Debates of May 11th, 1998

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister seems to be suggesting that unless a criminal charge is laid everything is okay.

We know this is not the case. Pierre Corbeil did not act alone. He committed a crime thanks to confidential information provided by someone in the minister's own office.

Will the President of the Treasury Board stop hiding behind these meaningless statements and bureaucratic gobbledegook and clean up his office? Or does he condone the activities of Mr. Corbeil?

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

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP has investigated this matter thoroughly. It has had the full co-operation of the government and it charged only one individual. That individual has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced.

Organized Crime

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is national police week. Canadians say thank you to the police officers who work in our communities and on the front lines against crime.

More and more, Canadian society is being victimized by organized crime where the front lines are not so clear and the criminals themselves may operate from other countries.

My question is for the solicitor general. What is the Government of Canada doing to protect Canadians from this growing international threat?

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right to characterize the organized crime issue as international. That is why there are 1,000 delegates in Toronto this week, representing some 20 countries' law enforcement agencies, all dealing with the question of organized crime.

As we discussed this morning, the government has primarily two responsibilities. One is to provide the tools. That is why we provided the witness protection program, the proceeds of crime legislation and the anti-gang legislation. That is why we established the national co-ordinating committee on organized crime under the leadership of the RCMP. That is why next week I will be in Washington discussing this very problem with Janet Reno.

The fight against this scourge on Canadian society continues.

The Senate

[Rob Anders, Reform, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister can send us a press release.

On June 11, 1990, Stan Waters was appointed to the Senate after being elected by the people of Alberta. That did not require constitutional change.

In 1993 the Prime Minister had this to say about the Senate: “The Liberal government in two years will make it elected. As Prime Minister, I can make it happen”.

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister whose leader promised us an elected Senate. How does he plan to make it happen?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

First of all, Mr. Speaker, I would like to check the total transcript that the hon. member is referring to.

Secondly, to make it happen there has to be a constitutional amendment and I do not see any resolutions in any of the provinces to amend the Constitution. Until the Constitution is amended the Prime Minister has an obligation to follow the Constitution.

Simply electing people who then have to be appointed for life does not change the Senate, it just compounds what the hon. member is complaining about.

Poverty

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. The government made a very firm commitment to the fight against poverty. Since then, however, it has slashed funding to education, social assistance and health. This morning the National Council on Welfare issued a statement reminding the government that it is responsible for the rise in poverty everywhere in the country.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister admit that, if the government is serious about wanting to really fight poverty, it must first and foremost hand back over to the provinces the billions of dollars it has cut from health, education and welfare, under the pretext of reducing its deficit?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fight against poverty is currently being waged with tax cuts and increased tax credits for poor children. We are going to continue that fight until a true victory has been won. We have made considerable progress already, moreover.

Health

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, patients in Canadian hospitals today are receiving unlicensed blood products without their knowledge or consent. Hospitals have been informed of a shortage of the human serum albumin and told that unlicensed product is available through the Emergency Drug Release Program. Manufacturers are still not compliant with licensing regulations that were passed five months ago.

Is this not the same kind of situation that led to the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through the tainted blood scandal? Will the minister investigate this serious situation today and indicate what steps he is taking to ensure that manufacturers comply with the blood licensing regulations?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly take account of what the member says. I will look into it and respond to her.

As a general matter, we have now agreed with the provinces to the creation of a new blood system which will open its doors later this year with a form of governance that mirrors the Krever recommendations and a form of regulation from the federal government that reflects the Krever recommendations. At least when we start the new blood agency it will be on a new foot and hopefully toward a new and safer age.

National Forest Strategy

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has stated that Canadian woodlot owners are like any other Canadian business. Yet Canada's national forest strategy for 1998 to the year 2003 recognizes that woodlot owners are not like other businesses and that a change to capital gains taxation is required.

I wonder what the Minister of Natural Resources thinks of the taxation recommendations in our national forest strategy.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has repeatedly explained the impact of the current tax rules to the hon. gentleman.

Recently federal and provincial ministers and a variety of others interested in the forest sector have worked very hard on developing a new forest strategy for Canada for the next five year period. Over the course of those five years all of us will be working very hard to ensure that we maximize sustainable development in our forests, including in the woodlot sector. All worthy ideas will be taken into account.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Stan Dromisky, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Atikokan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

There have been concerns expressed in my riding regarding the financial accountability of native reserves.

Can the minister tell Canadians what First Nations are doing to improve their governance structure in order to address these concerns?

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

Mr. Speaker, as was emphasized both in the Speech from the Throne and In Gathering Strength , our response to the royal commission, this government agrees with aboriginal people that building strong, accountable and transparent governments is a priority.

It is important to share with the House the progress that is being made in this regard.

I would note that the Assembly of First Nations recently signed an agreement with the Certified General Accountants of Canada to train First Nations accountants and to develop a code of ethics for First Nations accounting.

I would also note that all First Nations are developing conflict of interest guidelines as part of funding agreements. The Alberta chiefs are developing an accountability framework and through the British Columbia First Nations Financial Officers Association—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Vancouver Island North.

The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy

[John Duncan, Reform, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the scandals of TAGS stand as a lesson that costly programs motivated entirely by politics do nothing but harm Atlantic Canadians.

It has been harshly criticized by fishermen, the auditor general and the premier of Newfoundland, and has resulted in a major lawsuit against the government. Now it wants to do it all over again.

Would the minister name one single feature of the second TAGS that will prevent the mismanagement and incompetence that dominated the first TAGS?

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

Mr. Speaker, I find it incredible that the hon. member can stand in the House to say that. Canadians experienced terrible difficulties when we realized there was no fish in 1992 and 1993 we had to act and act quickly.

What we did was not perfect, but what we did was the best we could do to help Canadian citizens who were in a difficult situation. We put forward that money to help the fishermen through a difficult time.

We are addressing the post TAGS environment. We are learning from our experiences of the past and we will do better in the future.

Nuclear Weapons Tests

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

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

This morning, we learned that India conducted three limited strength underground nuclear weapons tests on the weekend. These tests are the first conducted by India since May 1974 and are part of a strategy of confrontation with Pakistan.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister inform the House what concrete action he intends to take to show Canada's disapproval of this dangerous initiative?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's high commissioner to India has already indicated the Government of Canada's concern about this event. The matter has also been raised in other world capitals.

We are taking this situation very seriously. It is completely contrary to the desired approach world-wide on the resolution of nuclear matters.

Justice

[Peter Mancini, NDP, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, it has been over 21 years since Leonard Peltier was extradited to the United States on the basis of alleged false information.

In 1994 the then justice minister authorized a full review of the case and in February 1997 indicated the findings would be made public prior to the June 2 election. They were not.

Will the current Minister of Justice tell the House why the review has not been made public and if and when she intends to do so?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can reassure the hon. member that we are reviewing that report right now in relation to privacy concerns.

As soon as I am satisfied and the privacy commissioner is satisfied that we can release that report I will do so.

Correctional Service Canada

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that there is a research project in the works proposing such things as aroma therapy and massage as treatment for criminal behaviour.

Could the solicitor general confirm that CSC is investigating alternative therapies? If it is, if it could include me and a few of my colleagues on these massages that would be wonderful.

[Andy Scott, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, my suggestion would be that what we need to investigate is the research capacity of the Reform Party which has a tendency to make these things up.

The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Tony Cunningham of Shelburne County, Nova Scotia is anxious.

He is anxious because Mr. Cunningham will soon stop receiving TAGS support. He wonders when this government will announce the licence retirement program that allows him and thousands more like him the opportunity to leave the groundfishery.

Could the Minister of Human Resources Development inform the thousands of people like Mr. Cunningham when they can expect to hear of a package that allows them to retire their licences?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware of the situation. The TAGS program will be ending in August. We intend to address the post-TAGS environment very well. This is why we have conducted all the consultations we have with individuals, with the communities and with the provinces.

We are working very hard right now, some of my colleagues and I, to make sure that we have the best approach in the post-TAGS environment.