Debates of March 10th, 1999

Agriculture

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik.

[Guy St-Julien, Liberal, Abitibi, QC]

According to recent studies, an average of nearly 200 people end up in hospital every week because of accidents relating to agricultural activities.

Can the secretary of state tell me what the federal government is doing to promote Canadian farm safety?

[Gilbert Normand, Liberal, Secretary of State (Agriculture and Agri-Food)(Fisheries and Oceans)]

Mr. Speaker, farm safety week this year will run from March 10 to March 17.

Regrettably, there have been many accidents again this past year. Most of these involve children and seniors, and are often related to tractors.

Safety on the farm requires good work habits. I encourage all men and women on farms in Canada to be safety-conscious and to ensure the safety of their family members, because—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake.

[Howard Hilstrom, Reform, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board.

Yesterday the Canadian Wheat Board's response to Justice Estey's report recommended that the grain transportation system revert to the regulated system of the 1980s. This is unacceptable. It is time for the minister to take a stand.

Will the minister support the intent of the Estey report and move forward, or the Canadian Wheat Board's response and move backward?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the statutory review on western grain transportation is moving along well. Discussions are going ahead.

We have received a lot of stakeholder input that will help cabinet evaluate the response to Justice Estey's report. Certainly the views of the Canadian Wheat Board will be considered along with the views of other stakeholders.

Rcmp

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the potential closure of RCMP offices in Drummondville, Saint-Hyacinthe and Granby is creating a lot of turmoil. All the community stakeholders are concerned about the potential departure of the force, whose work is vital in the fight against organized crime among other things.

My question is for the Solicitor General. Has the minister had time since yesterday to see whether the rumours of a move are true and, if so, could he tell us how centralizing services outside our regions will increase the quality of services locally?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly do not have the response of whether one detachment will be open or not remain open. That is an internal matter that will be decided by the RCMP. I can assure my hon. colleague that on fighting organized crime, the government has indicated that it will give the police forces the tools to fight organized crime. We have and we will.

Nuclear Weapons

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Today, former U.S. defense secretary Robert McNamara is in Ottawa urging that Canada push within NATO for a no first use policy on nuclear weapons. While the minister has called for a review of NATO nuclear policy, he has refused to say where he stands on present NATO policy. When will the minister show leadership and join former secretary McNamara and others in clearly calling on NATO to change its dangerous cold war, Reform supported policy and adopt a clear policy of no first use of nuclear weapons?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I can certainly give you the last part of that question. I had a very informative meeting with the former U.S. secretary of defense along with the former head of the strategic air command. They were very helpful in supplying information about what is happening in the United States.

I would like to remind the hon. member that once a committee tables a report, the Government of Canada has a responsibility to table its response. That response is now being worked on. We have 150 days. It is part of the cabinet process. As soon as the timetable is met, we will be tabling a report. I am sure the hon. member will be very interested in the result.

Banks

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

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Prime Minister said today, our party did not support bank mergers. We supported the Minister of Finance standing up for and defending Canadians and negotiating the best deal for Canadians on service charges, services to rural communities, branch access and money for small business.

When the minister had an opportunity to get a better deal for Canadians, he said no. Now his decision has meant higher banking charges for Canadians.

Given that he has given up the opportunity to negotiate a better deal for Canadians, what is he going to do to protect Canadians now?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, first the hon. member has just stated his party's position in terms of approving the bank mergers, which we did not because they were not in the public interest. Second, the government will be coming out with its statement of intent within the not too distant future. The member's questions will be answered.

I would like to answer one other question. The hon. member asked why the Prime Minister took the question that he addressed to me. It is just that we have been talking about this. The view of the government is that I have been having too much fun answering the member's questions.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[John Godfrey, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for the past three weeks 3,000 technicians have been on strike at the CBC. What is the Minister of Labour doing to resolve the issue?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, the mediators I appointed have been meeting with the employers and the union of CBC since Monday. This is very encouraging for us. I urge both parties to continue meeting so that they can negotiate a good collective agreement and we can put an end to this work stoppage.

Agriculture

[Howard Hilstrom, Reform, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, neither the transportation minister nor the minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board has taken a stand on the Estey report. They sit on their hands, say nothing and do nothing. It is time to come out. Do you want more regulation as the Canadian Wheat Board is saying, back to the 1980s, or do you want to move forward with commercial contracts?

[The Speaker]

I remind hon. members to please address your questions through the Chair. However, we got the gist of the question.

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we have asked the various stakeholders to comment on the Estey report. We are now evaluating those comments and will be in a position to have cabinet discussions soon.

This government accelerated the review by one year. We appointed Justice Estey who was universally accepted by everyone in the industry. He has come forward with a very thoughtful plan that can serve as a basis for true reform in western grain transportation. I would hope that the Reform Party will join us in that effort.

Federal Public Service

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

A battle is being waged between the government and its employees on wage parity, pension fund surplus misappropriation, dragging negotiations and regional differences in pay for blue collar workers.

With public servants out of steam and out of patience, is it not time the President of the Treasury Board assumed his responsibilities as employer and negotiated quickly and in good faith a solution to each of these problems?

[Marcel Massé, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that over 85% of the public service has concluded collective agreements with the government.

We have agreed on salaries, working conditions, employee-related conditions and safety issues. The vast majority of public servants have said they are satisfied with what has gone on.

Not only is morale high, but we have only one small group of public servants with whom we are still negotiating, in the hope of reaching a speedy conclusion.

Employment Insurance

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, last year, the federal government transferred the problem of gappers to the provinces.

New Brunswick's Liberal government is refusing to provide assistance to new gappers.

My question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. Will the federal government take up its responsibility anew and provide the necessary funding for those facing the problem of gappers, because this is your responsibility. You are the ones who have created problems for people.

[The Speaker]

I remind the hon. member to address his remarks through the Chair.

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

Mr. Speaker, very substantial progress has been made with respect to the problem of gappers, of whom there were a large number at the beginning of our EI reform.

At the time, there were close to 7,500 of them. To my delight, this has dropped to 2,000 because of our government's co-operation with the government of Mr. Thériault in New Brunswick.

Active measures have been transferred to the Government of New Brunswick, and I can assure members that it will continue to do a very good job of helping these people find more permanent jobs.

Points Of Order

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in question period the minister for the status of women quoted from some document and said that I had made some ridiculous remark. I would ask her if she would table that because I do not believe it is true.

[The Speaker]

Did the hon. minister quote from a document?