Debates of March 9th, 1998

Aboriginal Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, it is quite the opposite. Indeed it was very important from my point of view to share with the public the results, the conclusions and the summary of the investigation. We in fact briefed the opposition on the details of that investigation.

As the hon. member will understand, the issue of the investigation is itself about privacy. Certainly there are procedures at play that we will very eagerly comply with if someone wants to employ—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Drummond.

Health

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

According to a persistent rumour, the Minister of Health is planning to establish a new $1 billion national home care program.

Does the Prime Minister agree that this new program is first and foremost designed to ensure the visibility of the federal government, as suggested by a Health Canada official this morning?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, everyone agrees that home care is a new health priority for all the provinces and the federal government as well. That is why the Minister of Health is having discussions with his counterparts to try to come up with a program that is acceptable to all.

My apologies. I indicated earlier that the Minister of Health met with ministers this morning. The meeting was not with ministers but with members of the health community. He has already met with the ministers, he is now meeting with members of the community to look at how to further this issue, which is very important to all Canadians.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister has money for health, why does he not heed the request by the Fédération des femmes du Québec to restore transfer payments to the provinces?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what I said earlier. The national health forum met and asked that we set the cash floor at $12.5 billion and that is exactly what we have done. We have introduced a bill, Bill C-28, which is designed to ensure that transfers remain at the desired level. Bill C-28 should be passed in the next few days.

Fisheries

[Gary Lunn, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister stated that he would replace senior bureaucrats if evidence showed they were responsible for the collapse of the Atlantic fishery.

Will the minister accept the evidence of hundreds of fishermen and scientists who testified before the committee about DFO's incompetence and cover-ups which have led to this disaster? Will he accept their evidence? Will he act now and fire the top bureaucrats?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think, out of deference to the House and its committee on fisheries, I as minister of fisheries should wait until I receive the report of the fisheries committee.

[Gary Lunn, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am responding to comments made by the minister, not to anything else. These comments were made by the minister. They were in all the papers across the country.

Will the minister accept the evidence of thousands of fishermen on both coasts and scientists who have stated that the management of this fishery has been an absolute colossal disaster? Will he act now and accept their evidence? It is his comments I am asking about.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most curious questions yet in the House. The hon. member asks me to look at the evidence before the committee that the committee itself is meant to evaluate. He wants me to substitute my opinion for that of 17 good members of Parliament whose job it was to examine the evidence.

If he and his party believe that the members of parties on a committee should be ignored, not considered, and that I should go directly to those who speak to them, that is an extraordinary approach for a member of the House.

Native Women

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was that native women be included in the administration of aboriginal health and healing facilities, as a means of lessening the effects of the violence from which they and their children too often suffer.

Can the minister explain to us why, in the action plan presented last January in response to the Royal Commission, she does not assign any lead role to aboriginal women in community health programs and in the planned aboriginal health institute?

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

Mr. Speaker, the effect of residential schools was devastating for aboriginal people. As a result, in our statement of reconciliation that we provided to aboriginal people on January 7 the government took responsibility and recognized the impact of past approaches to our relationship with Canada's first people.

In the particular case of residential schools, the Native Women's Association of Canada was offered a seat on the interim board and it denied taking that seat.

The Budget

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was International Women's Day. The budget was of considerable benefit to Canada's youth, to low income families and to students. Yet women continue to be disproportionately impoverished.

Would the Minister for the Status of Women tell the House what if anything the budget held for women?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)]

Mr. Speaker, there were significant initiatives in the budget for women across the spectrum.

For low income women with children there is a tax benefit of about $1.7 billion. For middle income women a 3% surtax has been removed. For women working in the paid workforce there is an increase in the child deduction benefits. For women who work at home with no pay there is a caregiver tax credit. For women with dependants who are students there is an up to $3,000 a year grant so they can go to school. For women who are entrepreneurs and who tend to have small incorporated businesses there is the ability to deduct a health and death benefit.

Francophone Games

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it has now been revealed that Ottawa-Hull won the 2001 francophone games after the federal government sweetened its bid by offering free air fare at a cost of several million dollars to athletes coming from competing countries.

At the same time I regularly receive correspondence from Canadian athletes who do not receive one thin dime for their travel to participate in olympic and world events representing Canada.

Could the minister tell our Canadian athletes why we are paying the travel costs of foreign athletes to come to Canada when we are not able to support our Canadian athletes participating outside Canada?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, first I congratulate our minister for getting the games to Canada.

Yes, we are negotiating how many young people we will be bringing to our country so they can participate. As we take care of children and youth here in our country, we will do the same for the other countries when they come here.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is the House of Commons of the people of Canada. I am concerned about Canadian athletes.

In fact what was going on in that particular event, when we were trying to get the francophone games here, was that we simply outbid France and Lebanon in order to get them here.

I still ask the same question. What are our priorities? Why is it that when we do not have enough money to be able to support our Canadian athletes we can support foreign athletes, about 2,000 of them, at Canadian taxpayers' expense to come here?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, we just finished the games in Nagano. We did very well and we are quite proud of our Canadian athletes, as we will be quite proud when we hold the games in our country. Let us do it the Canadian way by making sure that everyone will participate.

Employment Insurance

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, a report by the economist Pierre Fortin shows that employment insurance reform has created 730,000 welfare recipients in Canada.

Barely 40% of the unemployed in this country qualify for employment insurance. Many people are therefore forced onto welfare.

Will the Minister of Human Resources Development use the employment insurance fund surplus to come to the assistance of these thousands of people who are suffering and to make it easier for them to gain access to employment insurance? Will he finally admit that these are rotten reforms and that changes must be made immediately to employment insurance?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I had occasion to state a little earlier in this House, I have not yet had the opportunity to read Mr. Fortin's report.

From what I could get from this morning's papers, this is a study which looked at the last three employment insurance reforms, back to 1990, and speculates on the impact on welfare over the next ten years. Thus a 20-year period is involved.

The figure of 200,000 additional recipients is over those 20 years. We will analyze it but I do not believe the way it has been described here reflects the scientific reality that is found in the report.

Foreign Affairs

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell this House what diplomatic steps Canada is taking to ensure that Serbia respects the autonomy and human rights of the citizens of the province of Kosovo? Can the minister also assure us that Canada will be in the forefront of advocating a concerted and immediate international response to a conflict which has such dangerous regional and global implications?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our position is quite clear that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's government must understand that the repressive actions taken will not be tolerated by the international community.

In support of international efforts, we are prepared to take the following steps today: to put a halt to any export credit through the Export Development Corporation; to put on hold any negotiations with the Yugoslav airlines for landing rights; to put on hold any discussions on bilateral efforts; and to consider what kind of support we might provide on a humanitarian basis.

We will also have the opportunity tomorrow after the Prime Minister meets with Secretary of State Albright to talk about how Canada can join in a broader multilateral effort.

Health Care

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

Mr. Speaker, last year the Prime Minister threw a sand bag to stop the flood in Manitoba. Last week the Prime Minister gave $10 to stop the crisis in health care in New Brunswick. Every premier, every provincial finance minister, every health care worker and every Canadian says there is a health care crisis.

Is the Prime Minister going to rebuild the health care system or is he simply going to throw a sand bag on this particular crisis?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it seems that the hon. member will have a chance to vote for Bill C-28 very soon. This bill will establish a floor of $12.5 billion, an increase of $1.5 billion than was planned some months ago. He should know this because I gave a long list to his House leader.

The minister is meeting with the stakeholders today to discuss an expansion of the system because home care is a big complement to medicare. It is part of our program to help the provinces to establish a very effective system of home care.

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

Mr. Speaker, that answer is wearing very thin with Canadians, with premiers and with the provincial finance ministers. The government has not increased the floor of health care spending. It has simply stopped the expenditures.

The health minister said Canadians have to put pressure on the government to get more health care dollars. If the health minister cannot do the job himself with his caucus, is the Prime Minister prepared to replace the health minister with someone who can?