The unemployed in the Beauséjour—Petitcodiac riding are once again taking the hit when it comes to financial help from the Liberal government. Forty per cent of the identified gappers will not qualify for the programs announced by the Liberals. This means they are going with no income for three months because of EI zoning problems and cuts to the EI program.

With a $20 billion surplus in the employment insurance fund, is the minister prepared to admit that his reform is not working and is he prepared to take steps to alleviate the suffering of the unemployed?

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

Mr. Speaker, first, the figures used by the hon. member have no relation to the facts.

We talked about this earlier. We combined this reform with very practical measures for workers in regions with high unemployment, such as the transitional job fund. These are active measures to help the unemployed return to the labour market. We set up a reform that is very useful for Canadian workers.

Bill C-68

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, based on the commissioner's letter of July 21, 1997, which I would like to table today, we now know that the Minister of Justice, past and present, relied on and made use of flawed public information as it pertained to Bill C-68.

The minister knows that there are four provinces and two territories presently before the Alberta Court of Appeal debating the constitutionality of Bill C-68.

According to the letter of the RCMP commissioner informing the minister in February, 1997 that the firearms data were bogus or, to use her words, methologically mistaken, did the minister supply the Alberta—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Justice.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I can only reiterate that which I said yesterday to the House.

The report to which the hon. member refers was not prepared by the Department of Justice alone. As I said yesterday, the report was the work of experts from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the RCMP, the solicitor general and provincial representatives from Quebec, B.C. and the OPP.

Again I refer to the fact that the letter I tabled yesterday indicates that any disagreement or confusion between the commissioner and my deputy minister has been clarified.

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the minister obviously did not hear my question. The minister took an oath as a lawyer and as the Attorney General of Canada that she would at all times supply the courts and the pubic with accurate information.

I repeat my question. Did the minister knowingly supply flawed information for the Alberta Court of Appeal? If she did so, will she resign?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the hon. member where he thinks the inaccuracy is. I would be happy to talk to the hon. member about where he believes this inaccuracy is in the data that we presented.

Fisheries

[Paul Steckle, Liberal, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

The sea lamprey marine parasite seriously jeopardizes the recreational, commercial and aboriginal fisheries in the Great Lakes.

Will the minister today commit to adequate funding of the sea lamprey control program to ensure long term sustainability of our Great Lakes fisheries?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Huron—Bruce for his interest in this issue.

The government remains committed to protecting the inland fishery resources, particularly of the Great Lakes, and the continuation of the sea lamprey parasite program.

Negotiations are going on between governments. As members will know, there is an international aspect to this. We also had discussions with the Ontario government.

I trust I will be able to give the hon. member the answer he would like before the end of the month.

Immigration

[John Reynolds, Reform, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

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

On January 5, 1998 the minister released the immigration legislative review report, a $1.2 million exercise.

The minister has completed her cross-Canada tour to hear from her hand picked groups.

The minister does not need legislative initiatives to deal with issues like refugee determination and enforcement orders. Why is she not acting now on these orders?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very surprised. I have just received the official opposition's report on immigration.

Their recommendations on refugees, specifically, include abolishing the refugee board and setting up another structure, resulting in legislative changes. I therefore have a hard time understanding what the Reform member is proposing today.

Court Challenges Program

[Louis Plamondon, Bloc, Richelieu, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

The minister cut 9% from the budget of the court challenges program available to francophones outside Quebec to defend their rights before the courts. There are a number of cases on educational rights in preparation at the moment.

Could the minister commit today, on the occasion of the Semaine nationale de la francophonie, to return this 9% and even expand this program substantially to enable francophones to defend their educational rights in—

[The Speaker]

The Hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage.