Debates of April 30th, 1999

Agriculture

[Joe McGuire, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the member is wrong. The federal money is flowing today, as the minister stated a few days ago that it would be. The federal money is flowing. The minister has signed contracts with Saskatchewan. We are not waiting for those contracts to be signed by the provinces. We are sending out money now. As soon as the provinces sign, more money will be sent out as soon as possible.

Fisheries

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in his recent report on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans the auditor general has concerns about the lack of scientific or biological resources with which to assess the shellfish industry. He pointed out the possibility of highgrading or dumping of smaller or broken pieces of shrimp within our waters.

My question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. There was a recent temporary increase to 12,000 tonnes of northern shrimp. Was that tac taken on scientific and biological evidence? Is his department looking into the auditor general's concerns about highgrading of shrimp in our waters?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, these are two very different fisheries, the northern shrimp off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and the shellfish off the southern coast of Nova Scotia. They are two quite different fisheries.

We have taken to heart the auditor general's words with respect to shellfish. However, it is literally impossible to have a policeman on every boat, which is necessary if we are to prevent any possible cheating by fishermen.

What is necessary is a higher level of co-operation between fishermen and a higher level of self-enforcement within the fleet. Those are ways that we can in fact make progress.

Movement Of Hazardous Waste

[Jocelyne Girard-Bujold, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, recently Mr. Emmett, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, mentioned that the government was negligent in applying the regulations to control the transboundary movement of hazardous waste because it had only 15 inspectors for 17,000 registered shipments between Canada and the United States.

My question is for the Minister of Transport. Is it not of some concern to see the government contemplating the import into Canada of plutonium, while controls over the import of hazardous waste are already virtually non existent and may be further relaxed?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that I fully understood the logic in the hon. member's question.

I want to assure members of the House that Canada has perhaps one of the safest regimes for the transportation of dangerous goods of any country in the world. As I said last last week, we have 27 million shipments of dangerous goods every year and 800,000 are radioactive material. I want to correct myself. It is not less than 1% spillage, it is less than one-tenth of 1% spillage.

We have an act. It works well. I think Canadians should be proud of it.

Youth

[Gilles Bernier, Progressive Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, healthy communities need strong support systems, especially when it comes to providing opportunities for young people and for involving them in our communities.

The municipalities of Florenceville and Plaster Rock in my riding have proposed building arenas for just that purpose. Both the province and the towns have each committed $1 million for this construction. Can this government find a few dollars to help young people in these two communities?

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

Mr. Speaker, as you know we have a number of very good programs for young Canadians. The youth employment strategy has been helping thousands and thousands of young Canadians to integrate into the labour market. We have a number of human resources development programs.

Maybe the member can come to me with the precise demand and we will see what we can do about it. Definitely we want to help young Canadians do as well as possible in all communities of Canada.

Taxation

[Sophia Leung, Liberal, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today is April 30, the day that Canadians have to file their income tax returns.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue tell the House and Canadians what relief will be provided to Canadians serving in the Balkans if they are unable to file their income tax returns on time?

[Beth Phinney, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has assured DND personnel and other Canadian personnel in the Balkans and their spouses who may have to file their income tax returns after the April 30 deadline that they will not have to pay penalties and interest charges. These Canadians can explain their unique circumstances to Revenue Canada and establish suitable filing or payment arrangements as soon as they are able.

Our soldiers and their families are facing very difficult times. We want to minimize their concerns regarding their tax obligations.

Agriculture

[Garry Breitkreuz, Reform, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is blaming everybody else because the money is not in the farmers' pockets.

The government knew a long time ago that money was needed in February. It promised the money and it broke all of its promises. The promised disaster relief that was supposed to be there has been replaced with red tape.

How can the minister say he is helping farmers when he is doing virtually nothing for western producers? Why should the farmers believe the minister's statement that cash is flowing when they have received nothing?

[Joe McGuire, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, before money can flow to farmers under this program, applications have to be made and processed. To this point only in excess of 500 applications from farmers in the hon. member's province have been filled out and sent in.

The minister has already stated that money will flow for those applications that have been processed and it will continue to be accelerated as time goes on.

Subcommittee On The Study Of Sport In Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, with the Minister of Industry now lobbying for professional sports millionaires, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has announced that she will not invest one more cent in amateur sport, thus dashing all the hopes the report of the subcommittee on the study of sport in Canada had raised among athletes and sports federations.

Will the government admit that the report on sport was basically nothing more than a huge smoke screen to hide the fact that it could not care less about amateur sport and that it intends to hand over millions of taxpayers' dollars to professional sports millionaires instead?

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, that is not at all the case. The government has agreed to 53 of the report's 69 recommendations and will take action accordingly.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the members for Broadview—Greenwood and Bourassa and other members of the subcommittee on the excellent work they did.

As for the question of funding, let it not be forgotten that the government kept its promise and increased its contribution to amateur sport by $50 million over five years.

Youth

[Gilles Bernier, Progressive Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, recreation facilities are good for our young people and good for our communities. They encourage involvement in our communities and they help to reduce social problems such as crime, suicide and substance abuse.

Will the government commit today to help young people in towns such as Plaster Rock and Florenceville by finding money for community development?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the same question I heard a few minutes ago. The whole purpose of the Department of Human Resources Development is to help communities in Canada. We are doing a great deal to strengthen communities and to help young people in these communities. Indeed, I think the programs we have across the land are beginning to show very positive signs in our communities.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, public broadcasting should be a place for Canadians to find independent, quality programming, free from commercial and political interference. However, there is a new threat to the integrity of the CBC and it is called sponsorship. The CBC has asked the CRTC for permission to air commercials, which it calls sponsorships, on its demographically desirable radio networks.

Will the government intervene now to preserve CBC radio's integrity as a commercial free service? Will you stand up here and now and say no—

[The Speaker]

I would ask hon. members to please address their questions through the Chair.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the matter of the CBC will be revised by the CRTC later next month. The corporation has toured the country to solicit Canadians' views. I would encourage the member and all Canadians, if they have concerns and views about CBC proposals, to communicate those concerns to the CRTC as soon as possible.

Presence In Gallery

[The Speaker]

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in our gallery of His Excellency Andrei Shapovalyants, Minister of Economy of the Russian Federation.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Government Response To Petitions

[Gar Knutson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to ten petitions.

Petitions

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to join today with all members of the Quebec caucus in tabling, on behalf of the coalition for banking services for seniors, a petition signed by more than 30,000 people.

We wholeheartedly support this petition as well as this coalition representing more than 1 million people.

[Sophia Leung, Liberal, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition to the House on behalf of citizens from my province of B.C.

These individuals have asked that parliament affirm the duty of parents to raise their children according to their conscience and beliefs. They request that parliament retain section 43 of the Criminal Code in its present form, as they believe that it recognizes the primary role of parents in the raising and disciplining of their children.

I respectfully submit this petition to the House of Commons on behalf of my constituents in the riding of Vancouver Kingsway.

The petition affirms that implementation of the United Nations convention on the rights of the child will not undermine the rights, responsibilities and autonomy of parents. The government has no intention of repealing or amending section 43 of the Criminal Code or funding any research of court challenges respecting it.

[Judi Longfield, Liberal, Whitby—Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to rise to present two petitions.

The first petition calls on parliament to compensate the merchant navy veterans for their service and hardship on Canadian and allied ships during World War II and the Korean war.

[Judi Longfield, Liberal, Whitby—Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition concerns employment insurance. The petitioners request that the EI fund be returned to its intended purpose. They also request that an independent commission be created to administer the Employment Insurance Act.