Debates of March 12th, 1999

Endangered Species

[Christine Stewart, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, all those on this side of the House, others on the other side of the House and all of those who demonstrated yesterday on their day of action for their concern about species at risk.

Because of human activity and its impact on the environment, it is obvious that we need legislation to protect species at risk. I hope to bring in legislation before we recess this summer.

In the meantime, I have been consulting with stakeholders across this country, with business and industry, farmers, environmental NGOs, as well as with my provincial counterparts to see how we can build a national safety net of protection for species at risk. Much of the authority falls within the provincial and territorial jurisdiction.

We have laws in place now to protect species but there will be a new law.

Agriculture

[Jake Hoeppner, Reform, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, a study by a private Saskatchewan group reveals that since 1984 North Dakota and Montana farmers have received between 50 and 75 cents a bushel more for their wheat than Canadian farmers. These losses amount to billions of dollars to western farmers. What will the government do to make up for these losses? I would say, open the wheat board books and give farmers a choice to market their own grain.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the big city boy will attempt to offer some information about farms.

The authors of the particular report the hon. member refers to have overstated U.S. prices and have understated Canadian Wheat Board prices. The results of that study are inconclusive. The authors used selective vision of each country's grain handling and transportation systems. Their pricing methodology does not allow for an accurate price comparison between the two countries. That is what he is basing his question on.

Building Contracts

[Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, Bloc, Laval Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Treasury Board's Government Contracts Regulations are very clear: when a manager awards a contract without a call for tender, he must justify in writing his application of one of the four exceptions provided in the regulations.

If that was in fact done, could the Deputy Prime Minister table in this House the written justification for the fact that a public contract was awarded without call for tender by the government to the contractor who built the Prime Minister's cottage?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I will look into the hon. member's question. There may be security issues. I will do my best to provide a full response to the member's request.

Highways

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the controversial Cobequid Pass toll highway in Nova Scotia has undergone another change. Now the financing has been sold to an American company controlled by a Japanese bank. As we know, over $27 million in federal government money went into the Cobequid highway, one of the Atlantic toll roads that use federal funds to turn tidy private profits.

Will the government now admit that our national highways policy is to put roads into private hands and send the profits offshore? What a disgrace. Canadians want to know what the government is going to do about it.

[Stan Dromisky, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that we have a definite position regarding toll highways. It has already been clearly announced in the House that as far as the government is concerned, for any highway designated as part of the Trans-Canada Highway, if tolls are to be considered, it must be in conjunction with the Minister of Transport. The final decision regarding that would be made by the Minister of Transport.

The highways are within the jurisdiction of the provincial governments, but whenever moneys go from the federal coffers to the provincial coffers for that purpose, that is for the building of the Trans-Canada Highway—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for South Shore.

Swissair Flight 111

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Cumberland—Colchester asked an extremely important question on the coast guard. What the minister did not answer was that the only thing that kept the coast guard's budget from being cut sooner in 1998 was the crash of Swissair flight 111. If this tragedy had not occurred, the coast guard boats would have been laid up much earlier in the fall of 1998.

The issue here is safety. Is it the Minister of Transport's intent to ignore the safety of our fishermen and boaters in the same way the minister of defence ignored the safety of our pilots?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for the coast guard. He has made it very clear in the House many times that there will be no compromising of safety with regard to the coast guard. Whether it is the Swissair disaster or any other disaster, the coast guard is there to protect the safety of people and seagoing vessels. We will do that, absolutely.

Trade

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Toronto Centre—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Trade. Trade negotiations will be started by the WTO in Seattle later this year. Economic sectors and issues of great interest to Canadians will be discussed there. What opportunity will Canadians have to provide their input into the preparation for these important negotiations?

[Bob Speller, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada places utmost importance on public consultations. It just makes common sense. On February 8 the Minister for International Trade launched the consultations. The Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food has had consultations with agriculture groups. In a few weeks the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade will be travelling to certain parts of Canada to get people's views on these important consultations.

The Minister for International Trade met with his provincial counterparts earlier this year. They are determined to get the views of Canadians prior to going to Geneva to negotiate.

[Lee Morrison, Reform, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

The Canadian live cattle export industry, which is worth about two and a half billion dollars a year, is already being targeted by the Americans. Senator Baucus and his cohorts in the American agricultural lobby are rubbing their hands in glee at the possibility that they will be able to justify or rationalize a countervail based on Bill C-55.

Why is the minister so eager to sacrifice western Canadian farmers to the greater glory of Ted Rogers?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are there for every sector. We are not sacrificing the interests of any sector for any other sector. We are there for all Canadians.

I ask my hon. friend why he is so interested in sacrificing the interests of Canada in support of Senator Baucus and the people of the United States. Why do he and his party not stand up for Canada and show a unified state and not help the Americans to put unwarranted pressure against a policy that is in the interest of all Canadians and all Canada?

Stand up for Canada, Reform Party. Don't act on behalf of the Americans.

Employment Insurance

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Laurentides, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the replies given by the Minister of Human Resources Development in response to our recent questions on the hardship caused by his system suggest that he is already in possession of the evaluation report prepared by his officials and that he is secretly working on the changes that need to be made.

Why is the Minister of Human Resources Development waiting so long to table this much anticipated report? Is it because he is about to bow to our arguments and address the flaws of a system that hurts both the unemployed and the workers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can give the assurance that the report is not causing any hardship. Unlike the Bloc Quebecois, which loves to talk about hardship, about victims, about people who are exploited, we do not talk—

[An hon. member]

Did you look at the report?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Papineau—Saint-Denis, QC]

Yes, absolutely. I read the report. It was submitted to me.

I can give the assurance that it will be tabled, as required by law, in the first 30 days of the session, which means by March 19.

But I do not work in secret. I can tell the House one thing: as a government, we make sure we properly measure the impact of our employment insurance reform, the results of which we will soon be sharing with this House.

National Defence

[Gordon Earle, NDP, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the 35 year old Sea King helicopters continue to be plagued with problems causing legitimate concern for the safety of those who fly in them.

I now have parents of a pilot writing to me expressing concern for their son who flies these aircraft.

The minister indicated yesterday that he would bring in a strategy to replace the Sea Kings very shortly. Defence procurement is a very large, complex business with many steps involved.

Will the minister advise the House as to what precise stage in the procurement process is the maritime helicopter project at present?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we are going through all the requirements for the helicopters because whatever we get to replace the Sea King I want to make sure that it meets our operational needs and is cost efficient and affordable for Canadians.

I am anxious to bring this forward as quickly as we possibly can, but meanwhile we will have the Sea Kings with us for a few more years. We will make sure that in fact they are well maintained; they are overhauled as they need to be and as they have been in the past; and they are safe for our crews to fly.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

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

The aboriginal human resource development strategy will change the way training programs and services are offered to aboriginal Canadians. Criticism of this includes a loss of services to off reserve aboriginal groups such as the Canadian Métis Council and the Native Council of Nova Scotia.

Could the minister guarantee that both groups would receive funding in the future equivalent to what they received under the regional bilateral agreement?

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

Mr. Speaker, first I would like to thank the member for supporting our bilateral agreements. They have improved a great deal the situation of aboriginal Canadians it terms of the labour market.

I would like to commend the wonderful work, extraordinary work, of the Secretary of State for Children and Youth who has involved herself a lot in those bilateral agreements.

As to the other group that the member is referring to, I am confident that we will be able to come to conclusions on this very important file shortly.

Points Of Order

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

I had an earlier question from a member from the P.C. Party on a judge in New Brunswick. I have an answer, if members would like me to read it into the record, that in fact the minister has received a letter from the Attorney General of New Brunswick and that she will be making a decision soon on whether to appoint a new judge in New Brunswick.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I trust the information is satisfactory to all hon. members.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Toronto Centre—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, parliamentary assembly standing committee in Vienna, Austria, on January 14, 1999.