House of Commons Hansard #186 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cbc.
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague is well aware, the report indicated that there was a small number of aboriginals who were possibly involved in these activities. However, any number is unacceptable, whether aboriginal or non-aboriginal.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, a New Brunswick patient is told to cash in her RRSP to pay for a multiple sclerosis drug. A Manitoba family re-mortgages their house and cashes in their life insurance policy to pay for necessary medications. Yet this government finds $3.6 million to advertise its budget that has been reported on over 750 times by the major media outlets.
If this budget is as good as the government claims, why would it spend $3.6 million to advertise it? Why will this government not put all the money into patients, not propaganda?
Jim Peterson LiberalSecretary of State (International Financial Institutions)
Mr. Speaker, there is no action taken by government which has a more profound and deep impact on the lives of individual Canadians than a budget. That is why governments throughout history have felt it incumbent upon them in a democratic process to make sure that Canadians understand the very precise implications of every budget.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, is it not interesting that this government will put millions into propaganda but not one penny into advertising the dangers of toxic products used for the storage of blood? It puts $3.6 million into public relations but will not take the teeniest, tiniest step to stop the use of toxic products in the storage of life-giving intravenous fluids and blood.
My question is for the Minister of Health. When will this government start protecting people from dangerous toxins in plastic bags used for the storage and transfusion of blood?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the suggestion that such events might be occurring with blood banks was first raised some 15 years ago. At that time there were various studies and they all indicated that there was no health risk. Since then additional studies have confirmed the same findings.
Last week Greenpeace claimed to have other information and last week I directed my officials to meet with the Greenpeace representatives and to take information from them.
We will look at it, obviously with great care. I assure the member that if there is any evidence to indicate that safety is an issue we will act appropriately.
André Bachand Progressive Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, there is $2.5 billion in the millennium scholarship fund. There is currently a problem with Quebec. Tens of millions of dollars are not available for the student population in Quebec.
The Minister of Human Resources Development seems not to want to talk to the Quebec minister of education. There is a consensus in Quebec. The National Assembly is in agreement. The students are in agreement. The Liberal Party of Quebec called for it this morning.
Could the minister pick up the telephone and talk to François Legault, the Quebec minister of education, so that the students will at least have a hope of getting quality loans and bursaries for the year 2000 with the millennium scholarship fund?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, I have seen the motion by Mr. Béchard, the MNA for Kamouraska in the Quebec National Assembly. I am very pleased that the Quebec Liberal Party wants Quebec students to benefit from this program like the other students in Canada.
If the foundation thinks that a spokesperson from my department could help facilitate dialogue between officials with the Quebec system of loans and bursaries and representatives of the foundation, I would be more than delighted to co-operate.
Larry McCormick Liberal Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox And Addington, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food met with his provincial counterparts last week to reach agreement on a farm assistance package.
Could the minister inform the House when application forms will be available so that our producers can access these much needed funds?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, it certainly was a great day for Canadian farmers last week when we were able to finalize the details of the agriculture income disaster assistance program. We have reached agreement with nine provinces. It is our optimism that Nova Scotia, the tenth province, will participate as well.
The forms will be on the website at the end of this week. The hard copy will be available shortly after that so that farmers can turn this around and we will then turn them around as quickly as we possibly can.
Mike Scott Reform Skeena, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the solicitor general.
He says this is just a small problem. Are these small anti-tank guns? Are these just small machine guns? We are not suggesting that all aboriginal people are involved in this.
He says that this is unacceptable. Does he mean by saying it is unacceptable that he will take concrete steps and do something about it?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I indicated to my hon. colleague that it is a small number of aboriginal people. There are no groups here. If you break the law, if you are involved in this type activity, it is up to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to deal with it, and that is what they are doing.
Aboriginal AffairsOral Question Period
The Speaker
I inadvertently skipped over a supplementary to the member for Richmond—Arthabaska.
André Bachand Progressive Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, that will surely have been enough time for the Minister of Human Resources Development to come up with a satisfactory answer.
The chairman of the millennium scholarship foundation said that, if there was no agreement with Quebec, the money earmarked for students in Quebec would go into a bank account, thus depriving them of tens and tens of millions of dollars.
I again ask the minister: Will he, in good parliamentary fashion, telephone Quebec's Minister of Education to say that an agreement can surely be reached, that, if negotiators must be appointed, then so be it, and that students in Quebec are indeed very important to the government?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, absolutely. Students in Quebec are extremely important to our government. If a spokesperson from my department would help discussions between the foundation and those administering Quebec's loans and grants system, I would be only too pleased to provide one.
However, the Gautrin motion unanimously passed in the National Assembly and endorsed by the government contains three principles, and I can assure the House that we are perfectly capable of meeting all three, thus putting students in Quebec on an equal footing with Canadian students when it comes to these millennium scholarships.
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development stated earlier that he is not involved in three-way negotiations, not negotiating with Jean Charest in Quebec City concerning the millennium scholarships.
Yet a just-issued press release states that “with the assent of Ottawa, the Jean Charest Liberals propose a three-way negotiation”. Later in the release education critic Béchard is quoted as saying “We have established the major parameters of this proposal in conjunction with the federal government”.
Is the federal government currently negotiating with Jean Charest, yes or no?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, I am not negotiating with Jean Charest. He is not the Premier of Quebec. I cannot negotiate the millennium scholarships with him, that is quite obvious.
Unlike the pointlessness of the opposition here, however, Jean Charest is trying to be of some use in opposition. Mr. Charest and the Quebec Liberal Party are trying to find a way by which we can finally do something for the students of Quebec, based on the three principles of the Gautrin motion. That is what a constructive opposition does. In speaking to him, I realize he is moved by a constructive spirit, but there is no negotiation. He does not have a mandate.
Wendy Lill NDP Dartmouth, NS
Mr. Speaker, a year ago the government accepted a UN award on disability issues and promised the disabled post-deficit spending but delivered nothing in the budget.
Tonight the Deputy Prime Minister is supposed to accept kudos on this award but the problem is that there are no kudos to accept. Eight of the ten disability groups that accompanied the Prime Minister to New York last year are now publicly criticizing the lack of action from the government.
Will the Deputy Prime Minister outline a specific plan of action with dollar amounts attached, or are disabled Canadians forced to live with another year of empty rhetoric from the ministers opposite?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, a prestigious international group decided to award Canada the FDR award for its work on behalf of the disabled internationally in fighting land mines that hurt people and make them disabled, and domestically for its initiatives.
For example, since 1996 we have invested $193 million, cost shared with the provinces up to 50%, for employability assistance for the people with disabilities program.
We have just announced a new policy framework with the provinces to garner collective efforts to enable people with disabilities to participate as full Canadian citizens—
DisabilitiesOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member for Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale.
Gurbax Malhi Liberal Bramalea—Gore—Malton, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
Canadian housing products and services are one of our most successful exports to major foreign markets including Asia. What is the government doing to promote the export of Canadian housing products and services abroad?
Alfonso Gagliano LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, right now before the House we have Bill C-66 which once passed will enable CMHC to promote Canadian housing exports across the world. This will mean job creation for Canadians and growth for the housing industry in Canada.
In 1998, for example, we had a trade mission to Chile that resulted in $14 million worth of sales. CMHC is organizing other missions right now in Germany, China, Japan, Korea and more. The government believes in and supports the housing industry in Canada.
Jim Abbott Reform Kootenay—Columbia, BC
Mr. Speaker, we have had the solicitor general indicate to us that the RCMP knows where these weapons are. The question I have for the solicitor general is very simple and very straightforward.
When will the RCMP act on this issue? It is not a small issue that there are weapons of that type on the loose in Canada. We need to know when they will act.
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, it is public knowledge that the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies have previously and are now taking appropriate steps to deal with issues such as this with aboriginal and non-aboriginal people.
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont, QC
Mr. Speaker, the president of the metropolitan Montreal chamber of commerce said last week, and I quote “As it currently stands, the millennium scholarship fund is simply a very costly visibility program for Canada, a mistargeted program and a constitutional irritant”.
Since everyone in Quebec thinks that the millennium scholarships are a government mistake, why does the Minister of Human Resources Development not simply send Quebec's share to the Quebec minister of education instead of causing a dispute and expanding federal bureaucracy?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, here again, the Bloc, rather than attempting to find solutions, like the Liberal opposition in Quebec, is trying to raise the stakes and dramatize things.
They are even ignoring the unanimous motion in the Quebec National Assembly, which makes no mention of opting out with full compensation. It is the Bloc that is making a mockery of the National Assembly.