House of Commons Hansard #114 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was judges.

Topics

Government ContractsOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

Government ContractsOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

The Speaker

My colleagues, I would urge all hon. members to please stick to the issues as much as they can.

Government ContractsOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Reform

Art Hanger Reform Calgary Northeast, AB

Mr. Speaker, with that kind of rhetoric coming from the Prime Minister, obviously they do have something to hide.

Bombardier got an untendered, unadvertised, non-competitive contract amounting to $2.85 billion. The government says that it did not have the time to make this contract competitive. However, Public Works' documents show that it took three years to close the deal.

My question to the Prime Minister is: Three years? Why no competition?

Government ContractsOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

York Centre Ontario

Liberal

Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, my department wrote to the Reform Party on March 24 of this year and offered it access to every document involved in this whole endeavour. What was its response? Silence. Absolute silence. Reform members were not interested at all in looking at the details of this arrangement, which will create jobs in western Canada, jobs which they are now willing to give up. There are over 5,000 person years in jobs. Ninety per cent of them will be in western Canada. The base in Moose Jaw will be saved.

Government ContractsOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Reform

Art Hanger Reform Calgary Northeast, AB

Mr. Speaker, we still do not have any foreign NATO customers using Bombardier's training school. It is obvious, too, that NATO was willing to extend any deadline before this process was finished. Obviously NATO was in no rush.

Again I ask the Prime Minister: Three years? Why no competition?

Government ContractsOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

York Centre Ontario

Liberal

Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, in fact NATO extended the deadline. But NATO clearly indicated that it would have to know from us by June 1996 whether or not we were going to be in a position to provide this training facility. Otherwise it would have looked at alternatives. We had to move very quickly to make sure that we could provide this service.

Are there foreign customers? At this point in time none have signed. However, a lot of interest has been expressed.

Let me tell members that all of the risk will be in the private sector. All of the risk will be borne by the consortium.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health intimated yesterday that the discussions in Edmonton would lead to a definitive settlement of the hepatitis C issue.

However, at that moment, the representatives of the victims were slamming the door as they left the meeting, exasperated by the federal government's refusal to compensate all victims.

How does the Prime Minister explain the optimism of his Minister of Health, when the victims' representatives are saying that the discussions in Edmonton have gone nowhere because of a lack of clear commitment by the federal government to compensate all victims?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, we had an agreement in this matter, signed by all the provinces, the territories and the federal government. Two governments broke the agreement and want another proposal.

At the moment, the provincial representatives are meeting to find out what can be done in the matter as it stands. People should not jump to conclusions before the negotiations are over.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the government is saying it has shown leadership in this matter.

Does the Prime Minister realize that, if he wants to show leadership, he must make his intention to compensate all victims clear from the start, as the governments of Quebec and Ontario have done?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Quebec offered nothing. It said “We will send the bill to the federal government”. That was how they co-operated. It is easy to say “You will be compensated; someone else is going to pay”. That is Mr. Bouchard's type of courage.

Again, I think those people have a problem with their marriage. They want to arrange a marriage between the Reform Party and the Bloc Quebecois, but the bride wants to talk about separation even before the wedding.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, in Edmonton yesterday, a representative for hepatitis C victims said that the working group cannot improve the compensation options because the federal government has not yet agreed to provide compensation.

What guarantee is there that the federal government truly wants to see the hepatitis C compensation issue move forward, when it had to be prodded into sitting down with the provinces to discuss the issue and its officials lacked any mandate?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, that is patently untrue. The mere fact that there were discussions over the course of the last couple of days in Edmonton is a clear indication of the federal government's commitment to listen to everybody and to bring all the parties together to arrive at a solution.

The fact that the working group has received several submissions and has now got them on the table, is working on them and considering them with all the deliberation that they merit is an indication of leadership that is functioning.

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, we think the discussions have gone on long enough; it has been two months.

Can the Prime Minister at least give us an official assurance that his government's strategy is not to drag out the negotiations until the summer and then quietly wrap things up after the House has recessed for the summer?

Hepatitis COral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, there is no strategy to prejudge anything and there is no strategy to thwart anything.

The member opposite will recognize that the process has been extremely open and it includes, as well, the victims and their representatives.

Once the working group is in place it will come forward with a presentation which will be the presentation that will be acted on. I know she wants to make the process work and I think she should allow that to happen.

HealthOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

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

Tens of thousands of women in Canada and the United States are suffering severe health problems from breast implants. Yesterday in this House the health minister made it clear that he is totally unconcerned, so unconcerned that he authorized his own officials to go to the United States to serve as expert witnesses in the courts, defending the manufacturers of these hazardous devices.

What is the Prime Minister prepared to do about those irresponsible actions of the health minister?

HealthOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, if the member would get away from bombast for a moment and listen to some of the facts she would understand that there has been responsibility all the way through.

The minister of health of the day, a Conservative minister, conducted two audits of the department and its methods and approaches to the regulatory process. The first audit, an internal audit, indicated that the department was following the regulatory process to the letter.

The second audit, which was conducted by Peat Marwick Thorne, gave an indication that there was an assiduous following of the rules and regulations—

HealthOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. leader of the New Democratic Party.

HealthOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, unbelievably these saline breast implants about which this member does not want to talk are in widespread use in Canada today. To quote one expert “All such devices have the same leaky valves that don't hold water. They grow algae and fungi like a dirty aquarium”.

Why does this government continue to allow this threat to women's health?

HealthOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, I fear that the member is more interested in fearmongering than in the facts. Since this party came to government there has been no sale allowed in Canada of silicone gel-filled implants at all. In fact, if credit must be given, there has not been any such sale permitted in Canada since 1991.

I do not know whereof the hon. member speaks. We are conducting ourselves in a most responsible fashion. We are requiring all manufacturers to meet the safety and quality standards required by health protection—

HealthOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

HealthOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

The Speaker

I would encourage members that if the question is asked they have the courtesy to listen to the response.

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Bill Matthews Progressive Conservative Burin—St. George's, NL

Mr. Speaker, federal government offices in Newfoundland and Labrador from Port au Bras to St. Anthony are shut down today by protesting fishermen and fish plant workers.

In 1995 fishing industry stakeholders in Quebec and Newfoundland negotiated a sharing arrangement for turbot, 82% for Quebec and 18% for Newfoundland.

I have a question for the Prime Minister. Why has the federal government discriminated against Newfoundland and Labrador turbot fishermen by taking fish from them and giving them to Quebec? Why has the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans arbitrarily changed a successful negotiated sharing arrangement?

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Malpeque P.E.I.

Liberal

Wayne Easter LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, there has been no such decision made on the basis of being discriminatory. In fact the 1995 sharing arrangement was a temporary arrangement.

Despite efforts by the department to work with both sides and facilitate a long term agreement, the minister had to make a decision because the parties were unable to agree. That decision has been made.

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Bill Matthews Progressive Conservative Burin—St. George's, NL

Mr. Speaker, let me say to the parliamentary secretary that this agreement has worked successfully for three years. It is only now that the minister has arbitrarily broken this negotiated sharing agreement that we have protests in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Will the Prime Minister intercede with the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to restore the sharing arrangement agreement to 82% for Quebec and 18% for Newfoundland and everyone will be happy?

FisheriesOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly look into the request of the member. There must be a very good reason. I have not had a chance to talk with the minister of fisheries because he is not able to work today.

I will talk with him. Probably he has a very good reason, but I will transmit to him the representation of the hon. member and the member of my caucus from Newfoundland who raised the problem this morning.