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

AsbestosOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. Minister for International Trade.

AsbestosOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

York West Ontario

Liberal

Sergio Marchi LiberalMinister for International Trade

Mr. Speaker, I regret to inform the member that he and his party are actually late, because my colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources, has already implemented the safe principle plan.

Francophones Outside QuebecOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

Reg Alcock Liberal Winnipeg South, MB

Mr. Speaker, according to the separatists there are no minority francophone communities.

Would the Minister of Canadian Heritage tell us about the state of the French language in the rest of the country and especially in the west?

Francophones Outside QuebecOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Hamilton East Ontario

Liberal

Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage

Mr. Speaker, I am sure all members will join me in celebrating the fact that, in recent years, the number of French speaking Manitobans has grown to over 100,000.

It is unfortunate, however, that the Bloc Quebecois is joining with the Reform Party in a Pontius Pilate type policy to isolate and assimilate all minority languages outside Quebec, because they do not want French spoken in Canada.

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Reform

Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB

Mr. Speaker, that was not a bad question from that Liberal backbencher, but it certainly was a pathetic answer.

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

The Speaker

Colleagues, please, you are pushing it now. I want the hon. member to give us his own question.

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Reform

Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the justice minister.

The official opposition is very supportive of crime prevention programs, in particular for our youth. However, 50% of the $32 million earmarked for the minister's crime prevention program is going to administration.

Why is the minister giving this money to bureaucrats rather than spending it on children in need?

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, I have no idea where the hon. member got that information. In fact, over 90% of the $32 million my colleague, the solicitor general, and I announced yesterday will go directly to communities to ensure they have safe streets and safe homes.

VeteransOral Question Period

June 3rd, 1998 / 2:45 p.m.

Reform

Peter Goldring Reform Edmonton East, AB

Mr. Speaker, secret documents just released by War Amps Association prove that the Liberal government of 1955 was involved in a cover-up of Hong Kong war veterans' claim rights. Forty-three years later another Liberal government is continuing this injustice.

Will the veterans affairs minister apologize for the 1955 cover-up of Hong Kong veterans' rights and get on with the task of getting compensation for slavery by Japan in World War II?

VeteransOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

Winnipeg South Centre Manitoba

Liberal

Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raised the same question yesterday. A treaty was signed between two countries. Compensation was given at that time.

If the hon. member has any other information to pass on, we are quite prepared to look at it and investigate. Once again, by making this kind of assertion and allegation he does dishonour to the people who gave their lives in Hong Kong.

Tobacco PublicityOral Question Period

2:45 p.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

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

The health of Canadians warrants an immediate ban on tobacco company sponsorships.

The Minister of Health is today proposing a five year postponement. Why wait? So that young people can take up smoking?

What is the government's intention—preventing or promoting the use of tobacco?

Tobacco PublicityOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, the minister will table the legislation before the House in about 25 minutes and I am sure the member opposite will be anxious to examine that legislation and see whether her allegations would withstand a test of ink on paper.

I dare say she may find herself in total surprise because the interests of this government are, have been and will continue to be the health of all Canadians, nothing else.

Tobacco PublicityOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I think it is pretty clear that what the government plans to do today and what we are dealing with is the sad truth of a cave-in to the tobacco industry and a cop-out to the health and well-being of Canada's youth. Why are we dealing today with giving more time to the tobacco lobbyists, giving more time for kids to get hooked on cigarettes?

If a ban on tobacco sponsored advertising is a good idea five years from now, why is it not the right thing to do today?

Tobacco PublicityOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Joe Volpe LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, the member in her research will probably have come across a supreme court decision that reversed the situation as it was a few years ago.

Our government, since we were elected in 1993, has been addressing these issues. In the last parliament just before the session ended we presented legislation that addressed specifically the health of young people and smoking habits. It dealt with promotion. It dealt with sponsorship and we are continuing in a balanced approach that will withstand the scrutiny of the courts as well as the scrutiny of—

Tobacco PublicityOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough.

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice will spend $133.9 million this year launching the unworkable long gun registration system, an outrageous sum when compared with the scraps allocated by the Minister of Justice in her crime prevention strategy announced yesterday.

The minister said in Calgary on May 20 we should be embarrassed by this announcement. Can the minister tell the House now if the $32 million announced yesterday is new money or part of the same embarrassing crime prevention announced in the youth justice strategy two weeks ago?

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, let me clarify for the hon. member that what I said was that as a society we should all be concerned about the fact that we spend over, conservatively estimated, $32 billion a year on the back end of the justice system to investigate crime, to prosecute it and to keep people in jail. My point was that we as a society need to take leadership in preventing crime, and that is exactly what this government did yesterday.

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice and the Solicitor General of Canada chose to hide from parliament once again by making their crime prevention announcement outside the House.

Once again the Liberal government has put its own political spin doctoring ahead of presenting substantive policy here in this House. Members of parliament have to cool their heels until tomorrow or read it in the paper to find out what this is all about.

Will the Minister of Justice commit today to stop treating members of parliament and the public like nobodies and present substantive policies here in the House of Commons?

Crime PreventionOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, no one, including the solicitor general and I, has hidden this policy. We have been talking about this for months.

Yesterday we made that announcement at a youth centre in this city where an entire community has turned itself around because of that youth centre. That is why we were there. That is an example of what this government stands for.

Foreign AffairsOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Janko Peric Liberal Cambridge, ON

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

A constituent of mine, Mr. Patrick Jay Green, has served over half his sentence in a Costa Rican prison. Under terms of agreement with the host country Patrick, who is ill, should have been in Canada already.

What assurances can the minister give my constituent and his family that he will soon be transferred to Canada?

Foreign AffairsOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Winnipeg South Centre Manitoba

Liberal

Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to compliment the hon. member for the active work he has undertaken on behalf of this case.

I am pleased to report that the authorities we met with in Costa Rica have now agreed to the approval of the transfer and Mr. Green will be back in Canada shortly.

Job CreationOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Reform

Rob Anders Reform Calgary West, AB

Mr. Speaker, for the last 10 days the minister of human resources has been asked to account for the scandals with his transitional jobs fund.

Millions of dollars of job creation money has been wasted for politics. One hundred and twenty-four jobs have been lost, one million dollars has been lost on BPS, one-third of a million dollars has been lost on Cape Shore Sea Foods. Ten days have come and gone. Pleading ignorance will not do. What is the minister's excuse?

Job CreationOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Papineau—Saint-Denis Québec

Liberal

Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no scandal. The member has been making false statements in the House all the time saying that the Cape Shore people had not been paid a cent. They have been paid for seven months by our program.

The vast exaggerations the member is bringing to the House are not going to change our mind. We have gone through serious assessments of the transitional job fund and we are very proud that out of 700 projects there were perhaps problems in 6 or 7 of them that did not work.

Maple Syrup IndustryOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, last February 16, the Minister of Human Resources Development announced the creation of a $40 million fund for special employment measures, in response to the consequences of the ice storm.

At this time, the fund has been exhausted and not all maple syrup producers have received the announced assistance, despite the government's commitments.

When and how does the minister intend to come to the assistance of the 600 maple syrup producers in the Montérégie and central Quebec regions whose trees are endangered by his inaction?

Maple Syrup IndustryOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Papineau—Saint-Denis Québec

Liberal

Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, as soon as the ice storm was over, everyone commented on how extremely efficient and prompt our government was in implementing a $40 million emergency fund, to which we added subsequently and which was intended particularly to assist maple syrup producers and others in difficulty because of the ice storm.

The fund was so popular that, in Quebec, we exceeded the envelope that we had in mind when the fund was announced. This shows how well the program worked.