Debates of April 13th, 1999

Secretary Of State For Asia-Pacific

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, during his recent mission to Indonesia in October, raised the issue of human rights with President Habibie.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the secretary of state for his initiative, not only in Indonesia but in raising human rights issues wherever he goes at every forum which is open to him.

I must say that Indonesia's President Habibie was defensive about these issues. Our secretary of state refused to be intimidated by President Habibie. I understand that his October visit enabled Canada to obtain first-hand information on the situation in Indonesia with regards to human rights, the social impact—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys.

Sikhism

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, these are very special days for Sikhs in India, in Canada and throughout the world.

Three hundred years ago the 10th Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, restructured the Sikh community known as the Khalsa. The first baptism ceremony took place on April 13, 1669 in Andapur South, Punjab, India. It was the first day of the Festival of Vaisakhi and since then Sikhism has grown to be the fifth and youngest of the world's great religions.

Founded by Guru Nanak, it evolved through the 10 living gurus until Guru Gobind Singh passed the rule of the religion on to the devout followers of the religion and the Guru Granth Sahib a collection of holy scriptures of all the gurus and of other enlightened persons.

This year we celebrate the inauguration of the Khalsa and today we acknowledge the first baptism ceremony of a religion from which we all have much to learn.

Windsor—St. Clair

[Susan Whelan, Liberal, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the results are in. We finally have an answer to that mysterious question that has been vexing us all year: Which party on the right do Canadians like better, the Reform Party or the Conservative Party? The voters in Windsor—St. Clair gave us their answer. Neither.

Both parties received just over 6% of the vote yesterday. Even if we combined both parties, as some are suggesting, they still would not have had enough votes to get their deposits back.

Who did voters from Windsor—St. Clair elect as their federal member of Parliament yesterday? I am proud to say a hard-working, dedicated Liberal by the name of Rick Limoges.

This victory is a testament to Rick's talent and fine record as a Windsor city councillor and is also a testament to the legacy of Shaughnessy Cohen.

I congratulate Rick, his campaign team, his family and friends for this hard fought by-election victory. We look forward to working with Rick as a great addition to our Liberal team.

Quebec Bench

[Richard Marceau, Bloc, Charlesbourg, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that the Bloc Quebecois pays tribute to the appointment of Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré as a judge in the criminal and family divisions of the Quebec Court.

Madame Justice Westmoreland-Traoré was awarded the Ordre national du Québec in 1991 and has been an ardent defender of minority rights. The first black woman to be appointed to the bench in Quebec, she is currently dean of the law faculty at the University of Windsor in Ontario.

The appointment of this talented jurist is a sign of the openness that characterizes our society and marks an important moment in our collective history. Cultural communities are now represented and well represented at the highest level of the Quebec judiciary.

Through her openness, tolerance and generosity, Ms. Westmoreland-Traoré is representative of the Quebec of today and the future.

We offer her our heartiest congratulations.

Building Contracts

[Jim Jones, Progressive Conservative, Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister asks the people of Canada to trust him. He asks Canadians to believe in his claim of no inappropriate conduct in the Chateau Shawinigan affair without any corroborating evidence.

He asks Canadians to have faith in the little guy when his cabinet ministers and backbenchers do everything possible to prevent all the facts from coming out. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister refuses to use section 11 of the Auditor General Act to conduct an independent audit of the Thibault and Duhaime deals.

This afternoon the industry committee will be asked to vote on a motion I tabled to summon the manager of the Prime Minister's blind trust to appear before the committee in camera. If there are no grounds for further investigations, then surely the Liberal majority should support my motion.

I urge the Prime Minister to ask his Liberal committee members to support my motion to prove that his integrity is worth more than a cup of coffee.

Consolidated Growers And Processors

[Inky Mark, Reform, Dauphin—Swan River, MB]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday agriculture in Canada received good news. Consolidated Growers and Processors, an international company, announced plans to build the world's largest, most sophisticated industrial hemp processing plant to be located in my riding of Dauphin—Swan River. CGP, the Hemp Growers Association, the City of Dauphin, the rural municipality of Dauphin and ARDI deserve credit for putting this project together.

Canadian farmers can be proud to be at the threshold of becoming world leaders in a new global market for hemp products. Hemp is a model crop that is environmentally friendly. Its uses are many: medicine, clothing, perfume, insulation, making automobile parts and food. This is good news for Canadian agriculture.

I ask all members of the House to support this initiative as Canadian farmers prepare to take the first steps to lead the world in industrial hemp.

Daffodil Month

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Waterloo—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, April is daffodil month in Canada, an event formerly known as cancer month.

Annually, the Canadian Cancer Society organizes a countrywide fundraising campaign for cancer victims, sending thousands of volunteers door to door to collect donations for a very worthy cause. Last year in Ontario alone donations from generous Canadians provided more than $25 million for cancer research.

The sad facts are that 129,200 new cases of cancer were discovered in Canada in 1998, along with 62,700 cancer related deaths. The most frequent cancers continue to be breast cancer for women and prostate cancer for men. During their lifetimes this is a real problem and research will help us combat cancer.

The daffodil, which the Canadian Cancer Society has chosen as a symbol, gives a sense of hope and renewed life. During the month of April I urge all Canadians to be generous and to contribute to the Canadian Cancer Society effort to combat this terrible disease. The reward is wonderful.

Kosovo

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in a debate that began yesterday and lasted until early this morning, all members in the House voiced their support for a Canadian role in the Balkan crisis.

We support the fight against ethnic cleansing, the diplomatic efforts, the NATO air strikes, and of course we support our Canadian Armed Forces personnel.

Why will the Prime Minister not allow us to show our support with a vote, clarifying Canada's role in an expanded activity in the Balkans?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have explained that we made an agreement with the opposition parties that there was to be a take note debate. We have had that and hon. members carried on until this morning. I was told that some would like to speak later today and I said fine. It is the best way to express our support.

I want to thank all hon. members and the leaders for their participation in the debate. It was evidence of their support.

The procedure has been established that there were to be take note debates in those circumstances. Yesterday the Leader of the Opposition asked me, if we were to send troops into a combat position, if we would have a vote. I said that if we have to face that problem, and I hope we never will, I would consider it at that time, but for the moment it is hypothetical.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, last night Canadian pilots flew their 100th sortie in the Balkan crisis. Today the Serbs occupied a town in Albania.

The possibility of NATO ground troops being used in the Balkans is not hypothetical. It was raised by the Prime Minister's own defence minister and cannot be discounted by the House.

When will the Prime Minister bring a votable motion to parliament establishing a mandate and conditions for an expanding Canadian role in the Balkans? Will it be before the decision is made, or will it only be after?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are not confronted with this problem at this time.

I want to say to the House of Commons that when if ever we are confronted, and I hope we will not be, I will try to have a debate in the House of Commons as quickly as possible.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking debate. We are talking about votes. I want to read something:

My deepest concern is that they will simply be using parliament to try to rubber-stamp or ratify decisions already taken as opposed to letting parliament be the forum in which those decisions are formulated.

Those are not my words. Those are the words of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1991 when the Liberals were in opposition.

Would the Prime Minister care to tell us when he and his Minister of Foreign Affairs lost their faith in parliamentary democracy?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have had three debates so far on Kosovo, three take note debates according to the rules established and agreed upon by all opposition parties.

I am informed, for example, that in Great Britain there was a statement by the prime minister, no debate and no vote. Here we have had three debates so far.

I think that we are giving opportunity to everybody to speak. Even tonight those who want to express their views will be able to speak. That is democracy.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the Yugoslavian army crossed the border and took control of an Albanian town. It has since been driven back. This is yet another sign that this conflict is escalating.

The government clearly has a responsibility to plan for all possibilities. Last week the Minister of National Defence admitted that preparations were under way for the possibility of sending ground forces into Kosovo. Will the Minister of National Defence tell the House specifically what these preparations entail?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, first we do not know about the alleged incursion this morning into the Albanian border, but the matter is being looked into and we hope to have information on it soon.

With respect to the matter of ground forces, of course ground forces have always been a part of the peace implementation plan which would come after a peace agreement has been signed.

With respect to any other alternative uses or any other options, military planners always look at all options at all times. That is a normal thing to do, but as far as it has gone we have one plan and that is to continue the air campaign in Yugoslavia.

[Art Hanger, Reform, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the defence minister should take note of the British prime minister's comments. Tony Blair today announced that Britain would be sending another 2,000 troops to the Kosovo region, and some specialized troops at that.

Mr. Blair has taken note and informed the people of Britain as well as the military of what their plans are. They are preparing so I am asking the defence minister again to tell Canadian people exactly what the minister and the government are doing in preparation for sending Canada's—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of National Defence.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the hon. member did not note that Prime Minister Blair did not have a vote on his decision.

We already had a discussion in the House going back to February 17 when we decided that indeed, with the support of all parties I might add, that 600 troops should be part of a peace implementation force. That continues to stand. We have not at this point in time been asked for any other additional resources.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the situation in the Balkans is evolving rapidly.

Could the Prime Minister give us a brief rundown on the humanitarian, diplomatic and military situation, particularly in light of the meeting between the American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, and the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Igor Ivanov?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in the House yesterday, it is very desirable that the Russians be involved in any attempt to find a solution. I hope that the meeting that took place yesterday between the American Secretary of State and the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs had positive results.

Naturally, the best solution would be a diplomatic one. As I said yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the UN ambassador are working on such a solution in New York.

I myself wrote to Russia's president. I hope that the meeting that took place between the two individuals mentioned earlier will have positive results.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Serb attack this morning on two villages in Albania is perhaps a turning point in the conflict, for it raises the probability—I repeat, the probability—of ground military action to dislodge the Serb army in Albania and Kosovo.

Will the Prime Minister admit that today's events in Albania make the likelihood of a land war, in which Canada would be called to participate, not just hypothetical but probable?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think the leader of the Bloc Quebecois is going a bit far.

Insofar as possible, we are hoping to avoid—and this is NATO policy as well—sending troops to Kosovo. We want President Milosevic to agree to the conditions proposed by NATO and approved by the UN secretary general so that peace can be restored in the region and the Kosovars allowed to return to their homes throughout Kosovo.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday a NATO communiqué stated that it was unacceptable for the territorial integrity of Albania and Macedonia to be threatened. The communiqué announced that NATO would react if this occurred.

I am asking the Prime Minister whether he considers the Serbian intrusion of today to be purely and simply a provocation of NATO. Is it not a response to the position taken in yesterday's statement?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are not exactly aware of everything that went on yesterday at the Albanian border. The Minister of Defence has just now mentioned the possibility that Serbian forces did cross the border. Apparently they turned around.

Was this strictly a mistake, or was it provocation? I am not in a position at this time to pass judgment, because I do not have sufficient information.