House of Commons Hansard #34 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was death.

Topics

ReferendumsOral Question Period

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Michel Bellehumeur Bloc Berthier—Montcalm, QC

I will withdraw that word, Mr. Speaker.

Canada Elections ActOral Question Period

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral Bloc Laval Centre, QC

Mr. Speaker, on March 5, 1999, following a question by the Bloc Quebecois, the government leader in the House of Commons was reported in Le Devoir of March 6 as saying “The government or government agencies should not give money to political parties”.

If the minister really wanted to prohibit government funding of political parties, why did he not include this prohibition in Bill C-2?

Canada Elections ActOral Question Period

11:20 a.m.

Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario

Liberal

Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, a directive to prevent this sort of thing was issued by the Treasury Board. This is precisely what the Treasury Board did on March 19.

Bill C-2 has not yet even been passed by the House of Commons at final reading, although it likely will be, I hope, in the next few days.

Canada Elections ActOral Question Period

11:20 a.m.

Bloc

Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral Bloc Laval Centre, QC

Mr. Speaker, in the same paper, the minister said he intended to include a ban in this area “to make doubly sure that there will be no more gifts of this sort”.

Why today is the minister content with an empty order preventing only organizations other than Crown corporations from contributing to election campaigns, unless it is because the order has limited scope, may change and gives parliamentarians no control?

Canada Elections ActOral Question Period

11:20 a.m.

Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario

Liberal

Don Boudria LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member has said is incorrect. What she has said does not reflect reality.

The ban by Treasury Board has been established. A subsequent order has been adopted and published in the Canada Gazette . The member knows that as well.

The prohibitions exist, and the statements by the political parties are all made public at the end of the year. It is all transparent at every level.

TradeOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

NDP

Bev Desjarlais NDP Churchill, MB

Mr. Speaker, U.S. President Clinton is pushing for enforceable core labour standards at the World Trade Organization. Core labour standards are the most basic rights: the right of workers to organize, no slave labour, no child labour. The Americans support core labour standards in trade agreements but Canada opposes them.

The trade minister even said that the American move calls for damage control. Why has the trade minister become the new poster boy for sweatshop labour?

TradeOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

Haldimand—Norfolk—Brant Ontario

Liberal

Bob Speller LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member likes to quote President Clinton. Let me also quote him. He said “We know that countries which have opened their economies to the world have also opened the doors to opportunity and hope for their own people. Where barriers have fallen, by and large, living standards have risen and democratic institutions have become stronger”.

The hon. member should know that the Canadian government supports core labour standards. The Canadian government at every opportunity at the ILO stands very forcibly on this issue. The fair rules of the WTO are good for Canadian jobs, good for Canadian labour and are certainly good for the Canadian economy.

TradeOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

NDP

Bev Desjarlais NDP Churchill, MB

Mr. Speaker, nobody contests that trade with different countries is good, but we also know that labour standards are good as well and they have to be enforceable. Canada used to fight for social justice. Now we lag behind the Americans. The member has to quote President Clinton because he cannot quote this government.

I ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs, why is Canada's trade minister choosing to fight for sweatshop owners instead of fighting for children and adults who are trying to survive in the global economy?

TradeOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

Winnipeg South Centre Manitoba

Liberal

Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is distorting the facts and misleading the Canadian public. The fact of the matter is that Canada has taken the lead at the ILO to implement a protocol to protect against abusive labour and to protect child labour. We have taken to trade forums the need to bring the ILO and the WTO together in a co-operative way to share those issues. Canada was taking a leadership position long before President Clinton ever thought about it.

TradeOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

The Speaker

I would ask hon. members to stay away from the word misleading.

Airline IndustryOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

Progressive Conservative

Charlie Power Progressive Conservative St. John's West, NL

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

Today there is a transportation crisis in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. On August 13 the Minister of Transport said there was a crisis in the airline industry. The direct and immediate result of the minister's comments was the demise of InterCanadian. Its bookings quickly dropped by over 30%.

Today there are over 700 employees who will not be paid and there are thousands of Atlantic Canadians who are having difficulty making travel plans. The situation will only get worse as we approach the Christmas season.

Will the minister tell us what he proposes to do to end this Atlantic Canada transportation crisis?

Airline IndustryOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

Thunder Bay—Atikokan Ontario

Liberal

Stan Dromisky LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the member and the House that the Government of Canada is monitoring closely the situation with InterCanadian. We are aware that the company is making its best efforts to come to an arrangement with its major creditors that would allow services to restart in the next few days. We know the company is keeping its employees and its representatives informed on these efforts. We can understand the effect that the uncertainty of the situation may be having on InterCanadian employees and their families, and we hope there will be a resolution to the problem as quickly as possible.

Airline IndustryOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

Progressive Conservative

Charlie Power Progressive Conservative St. John's West, NL

Mr. Speaker, that answer is simply not acceptable either to the travelling public or the employees of InterCanadian.

The minister was prepared to get involved in a multimillion dollar foreign takeover of Air Canada. The minister declared a national emergency and suspended the Competition Act. Now that there is a real national transportation crisis, created by the government and the minister, will the minister show the same level of concern and involvement? Will he get involved to save the 900 jobs at InterCanadian and give the people of Atlantic Canada reasonable travel services?

Airline IndustryOral Question Period

11:25 a.m.

Thunder Bay—Atikokan Ontario

Liberal

Stan Dromisky LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to clarify one of the positions that the hon. member has taken, that is, that the government has interfered and the minister has taken an active role. We are talking about private concerns, private business, and the minister has constantly informed the House that he is at arm's length from this whole process and operation.

TaxationOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Reform

Ken Epp Reform Elk Island, AB

Mr. Speaker, it is a tribute to the ingenuity of Canadian businesses that in spite of the government's record tax hikes they have managed to create jobs. Most of those jobs have come from Ontario and Alberta which are stimulating growth with tax cuts. One hundred thousand Canadians are off the unemployment lists because they have found jobs in the United States.

Why does the government not give Canadians a tax break so that we can get closer to the 4% unemployment rate south of the border?

TaxationOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Etobicoke North Ontario

Liberal

Roy Cullen LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for the compliment about the unemployment rate and the creation of jobs.

There were 16,000 new jobs created in British Columbia in the month of November and this is the lowest unemployment rate in a generation. The government is continuing to cut taxes. A family of four with an income of $50,000 has had their federal tax bill cut by 16% in the last two or three budgets.

TaxationOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Reform

Charlie Penson Reform Peace River, AB

Mr. Speaker, there are no congratulations due to the government. The congratulations and the celebrations should be for Canadians and Canadian businesses which have managed to prosper despite the government's policies. They have managed to prosper despite the government's high tax regime, one of the highest in the industrial world.

What might Canada achieve? We might achieve something like the United States with 4.1% unemployment. How could we do that? We could listen to what some of the CEOs of Canadian major companies are saying. The CEOs of CN Rail, Nortel and the Chamber of Commerce say cut taxes. Why will the government not listen to these prominent Canadians and take action?

TaxationOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Windsor West Ontario

Liberal

Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is pushing on an open door. We began cutting taxes years ago.

First we had targeted tax reductions for the disabled and students and in the last two budgets we had general tax reductions for all Canadians. These tax reductions are worth billions of dollars. We said in the throne speech and in the finance minister's fiscal update that we are going to move to broad based, multistage, multiyear tax reductions. We have begun the move to tax reductions. We are going to continue. As a result the good effects on the Canadian economy are going to continue in spite of the whining. Canadians—

TaxationOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Mercier.

ChechnyaOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Bloc

Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, the Managing Director of the IMF said that financial assistance to Russia could be put on hold if that country continued its war with Chechnya.

This comes close on the heels of comments by Russia's former minister of finance, who estimated the cost of the war in Chechnya at $600 million U.S. so far.

Knowing that this IMF loan is being used indirectly to pay for the war in Chechnya, will the Minister of Foreign Affairs undertake to bring pressure to bear on the IMF to withhold the payments promised Russia until there are signs of a negotiated peace?

ChechnyaOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Winnipeg South Centre Manitoba

Liberal

Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, next week, there will be a meeting of the G-8 ministers of foreign affairs.

There will certainly be serious discussions with respect to Chechnya at that time. I prefer to work with the other countries, particularly those who are strongest economically, to determine the next step with respect to the war in Chechnya.

ChechnyaOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Bloc

Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Agence France Presse reminded us this morning that Moscow has curtly dismissed western pressure for a political solution to the conflict.

The minister should know, and perhaps he could respond to this, that if he is not in favour of the war in Chechnya, he cannot agree to finance it.

ChechnyaOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

Winnipeg South Centre Manitoba

Liberal

Lloyd Axworthy LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, we have deplored very directly. The Prime Minister raised the matter at the meetings in Turkey. I have had the occasion to have a direct meeting with the Russian foreign minister.

The member was not exactly accurate when she said that Russia is spurning these efforts. In fact, Mr. Vollebaek, who is the chairman in office for OSCE, met just this week in Russia to determine the role of the OSCE. We are working on getting proper access for humanitarian organizations so they can bring support for those displaced persons inside that country.

I can tell the hon. member that we are working very actively to make sure that civilian—

ChechnyaOral Question Period

11:30 a.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan.

Aboriginal AffairsOral Question Period

11:35 a.m.

Reform

Jim Gouk Reform West Kootenay—Okanagan, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Gitanyow testified before a parliamentary committee that their hereditary lands were being given to the Nisga'a. The Nisga'a got to vote on accepting these lands, but the Gitanyow did not get to vote on giving them up.

This Nisga'a treaty has an impact on aboriginal and non-aboriginals alike throughout B.C., including ranchers in the Okanagan, fishermen on the west coast and loggers everywhere. Why is the government refusing to allow all affected British Columbians the vote in a province-wide referendum on this precedent setting treaty?