House of Commons Hansard #24 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was money.
Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member across the way is aware of the procedure for introducing bills in this House.
When and if a bill is introduced in the House, notice is given in the House and remains on the orders of the day for 48 hours. Then the bill is introduced, not before.
Those are the rules of the House of Commons.
Rick Casson Reform Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, Canadian beef producers recently dodged a bullet when the USITC ruled that Canadian cattle exports do not cause injury to the U.S. cattle industry.
In order to avoid further challenges of this type the international definition of dumping must be changed to reflect predatory pricing and selling below home market prices rather than the current definition.
Will the trade minister assure producers that he will immediately renegotiate this definition, or will he continue to leave our producers exposed to the threat of million dollar legal battles?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister for International Trade
Mr. Speaker, we are going into important trade negotiations and indeed a number of topics will be raised.
We are well aware of the cattle situation raised by the opposition member. I can tell him that we are giving our full attention to the cattle situation in our country and their export to the United States in particular.
Rick Casson Reform Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, while the minister is paying attention to that he should pay a little more attention in here. The fact is that the cattle industry in Canada spent nearly $5 million in legal fees fighting these complaints by protectionist American producers, money that did not have to be spent if the government had implemented the changes requested by Canadian producers. It could have spent that money on research and promotion.
Why will the agriculture minister not implement the changes recommended by industry, or is he content to do nothing and leave Canadian producers again exposed to these multimillion dollar battles?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well that it is not a situation of our doing nothing. We were supporting the Canadian Cattlemen's Association in that challenge. The government was there. I congratulate Canadian cattlemen for the work they did. It was truly a team Canada effort.
There are different views on the way dumping or anti-dumping is treated. Some of our sectors are import sensitive and some are export sensitive. The horticultural industry has a different view than the cattle industry. I had a meeting with the cattle industry this week in that regard and it understands that too.
As my colleague the trade minister said, we will be working on this matter as we go into the important start of the WTO.
Réal Ménard Bloc Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC
Mr. Speaker, Alberta premier Ralph Klein pointed out that the federal government was the one that made cuts in the health sector, not provincial governments, and that it should restore that funding. This comment is not from a mean-spirited separatist, but from the premier of Alberta.
My question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. How many stakeholders will have to repeat that message to the federal government before it finally understands that it must restore transfer payments to the provinces?
Roy Cullen LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, it is a tragedy that Quebec is now among the have not provinces. All this because of the BQ and PQ policy.
It is a tragedy that in this day and age the province of Quebec takes more than 50% of the equalization payments. In the last two or three budgets transfers to Quebec have increased substantially with the CHST, with the equalization payments and with the other transfers to Quebec.
I think the province of Quebec should look at its revenues, which have been growing, and distribute some of its surpluses.
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
Mr. Speaker, between one and two million Canadians are suffering from the debilitating effects of diabetes, and the numbers are three times higher among aboriginal people. Each year, 60,000 new cases are diagnosed.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health tell the House what the government is doing to fight diabetes?
Yvon Charbonneau LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, we heard more good news from Health Canada and our government this morning when the Minister of Health announced in Montreal a national diabetes control strategy with a budget of $115 million over five years, in addition to the $60 million already committed in the budget speech a few months ago.
Diabetes kills some 5,500 Canadians every year. The new strategy will allow us to target diabetes, particularly among aboriginal people. National chief Phil Fontaine—
Rahim Jaffer Reform Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the environment minister denied that Nick Mulder, whom he appointed chair of the environmental review panel for a Hamilton area expressway, is in a conflict of interest. Mr. Mulder is a registered lobbyist for Environment Canada, DFO, and the agency for the panel of which he is the chair.
Under law the minister has an obligation to appoint only panel members who are unbiased and free from any conflict of interest. The ethics commissioner and Ontario's attorney general are now investigating Mr. Mulder. Why will the minister not remove Mr. Mulder from this review panel?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, the answer I gave to the hon. member a few days ago is correct. There is at the present time no reason to remove Mr. Mulder.
There is, however, an investigation taking place by the ethics commissioner to determine whether, prima facie, there is enough information to start a formal inquiry under the lobbyist code of conduct.
The situation has not changed since I replied to my hon. friend two days ago. The situation is that the ethics counsellor is looking into this and in due course we will get his report.
Rahim Jaffer Reform Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the environment minister does not want to listen to the facts. It is obvious that he is just paying patronage to his own previous deputy minister while he was the Minister of Transport. It is obvious that this is a registered lobbyist of Environment Canada, the DFO and the agency panel for which he is the chair.
Under the law, as I mentioned, the minister has an obligation to appoint only panel members who are unbiased and free from any conflict of interest. It is obvious that the ethics commissioner of Ontario and the attorney general are investigating Mr. Mulder. Even the member for Stoney Creek, in his own senior level, has called for the minister—
The EnvironmentOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. minister can address himself to the preamble.
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I will respond to the preamble with the comment that there is an investigation into this to determine whether there is any conflict of interest. That is exactly what the ethics counsellor is now doing.
There is only a claim and a charge that there is some potential for conflict of interest. It is being looked into appropriately by the official who has this task. If he determines there is enough information prima facie to launch a more formal inquiry he will do so. But at this point it appears there is not even enough to launch an inquiry under the code of conduct for lobbyists.
Lorne Nystrom NDP Qu'Appelle, SK
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister.
We will recall that last year the big banks said that the sky would fall if the mergers were not allowed. Do you remember that, Mr. Speaker?
In any event, the Toronto-Dominion Bank now has announced an incredible $3 billion profit for this year, the largest of any bank in the history of this country, and now it wants to eliminate 5,000 jobs.
I want to know if the Deputy Prime Minister would screw up his courage and say that with a $3 billion profit these greedy CEOs are not going to eliminate jobs in the banking industry in this country.
Roy Cullen LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the record profits for the Toronto-Dominion Bank that were announced are fueled by an extraordinary gain by the sale of a subsidiary. That really accounts for half of the $3 billion profit.
I should say that the 5,000 jobs the member refers to are having to do with the Toronto-Dominion Bank's proposed acquisition of Canada Trust. That would be over a three year period. That proposal is right now being considered by the Competition Bureau and by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, and that merger will not be approved without the Minister of Finance's approval, and job losses are a very important part of that equation.
Lorne Nystrom NDP Qu'Appelle, SK
Mr. Speaker, the TD bank wants to spend some $8 billion to buy Canada Trust, eliminate up to 5,000 jobs and, get this, close up to 275 branches.
What I want this morning from the government is a guarantee that it will bring in a community investment act that, among other things, will protect jobs and allow communities to veto the closure of a branch in a community where that branch is needed.
Will the government do that? I want an answer from the Deputy Prime Minister who speaks on behalf of the Government of Canada.
Roy Cullen LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, half of the Toronto-Dominion Bank's profit is fueled by the sale of the subsidiary in the United States, so its profit is about normal. In fact, banks contributed last year about $5 billion in tax revenue to governments.
The government has been on the record as saying that the job situation in the proposed merger of Canada Trust by the Toronto-Dominion Bank will be of paramount interest to the government. We are going to be watching that very carefully.
Mark Muise Progressive Conservative West Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, back in August Transport Canada was considering a proposal to adjust all existing public port fees by an increase of 15% per annum over the next three years.
Will the Minister of Transport tell us whether this increase has been approved or whether it is still under consideration?
Mark Muise Progressive Conservative West Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, Transport Canada has been slowly divesting itself of regional local ports. By imposing such a significant increase upon its remaining public ports, is the Minister of Transport not simply using undue economic pressure to force local communities to bear the brunt of the wharf divestiture program?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I will take the hon. member's question as a representation on the issue.
Charles Hubbard Liberal Miramichi, NB
Mr. Speaker, the emission of greenhouse gases from our energy related industries is a concern to all Canadians, especially in terms of our obligations under the Kyoto arrangements. I would ask the minister for an explanation in the House of what is being done in the coal industry to develop this and to make our international obligations a reality for Canadians.
Brent St. Denis LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for the question. The government is aware of how important the coal industry is to the economy of our country. Any technology which reduces greenhouse gas emissions in any way is good in terms of our Kyoto commitments.
Just this week the federal government announced funding to support a test project in Alberta that would see the testing of the storage of CO2 in deep Alberta coal seams. If this works out, not only will methane be released, which could be very useful, but it will help us to achieve our objectives.
The partners include the Government of Alberta, the United States, the United Kingdom and 15 private—