Debates of April 2nd, 1998

Agriculture

[John Harvard, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the question.

I want to remind the member from Saskatchewan that right now we are undergoing a lengthy process of safety net review. A committee is in place. Come next year all the evidence will be in. At that time we will have some answers as to how we can prop up the safety net system which we have in this country.

Firearms

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

Mr. Speaker, there is an old legal maxim stating that withholding the truth suggests falsehood. I would like to return to the flawed information used by the Department of Justice to justify gun registration.

Last summer the RCMP commissioner raised serious concerns about incorrect public policy resulting from firearm statistics.

In the name of integrity, will the Prime Minister advise whether the misleading information used six times before the Alberta Court of Appeal will be corrected?

[Eleni Bakopanos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, this is actually the fourth or fifth time the member has raised this question in the House.

The answer was given in the letter that was tabled in the House by the minister. The RCMP has said that it is satisfied with the methodology that was used by the firearms smuggling work group of which it was part.

It was a question of methodology. It was not a question of fixing the figures or doing anything in order to make our point.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think she had it right. But it may be mythology.

I attended a briefing yesterday by the minister's officials in which the RCMP were in attendance. They refused at that time to sign an affidavit which would justify those figures.

I am asking again, will the Minister of Justice or her departmental officials agree to withdraw the information or at least correct it on the record before the Alberta Court of Appeal?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP has been very clear. It was a question of methodology. The problems have been resolved. It has been established by the RCMP that they have been resolved. The RCMP is satisfied.

Official Languages

[Mark Assad, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

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

What is the role of the task force on the effects of government changes on official languages?

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

Mr. Speaker, in recent years the government has undergone changes, it has privatized, it has devolved and it has commercialized.

In such cases, as the Commissioner of Official Languages has reminded us, the Official Languages Act must continue to apply. The federal government has long been committed to this and will continue to be.

So, we set up a task force with the mandate of examining changes within the government, determining their effect on the application of the Official Languages Act and providing the best possible recommendations to ensure that the Act—

[The Speaker]

I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Minister. The hon. member for Skeena.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Mike Scott, Reform, Skeena, BC]

Mr. Speaker, you would think that the ministers could find better ways to make statements in the House.

Chief Keith Moon from the Blood reserve wrote the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development five months ago with serious concerns over accountability on his reserve. He still has not got an answer. Today in the Calgary Harold there is an article that says the minister intends to give the chief more control over oil and gas revenues on that reserve.

My question to the Prime Minister is, how can he justify giving more control over oil and gas money to these chiefs when the minister has not even begun to address the problem of accountability on—

[The Speaker]

The hon. government House leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite continuously tries to raise issues which undermine the authority of the elected chiefs in this country.

Why is it that he does not raise the fact that the Whitecap Dakota band in Saskatchewan, according to important media articles, provided strong leadership and turned the First Nation around, which is now operating in a financially successful manner?

Why is he not raising those kinds of issues? Why is he always raising issues that undermine the credibility of duly elected officials?

Rcmp

[Michel Bellehumeur, Bloc, Berthier—Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Solicitor General.

Yesterday we learned from a television report that confidential information on dozens of citizens was available to Canadian insurance companies from the main RCMP computer.

Will the Solicitor General confirm this disturbing news, and if so, what is his explanation for it?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we are looking into the matter even as we speak.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

With ACOA having been created to help foster economic development in Atlantic Canada, keeping in mind the extremely high unemployment rates in the region, and knowing that small and medium size businesses are the ones creating the jobs, can the minister responsible confirm for Atlantic Canadians that the ACOA budget will be reduced by one-third to $250 million by the first year of the next millennium, projecting the lowest level of funding since 1988-89?

[Fred Mifflin, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her positive question on ACOA.

In response, I have to point out that ACOA is made up of two parts: the core funding of ACOA, which basically has not changed in about 10 years, and special programs that have a beginning and an end, for example, the infrastructure program, base closure programs and adjustments for the fixed link.

These programs have a beginning and they have an end. When they end, which is projected to be roughly after the turn of the century, the core funding of ACOA will remain basically the same as it is now, roughly in the vicinity of a quarter of a billion dollars, which will provide hope, opportunity and jobs.

Firearms

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

Mr. Speaker, we get the same non-answers every time we ask this question.

In light of the recent suggestion that the Canadian Police Association may withdraw its support of gun registration, I ask the Prime Minister if he will speak with Department of Justice officials and ask them to issue a clarification in the Alberta court case which outlines the RCMP's concerns with respect to the faulty firearms facts.

[Eleni Bakopanos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I take great offence on behalf of the Minister of Justice and also this government to the inference that this government attempted to make up facts and figures.

The RCMP has stated both in a letter and at a meeting which the hon. member attended that the statistics were true, they were not false. The methodology that was used was different and they accepted that as a fact.

Transport

[Susan Whelan, Liberal, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Transport announced his review of Canada's 20 year old policy governing international air charter passenger services.

Will this review address the concerns of Canadians who rely on affordable charter flights to international destinations?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it became obvious after the discussion last fall that the existing policy framework really did not fit today's needs and aspirations of Canadian travellers.

That is why we will be undertaking an exhaustive review. We want to complete it by the end of the year. It will deal with charter types, advance payments, minimum prices, minimum payments, payment protection as well as one-way charters.

This government is absolutely and totally committed to an environment with the cheapest air fares, the maximum flexibility and the safest environment.

Hepatitis C

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

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the Prime Minister has silenced his own backbench and we have to listen to questions like that.

Every opposition party—

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, with respect, all hon. members have the right to seek the floor to ask questions. I am sure we want to hear the questions and we want to hear the answers. Whether we make comments or not on the questions or the answers, I think maybe we should just put that behind us.

I am going to hear this question. The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

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

Mr. Speaker, every opposition party in this House is calling for a full compensation of hepatitis C victims. The Liberal backbenchers are calling for compensation. The premier of my province is uncomfortable with the way things are now. They all know what is wrong. Only the Prime Minister insists on doing what is wrong.

Why will the Prime Minister not admit that he is wrong and compensate all victims? Why not?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when we spoke this morning he did not mention that he is not in agreement with his minister of health.

There was a discussion among all the ministers of health in Canada. They have agreed to take the responsibility for the period 1986 to 1990. The federal government has contributed $800 million toward the problem and the provinces have contributed $300 million which makes $1.1 billion. I think it is a very good compensation program that has been agreed to by the 13 governments and the agreement still stands.

[The Speaker]

On a personal statement the hon. leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

The Hon. Jean J. Charest

[Jean Charest, Progressive Conservative, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce that I have changed my mind.