Debates of May 4th, 1999

Millennium Scholarships

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

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

Mr. Speaker, are the members of the Bloc Quebecois interested in an answer, yes or no?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Papineau—Saint-Denis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would point out that I began my answer at 18 seconds, given the delay.

I would say, however, that the students' interests remain the number one priority of the Government of Canada. We heard very encouraging news in the media recently, and I hope this matter will be resolved in Quebec quickly.

Rail Safety

[Rose-Marie Ur, Liberal, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the transport minister's response to an earlier question on the April 23 derailment of the VIA passenger train in the village of Thamesville in my riding.

In addition to having the problems with dark areas of our rail system addressed, can the minister please expand further on our efforts to ensure rail safety to all Canadians?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to publicly thank the people of Thamesville for their very timely action in helping all those who were injured and helping to save lives.

As I said earlier, Transport Canada is conducting an investigation independent of but complementary to that of the Transportation Safety Board under the Railway Safety Act and part II of the Canada Labour Code. As a result, we have issued a notice under the Railway Safety Act to CN to deal with what we call main track hand operated crossover switches in multi-track non-signalized areas, otherwise known as dark territory.

Taxation

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, from day to day I have no idea where the government stands on the issue of taxes. We have the industry minister who says that taxes need to come down to U.S. levels. Yesterday, we had the Prime Minister who essentially kicked the industry minister right between the pockets when he said that high taxes are the Canadian way.

I would like to know what the government's position is today. What is the government's position on across the board tax relief?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have made it very clear. We want to bring taxes down, we have brought taxes down and we will bring taxes down.

At the same time, there is no doubt as to where the Reform Party stands on a number of issues. Last week, for instance, on health care, the member from Okanagan basically said that he thought health care spending was questionable and that we should not have done it. The member for Elk Island, when asked, confirmed that spending on health care was totally irresponsible. Yesterday, the member for Calgary—Nose Hill confirmed that opinion.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, instead of words, let us look at the government's actions on health care.

The government cut $21 billion out of health care. It cut more hospital beds than all the provinces combined. That is the record of the finance minister. He is the Jack Kevorkian of health care.

How can the minister get off saying that he cares about health care when it is people like Mike Harris who are putting money into health care while the government guts it?

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I did not really hear that statement because there was too much noise. We are getting a little bit close to being injudicious. I will go to the Minister of Finance.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is sort of interesting watching the Tories and the Reformers trying to claim credit for Mike Harris. They can have him.

The fact is we, on this side of the House, are going to stand behind a modern and effective health care system, one that is based on compassion. We are going to stand behind an education system that works. We are going to stand behind balanced cuts in income taxes and investments in the future of Canadians. That is what this side of the House stands for. We understand what the united alternative stands for.

Canada Pension Plan

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the government is linking its new CPP investment fund to the TSE 300 index. That index includes Imasco, Imperial Tobacco's parent company, a company that profits from the targeting of young smokers. The health minister should know that any plan for persuading Canadians not to smoke cannot and should not be good for tobacco profits.

Does the Minister of Health agree with the Minister of Finance that it is okay for CPP funds to support tobacco companies like Imperial Tobacco?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as stated in the House, the Minister of Health has, on a number of occasions, set out the very important measures that the Government of Canada has put in place to discourage young people from smoking.

The fact is that the Canada pension plan was set up on a joint agreement between ourselves and the provinces. An essential part of that agreement is that there will not be political interference in the investment decisions made by the fund. It is investing in the index. Under those circumstances, we are not going to interfere with what they are doing.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering why the Minister of Health cannot speak for himself and why the Minister of Finance has to keep pulling rank.

I want to ask the Minister of Health specifically what he thinks about public money, Canadians' dollars, our funds, going into tobacco companies which prey on young people. I want to know what he is going to do to ensure that he puts together a comprehensive strategy for preventing smoking among people. That includes an ethical investment policy for the CPP.

[The Speaker]

Colleagues, we all know that the question is asked to the government and any minister or parliamentary secretary on this side can answer.

Now, who would like to answer this one? The hon. Minister of Health.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows, or certainly should know, that in the last five years we have taken active and effective steps to reduce the level of smoking in Canada.

Tobacco is a legal product, but we are interested in reducing the level of smoking and preventing young children from starting to smoke. We have introduced the toughest, most effective anti-tobacco legislation in the western world. There are countries around the world that are copying it and using it as a model. We are investing $100 million over five years in enforcing that statute and in efforts to discourage young people from starting to smoke.

The Economy

[Jim Jones, Progressive Conservative, Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, every single Industry Canada document in the past several years has stated that productivity is essential to Canada's economic prosperity and social security.

In February, the Minister of Industry told the Empire Club “productivity is the most important determinant of our standard of living”. This past weekend, he called for tax cuts to improve our productivity, the worst of the G-7.

Does the minister agree with his Prime Minister that more money spent on health care instead of tax cuts will improve productivity?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, the previous government knew very little about productivity and laid the basis for this country's problems in productivity by running up a debt and a deficit of $42 billion a year.

That is the essence of a number of the problems we face. It is the essence of the reason we have had to take our tax cuts as we have been able to afford them. It is the essence of the problem we have had in making large enough investments in science, research and development, in the National Research Council and in the granting councils. This is the source of a complex problem that we all have a stake in resolving, but they—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Markham.

[Jim Jones, Progressive Conservative, Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the industry minister is wimping out.

The federal government's own report, “Sustaining Growth: Human Development and Social Cohesion” listed six productivity drivers and not a single one was health care. The report cited a better business environment, trade, innovation and investment in research and development. The report recommended personal income tax cuts as one of the best remedies to Canada's productivity problem.

Will the Minister of Industry tell the House who Canadians should believe, his own government's productivity research or the ramblings of a Prime Minister who once thought he invented the GST?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, that was pretty convoluted. There may be a question in there somewhere, but in essence these people in the Conservative Party want to talk about tax cuts.

Let us do a rough calculation of the interest we pay every year on the debt that the Conservatives accumulated during their nine years in office. That in itself would finance a 25% tax cut across the board. That is the essence of the problem. If he thinks productivity has to do with anything other than quality of life and standards of living, then he fundamentally misunderstands the debate. The reason we want to talk about health care is because it is part of our standard of living.

Canadian Wheat Board

[John Harvard, Liberal, Charleswood—Assiniboine, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board.

The U.S. department of commerce was due to release a report today on whether the Canadian Wheat Board is depressing feed grain prices in Canada, thereby giving western Canadian livestock producers an unfair competitive advantage in producing and exporting livestock to the U.S.

Can the minister provide a status report on this latest American allegation against the Canadian grain marketing system?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that a preliminary finding today by the U.S. department of commerce is very much in Canada's favour.

In the so-called R-Calf case, the DOC found no grounds to justify a countervailing duty on Canadian beef cattle exports. It reaffirmed that our NISA program is not countervailable and, for the seventh consecutive time in this decade, it vindicated the grain trading policies of the Canadian Wheat Board.

The Government of Canada will continue to work with our farm organizations and the provinces to ensure that this preliminary finding is confirmed in a final ruling later this year.

Taxation

[Jason Kenney, Reform, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government is still all over the map on taxes. Yesterday the Prime Minister told us that he has delivered a tax cut by raising CPP premiums by $10 billion and billions of dollars in bracket creep. The finance minister tells us that maybe at some point we will get real tax relief. One moment the industry minister tells us high taxes are good and the next moment he is telling us that we should cut them.

Where exactly does the government stand? Will it deliver real broad based tax relief that Canadians will see at the bottom line in the next budget?