Debates of Sept. 28th, 1998

Employment Insurance Fund

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

Mr. Speaker, Michel Bédard is the chief actuary of the employment insurance branch in my department. He is doing a fine job. His analyses and advice are very important to me. It is an opinion that is very important, but the opinions of all Canadians are also very important when we make decisions about the employment insurance system.

Tax Returns

[Mark Assad, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Revenue and concerns information released on September 22, 1998, on Radio-Canada's RDI news network.

It appears that a former journalist from The Gazette has been under surveillance and that information from his personal income tax returns has been obtained from Revenue Quebec.

Could the Minister of National Revenue assure this House that his department protects confidential information through specific mechanisms to prevent the leaking of information contained in individual tax returns?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I realize that this issue concerns all Canadians.

I can assure the House and Canadians that confidential information obtained by Revenue Canada is vigorously protected. Confidential information may only be used or disclosed in accordance with specific exceptions contained in the legislation which Revenue Canada administers.

Maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of information by Revenue Canada is fundamental to the confidence that Canadians have in the department's self-assessment system.

Young Offenders Act

[Chuck Cadman, Reform, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Ontario's attorney general has been reported to be astounded over the Minister of Justice's proposals to further weaken the controversial youth justice laws.

Is the minister really planning to introduce mandatory release of young offenders after they serve only half of their sentences? Yes or no, please.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member should know, we are in the process of consulting on the working paper we released in May of this year. As the hon. member knows, we are responsible for the enactment of the law. The provinces are responsible for the administration of the law and it is our intention to consult closely with the provinces.

It is our intention to consult closely with all the provinces before introducing legislation in this House.

Montreal Congress Centre

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every time we ask the secretary of state about the expansion of the Montreal congress centre, he says that the infrastructure program has ended and that a decision on this project should have been made before it had ended.

Are we to understand that from now on every time federal participation is required in an economic development project in Quebec the secretary of state will tell us that the infrastructure program ended in 1996 and that it is too late to hope for any help?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, in essence, what the member must understand is that, because the PQ in Quebec City dragged its feet and failed to submit the Montreal congress centre proposal within the right program, the people of Montreal run of the risk of having to do without a totally remarkable development tool.

However, despite the negligence of the PQ, I have said that the members on this side of the House will continue to work very hard to come up with a solution.

Nuclear Testing

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, radioactive fallout from the nuclear tests of the 1950s and 1960s in the Nevada Desert have been documented in a recent study by the National Cancer Institute in the United States.

The poisonous fallout from those tests crossed into Canada, but the health impact study stopped at the border. One American scientist said that there was almost disinterest from the Canadian government on this issue.

Who is standing up for Canadians on this issue? Will the Minister of Health take charge of the file and agree to ascertain the impact of the cold war era bomb tests on the health of Canadians?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I will take the question under advisement and determine what, if any, information has been put together and advise the member as soon as I have that information.

Apec Summit

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, day after day Canadians have been forced to witness the sad spectacle of the Prime Minister cowering behind the solicitor general and his broken record responses about the independence of the APEC inquiry that is going on.

Why should Canadians have any confidence that a government that ignored the findings of the Krever commission and the findings of a human rights tribunal on pay equity will respond to any finding by that so-called independent body when it has ignored the findings of every other independent inquiry the country has had?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is quite wrong in the premise of his question, as usual.

The government has not ignored the findings of these other commissions. It has taken them very seriously.

I want to say that the commission is not a “so-called independent commission”. It is based on legislation presented by a previous Conservative government that created the commission as an arm's length, independent civilian body. And certainly the government will take very seriously the report of this commission once it concludes its work.

Swissair Flight 111

[Judi Longfield, Liberal, Whitby—Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are still mourning the tragic death of the victims of Swissair Flight 111. We all want answers.

Could the Minister of National Defence tell us what Canadian forces are doing to help with the recovery and the investigative process?

[Robert Bertrand, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my colleague for her question.

It must be remembered that this tragedy is far from over for us, since the military, Transport Canada, the RCMP, the Canadian Coast Guard and local and provincial authorities are still looking for the causes of this horrible event.

Some 2,000 regular and reserve members of the navy, the army and the air force from all across Canada met the challenges raised by this catastrophe. Today some 600 military personnel are involved in search and recovery efforts.

The Senate

[Eric C. Lowther, Reform, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, for a solid week we have been asking the justice minister questions about Senate reform. We have asked questions about the Constitution and about the democratic rights of Albertans.

These are questions a real justice minister from Edmonton Alberta should be able to answer. She sits quietly and smiles as her boss attacks her home province.

Has the justice minister been told not to talk about Senate elections, or does she agree with the Prime Minister's position that Senate reform is a joke? Which is it?

[The Speaker]

Preambles to the questions sometimes necessitate that I even intervene before we get to the question.

I ask members to be a little more judicious in their choice of words, especially in the preamble. The question is in order but that preamble is questionable.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, people watching us on television should know the hon. member is abusing the process of the House by suggesting that the Minister of Justice, because she is from a certain region, should answer questions that are not under her direct jurisdiction.

The fact is that the Prime Minister is following the requirements of the Constitution. If the hon. member and his party do not like the Constitution then let them propose to the provinces to begin the process of formal amendment, not call for an election which is an election for life and for which there is no public accountability. That is not democracy either in Alberta or anywhere else in our country.

Montreal Congress Centre

[Réal Ménard, Bloc, Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the decision to expand the congress centre is a major decision for Montreal, and one that even Claude Ryan's Liberals supported.

Does the minister responsible for regional development realize that, because his government is denying financial support, the minister is jeopardizing some 14 regional, national and international conventions scheduled to be held in Montreal, thereby making Montreal grow poorer?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Quebec government's carelessness that could result in the greater Montreal area being deprived—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

—of the economic spinoffs from these conventions.

I will remind the House that, as we know, the Canadian government plays a major part in terms of economic decisions affecting the province of Quebec and Canada as a whole.

Members will recall that this project was discussed in 1996, at the socio-economic summit from which the Canadian government had been excluded. Yet, this project has not been submitted under the infrastructure program.

What I have been saying over and over again is that all members on this side of the House are fully aware of the importance of the congress centre and will try to find a solution.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of His Excellency Ismail Cem, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[The Speaker]

I recognize the hon. opposition House leader. Is this on a point of order or a point of privilege?

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is really a matter of privilege arising from question period.

[The Speaker]

A privilege arising from question period.