Debates of March 17th, 1999

The Economy

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the reason the opposition will never be able to capture this issue is that it has come to it too late. The government began to address it immediately. That is why we eliminated the $42 billion deficit. That is why we have invested in education. That is why we have invested in research and development. That is why we have invested in the future of the country.

The fact is that just because the Reform Party has only woken up to smell the roses does not mean the Canadian people and the Canadian government have not been working in concert on the very issue.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government can blow its horn as much as it likes, but the fact is that we still have huge high debts and high taxes. That is what is affecting our standard of living.

Marzolini's advice to the Prime Minister is usually secret but today it is public because the situation is so dreadful. We are poorer now than Mississippi. The Prime Minister knows it and the finance minister knows it, even though most Canadians do not know yet because they have tried to hide it. Does that embarrassing fact not make it just a little hard to stand up and brag about our standard of living?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I have just gone through a list, and I could do it again, of a number of measures the government has brought forward to help the country improve its productivity. There is one issue that really does stand before—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. We heard the question and I think we should now hear the answer.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to remind the member from the Brazil party what the government has done to improve the productivity of the nation.

If she would sit down and work with the government instead of working with other governments, there is a great deal more we might be able to do.

Employment Insurance

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Secretary of State for the Status of Women, who is supposed to look after women's interests, sided with the government, which claims that women are not being discriminated against by the new eligibility rules for maternity benefits, because pregnancy is a natural event.

Does the Minister of Human Resources Development realize that his department is not immune to discriminatory practices toward women when it states that pregnancy is a natural event?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that when we take a close look at the number of Canadian women who were paid maternity benefits, we can see that these benefits were maintained and that it is the number of births that went down. Therefore, women have definitely not been penalized in that regard in recent years.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is well aware that, in 1989, the supreme court ruled that discrimination based on pregnancy was discrimination against women and that it violated the charter of rights.

How can the minister let his department still use an argument that takes us decades back in time to justify the fact that the employment insurance program discriminates against pregnant women?

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

Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that, when our government tabled in this House an act to reform the employment insurance program, we made sure that it was legal and constitutional.

There may be challenges. Challenges are part of the democratic process. I can assure you that our government is absolutely convinced that there is no discrimination, that the Employment Insurance Act is perfectly legal and constitutional.

Trade

[Rahim Jaffer, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we saw a desperate display in the House by the international trade minister. No wonder he wants to talk about anything except the fact that the World Trade Organization just declared the Liberal technology partnerships program illegal.

When will the minister get it? The best way to help Canadian entrepreneurs is with tax cuts and not illegal subsidies and corporate welfare.

[Sergio Marchi, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, was there a question or was there a complaint that the Reform Party was as guilty as sin about being disloyal to the Canadian interest, to Canadian workers in Montreal and across the country?

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I find the terms we are using about disloyalty to our country to be very strong. I would caution all hon. members not to use those types of terms.

The Economy

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the minister something in language so simple that he can understand. This member is here and I am here because we love this country.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. leader of the opposition.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

It breaks our hearts to see exports crippled by high debt and high taxes.

If the minister is such a patriot, why does he not attack the high debt and high tax policies of the government?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy the leader of the Reform Party raised this issue because a series of incidents occurred lately that we need to hear him on.

He is the one who went abroad to talk against Canada, something that no leader of any other party in the House has done previously. To have his research bureau send documents to a foreign government in order to hurt Canadian workers is unacceptable—

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. member for Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière.

Productivity

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the major problem behind the falling Canadian dollar is the low rate of growth of business productivity over the past twenty years or so.

There are two important factors that may influence productivity: R&D investment and equipment purchases.

How can this government compromise the future prosperity of this country by bringing in a budget in which Industry Canada's R&D effort is lower than last year?