Debates of Nov. 15th, 1999

Ultramar

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the viability and the role of the independent gasoline petroleum suppliers is a very important component of a competitive marketplace, and therefore needs to be of concern to the government and to the Competition Bureau.

As the member for Nepean—Carleton has stated, the matter he has raised is before the bureau. The bureau is considering it carefully. It will consider whether it has implications for competition in the region in which the acquisition has occurred. The member can be assured that the bureau will do a thorough and comprehensive analysis before permitting the acquisition to proceed.

Csis

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general did not really answer the main question from the member for Kootenay—Columbia. I would like to give him a chance to answer it again.

When did the minister advise SIRC of the theft of top secret documents from CSIS?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I found out three weeks ago today.

Immigration

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Immigration Canada has refused access to two French-speaking immigrants wishing to settle in Saint Boniface, in Manitoba, on the pretext that they do not speak English.

How can the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration justify the decision by her department when the Secretary of State for the Francophonie, the member for Saint Boniface, is of the opinion that it is not essential to be able to speak English in order to live there?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong.

I cannot describe the situation because of privacy information. However, I can tell the member that when it comes to assessing, English and French language requirements are assessed equally.

If in this or any other situation the suggestions of the member opposite prove to be correct, then I will take the appropriate action to ensure that the situation does not occur again and that the situation is corrected.

Canada Health And Social Transfer

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

Provincial and territorial finance ministers are meeting as we speak. They are calling on the government for the full restoration of federal transfer payments for health and education. The premiers have already done the same.

Canadians have said time and time again that health care is their first priority. They know that at 12% or less federal funding, we will not be able to ensure medicare for very long into the millennium.

Can we count on the government to do the right thing and ensure the full restoration of the Canada health and social transfer in the next federal budget?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, last year the provinces defined what was full restoration of the health transfer portion of the CHST and that is exactly what the government did last year. In addition to that, the Minister of Health announced a whole series of measures having to do with evidence, best practices and research and development. In last year's budget, we went substantially beyond what the provinces asked for.

Csis

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

Mr. Speaker, let us clear up that little definition of “immediately”. The solicitor general did say in the House that he learned about the incident three weeks ago today.

Can the solicitor general please tell us then why he did not inform the head of SIRC immediately three weeks ago?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I have answered this question a number of times. That is SIRC's mandate and it has access to all of CSIS files. It will review the situation, put a report together and I will receive the report.

[The Deputy Speaker]

That concludes today's question period.

Special Order Paper

[The Deputy Speaker]

Order, please. I wish to inform the House that, pursuant to Standing Order 55(1), and at the request of the Government, the Chair has ordered the printing of a special order paper giving notice of a government motion.

Although this should have been done this morning, and I apologize to the House for forgetting to do so, I now lay upon the table the relevant document.

Committees Of The House

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 109, I have the honour to table in this House the government's response to the report by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled “Canada and the Future of the World Trade Organization”.

The government congratulates the committee on its continued efforts and on the dedication of its members permitting the consultation and informing of Canadians to be done so effectively. The committee's report was studied in depth and helped clarify the government's trade program.

Our government's response takes into account all 45 of the committee's recommendations and expresses our priorities and objectives for the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization to be held in two weeks in Seattle.

Order In Council Appointments

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table, in both official languages, a number of order in council appointments made recently by the government

Pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 110(1), these are deemed referred to the appropriate standing committees, a list of which is attached.

Government Response To Petitions

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to five petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Sarmite Bulte, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34, I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, reports from the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association concerning the following three meetings: 38th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, which was held from August 7 to 13, 1999 in Quebec City; the 45th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, which was held from September 18 to 23, 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago; and the 11th seminar of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which was held in Malta from May 27 to June 3, 1999.

Committees Of The House

[John Richardson, Liberal, Perth—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts relating to chapter 6 of the April 1999 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, Human Resources Development Canada—An Accountability for Shared Social Programs; and, the second report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts relating to chapter 10 of the April 1999 Report of the Auditor General of Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada—Funding Arrangements for First Nations: Follow-up.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests the government to table the comprehensive responses to these two reports.

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership of the Standing Committee on Finance.

If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the seventh report later this day.

Final Offer Arbitration In Respect Of West Coast Ports Operations Act

[Dale Johnston, Reform, Wetaskiwin, AB]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-315, an act to provide for the settlement of labour disputes affecting west coast ports by final offer arbitration.

Mr. Speaker, talk about timely. I think the introduction of this bill is not only extremely pertinent to the House, but something that is extremely timely in that we have been discussing and will likely be looking at back to work legislation to re-open the port of Vancouver and the west coast ports today.

For the last week we have had a labour dispute that has literally cut off all exports and imports on the west coast ports and is having a devastating effect on Canada's economy.

My bill would provide for a final offer selection arbitration method that would allow the parties to continue to work and continue to keep the ports open while they continue to negotiate. If they could not negotiate then they would put their final offers to an arbitrator.

I believe this is something that is badly needed in the code and it should be there immediately.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In light of the circumstances surrounding the port of Vancouver and the fact that this bill has just been introduced, I wonder if I might ask the unanimous consent of the House to make the bill votable and begin discussing it immediately?

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is there unanimous consent to make the bill votable at the moment and begin discussions immediately?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[An hon. member]

No.

Transfer Of Offenders Act

[Janko Peric, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-316, an act to amend the Transfer of Offenders Act (removal of foreign offenders).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to reintroduce my private member's bill entitled an act to amend the Transfer of Offenders Act (removal of foreign offenders).

This is a companion bill to Bill C-292, the immigration enforcement improvement act, which I reintroduced on November 1.

The bill was first introduced in the 35th parliament following the 1994 murders of Georgina Leimonis and police constable Todd Baylis in Toronto. Non-citizens who had been evading deportation from Canada committed both murders.

Under the current legislation, foreign offenders cannot be removed from Canada unless they request to be removed and if their country of origin agrees to accept them. The bill would help to speed up the removal from Canada of non-citizens convicted of serious offences. I would encourage all members of the House to lend their support to this initiative.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Committees Of The House

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to)

Petitions

[Peter Goldring, Reform, Edmonton East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I take great pride in presenting a petition put forth by many concerned Canadians but mostly from the province of Quebec.

The petitioners are asking our government to affirm that all Canadians are equal under all circumstances and without exception in the province of Quebec and throughout Canada. They wish to remind our government to only enact legislation that affirms the equality of each and every individual under the laws of Canada.