Debates of April 27th, 1998

Hepatitis C

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough.

Organized Crime

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to organized crime, Canada's top cop is all talk and no action. Last November the solicitor general promised to introduce legislation to give police power to act on illegal financial activity. Recently he promised to bring bikers to their knees and eradicate organized crime once and for all. These are bold words. Six months later Canadians are still waiting. When will the tough talking minister live up to the rhetoric and introduce much needed anti-organized crime legislation?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, this government introduced tough anti-organized crime legislation in the last Parliament. On Friday there were representatives of 50,000 police officers in Ottawa to work out the strategy. Today at noon I met with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. We are on the job.

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

Mr. Speaker, lots of consultation, lots of talk, no action. In its annual report on the international drug trade the United States state department singled out Canada as “an easy target for drug related crime and money laundering”. It lists Canada alongside Columbia as a great place to hide illegal cash.

Will the solicitor general introduce legislation to give police the tools they need to fight organized crime? Will he do so before the conclusion of the sitting in June?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in the House last fall when we introduced the first ever statement on organized crime in this place, we will be introducing that legislation.

Trade

[Sarkis Assadourian, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Trade.

Economic growth is important to the peaceful resolution of ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Can the minister inform this House of the impact of the free trade agreement between Canada and Israel which was signed almost two years ago on the population of Israel including the Palestinian authority?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. He has expressed a great deal of interest in this subject through his attendance in committee over recent months.

Canada has four free trade agreements and one of them is with Israel. As a result of the signing of that free trade agreement, trade has increased by 19%. I should also point out that goods produced in the West Bank and Gaza get equal treatment with goods produced in Israel.

Hepatitis C

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa once stood up for what was right and voted against his then Tory government on the GST. For the unpardonable crime of voting with his constituents, Brian Mulroney kicked him out of his party.

When it is time to vote tomorrow, will the Deputy Prime Minister allow the secretary of state to stand on principle, to do what is right and vote with all hepatitis C victims, or will he do what Brian Mulroney did and kick him out of the party?

[The Speaker]

I find the question to be out of order. It deals with party matters.

The hon. member for Berthier—Montcalm.

Young Offenders Act

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

Mr. Speaker, in an effort to calm the members of the Reform Party, the Minister of Justice is prepared to ignore the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on the matter of the Young Offenders Act and go so far as to propose publicly identifying young people aged 16 and 17 who have had run-ins with the law.

Will the Minister of Justice acknowledge that bowing to western intolerance and proposing to publicly identify young offenders do not serve the purposes of the law and do not help in rehabilitation, which she claims to support?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned to think that the hon. member believes everything he reads in the paper. As I have said in this House many times before, the standing committee has prepared a thorough report on the renewal of the youth justice system in this country. This government will respond to that report in the coming weeks.

Environment

[Rick Laliberte, NDP, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment. The failure of a mining tailings pond in Spain this weekend near Doñana national park, a world heritage site, demonstrates that accidents can occur.

Canada has in place an oil spill response program funded by that industry. Can the Minister of the Environment tell Canadians what response program is in place for a tailings pond failure in Canada? Who would be responsible for the clean-up bill, industry or the Canadian taxpayers?

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the soundest environmental records of any country on the globe. Quite frankly our mining industry is one of the most responsible, most proactive in the industry. We have a particular set of environmental standards under the environmental protection act and the fisheries protection act which I think leads to responsible behaviour. Most importantly, our companies are responsible. We are doing the right thing. We do the responsible thing.

The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the minister of fisheries. Media reports indicate recently that Newfoundland Premier Tobin met with the Prime Minister a few days ago to make a case that the Newfoundland economy cannot absorb the 18,000 people soon to be cast off the Atlantic groundfish strategy program.

Will the federal government take its responsibility seriously? Does the minister of fisheries not see the pressing need for a post TAGS program? Will he give me a simple direct answer? What is it? Will there be a post TAGS program or no post TAGS program?

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

Mr. Speaker, on many occasions in this House we have responded to the many dilemmas that are faced by the post TAGS situation.

I would agree with the hon. member that we have had useful input from the premier of Newfoundland in this regard as well as of course from Newfoundland members in this House. I would point out to the member that it is a complex problem. The measures announced by the government cannot be piecemeal or minor. I think that may have been some of the problems we have encountered in the past. In due course the member will receive the answer he is looking for.

Children

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Waterloo—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Secretary of State for Children and Youth.

Well-developed children become successful productive adults who are better able to contribute to society's economy. Would the minister clearly outline what the government is doing socially and economically to promote early childhood development as a powerful investment in the future?

[Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Liberal, Secretary of State (Children and Youth)]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is currently engaged in a number of efforts to give children in Canada a good start in life by early intervention programs and prevention programs.

Starting this summer in July we are contributing $850 million as a downpayment to low income families following with another $850 million. This will add up to $1.7 billion by the year 2000 in investments for children. We will also expand the head start programs. We are building a national children's agenda as well as a national child benefit with our provincial partners.

Hepatitis C

[Jack Ramsay, Reform, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the government may be legally liable to all hepatitis C victims who have been poisoned by a government controlled tainted blood system.

My question is for the justice minister. Has her department estimated the cost of the government's legal liability to thousands of uncompensated hepatitis C victims who were poisoned by a tainted blood system under the control of the federal government?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and his colleagues spent much of the last few weeks urging us not to take a legalistic approach to this issue. Now he is asking us for a legal opinion on liability. The member for Macleod put opposition very well last week.

The member for Crowfoot should know that we cannot pay cash compensation on the basis of illness. It has to be on the principle of fault.

We believe in making the offer we have to the victims of 1986 to 1990 with all the other governments in Canada. We have dealt directly with the issue facing governments.

Atlantic Groundfish Strategy

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

Not long ago, the Prime Minister told us of a ministerial committee chaired by the Minister of Human Resources Development, which had been given the job of developing ways to provide support after the Atlantic groundfish strategy comes to an end.

Could the minister tell us which workers in the fishing industry are covered by these measures and what the eligibility criteria are?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have no announcement on this subject today. The hon. member is correct in that the Prime Minister did ask a number of ministers to look at the post-TAGS situation.

As we know, there has been a crisis in the industry. We set up a program that provided help over several years to those hard hit. The program concludes this August.

We are looking at various angles to see how we can help people and communities live comfortably afterward and return to the labour force.

Hepatitis C

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health or as he might soon become known, the head sophist for Canada, given some of the arguments he has been making about hepatitis C.

Why does the minister persist in the deliberate confusion of the public health care system with the federally regulated agency that caused this problem? Will he give up this deliberate confusion and admit that there is nothing wrong or dangerous to medicare—

[The Speaker]

My colleagues, I have a little problem here with the word deliberate. I would ask the hon. member to please not use it in the future. I will permit the hon. Minister of Health to answer.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the member is entitled to his view but we disagree. We are not alone in this. We say that if governments are to pay people because of sickness or illness and nothing more, then we will not be able to have what Canada uniquely has, which is a government funded public health care system.

The principle that should govern when it comes to the question when should governments pay cash to those who are harmed through risk inherent in the health system, is that payment should be made based on avoidable harm. Could we have avoided this? That is what the Pritchard committee said in 1990. We are following exactly that principle. This is not some vague, legal—

[The Speaker]

Final question, the hon. member for St. John's East.