House of Commons Hansard #194 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cmhc.

Topics

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. leader of the Bloc Quebecois.

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the owners of Davie Industries and various stakeholders want to ensure the survival of the shipyards in Lévis.

In 1996, the Government of Quebec established a policy to provide tax credits to assist shipbuilding.

Is the Minister of Industry prepared to offer tax advantages to the shipbuilding industry compatible with those offered by Quebec, in order to facilitate the sale of the Lévis shipyard and to thus ensure the survival of the hundreds of jobs there?

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Ottawa South Ontario

Liberal

John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member must be aware of the fact that, with the existing tax system, there is an accelerated deduction of depreciation costs of 33% for ships built in Canada. It is very quick, it is direct depreciation. That means that after four years the buyer of a ship built in Canada can deduct the entire cost of the ship. That is a very generous tax shelter.

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry would do well to discuss with his colleague the Secretary of State for Agriculture, who last month said in Le Soleil , and I quote “There are some very generous people there—on investors. I have had contact with them. They have set as a condition the federal government's relaxing tax advantages for shipbuilding”.

In the light of this statement by his colleague, could the Minister of Industry tell us why he refuses to provide tax advantages compatible with those provided by Quebec?

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Ottawa South Ontario

Liberal

John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, I would also mention the fact that with the existing tax shelter, there is also a 25% customs duty on ships imported into Canada outside the NAFTA agreement.

There are also internal contracts for the federal government and funding for commercially viable transactions by the Export Development Corporation. Not only in this sector, but in others as well, there is the system of tax credits for research and development that are also very favourable.

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Antoine Dubé Bloc Lévis, QC

Mr. Speaker, in an interview with a journalist from the Soleil , the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Agri-Food said that the next budget might contain new measures for shipbuilding.

As we saw nothing along these lines in the last federal budget, are we to understand that the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Agri-Food failed miserably in his attempt to convince his colleagues of the importance of providing assistance for shipbuilding in Quebec?

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Ottawa South Ontario

Liberal

John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to note that the last budget again contained help for R&D in Canada and for the process of innovation.

These are some of the most important sectors for building the industries of the 21st century here in Canada and in Quebec. These were the same sectors that received funding in the budget brought down a few days ago by Quebec's finance minister.

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Antoine Dubé Bloc Lévis, QC

Mr. Speaker, given the inflexibility of the Minister of Industry, will the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Agri-Food go back and tell the men of the Davie shipyard that there is nothing he can do for them?

ShipbuildingOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Ottawa South Ontario

Liberal

John Manley LiberalMinister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, it is not true that the federal government has done nothing for the Lévis shipyard. It invested large amounts of money in the shipyard for several years.

I have also just explained that there are tax shelters for the shipbuilding industry here in Canada. The assistance that has already been given and that will given in the future is not negligible.

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the justice minister. Ten and eleven year old kids are being recruited to commit crimes. They are being recruited into youth gangs in Winnipeg and elsewhere.

The minister knows what I am talking about. Yet the new package fails to come down hard on those who would lead those kids down that road. The bill is silent in the face of that growing problem.

Why did the justice minister ignore the problem of the recruitment of 10 and 11 year olds into criminal activities?

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, we have not ignored that. There are existing provisions both in the Criminal Code and in the existing Young Offenders Act that can deal with exactly that question.

I am appalled to hear that from members of the New Democratic Party. Are they suggesting, along with their friends in the Reform Party, that we should be putting 10 and 11 year olds in jail?

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, let me make it absolutely clear that we are advocating the very opposite of that.

The government seems to refuse to deal with the recruitment of 10 and 11 year olds by gangs. It is real. It is an ugly reality but the Reform solution is not the right one. We need to get at the cause of the problem.

Will the government amend its bill so youth gangs will stop using 10 and 11 kids to commit crimes?

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, members of youth gangs who aid and abet in the perpetration of criminal offences can be charged.

National DefenceOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

David Price Progressive Conservative Compton—Stanstead, QC

Mr. Speaker, the numbers do not add up. The government announced $175 million in new moneys for the defence budget and restored a cut of $150 million, bringing the defence budget to $9.7 billion for this year. However, the estimates state that the defence budget is $10.3 billion.

Could the minister tell us why he did not announce the new spending of $600 million and tell us where the money came from? Was it transfers from the provinces, the finance minister's shell game, or did he again dip into the military pension fund?

National DefenceOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

York Centre Ontario

Liberal

Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, none of the above. There are also provisions in the defence estimates relevant to the disaster financial assistance arrangement, which is not directly related to military but does form part of the expenditures.

However, we are grateful that for the first time in a dozen years the Department of National Defence and the Canadian forces have received an increase in their estimates. That gives us the opportunity to pay more to our troops and to be able to deal with issues of housing, care for the injured and support for the families.

National DefenceOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB

Mr. Speaker, the air force is currently flying 35 year old Sea Kings. These helicopters require upwards of 60 hours of maintenance for every hour they are flown.

I know a lot of people on the government side do not believe in the estimates. We heard that this week. However, the estimates show that $4 million went into a new joint strike fighter program.

Can the minister tell us why he is spending $4 million on that program instead of spending $4 million on initiating a Sea King replacement program? How many more crashes will we have and how many more lives will be lost before he brings in the Sea King program?

National DefenceOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

York Centre Ontario

Liberal

Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, we want to ensure that all of our pilots and all of our air crews are in fact safe when they fly any of our equipment.

The Sea Kings are kept at a very high standard of maintenance. We ensure that they are safe to fly.

Yes, they are getting on in years. They do cost more to repair. There is more down time. That is why the government feels we need to replace them and that is why I will be bringing in a strategy for their replacement very shortly.

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Reform

John Reynolds Reform West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC

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

The new youth criminal justice bill allows for provinces to opt out of adult sentencing. Canada's justice system is based on uniformity and universality of application. What happened to treating Canadians equally right across Canada?

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member shows a fundamental misunderstanding of division of power as it relates to the criminal justice system in this country.

Our obligation and that which we have discharged today is to pass national criminal legislation. We have done that.

The administration of the criminal justice system is left to the provinces in this country. For example, presently under the existing young offenders legislation prosecutors all over this country in communities every day make decisions as to whether young people should be prosecuted and seek a transfer to adult court or whether they should remain in youth court. Those are the kinds of local decisions that—

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast.

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Reform

John Reynolds Reform West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC

Mr. Speaker, one of the glaring problems with the old Juvenile Delinquents Act was the discretion it provided the provinces to create their own system of youth justice. That is why it was changed.

Why are we going back in history? Should the criminal law of the land not be the same in every province?

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, the criminal law is the same.

I would ask members, especially those of his party who come into the House to argue relentlessly for provincial rights, to respect the Constitution of this country in which the administration of the criminal law rests with the provinces.

We do that so that prosecutors can reflect local values, community values, and take into account on a daily basis those local young offenders.

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Bellehumeur Bloc Berthier—Montcalm, QC

Mr. Speaker, this morning the Minister of Justice introduced a bill making sweeping amendments to the Young Offender Act.

In the documents she tabled, she said the principles of the current act lacked clarity, were inconsistent and contradictory.

How does she explain that it is under this supposedly unclear, inconsistent and even contradictory act, according to the statistics she quoted this morning at a press conference, youth crime has come down 23% since 1991?

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Edmonton West Alberta

Liberal

Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, in fact there are a number of reasons—and I think we should be happy about this—that crime rates generally are decreasing in this country, one of which is because of this government's insightful approach to children, to the family and to crime prevention.

Let me remind the hon. member that, tragically, we do see increases of certain kinds of violent youth crime in this country and that is why we have chosen to make in this new legislation a clear distinction between violent crime and non-violent crime.

Young Offenders ActOral Question Period

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Bellehumeur Bloc Berthier—Montcalm, QC

Mr. Speaker, since 1995, even violent crime has dropped constantly, by 3.2%. What the minister just said is not true.