House of Commons Hansard #219 of the 36th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was preclearance.
Randy White Reform Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general just indicated to Canadians that the matter of prisoners taking unescorted bus trips from one prison to another is under review. That just happened to come up yesterday, by the way, in the House.
Will the solicitor general therefore suspend here and now all unescorted bus trips for prisoners going from one prison to another until such time as that review is complete?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated to my hon. colleague before, this matter is under review.
Randy White Reform Langley—Abbotsford, BC
Mr. Speaker, there is a brilliant answer. We already knew it was under review. We are asking for the trips of people like I have just described to be suspended until such time as the review is over.
Now I want to know what is in the review. What is taking place? What is being reviewed? What kind of recommendations? Who is involved in the review? When will it be printed?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I certainly got the message from my hon. colleague. As I indicated, it is under review and this file that he is talking about specifically is under review also.
Any time anything like this happens under Correctional Service Canada, it is always reviewed thoroughly.
Ghislain Fournier Bloc Manicouagan, QC
Mr. Speaker, at the present time the air traffic control tower at Sept-Îles airport is providing air control services to the airports at Havre-Saint-Pierre, Natashquan and Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon. With the change proposed by Nav Canada, this service will in future be provided by the air traffic control tower at Quebec City airport.
My question is for the Minister of Transport. Can he tell us whether he believes that the savings thus realized will be substantial enough to justify such a decision, which represents a potential risk to airport users in my riding?
David Collenette Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Mr. Speaker, Nav Canada is responsible for the air navigation system. It is the not-for-profit corporation that directs air navigation operations.
It carries out analyses throughout the country and it makes certain decisions. Transport Canada is very much aware of air safety. I do not believe that there is any problem in the case raised by the hon. member.
Roy Cullen Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence. The opposition continues to question the military equipment that is being sent by Canada to the area of the former Yugoslavia. However yesterday at the display of this equipment only one member of the official opposition, as I understand it, was able to attend.
With that in mind, would the Minister of National Defence please describe the equipment that is being sent to this area?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful that at least one member of the Reform Party, the hon. member for Dauphin—Swan River, went yesterday. The hon. member for Edmonton North was not there and yet he was the member yesterday that was being quite critical.
I must say that the military people who are there have the highest regard for the equipment they are using. I would sooner take their word in that particular case.
They have the equipment to do the job that they need to do in this peacekeeping effort in Kosovo. All of the equipment is of recent vintage, within the last nine years. The Coyote is state of the art reconnaissance equipment. The Bison and the other—
Mike Scott Reform Skeena, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development finally admitted yesterday, after persistent questioning, that there was no protection for aboriginal women, for Nisga'a women, in the Nisga'a treaty. He also admitted that the Nisga'a laws on land matters would take precedence over all other laws in Canada.
Why has the government lost the opportunity and abandoned the rights of Nisga'a women in the Nisga'a treaty?
David Iftody LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely wrong again. He was wrong on the constitutional application to the treaty.
I said to him yesterday and I say here again in the House that chapter 2, article 13, explicitly states that the laws of general application will apply. In this case the B.C. family relations act will apply to all women in British Columbia. Those women are protected and also protected under section 15 of the charter.
Mike Scott Reform Skeena, BC
Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is wrong. He quoted from chapter 2, section 13 and I have to do it again because he did not get it yesterday:
In the event of any inconsistency or conflict between this agreement and the provisions of any federal or provincial law, this agreement will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency or conflict.
The hon. member knows that the Nisga'a people have the right to all matters of land under this treaty. He knows that aboriginal women have no rights when it comes to the disposition of a matrimonial home. I am going to ask him again, why did the government abandon Nisga'a women when it negotiated this treaty?
David Iftody LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member does not understand is that when we made the treaty with the British Columbia people and the Nisga'a people, it is removed from the paternalism of the Indian Act. It becomes a separate treaty. Therefore these general laws apply. If it is a power not enumerated in the treaty, there is no conflict.
The hon. member is not reading the document properly. I wish he would come to my department. We have given him the opportunity for a briefing. He will not take it. He is categorically wrong and he voted against women and women's issues on Bill C-49. Who is he trying to protect?
Lorne Nystrom NDP Qu'Appelle, SK
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.
Yesterday the Minister of Finance stated in the House, “There will be no government interference in the investment of CPP funds and that is what the Canadian people want”. In light of the fact that the CPP investment fund is now investing some of its revenue in Imperial Tobacco through Imasco and Imperial Tobacco is targeting young people to addict them to cigarette smoking, I want to give the Minister of Finance one more chance in the House today. I ask him whether he thinks that Canadians want their pension funds invested in industries that are deliberately targeting young people to addict them to the smoking of cigarettes.
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated yesterday, the CPP investment fund is investing in the stock exchange indexes. That is the course of action it will be following for the foreseeable future until such time as it builds up a larger fund and until further decisions are taken.
In terms of the question of young people smoking, the Minister of Health has laid out a very clear program to deal with that. It is the course we are following. It is education. There is no doubt that the government must do everything in its power to discourage young people from smoking.
Lorne Nystrom NDP Qu'Appelle, SK
Mr. Speaker, in section 53 of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act it states, “The governor in council may make regulations regarding those investments”. Further on it says that the investments will be reviewed every three years and the minister may make regulations and recommendations.
In view of the act and that the minister has flexibility, will he take this opportunity and recommend the ethical screening of CPP investment funds so investments like the investment in Imperial Tobacco will not occur in the future and addict people to the smoking of cigarettes?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I am sure what the hon. member would want is that there not be government interference in the investments. I am sure if he takes a look at the investment policy of the Ontario teachers pension fund, if he takes a look at others where there is large scale union involvement, he will find that these pension funds invest for maximum return.
There are ethical investment funds and this is certainly open to the fund. We are saying it is very important that there not be political interference in the administration of the funds by the government.
PensionsOral Question Period
The Speaker
I remind hon. members please not to use any props or wave things around in the House.
John Herron Progressive Conservative Fundy Royal, NB
Mr. Speaker, every day firefighters put their lives on the line to ensure the safety of Canadians, yet they cannot get the support they need from their own federal government. Firefighters have been denied access to the needed funding to implement the program operation respond, which is a communications system that can quickly identify hazardous materials and provide appropriate emergency response techniques and guidance.
My question is for the Minister of Transport. Will he make available the additional research and development funding for operation respond which would properly safeguard the Canadian public, yes or no? Certainly the minister thinks that Canadians and Canadian firefighters are worth $236,000.
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, there is certainly a lot misinformation that is being disseminated by the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The government helped to fund a pilot project in Burnaby a couple of years ago while I was minister. It demonstrated that the results from using the operation respond technique would not even emulate the system now in place, Canutec. It provides for professional chemists of the Department of Transport manning a 24 hour, 365 day a year service to monitor all hazardous goods transported in Canada.
John Herron Progressive Conservative Fundy Royal, NB
Mr. Speaker, earlier today I contacted the Minister of Human Resources Development to register my concerns about the decision to cut $180,000 from the summer career placement program in southern New Brunswick. This means that the ridings of Fundy—Royal, Charlotte and Saint John will have approximately 200 fewer jobs to offer their youth. All this when students are already graduating with an alarming $30,000 of debt.
The reason for this is the disconnected test of reductions in the local unemployment rate for adults, not students. In fact, most regions in the province of New Brunswick have been cut. When will the minister revisit the entire issue of funding levels in New Brunswick?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the warning that he would be raising this important question.
The overall funding for summer career placement has not changed. It is still at the level of $190 million a year. It is based on a longstanding formula of the level of unemployment and the number of students in a particular region.
I take note of the member's interest. I have heard a number of other MPs say that they may not be satisfied with the present method of distribution. I will ask my officials to look into this to make sure we serve students as well as we possibly can.
Judi Longfield Liberal Whitby—Ajax, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of immigration.
There have been many news reports in recent days regarding Canada's commitment to allow 5,000 Kosovar refugees into Canada. Can the minister tell the House what the government's position is?
Lucienne Robillard LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I spoke this morning with Mrs. Ogata, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees because I wanted to know what her assessment was of the refugees' situation in the Balkans. Mrs. Ogata asked Canada to reactivate the emergency humanitarian evacuation plan that we had to receive 5,000 Kosovars and we will do so.
It is very clear that Mrs. Ogata is asking us to reactivate our emergency plan and offer to take in 5,000 people. We will be prepared to receive these people, and I am sure that Canadians will open their doors to them.
Garry Breitkreuz Reform Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, the agriculture minister's compensation program for farmers is as big a disaster as the economic factors that made it necessary, such as the government's high taxes. Some farmers do not have money to put in their crops. There are 100,000 farmers on the prairies alone but to date, not one red cent has gone out. How many more farmers have to go bankrupt before he acknowledges that his program is a complete disaster?