Debates of Feb. 12th, 1999

The Economy

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I think the issue of productivity gains is one of the most important economic issues confronting Canada at the present time. I agree with the hon. member to that extent.

I think, however, to be fair, he should look at a number of the measures that have been taken over recent years which are contributing directly to an improvement in Canada's productivity performance, which in fact we did see in the 1997 statistics, the last year for which we have those numbers, including the investment in the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, including renewed investments in the university research granting councils, including support for industrial research and development through technology—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Kings—Hants.

[Scott Brison, Progressive Conservative, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I should expect no more than that from a minister who once said that high taxes help productivity. Even a former senior Liberal cabinet minister, Mr. Don Johnston, now head of the OECD, says that our taxes are too high.

Francesco Bellini, CEO of BiochemPharma, once the star of Canada's pharmaceutical industry, blames high taxes for his company's move to the U.S.

Will the government provide meaningful tax relief in next week's budget and will it reindex tax brackets so that it is not taking from the back door through bracket creep what it is pretending to give through the front door?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue our broad based tax cuts which were begun in a very meaningful way last year. I encourage the member to wait until Tuesday to see what the next chapter is on tax cuts.

Health Care

[Ken Epp, Reform, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this last Tuesday was my aunt's funeral.

When she was in the hospital she fell out of bed repeatedly because there was no one available to answer her calls for help.

I want to ask the health minister how he can justify gutting health care as the Liberals have done in the last five years while they keep on increasing our tax load. We as a family are offended by that.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the important thing is for governments to work together in partnership to improve health care.

Our commitment is clear. We have made clear that health care for us is a priority. We will reflect that in the budget we table in the House next week. That is what Canadians expect of us, to show that health is our priority.

We are there to work in partnership with the provinces which of course must deliver services on the ground to make sure that Canadians are well served by their health care system.

[Ken Epp, Reform, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is very easy to say that, but the record of the last five years shows very clearly that the government has not delivered.

People like my aunt went through misery because of the health plan the Liberal government has. Is it really going to do something about it or is it just more words, hoping the Canadian people will believe it?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it is an odd sort of complaint to come from a party that would gut the Canada Health Act, sweep away what it took generations of Liberal governments to build, public health care in this country.

It is an empty and a hollow complaint from such a group who favours the American approach to health care.

They may spend the coming days trying to unite the right. We are going to spend the days uniting Canadians' fine health care which we will strengthen for the future of this country.

The Budget

[Odina Desrochers, Bloc, Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to a news report broadcast by Radio-Canada yesterday evening, information on measures to be announced in the upcoming federal budget has been leaked by federal sources.

According to these sources, the federal government is planning to increase transfer payments to the provinces for health, but the terms and conditions for distributing the funds among the provinces would result in Quebec no longer receiving its fair share in two years.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Can the minister confirm that his government intends to change the method used for calculating how transfer payments are distributed among the provinces in such a way that Quebec's share will continue to drop?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, there has been much speculation about what the upcoming budget may or may not contain.

Fortunately, the hon. member will not have to wait too long as the budget is to be tabled in the next four days.

[Odina Desrochers, Bloc, Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if it is this government's intention to distribute federal funding for health on the basis of the provinces' respective demographic weight, will the minister also start distributing his goods and services contracts based on demographic weight as well, because Quebec experiences an annual shortfall in excess of $2 billion in this respect?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, this still is speculation. I would encourage the hon. member to wait another four days.

Health Care

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Surrey, B.C. is the fastest growing city in Canada. The only hospital there is overcrowded.

At Surrey Memorial Hospital on Monday and Tuesday, day surgery was cancelled because there were no beds available. Even stretchers were full. This Liberal government is to blame for the sorry state of the health care system. It cut $16 billion in provincial transfers in the first place.

Why does the health minister not care about the patients—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Health.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said already, the important thing is for governments to work together to make sure Canadians have access to high quality health care. That is as true in British Columbia as it is with the rest of the country.

This is the Reform Party, the party that would repeal the Canada Health Act and do away with publicly funded accessible health care and leave it to people's bank accounts to determine what kind of care they receive. We will never choose that course. We will never adopt the American style approach and I urge the hon. member to reconsider his position.

[Val Meredith, Reform, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while the health minister tries to put the blame on everybody else, over the past 15 years the federal share of health care has been cut in half in British Columbia.

This translates into 1,000 fewer hip and knee replacements, 1,000 fewer heart surgeries, 3,000 fewer cancer operations and 7,000 fewer long term hospital beds.

Why is the minister blaming every province in the country when the federal government is responsible for the crisis in health care in Canada?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, what is important is for governments to work together. That is why the Prime Minister has led us into the social union framework agreement to allow us to work together for common social objectives.

We are going in one direction to strengthen health care and the Reform Party is going in the opposite direction. Reformers said a few weeks ago in Victoria that if it were up to them they would take the surplus, divide it in two and put one half toward reducing the debt and the other half to tax cuts, leaving nothing for health care. Canadians will see what we do on Tuesday with health care. We are going to put our money where our mouth is.

Employment Insurance

[René Canuel, Bloc, Matapédia—Matane, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

Tomorrow, fishers, workers and residents from the Gaspé—Magdalen Islands region will hold an important rally. They will once again talk about jobs and dignity. The minister was invited by the Liberal MNA for Bonaventure to come and see for himself the perverse effects of his policies on the people in these regions.

Will we see the minister in New Richmond tomorrow?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I did not see the invitation to which the Bloc Quebecois member is alluding.

I can tell you one thing though: I am always interested in meeting people who want to talk about job creation and regional development.

If I look at the concrete measures taken by our government, I see that job creation in this country is at its highest level in years, particularly for young people. I can assure you that regional development and job creation across the country will remain a priority for this government.

[René Canuel, Bloc, Matapédia—Matane, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister could come, even without an invitation.

We realize that the minister is very busy. If he wants to go skiing like the Prime Minister, he should come to New Richmond, which has a nice ski slope.

Am I to understand that the minister, who bled the unemployed dry with his quotas and his cuts to the employment insurance program, refuses to come and meet—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you one thing: our government's priorities will not change even though the Bloc Quebecois wants to keep people in a state of dependency. The Bloc is living in the seventies and saying “give us unemployment”.

We know Quebeckers well. We know the people of the lower St. Lawrence region. We know that what they want are jobs to adequately support their families, and our government has made a commitment in that respect. True dignity comes from working. This is why we are taking active measures so they can join the labour—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast.

Justice

[John Reynolds, Reform, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights is quoted as saying that even one more pervert on the streets is one too many. He is also quoted as saying that he was incensed with Justice Shaw's ruling making possession of child pornography in British Columbia legal. I agree with him.

Given that Justice Jardine has dismissed a charge against another child pornographer based on the Shaw decision, is the government still prepared to wait until the appeal on April 26 before it changes this law?

[Eleni Bakopanos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we had this debate in the House. Obviously the Reform Party was not listening. This is before the appeal court. We have intervened. The appeal will be heard on April 26 and 27 of this year and we will be upholding the law.

To repeat what I said in the House, the law is still the law of the land. It is only one court in the land that has ruled someone can possess child pornography for personal use but we are going to be appealing. We are awaiting the decision of the court of appeal where we have intervened.