House of Commons Hansard #4 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was rural.
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, yes, the Canadian Transportation Agency is mandated to examine the conditional agreement accepted by Air Canada's shareholders. And I have no doubts that the agency will protect the interests of Canadians, and that it will protect the Canadian industry so that it will be operated by Canadians in Canada.
Réal Ménard Bloc Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC
Mr. Speaker, according to the minister, if section 47 was applied, it was because time was of the essence, since Canadian International Airlines was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Yet the presidents of Canadian International Airlines, American Airlines and Onex all say that Canadian International Airlines will not be going bankrupt in the near future. Who is telling the truth?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, there have been no changes in the arguments that led the government to invoke section 47.
I believe the hon. member has raised a good question but, with all due respect, I suggest he raise it with Mr. Benson during the transport committee meetings if he wants the right answer.
Howard Hilstrom Reform Selkirk—Interlake, MB
Mr. Speaker, today we have found out that there is no new money for western Canadian farmers who got nothing from AIDA.
The minister of agriculture has been quoted in the Western Producer as saying that government could help farmers by offering retraining for a new career. Does he not realize that the average age of farmers in Saskatchewan is 59? What career does he think is appropriate for a 59 year old farmer who has lost everything? Follow his path and take up politics?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, this government has shown very clearly that we care for Canadian farmers to a greater extent than the party across the floor. We put in $900 million last December and in February this year.
During the summer we made changes to the NISA program to make another $121 million available to Canadian farmers. We have encouraged them to use those programs. We have made changes to the crop insurance program. We have made changes to the AIDA program which we said we would continue to look at. We are continuing to work in those directions.
Lee Morrison Reform Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Mr. Speaker, as an emergency assistance program, AIDA has been a cruel joke. After almost a year of Liberal fiddling, only a fraction of allocated funds has trickled down to desperate prairie farmers. The minister said that money is on the table. Money on the table is not in farmers' pockets. The worst feature of the program is that to qualify, a farmer has to have three profitable years immediately prior to 1998.
My question for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is why was AIDA crafted to avoid paying anything to those farmers most in need?
AgricultureOral Question Period
October 15th, 1999 / 11:35 a.m.
Prince Edward—Hastings Ontario
Liberal
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I think it is sad that the hon. member said that $900 million from the federal government and $600 million from the provincial government is a cruel joke. It is a significant sum of money.
I can assure the hon. member that all of that money will be spent to assist Canadian farmers.
Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister.
Six weeks after the referendum in East Timor, no Canadian soldiers have yet joined the implementation force on the ground. Our soldiers are still waiting for their inoculations, which they were late receiving, to take effect.
How does the Deputy Prime Minister explain such a delay, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself was warned by NGOs returning from East Timor that there would be a blood bath? He was warned as early as February 22. How does he explain the delay?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, first of all we do have troops in East Timor. In fact, the air crews in the Hercules have flown some 40 missions. They have taken troops. They have taken humanitarian aid. They have been going in and out of East Timor. They have had one of the highest levels of use of transport aircraft of any of the allied countries involved.
Second, HMCS Protector will again bring more supplies. It will be docking shortly and will be in full service. Today our troops in Valcartier are on their way to East Timor. They will be training with the New Zealanders and going in at the same time as the New Zealanders.
Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, that is all very fine and well but, in the throne speech, the government said that Canada has the expertise to protect people from threats to their rights, their safety and their lives.
Does the Deputy Prime Minister think that Canada's slowness to act is consistent with the policy of human safety advanced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the United Nations?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, the only reason the ground troops have not been in there earlier is because of the need for inoculation from a very deadly disease. Would the hon. member have us send our troops in and risk their lives? No, we would not do that. We want to make sure they are properly protected to be of service to the people of East Timor.
The Australians are very anxious for us to get there. We are getting there just as quickly as we can. We will get there at the same time as the New Zealanders and they are right next door.
Charlie Penson Reform Peace River, AB
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Alberta government recognized the worst farm crisis in Canada since the Great Depression by announcing a $100 million emergency farm program.
Canadian farmers are suffering from circumstances far beyond their control, such as foreign export subsidies, but what is the Liberal government's response? A disaster income program whose criteria are so tough that farmers cannot access the money. I suggest that is the real disaster, the government's program.
What will it take for the minister to wake up and realize that farmers are in a very serious crisis?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, we know a number of farmers are having very stressful financial times presently. That is why we put the program in place. As I said a few minutes ago, the criteria will trigger all of the $900 million of federal money and the $600 million of the 60:40 split of the money we announced earlier this year.
Ken Epp Reform Elk Island, AB
Mr. Speaker, here is another example of how western farmers are getting the shaft from the government. Western cattle producers facing a 6% tariff from the Americans spent their own money to travel to the U.S. to hammer out proposals to end the dispute. But the trade and agriculture ministers refuse to listen and do nothing to defend the farmers.
Will the the minister act immediately to implement the ranchers' solutions which they hammered out to end this discrimination tariff?
Bob Speller LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade Lib.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that when the decision came down it was a win for Canada. We won a lot of this decision and the hon. member should be happy with that.
Before we sat down and before we put forward the Canadian position on this, we talked to the groups, the industry and the provinces to make sure the position being put forward by the Government of Canada was best reflective of their views. We will continue to do that.
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Verchères, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister just told us she did not contact the police. Can she also confirm that no member of her staff or her department was in touch with police forces involved in the investigation into the Montreal production company?
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I read in the newspaper that Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office officials are meeting with Revenue Canada, next Thursday. So I presume public servants have been in touch with the police.
Mark Assad Liberal Gatineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.
The government recently made some interesting announcements in the area of research. I am thinking in particular of the Canadian institutes of health research mentioned in the budget, and of the announcement made yesterday by the Prime Minister concerning university chairs.
Could the minister give us an example of funding for university research?
Yvon Charbonneau LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Gatineau for his interesting question.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will have the opportunity to discuss the issues of research chairs and institutes of health research.
At this point, I would like to remind the House that, last month, the Minister of Health and his colleague, the Minister of National Revenue, announced an $11.7 million subsidy for health research to the Université de Montréal. That money will be used to conduct research on AIDS, cancer and ethical issues relating to genetic changes.
Paul Forseth Reform New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, BC
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are saying that taxes are far too high. Cheryl in Burlington wrote to the Minister of Finance this summer and said: “As a stay at home mother of four small children the tax system is unfair. We are penalized because we believe that we are best to care for our children, not daycare”.
When will tax discrimination which puts purchased daycare over parent care end?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is obviously not aware of the national child tax benefit by which the government put untold millions of dollars into the hands of families. It was precisely for middle income families. We do recognize the costs incurred by those who have to raise children. Children are the future of our country.
The real issue is why the Reform opposed the national child tax benefit. That is the main issue.
Paul Forseth Reform New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, BC
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has it wrong again. He did not answer the question.
Another taxpayer, Don from Ta Ta Creek, also wrote the minister. He said: “Your policy of high taxation is virtually killing small business. I would like to invest and expand my business but because of heavy tax I have decided to sell out and move”.
How is any entrepreneur going to be persuaded to invest in the country when the tax burden is literally breaking the back of small business?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, again the hon. member ought to check his facts. The fact is we have cut unemployment insurance premiums by $4 billion. That affects small business immediately. We have put money into the small business loans program. We had a team Canada mission helping small business export across the country.
The fact is that the government recognizes that small business is the major job creator in the country and we have supported it to the hilt.
I will go back. The hon. member says that I do not answer questions. Why did he not answer the question on why the Reform Party opposed the national child tax benefit?
Louise Hardy NDP Yukon, YT
Mr. Speaker, the new Canada Customs and Revenue Agency is having a big party November 1. It is going to have to work really hard to collect the cash for this party because this tax party will cost $1.4 million.
Where will the money come from: our pensioners or all the northerners who have been so heavily audited recently? What can possibly justify this $1.4 million tax party?
Martin Cauchon LiberalMinister of National Revenue and Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)
Mr. Speaker, obviously the amount referred to by the hon. member is wrong.
I will tell the member one more time that the November 1 event will launch the new Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. We feel it is worth proceeding with some celebration because, together with our employees and our unions, we are working toward having an agency that will be more client oriented. As a government, we are proud of this agency.