Debates of Oct. 28th, 1999

Fisheries

[Lawrence O'Brien, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out to the hon. member, the law will be respected.

The treaty rights as they relate to the Marshall decision—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Excuse me. The hon. member has the floor.

[Lawrence O'Brien, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the rights of Canadians will be respected. Treaty rights will be respected. Conservation is the first order of business. We have a regulated fishery and we will enforce the law.

Poverty

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Labour made some troubling statements directly linking the reality of former psychiatric patients and of the homeless. Her statement is unfounded and smacks of prejudice.

Does the minister dare deny that the cuts to the Canada social transfer, the mess in the employment insurance program, and the Liberal government's withdrawal from social housing are what has increased poverty?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, during my travels across Canada, I met people in every community who had been in psychiatric hospitals.

More important still, the representatives of municipalities and communities told me how they had suffered these past 15 years from budget cuts. They asked us to get involved. What did we do? In the last two budgets we made transfer payments to the provinces. We added $11.5 billion more for health, $2 billion for child benefits, $1.9 billion for social housing. As Liberals, we shall continue along these same lines.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the cuts to the social transfer will, nevertheless, continue until 2003, reaching $33 billion.

When the minister toured the food banks and self-help groups, did she not find that the problems of the great majority of people using them were not necessarily related to psychiatric illness but to poverty?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I saw people with psychiatric illness, I saw poor people, I saw young people who had been in numerous foster homes.

What was I told by all the community agencies? That they want to work along with the Government of Canada, with the provinces and municipalities. That is what we are going to do.

Fisheries

[John Duncan, Reform, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last February DFO rejected a request from the Mi'kmaq to develop a contingency plan prior to the Marshall decision. That was over eight months ago. Last month in another meeting, one day before the Marshall decision, DFO again rejected a request to develop a plan. Now we see the results of this inaction: chaos, violence, confrontation, uncertainty. The minister is simply not getting the job done.

I ask the Prime Minister, where is his plan to resolve this growing crisis?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the minister of fisheries and the minister of Indian affairs have been working very hard. At this moment they have an open dialogue with all of the parties and they have managed the situation very well.

It is difficult because this judgment came down and has given these people their treaty rights. These rights were given to them a long time ago, before Canada existed, and we have to respect the commitment that was made by the King of England at the time, that those who came to Canada had to sign treaties with those who were here first. We are respecting that commitment.

[John Duncan, Reform, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as a result of the Marshall decision the Mi'kmaq have announced that they are preparing to fish offshore within the 200 mile limit, and bands on both coasts are claiming they can fish where they want and when they want.

On every fishing front the government is being asked more and more questions and it has no answers.

Livelihoods are at stake. This is serious business. Where is the Prime Minister's plan to address this growing crisis?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member makes an affirmation that the Mi'kmaq want to do this and that. In fact, 33 of 35 chiefs have made a commitment to a moratorium and a commitment to respect the situation. They do not want to abuse this situation, which is new for them, and they have collaborated very well with the government so far.

Of course there are some people who do not follow the advice of the Mi'kmaq leadership, but the great majority is following it.

We are thankful to the natives for their leadership and those who want to work with the government to find an adequate solution.

Employment Insurance

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, obviously unaware of the inhumane consequences of the Employment Insurance Act, which denies benefits to honest citizens without resources, the minister responded to my question yesterday by saying “the accusations made by the hon. member are false”.

Now that this issue has been put to rest this morning, will the minister first admit her mistake, and then admit that the quotas imposed on her officials cause them to behave in an inhumane manner and continually harass honest citizens without resources?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, my point yesterday and my point today is that there is no issue of quotas here. The issue may be one of the integrity of government programs, in this case the Employment Insurance Act.

If the hon. member has a particular case that he feels has been adjudicated outside the act, I would be glad to look at it.

Immigration

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Mike Harris government claims that the majority of immigration sponsors, and I emphasize the majority of immigration sponsors, default on their sponsorship applications.

Could the minister of immigration tell this House whether this allegation on the part of the Harris government is true?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the government takes very seriously the obligations of those who sponsor immigrants.

The Harris government and others would prefer to look at failure rates and default rates. The government prefers to look at success rates. The facts are that in Toronto, 86% of sponsorship applications are met. Across this country the rate of successful sponsorship is 90%. When I was in school if we got a mark of 86% or 90% we got an A and that was pretty good.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Philip Mayfield, Reform, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the public accounts of Canada tabled here, we find the total monetary value of specific aboriginal claims. That amount is $200 billion. That amount of money would make 200,000 millionaires. There is not enough money in all of Canada to pay out these claims. This amount is in excess of the entire annual income of the federal government.

When was the Minister of Finance going to tell Canadians that they owed this $200 billion?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member ought to know that is not an amount that is owed. It is simply an amalgam of all of the claims that have been made. It is not a liability owed. It is simply an estimate of all of the claims that have been submitted.

[Philip Mayfield, Reform, Cariboo—Chilcotin, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance cannot diminish this liability in such a casual way. This $200 billion in specific aboriginal claims is only the beginning. The public accounts of Canada reveal that there are 2,000 additional claims still being researched by aboriginal groups and the number is growing.

Does the finance minister plan to establish any limits, or does he intend to sign a blank cheque on behalf of Canadian taxpayers?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member's question is nonsensical. As he ought to know, that is simply a listing of all of the claims that have been made. If one is going to be open and transparent, one owes it to the Canadian people to let them know what other claims have been made. No liability has been established.

Agriculture

[Dick Proctor, NDP, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the prairie farm lobby has been telling any MPs who would listen today what we have been telling the government for months. Namely, net farm income for both Manitoba and Saskatchewan is in a deficit position and AIDA and other safety net programs simply are not working because they were never designed to deal with a crisis of this magnitude.

Everyone agrees that the long term solution is for Americans and Europeans to reduce subsidies. We know that. What is the government's short term solution that will allow 16,000 prairie farm families to stay on the land this year?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, this government understands very well the unfortunate situation of too many farmers in Canada today. That is why we put $900 million in place and it is going to assist as many as much as we possibly can.

We continue to look for more resources. We continue to have very good dialogue with the provinces, the farm organizations and the national safety nets advisory committee that is meeting in Ottawa again this week to assist us in this challenge and this opportunity. We will continue to do so.

[Dick Proctor, NDP, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, even the Liberal member for Provencher in statements before question period today agreed that Liberal MPs from Manitoba said that they recognized that farmers need resources urgently and that they need them now.

The numbers coming out today show that a specific bridging arrangement or transitional payment is required. Will the minister of agriculture inform the House whether or not he is prepared to level that playing field now by providing some help, or will he just stand idly by as prairie farm families are forced off the land? Which will it be?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately our pockets are not as deep as those of the United States. We will probably not be able to level the playing field to the extent that the hon. member would like us to. However we will do as much as we possibly can and find as many resources as we possibly can to assist.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious and very depressing that there is no leadership and there is certainly no long term vision when it comes to Canadian agriculture.

Last Friday the Americans announced another farm aid plan. We in Saskatchewan and Manitoba cannot compete with that. Is the minister of agriculture prepared to buy American wheat when Canadian farmers no longer exist?