Debates of May 28th, 1998

Health

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, this is sheer undiluted nonsense. That man and his colleagues in the Reform Party have opposed the AIDS strategy from the beginning. They pick and choose those to whom they award their political compassion.

They are the embodiment of insincerity. They do not know the first thing about these policy issues and they are prepared to use victims as they do today for their narrow political—

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, the premiers of Ontario and New Brunswick, the Quebec National Assembly, the Alliance des manufacturiers du Québec, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the CSN have all condemned the government's misappropriation of $17 billion from the employment insurance fund. This morning, the Minister of Finance alluded to the possibility of an across the board tax cut.

Can the minister, who eliminated his deficit by taking money from the pockets of workers and businesses, assure us that, before considering an across the board tax cut, he will take into account the huge sacrifices he imposed on employment insurance claimants and reduce the tax on jobs that employment insurance has become?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, am I to understand that the leader of the Bloc Quebecois objects to the fact that we have reduced taxes for 83% of all Canadian taxpayers? Am I to understand that he objects to the fact that 400,000 people with very low salaries or incomes no longer have to pay any taxes?

Am I to understand that he is opposed to the assistance that we are providing to students and poor families, because all this is achieved through the tax system? Is this what the member is saying?

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

Mr. Speaker, I object to a minister caring more about his ships than about the unemployed. This is what I object to.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

I would respectfully ask the leader of the Bloc Quebecois to put his question.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am asking the minister, who has taken money from the businesses and workers most in need, if time has not come to restore employment insurance benefits. Is it not time to improve access to the EI program? After all, it is these people who eliminated the deficit, not those to whom the minister is referring.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, last year we reduced premiums by $1.4 billion.

The member says he is not referring to the same people as we are. We are referring to the 400,000 taxpayers who no longer pay taxes because their income is very low, the 83% of Canadian taxpayers who no longer pay the 3% surtax. students and poor families. These are the people we are speaking for. Who does the leader of the Bloc Quebecois speak for?

Transitional Jobs Fund

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development believes he is a responsible manager because he axed the employment insurance program.

But now that the government has been forced to admit that it has taken too much money for the employment insurance fund, choices have to be made.

How can the minister, who claims to be a responsible manager, hide behind active measures when the main one available to him, namely the transitional jobs fund, has run dry?

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

Mr. Speaker, there is still money in the transitional jobs fund. It has been committed, but will be spent between now and March 31.

Our main active measure is not the transitional jobs fund but the $2.7 billion we will be transferring to the Quebec government under the Quebec job market development agreement. So, that is $2.7 billion from the employment insurance fund.

This is much more important than what the hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques is complaining about and for which he has never recognized the headway we have been making in this country.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, all week the minister has been telling us that we need only to identify problems for him to deal with them. We have been doing just that all week.

Again this morning, five studies commissioned by his department were released to the Bloc Quebecois under the Access to Information Act. These studies reminded the minister that the 1994 reform has cost the unemployed heavily.

Like everyone, the minister knows that a substantial surplus has been accumulated. As a good manager, does he not think that the time has come to put money, new money, into the transitional jobs fund for those who need it?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques just skimmed the reports quickly. I think he did not get the whole picture.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Papineau—Saint-Denis, QC]

These reports clearly established that people—and I will have to say it very slowly this time—have been finding jobs faster since our 1994 reform. A larger number of workers who had lost their jobs in seasonal industries have found new jobs in other industries for the rest of the year. There are some very positive aspects—

[The Speaker]

The leader of the Democratic Party.

Health

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, earlier today the health minister suggested that safety concerns over imported albumin were just a matter of paperwork, but the court order specifically raised concerns over both the quality and the purity of Alpha's blood products.

The company was ordered to discontinue immediately “all manufacturing and distribution of products using reworked, reprocessed, returned or rejected lots”.

In view of these facts how can the minister continue to dismiss concerns as just a matter of paperwork?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, how can the member continue to leave the impression that these products are unsafe when they have been approved for use in both the United States, which has an exacting standard, and here in Canada which has its own standard?

The product in question has received approval from the authorities who have made the appropriate inquiries, the appropriate inspections, and have come to the conclusion that this product is safe.

For the member to say otherwise day after day in the House is very unfair to those who rely upon this product for health purposes.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, if the minister was doing his job he would know that the imported albumin being used on Canadians was made before Alpha was ordered to clean up its practices, before Alpha was ordered to stop using reworked and rejected products, and before Alpha was ordered by the courts to improve purity and quality.

In view of these facts the minister should have Canadians inspect the site, trace the lot and test the product now.

What is the minister waiting for?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we all know people in life who take a little knowledge and then judiciously select some of the facts and combine them in quick statements leaving a misimpression. In fact it is the NDP policy. That is what it is. The leader is making an example for the House of exactly that approach.

The reality and the bottom line is of importance to Canadians. This product has been approved by those responsible in both the United States and Canada. The people who take it can take it with confidence for that reason.

The Senate

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. It is reported that the government is deeming certain individuals to be “national treasures” because they are “invaluable” to the institutions of parliament.

Could the Prime Minister please tell this chamber of parliament who is making these decisions and who is paying for these decisions? Finally, when will the government account to the taxpayers of Canada for these expenses?

[The Speaker]

It is a pretty general question. The hon. House leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, even though the words of the question are changed, it is still quite obvious that any reference in this House to how the other house functions and how it chooses to allocate its office space is strictly the jurisdiction of the other house.

Need I remind the hon. member opposite that similar things have been done for other senators, for individuals like Jack Marshall.

[The Speaker]

My colleagues, I am not sure where the questions are going. We will have to keep it to the administrative responsibility of the government.

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have to say so much for transparency and accountability in spending our taxpayers' dollars.

I again would ask the Prime Minister how this government is accounting to Canadians for these actions and expenditures.