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.
Grant Hill Reform Macleod, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government promised us real good, tough tobacco ad legislation back in October. Now we find that the legislation will not kick in until the year 2003.
The Prime Minister broke his first promise. Why should we believe that this promise will be kept?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the minister will make an announcement at 3.15 and give the details.
The bill will be before the House very soon. If members want the bill to pass they should vote for it very rapidly.
Grant Hill Reform Macleod, AB
Mr. Speaker, it would not make very much difference how rapidly we voted for it. It will be five years before the ad ban comes in, five years of negotiating and fighting in courts by the tobacco companies, five years of big money finding solutions so that they can get around it, and five years of kids smoking who should not have to smoke because the government is too week.
Why should every Canadian not say that the Prime Minister has nicotine stains on his hands?
Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the member's silliness is getting away from him.
One of the things the member wants to do is to wait until House procedures allow for the tabling of the legislation. Then he will be satisfied, as he was with the last one, with the very vigorous approach to dealing with a serious health issue.
He will find that he should be applauding the total ban when it is brought forward if that is in fact what he will find. I am confident that he will be happy the minister will have shown such vigour.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, even the Montreal Gazette , not exactly a separatist publication, has just come out in support of what the students of Quebec think, what the educators think, and what the Bloc Quebecois thinks, which is that the government ought to give up on its millennium scholarships.
When will the federal government finally admit that it is barking up the wrong tree with this, by insisting on ramming this project through regardless?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we have set aside $2.5 billion, thanks to the government's good financial performance up to the end of the fiscal year on March 31.
This we put in trust so that it would be administered by people totally independent of the government, with only one objective, namely to give all Canadian students the chance to have a millennium scholarship.
Every year for 10 years, 100,000 students, even those from Quebec, will be able to benefit from the federal government's good management.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, after telling us with a straight face that the employment insurance program is a good one, even if 60% of the unemployed are no longer eligible, after telling us that unemployed young people should be glad that three-quarters of them are no longer eligible, now he wants to shove his millennium scholarships down our throats, even if nobody wants them.
By refusing to heed the wishes of the public, is the Prime Minister himself not proving that he is unable to respect Quebec's wishes?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I must tell you that, when I am travelling around Quebec, young Quebeckers tell me they want to have the same advantages as others, and they are totally determined to get the education they need to be competitive in the 21st century.
They are very glad to have a government that has their interests at heart and is not just using their future as an excuse for petty politics.
Maurice Vellacott Reform Wanuskewin, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his health minister have been telling us for some days now to wait for the results of this week's hepatitis C working group in Edmonton.
The meeting is over and the hepatitis C representatives describe it as a huge disappointment and as a bureaucratic runaround. Those are their words.
Is it not true that all along this Prime Minister wanted these talks to fail?
Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I guess it must be a day for being down and being a bit of a fearmonger.
We said that we were to receive all submissions, consider all ideas, bring all the partners together and try to fashion a consensus because that is the only way things can work. We have received those. We also invited the representatives of the hepatitis C victims groups who made their submissions.
Now it is time for us to let the working group digest that material and fashion something that can be worked out to the satisfaction of all concerned.
Maurice Vellacott Reform Wanuskewin, SK
Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary knows that it was a stall tactic, pure and simple.
These victims will not be playing golf this summer because they will be waiting for them to come back with some supposed answer in the fall and stall it further.
The Prime Minister is holding on to the no new money option, which is why the representatives walked out yesterday. The Prime Minister can hardly be proud of himself. What will he do now to honour the commitment he made in a vote in the House on May 5 to “address the financial needs of all those hepatitis C victims?”
Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the federal government has not entered into any discussions with any preconceived or predetermined notions.
The mere fact we are there is an indication that we take our commitment seriously. I repeat for members on both sides of the House that we brought all the partners together so we could consider all the options people brought to the table to give the working group something to work with.
After the working group deliberates and digests all the suggestions—and there have been many—and completes its study there will be something for implementation. Why not let the—
Hepatitis COral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member for Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans.
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
This morning's edition of Le Devoir reported that the way the transport minister decided to carve up air routes had Air Canada dismayed, while Canadian was jubilant.
How can the minister justify his department's attitude on the air route issue, when Air Canada, headquartered in Montreal, is always losing out to Canadian, which is using the government's generosity to expand its operations?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I have to say that for the last nine months my officials have been working with Air Canada and with Canadian Airlines to strike a balance on new international air routes.
Those discussions were quite fruitful in some cases such as the trade-off for Canadian to serve Osaka from Vancouver and for daily service to Hong Kong by Air Canada from Toronto. On other issues there was disagreement.
The government believes that Canada needs a competitive airline industry. We believe in the viability of two air companies. We want to make sure that any new routes are fair and equitable to both companies.
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, how can the minister say he is being fair to Air Canada, when the Hong Kong market, which is estimated at 500,000 passengers, is still hard for it to access fully, with the number of passengers required for a second designation set at 300,000?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we brought in a policy three or four years ago in terms of when a market reaches 300,000. Then we designate a second carrier.
In some cases such as with Taiwan, which Air Canada wants to serve, we just do not have the figures to confirm that the 300,000 passenger mark has been reached. I expect that will be reached this year and therefore Air Canada will probably be allowed to service Taiwan as of next year.
This is an evolving file. We want to make sure that each company has access to the international routes, but we believe that Canadian Airlines has to be allowed the time for its restructuring plan to bear fruit.
Deborah Grey Reform Edmonton North, AB
Mr. Speaker, Michel Cogger is a convicted criminal who spends part of his time being a senator. Yesterday he was convicted of bribes of more than $200,000 to influence Senate decision making. Mr. Speaker, do you know what his defence was? He said “Nobody told me it was wrong”.
Legally his salary is guaranteed and his seat is secured. The Prime Minister wrote a letter to Andy Thompson asking him to resign. When will he do the same for Michel Cogger?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, in relation to members of the other house, they have rules and regulations there. We have a system of law in Canada and we do not know if he will decide to appeal or not.
We have to respect the system and the other house is in charge of its own procedure. We will see what the end result is of these proceedings which have not been completed at this time.
Deborah Grey Reform Edmonton North, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister did not hesitate at all to write a letter to the upper house about Andy Thompson. There are some amazing similarities between the upper house and the big house.
Here are a few of them. It costs about the same to house a prisoner as it does a senator. Both are full of colourful characters who are serving a life term and do you know what, Mr. Speaker—
The SenateOral Question Period
The Speaker
You have to give the Chair a little room in the preamble. I ask the hon. member to go directly to her question.
Deborah Grey Reform Edmonton North, AB
Mr. Speaker, I will. Thank you very much. Canadians will get an elected Senate sooner or later, by hook or by crook. When will it be?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, when there will be an elected Senate there will be an elected Senate for all Canadians at the same time.
If we were to elect the Senate today, it would be ensuring forever that there will be only six senators in Alberta. I do not understand why those who have 30 seats in the east would want to let that power go. They received it at the time of Confederation.
If we want reform of the Senate we need a complete one with equality and effectiveness. I do not think a little scheme to score political points is in the best interest of the people of Alberta or Canada.
Jean-Guy Chrétien Bloc Frontenac—Mégantic, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Trade.
Yesterday, as a result of a Bloc Quebecois initiative, diplomats visited the Lac d'Amiante mine in Thetford and had an opportunity to learn about the product and its safe use.
Why does the federal government not follow the Bloc Quebecois' lead and also take the offensive in order to reassure countries—