Debates of April 23rd, 1999

Young Offenders Act

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Quebec Minister of Justice, Linda Goupil, spoke out against the punitive character of the federal Young Offenders Act, because it threatens the preventive approach developed by Quebec and because the Quebec model, with its focus on rehabilitation, might be forced unwillingly into becoming as repressive as the prevailing legislation in Canada.

Since there is a consensus within Quebec that young offenders need help rather than punishment, does the government intend to respond favourably to that consensus and to exclude Quebec from application of its bill?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by making the same statement I made in committee. The situation in Quebec with respect to young offenders and the province's accomplishments in preventing youth crime are totally remarkable.

That said, the bill before us at this time contains all the flexibility necessary to both pay tribute to what Quebec is doing and ensure that the public is better protected everywhere in this country.

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

Mr. Speaker, this flexibility is just a charade. In actual fact, the effect of this bill will be a gradual and inevitable undermining of the foundations of the Quebec system for young offenders.

Does the government realize that the philosophy of its bill runs counter to, and in fact is even a threat to, the Quebec model, which works best of all the systems in Canada and which has made the most reduction in youth crime, as my hon. colleague has acknowledged?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, if I am asked questions based on facts, then I can respond with facts. If I am asked questions based on speculations, then I have no answer at all.

They presume that the courts will decide. They presume that the Quebec program will be undermined. They presume that we will abandon prevention to focus on cracking down on crime. I cannot provide any answer to that.

Health

[Keith Martin, Reform, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health said that he would wait until the end of the year before he responded to the health committee's report on organ transplantation. If he waits until the end of the year, 100 Canadians will be dead.

Will the minister show leadership and implement the constructive suggestions in the report within the next three months, before these people die?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, first of all I would say to the hon. member that the minister said nothing of the sort.

What the minister said yesterday was that because of his personal commitment he was the one who asked the committee to undertake this mandate to determine how Canada could raise its organ donation rate so that all those people who are anxiously awaiting organs in this country would have hope that organs would be available for them when they need them.

The committee spent very valuable and important time over a long period working hard on the committee report. Part of the recommendations is that the minister work in co-operation with his provincial colleagues. I would say to the member—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Surrey Central.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the last two years the government has not delivered the funds to the RCMP in Surrey that it said it would.

The government is underfunding the RCMP and that is why it is refusing to divulge the figures. This has seriously reduced RCMP services and destroyed morale.

Will the solicitor general immediately provide the city of Surrey with a detailed and accurate accounting of the government's funding before that city files a lawsuit against the government?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

I could not dream of any better question and I will take advantage of it to reinforce the announcement that has just been made by the Solicitor General of Canada.

He has just announced $115 million to reinforce the Canadian Police Information Centre, commonly called the CPIC. I thank my colleague for giving me this opportunity.

Aerospace Industry

[Maurice Dumas, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Madeleine Albright agreed on a 120 day period of reflection to review the American decision on our aerospace and defence exports.

Is the Minister for International Trade prepared to consult and involve the Government of Quebec in its discussions and considerations, given that Quebec will be severely affected if the Americans carry out their trade restrictions plan?

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

Mr. Speaker, certainly the Government of Canada welcomes the decision by the Government of the United States to sit down and talk about this issue.

It is the government's intention in doing this to consult the industry and all those involved in Canada that have an interest in it. We will certainly put forward a united position on this issue.

Agriculture

[John Richardson, Liberal, Perth—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many farmers in western Canada suffered a dramatic downturn in their incomes last year and are looking forward to receiving help from the agriculture income disaster assistance program. However, they will have to fill out the application forms by June 15, right in the middle of seeding.

What can the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food do to help out these farmers?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out the other day, the forms are only seven pages long and can be filled out reasonably quickly by farmers or their accountants.

We have had 43 training sessions in Saskatchewan and Manitoba alone. Over 1,400 farmers have attended. Over 200 accountants have attended information sessions as well.

Today I have announced that we will be extending the deadline to July 30, because we do know that it is a busy time of year.

Justice

[John Reynolds, Reform, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as the justice committee completes its review of the victims rights bill, a piece of legislation premised on compassion and closure for all victims of crime and their families, the supreme court yesterday rejected an anguished plea by the family victims of the Bernardo murders and is allowing the videotapes of those brutal murders to be viewed by the public.

Will the government add one clause to Bill C-79, to put these videotapes under lock and key and show the supreme court that parliamentarians have compassion for victims, even if it does not?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the supreme court decided on these video tapes. The decision does not mean that the tapes will be made public. They are considered evidence in the matter.

Accordingly, the tapes are being kept in a sealed container, and there was never any question of their becoming public. It would be a mistake to do either of two things. The first would be to assume that, because of the decision, they would be made public. The other would be to want to use something as tragic as what befell these people and their families for political gain.

Tobacco Industry

[Ted White, Reform, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, tobacco executives in the United States have recently been convicted and fined huge sums of money for helping to smuggle cigarettes back into Canada through the Akwesasne reserve.

With the case already proven in the United States, and plenty of evidence that RJR was involved in Canada, Canadians do not want to be told that the RCMP are still investigating the matter. They want action.

Why have Canadian tobacco executives not been charged? Why is the government negotiating a cash settlement behind closed doors with executives who are golfing buddies of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, members will permit my not commenting on the tone of the question, but going rather to the substance of the matter.

The substance of the matter is as follows. The RCMP negotiates nothing. It accumulates evidence it will subsequently pass on to the crown, which then decides accordingly.

So it is time to stop implying that the RCMP is negotiating. It gathers evidence for the crown.

Employment Insurance

[Michelle Dockrill, NDP, Bras D'Or, NS]

Mr. Speaker, government reports have finally confirmed that women and young people have been hit the hardest by the changes to the EI.

The government's own figures show EI claims by women are down 20% since the last changes. They also show only 44% of Canadian women are now eligible for maternity benefits. More than half of Canadian women do not qualify.

If the government is not interested in changing the EI legislation, what will it do to address the discrimination against women that it created and that its report has now acknowledged?

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are as concerned as the member opposite about these findings from the EI monitoring and assessment report. That is why officials of HRDC are now investigating the situation to try to gain a clear understanding of the reasons for these numbers.

We have also accepted the generous offer of the Canadian Labour Congress to help us by bringing to us some of its frontline examples and stories to assist officials to get to the bottom of this issue. We do not want to start making changes until we really understand the whys and wherefores of these numbers.

Pensions

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the human resource minister does not care if EI changes have hit women the hardest.

Women are also the biggest losers in the government's pension plan grab. There are women who have worked for 20 years and receive less than $10,000 a year in pension. Now the finance minister says “I want their pension surplus”. Does the government have no shame?

The pension surplus grab is at the expense of seniors, RCMP members and military personnel, government workers who have served our country for years. They are taxpayers. Money they receive is spent in their communities. Why is the government taking it away?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again this is money that belongs to taxpayers. The government guarantees all pension benefits of all public servants, everything they have earned and everything they have bargained for. Everything that was in their contract with the government will be implemented.

These people, the seniors, men and women, will receive the exact benefits they were promised under the law. The law guarantees them these benefits and the surplus, as the lawyers, the accountants, the auditor general and the actuaries say, belongs to taxpayers.

Government Infrastructure

[Mark Muise, Progressive Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, when the Canadian Coast Guard decides to decommission a lighthouse, Public Works Canada must offer the structure first to another federal government department, followed by the provincial and then municipal governments, before it is opened to public tender.

My question is for the minister. Could non-profit organizations interested in lighthouse preservation be offered these abandoned structures prior to their being opened to public tender?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the policy is very clear. When we decide that we have a property we do not need any more, we have to offer it to the provincial authorities and then the municipal authorities. If there is no demand from that side then we have to offer it to the public.

If the hon. member has some other organizations that are interested, I am sure we could negotiate and through the tendering process look at their offers as we usually do.

Fisheries And Oceans

[Mark Muise, Progressive Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, last summer during a visit to my riding the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans promised that local DFO officers would be receiving two new jet boats to help them in their fight against illegal lobster poaching operations in St. Mary's Bay.

Could the minister tell us when we can expect these vessels to arrive?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the specifics of that particular case. I do know that we are increasing enforcement officers in some areas and trying to ensure that the fishery is there for the future.

I will check into the specifics of that case and get back to the member.