Debates of June 5th, 1998

Immigration

[Deepak Obhrai, Reform, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of immigration.

As an immigrant to this country I know that coming to this country is a privilege that should not be given out lightly. Law-abiding immigrants and genuine refugees are welcome but today's supreme court ruling is an open invitation to criminals to come to our country. Can the minister not see that it is wrong to let drug dealers into our country? The minister can change this decision. She does not have to study it. Will the minister personally intervene to kick out this convicted dealer, yes or no?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I have already replied to that question, but I will do so again.

The Supreme Court handed down its ruling yesterday, and we are looking at the impact.

That having been said, I cannot discuss the situation of the individual concerned in detail, but there are other avenues open to us under the legislation for intervening and ensuring that this kind of individual is never allowed to stay in Canada.

[Deepak Obhrai, Reform, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, who makes the laws in this country, parliament or the supreme court? This is another decision in which the supreme court is reading into the law. You have the authority. You have the right to do it. You have the law to do it. Are drug dealers going to take precedence over genuine refugees? When will you intervene and kick—

[The Deputy Speaker]

Order. The hon. member will address his remarks to the Chair and not to the minister. The hon. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, this is always a problem with the Reform Party. As an immigration matter there are very complex issues here. We have to think twice before making decisions when it affects the lives of individuals. It is clear that we will look at it very closely. We have other tools in the legislation for acting in that case.

Atlantic Groundfish Strategy

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-De-La-Madeleine—Pabok, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

Yesterday, the minister stated that he is preparing to make public the measures to assist fishers after the expiry of TAGS. He also said “we are working in partnership with the provinces in an effort to address the situation”.

What answer does the minister have for Minister Beaton Tulk of Newfoundland, who last Wednesday stated that the federal government had gone there to announce its intentions, not to consult him? Is this what the minister means by partnership?

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

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. On the contrary, I can say that we did not make an offer or a proposal. The people we sent out went precisely to consult the governments of the Atlantic provinces, and to see whether certain of the Government of Canada's ideas were in line with theirs.

We are aware that the same solution may not be right for every community or every province. That is why we are working in conjunction with the provinces.

[Yvan Bernier, Bloc, Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-De-La-Madeleine—Pabok, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland appears to be dissatisfied with what the minister is preparing to announce. That is a bad sign.

Given the real needs of the fishery workers, what does the minister have to reply to Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin, who is calling for between $800 million and $1 billion to cover the four elements I spoke of yesterday?

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

Mr. Speaker, I too have seen what Premier Tobin is calling for. All I can say at this time is that dialogue produces results.

Dialogue will certainly lead us to see how we can best serve the people in our communities, in a post-TAGS context.

For the time being, I will not comment on a totally arbitrary figure thrown out without any indication as to whether it is for all provinces or just Newfoundland.

Hepatitis C

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today after years of waiting, hundreds of victims of government health care policy will finally receive compensation. Unfortunately though I am not talking about victims of poisoned blood. I am referring to victims of forced sterilization in Alberta. They are being compensated. Alberta initially refused to compensate these individuals but they swallowed their pride and decided to deal with the issue.

Why will the health minister not follow Alberta's example, admit he was wrong and compensate all hepatitis C victims?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the member will recall of course that the first compensation package that was announced some couple of months ago had as signatories all of the provincial premiers as well as the territorial ministers and all ministers of health.

As I indicated in this House before, on a matter of such seriousness the only thing that is workable of course is a consensus position, which involves all authorities throughout the country. It was such a position that was presented to all victims. I think it received the accord and agreement of everyone. Now we are in a position where all of those same players are once again at a table—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Calgary—Nose Hill.

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the province of Alberta showed leadership on the sterilization issue. All we have seen from Ottawa's health minister is buck passing and excuses as we have just heard.

If the health minister really was leadership material, you would think he would be looking for ways to make hepatitis C compensation happen, not ways to make consensus fail.

What single thing has the health minister done to show real caring and concern for pre-1986 victims?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it might be helpful to trace back in history to only a year ago to recognize that none of the provinces or the territories, in fact nobody was interested in compensation.

If leadership means bringing people to the table when they did not want to consider any such issues, well then that is leadership. The minister brought his colleagues from across the country together to the table. They fashioned out a compensation package, one that is agreed upon even by members of the opposition parties. We have before us at least the workings of a method of dealing with the most tragic issue in this country's health history.

Maple Syrup Industry

[Hélène Alarie, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

During the ice storm, the minister announced a special $40 million fund to hire workers. The fund, managed by Human Resources Development Canada, had no priorities and operated on a first come, first served basis.

Since this program continues to be managed by HRDC and has not been transferred to the Government of Quebec, will the minister keep his promises to maple syrup producers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am stunned to hear the Bloc Quebecois criticizing us now for looking after people who were in the middle of the ice storm crisis. We had three months to run this program—from January to April—and we are being criticized for taking the “first come, first served” approach.

When a crisis occurs, you generally try to deal with the most urgent matter, that of helping people. I can assure you that our fellow citizens were very happy to have the Government of Canada—as represented by the Canadian army, my colleague responsible for Canada's economic development and the Department of Human Resources Development—help them, compared with what other governments did.

[Hélène Alarie, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker 600 maple syrup producers are threatened because of his inaction. Needs are desperate.

Does the minister not understand that he must change his position and give HRDC new resources to ensure the survival of the industry?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have already done a lot to help maple syrup producers. We are aware of certain difficulties.

It is well known that many of these measures are now the responsibility of the Government of Quebec. The measures we took to help the producers during the storm were the ones taken over by the Government of Quebec on April 1.

We spent the money we had set aside for this and, if we can do more as a government, we will, because we always want to help our fellow Canadians.

Immigration

[Jason Kenney, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we asked the minister of immigration for a straight answer on a simple question about whether or not she believes a convicted drug dealer should be allowed to stay in Canada and seek refugee status and she gives us a haughty little lecture about the rule of law.

Let me tell her about the rule of law. This parliament is sovereign and it can exercise its sovereign power to amend the legislation to ensure that convicted drug dealers like this get kicked out of the country like they should be.

Will this minister act or not?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. minister did not say that she condoned the conduct of this convicted individual. She was merely pointing to the fact that in our system, parliament makes laws but they are interpreted by the courts.

As I see in a press report, and I have not reviewed the ruling, all the supreme court said was that this individual should get a hearing. It did not say he should be allowed in the country. I understand from the press report that it specifically pointed to the other measures that the minister mentioned that could be used to deny this person permanent status in this country.

Why does the Reform Party not pay attention to the facts on this matter instead of making these wrongful insinuations?

[Jason Kenney, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the supreme court has ruled that this person has a right to a hearing when he is a convicted drug dealer who is a threat to this country and its citizens.

When will this government stand up for Canadians instead of the rights of drug dealers by amending the legislation?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the legislation in question was a product of the work of government. The minister said she was going to review the law to see what other amendments are necessary. She is not even going to wait for that. She is going to see what other parts of the existing laws should be used.

The Reform Party is totally out to lunch when it says that this government is standing up for drug dealers. It is not doing that at all.

Employment Insurance

[Ghislain Fournier, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

In the riding of Manicouagan, not only do we have to deal with a shortage of steady jobs and a large number of unemployed, but the minister has decided to eliminate all specialized resources in employment insurance for the middle and lower North Shore.

How can the minister justify abandoning the unemployed of the middle and lower North Shore, when his new reform is creating an increasing number of problems for these people? Will the minister answer my question, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, all I can say is that, as far as I can tell, the reform is good for Canadians. Employees in our offices across the country are now familiar with the new legislation and they do a very good job of serving their fellow citizens whenever they call upon them.

I can even see an improvement in the services provided, since the management of active measures was more difficult at the beginning. I can assure you that I have not yet heard any criticism from the North Shore to the effect that the quality of service has diminished, quite the contrary.

Boating Safety

[Gar Knutson, Liberal, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, every year in Canada 200 lives are lost and 6,000 non-fatal accidents occur while recreational boating.

Can the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans please tell us what he and his department are doing to increase the safety of the boating public on Canada's waterways?