Debates of May 3rd, 1999

Employment Insurance

[The Speaker]

The hon. leader of the Bloc Quebecois.

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

Mr. Speaker, the opposite is in fact true. Since the reform, all young people have been paying premiums, but the percentage who qualify has plummeted to 15%.

Does the Prime Minister realize that the youth unemployment rate has dropped twice as slowly as that of other age groups? Is that what looking out for young people means? Is that what the Prime Minister is proud of?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what I am proud of is that, before, we had a system strictly to help those without jobs, with no active measures to create jobs for young people. I am happy to see the member confirm that in Canada unemployment rates have dropped, both for adults and for young people.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a wide gap between the fine talk of the federal government and the day to day reality of our young people. Before the reform, 84% of young workers paid into employment insurance and 50% received benefits. Now, 100% of young workers contribute, but only 15% draw benefits.

Is this what the Prime Minister considers a society that is looking after its young people properly?

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

Mr. Speaker, I remind the member opposite that the number of jobs created for youth rose by 7% last year. That was the best performance in 20 years. Since we were elected the youth unemployment rate has gone down by over 3%.

Youth employment is still something that our government is focused on. To address it we have a two pronged approach: the youth employment strategy to get youth to work and the Canadian opportunities strategy to enhance their educational opportunities.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware of the Prime Minister's desire to go down in history. Instead of jumping into all manner of extravagant projects, why does the Prime Minister not merely give the young workers back the money he has taken from their pockets by making them pay into employment insurance, when they have virtually no chance of drawing any benefits?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are hearing the same attitude from Bloc members as we hear every day.

They are people who think that youths should receive more employment insurance. On this side we think young Canadians should be given the opportunity to have access to a good education and a good job. That is how we on this side are trying to help them.

Kosovo

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. Momentum is building toward a diplomatic solution to the Kosovo crisis. There is growing recognition that give and take are required to reach a peaceful resolution.

Viktor Chernomyrdin, Koffi Annan, Mary Robinson, Jesse Jackson, and our own foreign affairs minister have called for compromise. Will Canada make a solid contribution to the diplomatic momentum and push for an immediate suspension of the bombing?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are doing at this time. We are making the best contribution we can. We were among the first to take away the notion that it was to be a NATO force and make it an international force. Everybody accepted that.

Last week the Minister of Foreign Affairs was in Moscow with Mr. Annan of the United Nations and the minister of foreign affairs of Greece. He met with his counterparts and they discussed the possibility of finding a solution.

The solution belongs to the President of Yugoslavia who should stop what he is doing, the murdering and the cleansing. He should withdraw his troops. The minute he does that, the Kosovars will be able to go back in peace and the bombing will be over.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, every day images of death, misery and despair among civilians demonstrate the urgent need for a diplomatic solution. We must leave no stone unturned on the path to peace.

Will Canada contribute to the diplomatic momentum and take bold action? Will Canada call for an immediate suspension of the bombing?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing the utmost to help in the diplomatic solution, but to have unilateral stoppage of the activities of NATO would be completely counterproductive.

Leading up to the Rambouillet agreement, Milosevic was delaying and delaying while he was doing the cleansing. That is why we had to start the air strikes. It is not through stopping them that he will come to the table. He wants to finish his job before he comes to the table, and we want the Kosovars to have freedom in their homes in Kosovo.

Shipbuilding

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada's low productivity has recently been criticized. We all know high taxes and ineffective policies kill productivity.

We just have to look at the shipbuilding industry as an example. Soon this industry will have zero productivity in Canada. Why? Because the government has failed to implement a national shipbuilding policy.

Will the Minister of Industry act on his party's policies adopted at its 1993 and 1998 conventions and implement a new national shipbuilding policy and put Canadians back to work?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, there is a national shipbuilding policy. The significant tax and other advantages accorded to that industry are consistent with the kinds of support we provide to other industry sectors. We expect those will do the job.

The amazing thing about this member's persistence on this issue is that she claims repeatedly that she does not want subsidies for this industry. Yet in every request she makes she proposes nothing other than a thinly disguised subsidy program.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the minister and everyone in the House that we are not asking for subsidies.

What they are asking for is the same tax incentives used in other industries such as the high tech and research and development sectors.

Thousands of Canadians could go back to work if the shipbuilding industry were treated with fairness. Will the minister do the right thing and treat this industry with the same respect his department treats other industries?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, and in fact we already do. She is unaware of some of the things that have changed.

Let me speak on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for International Trade, whose organization, the Export Development Corporation, has improved the assistance it provides with a ship repair financing vehicle.

What does Peter Cairns, president of the Shipbuilding Association of Canada say? He says it is a really good initiative, beneficial to the whole industry nationwide. He said it was a significant step in the right direction in an area where Canada has a lot of expertise.

Mr. Speaker, they do not even know what we are doing.

Taxation

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, someone over there should start to listen to Canadians. They are being taxed to death and they do not want to hear these statistics carefully crafted to whitewash the situation. They have just filled out their tax forms. They know what is happening and they know there is no real tax relief in sight.

When will the government get realistic and give a solid plan for real tax relief for Canadians?

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member would only look back to the last couple of budgets, we have delivered $16.5 billion in tax reductions for Canadians. We have always said that is the least we can do and we will continue on that track.

Let us not forget that when we took office we inherited a $42 billion deficit. We balanced the books. Tax reduction was the second thing we did. The first thing was reinvestment in health care and that reflects Canadian priorities. That is what the government will continue to do.

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is right. The government did the least possible to give Canadians tax relief after it spent billions and billions of dollars on things that are not necessary, having slashed health care and education funding.

Again Canadians are asking, when will the billions of dollars in surplus and misspent funds be returned to their pockets so they can look after the needs of their families?

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, again the $16.5 billion is what we have delivered and we will do more.

Let me just reflect for a moment on what the hon. member for Okanagan—Coquihalla said recently when he talked about the last budget. He said the government increased spending and added $12.5 billion to program spending that was questionable in the first place. Well, the true colours of the Reform Party come out. It thinks that an $11.5 billion increase in health care is questionable.

The only thing that is questionable is how the Reform Party will ever think it will get to this side of the House. Absolutely that is questionable. It will never happen.

Orphan Clauses

[Richard Marceau, Bloc, Charlesbourg, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, young people face a difficult situation on the job market. Not only are they excluded from the employment insurance program, but collective agreements have gradually been including so-called “orphan clauses” giving special status to young people, but in a negative sense.

Does the Prime Minister recognize the importance of eliminating these orphan clauses for young people and, to that end, will he support the bill that I tabled in this House and that specifically seeks to abolish such clauses?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the meaning of the term orphan clauses in the EI act. All we know is that our EI reform is working. It is accomplishing the goals we set out for it.

The unemployment rate for youth last year hit an eight year low. We are happy with that.

[Richard Marceau, Bloc, Charlesbourg, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member read the wrong page from her briefing book.

If the Prime Minister is serious about resolving the orphan clause issue, will he agree to have the government direct the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development to review this issue, particularly as it applies to Canada Post and the CBC? Perhaps this will be an opportunity for the parliamentary secretary to inform herself.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is well aware that, under Standing Order 108(2), the committee is its own master.

Therefore, the committee may decide to examine this issue or any other issue.

Kosovo

[Bob Mills, Reform, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Chernomyrdin mission is focusing efforts on Belgrade and the most prominent members of NATO. Canada is not a member of that contact group but of course will be the first to send troops if a peace is negotiated.

Does it not bother the Prime Minister that we have so little input into policies that directly affect Canadians?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are completely involved. The decision of moving forward was a collective decision of the 19 countries of NATO. We have been consulted about all the elements of that. We were as active as anybody else on the diplomatic front. The solution belongs to Milosevic to decide to withdraw his troops and permit the Kosovars to go back home in peace and security.