Debates of Feb. 5th, 1999

Justice

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am not responsible for or in charge of the prosecution of any individual case under the Criminal Code relating to child pornography.

What I can, however, do is reassure the hon. member, because of my officials' discussions with provincial and territorial attorneys general across this country, that every one of them has reassured us that the child pornography sections of the Criminal Code are in force and effect and will be prosecuted.

[Chuck Cadman, Reform, Surrey North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the effect of this ruling has already spread out of B.C. and into the minister's home province of Alberta.

I am not talking about whether the rules or laws are still in effect. I am talking about Askov and I again ask her will she assure Canadians that none of those currently charged will go free due to undo lengthy delays in getting to trial?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as indicated, the charge of prosecutions under the child pornography sections in the Criminal Code lie with provincial and territorial attorneys general.

I quote from my counterpart, the attorney general of Alberta, Mr. Havelock, who yesterday in relation to a case in Red Deer said: “The law remains in effect here. The recent decision of B.C. Justice Shaw is outside of our jurisdiction and it is not binding on any court in Alberta”.

Human Resources Development Canada

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the scandal over employment insurance quotas, the Minister of Human Resources Development is defending himself very badly. Yes, fraud must be dealt with, but there is a big difference between that and forcing the responsible employees to enforce an already restrictive law by setting targets for the number of cuts they must attain.

Is it not profoundly immoral that this government sees every unemployed person as a potential fraud, when the employment insurance fund is overflowing with a $20 billion surplus, and the Minister of Finance is dipping into it with both hands to pay off his deficit?

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

Mr. Speaker, the reason for our checking whether there has been excessive abuse and fraud is to protect the unemployed. It is precisely in order to be able to protect the reputation of the unemployed in the difficult situation we are well aware that they are experiencing.

There are no quotas. I have stated this in the House on a number of occasions. There are administrative practices in place which are exactly like those used by social insurance in Quebec City, where the head office of this branch-plant party is located and where exactly the same kind of checks are being made in order to ensure that public funds are going where they are really needed.

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what the minister is doing is called damage control. Given the serious nature of the situation, ought not the government immediately mandate the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development to carry out a thorough investigation on the scandal of quotas and harassment of which both the unemployed and the employees of Human Resources Development Canada are victims?

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

Mr. Speaker, on that side, they love to use such words as “scandal”.

No congratulations for the 87,000 new jobs in Canada, no reference to the exceptional work being done by the employees of the Department of Human Resources Development for the people of Canada to help them join the work force, or the fact that the employees of the Department of Human Resources Development assist people who are in difficult situations to get into the work force.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the employees of my department for their excellent job in helping people get into the work force.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, Colin Thatcher was convicted of brutally murdering his wife in 1984. He received a life sentence for that. These days he is spending his life golfing, cooking his favourite dinners, watching television, chatting on the phone. No, he is not out, he is actually at Ferndale prison in Mission, British Columbia. He asked recently if he could board his horse at the prison and the prison agreed.

I would like to ask the solicitor general if the Liberal's think that golfing, cooking and grooming horses in prison is sufficient punishment for someone who so brutally murdered his wife?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that this matter has been brought to the attention of the attorney general and because of that, Correctional Service Canada officials are now investigating the matter.

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

Mr. Speaker, now it is the attorney general. I thought it was the solicitor general that looked after those things in this country.

Most law-abiding citizens today have to pay green fees if they play golf. They have to pay quite a fee to board and ride horses. But in this Liberal justice system it appears to me that the murderer gets these luxuries paid for not just by all taxpayers but by victims of crime.

Does the government think it is right that the victims should be seeing this at Ferndale prison, watching prisoners playing golf and riding horses?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my colleague, the solicitor general, the matter has been brought to his attention. He has responsibility for corrections Canada. Because of the information brought to his attention in this matter, he has Correctional Service Canada officials investigating the matter.

Let me remind the hon. member that this government is doing more for victims. I thank some hon. members on the other side of the House for their participation in an outstanding report on victims rights and concerns that was issued by the standing committee—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Mercier.

Copyright Commission

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to our information, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters has recommended to the Minister of Industry Andrew Fenus, a unilingual anglophone, to head the copyright commission, a quasi legal body it regularly appears before. Mr. Fenus worked on Mr. Manley's election campaign.

To protect his personal integrity and the commission's impartiality, is the minister prepared to make public the correspondence between the ministers and the Canadian Association of Broadcaster?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we followed a procedure to establish the best candidate for the position on the copyright commission's tribunal.

We have not yet made a decision. I always get letters when there is an appointment. Everything is being taken into consideration. I really do not know if there was such a letter, but there will certainly be a number of other people recommended too.

The Budget

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a great day for Canadians and we now know that there will be stable funding for all our cherished social programs.

We need one thing. We need the money. We want to know whether the Minister of Finance will be able to tell this House today when he will table his budget.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is particularly apt that I should be asked this question by the member for St. Paul's who is herself a medical doctor.

I am delighted to announce that the government will table its budget at 4.15 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16.

Justice

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, following up on the Liberal justice system, on April 10, 1998, Eric Wanamaker broke out of Bowden penitentiary. He then is alleged to have kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 14 year old girl. He was recaptured and three months later he received a two week unescorted pass.

My question is for the solicitor general. Why was this unescorted pass drawn up and why did the warden sign it?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, obviously I cannot comment on any individual case, but if the event or incident to which the hon. member is referring refers to a situation in which the named individual was taken unconscious in an ambulance to a local hospital, let me reassure the hon. member that person upon arriving at the hospital was in restraints for the full time he was in hospital receiving medical attention.

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the question is that the unescorted permit for this person was granted. Yes, he arrived at the hospital and a guard was kept there because the hospital demanded that happen.

Why did this warden draw up that permit for this criminal? Why did that happen? Why did this warden draw up that unescorted permit and why did he sign it?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for sharing with members of the House more of the full story.

Let me reiterate that the individual in question was taken unconscious in an ambulance to a local hospital whereupon after admission to the hospital he was in restraints for the time of his stay at the hospital.

Agriculture

[Dick Proctor, NDP, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, farmers are feeling betrayed by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

In December the minister committed $900 million to a farm disaster relief program. The minister is now crawling away from that promise. He and his bureaucrats are busy slashing and cutting even before one thin dime has been paid out.

By including NISA and by excluding negative margins the federal government's $900 million has shrunk by $300 million. Will the minister live up to his promise by including the full $900 million in the farm disaster relief program?

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

Mr. Speaker, our officials, along with advice from all sectors of the agriculture industry, have been working diligently to put together the criteria for the program.

I assure the House and assure all producers out there who are deserving of this assistance that we will do the best job that we possibly can to assist most of them to the greatest extent that we can through this difficult time.

[Dick Proctor, NDP, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is now 58 days since the commitment was made that the farmers would receive disaster assistance. In fact the hint was even before Christmas that a bankable announcement would be made.

Winter is now half over. The days are getting longer but farmers are still totally in the dark about what this program will be. Farmers do not know how much they will get, when they will get it or how. They only know one thing for certain: it will not be nearly as much as it was back on December 10.

When will the bankable announcement be made and when will the cheques be in the mail to farmers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely disappointed and I am sure the farmers in Saskatchewan and elsewhere across the country are disappointed as well that the hon. member is disappointed that on December 10 an announcement was made. Yes, the criteria and all that work have to be done to make available to the farmers in need up to $1.5 billion more to assist cash strapped farmers than there was on December 9.

I am sorry the hon. member is so disappointed that was done for producers in Canada.

Bankruptcies

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

Mr. Speaker, in the first five years of this government there have been 420,000 bankruptcies in Canada.

This is more bankruptcies than the number that occurred during the entire previous nine years of the Progressive Conservative government, and that government had to deal with the 1991 and 1992 recession.

Under this finance minister more Canadians have gone bankrupt because the finance minister insists on raising taxes and putting Canadians in a position where they have to work harder and receive less.

Will the finance minister commit that in his upcoming budget he will increase the basic personal exemption to $10,000—