Debates of April 30th, 1998

Israel

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today from Metulla to Eilat, the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, Israel is celebrating her 50th anniversary.

This year Israelis and Jews from around the world gather to celebrate our collective past, question the present and propose solutions for the future.

Israel, a rare democracy in the Middle East, is the homeland of the Jewish people. For the past five decades with the incredible immigration of nearly 750,000 Russian Jews, the miraculous immigration of the Ethiopian Jews and of course the World War II European Shoah survivors, many Diaspora Jews now call Israel home.

Starting as a dream in the desert by a handful of people through sweat and determination, Israel has blossomed into a modern day nation with close to six million people living within its borders.

As people celebrate in Israel and around the world, on behalf of my constituents in the riding of Thornhill, I extend a hearty Mazel Tov to the state of Israel. May your borders be safe and may all your people live in harmony. Shalom.

Israeli People

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois wishes to extend its best wishes to the people of Israel on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel.

After centuries of statelessness and victimization at the hands of tyrants, the most ghastly instance of which was the Holocaust, the Israelis have seen the fulfillment of their dream, a dream shared by many peoples, to live in their own country,

The legitimate dream of living in one's own country has too often been overshadowed by wars and conflict which endure to this day. The signature of the Oslo accords created real hope among the international community and opened the door to negotiations which might encourage lasting peace in the region.

Today, the peace is still fragile and we hope the numerous efforts invested in democracy and lasting peace in the Middle East will soon bear fruit.

The May 1999 deadline on the question of the definitive status of the occupied territories and the Gaza Strip is coming up fast. We are hoping for an agreement on this matter, so that all—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for West Nova.

Cornwallis Naval Museum

[Mark Muise, Progressive Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, on May 3 the residents of Cornwallis will celebrate the official opening of their new naval museum.

Sadly, stained glass windows that were donated to the former base by our naval personnel to commemorate the battle of the Atlantic, have not been returned.

The Department of National Defence removed these windows following the closure of the base, choosing to transfer them to its Halifax base chapel. The minister appears to be sympathetic to returning these windows to the new naval museum, yet a final decision is still pending.

Our veterans presented the gift to the Cornwallis base with the understanding that they would be proudly displayed for all to see. On Friday I went to our military base in Shannon Park, Halifax to get a glimpse of these windows. My entry was met with resistance. I do not think this was the intent of our veterans when they donated these windows.

These windows mean a lot to the residents of Cornwallis. I ask the minister to give these people something to really celebrate on May 3 by returning the windows to their rightful owners.

Quebec Economy

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Mouvement Desjardins expects that, within two years, Quebec will have nearly overcome its historic economic lag behind the rest of Canada. This will be expressed in terms of a level of unemployment under 10%, something that has not been seen for 10 years.

Quebec's remarkable performance is due in large part to large scale investment. Nearly $3 billion in private investments have been made in our regions.

Quebec is preparing to enjoy a period of economic prosperity not seen since the quiet revolution and which is also thanks to the good government of the Parti Quebecois under Lucien Bouchard, who got us out of the financial and economic quagmire inherited from nine years of Liberal rule.

I therefore encourage this House to delight in this good news and to denounce the charlatans who are trying to make political hay by denigrating Quebec with their lies.

Forestry

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians own 10% of the world's forests. We take this responsibility very seriously. Forests are vital to our health, our well-being, our environment and our economy.

That is why I wish to inform hon. members of this House that the eighth national forest congress is taking place this week in Ottawa from April 29 to May 1. Some 350 of the most influential members of Canada's forest community will convene at the Ottawa Congress Centre where a new national forest strategy will be presented and the second Canada forest accord will be signed.

Together they will form a progressive agenda for continuing action toward the goal of sustainable forest management across Canada over the next five years. I welcome this event.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, a witness stated that there was a party atmosphere among the boys who watched the assault on a 16 year old boy that left him lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

“They were just having a good time, they were laughing it up”. These are the words of Rob Parsons, the youth co-ordinator for Lambrick Park church. The youth was assaulted while on his way home from a church youth group in my riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands.

My constituents are still trying to deal with the similar incident of Reena Virk. These are just two examples of why the Minister of Justice must deal with changes to the Young Offenders Act today.

I will be holding a Young Offenders Act forum in my riding on May 11 where students, legal professionals and the general public will tackle the growing problem of youth violence in our communities.

Canadians are working together to resolve this crisis. The minister has the power to put teeth into the Young Offenders Act. She has the power to be part of the solution not just for my riding but for all of Canada. Until this happens she is the problem.

Hepatitis C

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's last defence against the government's shameful treatment of hepatitis C victims is crumbling away.

Last night the Quebec assembly unanimously agreed that compensation should be paid to all victims of tainted blood.

This morning the Ontario health minister endorsed the same position. Quebec and Ontario governments have changed their position on this issue.

Will the federal government now admit that its original position was wrong and change its position as well?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there was absolutely no change in their position.

They said if the federal government will pay they will be happy. If they want to pay we will be happy too. Responsible government is you put your money where your mouth is.

For example, Ontario has reduced taxes by $5 billion and it does not want to have more money to help the people it wants us to help. It should be a responsible government and not play cheap politics.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister avoids the central issue. Daniel Johnson, the Liberal leader in Quebec, persuaded the Quebec assembly to support the principle that all the victims should be compensated.

It is the principle. If you accept the principle you can deal with the money question, the cost sharing, afterwards. Will the Prime Minister endorse the principle that all the victims of tainted blood should be fairly compensated?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, make a decision and ask for the price later. Is that responsible government? Yes, there are a lot of people in our society who are suffering. Should we take responsibility for everybody who has a permanent difficult disease when there is no government responsibility?

Some members of parliament are always complaining because we want to put more money in social and economic programs. They tell the nation the money should go to the reduction of taxes and the reduction of the debt. It is just pure simple hypocrisy.

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, I urge all of us to be very cautious in our use of words and I ask all of us to stay away from the word hypocrisy.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has run out of excuses. Justice Krever presented the medical and legal evidence for compensating the victims.

Now there are two provincial governments endorsing the principle that all the victims should be compensated.

Will the Prime Minister now acknowledge that the only obstacle to a fair and compassionate settlement for these victims is his own ego, his own pride and his own stubbornness?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we met with the provincial governments. We were the ones who initiated the program. They were not interested.

The Minister of Health had meeting after meeting, trying to persuade them to put up money. Health is a provincial responsibility. We put up $800 million. They put up only $300 million. We had to fight with them.

Today we have the very courageous Mr. Bouchard and Mr. Harris. Let the government pay. Intervention in provincial affairs. Running the health care system for them.

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Macleod.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Joey Haché is 15 and hepatitis C infected. He is here with us today.

He has some questions for the Prime Minister who said that he would rather spend money on pensions for young Canadians that might not get one when they retire rather than compensate hepatitis C victims.

Joey's question: “Did it ever occur to the Prime Minister that some young Canadians, like myself, might not make it to retirement age because of hepatitis C?”

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there are people who unfortunately are facing a difficult situation. I know some very young people who have MS and who will have a very tough life. I can name a lot of people in this nation who have all sorts of diseases. We have established a system of welfare in Canada to help these people. We have free medicare to help these people. These are the very programs the Reform Party always wants to cut when there are votes in the House of Commons.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister forgets that MS did not come from the federal regulators.

Joey goes on: “The Prime Minister made mention yesterday in the House to the effect that even though we might not be compensated, we will still have the health care system to fall back on. I went to that health care system for a life saving transfusion and look where that got me”. He ends by saying: “I am the Prime Minister's conscience”. Joey says that he will not go away until the Prime Minister compensates all the victims of hepatitis C.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it was the responsibility of the government from 1986 to 1990. At that time when the problem existed a commission was created. We have received the results. The report said that it was for that period of time that the government was responsible. We took that file and went to the provincial governments. None of them wanted to do anything until pressured by the Government of Canada. Today, they said nicely to do something, and we will not do it.

Mr. Harris cut taxes by $5 billion. He does not have a cent for Joey Haché who is in the gallery today.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Quebec National Assembly unanimously passed a motion calling on the federal government to show compassion and compensate all victims of hepatitis C.

This motion was put forward by the Quebec Liberal Party, which, starting this evening, will be led by a person whom the Prime Minister referred to as “reasonable man”.

Today, the Government of Ontario gave its support to this motion. Will the Prime Minister reconsider his position and act on the Quebec government motion, supported by—

[The Speaker]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know if the leader of the Bloc Quebecois will ask the leader of the Quebec government, who is so compassionate, whether he plans to pay his share of any compensation paid out to these people.

These are the people who, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, were refusing to contribute and defending their position. Today, they are showing so much courage that they are asking the federal government to do their job, since the provincial government will not do it itself.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, did I hear correctly what was said by the Prime Minister, the man who reduced his deficit by taking money away from the provinces and the poorest of the poor in our society, the sick and the young?

Should he not be fair and equitable, instead of prancing about in the House, to the applause of a bunch of subservient members? I am not asking him to be generous, just human, if he can.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask of the Quebec government to be human too. The Quebec health minister, who made certain statements and has just been disavowed by his leader and his party, should do the honourable thing.

We for our part stand behind our health minister and do not pull the rug out from under his feet. That is the essence of a responsible government, one that assumes its responsibilities and does not pass the buck on to others.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government cannot deny it is in a better financial position than most of the provinces, because it took billions of dollars away from them in the area of health care and continues to do so.

Will the Prime Minister acknowledge that, if he wanted to act responsibly, he could compensate all victims of hepatitis C from the $4 billion budget surplus?