Debates of April 28th, 1999

Hepatitis C

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, let us put aside the political approach to these victims and let us look at the care that those who are sick really need. Let us focus on the medical care and attention those who are ill will need. That has been our focus.

We have offered the provinces a way to ensure for all the years of their lives that those who were infected with hepatitis C can have access to medical services and care without paying from their pockets. That is the humane approach to this issue.

[Grant Hill, Reform, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is proud of having denied compensation to all the victims of hepatitis C. He boasts that, after a year, no one remembers this tragedy. The victims and their families remember. Canadians remember. And we remember.

Is the Prime Minister proud that 800 victims have died, abandoned by his government? Is he proud of that?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Yes, Mr. Speaker. The point is that if those who are infected with hepatitis C need care they ought not pay out of their own pockets for that care, for the cost of drugs that are not within insurance or for nursing services that they may need as their lives go on.

We have proposed to the provinces a way to pay these expenses so those who are ill need not pay from their own pockets. We believe that is the right approach to this issue.

Kosovo

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

Mr. Speaker, after 36 days of air strikes, newspapers are carrying photographs of mass graves on their front pages. Eight hundred thousand Albanians are facing famine. Refugee camps are overflowing. This conflict must end as soon as possible and perhaps the most effective way of achieving that is to deprive Milosevic's war machine of oil.

With Canada increasing the number of diplomatic missions, has the Prime Minister been assured that all NATO countries are not at present supplying oil in a roundabout way to Milosevic's regime?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that was the decision taken by government representatives in Washington on the weekend. They decided to ensure that, while the refineries are being bombed, oil is not shipped through other provinces of Yugoslavia.

That was the decision taken and Canada intends to participate fully in this embargo.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada's position is clear and is to its credit.

However, we have learned that Texaco supplied 65,000 barrels of oil on April 10, two weeks after air strikes began, at the very time the refineries were being bombed and our planes were in the area. Such an attitude is wrong and, to date, only Texaco has said that it will not supply any more oil.

Is it not time the Prime Minister called President Clinton and made sure that no American oil company supplies Milosevic's regime? Unless he does, we are shooting ourselves in the foot and endangering the lives of troops, in addition to completely missing the boat.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the decision was taken by Canada, as well as by the U.S. government. American companies have been accused of not respecting the embargo. If this is true, it is deplorable, because President Clinton gave an undertaking to the 18 other heads of state present in Washington that the U.S. would fully support the oil embargo.

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the diplomatic measures that must be intensified, one way to put a quick stop to the conflict is to paralyze the Serb war machine by depriving it of oil. Without oil, even the best tank is worthless. It is easy to understand.

In its diplomatic efforts, has the government taken steps with the leaders in Montenegro to discuss ways of cutting supplies to Serbia without paralyzing Montenegro?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the way to go about it is to not let oil into Montenegro. It is part of Yugoslavia, not a foreign country. It is a province of Yugoslavia.

I hope we will take steps to prevent oil from entering through Montenegro. One way to do so would be to cut the roads or the railroads that might be used to carry oil from Montenegro to Serbia. I think this is part of future military plans.

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro has said he has oil reserves to last two months approximately and that he would fight to defend them, should Belgrade try to get around a blockade by raiding Montenegro's oil supply.

As NATO made a commitment on the weekend to protect all the countries around Yugoslavia in the event of Serb aggression, what has the Prime Minister to say to the Government of Montenegro, which is saying it is prepared to take up arms against Milosevic to protect its oil reserves?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro said that, so much the better. However, Serbian soldiers are in Montenegro. It is a province of Yugoslavia.

So, it is preferable to prevent oil from entering Montenegro than to send it back there. Part of the population in this province is Serb, as is the army.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. Yesterday the respected Russian envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, said “Ending or even temporarily suspending NATO's missile and bomb strikes would open up a good chance of settlement”.

Will the Prime Minister urge our foreign minister to take this proposal in the context of a mutual ceasefire to Moscow, to NATO, to clear the way for negotiations for peace talks and for an end to the human and environmental tragedy of the war in Kosovo? Will he put that on the table now?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear the position of NATO is that if Mr. Milosevic withdraws his troops we will immediately stop the bombing.

We have clearly put the condition that if he stops and takes away his troops, we will be able to move with peacekeepers to guarantee the freedoms that are needed for the people in Kosovo and we will stop the bombing.

It is up to Milosevic to take away his troops who are doing the cleansing and the murdering and all the atrocities that we still hear about every day. Some new ones were reported today. If he wants to stop the bombing it is very easy. If he takes his troops back to Belgrade then we will stop bombing.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question is for the Prime Minister. Yesterday Canadian General Henault said that the 800 Canadian troops in Kosovo will do “whatever NATO supreme command identifies as the mission”.

Will the Prime Minister now tell Canadians why our forces may be sent into combat duty in Kosovo when U.S. General Wesley Clark wants them but why the House will not be allowed to vote on this life and death issue affecting Canadian men and women in the armed forces?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that they are going there to be peacekeepers. In the meantime they will be helping with the tragedies that are occurring on a daily basis in Macedonia and in Albania. They are there for that.

If ever the mission were to be changed I said that we would come back to the House of Commons.

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, a government is about leadership and yesterday the Liberal government showed its lack of it by refusing to answer my question about passing an order in council to provide the proper benefits for our brave soldiers serving in the Balkans.

Canadians want to know if the minister of defence and his government will show true leadership and pass the necessary order in council to provide pay and veterans benefits to our troops serving in the Balkans.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, we will certainly provide the appropriate pay and benefits.

In fact the area was declared back in 1992 to be a special duty area. That included all parts of what were then Yugoslavia, including the area where our troops would be deployed for peacekeeping purposes and where they will be stationed in Macedonia. That clearly covers them.

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated yesterday in the House, we checked with the legal counsel of the House of Commons and they stated it does not cover them.

My question is about leadership. The minister of defence and his advisers know that they do not have these benefits secured for our troops.

Once again I am going to ask him: Will the government show leadership and pass the appropriate order in council and make it retroactive to ensure benefits for our brave soldiers in the Balkans?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I said a moment ago, we believe we have it covered. However, because of the hon. member's concern, I am having the matter double checked with our lawyers to make sure that in fact we are covering all of our troops. I think that is one thing we would agreed on. We want to make sure that we treat them in the proper way.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if NATO sends in ground forces to Kosovo our troops will likely be asked to help. Unfortunately our equipment is limited to peacekeeping roles only.

The auditor general has pointed out that the new Coyote reconnaissance vehicles are not able to take enemy fire. I was in a Coyote last week and they still have the old VHF radios. That makes them sitting ducks.

Why will the Prime Minister not just admit that our troops do not have the equipment they need to engage in a ground war?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, they are being authorized to go for a peacekeeping mission and they are being deployed for that purpose. They are combat capable. That is part of their general training. The equipment they are taking is among the best. The Coyote has in fact state of the art surveillance capability. It is well protected and has all of the things needed. I think the hon. member must have outdated information.

In fact, all of the vehicles, the Coyotes, the Bisons and the Griffons, that are going are all less than nine years of age, each one of them.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general takes some exception to the minister, and I know who I would believe in a pinch.

The auditor general has also made comments about the Griffon helicopters. They have a limited reconnaissance capability. Both the Coyotes and the Griffons are only suited for peacekeeping roles. It is one thing for the minister to say it is only going to be peacekeeping, but once they are on the ground there and if it heats up, I think the minister knows that they may be in for a bigger battle than they expect.

Can the Prime Minister guarantee—hello—that our troops and equipment will not be sent into the ground war, yes or no?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member needs a big wake-up call because she does not understand the fact that we are ensuring that our people have the proper equipment they need to do the job.

The Griffon is a very good utility helicopter. It has proven its benefit in Haiti. It has proven its benefit in Honduras during hurricane Mitch. It proved its benefit during the ice storm here. It does a very effective job. All of the equipment that is going with these people is among the best. It is totally interoperable with our allies.

Hepatitis C

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government has established a shared-cost program with the provinces for the victims of tainted blood. But, when it comes to the cost to the provinces of looking after all victims, the Minister of Health would have us believe that the special $300 million contribution is not a new shared-cost program.

Why is the federal government using semantics to deny Quebec its fair share of this new shared-cost program, as it promised to do in the 1996 throne speech?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government's position is very clear. Eight or nine months ago, we offered $300 million in order to share with the provinces the cost of medical services required by those who were infected.

I hope that Quebec will accept this offer. Quebec's health minister, Ms. Marois, has not yet replied to my letter. I therefore have my own question for the hon. member: Will Quebec accept our offer?